#companion piece to that other one i posted this is her GIRLED FRIEND

[ramp-it-up]

All These Things and More

Paring: Ransom Drysdale x Reader (Minx)

Part of the Minx Series

Word Count: 2.8 K

Summary: Ransom is a dad now, but you’re neglecting Daddy

Warnings: 18+ As always, MINORS DNI, SMUT, RPF. Not Beta’d. All mistakes my own. Cute little baby vibes, Ransom as a soft dad, Minx as a good mom, a little bit of angst, going overboard for the holidays, pining. Lactation kink, breast play, oral sex (m receiving), degradation kink, allusion to fingering, female receiving oral, creampie, edging, overstimulation, and anal.

A/N: This is for #DJ’sAllIWant4KChristmas and based on this ask. This is a companion piece to Coercion and Marshmallow World.

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I Do NOT consent to my work being reposted, translated or presented on any other blog or site other than by myself.

Ransom rolled over into a pile of pink cuteness.

You were dead asleep in your custom pink chiffon nursing nightgown, and his daughter, dressed in a flowery pink footed sleeper, had wiggled out of your arms and was sitting up, staring at him with the biggest, prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.

Ransom frowned when he realized that you must have gotten up to get her from the nursery in the middle of the night instead of waking him. He’d told you about getting your rest. But Golden was going through a growth spurt and had taken to waking up in the middle of the night after a few months of sleeping through. 

Ransom’s frown melted as his daughter smiled and laughed at him, waving cutely. Another woman had his heart now and her puff of blonde curly hair and light brown skin made her the most beautiful baby in the world, he thought.

Especially since he thought she looked just like you.

“Hey Goldennnn.”

He reached out for her and drew her onto his chest.

“How’s Daddy’s little girl this mornin’?’”

Ransom whispered his Boston drawl to his daughter, careful not to wake you up. It was only 5:30 AM.

“Bbbbbbbbbbbbb… DaDaDaDaDa.”

Even though she was blowing bubbles and climbing on his face, Ransom’s heart beat out of his chest at his daughter’s address.

“That’s right. Dada!” 

Ransom whispered excitedly. He smiled at her and decided she needed some new diamond earrings, the ones in her ears were too small. As he lifted her, he also decided that she needed to be changed.

Ransom looked over to you to make sure you were still sleeping, then, he eased out of the bed and managed to get her down the hall to her nursery to change her diaper and sit down in the rocker after warming a bottle of breastmilk that you kept in the mini fridge in her room. 

Ransom was the only one who could get her to take a bottle, otherwise, you breastfed her exclusively, with a few baby foods, even at 8 months old. 

Golden got sleepy right away after taking most of the warm bottle, and Ransom cleaned her lips with the burp cloth and gazed at her sleeping face for a while, before putting her on his chest and daydreaming of your wedding the previous year. 

You got the big June wedding of your dreams, despite Ransom wanting to elope. And it was outside, which really sucked because his fucking allergies made Ransom tear up just as you were walking down the aisle.

Your insipid little friends were always talking about how star studded the wedding was, but all Ransom remembered was you in your stunning dress and the adventure of making love to his wife that night.

You had him sex starved after depriving him for a month, and let’s just say that he’d had to pay off some of the hotel staff. You probably got pregnant that night, as much cum as there was everywhere.

Ransom was awakened by a flash going off because you were snapping pictures.

“Sorry Ran.”

You whispered and grinned at your man. He was such a good father. And you knew he loved you, he even told you so when he felt especially secure. Usually after you let him do everything that he (and you) wanted in bed. 

Ransom rubbed his eyes and stood up to gently put Golden in her crib. He watched her for a minute and then walked over to you.

“I told you about that, Minx.”

“But you look so cute when you’re being Golden’s dad. Makes me want you more, Daddy.”

You pouted up at him and his heart melted. He loved him some you, especially since you’d become his wife and mother to his child. But he tried to look tough, which only seemed to make you light up more.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, Minx.”

Ransom bent down and hauled you up over his shoulder, giving your ass a slap as you giggled your way down the hall.

“I swear, If you wake her up….”

He deposited you on the bed as you let down the straps of your nightgown.

“I appreciate you feeding her, but what am I gonna do with all this milk now? I’m so uncomfortable. Need some relief Ran, baby…”

You looked up at him with those huge doe eyes and those huge, full tits, and his dick got hard.

Ransom always loved your tits, but they were huge with weight right now and pointing right at him.

He was super excited to help out, but he rolled his eyes to feign disinterest.

“Shit. I have to do everything around here. Have to be the Nanny, have to be the breast pump.”

You started to cover up, knowing this game too well.

“Sorry, Ran.”

Ransom saw your pout, sighed and climbed into bed with you, reaching for you and pulling you near.

“Come over here, Minx.” 

The look on Ransom’s face betrayed his need as he reached for you. You smiled at him, ready to enjoy a morning in his arms. Your eyes rolled back into your head as he started to relieve you with those lips of his, and his hands, oh his hands, they relieved you in other ways.

After Ransom put you to sleep and had a quick shower, Golden woke up and Ransom hurried into her room.

A father’s work was never done.

That was the week before Thanksgiving, over a month ago, and it was the last time he felt you had time for him. Your first Christmas together as a married couple, you were six months pregnant, and the Holidays were spent with Ransom cussing out his family and friends who accused you of trying to trap him with a baby.

“Fucking idiot, can you fucking count?” Was his favorite refrain.

Ransom didn’t tell them that you didn’t trap them with this baby, you’d blackmailed him into a relationship using  a recording of him blackmailing you with revenge porn months before the wedding. 

You two also spent the Holidays eating and lazily fucking every night, morning, and any other time you got your greedy little hands on his dick. He was in heaven, the center of your little newlywed world.

This holiday season had been both the best, and the worst, for Ransom. It was going to be Golden’s first Christmas, and, as a true Thrombey woman (you included) she was fascinated with shiny things.

His little girl had his eyes and your smile and brown skin, causing everyone to stop and stare who saw her. An added bonus was that when she was born, his parents stopped being such assholes, because Golden had everyone wrapped around her teeny tiny little finger. 

This Christmas, you were a woman possessed. Well, more than usual.

The second Thanksgiving was over, because Ransom would not permit it before then, you went into full Golden’s First Christmas mode.

Friday morning, Ransom rolled over and both you and Golden were gone. The bed was empty, and cold.

Nanny number one, Lina, had Golden and was bottle feeding her in her room. Ransom was livid.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Ransom made the poor woman jump, but she managed a smile anyway.

“Oh, Mr. Hugh. Mrs. Drysdale said that you would be thrilled that someone else could feed the baby. Surprise.”

Ransom was boiling mad on the inside.

“It’s Ransom. Mr. Drysdale to you, Lina,” Ransom spat as he watched his baby girl giggle in Lina’s arms. 

She pulled off the bottle to say, “Dadadadada,” as if admonishing him. He leaned over, rubbed her hair and kissed her forehead, noting her sleepy eyes.

“Make sure that you burp her before you put her down.”

Ransom put on his robe and slippers over his silk pajamas and padded downstairs, expecting to find you there. What he did find was the chef, Angie, in the kitchen and a note from you.

You had gone shopping with Linda, of all people. Ransom was left alone. So he moped around the house in between playing with Golden all day until you got home, loaded down with tons of Christmas decorations.

He was surly at the dinner table while you rattled off your holiday plans, but you didn’t notice, or didn’t care, and by the time Ransom was ready for you to make it up to him, he found you and Golden knocked out in the bed.

It was this way for a month. Shopping, deliveries and installation of lights, trees, decorations, parties and playdates, everything that you thought Golden would love. But no nookie for Daddy. And you even had the nerve to begin to wean Golden, which meant your milk supply was getting low.

Ransom was someone even the Grinch would think would need to lighten up.

And the presents. 

The entire first level was filled with presents for Golden. Ransom bought out FAO Schwarz for her. And the diamond district in New York was well compensated for dealing with Ransom on his search for the most flawless matching Mommy/Daughter diamonds.

But for some inexplicable reason, he missed you.

You were with him every night, next to him in bed, but he didn’t have your attention. It was bad enough that you spent so much time on the baby, but that was only right. You were his soul mate. Even though he’d loved you madly, when you became mother to his child, it seems he loved you more.

But now, you were obsessed with being Mrs. Claus, not Mrs. Drysdale. And that pissed Ransom off. Big time.

Ransom was still a grumpy bug when the families gathered on Christmas Eve for dinner and stayed over on Christmas morning to watch Golden “open” her presents.

He wasn’t telling people to eat shit, but you knew he was unsettled. But you didn’t know that he had a plan.

On Christmas night, after Golden was in bed, Ransom switched off the Christmas carols that had been piped throughout the house.

You went up to him, full of mirth and quipped, “My house, my rules, the Christmas music stays on.”

Ransom rolled his eyes and didn’t laugh, clearly done with being in the Christmas spirit.

“What’s wrong, Ran?”

“Nothing. Just got to get away from this nonsense. I’m leaving.”

Panic filled you. You thought he finally had enough.

“But Ransom, why? Will you leave me and Golden?”

“Oh shut up Minx, I’d never leave Golden. And you’re coming with me. Pack a bag.”

You were filled with relief, but you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t push back.

“Where are we going, Ransom? I can’t just…”

“You can, and you will. Golden had a great Christmas. She hardly knew what was going on, but she loved it. Now it’s my turn.”

You loved it when Ransom pouted and was needy, but you tried to reason with him.

“How long will we be gone Ran….?”

“Am I your husband?”

Ransom yelled at you. For the first time since Golden was born.

You were shook; Ransom was really emotional.

“Of course, but…”

“But nothing. Your mother is here, she’d be thrilled to fight Linda for the privilege to watch Golden. And you’ve almost weaned her. It’s perfect. You need to spend some time attending to your wifely duties. Which means you pay attention to me.”

Ransom wasn’t yelling anymore, but he was still adamant.

You fought the urge to laugh at Ransom because he had a point. You’d virtually ignored him. You decided to go with the flow.

“Well, what do I need to pack? Is it cold wherever we’re going?”

“I’m sure it is. Just pack enough for a day or two. We’ll go shopping when we get there, that is if you’re not too much of a cockslut and can have me not filling all your holes for a couple of hours…”

You shivered at the delicious promise. And you were ready to go right now. You reached for his pants. Ransom pushed you away.

“Save it, we’ve got to leave in an hour. Be ready.”

Ransom walked into his closet and left you reeling. 

You met Ransom in the car in 56 minutes, only packing three Hermes bags to take along. You were shifting in your seat, wet already, wondering what adventures awaited you ahead.

Ransom spared you a cursory glance, but was silent most of the way.

“Stop squirming, it’s annoying,” was the only thing he said to you.

But you looked down and noticed that he was tapping his finger on his thigh. And that his pants were very tight around his crotch area. It was then that you realized that you missed him as much as he missed you.

“Sorry Ran, It’s just that I don’t have any panties on, and this sweater dress feels kinda good…”

You crossed and uncrossed your legs, capturing Ransom’s eyes which went from the supple leather of your brown boots, up the hem of your dress that matched the sweater that he had on. You could see him gulp and lick his lips. He shifted and then replied.

“I don’t give a fuck, calm your ass down and stop moving.”

“Yes, Ran.”

The look that you gave him, coupled with the faux show of submission had him almost feral. He leaned forward and banged on the partition.

“Speed it up, asshole!”

You smirked in your seat as Ransom tried to spur the driver on.

“You seem tense, Ran. Anything I can do to help.”

You put your hand on his knee.

“You should do something, since you got me all wound up. Didn’t want to jack off and spill my seed down the shower. Since we got married, you said it would only be used to fill you up.”

You rubbed his thigh.

“I’m sorry, Ransom. Can.. can you let me swallow it down my throat?”

Ransom didn’t respond, although you were squeezing his dick through his pants. You took that as a yes and got down between his legs, unzipping him and bring out his large dick.

Ransom looked down on you and placed one hand on your head and the other found your nipple through the dress. You weren’t wearing a bra either.

You spit on his dick and started pumping him, licking your lips as he stared you down.

“No underwear at all. Just live to get fucked. You’re my little whore, aren’t you? You still love to be a freak. Suck my dick, Minx. Not too sloppy now.”

Ransom leaned back and thrust his bobbing and weaving dick up at you as your pussy wept and your mouth watered.

“Yes, Daddy.”

You nodded and opened your mouth, deep throating him, red lipstick leaving marks on his throbbing member as you slowly pulled off.

“Fuck, Minx.”

You bobbed on his cock, choking and coughing and spluttering, while managing to keep everything neat and playing with his balls. 

“So, so, so, good with that hot little slut mouth, Minx. Fuck! Take it all.”

You loudly gulped as he came, causing him to pulse extra spend down your throat. 

“Thank you for the fluff, Daddy.”

Ransom just grunted and zipped up as the car pulled down the road to the airstrip where the Thrombey Gulfstream was parked.

You turned to him with glee, clapping your hands.

“A flight? Where are we going?”

“Paris. Now get your ass on that plane.”

“Yay! Thank you Daddy.”

You kissed his cheek and got out of the car when the driver opened the door, ready to fly, while Ransom watched you with a warm feeling and rubbing his cheek. Damn, he was whipped.

After you boarded the plan, and toasted with champagne, Ransom told you of the plan to stay in that one hotel you loved from your honeymoon. The one with the view of the Eiffel Tower and the excellent room service.

“That’s great Ran. Because you’re right, you’re not gonna want to leave this pussy alone.”

Ransom’s eyes changed as you go up to enter the private bedroom on the plane. When he joined you in the room that was filled with a king sized bed, he found you sitting on the edge of the bed, leaned back, legs open.

Ransom pushed a few buttons on the keypad by the door to the bedroom cabin, and up popped a view of you sitting on the bed, displayed on the television above the door. Your eyes watched the monitor as Ransom stood before you and pushed you back down on the bed.

Ransom took your boots off, then pushed the dress up your body with his huge, warm hands, skimming your thighs up to your breasts. He pulled the garment off of you, then grabbed your hair for a searing kiss while he roughly groped and pinched your nipple. 

You moaned at the delicious pain and at his passion, trying to tear his clothes off faster than he could disrobe as he went back down your body.

“Gonna make you cum until you beg me to stop, and then I’m gonna fuck this weeping cunt, filling you to the brim with my cum, Minx. Then I’m gonna take that ass. And if we have time on this seven hour flight, we’ll do it all over again.”

“Yes, Ransom.” 

You pulled his hair as you watched him eat you out in high definition on the monitor, then flicked your eyes over to the camera to make sure the red light was on.

“All these things and more…”

You know what I’m gonna say…reblog? Please!

Read the next part: You Up?

#ask dj #dj answers #ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale x black!reader #ransom drysdale x female reader #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drydale x you #ransom drysdale smut #chris evans #chris evans smut #ransom drysdale imagine #chris evans imagine #Ransom and Minx #dj’salliwant4kchristmas22

[astarionfixation]

Chapter 6: "It won’t hurt but a moment, darling"

Part of "Am I Fu**ing Insane !?!" A multi chapter adventure in Astarion’s mind

Rating: Mature for mentions of sex and blood

CW mentions of sexual assault, sex trafficking, panic attacks

Word count count: 6.5k yep, I was away for a week but at least I come bearing gifts words

Pairings: Astarion X OFC Tav

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54356776/chapters/138874459

I have a quite serious praise kink. Which also means compliments in the forms of tags and/or comments might very well spur me to write and post more

** Thoughts "" Dialogue - - Remarks ++ Quotes / Memories

The scene at the inn looks extremely familiar and he's sure some corners of it resemble quite accurately the night before. Except his delusional hopes to find a solution to his current parasite predicament have all but dissolved, yet maybe shape shifted towards an unlikely alliance with her. Small, insignificant human that she is, yet each and every one of his companions seems to have a fascination with her.

And indeed, he catches her eye from across the room, as their accidental mutual friends are buzzing around her, certainly grateful to have their health and strength back without apparent consequences from the night before. And he is sure it's just gratefulness but from the way he sees the wizard getting closer and familiar to her, hand on her shoulder that drops to her hip, certainly with the excuse of the crowd around her, surely he lowers his head and gets his filthy mouth way too close to her ear to make her hear whatever he thinks will impress her.

He finds his teeth gritting and he swears it's just because 

*No one gets to tamper with my food!*

In that instant it is almost too convenient that this lovely, smiling barmaid seems intent to care only for whatever he is going to ask, forgetting every other shouting creature that demands her attention for another pint of anything.

“How may I serve you, my lord”

And he has to bite his tongue not to laugh at the epithet, despite how convenient his looks have been in gaining him access to every place -and person- he has ever set his eyes upon.

“Well sweet thing” he begins with his mellifluous tone set to persuade fairies to give up their own light for him. A long, delicate finger reaches for a strand of her straw like hair and wraps around it, inviting her closer so he can whisper to her.

“I would be so, very very grateful if you could get me two glasses of the most precious drink you offer in this fine establishment”

His movements are studied and rehearsed and his brain might as well focus on the corner of his eye, searchin for Her and considering options to send back to Waterdeep different pieces of the mage in different boxes if his excuse for a flirt does not promptly focus on someone, anyone else but Her. He's not jealous, of course not, *of him?!??* And he knows, from her lips, from her mind how all of herself is pulled to him.

*It was my name on her lips last night! My name on her darn little book! Not any wizard from Waterdeep or otherwise!*

He's brought back by the clinking sound of two goblets that are definitely more elegant and rich looking than anything anyone else is holding in the tavern, and he knows once again how far his simple charm can get him. The girl is smiling at him, full of hope, pulling herself closer from behind the bar so that her bosom is almost obscenely exposed in front of him. And he would be lying if he didn't admit to the flattery it always was to see people stumble upon their own feet in an effort to please him, to be chosen by him for the night, blissfully unaware of how that meant their luck had turned on them forever.

A dark flash threatens to take away his attention from the scene and he knows it's much better not to linger on memories. In one of his exaggerated movements he finds the hand of the girl to bring to his lips, his eyes fixed on her cornflower ones. He plants a long, wet kiss that holds so many promises, none of which he will keep, and he lingers a moment longer so she can have her fill of his attention. As he slowly pulls away his index finger goes to tuck a strand of her hair just behind her ear, brushing lightly on her skin and he can tell already: a word and he would have her, she probably wouldn't even make it upstairs. He holds her gaze and her trembling lips just barely audible let him know that

“Not to worry my lord, it's on the house”

*Of course it is, why do you think we were playing this game, darling?*

His hand swiftly abandons her hair to grasp at the glasses, his work done. As he turns around to find in which ways he will have to skin the mage, he realises his lips are way too close to her ear, but her eyes are fixed on… himself. And they are somewhat even darker than usual? The look on her face he would have called imperturbable yesterday reveals something akin to disturbance today.

*Maybe I will actually have to skin the wizard tonight if he's the reason of her bother*

His head moves slightly towards the stairs to give her a sign and immediately he sees her wriggle out of her company and towards the path that leads to the upper floor. 

*Still such an obedient little thing*

And he is only too happy to follow.

—-------

“What was that? What did you tell her? Did you give away your secret so easily just hoping she would let you drink from her?!?!”

He's genuinely confused, it takes him a moment to realise she must be referring to the barmaid that he already barely remembers. What did she have the impression was happening? Doesn't she know how he speaks and addresses everyone? How his charm is the one thing he has to keep in control of every exchange? 

*Or is she actually Jealous?*

And as he closes the door of her room behind him, the glasses resting now on a surface, he begins to slowly circle -stalk- her just as he just did that afternoon at the glade, his eyes and smile focused completely on her agitated self, the soft traits of her face trying their best to look upset, yet all he can think is just…

*How adorable…*

But this time she's following his movements and turns around to look at him, her back now to the door, and the corner of his lip might be pulling ever so slightly as he considers the possibility of this ruse being just that, that familiarly naughty side of his brain already envisioning her throwing herself at him as they both fall on the bed and

*I might actually let her ride*

“If this is your way of offering yourself instead my dear, I thought we were already clear on the matter. But don't let me stop your plans of persuasion. In fact…”

He takes a step closer and his hand knows already where to find that sweet, pulsating spot just behind her ear, the idea of tearing at the skin and finally finding her sweetness without the need to imagine any longer makes him swallow emptily in anticipation, and his fingers are almost tingling due to the warmth of her skin being so close now and his muscles tense ready to pull her in, fangs almost bared when… she takes a step back?

*What is she playing at? We both know she wants this, she wants me…*

“Come now darling, there's really no need to play coy, at this point it would be only be a waste of time considering what we already shared”

The honey in his words betrays a slight irritation at the distance she put between them, his tone every bit the charming one he has rehearsed thousands of times and has never once failed him.

And thankfully! Thankfully, going through the pages of that little insignificant book allowed him to fill the gaps in ways he truly had no idea.

But now he knows, he has seen it in her eyes, transfixed on him despite the blood, or perhaps exactly because of it.

“But if it pleases your wounded pride you can tell me all about your protestations from your sweetly plump lips while I relieve you of every. single. piece. of clothing. that stands between my mouth and your lovely skin. Because that's what you want, isn't it?” 

He knows how to punctuate and accentuate every word to paint an image.

And not that the mere idea isn’t inviting, he feels his own reaction both in his stomach and his crotch. The notion that, for once, he would actually enjoy taking something -He- wanted, -He- needed, for -himself- and not for anyone’s command or amusement, is almost reason enough to make this the version of the story he committed to.

“Don’t tell me that is not exactly what you envisioned whilst you…. How was it?”

And consequences be damned! Let this be a good use of that little vexing book, to cut any avenue she might think of going up to escape her own desire for him. 

“ ‘Lay yourself down with my Voice pouring honey in your ears?’ No need to imagine my dear, in fact let me show you…”

*I will not be denied, and I won't let you deny yourself either sweet thing*

This is as good a version as any if it will get him access to her blood, maybe even her body because surely…

“I can't believe the privilege that has been afforded to you to still behave like a child and have people find it charming!”

He is so used to leading the game that this interruption comes too abruptly to leave her unscathed by his anger at seeing his plans crushed. 

And if throwing her own words at her didn't make her confess her own desire for him,  there is certainly more to use and hurt her from what he can remember of the little insignificant book. Something they share even. His voice comes out as sweet as the choice of words is cruel

“Oh you want to talk about childhood, do you? Do you want to go over how incredibly wise and mature you were “for your age”, darling? How that clever little mind of yours justified every kind of attention you were at the receiving end of because you were just… too enticing” 

He inhales to punctuate the next words 

“and how flattering that felt for you.”

He went too far. He knows it before he spits out the last word. He can see her jaw clenching and the deep inhale she takes, seemingly vexed whilst really, her heartbeat is telling a different story about the exquisite way his words were just the extension of his dagger at times.

Quick scenarios flash in his mind's eye, 

*Is she going to cry? Is she going to storm out? Can she have anything in her arsenal to hit me back with?*

and to that his body stiffens like a spring ready to jump and react, as if any words she next throws at him could physically hit him

*Because isn't it just what I've done to her?*

It was right, it was fair, and he stood up straight with a hint of pride on his face because no stepping down now could mend her from the hurt his words just inflicted on her. He knew exactly what it had touched, he remembered every single *fucking* word he had committed to memory that night he first had his hands on her book. On her mind. He will not admit he even considered the idea they could have bonded over their shared trauma…

“Get out”

*No. No no no! This is all wrong! Where's the attack? Where are the words I can sneak around and throw back at her?! I need to build her up to crush her down! No!*

The fear of losing her anxiety-inducing presence fills his thoughts with venom, and if whatever this was has to come crashing down now, she can be sure she'll get as much damage as the loss of her brings to him.

“Well fine then, I'm sure it won't take me long to find someone kind enough to share their bed and blood with me tonight, in fact you're right, I might just go looking for that lovely barmaid again, she was so eager to please. Believe me darling, I won't be left out in the cold”

Her eyes narrow.

“You're delusional, as if you're the gods gift to every pretty girl who would open her arms and legs to you”

And that's it, that right there is the space between words that he knows will hurt just right, a cold sharp hit from the throat to that spot just above her heart that decides where her lovely colour and warmth will spread next. His crimson eyes narrow and he moves closer to her and when he's just about to move past her and grab the door handle he whispers with his head just slightly bent, so that his breath can hit her skin as much as his words will her heart

“Well… looking at you darling… I thought it was fairly obvious: she doesn't have to be pretty”.

He can feel how her body tensed up. How a strained sound gets trapped in her throat and a sharp inhale through gritted teeth have her swallow. The light of the candles is strangely reflected slightly more intensely by the corner of her eyes and that is how he knows the blow has hit just right and a strange satisfaction takes over in his chest, making him walk just a bit taller, just a bit prouder because all those decades using his body to get what his master demanded turned him into the perfect offering to anyone's desires and the least of his problems will indeed be to find someone, anyone, ready to take him in, if only he's available to give them anything and everything they might want that his body can provide. It doesn't even matter, he won't even have to think, his body has been marked and bent sinuously so many times his mind doesn't have to be there to give anyone anything they might want. Tonight won't be anything more or less special than that and the price for a warm place to sleep *maybe warm blood to drink* is something that comes as second nature to him.

He's out of the door and his feet guide him automatically towards the stairs, his mind trying to focus on the faces of any of the patrons of the inn whose sight might have already lingered a moment too long on him because that's how he knows, how he has always known that his job will be easier, his elegant form already paving the way towards a comfortable place to spend the night in as soon as he gives them what they want, and they all want the same thing anyway. His head shakes as if his mind better not dig further at that thought, and as he takes the first step down he finds his body slouching down instead, coming to sit on the step as his head bends down between his own knees, his long delicate fingers shaking as they pull at the back of his neck so that his head falls just lower and lower.

And among the flashes his mind offers of all the times he had to offer his body as the matter of an exchange for his own survival, a corner of his brain screams at the door now closed behind him and 

*how could she let me go out in the cold again??!?*. 

His shoulders shrug as he tries to make himself smaller. Maybe spending the night on the stairs is just as acceptable, easier, safer for everyone and safer for him, and how deep his mind must have kept him, attempting to avoid memories of useful seduction techniques coming back to him, to not hear her steps, if not her heartbeat, until the warmth of her hand is once again scorching his neck and he flinches too suddenly for his unaffected facade to remain unbroken.

He tries to turn around, his arms still protecting his face, wrapped around his knees and just his crimson eyes and dark circles peek through, looking at her in a way that might seem unthreatening enough that now her arms have gone circling around his shoulders… and it all suddenly feels warmer and there’s also something… weird, something he can't quite pinpoint, but something that feels like there’s no requirement for each and every one of his senses and instincts to be ready to react.

She breathes loudly, louder than even her need for air requires, and the noise alone should be annoying but after a few breaths he realises his own body is following her rhythm even without the need for it, but the slow, measured breaths are bringing an unexpected calm that washes over his tensed muscles, his jaw unclenches and the grip of his own arms around his knees, so tight he didn't realise it made him tremble, is now getting flushed.

*Because if she has her arms around me I don't need to hold on anymore*

The thought is fleeting and he will deny thinking that, but in the next exhale his body finally relaxes into her warm embrace. She hasn't said anything, done anything but holding him and guiding his breath with her own, and while a slight fear crosses his mind -because if she is to hit him with any word now, he would certainly dissolve- he’s also so tired of the charade by this point he can’t hold onto his persona anymore. It comes as a whisper that a part of him still feels betrayed by sharing, because it is the truth and how will that not be ammunition for her to use at a later time?

But his breath is not his own now, following in unison with hers and so the words escape his pale bloodless lips anyway

“I'm sorry, I couldn't do it, I'm sorry”

She leaves the silence holding space in the air for what feels like an eternity after his shameful confession, but he can suddenly feel her arms pulling him tighter to her. Crouching next to him, his head finds a way to nestle in the crook of her neck where he instinctively inhales deeply and the scent of mulled wine and flowers fills his entire being once again, and besides bringing back a hunger pang down in the depth of his stomach, there is now something almost soothing about what's become so familiar and intrinsically associated with her. He must be so stupid to allow himself to feel what seemingly resembles safety, if nothing else because he never knew what that actually meant, but he's so tired. Tired in a way no rest or trance can bring him peace and so even if her warmth is a lie he's making his peace with it, he'll pay the price in time, but for now he can just slightly rub the tip of his nose on that pulsating spot just behind her ear, her scent emanating from it as a sweet siren song for the beast his fangs belong to, but not without an unexpected and reassuring comfort to some other side of himself, something he hasn't felt stirring in such a long time that he had no reason to believe was still there.

The silence, filled only by their breaths, has become so familiar he might be convinced the stairs could be a welcome spot to spend the night if she keeps holding him like this, but that's when his own train of thought is interrupted by her low whisper 

“Come on, come back, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry too”

And at that he shouldn't feel the warmth radiate from every spot their bodies are in contact with each other down to the centre of his stomach, but it does and it's as unfamiliar as it is pleasant. His body follows hers as her arms still circle him and help him to his feet, his head still following her scent, by convenience that also means his eyes don't have to raise from the floor to meet hers and that makes going back to her room easier.

She helps him to sit at the edge of the bed and that's when her arms retract their support and the loss of warmth feels incredibly wrong. With furrowed brows his eyes look for her to understand what he's done wrong to lose her embrace but they find hers as they seem to be just roaming across his shoulders to the leather atop his shirt. His shoulders move almost of their own volition and the leather is quickly discarded on the floor. She suddenly crouches down on the floor and the movement catches him by surprise, not sure what he should brace himself for until he realises her hands are reaching for his boots.

She might have sensed his discomfort because her next movement is announced by her voice before it happens

“I'm just going to help you out of these so you can lay down and rest if you want, is that alright?”

And he finds himself nodding before the end of that sentence makes it to his ears, the finesse with which her fingers are pulling and undoing his old boots is not something that aligns with a thing that has been broken and torn down too many times to repair and yet the careful way her hands find the way to undo them make it seem like she's dealing with something of invaluable worth.

He's slightly transfixed looking at her movements that only when her eyes meet his again, only then he realises she's done, and with a bit of uncertainty she's back up on her feet.

“Rest here, I will be on the chair and we can talk more tomorrow if you want”

But his hand goes immediately to grab her wrist because the idea of losing that safe feeling her warmth gives him now just isn't something he's ready to do without. He pulls wordlessly until she's sitting next to him on the edge of the bed and that's when he scoots back until his back hits the headboard and then his arm extends towards her in a silent invitation.

He can't read her expression but within seconds he doesn't need to because she's removing her own boots and 

*surely she didn't mean to crawl across the bed to reach me in any way other than functional* 

but another part of his brain seems to stir now at the sight of her on all fours moving slowly *languidly* towards him, until she's taken the invite and nestles her body between his extended arm and chest, her own arm now circling at the back of his neck.

“Is this…? I can't… nothing needs to happen, we can just rest, I am here for you”

And that sounds way too much like a challenge for his body not to stir, pulling her closer so that his nose can finally trace her hairline down to her ear again. Until the memory of her words make him shiver

+He holds a grace in the tiny bone of his wrists that clerics cannot give on freedays+

And it's both consoling and disappointing that the moment he can lose himself in her scent again, feeling her body so close to his, the words she chose to describe him come back to his mind, blessed with the curse of an impossible detailed memory that in this occasion lets him know, beyond what she could say out loud, all the ways in which her body, but most importantly her mind, have been devotedly dreaming of him, in a way that lets him know for the first time in his whole life and undeath, that someone other than himself cares about his existence, not only his survival.

*Maybe just as long as I can grant her immortality too, but still, she needs me now as I need her*

He nods as his head is nestled between her jaw and her shoulder, certainly agreeing but also to spur another whiff of that delicious scent only her skin, hair, sweat and blood could conjure, and that's when another side of him replies in a low, trembling tone coming from his chest

“I promise I won't go too far… but please…”

And with that plea his lips part slightly, his teeth now brushing against that pulsating spot with a rhythm that's been hypnotising him since the beginning of this game. His lips closing upon it in something it would surely resemble a kiss and at that moment, with a wonderful whimper escaping her lips, her head turns just enough so that she can look at him with the corner of her deep, dark eyes, her lips barely parted with a slightly faster breath coming and going through them and now he's almost overwhelmed because it was easier to focus just on that one little spot that meant finally knowing what bliss it could be to feed his deep seated hunger, and yet now the same wonder takes hold when envisioning her lips giving way to his, how easily they would part to give him access, how soft would her body truly be, pliable to his every need and desire, truly begging to be his and sate any and every hunger of his, because he knows, she said it in so many words, all circling in his mind and 

+I will skip, stumble and fall, he’s the blinded fool and I’m content to stand by

I’ll be the conspicuously deranged lover of the air he walks past+

And he has a right at that to concede to the delusion that she might actually be infatuated with him for no other reason than his existence. For a moment he will believe whatever she saw in him was before she could realise anything about his immortality. For a moment he decides to believe her words, committed to paper in that little precious book that was never meant for anyone else's eyes, and that she is head over heels for him just because he's a worthy creature, just like every one of his conquest wanted to believe they were special to him, whilst he hardly remembered their name the morning after.

“it's alright, you can feed” 

the words bring him back and carry a rush to his head filled with a million visions of her body, soft, supple and compliant, all the ways his hands and lips could roam those curves that gave him vertigo at the mere thought of, every way he could make her moan and coax pleasure out of her until she could feel as desperate for him and he did her now, every image fights for dominance and 

*does it really matter where I start as long as I can explore each and every inch of her that’s covered in skin?* 

his lips trembling, tracing closer to her and he’s finally about to taste the gates of her breath when her words hit him again

“but we can’t kiss”

His teeth have to clench because he will not lose his mind over this mere mortal toying with his needs! His eyes tighten to mere slits and his fingers are gripping so tightly to her shirt that surely in a moment the tearing sound will be echoing through the room. She has been playing him all along! She’s just doing this to mortify him and she doesn’t understand what she’s done to him! As his hands release the grip on her clothes he finds his nose trailing back to her neck, now tracing her collarbone with his hungry lips and

*If it’s a challenge you want, a challenge you’ll get love*

He nods so that his soft curls are now certainly tickling her jaw and neck, and he can tell from the way the breath has now escaped her lips that his plan is already working. His fingers roam to find the hem of her shirt and disappear beneath that, finding the stark contrast of the warmth of the skin on her sides, slowly tracing with his tips and nails to her bellybutton. Another sharp breath through her lips and she swallows emptily, and he can feel that just under his lips as they are tracing at her neck still.

“Astarion, did you hear me? You can’t…”

“I’ll do you one better darling, I promise I won’t touch any part of your body, for any reason other than feeding”

*two can play at this game*

He feels her swallowing again against his mouth and now he knows he can gently move his entire body to fit against hers. A leg between hers so that she can surely feel the response of his body, but even with half his chest pressed against hers, his fingers keep roaming her sides, down to her hips and disappearing again under the shirt, halting and changing their course just a moment before they are to brush against the soft underside of her breasts.

He can almost trace the curve and he can tell from her heartbeat that, despite her words, he’s not the only one who's hungry for the other

*but you wanted to play and gods I can make this a torturing little game for you too, my sweet*

An audible gasp escapes her lips now that his lips have locked onto a spot for a moment longer, and she might be expecting his fangs now, yet her body does not stiffen in anticipation for the pain, and that is all the more encouragement for him lo leave a soft, long, obscenely sounding kiss just where her neck meets her shoulder. The sudden jolt that travels her entire body confirming what he already knows 

*your body is aching for me*

and so his lips keep leaving a soft and wet trail of kisses everywhere on her skin, coming down her shoulder and arms and back to her collarbone, while his fingers trace her sides still, and in a moment, when her back arches to meet his lips, he swiftly goes to pull her shirt down past her shoulder leaving her left side exposed, her breasts almost visible but her nipple still covered by the strained collar of the shirt.

*I need to taste you, I need to have you*

At that sight his body betrays him, as another unnecessary mouthful of nothing gets swallowed and he feels his cock twitch pressed against her hips, heaving at the rhythm of her breath. Part of him knows he needs to get this over and done quickly or he won't be able to keep his promise, but at the same time he loves to coax out that side of her that spent all that time thinking 

*dreaming of me* 

The part of her that is now, surely kept prisoner by whatever silly, self imposed rule she decided to lock herself behind. 

*let’s see how long for* 

When his hand reaches up, under her shirt, his nails start to trace the skin just around her breast and a deep moan erupts from her lips carrying his name in a way he never before loved as much

“Astarion!”

The corner of his lips pull just enough, because no matter what she said, he can feel she wants him in more ways than one, and as his nail dig just a hint too much in that delicate area just on the valley between her breasts, she exhales sharply and now he finds her breath to breathe her in, his face so close to hers that nothing is in focus, the tip of his nose grazing hers and he is now making an effort to keep enough distance between their lips yet she is likely unaware of how her mouth is reaching out to his.

*your rules, my love*

His lips trace back to her cheek and down to her ear to whisper as his nails trace her skin from the centre of her chest to that soft area south of her collarbone but still not close enough to her nipple

“Your blood just reaches out to me and blooms every time my nails press and trace just… like… that”

And the way her body arches at his words brings that soft, supple spot just atop of her breast too close to his lips to refuse now. He finds himself surprised at the idea that the first time he’s tasting her is not to give in to the delicious tempting bit behind her ear, but his mouth is now watering beyond anything he has ever experienced, his lips just sucking at that speckle of skin just south of her collarbone, where he can feel the rhythm of her heart so loudly that the distraction is almost enough to ignore that her nipple is inexorably poking through the shirt, just against his chin

“It won’t hurt but a moment darling” 

and then two runaway words follow with 

“forgive me” 

barely breathed out.

Both words escaped his lips like traitors that were not meant for her ears, but that's quickly out of his mind when finally his fangs can break the thin resistance that the soft skin of her breasts was valiantly putting up. 

The warm liquid hitting his tongue sets off an explosion in his mind, makes him realise he has never learnt enough words to describe the absolute perfection that the taste of thinking creatures could bring to his lips, it would take a poet rather than a thief like himself to describe the complexity and richness of the thick liquid that caresses his insides, from his mouth and down his throat where finally the thirst is quenched, and when it fills his stomach every single part of his body feels… relief… every muscle fills with renewed vigour he didn’t know his body could posses, and suddenly he feels his own cheeks, his own fingertips still digging in her softness, getting closer to her warmth, and the flavour is so inebriating that no part of him seems to remember anything that ever happened before her blood traversed his own veins and so feeling his own hips thrust against hers feels just like the most natural consequence of that bliss that's permeating every single part of his body. The softness of her body, even with fabric still separating their legs, makes him aware of the stark contrast with his own, his hip bones as much as his own hardness relishing in the pressure his body needs now, needs to feel as if she could be all around every single part of him. The train of thoughts is becoming so warm and fuzzy while his mouth is still indulging in a mouthful of the ambrosia spilling from her veins when a low whimper from her mouth makes him realise she's gone limp in his arms.

*shit!*

A shred of lucidity comes back to him and he forces himself to end the first moment of true perfection he has experienced in all of his existence. He plants a kiss on the punctures on her breast, gently closing them, and his hand reaches to cup her cheek, her head lulling to the side with slightly parted lips from which her breath comes in faint irregular gasps.

She is magnificent, the most beautiful creature his senses have ever witnessed, her life essence coursing through his veins maybe makes him more compliant to her and only her but suddenly he wishes he could pour every loving word and sign of affection he ever had to master to give it proper significance. Her flavour is more intoxicating than anything her bouquet tried to announce about her. There surely is no life nor undeath to ever be considered if it has to be without the smooth, velvety liquid that traverses her entire being, and now his as well. He should tell her, he wants to and words are about to betray him again when *thankfully* he manages to keep them all in, while only relinquishing a soft

“Thank you” 

and his arms go to circle her torso so he can gather her to his chest, one hand caressing obsessively at her soft curls, holding her, wishing for his body to engulf any reaction that still comes from the trembling limbs. He will repeat to himself that this hypnotic hold she has on him is only due to the fact that her blood is new and fresh to his system, unable to recognise they are two distinct beings. He almost jumps when her hand sneaks on him tracing lightly at his jaw, she feels colder than usual and something akin to panic flashes behind his eyes for less than heartbeat, but then her eyelids slowly reveal her dark eyes once again, fixed on his, and a flash of her pink tongue wets her lips before she can gift him again the sound of her voice.

“you should have told me”

And the slight smirk on her face now makes him realise she’s spent but not in any danger. In fact, the rosiness of her cheeks, the breath still laboured despite her lowered heartbeat suggest something entirely different. Suddenly his nostrils are caressed by the soft tanginess of pomegranate that he now knows to be the herald of her arousal. For a moment he searches his own memories of the night he died and lived forever but he knows better than to linger there. A hint of pride takes root in his awareness as the soft, almost imperceptible jolts still travelling the length of her body tell him all he needs to know about what just happened: Pain and pleasure mixed and merged until the latter won over her.

“And ruin the surprise, my darling?” 

He will deny in every way that 

*really? I did not know...*

That she was truly his first and nothing could have prepared him for the way she felt. Nor the way he did.

Her eyelids seem heavy as her lips pull into a smile at that, her breathing becoming more regular and he can hear her heartbeat pulsating again enough to sing for him. 

He realises he has no idea how to care for a human after a vampiric bite.

Along with the warmth her blood brought to his entire being, there's an unexplained feeling though, just at the mouth of his stomach, that he can’t quite name, as if her sweet reaction is just in preparation for a punishment, now that he has officially broken another rule imposed by Cazador.

*Thou shalt not drink the blood of thinking creatures*

He finds his face contorted in a grimace just for a split second at that thought, and while the instinct comes to hold her tighter to his chest, something else urges him deeply through a physical need to get as far away from her now sleeping body as possible.

#astarion #astarion fanfic #astarion x oc #astarion x reader #baldurs gate astarion #bg3 astarion #ao3 fanfic #astarion x tav #bg 3 #bg 3 fanfic #astarion ancunin #astarion smut #baldur's gate smut #tav x astarion #astarion fic #astarion fanfiction #astarion fluff #bg3 smut #astarion romance #astarion bg3 #astarion pov #astarion angst

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 4/9/2023

the best photo i took this week

listening

i have not been keeping up with either the tuesdaypost spreadsheet or the tuesdaypost playlists so there's a strong possibility i have already talked about Joywave's It's A Trip! off the 2017 album Content. spotify

driving ten hours in one day is ideal for listening to albums and i listened to almost every joywave album on my way home from the eclipse. american indie rock band from rochester ny, i have loved them since early college. i think they were made in a lab to get to stuck in my head bc they tend toward lower register synthier tracks that deceptively amble cheerfully along and talk about dealing with fear. songs for a male protagonist to splash water on his face, look at himself in the mirror haunted by what he's seeing, linger in his children's bedroom doorways, and then drive off into the night for the finale.

i think i listened to this song for an hour on loop yesterday bc the chorus so perfectly got stuck in my brain

When you've gotten what you want (Maybe I should start over) There's nothing left to want (Up and at 'em again) You don't know what you want (Yeah, I'm thinking it over) Just tell me what to Want

they have spent a lot of time figuring out how to have longevity as a band: "The record kind of attempts to figure that out but it doesn’t end in a definitive place. For me personally, it’s just to create things that matter as long as I possibly can, and to make things that are going to outlive me that people can hang onto for at least five to six years after I’m dead." they are deeply cranky about virality/content churn, especially in this interview. i appreciate this in an artist.

could not tell you how i first found them. i think i would have to go back to the proto-tuesdayposts of 2018.

-

reading

when you're not sleeping well you can average a book a night!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik destroyed me. (image from here)

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

my best friend real-life influenced me into reading this book and i have since managed to convince four other people to read this book bc i won't shut up about it. the descriptions of the physicality of magic and how different kinds of magic and different families of spells Feel was only part of the coolest magical system ive ever read about. this is not a dark romance but it is a little brutal in a brothers grimm/this is how battles shake out sometime kind of way. i think a companion piece of media written from the Dragon's point of view would nicely parallel that post going around about how Howl's Moving Castle the movie is from Howl's point of view and Howl's Moving Castle the book is from Sophie's point of view. i would die for Agnieszka.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (image from here)

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold. But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.

i don't know if i've ever read a book with seven points of view before? i think it was well handled, but it required significantly more brainpower than screaming through three of kingfisher's light fantasy/romances in two days and it threw me a little. saying this book is about debts cheapens it a little, i think. it is concerned with debts but also safety, and it is very much about cost in a very fairytale way and in the horrible everyday calculus of survival way.

Swordheart, Paladin's Hope, and Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher. god these go down So smooth. kingfisher has a niche and i respect that. i am reading the Saint of Steel tetralogy out of order bc even four library systems can only do so much, and i don't think you particularly need to read them in order.

i'm a bit cranky that the terfs took feminist fantasy from me, bc when the protagonist got her period in Paladin's Strength a little alarm bell went off in my head and i had to put it down and google some stuff (the answer is no btw). there is a way to write female-focused lightly historical fantasy without being terfy and kingfisher does it, but it's so rare that i was genuinely expecting some sort of. weird agenda to be at play.

these were all fun, fast reads and i don't have much else to say about them! not that they are better or worse than novik's books but they will not live in my head quite as long. there are fewer tantalizing hints about systems of magic that make me want to graph things out u kno

-

watching

kanopy has Animation April as their focus this month which is how i saw The King and the Mockingbird (1980, dir. Paul Grimault) which is a longer piece adapted from something he'd been working on since the 40s.

This animated fantasy tale follows the romance between a lovely shepherdess and a handsome chimney sweep. The land's imperious king falls for the beautiful woman and tries to thwart her relationship, but a kind mockingbird assists the lovers in evading the ruler. At the king's command, the chimney sweep and his bird friend are imprisoned, and they must escape in order to rescue the young man's true love.

GOD the animation in this. there are so many references to early animation and silent film. there are so so so many gadgets and methods of conveyance in an absolutely architecturally dizzying castle. there is a ROYAL MECH that plays its own theme music. the backgrounds have a very Chuck Jones quality in that they are exactly as detailed as they need to be for the gag to work. the castle is lush and beautiful but not dizzyingly, overwhelmingly lush. there is a clear vision to every shot and a clear path your eye is meant to travel, which i appreciate very much. i think a lot of technically impressive animation (i am specifically thinking of the Nimh movies) muddies itself by trying to jam too much on the screen. just a fucking delight of a film. a delicious confection

-

playing

nothing specific to say about genshin this week ur welcome

-

making

painted a frame (it was a dead basic michaels frame i got at a yard sale and it was giving little boy's room) and framed a thing. this is a poster that came as a freebie with a 1997 album, and i actually bought this CD case without the CD inside bc i was so delighted with the poster. scuff sanded the frame with 120 grit, i went with a matte black acrylic bc i felt that disguised how the poster did not quite fit the frame a little better? and also bc it was what i had in the house.

i did not bother with a mat, i just used the lining paper with the stock photo and painted the back of that. do not do this with particularly valuable or beloved pieces. i do not think this is necessarily acid free and there is some danger that the paint may transfer to the back of the poster over time.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem #Youtube

[anxiousnerdwritings]

I just saw your Yandere Snape posts with Harry's twin, a little Lily

I LOVE IT, I can imagine Severus secretly raising his daughter (let's face it, Severus would be TOTALLY CONVINCED that this little girl is HIS daughter), the girl never leaves Severus' room at Hogwarts during school terms, she never goes out walking through the castle garden, she eats all her meals with her father in the room, the girl studies with Severus at night, she is a little prodigy in potions

Unlike how Severus would behave with any other child, Severus doesn't bother with mini Lily's accidental magic, he never gets angry at her antics, he always gives her whatever she asks for as she is quite polite and responsible for her short life age

I can see Severus maintaining little Lily's long red hair, every morning and night brushing the long hair and combing it into a long braid.

I can also see Minerva and Albus visiting little Lily in Severus's room when they had free time, Minerva having constant fights with Severus since he doesn't allow the little girl to leave that room for months, and then, on vacation return to lock the little girl in spinner's end

And it hurts Minerva, it saddens her that even so little Lily loves Severus, loves her dad, she is never upset by Severus' decisions, she is used to not going out, her home is with Severus.

Severus would be completely delusional and desperate enough to insist to himself and anyone else that the Reader was his own flesh and blood. He wouldn’t let anyone tell him different. He won’t allow anyone to break his delusional immersion, it’s the only thing that’s brought any true happiness to his life. Lily!lookalike!Reader would be the only light to his dark, dark world and Severus is hellbent on keeping it that way.

He no doubt would groom the Reader to be solely dependent on him, raising them away from others and having himself be the only person they really get to interact with whatsoever. It wouldn’t be until Lily!lookalike!Reader was quite a bit older that Severus would even think of allowing them to interact with even just one person other than him, let alone allowing Albus and Minerva around the Reader. Even though there is a part of Severus that does really want to show off his child, his last piece of Lily, he knows better than to actually do so. The most anyone will get is a passing glimpse of the Reader until they get their Hogwarts letter and attend the school for themself, courtesy of Albus otherwise Severus would have privately taught the Reader from his home at Spinner’s End and the confines of his office at Hogwarts. And there’s no doubt that Albus would have to be pretty persistent to get Severus to even consider allowing the Reader to walk the corridors of Hogwarts freely out of his sight and away from his grasp, among other students who could taint them and become bad influences for his precious bby.

Minerva absolutely tries her damndest to be involved in Lily!lookalike!Reader’s life. She really tries to get the Reader to seek things outside of Severus and his hold over them. She encourages them to make friends and wander around, seeking out their curiosity of life. Minerva especially does her best to bring the Reader and Harry to each other so that they can make up for lost time and be together again like they should have been all this time. Hell, she may just be too tempted to take both Harry and Lily!lookalike!Reader away from their lives with their respective ‘guardians’ and raise them herself like they should have been all along, living a happy and fulfilling remaining childhood together and with someone who wants nothing but the best for both of the kids.

While Severus is being dramatically overprotective of the Reader and keeping them away from everyone who isn’t him, Minerva totally visits the Reader in her cat form and spends time with them that way. It would really mean a lot to her if the Reader had picked a cat as their chosen companion for Hogwarts and named it after the name they gave Minerva in her cat form. Maybe even if they just named the cat after in general, calling it “Minnie” or something.

Severus would be so incredibly doting and attentive towards the Reader from day one, never letting up. If anything he only gets worse as they get older. They’re his world after all and he utterly adores them to no end. He gives them everything they ask for and more. He would actually be very affectionate towards them, especially behind closed doors. Although, he would totally not stop himself from showing his bby affection around others if they wanted or needed some. He’d pat their head, ruffle their hair, gingerly pinch their cheek, etc. And once they attend Hogwarts as a student, Severus makes it very, very clear that everyone is absolutely beneath Lily!lookalike!Reader and that they are his favorite little student. Hell, if he could he would have them sitting on a pedestal just to thoroughly let it sink in how much more he values them over anyone else.

Severus would be extremely grateful that Lily!lookalike!Reader is so very obedient and that they don’t try to push the boundaries that he’s set in place. He couldn’t be happier that they don’t mind being with him and only him. He’s probably made it very clear since they were young that he’s all they have and vice versa, therefore they’re all each other needs. No one else matters. Severus is the Reader’s home and the Reader is his.

Also, Severus would totally have Lily!lookalike!Reader grow their hair out longer. Whether they’re a boy or girl, he wants them to look even more like Lily than they already do. It would just further enhance his delusion.

#anxious answers #yandere severus snape #yandere harry potter #yandere harry potter concept #yandere concept

[atlasthegreatest]

Friends...? Friends. / Lucy Heartfilia

After a long and exhausting night, Lucy finds herself walking towards her house when an explosion occurs. But when she went to help, she only ended up getting a house destroyed, and a lot fewer coins in her purse. Now, she has a grumpy fairy using her as a home until she rebuilds what she has blown up.

Word count: 4781

A/n: Sorry for the delay. I forgot to post this after I finished editing.

A girl could be seen walking through the streets of Magnolia City while staring at the stars shining in the dark sky.

But you may be asking yourselves: “But what is a girl doing walking down the street at night?” Well, the girl was none other than Lucy Heartfilia. Heiress of the Heartfilia Family, and more importantly, member of the most troublemaker guild in all of Fiore – Fairy Tail.

The celestial mage and her team of friends had just arrived from a four-day long search and when they arrived they were immediately greeted with a welcoming party at the guild. After spending hours eating, drinking, and chatting, the tiredness of the four days of searching finally took hold in Lucy. Although part of her wanted to stay and enjoy the big party her friends threw to celebrate their arrival, there was another part that wanted to go home as quickly as possible and throw herself in her bed, which, without a doubt, I would be comfortable now. So, saying goodbye to the girls – Levy, Mirajane, Cana, and Juvia – who she was talking to in the middle of all that confusion, she headed towards the exit of the guild, leaving behind an Erza readying one of her swords and a Natsu and Gray running to get away from the scarlet girl.

And now here she was, walking along the sidewalk under the light of the streetlights and stars, accompanied by Plue – her celestial companion, who walked in front of her pointing one of his trembling little fingers at the stars, turning to face the bearer of his key in astonishment. Making Lucy laugh. “The sky is very beautiful, isn't it Plue? Ah– I'm so tired! I guess that's to be expected after having opened three portals at the same time, huh? Now I just want to fall into bed and sleep until I can't sleep anymore.” The mage says, stretching her arms upwards. But just as she raised a hand to stop the yawn that escaped her mouth, an explosion occurred, causing her and Plue to be thrown back by the force of the explosion.

The blonde girl took the little being in her arms to protect him from the pieces of concrete that were flying towards them. Breaking the fall with her back, Lucy let out a grunt as she felt the rocks from the road slightly pierce her.

"What the-" The celestial mage exclaimed as she dropped to her knees as a second explosion occurred, causing her to raise an arm to shield her eyes from the flying debris, creating a large cloud of dust that settled across the entire room. area. Plue disappeared in a puff from his companion's arms and returned to the celestial world in fright.

Rising to her feet, Lucy coughed into her closed fist as she tried to find with her eyes where the explosions had come from, when she spotted a figure limping out of the cloud of dust. Ignoring her discomfort from the fall, she quickly got ready to help that person as soon as she saw him weaken to the side.

"Hey! Everything is fine with you?" The blonde mage asked worriedly, arriving just in time to support the person's body by the shoulders before they could fall to the ground. “Please ignore what I just said. That was stupid to ask.” She says correcting herself when she noticed the state of her clothes and how she had open wounds from her face to the rest of her body, noticing that the person really wasn't in a good state. " What happened? What caused the explosion Oh–” Lucy was cut off when the person abruptly pulled away from her as if her touch had burned him.

“I didn’t ask for your help.” The person says shortly, limping away from Lucy, getting further and further away. “I have to get out of here.”

“Oh? Hey-- Hey! Wait!" Lucy says running after the person who looked like he was going to fall at any moment. “You are in no condition to walk! You just came out of the middle of an explosion with multiple wounds and you’re limping!” She says trying to get their attention, but they still seemed to ignore what she was saying and continued limping away from there.

“Hey, don’t ignore me! I’m just trying to help you!” Lucy said, hurrying up her steps and going to touch the person's shoulder to make them stop, when a movement on the other side of the street caught their attention. In a quick movement, Lucy grabbed the tall person's arm and threw herself to the ground to dodge the magic attack that narrowly missed their heads.

When Lucy raised her head to see where that attack came from, she came across a group of six mages and could hear the person beneath her let out an expletive. " Do you know them?" She asked as she observed the group. They also carried wounds on some parts of their bodies. Which made her deduce that they were the ones who caused all that destruction. Discreetly moving her hand to the small bag that was at her waist, the mage waited for their reaction to use one of her keys.

“Did you think you were going to run away from us? After what did you do to our guild?” Says the wizard – who the blonde mage deduced to be the leader – as her hand glowed, indicating that he was ready to use another attack.

“I did nothing more than you deserve.” Says the person as they awkwardly stands up. “Looks like you guys didn’t learn it the first time, huh?” The person says, taking a deep breath as they rests their entire body weight on their left leg and cracks their neck.

Without giving a warning, they extended a hand, causing a circle of dark green magic to appear in their palm, activating their magic.

Lucy could feel the entire asphalt tremble beneath her feet, and she quickly dodged to the side as a section of the asphalt broke free and was thrown towards the six mages, hitting one of them brutally.

“If you want to help, I think now would be a good time to do so.” Says the person in a strained voice as they failed to dodge the attacks that were thrown towards them.

Lucy wasted no time in reaching into the small pouch at her waist and pulling out the first celestial key she touched. Seeing the celestial key she took out, she couldn't stop the shiver from running up her spine. Looking at the river on the other side, Lucy knew what she had to do. “Open the Water Bearer’s Gate! Aquarius!"

“How many times have I told you about summoning me when I'm on a date with my boyfriend, you brat?” Says the celestial spirit with long blue hair that was summoned. “What’s more, in water that isn’t clean at all! What do you think I am?” Says the mermaid, shooting the magician, causing the blonde's body to tense in fear.

“Sorry to interrupt your date, ma’am! But now I need your help with those bad guys!” Lucy pointed towards the battle between the wizards and the strange wizard.

“Tsk. Let this be the last time you interrupt my free time.” Aquarius says with a frown. Picking up her urn, she sucked up the water from the river and launched a tsunami towards where the mages were fighting, not caring who it hit or what. " Get out of my sight"

“Huh?” The strange wizard was confused when the attacks stopped coming towards him and he saw his attackers looking at something behind him. Looking over his shoulder, what little air was in his lungs escaped completely when he saw the large wave of water coming towards them. “What the-” They barely got to speak when the large wave crashed into his body.

“oh.” Lucy stared at the destruction that Aquarius' attack caused without any reaction. The debris the explosions caused seemed nothing compared to the damage the celestial spirit caused. The water not only swallowed the six wizards and the strange wizard, but also destroyed some houses that were nearby. “There was no need to cause so much destruction! Was it necessary to exaggerate so much?” She says, glaring at the mermaid and then scanning the entire area to try to find the strange wizard who was injured.

“I offer my help and this is how you thank me?” Aquarius snorted indignantly. " Tsk. What an ungrateful girl. Don’t count on my help next time, brat.” With that said, she disappeared, leaving destruction and an indignant blonde behind.

Leaving her indignation at the celestial spirit behind, Lucy went after the injured wizard. Arriving close to the wreckage and stepping over the unconscious mages, she found the stranger with his back against a large piece of asphalt, unconscious as well. "Hey. You need to get up. We need to get out of here.” She says while lightly slapping the stranger in the face. Lowering her head, she pressed her ear against their chest, and the next thing she knew, there was still a pulse. Then she brought her hands together and pressed them in the middle of her chest and began to push, without forgetting to make mouth-to-mouth movements. She did that for a good few minutes until the wizard suddenly stood up, coughing out a large amount of water and then falling on his side in a daze.

"That’s it." Lucy says as she runs her hand down their backs. “Let it all out.” But when she heard murmurs, she moved closer so she could hear better.

“–My house… My... house… what did you do with it…” Their eyes rolled back behind their eyelids, fainting again.

Lucy cringed when she realized that this strange wizard's house was in pieces because of her. “Thank you very much, Aquarius.” She says sighing as she bent down to pick the stranger up off the ground and throw one of his arms over her shoulder. “Come on. I'll take care of you.”

------------------

They could feel their body pressed against something cozy.

Frowning, the stranger slowly opened their eyes, finding a fan and a white ceiling. Blinking their eyes to try and get rid of the confusion in their head, they quickly stood up when they realized they were in an unfamiliar place, but grunted slightly when they felt a sharp pain in their head. Raising a hand to their head, they felt the gauze that was wrapped around their head, flinching when one of their fingers accidentally grazed there. Lowering their gaze, they swept their eyes over their entire body, taking note of how half of their body appeared to be bandaged.

Analyzing their whereabouts, they realized that the cozy thing they were lying on was, in fact, a brown couch. Sitting on the edge of the armchair, they threw their feet out and with some difficulty, stood up. Putting their weight on their other leg so as not to hurt their injured leg further, they slowly limped to the window, leaning against it. Taking great care not to make any noise, they tried to look for a way to open that window but the lack of lighting did not make their mission to escape from the then-unknown place easier. But when they finally managed to find the opening, a sudden noise made them stop in their place, making them aware that there was someone else with them in that compartment.

Turning away from the window, they cautiously approached the bed that they surprisingly hadn't noticed before and faced the source of the noise.

Stopping the growl that wanted to escape their mouth when a flash of memory of the event passed through their mind, making them momentarily hold their head as it throbbed in pain. Letting go of their head, they squinted toward the woman who was muttering something in her sleep as he remembered what she had done.

After all… because of her, they no longer had a place to live.

-------------------

The sun was already up and shining brightly in the sky when Lucy woke up from her sleep.

Sitting on the bed, Lucy stretched her arms to try to relieve the tension in her upper limbs while yawning audibly and then threw her feet off the bed while rubbing her eyes, heading to the bathroom, not noticing the lack of the presence of a second person in that room.

Taking her toothbrush and then applying some toothpaste to the end, the blonde began to brush her teeth. As soon as she finished brushing her teeth, she turned on the tap and lowered her head so she could wash her face. Once that was done, Lucy took a towel that was hanging next to the sink and began to dry her face while humming some melody. But it was only when she saw her reflection in the mirror that she dropped the towel to the floor, shocked by what she saw in the mirror. But as soon as her brain processed what she saw, she let out a piercing scream.

Her nose had increased in size overnight! She looked like the wooden dolls they sold at the stall at the end of the street!

“Why do these things always happen to me!?” Lucy whimpered in panic as she leaned closer to the mirror – while trying to be careful not to bump her elongated nose against the mirror – analyzing it.

“Why are you screaming at this time of the morning? I don't know what human customs are like… but in my species, we are used to enjoying silence at the start of the day. Not shouting for nothing.” The sudden voice that echoed through the bathroom scared Lucy even more, who was left looking wherever the voice had come from. “Look at your nose.”

Lucy then did as the voice said and looked down at her own nose, only to find the mysterious person she saved yesterday staring at her with a blank expression. And once again she screamed.

“But–But how? Until yesterday you were normal and now, now you seem to have shrunk!”

“Are you finished yet?” Lucy nodded uncertainly. "Excellent. You were about to burst my eardrums from screaming so much.” The still strange person said in an indifferent tone of voice as they cleaned their ears – which Lucy, now that she noticed better, were pointy. “And this is my normal form. The ‘I’ you saw yesterday was my battle form.”

“And what exactly are you?” Lucy asked curiously, momentarily forgetting that her nose wasn't in its normal state, and that she had someone extremely small standing on it. “And you were the one who turned my nose into that? If so, why?”

“And do you want to know why?” Says the strange being, crossing their arms, frowning. “And yes, it was me.”

"Why?" Lucy asked as she furrowed her eyebrows. “This is very uncomfortable.”

"Oh well. If you hadn’t destroyed my house with the help of that blue fish, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” They say lifting their shoulders, ignoring Lucy's discomfort.

Lucy mentally smacked herself in the forehead as she remembered Aquarius's exaggeration, ignoring the way her body shivered when the words “blue fish” came out of the strange little being's mouth. She was quite sure that Aquarius must be somewhere in the celestial world making a fuss about the way she was called.

"You're right." Lucy says. “How about we make a deal?”

“What will I get in return if I agree to your deal?”

“We both came out ahead in the end.” Lucy starts by explaining. “Assuming my mistakes, I will rebuild your house that was destroyed in the middle of the battle and you will transform my nose back to its natural shape.”

“And how are you going to do that? From what I’ve seen, you don’t seem to have much of a talent for much of anything, other than destroying things.” Says the strange person, turning their back to Lucy and opening a small wooden door in her nose to return to their sleep.

Lucy's face fell with an expressionless face, but then turned into an irritated expression, not believing the audacity of that little being to doubt her abilities. But then she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves before she lost her temper and strangled them with her fingers. "Whatever. I will quickly find a way to rebuild your house.” She says pointing a finger at herself while staring at the person that occupied her nose. “And you, you’re going to put my nose back in its normal shape.” She says finally, her face contorting into a grimace as she realizes that the strange being is no longer there and that she is left to speak to herself.

“It was just what I needed.”

--------------

“So, Lucy, can you tell us again what happened to make your nose the size of a ruler?”

The blonde mage sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time, rubbing her eyes as she tried to ignore the hysterical laughter coming from the two boys on her other side. They had been like that for a good few minutes since they walked through the door of their house.

“In short…” Lucy says, sighing again, looking at her scarlet-haired friend – Erza Scarlet. “I was on my way home when I heard an explosion, the explosion was caused by a group of six mages who were after someone, I tried to help that someone, but it didn't work out very well, houses were destroyed, and now I have someone living in my nose– Can you two stop laughing like idiots and help me?” Lucy scolded the two boys, causing the pink-haired boy and the dark-haired boy to stop laughing immediately when their eyes met Lucy's sharp gaze.

“ You have to admit it's a little funny. You know… have you ever been told that you look like those wooden dolls that old man sells?” Says the dark-haired boy – Gray Fullbuster, while gesturing with a finger to his nose.

“As funny as it is, Lucy could have gotten herself into big trouble by fighting six wizards alone,” Erza says with a serious face, her tone full of concern.

“It's Luci! She's fought tougher opponents! Those six were something easy to deal with” Says the pink-haired boy – Natsu Dragneel as he busied himself picking up the bowl of potatoes that was on the table and placing it on his lap, taking a dagger of potatoes and filling it in his mouth with them.

Erza took a deep breath, deciding to leave that part behind. “And there’s nothing you can do to get your nose back to normal?” She says as she approaches Lucy to better observe what she sees, causing Gray and Natsu to do the same, causing Lucy to shift uncomfortably in her place due to the way the three of them stare at her nose.

“Can you stop staring at me like that?!” Lucy says, turning her face away from her friend's observing eyes in a failed attempt to hide her nose, which seemed to have grown since the morning. “You are making me feel self-conscious!”

“Can you make less noise? You are interrupting my reading time.”

“Huh?” Natsu muttered in confusion, leaning even closer to Lucy's face to get a better look, when something hit his nose and forced his head back, causing him to fall to the ground. “Ahk!”

As Natsu was on the ground, with his forehead bleeding, Erza and Gray were on alert, readying their magic to attack whoever attacked their friend.

As for Lucy, she just massaged her temples with her hand as she sighed deeply. “I had already talked to you. You can’t attack people just because they bother you.”

“I do whatever I want. You don’t command me.”

“It’s my nose that you’re making a home. So yes, I command you!”

“That has nothing to do with it.”

"Yes it has! It’s a part of my body!”

"Stop being dramatic."

"Me? Dramatic? As if!"

While Lucy argued with the mage, Erza, and Gray got rid of their magic and watched as their blonde friend seemed to be talking to herself, questioning her friend's mental health. Until Erza decided to interrupt. “Who are you talking to, Lucy?”

“With the reason you are here,” Lucy says, stopping the battle of glances between the strange mage and then looking at her scarlet-haired friend.

“And where are they right now?” This time it was Gray who asked. The ravenette looked around every corner of Lucy's house looking for the voice.

Lucy pointed to her nose. "Here. I think I should introduce you to each other. Guys this is–” Lucy turned her gaze to her nose. “You never got to tell me your name.”

“Call me Jun.”

“Guys, this is Jun, the wizard I helped and destroyed the house last night. Jun, these are my friends, Erza, Grey, and I think you've met Natsu." Lucy introduced each one.

Jun, Erza, and Gray exchange nods, acknowledging each other's presence. Jun then looked back at Lucy. " I am a fairy. A nature fairy. Not a mage.”

“But if you're a fairy, why don't you have wings? Isn’t that normal for you to have?” Erza asked curiously. After all, it wasn't normal to see a fairy without her wings.

Jun didn't respond. They just remained silent, and turned to go back into their temporary house.

Lucy, upon noticing the fairy's discomfort, quickly changed the subject. “I called you here so you could help me build a new house for Jun, since I ended up destroying their old house last night.”

Erza and Gray looked at each other. "Please!" Lucy begged holding hands, pouting towards them.

"Sure. Anything to help a friend." “I have nothing to do anyway.”

"Excellent!" Lucy says excitedly. “Thank you so much, guys!” The blonde went to her two friends and pulled them into a hug.

"Ugh…" Natsu woke up, sitting dazedly on the floor while massaging his forehead – which had already formed a bump – with one hand. “What did I miss, guys?” He asked as soon as he saw that his friends were in a group hug.

“Come on. We have something to do, flame brains.” Gray says, taking Natsu by the collar of his shirt, heading towards the apartment's exit door, with Lucy and Erza behind him.

--------------------

A few weeks had passed since then. Jun had already recovered from the injuries they had on their body, and oddly enough, they learned to put up with the presence of Lucy and the rest of her friends (not that they would admit that to her).

With the help of Erza, Natsu, Grey, and a few more members – which Jun had discovered through Lucy were her members from Fairy Tail-- Jun's new home was ready faster than the fairy expected. And fulfilling their part of the agreement, they transformed Lucy's nose back to its normal shape (not before increasing the size even more just to irritate Lucy even more).

The duo was exactly in Lucy's apartment, having “a goodbye pajama party” (Lucy's words, not Jun's) in the company of Erza, Gray, and Natsu.

The group spent the whole afternoon playing various games to pass the time, chatting, and Jun just watched the confusion that Lucy and her friends made whenever one of them cheated in the games.

It was already past midnight, and the apartment that had previously been alive with screams was now calm, with no noise present in the room. (except Natsu's snoring). Everyone was already in their sleeping bags, tired from the long afternoon they had had, except two people who were still awake and were talking quietly so as not to wake up the rest.

“Jun…” Lucy caught the attention of the fairy – who was in their second form – who was sitting on the floor, leaning their back against Lucy's bed. Jun nodded, implying that they were paying attention to what she was going to say. “What was the reason that led you to fight those wizards?”

Jun, upon hearing the question, couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. They knew it wouldn't be long before someone asked about it. They were a little surprised that Lucy hadn't asked sooner rather than later. “As you know, I am a fairy. And those mages were from a dark guild and they used to hunt my kind.”

“They used to? What happened to make them stop?” Lucy asked again, interrupting Jun, who gave her a slightly cutting look. "Sorry. You can continue.”

"Right," Jun says. “They used to hunt other fairies like me. They wanted to use our magic for their benefit. So, to achieve this, they captured us and tortured us, cutting off our wings and other types of torture that may exist, and then sucked out our essence: our magic. Few managed to escape alive. And of those who did… succumbed to the injuries they had.”

“But you managed to escape,” Lucy says as she stares at Jun with apprehensive eyes, noticing the visible guilt on the fairy's face. It was noticeable to Lucy that the fairy felt guilty about being the only one to have survived. She couldn't imagine being in a situation where she would see her friends being tortured and killed in front of her.

"Almost," Jun says, hugging their knees close to their body. “The damage I suffered was too much. I was chased until I managed to find a place where I could hide and not be caught by them. With the little magic I still had, I slowly healed the wounds I had for four years. Since then I have been alone. But all this time I was perfecting my magic. And when I felt like I was better, I went to the guild and killed every member there. But I didn’t count on the appearance of those other six.”

Lucy got out of her bed, and bending down, pulled Jun into a hug, not caring that the fairy's body tensed at the contact of their bodies. "It's alright. You are no longer alone.”

Jun's eyes stared at Lucy's blonde head in shock. Their body, which had previously been tense from the lack of physical contact after four long years, relaxed under Lucy's touch. Lucy, tightened the hug even more when she felt Jun's body shaking and the fabric of her sleeping blouse getting damp.

"Sorry about that," Jun says, breaking away from the hug, feeling their cheeks heat up when they felt their face wet and hid it from Lucy while trying to wipe away the tears that fell.

“What are you apologizing for?” Lucy asked with a sweet tone of voice, watching the fairy with an amused face when the fairy looked away from her again.

“For crying on you and for getting your blouse wet,” Jun says, still not looking at Lucy. They felt embarrassed that she had seen them cry.

Lucy put a hand to her mouth to contain the smile she wanted to break out. It was cute to see Jun like this. But she quickly hid her smile when Jun glanced at her from the corner of their eye. “It’s normal to cry, Jun. And about the blouse… well, it will eventually dry out.”

The two remained in a small silence between them. Until Lucy broke the silence again. “What do you think about us being friends?”

"Friend?" Jun pointed a finger at their chest. " You want to be my friend?"

“Yup!” Lucy then reached out a hand to Jun. “What do you say? Friends?"

Jun looked at Lucy's hand for a while, and did something they hadn't done in a long time.

With a small smile on their lips, they reached out a hand and wrapped it around Lucy's hand, squeezing. “Friends.”

#fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #erza scarlet #fanfic #gray fullbuster #happy fairy tail #gender neutral insert

[see-arcane]

Lucy, Mina, and Jonathan: The Childhood Friend Trio We Don’t Get to See

Because I saw your tag @marghen (and because I need little to no prompting on this)—yes, everyone should absolutely keep in mind that Lucy, Mina, and Jonathan have been friends since childhood. I can’t be bothered to harvest all the scraps of text, but it’s mentioned more than once that Lucy and Mina have been close since they were little girls, and Mr. Hawkins will later mention the fact that he’s known Jonathan and Mina since they were small. They were all wee little kids together, all each others’ closest social circle up through adolescence and young adulthood. And, if the manner of their writing is any indication, they’re still each others’ closest friends.

Things to picture for maximum sweetness (and hindsight pain):

- Mina was the bridging friend between Jonathan and Lucy. As canon has established, both Jonathan and Lucy have the sweetheart gene, and likely took to each other like two golden retrievers meeting for the first time.

- Mina, while still being the mini mom friend, is also the scary friend. She’s the one who goes out of her way to read/stay up late to overhear the ghost stories too menacing for little children’s ears. She absolutely recites them to Jonathan and Lucy. They are both too smitten with her to mention they will have nightmares afterwards.

- Sometime around age 6, Lucy announces that she has already made plans for their home someday. Also their wedding—they will need an especially wide chapel to fit everybody across the aisle, she’s decided. She draws out the situation on a big piece of butcher paper, illustrating little crayon Lucy holding Mina’s hand who is holding Jon’s hand. Lucy is also holding the hand of a stick figure with a question mark for a head. There are several such figures squashed in with the three of them, as placeholders for future people.

Lucy: “In case we need to get more married,” she explains. “We’ll need a very big house.”

- Jonathan causes more than one heart attack when he reveals himself as being part spider monkey. He once climbed a tree that was three floors tall to retrieve Mina’s hat that had blown up into the branches. Another time he climbed the outside of a house to get a stuck cat off the roof. He was 8.

- All three have individually fought for the others’ honor on separate occasions as they grew up. Insults and rumors varied, but generally had themes of implying unmanly weakness on Jonathan’s part, salacious man-stealing on Lucy’s part, and blindness to how foolish it is to let her man be friends with other women on Mina’s part. Rebuttals were always swift, venomous, and often required the insulted party frantically holding back their companions, lest the defensive duo commit something newsworthy against the mudslingers.

- Mina, hiding her left hand: “Lucy. You know that trip to Bournemouth Jonathan and I went on last week?”

Lucy, has been conspiring with Jonathan for the perfect setup for weeks, has been slowly dying with the effort Not to Blab: “Mmhmm?”

Mina: “He proposed to me there. In a graveyard.”

Lucy: “Oh, my!” :o

Mina, glowing: “It was at Mary Shelley’s grave.”

Lucy, turning mental cartwheels: “You don’t say!” :O

Mina, revealing a wedding band with gemstones set like a skull: “And just look at the ring!”

Lucy, straining with every fiber of her being not to break decorum by jumping on the café table and cheering at the sky: “It’s gorgeous, congratulations!” :D

Later, out of Mina’s earshot, everyone in a post celebration-wine buzz:

Jonathan, beaming: …

Lucy, shit-eating grin: …

Jonathan, for the 100th time: …She said y-

Lucy, also for the 100th time: Fuck yeah, she said yes!

(They have been doing this for half an hour. At the full hour mark Lucy is giving a thorough monologue about why she should be both Maid of Honor and Best (Wo)man, it’s only fair, really, she’s known them both longest/best than any of his law school fellows…)

((Jonathan is still nodding at her when he falls asleep and off the chair.))

(((Mina herds them both to bed, silently promising herself never to mention she’d caught on to their plans from day one)))

I don’t know, I just really think it’s vital to recall that these characters are all just barely grazing young adulthood as of the novel’s time, and their entire lives have been spent growing up with each other. Even if the romantic context weren’t there, this is a certified found family trio—we just don’t get the chance to see and appreciate it within the novel due to certain vampiric prick circumstances. 

Which is yet another strike against the bloodsucking bastard man. If it weren’t for Dracula, Jonathan would have gotten home on time and we’d have gotten a whole beach episode in Whitby with the three of them. Sigh.

#yes I do love hurting myself with headcanons why do you ask? #really though if a good adaptation ever happens #I'd love it if they examined the closeness of these characters before Dracula smashes everything with a big gothic hammer #it adds an extra layer of Something Precious Lost to the whole ordeal #not just personal danger #but the threat to this specific group of people who have known and loved each other since they were children #anyway #lucy westenra #mina murray #mina harker #jonathan harker #dracula #dracula daily

[emilykaldwen]

The Maiden and the Drowning Boy | Aegon x OC | Chapter Seven

Rating: Explicit Ships: Aegon II Targaryen x Abrogail Strong (Lyonel Strong's Daughter), Jacaerys Velaryon x Helaena Targaryen

Summary: As the kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos, Alicent Hightower swaps the pieces on the board: Aegon will marry Abrogail Strong, Larys’ younger sister and heir to Harrenhal. Caught in the web of intrigue and political machinations, the pair must figure out where their loyalties lie, and what they mean to one another.

Tropes: Childhood Sweethearts/Friends to Lovers, Generational Trauma and Cycles of Abuse, It's All About the Character Development, Unreliable Narrators, Multi-POV, Canon Divergent, Bisexual Aegon II Targaryen, Book/Show Mash Up, Fix-It Of Sorts, Stopping the Cycle of Abuse before it gets us all killed, Team Neutral, fairy tale vibes meets victorian medievalism meets grrm

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Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six

AO3 Link

CHAPTER SEVEN - THE LOOK YOU GIVE

Abby and Helaena find their voices in different ways, and we have new arrivals at the Red Keep.

Abby pressed her hands against her bared collarbones, feeling the prickle of heat that crept down her cheeks and flushed across every bit of skin that was revealed by the square cut neckline of the new gown. Wylla Karstark’s ruby red pout was pulled into an amused smile while she tugged at the laces of the other girl’s bodice. The pale blue taffeta had a satin shine and was, by far, the loveliest thing she’d ever owned. The neckline and cuffs of her fitted sleeves were edged with the finest ivory lace. Her golden red curls hung freely down her back, with delicate, mother of pearl combs keeping her hair from her face and the light, ivory veil that covered her hair in place. She watched Wylla move in the reflection of the mirror, wishing her own hair could look as thick and lovely as the elder girl’s raven curls.

“You look lovely, my lady.” Wylla’s northern accent was a song in itself, her amusement nothing but lighthearted. “You might make him swallow his tongue, since he already can’t keep his eyes off you.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Aegon’s…” Abby bit her lip before Wylla tsked at her like a cat so she could dab some coral paint onto her mouth. Abby remained still and silent until she was done. “Aegon does, well, I mean I do catch him looking. But,” her brow furrowed and her hands fluttered and smoothed over the bodice of the dress. She missed her woven belt, and the feel of the tiny mends she’d made in the fabric.

“But what?” Wylla asked with a finely arched eyebrow and promptly reached up to pinch Abby’s cheeks until they went a deeper pink. She’d been here only a fortnight, having come south with her brother while he discussed some sort of trade agreements, and was promptly pulled into service by the queen. Better than a Hightower cousin, in Abby’s book. With Wylla, she didn’t feel spied on like Lady Penrose, nor belittled. In the short time they had known one another, Abby thought she might be making a friend.

‘Maybe', came the shy, giddy thought, 'she could be a sister.’ She loved Helaena, who had been her sister and companion, with all her heart, but Wylla had quickly filled the empty spot in Abby’s chest that she suspected her own sister, Corynna, should have filled.

It was a strange feeling to not have to take care of someone. While she was still struggling to get used to the idea of being waited on, she wouldn’t deny that there was something in her that ached to be cared for. Wylla’s no nonsense and relatively pleasant manner, and surprising sarcasm, was a delight and a surprise and she found herself hanging on her every word, looking to her for guidance in only these last few days.

“But what, my lady?” Came Wylla’s repeated question, and her cool fingers touched her chin, rubbing off a bit of stray lip paint with her thumb. Abby crinkled her nose and huffed.

“But I feel as though this is too much. That I shouldn’t be… that it’s unseemly to attract attention.”

“Och!” Her fingers flicked the tip of Abby’s nose. “What southern nonsense are you spouting now? You’re betrothed to a prince, are you not?” Abby nodded. “You want him to admire you, and no others, right?”

A heated sensation curled in her chest thinking about Aegon looking at other girls, and resolutely ignoring her. “Well, of course I want him to admire me. I want to please him.”

“And he should also please you, that’s what my mother always says. A woman takes her own pleasure in a marriage, just as much as the husband, and if you flush any redder, you’ll turn into one of those apples, I’m sure.”

Abby nodded again, pressing her hands once more to the expanse of collarbone on display. She felt so silly being self-conscious about her dress. It was nowhere near as revealing as some of the dresses the ladies of the court wore. Nowhere near as revealing as what some of the women she’d seen Aegon flirt with wearing. Collarbones and shoulders and the swells of their breasts teased in the candlelight; Aegon flush with wine and preening beneath the attention.

“Mayhaps I should tug the shoulders down some more?”

Wylla did little to disguise the indelicate snort she let out and Abby felt her hands tug along the tops of her sleeves. “Won’t work on this dress but maybe you should push your breasts up.”

“My what?” Abby squeaked, her hands now pressing against her perfectly concealed bust.

Wylla rolled her eyes, and shoved her hands down her own top to adjust her breasts. “Now you try.”

“I… Oh, just…” Muttering soft curses beneath her breath, she reached down into her tightly fitted bodice to push her breasts up so they swelled ever so softly, framed by the lace. “Do you think he’ll like this?”

“My dear girl, he won’t know what to do with himself. Lucky for me, I get to watch. Now come on.”

Abby’s fingers carefully clasped the thin, silver chain around her neck. The charm was the shield and rivers of her house, tiny against her decolletage. It was so delicate she was always afraid of snapping it, but it was the one bit of jewelry she had. So fretful over herself, Abby did not immediately notice Helaena falling in step beside her, dressed in pale pink and silvery blue, sleeves puffed at her shoulders and elbows. Abby noticed her breasts looked nice in the wide cut of the neckline, not as deep as her own.

“It’ll be better once you have the jewels on you,” Helaena said as if picking up Abby’s self-conscious thoughts, or maybe she simply understood the look. “I like it when Aemond looks at my breasts. Aegon likes breasts, he talks about them all the time. Aemond says Aegon talks about yours a lot.”

Wylla, half a step behind, positively cackled. “Oh, this is going to be glorious.”

Abby knew she was as red as her hair. “I-I can’t do this, I have to change.” Helaena grabbed her by the arm and jerked her back, her other hand coming up to straighten the necklace around Abby’s neck.

“No you don’t. You change nothing, do you understand? There is nothing lacking, and there is nothing wrong with you,” Helaena said softly, brushing a kiss at the corner of her mouth.

She opened her mouth and then shut it with a click of her teeth, nodding mutely and took a deep breath. “I’m not this nervous seeing him day to day,” she said softly.

“Nor when you pulled him behind the tapestry outside mother’s room to kiss him,” Helaena said knowingly, a smile playing across her face. “Or when Aemond found you pushing him up against the bookcase.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Abby could see Wylla’s face going red from how hard she was trying to keep her grin at bay. Failing, of course, but she appreciated the effort. She shifted on her feet and smoothed her fingers over the delicate satin bodice once more. “I don’t think that’s true. Tis I who…” She trailed off, gesturing vaguely into nothing. “It’s rather unbecoming. He never initiates anything. He’s exceedingly good about it.” Which continued to confuse her to no end because she’d seen the way he’d ogle serving maids and the other ladies, not to mention how he did, in fact, like kissing her. She’d seen him reach and pinch a lady’s hip while passing, that stupid and devastating smirk crossing his features. His hands would encompass her waist or cup her cheeks, but other than that, he surprisingly did not reach for her.

He also didn’t complain when she reached for him. Aegon didn’t resist when she was the one who dragged him into quiet spots, grinning at her giggles and returning her kisses.

“It’s Aegon. He’s a fool, and he drinks too much, and if you don’t think he’s as nervous about you as you are of him, then I don’t know what you’ve been paying attention to our whole lives.” Helaena’s tone was gentle, if firm, as if patiently explaining to a child that the sun rose at dawn and set at dusk. Her lavender eyes looked down the hall towards the grand staircase and then reached up to adjust one of the combs in Abby’s hair. Helaena’s own silver-gold hair was braided back from her face, a vine of pearls woven into it. Guilt stung her that she hadn’t been the one to do Helaena’s hair.

“So you’re saying he’s too nervous to, um…”

“Accost you?” Wylla supplied helpfully. “In a good way.”

Abby huffed. “Yes. Accost me the way I want to accost him. No, surely there’s a better word than that.”

A smirk crossed Helaena’s features, wicked and lovely across her pretty mouth. “You want him up your skirts the way you want to see beneath his breeches.”

“Helaena!” Abby gasped just as Wylla let out a bubbling screech of giggles, unable to contain them. Helaena joined in the mirth and Abby growled at them both. “I am not dignifying that with an answer.”

The Targaryen princess, a dragonrider in her own right, with a mount older than most, leaned in to brush her cheek against her own, mouth close to her ear. “I know you were thinking about Aegon when we practiced kisses,” Helaena murmured, mirth in her voice but even amidst all the teasing, Abby didn’t feel belittled. “And you’ve been putting it to good use.” She pulled back, and Abby breathed through the heated pool in her belly and all the squirming wriggling that came with it. “It’s Aegon,” Helaena repeated.

She nodded. “It’s Aegon.”

“He calls his horse Mighty Mighty, and if he could get away with it, he’d likely go sleep in the Dragonpit next to Sunfyre.”

Abby felt herself smiling at that, a soft hint of a giggle escaping her. “Mighty Kostōba, the mighty mighty horse.” None had the heart to correct him when he was young, but the eventual teasing still made him growl. Helaena pressed her hands to her shoulders, turning her back towards the stairs and pushing her forward, smacking her bottom for good measure and earning a yelp for the trouble. The princess grinned, tongue poking between her teeth and blushing, Abby returned it, heading through the growing throng of people moving through the corridor.

“You’re not used to this, are you, my lady?” Wylla murmured beside her.

“Abby, please,” she returned with the anxious thread still in her voice, picking up her skirt out of habit. Thankfully her skirts did not trail. She wouldn’t want to ruin the finery worrying about picking her way through the city.

“Mmm, we’re in public now,” Wylla said but bumped her shoulder against her and the warm fondness usually reserved for the clutch bloomed in her chest at the elder’s camaraderie. “How scandalous.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Abby giggled, inclining her head in greeting as they passed Lord Tyland on the stairs, who only spared a surprised look at her as he headed up. “You’re ridiculous and I love it, truly.” She felt the northerner keep close and Abby reached a hand behind her to take Wylla’s and give it a reassuring squeeze. The Keep was a lot, she knew, and she’d grown up there. She couldn’t imagine how much it was for a woman from the edge of the world and silently hoped that chaperoning them through the city would not be too much.

It was then her eyes fell upon Aegon, lounging at the foot of the stairs against the bannister, arm slung over the carving of the dragon that reclined along the the end, its forelegs and head resting at the pillar. His moonlit hair was a cloud of soft waves around his head, his pale skin pink and very scrubbed clean. The leather jerkin he wore was new: buttersoft black leather with shining, golden clasps in the shape of dragon heads, their gaping mouths swallowing the flame closures. The shirt beneath was red, of all things, instead of the green his mother forced him and Aemond into. As crimson as the Targaryen dragon embolized on the banners around them, the cuffs of the linen were tied with gold lacing that criss crossed their way up his sleeves, his arms crossed while he waited. The golden belt around his waist was carved to represent dragon scales, and a dagger in a matching scabbard hung from it, the pommel also a golden dragon. Even the leather trousers he wore, shoved into shining black boots, had the same gold lacing up the sides.

She bit her lip, admiring him while he hadn’t noticed her approach, until she saw that his gaze was towards a group of women laughing near the doors. The fluttering, heated squirming in her belly increased, and she made a sound in the back of her throat, aware of it only because of how it scratched.

“Did you just growl?” She barely heard Wylla mutter before she was making her way down the stairs.

“There you are!” Abby declared, a smile on her face, feeling the chain of her necklace slide against her collarbones, feeling the warm metal of her sigil charm fall into the slight space between her breasts. Her voice felt too loud, for she did her best to ignore the other gazes that turned in their direction, focused only on Aegon who craned his neck at the call before he jerked up from his languid position to turn fully towards her.

There was a deeply satisfied feeling that trickled down her spine at the way his head meant to turn before looking back again, his lilac eyes widening and turning fully toward her. She smiled far more genuinely this time, feeling the flutter start up again as she approached and took the hand he offered her. “You look very handsome,” she told him softly as he simply gaped at her, her own mouth dry. Her belly fluttered again, and she reached up with her free hand to hook her fingers in the gold necklace he wore, the sapphires winking in the light streaming through the windows. She used her hold on it to tug him down enough to brush a soft kiss against his cheek, leaving behind just a slight shine of the coral paint over the flush of pink that suffused his own cheeks.

She heard Aegon exhale a muttered curse that had her swallowing, his hand warm where it enveloped hers, and he turned his head as she pulled back so his nose could bump against hers. It surprised her, and she let out a soft chuckle that had a grin spreading slowly across his face. Sharp and playful, safe and edged in danger all the same.

His pupils had blown black, the lilac a vibrant ring.

Abby rocked back on her heels, smiling back at him and let go of his necklace.

“Good thing we’re taking the damned carriage,” he said, his thumb stroking against the palm of her hand while he guided her down the last few steps.

“Why is that?” she asked and Aegon tugged her closer so she could slip her hand into the crook of his arm. They were being watched - they were meant to be watched - and she wanted to hide her face against his arm, but instead she only tilted her head towards his as he inclined his own.

“Because I fear someone would try to pull you from the horse and spirit you away,” he said, a sidelong glance towards the guards. She squeezed his arm, her other hand coming up to press against his chest while they made their way out the main doors to the courtyard. The usual smell of the baking red stone had given way to something that was earthier and fresh - the storms the previous few days having washed away the dust and dirt that clung to the air.

The carriage was waiting, the pair of horses attached pawing at the ground, their bay coats freshly brushed and harnesses clinking with the shakes of their heads. The Cargylls were both mounted on their horses as their escorts for the outing, Ser Harrold beside them, his polished helm gleaming beneath his arm.

Kostōba, Aegon’s horse, nearly as precious to him as Sunfyre, stood patiently beside the carriage, reins held by one of the stablehands while the footman stood at the open carriage door. The stallion was a gift for Aegon’s eighth name day nearly a decade ago, and had grown larger than most of the other horses in the stable that didn’t belong to the Kingsguard. His coat was a creamy gold color, dappled in a way that made it seem like he had scales of his own. Kostōba’s eyes, bright and brilliantly blue, took in his surroundings, and he let out a soft sound when Aegon whistled to him.

Abby’s fingers tightened in Aegon’s arm when he started to pull away, confusion tripping at her words. “A-are you not, are we not riding together?” The previous warmth had given way to an icy discomfort, and she reached up to press a hand to her belly, her fingers scraping against the fabric with nervous tension.

“We’re going into the city, so I thought you’d feel more comfortable riding with Lady Karstark.” He avoided her gaze, looking at some other spot on her face. His eyes darted lower, along her low neckline. Heat prickled against her skin, but she was not as giddy for it now.

“You said we’d be riding in the carriage, Aegon.” She hated how unsure her voice sounded in her ears, and she dropped her hands from him and instead held her skirts. A deep breath, and a glance at Wylla to give her a slight, reassuring smile. “Is this because we’re not alone? Because of last time?”

Last time they’d come from the Dragonpit had resulted in them being caught upon arrival, Abby half dragged across his lap, her fingers in his hair and his hands bunched in her skirts. The Queen had subsequently forbidden them from riding Sunfyre together. Abby’s feet were to remain firmly on the ground until the wedding.

She’d been the one to initiate that as well.

Aegon shook his head, a sound escaping him, and he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Immediately, she felt her mouth water, wanting to bite on the tip of his finger, and she allowed him to tilt her head back. The jealousy that lingered hoped those ladies saw this; that he touched her so intimately and not them.

“I meant what I said about rather you being in the carriage than someone thinking that you’re ripe for the picking.” While it was endearing in its own protective way, it now rang hollow to Abby’s ears. They were burning beneath her curls and the soft, ivory veil that hung around her.

“We have the Kingsguard, Aegon, I don’t understand. For that reason, I shouldn’t leave the Keep at all.” Aegon pulled away, brushing a kiss against her forehead, and she longed for more. She longed for his lips in other places. “Aegon-” she made to follow him but Wylla caught her elbow and ushered her towards the footman.

“Get in, make yourself cozy, I’ll handle this.” She said it so matter of factly that Abby could only stare at her. Wylla merely smiled back, bobbing a curtsy, and gathered her dove gray skirts in hand, marching over to Aegon.

Abby climbed in, but lingered in the doorway to watch in fascination as Wylla Karstark hissed something to Aegon, unafraid of whatever royal protocol should be followed. There was some gesturing, and she watched her lady point toward the carriage, angling her way into Aegon’s space, not to flirt, but very clearly to intimidate. Aegon seemed to hesitate, and then shoved the reins back in the stable boy’s hands, tenderly petting the stallion’s neck and murmuring to him, before he marched towards the carriage. Abby hurriedly drew back and took her place against the far corner from the door, smoothing her skirt.

“Better this than me getting Ser Harrold,” she heard Wylla mutter, half in the carriage to glare at Aegon who was behind. “I’m not afraid of some pampered southern boy, dragonriding prince or no.”

Wylla gave her a smile as she climbed in and Abby stared at her in confusion while Aegon followed, throwing himself into the seat across from her as the door latched shut.

“Kostōba not so mighty today?” she asked, her hurt feelings demanding she needle him, even as her usual cheerful mask slid over her features. Aegon barely spared her a glance, pouting like a child instead of a man grown.

The carriage jerked as they headed through the gate and down the road. Wylla had turned her attention to unlatching the lattice covering on the window to peer out, the illusion of privacy appreciated. Aegon’s neck was as red as his shirt. He was clearly refusing to look at her and it wasn’t the first time he’d done this. In fact, Aegon had jumped from any casual touch she gave for the past few months. It was why they hadn’t ridden on Sunfyre together until they’d gone flying on the picnic and he’d apologized to her. Where she’d kissed him. In the subsequent weeks, between kisses she’d stolen because it was her stealing all the kisses, and dragging Aegon behind blind corners, although he never complained.

“I meant it, you know. That you look handsome today.” While she didn’t mind silence, she didn’t like this silence. The type where it felt like there were teeth along the edges, chewing into it if they weren’t careful. “I don’t know why that seems to have offended you so much.” The words came out a little harsher than she meant, her arms wrapped around herself and her gaze turned away.

“It didn’t offend me. I just thought that you’d like some privacy.” There was a crack at the edge of Aegon’s voice and it drew her gaze to the prince. Her betrothed. The one who tasted like whatever sweets he’d stolen from her, and whose hands felt like they’d swallow her whole, so hot that she could feel them through the layers of her gowns.

Abby turned from the window to look at him and met his gaze. Not as black as it had been in the hall. His eyes always went dark when she kissed him, so she knew that it was supposed to be a good thing, and she couldn’t understand why he was acting like this. She had been agonizing for days about this. She had just been lamenting to Wylla and Helaena about this and thought ‘This is just silly, Aegon cares for me, look at how he watched me come down the stairs’ but his mercurial behavior was nearly as bad as his mother’s.

The comparison was on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she met his lilac gaze with her own, blue eyes fixed upon his face, and said, “One moment, your hands are in my hair, and you look at me like I’m some sort of salvation or that you want to devour me. The next moment, like just now, you couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Lady Wylla had to threaten you to get in here-”

“She did no such-”

“I absolutely did,” Wylla interrupted. “Oh, wait, I’m not supposed to be listening.”

Aegon’s mouth snapped shut, and Abby didn’t glance over at the other side of the carriage. She kept her eyes on his. “If you don’t want me, then we’ll turn the carriage around and tell your mother.” She smoothed her hands over her skirt and took a deep breath. She was worried that tears would threaten, but her eyes remained mercifully clear and she raised her eyebrows at him. Aegon was staring at her, the pout faded from his sullen expression to look wide eyed in surprise. “We can. You can stop this. It’ll fade away, only just a rumor. A dalliance. There is no shame in being a prince’s momentary plaything, since we haven’t… I kissed you first, after all. I have only ever kissed you first and I will not let you keep doing this to me-”

One second, Aegon was frozen in his seat staring at her, the next, his hands grabbed hers and yanked her to him. Abby fell into him with the rocking of the carriage, and before she could straighten herself, Aegon kissed her.

Aegon kissed her first.

One large hand wound around her back while the other cradled the back of her head, his fingers tangled in the hair that escaped her veil. His mouth wasn't as soft as it had been before, this time moving as if he would claim her here in this carriage. She gasped when he tightened his hold against her, and he used the opportunity to slide his tongue between her parted lips, to curl it behind her teeth. She swallowed his sigh, her fingers bunching up the soft, red linen of his shirtsleeves.

Wylla’s presence was forgotten. All that existed was the way Aegon was kissing her like he was starving, as if someone had tried to take her from him - like in a song, like she was the source of every breath he needed. When they finally parted, Aegon tilted his head back against the side of the carriage, watching her with half lidded eyes and his mouth smeared with coral lip paint.

He hummed and she could feel it vibrate through her and she found herself humming in return, still holding herself with her grip on his arms. “I’ll fight anyone who suggests you’re a mere dalliance,” he said with his voice heavy. Abby reached up to cup his chin and stroke her thumb along where the color had smeared, wiping it away.

“So you’ll fight yourself, Your Grace?” She couldn’t help but point out that kissing her senseless was well and good, but her heart still felt sore and confused by his treatment.

Aegon scoffed and drew her closer with his fingers still cradling her head. She felt warm, and soft, and the sound that escaped her was equally so - a little mewl and a question she didn’t have the words to voice but that he seemed to understand because he licked along her cupid’s bow, teasing her and nipping at the swollen pout of her lower lip. “This is why I am the way I am, hunītsos.”

“I don’t understand,” she murmured with a shake of her head. Aegon’s fingers tightened briefly and drew a soft gasp from her when his grip tugged at her scalp. She shivered and his eyes glanced down to her low neckline, his teeth scraping over his own lower lip like he wanted to bury her face between her breasts. The understanding of why Wylla was in the carriage with them nudged at her, because had they been alone, Abby didn’t think she would even deny him. In fact, she thought she might even invite him to do so.

“What don’t you understand?” he asked and his fingers slowly loosened from her hair and pet her curls back into place before drawing his fingers slowly down her jaw and along her hammering pulse in her throat. “Do you not understand how badly I crave you? Because I thought that I made it abundantly clear.”

She blushed and shook her head. His thumb stroked along the front of her throat and she stilled, the weight and warmth of his hand making her tremble, the ache in her breasts taking her aback. “Sometimes, maybe. I’ve felt very…” She tried to find the words amidst her shyness. “I’ve felt like I’ve been chasing you, that I desire you more than you do for me.”

The wicked smirk she adored cut across his plump mouth and he squeezed her throat gently, pulling a gasp from her. “Abrogail Strong, I desire and crave you to madness and if I let myself go, I fear that I won’t keep myself from devouring you whole.”

Helaena pretended not to notice that there was a smudge of what looked like strawberry jam on the corner of little Floris’ mouth. Instead, her eyes took in the way one of the girl’s black braids was a little looser than the other. It lacked symmetry in a way that made her fingers itch to fix it. The girl’s dark eyes were wide with excitement and she could hardly keep still - a grasshopper bouncing on her feet and trying as hard as she could to contain herself in their presence. It did little to stop her from darting her gaze around, little mouth parted in wonder. She supposed the Red Keep was a magnificent sight to one who’d never seen it up close like this, let alone on dragonback.

Helaena’s lavender eyes slid to the elder girl.

Cassandra, the eldest of Lord Borros’ daughters, was more sedate in her observations. She did not share the same bubbling excitement as her little sister, and the black traveling gown she wore underscored the radical differences between her and the butter yellow clad Floris. Despite outer appearances, there was a blatant curiosity in her gaze as she took in the bustle of the courtyard; the Baratheon caravan had arrived ahead of the ladies, and the last of the trunks had just been carried inside to their new lodgings. Now it was courtiers and guardsmen, and servants all.

She felt Cassandra’s eyes fall on her critically, not unlike other ladies at court. Helaena had grown used to their gazes and the fact she did not fit the mold of a princess. She was not vibrant the way stories of her elder sister painted her - The Realm’s Delight, laughing and shining and riding and dancing. Helaena was quiet, far preferring the solitude of the garden to being in crowds, but she made every effort to be nice, to be friendly, and while she’d never heard a whisper about some perceived cruelty, Helaena felt as if she couldn’t quite get it.

She could not mirror the way Cassandra Baratheon looked to her, a golden necklace made up of antlers around her regal throat - a look that even a good week in a carriage could not take away how utterly put together she appeared..

How much of a princess she looked.

‘Sharp and soothing,’ Helaena thought. ‘The mint winds and chokes like ivy. The children can’t breathe, it’s bursting from their mouths.’

She blinked, shifting, and her shoulder brushed against Aemond’s where he was a warm presence beside her. His mouth was pressed in his usual stern expression, but at her movement, he lifted a hand to touch between her shoulder blades.

It was moments like these where Helaena felt most grateful for Aemond. Not when he was railing about their future together, the one that he’d decided and she didn’t deny, or about his place in life. It was the softer moments, when it felt like before: before the loss of his eye, before Vhagar, when it felt like her brother was there beside her once more. Quiet in his companionship, unwavering in his support, near supernatural in his understanding of her.

This was the Aemond she missed. The Aemond she cared for, the Aemond who was so absent.

Emboldened by the moment, Helaena straightened, a smile soft on her face. She did not need a crown or a herald to announce her place.

“It is our pleasure to welcome you both to King’s Landing. I hope that your journey wasn’t too difficult,” Helaena said, pushing past the urge to scream nonsense and make scary faces at them both to send them running all the way back to Storm’s End.

“We saw a bear!” Floris exclaimed with bright excitement. “Didn’t we, Cass? It was huge! I thought the guards were going to kill it, but they managed to chase it -”

“What my sister means to say is that the journey had its moments, but thankfully was uneventful, your Graces,” Cassandra cut in, a hand placed on the younger’s shoulder and a smooth curtsy performed. Her voice wasn’t unkind, but perhaps the long journey had made Lady Cassandra less tolerable to her younger sister’s excitement.

“Hmmm,” Aemond said, and Helaena smiled. Floris’ gaze was darting back from Aemond’s face to Helaena’s hands and she felt her brother shift beside her uncomfortably. “If you’ll follow us, we’ll take you to her grace, Queen Alicent, to be greeted.” Floris’ eyes went wide and Aemond was already turning on his polished boot to lead the way.

Cassandra’s own eyes widened some, her hands spasming against her skirts before reaching for Floris’ hand, jerking her behind. “Come along and don’t gawk,” she hissed softly, and Floris whined in response, a grumbling, “Not so tight, Cassa.” Helaena pursed her lips and followed Aemond, leading the pair.

It was, amusingly enough, Cassandra who let out the first quiet gasp entering the entry hall to Maegor’s Holdfast. The ceiling rose up so high that it was obscured with shadow. It was the early afternoon and the place was bustling with courtiers and administrators, all giving Aemond wide berth as he cut a path like a shark through the water.

“Your rooms will be within the ladies apartments,” Aemond explained when they reached the second landing. He paused, gesturing to the right. “It’s where the unmarried attendants of our mother’s stay.” His voice was even and steady, ever the proper one, ever the confident speaker. Ever everything, that was Aemond. Yet it rankled her that he would take charge of this when it should be her.

‘He’s only trying to protect you’, Helaena thought and while he was good at that, while she was grateful for it, Mother did the same. Everyone did the same.

“However, since you shall be serving me,” Helaena said, raising her voice and plastering a smile on her face, remembering that smiles could be heard in voices, “And Lady Abrogail, you shall come to us in the mornings for duties once things are settled. No need to worry about that now.”

Floris nodded excitedly, but her sister looked on more sedately, her expression polite. “Is it possible to have our own rooms until you… have everything sorted?” She asked. “I hope you can appreciate that given our station and our familial connection, such things would be appropriate.”

Familial connection? Helaena thought. She did not look at Aemond, not needing him to think he had to step in for her.

“I appreciate your concerns, Lady Cassandra. If you are concerned about your sleeping arrangements, you may bring it up with our mother, the Queen.” Helaena smoothed her hands over the soft pink of her skirt and gestured for them to follow. “This way!” Her voice rang through the hall and she fell in step beside Aemond, head held high.

Wylla stepped on her heels again with a half-distracted ‘sorry’ that Abby waved off, again. King’s Landing was bursting with activity that threatened to rival the crowds that were sure to arrive in the next moon for Aegon’s nameday tournament. The festival was to go on for a fortnight at least, as apprentices across the guilds presented their masterpieces to be judged and reviewed. It meant that the stalls were filled to bursting and more had sprung up in every nook and cranny and side street of the city. From finely woven fabrics and dyes, to ropes and carefully crafted saddles, the market was bright and loud with the calls of commerce.

Aegon’s right hand gripped her left, fingers entwined, and kept her between him and the stalls rather than risk losing one another in the stream of traffic down the center lane. They paused in front of a smith, the heat of the forge not as uncomfortable in the heat of the city for the breeze that kicked through.

“Oh, he’s a handsome one,” Wylla murmured, and Abby followed her gaze to the handsome smith covered in sweat and black soot, his linen shirt soaked, his arms bulging with the effort of hammering. Abby giggled softly, humming in agreement. She glanced at Aegon, who was perusing over the line of daggers on display, and noticed his own gaze flicking towards the blacksmith with clear appreciation.

Abby hummed and leaned over to brush her mouth against his ear. “Do you think he’s prettier than me?” she whispered.

Aegon didn’t glance at her, he didn’t even pause in his dual inspection of the merchandise nor the man before him. His tongue darted out, pink and wet, to slide along his lower lip in thought as he reached for another dagger. “I think he’s taller than you, which has its own advantages, especially with those shoulders,” he told her softly, tapping the hilt of the dagger. “Open, I want to see if it fits you.” She held out her free hand - she still hadn’t let go of his and he had not let go of hers - and he pressed the dagger into her palm, instructing her to wrap her fingers around it. “Sometimes one needs a good handling.”

Abby’s gaze flicked up at him, Aegon’s lilac eyes fixed on adjusting her grip. “I don’t usually hold a dagger like this. Aemond did teach me properly. Also, are you implying that I couldn’t give you a good handling?”

“I don’t think you are big enough to pick me up over your shoulder and slam me down on something.” Aegon’s lilac gaze met hers from beneath the soft bits of silver hair hanging in his eyes and he pulled the dagger from her grasp and set it back down. Even as she blushed, Abby didn’t look away. She smiled prettily at him instead and was pleased when he grinned back. She liked this side of him. No, she adored this side of him. The way he flirted, and held onto her, and the way it felt as easy as breathing between them like it always had. Only now, her gaze was more obviously drawn to that infernal tongue of his that kept swiping along his lower lip.

He was doing it on purpose. She was sure of it.

“I feel like you’re challenging me, Your Grace. Must I also now throw myself in the training yard and hope that I grow as big and strong as my brother? I think you’ll be sorely disappointed.” Aegon snorted and picked up another dagger. This one had an ebony handle carved with grooves for the fingers to fit and a thick silver inlay that encircled it and along the guard. “I don’t need a dagger,” she protested when he had her hold it and frowned at the fit.

“You see,” he murmured, releasing his hold on her hand and having her properly adjust her grip. “I already know you can handle me, my Lady. I think you’re a natural at it, even small as you are. But if you’d like to be handled, be exposed to new ways of doing things…new techniques…” He trailed off and made an approving sound at how she was holding the weapon. Somehow it made her flush all the more. “I’m at your service to give you whatever demonstration you desire.”

He met her eyes then, mouth twitched in a slight grin, but she saw the nervous look in his gaze.

Abby pushed up on her toes to press a kiss on his smirking mouth and drew away before either of them had a chance to deepen it. “I’ve been told I’m a very astute learner, and I always like to learn new things, especially with demonstrations.” Flushed, she reached for Wylla who was still admiring the blacksmith and took her hand. “We’re going to look at the fabrics over here.”

She’d much rather they do that than make a scene in front of the attractive blacksmith.

“If you two wanted privacy, then we’ll find it. I’ll stand guard outside the carriage door. Or, he’s the prince, I’m sure he can just get a room somewhere.” Wylla’s look was innocent and compassionate when Abby looked over her shoulder to glare at her, cheeks flushed red. “You know, people like us don’t marry for love often, but if you have that with one another, there’s no shame in being so affectionate before marriage.” Wylla nudged her shoulder against hers while they plucked at the delicate spools of ribbons and carefully embroidered lace.

“Being accosted in front of the blacksmith is something I’d hardly call simple affection,” Abby said.

“Weren’t you only just complaining that he didn’t accost you?”

“I need to find another word for that, and yes, I know I was! That’s not what I mean.” Abby ran a length of silky, vibrant green ribbon through her fingers, and tried to find shades of red and blue to match. “I just mean there’s a difference between doing it in public! And…”

“And?” Wylla prompted, plucking up a spool of black linen thread in hand.

“And I simply get very flustered. That’s all.” She reached into her the small purse hanging off her arm to retrieve the delicate fabric samples the seamstress had brought the previous week. “I need embellishments to go with this.”

“Oh,” Wylla breathed and ran her fingers gently over the ivory satin. “Abby, these are lovely.”

“Do you think so?” She held the pieces up to the spools of lace. “I’m half tempted to simply make my own lace but that feels so extravagant and excessive.”

Wylla clucked her tongue. “Must I remind you again, Lady Strong, that you are marrying Aegon Targaryen, Prince of the Realm? You will become a princess on your wedding day. You should have extravagance and excess because if you don’t have it for that occasion, what occasion will you allow it?” Her voice was not quiet and Abby noticed the pair of girls managing the stall perk up from where they were attending to another lady and her daughter at the mention of marrying Aegon Targaryen. The other customers looked at her as well, and Abby smiled politely back and resumed her perusal of the lace embellishments. She let her veil fall forward enough to hide some of her face, uncomfortable with the attention now that Aegon was not distracting her, moving easily through the crowds as if he were born for it.

That’s because he was born for it, she reminded herself.

“These look a bit like dragon scales, don’t they?” Abby ran her thumb gently over the uniquely shaped scallops of soft lace, mind thinking of decorations and embellishments and appliques for the gown that they were making. So many Myrish knots to embroider. She knew there was more fabric on its way, and that the delicate and sought after Myrish lace would be beyond comparison but presented with what was before her, Abby’s mind turned in contemplation. “Excuse me, my lady.”

The woman did not appear much older than Wylla, with a shock of golden curls peeking out of her little white cap. She was the younger of the pair who were manning the booth, and she bobbed awkwardly behind the counter.

“I am no lady, milady,” she said, her accent a proud, Westerlands clip. “Neva, if you please. Is there anything that you like before you? This isn’t everything we have but-”

Abby smiled, raising a hand to slow the girl down. “Neva, is this all your work? It’s absolutely beautiful.”

She glowed as bright as her hair, nodding exuberantly. “It is, milady! I’ve been an apprentice for nigh on ten years. I’ve submitted my masterpiece for guild acceptance.”

She couldn’t help but keep smiling back at the excitement Neva shared and gestured for the threads that Wylla was picking up. “Well, I’ll take these, if you’d be so kind, as well as… well I don’t want to take the whole spool of this.” Abby pursed her lips.

In the pause, Neva continued. “I can also make custom pieces, should you need something particular, milady.” The girl blushed but pushed on. “I did hear you mentioning a wedding, but I wasn’t dropping eaves! So if there is something in particular you’re looking for.”

Abby hummed softly, fingers still holding the delicate spool of scalloped lace edging. “I would like that very much. If you have more samples, I want you to bring them to the castle a sennight from today. The seamstress is coming back to do a fitting and I would like to look at what we can make. Is that too soon?”

The blushing cheeks of the Westerland girl went pale before flushing even deeper and she looked as if she was about to burst like a Dornish fire flare right there in the street. “Milady, I don’t know what to say! Yes, yes I will certainly be there. Thank you…” She trailed off suddenly, eyes widening before dropping into a curtsy, followed by the other women behind the booth. Abby felt Aegon brush against her back as he leaned over her shoulder to pluck at the lace.

“Pretty,” he said. “Do you like them?”

She nodded. “I thought the-they would look nice for my wedding dress. Do you like them? I want you to like them.” Abby tilted her head to look at him, teeth catching at her lip while Aegon’s cheeks flushed lightly pink.

“Aye, I like them.” His voice was soft and he gestured to the lot, almost negligently. “And the ribbons? We’ll take it.” Aegon spared a look at the gaping Neva, plucking the bag of gold from Wylla’s hands and tossing it to the girl.

Abby blushed, glancing between the gaping girls and Aegon, who was already looking around. “Thank you, Neva,” she said, which seemed to pull the other girl from her shock and start plucking items. “I do hope this isn’t all of your hard work.”

“Oh, no, not at all, milady.” She was positively glowing. “Good fortune to be sure."

[Chapter Eight]

#fic: the maiden and the drowning boy #aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii targaryen fic #aegon ii targaryen fanfic #aegon targaryen #aegon x oc #aegon ii targaryen x oc #hotd #hotd fic #hotd fanfic #house strong #aegon x abby

[irisxstardust]

1 | Shut Up

SUMMARY: You and Ellie used to be friends until one day when she decided she was done. You hadn't spoken to her since and now, five years later, you are given the unfortunate task of going on patrol with the girl. A little argument and one stalker later, you're playing her hero. But is it enough to repair the damage made to your relationship all those years ago?

A/N: wowzers. ive spent like two weeks going back and forth on this piece bc UGH i want to get into the cutie stuff but i like want that angst and slow burn yk. and i also want it to be good like this is my first real tumblr post and yall are such good writers ive got a lotta standards to meet. ugh pls tell me its not boring i dont want it to be boring since its not fluff. anyway there will be more but im not sure how fast ill be able to write it. i like really dk how many more parts i could make of this ngl like i just wanna make a happy amazing pt 2 where reader and ellie just like live happily ever after. also this is my first time writing in second person so pls give me grace if its bad lmfao. love you🫶🏻

CW: cursing, angst?/slow burn, fem!reader (she/her), CAT (🤮🤧😵‍💫)

WC: 3,688

You didn’t hate Ellie Williams, not in the slightest.

In fact, when you first met the girl you were impressed by her nonchalant attitude and how quickly she adjusted to life in Jackson. You admired the bond she shared with her companion, Joel - the closeness they shared, the softness of his voice when he spoke to her, the glint in her eyes when she looked at him. That didn’t mean you missed the way she stared off distantly in her free time, or the way she would talk to others with a certain tiredness in her voice; but it wasn’t like you could talk to her about it.

You weren’t friends with her. Well, not anymore.

Ellie and you were friends when she first arrived, you made sure of it. You were always bringing her things to make the adjustment easier: blankets, sweaters, new socks, ammunition, and a new hairbrush, among other things. She was grateful for it at first, always thanking you, hunting you down for movie nights, and inviting you over for dinner with Joel. But at some point you messed up - you did something wrong.

She slowly began to ignore you, she started returning your home-baked goods and stopped inviting you to her house to watch movies. She started to talk to you just as cold as she talked to the others. She didn’t like you anymore.

Eventually, probably tired of your haphazard attempts to fix your friendship, she snapped. You left her house in tears that day with your head down, shoulders hunched and wobbly, trying to cover the tear streaks with your hair.

Ever since you’d tried to ignore her, her words, and the wounds they made. It was hard when she consumed your every waking thought. You thought about Ellie all the time - what you did wrong, the way her hair bounced as she walked, what you said to make her hate you, that one time at dinner she accidentally choked on water and spit it out her nose, the look in her eyes as she yelled in your face, all of the science stuff she had hidden away in every crevice of her room.

Every thought you had about Ellie contradicted the other and it was all so confusing that every time you thought too hard about it your head spun.

So you quickly found yourself doing simple, menial tasks to keep your thoughts at bay. You were picking up every patrol you were allowed, volunteering at the daycare to help your mom care for the kiddos, spending any and all free time at your friends houses instead of yours. You always finished your house chores early in the morning, always walked your neighbors dog once before noon and once after, always doing whatever you could to stay out of your own mind.

So you forgot about Ellie - as best as you could, at least.

It almost worked, too. Five years you got away with it, hiding from your mind and from Ellie. Until today, the one day you had been dreading for years. The day you knew was coming.

You were partnered with Ellie for patrol.

At first, you'd spent the first three hours complaining to your friends - Jesse mostly ignored you, only cracking jokes here or there, and Dina just didn't understand why you hated Ellie so bad. Eventually you just gave in and stopped complaining, finding some solace under the heavy duvet on your bed.

Before Dina left your home she gave you a warm smile and said, "You're gonna do great." And then left you to your own devices, not realizing she was leaving you to rot in your own brain.

When the time came to get up and get ready, you found yourself picking through your clothes, trying to find the cleanest shirt to wear and the pants that fit you the best. You wanted to look nice, most people would, but you weren't sure if it was for you or for her.

You walked nervously towards the stables, taking firm, heavy breaths as you shoved your hands into your jacket pockets.

"It'll be okay... It'll be okay," you chanted the words under your breath as you neared the stables, clenching and unclenching your sweaty fists.

When you arrived, Ellie was already leading Shimmer along to the exit, hardly glancing at you.

"You're late." She said, sucking on her teeth.

You nodded slowly, inhaling sharply, "I am aware..." speaking slowly and cautiously, trying not to poke the bear. "I kind of have my own stuff, though," the pitch of your voice raised slightly, as if you were unsure of your own words, "so I got here as fast as I could."

She scoffed, her head shaking slightly which sends her short strands of hair bouncing around her ears. "Just get the fucking horse."

You walked off hastily, unfurling Japan's reigns - when Dina didn't take him out, you did, because you both liked to make sure he had enough exercise everyday. You walked him down to meet Ellie at the gate.

Ellie was standing on one foot, shifting her weight every now and then and rubbing her palms down the length of her thighs; almost as if she was rubbing something off of them. She rubbed her thumbs on Shimmer's reigns nervously, head darting back and forth to see if you were close or not.

When you came into her line of sight, she hardened up and stood taller. Her face sharpened and her eyes filled with the same distance that kept you up at night, though today they also harbored another emotion, one you were no longer privy with.

It filled you with a sense of confusion and dread, causing you to mumble incoherently under your breath.

"Fucking Williams... cold as shit... pain in my ass..." you muttered as you mounted your horse.

Giving you one last weary look, Ellie also mounted her horse. She pulled her fingers through her hair, tucking it back behind her ear as the two of you left Jackson.

The horses trotted slowly, easily stepping over the tree roots in the ground as if they had the whole route memorized.

For you, this was one of the few routes you hardly visited. It wasn't too far from Jackson, but it was just far enough that you knew it'd take up the rest of your day.

As your eyes danced between the trail ahead of you and Ellie beside you, you didn't know what to think.

Sure, you'd thought of all the ways you would yell at her and all the things you'd say if you ever got the chance again; but you'd also thought of all the ways you'd make it up to her, all the things you wanted to say to let her know you weren't the same person you used to be.

What did it matter, anyway?

You were stuck here, letting your old wounds sit and fester in the bitterness of it all. You were stuck here, next to her but unable to fill the empty silence with words. You were stuck here, on patrol with the one person who hates your guts and you couldn't do anything about it.

"It's not polite to stare, you know."

Her voice echoed through the dense trees, bouncing off branches and leaves only to worm its way back into your brain.

"I'm sorry?" you hummed, caught off guard by the sound.

Her head slightly turned in your direction and Shimmer slowed down to a light trot, matching Japan's speed. "It's not polite to stare."

Her words were much sharper the second time around, with much more emphasis placed upon them.

She's angry. Amazing. You scoffed to yourself, trying to keep hold of your composure.

"I wasn't staring..." you paused. You almost said her name, but the word caught in your throat. "At you. I wasn't staring at you."

She glanced at you sideways before she continued, "you were."

"Was not!"

"Were too."

"I wasn't staring-!"

There it was again. You'd almost said her name, but it got caught in the back of your throat, which left you to haphazardly cut off your sentence and leave her hanging, waiting for it.

She scoffed. "Yes, you were."

You closed your mouth and pressed your lips into a line, "I wasn't fucking staring at you, Williams."

"So you stare at me, deny it when I tell you it's impolite, and then can't even use my name?" She stopped her horse, leaning back in the saddle as she spoke.

And the words get caught in your throat. Your mouth dried as you slowed your own horse.

"I used your name," you whispered, blinking away the wetness in your eyes.

She laughed sourly, pulled on Shimmer's reigns and began to trot ahead of you again.

You sighed at the bitterness brewing in the pit of your stomach. You certainly fucked that up - but was it entirely your fault? Surely some of that had to go to Ellie too - I mean she's the one who broke off your friendship... she's the one who yelled at you for "staring." You weren't staring in the first place... right?

You began to question yourself, yet again, as Ellie spoke up once more.

"You're still staring."

And suddenly it's almost as if you could hear the smirk she had on her face.

"Could you fucking not? Please? I'm just trying to get to the tower and go home alive. I don't want to deal with this bullshit too."

"Stop fucking staring then," she whipped around to face you. "I definitely didn't ask for this either, so stop being a baby and get over it."

You clenched your fists and brought one to your face, rubbing your eyes with your palm.

"I'm not staring at you, El-"

You stopped talking after you finally looked directly into her eyes, catching sight movement behind her.

She began to scoff but suddenly stopped as your face changed.

"What?"

"Shut up."

You tilted your head to the side, narrowing your eyes as you focused on a shadowy figure hidden in the trees.

The figure stilled under a long branch, the leaves creating long shadows which warped around the curves of the figure.

Slowly, you reached for the pistol strapped to your thigh. Ellie's face scrunched in a mix of confusion and worry.

"Don't," you breathed, "move."

At the sound of your sharp exhale the figure screeched and aimed for Ellie, its dark eyes fixated on her.

You brought the gun up, aiming and pulling the trigger as fast as you could, but the stalker was hardly affected by the single bullet.

Ellie whipped around, yelping once before the stalker jumped on her and yanked her off of Shimmer. The stalker pinned her to the ground, its teeth already bared and ready to bite.

You pulled the trigger again. And again. And again. Until eventually the stalker slumped down above Ellie.

She pushed it off and brought herself to her feet, head whipping around to look for others.

"Do you see any more?" you asked as you scanned the area.

She shook her head, "I don't think so... holy shit."

You both sat quietly for a moment as you tried to process what just happened.

"Thanks- thanks for uh, for that," she panted, mounting Shimmer again and looking around, "that was close."

For a moment you were rendered speechless, trying to piece the puzzle back together in your brain before responding. "Yeah... of course," you paused, adding lightly, "s'what friends do." It came out a little mumbled but you knew she heard it.

You didn't keep your eyes on hers long enough to gauge her reaction, but you figured it was one full of something negative. You looked up one last time and caught her eyes, the strangest look on her face, before turning back down and looking away.

"The tower's just up that way," you hesitated, waiting for her to say - or do - something. To do anything. But she didn't, so you continued, "there shouldn't be any more in the area, they just cleared it last week."

You shifted on the saddle, cringing slightly, urging Japan to move forward again.

The rest of your route went okay - you didn't encounter anymore infected and the area is mostly barren anyway so you didn't find anything worthwhile. The tower was cleared already, too, so you and Ellie mostly found solace in your own thoughts for the rest of the route.

She didn't mention the staring thing again, opting to keep quiet instead, but you could feel her eyes meeting the side of your head every now and then.

You didn't say anything to her as you re-entered Jackson, walking side by side to the stables to put the horses back.

Ellie was brushing out Shimmer's mane as she opened her mouth to speak, "hey, thanks for earlier. Seriously. It means a lot."

You nodded, "no worries," and you paused, unsure of what to say next. Before you could, Ellie spoke up again.

"And sorry, by the way," she said, eyes darting around the stables, "for being mean."

At that, you found yourself completely dumbfounded, eyes wide, staring across the stables at her. And before you had the chance to recover from the shock she was flying out of the stables, probably heading back to Joel's house.

Within the next four minutes you'd rushed to Dina's, tripping and stumbling over your own feet, heart pounding and mind racing.

"She apologized?" Dina asked incredulously, eyebrows raised and lips turned downward, "for real?"

You shrugged, "I guess. I can't believe it either."

"Yeah, dude, she hated you for years but you play hero once and now she likes you again?" Jesse laughed, shaking his head, "bullshit."

"I never said she liked me again, Jesse. I was just telling you what happened. She apologized. That's what happened."

"Maybe she realized you aren't that bad," Dina smiled.

"Oh thanks, Dee, I'm honored."

Dina chuckled, leaning towards you and smacking your shoulder playfully, "and it's about time."

You paused, chewing on your lip as you thought of the day's events over and over and over again.

"I hope this is a new beginning for you guys, you deserve it."

You stopped your thinking, pulling yourself out of your thoughts to respond with a smile, "thanks, Dee."

"So, now that that's out of the way," Dina smiled suggestively, narrowing her eyes and raising her eyebrows, "you want to come to the bar with us later? Everyone's gonna be there."

You couldn't miss the suggestive tone in her voice, the way it dropped a pitch and she gained a mischievous glint in her eyes.

You hummed, "are they? Good for them."

Dina sighed exhaustedly, "c'mon! You never come with us! It'll be so much fun, I promise!"

"I don't know, Dina. You know I'm not one for parties."

"Well, you are tonight," she tapped the palm of her hand against the table, "because you are coming with me and we are going to dance all night and have so much fun. So much so, in fact, that you're going to completely forget how much you hate parties!"

"Oh, is that right?" You smiled as you began to chuckle.

She hummed, a particularly big grin splattered on her face.

"Yeah, your new best friend might be there too," Jesse added, which earned a nasty look from you and a disapproving look from Dina.

"Shut up!" Dina shouted, turning her attention to Jesse - which only threw you right back into your own head.

After Dina snapped you out of it, and after a lot more begging and pleading on her part, you agreed. It couldn't be that bad - right?

The party was nothing short of what you'd expected.

It was loud, crammed, kind of smelly, and definitely not the place you wanted to be spending your time.

But every time you caught Dina's eyes or you looked over in her direction, the smile on her face was enough to make you feel so deeply guilty that you stayed put. You stayed with her if she brought you out to dance and you stayed with her if she brought you to the bar to get a new drink.

It wasn't a surprise when you noticed Ellie at the bar, nursing a cold cup, staring at you with a conflicting expression. It also wasn't a surprise when Dina grabbed your hand and started dragging you in her direction, giving you one last reassuring smile.

It was a surprise, however, when Ellie greeted Dina with a hug and you with a smile.

She smiled at you.

Completely unable to quickly recover, you let Dina do the talking, trying to calm your racing heart.

"Hey, El! How're you doing?" she had to shout over the music but you knew Ellie could hear her - everyone could hear Dina.

"Pretty good! You okay?"

They began to exchange pleasantries and all the usual small talk, so you spaced out for a moment, waiting for the moment Dina would pull you away again. That moment didn't come, however, because Dina ran off without you.

"Wait - where's she going?" you yelled, eyes finally meeting Ellie's.

"Said she was gonna grab Jesse," Ellie began, eyes scanning over your outfit. "You want a drink?"

You hesitated, thinking over what happened during patrol. You lost yourself, again, and began mulling over what you could say and how she would possibly respond.

But then you began speaking, your mind not caught up yet.

"Sure!"

Ellie's face relaxed a little, and she waved you over towards a quieter area of the bar. The flannel tucked up to her elbows showcased the way her muscles flexed as she signaled Seth over to your side of the bar.

"You doing okay?" You asked as Seth walked away. "It just... looked like that stalker shook you up a bit."

She nodded, "Yeah, yeah. It was a little," she shrugged and let out a mangled noise, "nerve wracking." You both laughed.

Seth dropped your drink in front of you, giving you a sideways glance before returning to the packed end of the bar.

"You know how it goes, though," she finished. "I'm good."

"Well, that is certainly a plus."

Her lips tugged into a small grin, making you mirror the expression.

"Thanks again, by the way."

"Hey, we were partners. It was my job to have your back."

You both laughed again.

And you fell back into it. Into that easy-going, comfortable rhythm you had with her so many years ago. It was like no time had passed at all; like you were fourteen again.

And even when Dina came back she didn't hide it. You were finally able to openly talk to your two friends together again. It was like a dream.

"Hey, Ellie!" No. "I haven't seen you in forever!" No. "You look so good!" No.

"Oh! Hey, Cat!"

No.

You could almost taste the tension that had suddenly built up around the three of you; the sudden change in the air sending your head reeling and heart pounding.

Ellie and Cat exchanged pleasantries (not like you were interested or anything) as you suddenly honed in on a weirdly shaped ice cube in your drink. Poking at it with your straw, you waited for Cat to leave, holding your breath.

And in less than five minutes, you fell out of it.

You fell out of your rhythm, Ellie already ten beats ahead of you while you seemed to have changed rhythms completely.

When Cat did (finally) leave you let out a shaky breath, watching as even Ellie noticed the shift in you.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, mostly directing the apology to Dina. She turned to face Dina straight on now, no longer moving her eyes between the two of you.

"You're fine," Dina brushed it off quickly, seemingly unaware of the sudden awkwardness.

"I should uh... go anyway. Joel's waiting for me, so... you know."

"Oh, yeah, sure. We should go soon too," Dina draped an arm around your shoulders, "I have kept someone here for way too long. She's getting a little antsy." She gave you a pointed smile, a teasing tone lacing her voice.

Ellie gave Dina a half-hearted chuckle before standing and hugging her. She gave you a very awkward, sideways, one armed hug before turning around and almost running out of the building.

"You want to go now or wait a little-"

"Can we go, Dina?" you rushed, clenching your eyes shut as you rubbed the balls of your palms into your eyes. "I'm just... really tired."

Dina stared at your face, her eyes scanning yours, for an extra beat before nodding, "Yeah, of course."

At home you spent the rest of your night hiding under your duvet, pulling at large chunks of your hair with your fists, digging your heels into your bed; all the way until you finished the night tiredly blinking away tears and chewing at your lips.

It was all so confusing. One minute you're dreading even looking at her and the next you're talking and laughing with her like you're best friends - and then? Then you're sitting there like the two of you never started talking again at all, all because Ellie said hi to an old friend.

One minute she's talking to you, then the next she's talking to you through Dina.

You woke in the morning with blood dried on your lips and dark bags under your eyes. You found it hard to keep your eyes open as you brushed your teeth, and one look in the mirror showed that you were in no state to leave your home anytime soon.

Your parents left quickly for work, not giving you a second glance even as you asked them to clear your schedule for the day.

Around noon you received a familiar knock at the door, and when you opened it you saw a face that hadn't graced your porch in a few years.

"Hey, Ellie," you paused, panicking internally. "What's up?"

"Do you want to talk?"

#ellie williams x reader #tlou #tlou x reader #ellie williams #the last of us #ellie the last of us #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x y/n #ellie williams x you

[misskattylashes]

The Dichotomy of Being a Teenage Alex Turner Fan

In this article I look at why I think so many teenage fans direct so much hate towards Miles.

Look at this image search I did on Alex’s name. First person whose name comes up ‘Miles Kane’, first other person he is in another picture with, Miles...before a puff piece about Louise or Taylor. It’s Miles. There are more results with Miles than anyone else. Whether people like it or not, Miles and Alex are intrinsically linked.

In the words of the big man himself ‘stop and wait a sec’...... imagine Miles was Mila, a constant female companion of Alex’s who he had been close to for nearly twenty years. Had been at his side more than any other woman, had done two duets with him and whilst touring the second one, their performances were so sexually charged you thought any moment soon they were actually going to have sex on stage. What would you think? You would think they were or had been in a romantic relationship. And even though you haven’t seen much of them together over the past few years, Mila constantly talks lovingly about Alex in her interviews, and Alex invites Mila to be the support act for the final days of a very long world tour, and on one of the dates he lets Mila stand side-stage (something his official girlfriend doesn’t get to do) and throughout the set he sings to Mila and can’t stop glancing at her. People would be enamoured with their love story and desperate for them to be together.

So why is it different just because Miles is a guy?

Of course there is the obvious. If Alex is gay, then the teenage fans stand no chance with him, which would be upsetting. But even me, as a creaky old Gen X-er, had gay pop stars who were attractive and sexy – Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Andy Bell from Erasure, even Boy George got screamed at, but we accepted they were gay and we didn’t stand a chance and that was it.

Of course, there was no social media then, but did we write hateful letters to them or their partners, or put up posters on street corners saying how disgusting they were? (the 80s equivalent to posting all over Twitter) No.

So why the anger towards Miles?

Unfortunately when I was growing up, homophobia was acceptable. Gay people were constantly the butt of jokes, straight comedians would pretend to be effette just for laughs. At school we even had the reprehensible Section 28, imposed by Thatcher’s government where any mention of homosexuality was banned, even books featuring gay characters, to apparently help prevent us from experimenting and catching AIDS (yes I grew up in the Dark Ages)

But there comes the rub. Because homophobia was acceptable, any negative feelings we had towards our gay pop stars or their partners wasn’t something we felt bad about so we felt no need to pick on anyone as a way of dealing with our own conflicted emotions

Fast forward to 2023. Gay people have rights, can marry, have children, are positively represented in the media, we have Pride, which is on the point of becoming too commercialised, and to be homophobic is to most young people not cool or acceptable.

Those same girls who spew hate towards Miles probably paint rainbows on their pencil cases during Pride, have male gay friends at school and would have a go at anyone who doesn’t support trans rights.

But then there is the fact that the celebrity they desire has a constant male companion, who he has been more publicly intimate with then any of the girlfriends he has had. Scratch beneath the surface and you can spot the differences in them when they fell out after EYCTE -both a shell of their former self. When there was a brief break in Lockdown in the UK, who did Alex choose to meet? Miles. Whether the fangirls consciously or subconsciously think there is something going on, it makes them feel uncomfortable with themselves. The presence of Miles Kane makes them realise they’re not necessarily that right-on girl who is into gay rights, because when they actually think about it, and think about what men do, they don’t like it.

But instead of realising that this is just part of being a grown up – we all have things about ourselves we don’t like, they direct their anger and frustration at Miles, as if he didn’t exist then they wouldn’t be confronted by these unpleasant feelings they have.

So, what I am trying to say is whilst I find the comments about Miles disgusting and cruel, just remember with these girls the person they really hate is themselves, while Miles lives his lovely life with his career and his friends and Alex and Maxie.

I think we know who is the winner here.

#sorry for the long essay #but it had to be said #i actually feel a bit sorry for them #miles is living the life they will never have #this only applies to teens btw #miles kane #alex turner #milex

[junianashore]

Sadly, Tumblr ate my first attempt at posting my thoughts on Volume 4 of Trimax, so I had to retype this. Next time, I think I’ll be keeping a backup of my manga screenshots.

-This is a pretty generic message, but I love how everyone here just immediately starts celebrating anyway. They may not know…well, anything, about the Earth fleet’s motives, but no one is going to let a good spot of hope go to waste.

-Good vibes immediately interrupted by this Knives jumpscare, which I am now inflicting on all of you again.

-We get a brief glimpse of Meryl’s backstory here. I feel like this sums up a good portion of what Roberto did for her Tristamp self, encouraging her to take up arms because unfortunately, the sort of planet she lives on almost requires it.

-Wolfwood is pretty quick to advise ditching the girls here. Vash is starting to realize that they are just about the only humans who have shown such determination to keep following him all this time…

-…which then leads to some choice defenestration once Meryl gets kidnapped. I like that in all iterations, their bond is based on a mutual understanding of each other’s beliefs and circumstances despite the enormous differences in their lives.

-Milly will not be left behind, either. There’s plenty of talk about how the whole cast is willing to go above and beyond for Vash’s sake, but I’d actually say that Meryl inspires the same kind of devotion among her friends. Something about their true, honest belief in helping others, I suppose.

-Is Zazie the first to mention gateways in terms of how plants work here? Or that Vash and Knives are plants themselves? Either way, Meryl has quite a bit more context now.

-A companion piece to that Vash panel from the very beginning …Wolfwood, dying in a glue trap. Along with the Punisher!

-The townspeople have officially booed him for this one, and I’d say he deserves it. You’re part of the Vash squad now, Wolfwood, these things come with the territory.

-I’m pretty sure I know who this is…but no sspoilers in case I’m correct. 👀

#trigun #trigunbookclub #trimax volume 4

[primaviva]

Your post felt like those really popular 2020 K-pop videos on YouTube that were like “my unpopular K-pop opinions part 1” 💀 anyways SAY IT ALREADY

BAHAHA THATS ACTUALLY SO TRUE STOP I REMEMBER THOSE anyway unpopular opinion time!!! 😁😁

okay but like y’all can’t hate me….i don’t want miles and gwen to end up together but i do at the same time and you gonna know what i mean

JUST STICK WITH ME PLEASE im not tryna sound like those delulu fans ada and leon type shi… where people don’t want someone to be together for themselves like NO not like that

it’s just like for a while i feel like every time a piece of media comes out even if it’s not popular there’s always a love interest and i feel like not every story has to be a love story or involve one. and what REALLY got me thinking this was how originally in itsv, gwen and miles were supposed to kiss before they went into the portal and i was like why? like i can see their chemistry in the first film but the story can go the same way even with them as friends and when i see that in movies I’m like “did they really have to be love interests?”

MORE SO it’s just like every time a girl and a guy are friends in a movie or show it just feels like they always put a romance between them and it’s like yes, it makes good writing. are gwen and miles cute together? yes the dynamic between them is so good. but did it NEED to happen? like i just wanna see a film where a male and a female can be strong companions without a hinted at romance.

and just ignoring how impractical them being in a relationship across dimensions would be and how my the mcu logic if they were to be in a dimension for too long it would be like nwh all over again…. it just would’ve been nice if they were friends that built off one another but because they been edging this romance for 4 years or sum now i would be HEATEDDDDD if miles and gwen didn’t get together. and i have a strong feeling that they are gonna kiss in btsv or at least gonna kiss each other goodbye if miles finally leaves the spiderverse alone but it’s like UGH

i feel like nobody is gonna agree but im just so tired of people behind these big movies always making the male friend and the female friend have romantic feelings like i feel like it feeds the stigma that boys can’t be friends with girls or it’s always gonna lead to something more. tbh it just feels so hard to find a genuine friendship in shows or any type of of media that don’t show any hints of romance like yes it’s very realistic for miles to have a crush on gwen and her back BUT SHOULD THEY BE ENDGAME?? LIKE IM NOT SO SURE

i saw this btsv theory i loved about how like they think beyond the spiderverse is linked to the reveal that there are other verses beyond the spiderverse (obvi miguel and them ain’t know that) that aren’t link to every spiderman variant and all that and how they think the movie is gonna end with all of them accepting that they can’t keep messing with the multiverse and miles is gonna learn to let go and just say goodbye to all of them and how that’s gonna be his sacrifice having to choose his universe over all the others he been yearning to see esp gwen and peter idk i ain’t gonna explain it all so iykyk imma have to find the video

i fekt crazy writing this idk if anyone feels the same but i feel like the romance was unnecessary AND HOW COME EVERY TIME A BLACK PERSON IS A LEAD IN SOMETHING MAINSTREAM THE LOVE INTEREST IS MOST OF THE TIMES A WHITE WOMAN that’s a rant for another time bro

#🪽— angel’s spam

[darkstaranthology]

'photographs' was the sixth fic posted for 'dark star - an izch anthology.'

Discussion of single parenthood, past spouse death, canon-typical bullying and quirk discrimination, general misogyny themes as they relate to canon BNHA, and age-gap romance, and other triggering content below this cut. There will also be spoilers for the fic, if you want to read it for yourself first.

Fic stats:

~21,000 words

One-shot

E rated (explicit sexual content, age-gap romance, past minor character death and grief/mourning)

Archive Warnings (AO3): None

Canon Setting AU

'photographs' is a one-shot, concerning a canon AU where Izuku 'Deku' Midoriya is childhood friends with Ochako 'Uravity' Uraraka, after their respective mothers meet each other by chance. She becomes his inseparable companion for several years of his life, before she eventually moves back to the western part of Japan with her parents. Now, he is trying to work up the courage to ask her on a date. There's just two problems: Ochako Uraraka is twenty-seven years old, and Izuku Midoriya is twenty years old, and Ochako Uraraka is now Ochako Nakano, widowed by the death of her pro Hero husband a few years prior.

Bit of an odd duck, this one. 'What if Ochako had been Deku's childhood friend in addition to/instead of Bakugou' is one of the most enduring ship-specific AUs for izch fandom. It makes sense, it's a very obvious extrapolation of the themes of the series in my opinion. Despite basically never interacting, Ochako and Bakugou have a lot of thematic contrast going on, and the basis of shipping them, casting them as 'love rivals' for Deku, or casting Ochako as 'the good friend' in contrast to Bakugou as 'the bad bully' all are natural conclusions to draw from their writing in my opinion.

This particular rendition of it was inspired by a piece of fanart by a JP izch artist that has now unfortunately moved on from izch. They now largely draw Deku/Bakugou and 'Dekubowl' content, which I still follow them for! But all their izch art has been functionally obliterated from the internet, which is a huge shame. They drew a specific piece of art that showed Deku, seven years younger than Ochako, and the progression of their lives from him as a baby, to her with him as a young boy, to her in Hero school seeing him in middle school, to her seeing him in the 'Dark Deku' arc of the manga, to him finally coming to her to ask her out. 'photographs' is actually a blunt, direct adaptation, almost beat for beat, and I've been told by a mutual friend that the artist is flattered I enjoyed her work enough to write a fic adaptation of it.

There's other elements, though. At the time this fic was written, the now-famous 'loser Deku's idea of a good first date' manga panel, where he describes taking a girl to an amusement park to hold her hands and split a crepe, was a sensation in fandom. Of course, it was instantly cannibalized for basically any Deku ship, and this fic uses that idea in what I felt was a very thematically entertaining way given their age gap.

I wouldn't really call this fic problematic. It's problematic in the sense that if I knew Deku and Ochako as real people in the situation laid out by the fic, I wouldn't tell them it's a good idea to date. But objectively there's no express power imbalance - she's not his babysitter, teacher, or boss - and both are now adults. It's just a mildly inappropriate age gap between two people who've known each other for years. I think the way we react to age gaps depending on who is involved is very fascinating, and it's funny to me that I could've just posted this fic to my main profile, and I doubt anyone would've even blinked.

It's part of 'dark star' because I wanted people to consider the implications of it all, though. The way Ochako lived a happy life, had a happy marriage to a man her own age, and had a child with him, and now in the ruins of that comes Deku, being a little selfish as he asks her out. The way that Ochako was this incredible person for Deku, and she's never really seen him as his own person, now seeing him come to her 'all grown up,' and how she buys a little bit into this fantasy of his that she probably shouldn't.

It's a little bit inappropriate and toxic, isn't it? Yet it's also romantic. I think these things can be true at once. One goal I had for 'dark star' was for izch to feel 'messy.' Other ship fandoms routinely write fairly brazenly fucked up content of their own ship, often thematically nasty even in a way that mistreats other characters or even marginalized identities (i.e. misogyny, homophobia, etc.), and those ship fandoms will eat that stuff up. Now, personally, I don't really want to write 'thematically nasty' content, per se, but I do want to write thematically challenging content that is reasonably open to interpretation. I would find it very reasonable if someone read 'photographs' and came away thinking 'I don't think these two should've dated, probably.'

There's other things, too. The reality of 'the canon plot' sneaks in at points. Sometimes this fic feels like it has almost no relationship to canon at all, then One for All will creep in to rear its ugly little head. I say that, but I do love One for All and the canon plot of BNHA. BNHA's manga largely collapsed under the weight of bad calls on its side plots, but I think its main plot has generally always been pretty good. I think this shows in this rendition, where the side plots have been largely obliterated to laser focus on 'Deku.'

Without Ochako, there is no Hero named 'Deku.' This is a statement that I would like to tattoo to the forehead of most of BNHA fandom. In 'photographs,' there is a 'Deku,' in the positive sense, but his distance and emotional removal from Ochako has left him more damaged. He presents a strong front, but he eventually admits to Ochako that he hasn't lived a very happy life. He's only twenty, but he's gone through so much no one of his age should, while Ochako has lived a fairly normal, well-adjusted life for someone of her occupation.

There's a moment where Ochako is trying to convey to Deku that she must remain focused on her child, as she is a single parent now. She's successful enough that she can afford that, which is a luxury. And she's self-conscious of her age and of the sexism of Hero society, so acutely aware that 'her life is over' now that she's over twenty-five, a widow, and has a kid. Deku doesn't see her that way, but she sees him as naive, basically like another kid.

Through the date they go on, she sees another side of him. She sees how he's amazing, just like canon Ochako does, but in the transit of Venus-type of way where she goes from seeing him as the little boy she always loved, to a remarkable young man reshaped by One for All. This is both good and deeply inappropriate, and you can feel her fighting with herself through the fic to try and convince both herself and Deku that he should go for someone of his own age, a peer who will see him for what he is.

But nobody else cared about quirkless Deku. No one sees his value. They only see One for All. Only Ochako loves Deku for Izuku, not for One for All. So he clings to his love for her, up until the moment he's ready to let her go, and she finally pulls back, realizing that she can't possibly let him go when she needs him.

I think there's some really good romantic beats in this fic, which I was fairly proud of to read back through in editing this year. I've referenced the famous 'amusement park date' a few times since in other fics, but this fic ironically is the only on-screen direct rendition of it that I've written. It's a little bit perverse in that regard, but I think it's a very mature, textured, difficult take on the subject matter that asks the audience to think critically of the ship, while still asking them to root for them in the end.

Incidentally, this fic borrows a plot point and some general tone elements from ss3dj's (@marcuskay-ss3dj) famous 'Green Tea Rescue.' That fic is probably the most popular and famous rendition of 'izch as childhood friends,' using the common trope of 'Ochako transfers to Aldera Middle School in her last year.' 'photographs' does not use that format, but it does borrow my absolute favorite plot point from GTR (namely 'who is Hisashi?'), and it serves as a sort of soft homage to the early parts of GTR.

I think there will be a handful more fics in 'dark star' that are these sort of light 'breather' affairs. Some of them have very fucked up, dark conceptual themes, like sibling incest or teratophilia, but the actual tack and tone they take with those themes is comparatively light (i.e. as dark comedy rather than drama). It's necessary for me to write these 'breather' episodes, mostly because you can only make so much awful stuff before it begins to feel overwhelming, at least to me. Still, 'photographs' is part of 'dark star' and not just a regular fic of mine because I wanted the audience to think carefully about its theme and message, and to draw their own conclusions.

If you have thoughts about challenging themes, age-gap romance, childhood friend AUs, and other related material, I'd love to hear about it! So if you enjoyed 'photographs,' please let me know! Or if you didn't, I don't mind hearing why. I hope you have something intelligent to say, rather than boring pro-/anti- discourse stuff or 'your ship is bad,' though. These fics are for adults, and I expect you to engage with them like adults.

Have a nice day.

#izuocha #izch #dkch #izuku midoriya #ochako uraraka #bnha #mha #bnha fanfic #mha fanfic #dark star - an izch anthology #photographs #fanfic #cw: age gap #cw: minor character death #cw: grief

[teaberrii]

Chapter Twenty-One: The President's Burden

You and Cyno can’t be more different. He’s Akademiya’s perfect student council president. You’re a labelled, cursed delinquent who changes into a cat for eight hours when kissed.

When Cyno gets a complaint about you, he’s forced to take action, only for it to lead to unexpected circumstances.

Cyno/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

"I'd rather not," you say flatly as Cyno takes your hand. If you're scared, you aren't showing it. Instead, you keep your eyes on the men as if challenging them. "But you can tell Scaramouche that he's not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve."

When Jebrael steps toward them, one of the men nudges his companion. "Let's go. We're done here."

"And don't come back!" the goon shouts behind them.

Cyno puts his arm around you. "You did well, Catnip."

Jebrael walks up to you and Cyno and asks, "Will you join us for dinner?"

"I'd love to," Cyno says, "But my cousin is waiting for me at home."

"Is it Nahida?" you ask. Cyno nods. "The girl with the iron grip."

Cyno chuckles. "I guess she hugged you too tightly that day."

"You have no idea. But she seems like a nice girl. I'd love to meet her in person one day."

"Why not this weekend?" Cyno suggests. "Alhaitham is taking me to meet his friend, so she'll want someone to hang out with."

"She didn't want to go with you?" you ask.

"I told her about it earlier today," Cyno says," And I quote… that sounds kinda boring."

You laugh. "I can keep her company. But, who's the friend, then?"

"He's a lawyer." Then, Cyno looks at Jebrael. "He's the one who handled your case."

"Ooh, wasn't that guy like your only friend, Jebrael?" the goon laughs.

All it takes is one look for the goon to look the other way innocently. Then, Cyno's phone dings with a message.

Nahida: PIZZA'S HERE!

"Everything okay?" you ask. Cyno shows you the text.

"The classic pepperoni and cheese. A solid choice." You and Cyno look at the goon, who awkwardly clears his throat and looks away from Cyno's screen. "Sorry. It was food. Couldn't help myself."

"Maybe I can save you some."

The goon gasps and nudges you. "He's a real keeper!"

Cyno slips his phone back into his pocket just as Jebrael says, "We'll take her back."

Just before parting ways, Cyno kisses your hand. Then, he heads into the car and tells Nahida that he's on his way back.

◆◆◆

As soon as Cyno enters the house, he smells something delicious. Nahida comes out of the kitchen, holding a large jug of juice and smiles at him.

"If you were any later, I would've eaten the entire pizza myself!"

"Yet, you still got me a plate," Cyno says.

"So, you better make it up to me!"

Cyno joins her at the table and puts a slice of pizza on a clean plate. "Well, what if I told you that Catnip's going to spend the weekend with you?"

Nahida gasps. "Really?"

"Didn't you say you want to meet her?"

"Well, yeah, but… I don't know. It's not every day you hear someone wanting to spend time with a kid."

"That makes you sound more mature than you are."

Nahida's about to bite into her food when she says, "Don't make me throw my pizza at you."

"You wouldn't waste food."

Nahida takes a bite. "Not good food." Cyno and Nahida eat in silence for a little while until she wipes her fingers on her napkin and asks, "Do you want to hear some gossip?"

"About what?"

Nahida reaches for another piece. "One of my classmates is acting a little strange." She puts the slice on her plate and sighs. "I overheard him talking about something the other day… and I think it's why he's been skipping classes."

"What did he say?"

"... He'll stop at nothing until he gets the money. That's who Scaramouche is." Cyno almost drops his pizza. "I heard some people saying that his father got into debt, but I don't know…."

"Don't get involved," Cyno says sternly.

"Oh, of course not! I don't have that much time on my hands to get involved in someone else's business. But it's just… sad, I guess."

"Is your teacher doing anything?"

"Well, because he's always been late lately, she talked to him a few times. But he doesn't seem that comfortable with her." She scoffs. "Let me rephrase that. No one really seems that comfortable with her."

"Why not?" Cyno asks. "I thought you said you liked her before."

"You never know what you had until it's gone," Nahida sighs. "We got a new teacher halfway through the semester. And she doesn't like teaching. It's pretty obvious." She takes a bite. "Okay, maybe that's going too far. But she does the bare minimum, which I'm trying to get at, I guess."

Just as Cyno finishes the rest of his pizza, Nahida looks at him. "You turned kinda pale when I said Scaramouche," she continues. "Do you know him or something?"

"He's a student at Akademiya."

Nahida drops her pizza onto the plate. "You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was," Cyno says.

"Then… have you met him?"

"I wish I didn't," Cyno answers quietly. "Let's just say he's not someone you should mess around with."

Nahida finishes the rest of her pizza and puts her plate down. "What's a person like him doing at Akademiya…? Heck, how did he even get in?"

"Well, according to Alhaitham, the school wants to be less discriminatory."

Nahida rolls her eyes. "And do you believe that?"

"It's not like we can do anything about it," Cyno sighs.

"I guess." Nahida stands and picks up her plate. "You be careful. I don't want to hear about how he's giving you trouble."

If only she knew.

After dinner, Nahida says she's going to work on her assignments. Yet, Cyno can easily hear her singing a pop song in the living room. He's about to put his earphones in when his phone goes off.

As soon as he answers it, he hears Nilou's voice.

"Hey, Cyno. Are you busy?"

Cyno spins around in his chair. "What is it?"

"It's… about Catnip," she says quietly.

"What about her?"

"I… well… Scaramouche told me something that I think you should know."

Cyno frowns. "Is this about her being part of some criminal organization?"

"How do you know?"

"What else did he tell you?" Cyno sighs. "And… why didn't you tell us Scaramouche talked to you?"

"I couldn't just accuse her like that with everyone around. It's… awkward. Besides… it might not be true. That's why I went to see her. The three of you have become such good friends after all."

Her last statement makes Cyno raise a brow. Is she jealous of your friendship with them?

"It's like she replaced me," Nilou finishes quietly.

While he and Nilou have been friends for years, he's never seen this side of her before. The Nilou he remembers is always so cheerful and energetic. Yet, it's like she's changed… and not in a good way. Is it because she's forced to give up on her dreams? Maybe she's looking for comfort, and finding out things have changed while she's gone must've rattled her more. Regardless, Cyno doesn't want to deal with this. Does that make him a bad friend?

"You don't need to focus on Catnip," Cyno says. "How have you been doing? Your performance got cancelled because of your injury. Weren't you also going to start teaching at a studio?"

"... I got rejected."

Oh. Well… "Keep trying. I'm sure you'll find something."

"Would you believe me if I said Scaramouche said he'll help me?"

That doesn't sound suspicious at all. "With what?"

“Sumeru Studios is looking for a ballet master. I’m a little underqualified, but he said he could help me get the position.”

"And you believe him?"

“He knows the owner… He showed me proof.”

There are so many things wrong with this that Cyno doesn't know where to start. "I doubt he's helping you without getting anything in return. So what does he want from you?"

“He just wants to warn me about Catnip,” Nilou says quietly. Cyno almost scoffs. Right. Okay. “She lied to me that day at the library.”

“Her business is none of your business, Nilou. Leave her alone.”

“I’m worried about you, Candace, and Tighnari. The three of you have become such good friends. I just don’t want any of you to get hu—”

"None of us will get hurt," Cyno says sternly. "If you keep badmouthing her, let's not be friends anymore."

“But I’m not! I—”

“If you truly have good intentions, you wouldn’t go about it this way. Also, the Nilou I used to know wouldn’t use cheap tricks.”

"Cheap tricks?" Nilou asks incredulously.

Cyno sighs. "Scaramouche helping you is your business. Not mine. But stop trying to 'warn' us about Catnip. I know everything, so your good intentions are useless."

"... You really hurt me, Cyno," Nilou says quietly. "Fine. I see they aren't appreciated." Cyno rolls his eyes. "But, if you know everything, then did you know that she killed his mother?"

Cyno doesn’t get a chance to ask when the line goes dead.

◆◆◆

Should Cyno be surprised that Scaramouche isn't at school? Maybe Cyno expected too much. Surely a criminal like him has better things to do than be a proper student. Cyno never thought he'd want to see Scaramouche. At least Cyno can somewhat keep an eye on him.

Cyno can't get what Nilou said out of his mind. Of course, he knows better than to blindly believe what she or Scaramouche says. But that's a very… strong accusation regardless of who it's coming from. Surely Scaramouche knows better than to blindly accuse someone like that, as it can have legal consequences.

So… does that mean it's true?

Cyno's on the school rooftop, looking out at the city when someone covers his eyes with their hands.

"Guess who?"

Cyno takes your hands and spins around. He pulls you to him, and you end up flush against his body.

"No fair. You didn't even guess," you say.

"I missed you, Catnip." Cyno nuzzles your hair.

Eventually, Cyno ends up hugging you, and you and he look at the view together.

"Nahida is excited to spend time with you this weekend."

You chuckle. "I hope she won't be disappointed."

"She'll love you."

You hold his hands and say, "Did you talk to Nilou? I saw her earlier today, and she didn't seem that happy to see me."

"She called me yesterday, and"—Cyno sighs—"it didn't go so well."

"What did you talk about?"

Cyno tells you about the conversation with Nilou but doesn't tell you about what she said at the end. At least… not yet. He isn't even sure if it's true, and the last thing he wants is for you to stress over something that's potentially not true.

"Replaced her?" you ask. "That's… I actually don't know what to say to that." Then, you sigh. "But I wouldn't be surprised if Scaramouche knows the director. With his connections, he might even know the President of the country."

"That's a scary thought I'd rather not entertain," Cyno says. "But… Nahida's classmate apparently knows Scaramouche, too."

You turn around with wide eyes. "You're joking, right?"

"One of her classmates has been skipping classes. She overheard him saying Scaramouche would stop at nothing to get the money. So I told her not to get involved."

"He's like a worm," you say flatly. "Just… worming his way into everyone's business everywhere." Cyno chuckles. "It sounds like Scaramouche's doing his usual with Nahida's classmate. As for Nilou… he's using her, which I guess, is also his usual tactic."

Cyno sighs. Is Nilou playing along because she's jealous? He puts his chin on your shoulder. "Do you remember anything else about your parents?"

"About that…"

Did something happen?

"Hey, Cyno, Catnip!"

Tighnari's voice makes you turn around. Cyno looks past you and sees his friend walking up to him.

"I thought you'd be here."

"I thought you'd be with Candace," Cyno says.

"Ah… yeah, about that…"

So, Tighnari tells you they bumped into Nilou while coming. Then, he adds, "She didn't look so happy, so Candace went to talk to her." You and Cyno glance at each other. "Do you two know what's wrong?"

"We… got into a fight, I guess," Cyno says.

"A fight? Over what?" Tighnari looks from Cyno to you and back to Cyno. "Uh… is it about Catnip?"

It's obvious you don't know what to say, and Cyno doesn't blame you. "I told Nilou to stop meddling in other people's business," he says.

Tighnari sighs. "Well… I guess she took it more harshly because, well, she probably still likes you, Cyno."

"I already turned her down," Cyno says just as you turn to him. "But... how did you—"

"She's liked you for a long time!" Tighnari says. "I think you're the only person who didn't know." But, then, he looks at you. "Ah, but they never dated, Catnip."

"Well, I guess that also explains a lot of things," you say.

"She probably just needs some time to get over it," Tighnari says. "I wouldn't worry about her."

While Cyno wants to believe it's true, a part of him is still afraid. What if she starts spreading rumours? Working with Scaramouche? It will be easy for him to take advantage of her vulnerability.

"Anyway, onto a happier topic… What do you guys think about going to the hot springs for our trip?"

"Ooh, that sounds like a great suggestion," you say.

"... Cyno?" Cyno looks up and sees Tighnari looking at him. "Hot springs? Yay? Or nay?" 

"Sounds good."

"What are you thinking about?" 

"It's nothing," Cyno says.

Tighnari narrows his eyes. "You sure?"

Cyno takes your hand. "We can share a room," he says, looking at you. You blush slightly and nod.

"That's what I was hoping for," Tighnari laughs. "Save us some money! But, woo! Hot springs, here we come! I hope you don't mind that Kaveh and Alhaitham will tag along."

"Let me guess," you say, "Did they say they're coming as supervisors?"

"So, I'm not the only one who thinks they're using that as an excuse, right?" Tighnari asks. "I bet they just want to come. We don't need supervisors.”

"The person saying that is usually the one who needs them," Cyno says.

"Very funny," Tighnari deadpans as the three of you walk back inside.

◆◆◆

Cyno is reading in an open area, waiting for you to finish your classes, when Candace plops into the armchair across from him.

"Hey, have a minute?" she asks. Cyno closes his book and looks at her. "It's about Nilou."

"What about her?"

"She told me about what happened with Scaramouche," Candace says as Cyno narrows his eyes. "... And, she won't talk about Catnip anymore."

"Why doesn't she come to talk to me herself?"

"She's afraid you're still mad at her."

Cyno is about to open his book again when Candace says, "Listen, I don't want to doubt Catnip. But has she told you anything? I mean... Scaramouche's literally accusing her of murder."

Will it sound like an excuse if Cyno tells Candace that you don't remember? That you have gaps in your memories?

"If he is, isn't it strange he's going about it this way?" Cyno asks. "Where's the evidence?"

"I don't know what to believe at this point," Candace sighs. "But, I did see Scaramouche yesterday night." That's interesting. Could whatever happened yesterday night be the reason he's not at school? "Of course, I didn't talk to him, but he was with someone."

"Who?"

"No idea. I think he goes to Nahida's school, though. The uniform looks the same."

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

Candace shrugs. "I don't. It didn't look like a friendly meet-up; that's all I can say. But… I did hear the guy say Nahida's name." Why? What were they talking about? "Has she mentioned anything to you?"

"She did say a classmate of hers got himself involved with Scaramouche."

"Geez, why does it feel like this guy is literally everywhere?" Candace sighs. "It's not just Catnip I'm worried about. I'm worried about the rest of us, too."

Cyno doesn't blame her.

Candace looks past him, smiles, and says, “Hey, Catnip.”

Cyno turns around and sees you give a small wave as you walk up to them. As he walks with you and Candace to the school parking lot, Cyno's glad that Candace isn't grilling you with everything that's going on but instead talks about the upcoming hot spring trip. Eventually, the three of you part ways, with you and Cyno getting into his car and Candace going to hers.

On the way to your house, you say, "I'm thinking of telling Candace and Tighnari about my family." Cyno glances at you. "I don't know what Nilou told them, but… It will make me look even more suspicious if they don't know."

"What did your family say?"

"I… haven't told them yet. But what do you think?"

“It would prevent any misunderstandings,” Cyno says. He takes your hand. “But, whatever you and your family decide, I support your decision.”

You take his hand tightly. “You asked me if I remember anything about my parents… I do.” A pause. “I was there. Scaramouche was there.” You take a small breath. “It was some kind of gathering, and my mother was wearing the pendant around her neck.”

“Did this all come back at once?”

“Yeah…” A soft sigh. “But, that’s all that came back.”

You entered the kitchen and saw Jebrael making something for his son. When Jebrael saw you, he asked, “I thought you’d be sleeping.”

"I guess my lack of memories keeps me awake," you said half-jokingly.

“Give it some time. It’ll come back.”

You come up next to him. "If Scaramouche never appeared… would you have told me about my missing memories?"

Jebrael looked at you. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. He sighed. “I… don’t even know if I want you to remember them.”

“You’re scaring me,” you said quietly. “Could you just tell me? What am I forgetting?”

Jebrael put his hand on your shoulder. Then, his son rushed into the kitchen with Rahman.

“I was a little relieved,” you say. “Not gonna lie. I… wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear what happened.”

Nilou's words suddenly come flooding back to him, and Cyno is really debating on whether to tell you what he heard. It's killing him that he's keeping this secret from you, but, of course, he's curious. Your grandmother and Jebrael obviously have their reasons for keeping this big secret from you for so many years. Whatever happened that day traumatized you, and the only reason Cyno can think of is that you're the one who buried it all away.

Just when Cyno pulls into The Red Sand, his phone goes off. “Could you check who it is?” he asks.

"It's Nahida," you say.

Cyno gives you a nod, and you put the phone on speaker. Before you can say a word, Nahida says, "Cyno, help me!"

Chapter Twenty-two

Tag list: @lxry-chxn @suoshiii @seirenspinel @lordbugs @bennytheghost @ch0c0shortiie @iwishitwas @sketcheeee @thetwinkims @chaimkko @whorerificstuff @sakiimeo @riylvx

#cyno #cyno x you #cyno x reader #cyno fluff #cyno x y/n #cyno x yn #genshin impact cyno

[chipthekeeper]

ChipTheKeeper's Velcinta Masterlist

Hi friends! Just wanted to put together a new post to pin for quick access to all my works on ao3 for this pair of characters that changed my life. These are in order by when they were published, oldest first.

One-shots:

Sharing a Blanket -- [2,046 words] With just a few days to go before the mission, Vel is starting to have some doubts. Luckily Cinta is there to ease her mind and remind her of why they fight.

This might not be my favorite of the things I've written for them (it's a bit out of character because, well, we didn't know as much about the characters when I wrote it), but I'm still overwhelmingly proud to have had the first story published in the tag for them. It's been a beautiful journey since then.

What's Left -- [4,729 words] In the aftermath of the Aldhani mission, Vel and Cinta try to come to terms with what they've lost. And what's still left to hold onto.

The longest of my one-shots because I had a lot of thoughts to process that week. Also introduces an OC that I've continued to use in stories with this pair.

New at This -- [3,644 words] Cinta Kaz prefers to work alone. Her handlers in the rebellion, however, feel she needs to learn to play nicely with others. Fortunately, her new partner grows on her quickly.

This came from a prompt to write about their first meeting, which turned out to have to be an alternative idea about their first meeting because I wanted to use a different one later, but I do love this one a lot too.

The Window to the Galaxy -- [4,232 words] Nine years after the robbery of the Aldhani garrison, in the waning months of the Galactic Civil War, Cinta returns to the planet with Vel to witness the Eye of Aldhani again.

No matter what Tony Gilroy has in mind for them, this is how I choose to believe their story goes. Fanfiction is built on hope.

Loved I Not Honor More -- [8,809 words] “Heroes who say ‘loved I not honor more’ enter a committed relationship and accept the strain that their role will put on that relationship. They allow themselves to fall in love, but the romance must take a backseat to duty. They'll dislike having to leave the wife or girl home alone to go save the world, but they won't hesitate (long) to do it.” - TVTropes.org -- A story of five times the struggle comes first and one time it doesn’t.

Written for Velcinta Week 2023. One of my all-time favorite things to have worked on.

It Won't Kill Ya -- [3,533 words] Vel has never been a fan of parties, especially not on Empire Day. Not until a stranger catches her eye and changes everything.

Don't have much commentary for this one, just threw something together out of boredom.

Gravity -- [3,398 words] My attempt to interpret the flashes of them we got in the season 2 teaser.

This one was a little bit devastating to write on a personal level but I'm happy with how it turned out. Pretty positive the show won't actually go like this at all but I would like for the ending to at least be similar.

Multichapter:

(oh, love, get me) out of the cold -- [22 chapters, 82,621 words] A lot can happen in five months on Aldhani. A lot that Vel and Cinta are prepared for, and much more that they're not.

This is the first meeting story that's my main headcanon. Many thousands of words spanning their entire time on Aldhani and through the end of season one of Andor. Title stolen from a Mayday Parade song I'm obsessed with.

The Fear of Being Alone -- [6 chapters, 11,798 words] A story of five times Vel didn't leave Cinta alone, and one time Cinta returned the favor.

A companion piece of sorts to Loved I Not Honor More, a 5+1 from Vel's perspective, written for Velcinta Sapphic September.

the heart is a muscle -- [8 chapters, 23,624 words ongoing] Cinta Kaz and Vel Sartha have worked together for years, becoming unlikely friends along the way. But a big opportunity on the planet of Aldhani is about to challenge the meaning of their partnership.

Another long one mostly about their time on Aldhani but this time they're old friends who go through some new shit together. Oh and also this is where I put all my headcanons/conspiracies (Vel is Luthen's daughter; Cinta was raised by Saw for a while).

Ficlets:

things you said -- Just some ficlets based on a list of prompts about "things you said" on tumblr.

I'll keep this pinned and update it as often as I remember to do so. Shoutout to everyone who's already read, kudos-ed, and commented on any of these. It's been so much fun to explore these characters by myself, but getting to share that and celebrate them with you makes it infinitely better :)

#my writing #velcinta #vel sartha #cinta kaz #andor #andor fanfic #star wars fanfic #bookmarks

[thestarfishghost]

800 before the end of December is looking nearly impossible smh but eyyy! 777~

NGL, I'm movie and ova grinding so hard. I usually manage to watch 100 new things a year, but this year I instead rewatched nearly 40 things. It's been a big year for nostalgia for me, but also for getting a few people into different things with me! Vampy has personally watched so much stuff with me this year? Oh my God??? It's been a blast! I have never felt more human than when Vampy and Kimchi enjoyed Dragon Maid along side me, I swear. I also got Vampy into Enstars by starting the anime together and I am delighted >:3 Made this in celebration actually >:3 @shut-in-magical-girl

That said, I have actually watched some actual shows too, such as the first season of Oreimo and the first two seasons of Kami Nomi! Those were actually really fun. The first season of Oreimo has some of the most impassioned speeches I've ever heard about the more ""controversial"" sides of anime. I did admittedly have a love-hate relationship with Kirino at first, but honestly, it was just because of the more wildly exaggerated tsundere tropes. They became easier to laugh off after awhile. I really relate to the way she loves the hobby, and I think it really helped me warm up to her more quickly. How she enjoys collecting and getting excited over it... I relate to that in those same ways lol specifically to her Meruru shrine lol (ik no one asked, but aside from Krino, my best girl is actually Saori. I look forward to seeing more of her every time an episode comes on! :3) Also, Idk why I skipped Kami Nomi for so many years, but I legit just left it on my P2W list for a decade lol. I've only had one other person ever recommend it to me as well;; and that was like 4-5 years ago now lol;; I slowed down with playing eroge and bishoujo games around,,, 2015/2016(?), but I used to play them religiously. Keima should probably not be someone I relate to... but here I am. Relating to him. While nowadays my main passion lies in the animation side of things, I still really find relatability and comfort within this specific Reference Humor genre of anime, so I've really enjoyed this series so far. I finished up Irregular Witch too :( First show from the current airing block that I've actually completed. Bittersweet, but I had fun with that one too. I'm going to especially miss seeing Phoenix every week. I find that I usually watch whatever comedies are airing when I do tune into the blocks as they air, and this one was a really nice companion piece for the heavier stuff I've been keeping up with. I watched a few other full series, but this next one is the last I'm mentioning for now. I might make more posts another time; we'll see. Two of my favorites that I got around to during my sick week are these two next mentions; first up is Wotakoi. I am devastated that there isn't more Wotakoi. Help. They covered pretty much all of the manga according to other fans, so it's unlikely more will come out of it. It always hurts a bit when something is fully finished, though. especially when I enjoyed it so much. I might read it just for the sake of wanting more of it. It was really straight forward and was honestly a breath of fresh air. There weren't any real love rivals or anything; just nerds figuring themselves out and their dynamics out. I literally just watched six weirdos make friends and fall in love with fairly no complications involved. I'm thriving. (Or maybe I'm just a lonely, nerdy adult who is tired of drama in my life. Maybe that's the only takeaway here lmao /lh) And then,,,, finally,,, Magical Witch Punie-Chan. I have... No words. It was amazing. I loved it. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. 4 episode OVA with an additional 4 episode Omake after. Wonderful if you like darker gag-humor series and want a short little trip. This one was weird but delightful, truly. P.S. I kept "Lyrical Tolkarev~ Kill Them All!~" as my discord status for like 3 days lol That theme song is going to live in my head rent free for the rest of my days. As for what I'm most excited for in 2024, there's probably, like, A LOT. But off of the top of my head, I can name the next Given project (PLEASEEEEEEEEECOMEOUTALREADYYESSSSGIVEITTOMEEEE JANUARY27THCANNOT COME FAST ENOUGHHH) and the second season of Bokuyaba (one of the only manga I have bothered with in 15 years, going to be so real right now;; I cherish this story). When these things come out, I know for a fact that my blog is going to briefly implode. Apologies about it ahead of time lol!;; I'll probably be saying more as the currently airing series all come to an end over the coming weeks. There's quite a few I don't want to end TT~TT so talking about them might be nice!

#personal space post #my moots blinking at my blog rn like “did.... did he actually WRITE a post? about his hobby?” #yeah apparently. i wanted to say more but idk. this is mostly just “hey. i do actually watch anime. and talk. im just gods most anxious rat #long post #space case talks about what his eyes have consumed for the past week

[hanji-cafe]

Little Briar Rose

Hello!! Oh my... it’s been forever since I’ve posted. I hope all that follow my writing enjoy this piece that I’ve been working on for months on end. Hopefully, after finals I’ll be able to post parts of The Little Mermaid and some others as well! Please enjoy :) 

Warning: Grooming, Kidnapping (No NSFW for this fairytale however)

Word Count: 4.9k 

Fairytale Masterlist

Part One - True Loves Trick

In a far away land, long ago, lived a king and his fair queen. Many years they longed for a child and finally their wish was granted. A daughter was born and they named her after the dawn: Aurora. A great holiday was proclaimed throughout the kingdom, so that all of high or low estate might pay homage to the infant princess. 

Thus on this great and joyous day did all the kingdom celebrate the long awaited royal birth and good King Chan and his Queen made welcome their life long friend, King Changbin. These monarchs had only dreamed of one day uniting their kingdom, thus this day would they announce that the princess, Aurora, and the Prince of Changbin, Jisung, would one day be betrothed. 

That day, all the guests gathered in the throne room, each passing by to catch a glimpse of the beautiful and calm infant. Each guest was to bring one singular gift each, no more and no less. Many citizens, lords and ladies, fae and wizards, brought along the best they could afford. 

Prince Jisung, only a few years old, could barely even peek inside the crib where, unknowing to him, his future betrothed lay. He placed a small gold locket in the crib, just beside the infant, and Aurora giggled, grabbing the locket happily. 

The next to grant their gifts were the king's three most trusted faes, Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix. Minho granted her the gift of beauty, and Felix granted her the gift of song, but before Hyunjin could grant his gift, the doors were bombarded open by a great and cold wind. 

Unwelcomed arrived an immortal sorcerer, Seungmin, all powerful and wicked. The King panicked, for the man was not invited after considering the horrid ways he used his magic. Unwanted and shunned away, the man grew in rage and retaliation, wanting the princess for himself, and so he sought out to curse the infant. 

When the princess matures, she will grow in grace and beauty, but if she is not granted to me by her nineteen birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into an unawakenable sleep.  

Though King Chan attempted to stop the man, imprisoning him, the castle security failed to capture Seungmin, the sorcerer disappearing in a cloud of smoke. 

Hyunjin, being the only person who had not granted the girl a wish, knew he couldn’t do much to go against Seungmin, so he made a small alteration. If the princess indeed pricked her finger, she would fall into a sleep, but could be awakened by a true love's kiss.

Still in fear of his daughter’s fate, King Chan burned every spinning wheel in the kingdom, and forbade spinning until the princess passed her nineteenth birthday.  

Not knowing how else to keep her safe, King Chan sent his daughter out to be raised in the muted countryside, where Seungmin wouldn’t even dare to look. His most trusted fae would look after her, keeping her true identity secret from herself. And so King Chan watched with a heavy heart as his most precious possession, his only child, disappeared into the night. 

👑

It was at a young age when Seungmin first approached you. Despite all the precautions, Seungmin was a brilliant wizard, and when you went out to collect berries and fruit, Seungmin would approach you as a wolf. He wasn’t feral or rabid, but rather a gentle animal that would act as your companion as you walked the woods alone. 

After all, he didn’t want his precious bride, Aurora, harmed. 

But as you got older and began to mature, Seungmin visited you less and his desire to stay as a wolf declined. After your 14th birthday he finally revealed himself to you. As he walked with you, his body transformed into a handsome young man, taking you by surprise. 

You cried out of fear, feeling betrayed, and ran back to your cottage. 

“Uncle Minho!” you cried out, running into the cottage. 

“What is it, my rose?” Minho asked you, addressing you by your pet name, as you ran up to him, rather distraught. 

“There was a wolf in the woods that frightened me! It turned itself into a man!” 

Minho’s eyes darkened at the mention of the wolf, knowing almost certainly that it was the sorcerer. All their endeavors to keep you hidden? That has failed you? When you had gone to bed, he gathered together Felix and Hyunjin, to decide what exactly to do. 

“Are we sure that it’s Seungmin?” Felix asked gently. 

“Of course it is! Who else would turn themselves into a wolf?!” Hyunjin snapped.

“It is peculiar that he hasn’t followed her home,” Felix agreed. 

“It must be the boundary. Surely his dark magic cannot make it past our enchantment,” Minho decided. “But it's still rather worrying. Starting tomorrow, one of us should go out with her to gather.”

They both nodded, agreeing, and the next three years they didn’t spot a wolf or man once. 

👑

It was on your Eighteenth when Seungmin revealed himself to you once again. Your uncles had finally let you roam the forest alone, after all you were an adult now, but what they weren’t wary of was the chance that Seungmin might show up again.

You grew paranoid when first spotting the familiar black wolf, and you turned to return to the cottage when, in a rush, Seungmin transformed and cut in front of you dressed in a black fur jacket. 

You wanted to cry out, but Seungmin pressed his hand against your mouth, hushing you. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

You only nodded, holding your breath. “Y-your the man that I saw on my birthday,” you pointed out, letting out a gasp. Seungmin nodded. 

“Think of me as your guardian,” Seungmin smiled, releasing you from his arms. “I watch over you so nothing happens to you.” 

“But there is no danger in these woods!” you argued, shaking your head, and Seungmin smiled proudly. 

“That’s because these woods are mine, and I keep any dangerous thing away from you.” 

“Who are you?” you ask gently, looking up at him with wide innocent eyes. “My uncles tell me that you’re a bad man, that you want to hurt me.” 

“Nonsense,” Seungmin assured, shaking his head with a chuckle. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already,” he said, gazing at you lustfully. 

His gaze so intense and passionate unsettled something deep inside of you, and you took a step back from him. “I don’t want any trouble, Mr. Wolf.” 

“And I will not give you any,” he says, “I simply want to accompany you as you gather your fruit.” 

And so Seungmin followed along, watching closely, as you harvested what you could and sang along with the birds. 

Seungmin had been lonely and desperate for any companion to keep him company. His banishment was a worse punishment than death, and visiting you in the woods only made his desire to keep you grow. You were fair, gentle, and kind. Your voice was as sweet as the ripest strawberry and your face was as beautiful as a goddess’s. What else could he ask for in a companion? 

And so over your eighteenth year he became familiar to you. As he walked with you he came to know you well, and though he would withhold any information that could startle you, day by day you came to know him as well. As days ran out until that final decision, Seungmin became more desperate, and he would be sure to tell you who he really was on your birthday, but to you who he was remanded simple. 

He was a friend. 

👑

The Morning of your Nineteen Birthday was started by a beautiful sunrise. The birds chirped outside your window, slowly waking you up, and you quickly got dressed. 

The chill of the spring morning set into your skin, making you shiver as you stepped out into the forest. Dew and a morning frost still resided on the grass beneath your feet, and you felt the forest breath around you. 

With your basket in hand and your fearless demeanor, you set out to collect what you could. Since it was spring, you knew that turnips and carrots were readily available around you, and you began searching for the food. 

Of course your dear little animal friends would follow you. A rabbit, some birds, and a few squirrels here and there. The squirrels had just come out of hibernation and were always searching around for the nuts they had skillfully buried a few weeks before the snow. You enjoyed their company often, having someone with you besides your overbearing uncles… and that strange wolfman. Whenever one of the fae would follow a little too close, the animals would scurry away in a panic, but today there was nothing to scare them away, or so you thought. 

It was when you were playing with a rabbit that the loud sound of horse gallops could be heard approaching you. Never have heard the sound before, you didn’t know what to do, only hiding behind a tree and hoping they wouldn’t spot you, but as might be expected it didn’t work out too well. 

You clutched the bark of the tree tightly before you heard the sound of the hooves against the wet ground halt just a few feet away. You tried to steady your breath, inching around the tree to run, when suddenly you knocked right into a man who looked close to your age. 

You let out a gasp, taking a slow step back. This man was more beautiful than you’ve ever seen before. He had large eyes like a bear cub, and a round face like a chipmunk. His skin was as colorful and soft as wheat that grew in the field in the other directions of your cottage. He towered over you, much taller in height, but he didn’t look menacing like the familiar man you had come to know, instead he looked gentle and kind. His eyes… sparkled. 

“I’ve never seen you before,” he said, admiring your features. You were more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen. 

“I-I uh…” you gulped, backing up, your back hitting the tree. “I…” 

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

You didn’t know what it was about his eyes, but staring into them you could only breathe out, “Rose…” 

You had never had someone take your breath away like this man, and against everything your uncles had taught you, you wanted to learn more about this man, anything. 

“Where are you going?” you asked curiously. 

The man chuckled, and the sound tickled your ears pleasantly. “My father requested me to meet the king of the neighboring country. I was only on my way through the woods when I caught a glance of you.” 

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” you said, glancing away. 

“I have a feeling that we’ve met before…” 

You shook your head.

“No?” he chuckled. “I suppose I would remember such a beautiful face,” he nods, causing you to blush a bright pink. “Perhaps, upon a dream?” 

You let out a cry of surprise as suddenly the man's horse pulled a carrot out of your basket, causing the man to chuckle. “I apologize. Samson loves carrots,” he explained as the horse ate one of your harvested carrots. 

You gulped, nodding. “What’s… your name?” you asked hesitantly. 

“Mine? My name is Jisung,” he answered with a smile. 

“Jisung,” you hummed, before shaking your head and pushing him away gently. “Oh! I’m really not supposed to talk to strangers, though.” 

“Not even a little dancing with them?” Jisung asked, following. “A simple waltz?” 

“My uncles would be furious, really-” you let out a gasp as Jisung took your hand, spinning you around gracefully.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to dance, Rose…” he teased, causing you to blush again. “I can show you,” he assured. One foot at a time, he led you to dance. One foot, and then the other, and before you knew it, you and Jisung were dancing among the trees as the morning faded and the sun rose into the sky. He held you as you spun and swayed with him. It felt like nothing you had ever felt before. Dare you say that it felt like magic- true love… until suddenly-

“Rose?!” you heard Minho call out, and you gasped pushing against Jisung’s chest. 

“You must go,” you assured him, pushing him back towards his horse, grabbing your basket. 

“Come with me,” he offered, “to the castle.” 

“I can’t,” you refused, shaking your head. 

“Will I ever see you again?” 

“Never!” 

“Never?!” Jisung cried out. 

“Well… meet me here, tonight!” you said to him, “right after dusk.” 

Determined, he agreed. “I’ll be here.” 

You nodded before giving him a final push, and he sadly mounted his horse, galloping away as you ran back to the cottage. Appearing to Minho, basket in hand, full of turnips, you supplied a hopeful smile. 

“Good Morning, Uncle Minho,” you said, offering the basket. 

Minho was not pleased, giving you a dark glare before ushering you into the house. “What did we tell you about leaving without telling anyone? It’s dangerous!” 

“But Uncle! I didn’t even see a wolf in the woods!” you argued, though you knew the truth about that man. “It was peaceful, only the birds and the rabbits, a-and-” 

“Enough,” he said. “Come inside so we can begin to cook the stew,” he explained, taking the basket and closing the door behind you. 

Unbeknown to any of you, a raven had caught sight of you with the prince along with where exactly you had gone, and he flew back towards the towering black castle in the west. 

Made out of black brick and engulfed in heavy smoke and fog, sat Seungmin’s castle. Around it, the terrain was rocky and covered in shambles of thorns and prickers. The raven flew gracefully above, through the clouds of smoke, and landed just beside where Seungmin sat on his throne before transforming himself into a young man. 

“What did you find, Jeongin?” Seungmin asked. 

“She’s found the prince, sir,” Jeongin reported. “Everything is falling into place.” 

“Wonderful,” Seungmin said, a wry smirk growing on his face.

It was then that they would ambush the prince and take him captive before letting you fall into your trance. If the King wouldn’t give him what he wanted, then Seungmin would be sure to make him pay for the rest of eternity. Afterall, how were you supposed to be awakened or freed if your true love was dead?

👑

“You seem awfully happy today,” Felix notes cheerfully. 

“Oh yes! I-” you stop, blushing a bit. “You can’t tell Uncle Minho…” 

“My lips are sealed,” Felix assures. “Well today… I met a man in the woods-”

Felix’s eyes widened in panic before you shook your head. 

“He wasn’t the man from before!” you assured. “He was softer, prettier,” you said dreamily. “He showed me how to dance. I met him… once upon a dream…” you giggled, “I-I think I love him, Uncle Felix.”

Felix gave you a pitied look. “That is wonderful, except for the fact that- well I know we haven’t told you but- you're betrothed.” 

“Betrothed?!” you cried out in horror.

“To a prince!” 

“A prince? I can’t marry a prince then that would make me-”

“A princess!” Felix answered happily. “Princess Aurora. Tonight, we're taking you back to your father, King Chan! I know it’s abrupt, but it was only to protect you,” Felix assured, but you turned your head, upset and confused. 

“W-What did you say?” you stuttered, processing all the information that was just thrown at you. “N-no… Uncle. I’m only a girl raised by her uncles. I can’t be a princess! That would mean…” tears began to form in your eyes. “You lied to me?!” 

“Now, Rose… you must not be upset,” Minho spoke from behind. Hearing Felix begin to blurt all the secrets, Minho had rushed upstairs. 

“You! You’ve been lying to me too!” 

“You have to understand that it was to protect you darling,” Minho assured as Felix reached out for you. 

“Don’t touch me!” you snapped, pulling away from his touch. “It doesn’t matter! You lied! My name isn’t even Rose?!” 

“That wolf!” Minho snapped. “That wolf isn’t a wolf! He’s a m-”

“Man! I know!” you blurted. “He already revealed himself to me.” 

“Seungmin revealed himself!?” Minho roared, making you shake your head. 

“At least he has been truthful!” 

“Rose, I assure you that he hasn’t,” Felix said, desperation in his voice. “He’s a wicked warlock! One that was banished for his wrong doings. He has cursed you!” 

“No! I don’t want to hear it!” You sobbed, pulling away from the both of them. “Please leave me alone, Uncle.”

“Rose-” 

“Please!” you cried. “Please, just both of you go! Just go.” 

Hesitantly Felix agreed pushing Minho back out of the room, before leaving your room to let you gather your thoughts. 

Laid out on your bed you cried and cried until you had no tears left. 

👑

When Felix had told you that you were betrothed to a prince and that you could not return to meet the man of the dream, you were distraught. There wasn’t much they could do for you, regretfully escorting you to the castle, making sure that you didn’t wander off into the woods. Afterall, it was your nineteenth birthday, and they suspected that Seungmin would be on the lookout for you. 

Having you enter the castle, they gifted you a crown and a beautiful dress, but you only burst into tears once they placed it on your head. It was a reminder that you would never get to marry who you chose, and sadly your three uncles left you alone, guarding the door from the outside. 

In a fit of tears and distress, you laid on the bed. You couldn’t get over the way the man had led you along the grass in his arms so gracefully and how perfect your hands fit together. 

It was only when you heard your voice being called that you noticed another door in the room, one not being guarded by your uncles. Whispers of your name would be heard from the open doorway, a draft making you shiver and if in a trance you made your way towards it. 

You shivered, hugging yourself as you hesitantly began to climb the stairwell. Once you reached the top, your heart began to beat out of your chest. There stood the man, the one that had followed you all those years, and had made himself familiar to you in those woods. 

Seungmin. 

“What have they done to you, Darling,” he said as you moved to take a step back, but the steps were no longer there, but instead a blank wall. Seungmin approached you, reaching to take your face in his hand. “I knew I should have visited you this morning.” 

“You knew who I was and you lied,” you cried softly. 

Delicately, Seungmin cradled your face with his hands. “If I had revealed the truth to you, those faes would have taken you away from me. We would have been separated, darling.” 

You whimpered, nodding as you melted into his hands. “I-I don’t want to be here,” you whimpered, feeling as if Seungmin could take away your sorrows. You leaned farther into his touch, seeking comfort in the affection. 

“I can take you away from here,” he assured. “I can help you leave without them noticing.” 

“Really?” you asked with wide eyes. “You can take me to the woods? I-I would do anything!” 

“Yes,” Seungmin lied. “Where you met that man.” 

“You saw?” you asked bashfully. “Me and the prince- 

Seungmin nodded. “I told you. Those are my woods, and I see all that go on in them.” 

“Oh! We danced all morning,” you said dreamily, pulling away softly to spit around in happiness. “I trust you, Mr. Wolf… take me to the woods please. To the prince.” 

Seungmin nodded, taking you into his arms before another door appeared. When you walked through the threshold, you both appeared in the woods, but in front of his large castle. Your eyes widened at the sight, the view menacing. 

Your stomach dropped as you realized that you had been tricked. 

“Mr. Wolf! T-this isn’t my cottage- My Uncles were right!” 

“Come,” he said, his grip on you firm like steel. “Let me show you all that I rule.” 

Your breath hitched in your throat as you walked over the dark soil beneath your feet. A dark and old jawbridge laid before you, and you carefully stepped along it, clinging to Seungmin for support. Under laid shambles of sharp thorns and piercing rocks. The sight only made you more desperate to cling onto Seungmin. You jumped hearing the timber wolves in the forest howl and the sound of a raven circling above you. 

When you finally reached the far side, slowly the jawbridge began to rise, and Seungmin led you into his palace slowly, ushering you up the stairs, and towards the top of the castle. 

It was there, in his chambers, where you would be staying with him. 

👑

When the three fae realized that they could no longer hear your cries they rushed to open the door, only to see that you were nowhere to be found. Frantically they searched for you, under the bed, behind the curtains, anywhere possible, but you were gone, and they knew where you had been taken. 

“Seungmin,” Hyunjin snarled. “That man and his tricks.” 

“Enough of that,” Felix argued. “What will we tell the King?!” 

Minho only shook his head. “We won’t be telling him anything.” 

“But he will find out eventually!” Hyunjin argued. 

“No, we will cast a spell on them. If what we know is true, Seungmin will have Aurora prick her finger, and she will fall into that deep sleep. If we cast this spell, they will sleep with her until we can find that man she mentioned and have him kiss her. Only then will her parents and the whole kingdom awake with her.” 

“Will that work?” Felix asked unsure. 

“I will make sure of it.” 

👑

Seungmin’s palace was dark and cold. Your body never seemed to stop shivering, even when Seungmin had given you many wolf pelts. You still shivered under his cold gaze. Though he had been following you for your life, you still knew nothing about the man was true, and that made it uncomfortable. That and the fact that he had tricked you. 

“Don’t be mad at me, love…” he hummed. “I know you better than anyone.” 

“You tricked me.” 

“For your own good,” he explained, approaching you. “That measly prince can’t give you much compared to me.” You flinched as he approached you, and he felt dejected before grabbing your waist and pushing you on the bed. 

You gasped in surprise before he was pressing his lips against yours, kissing you deeply and corrupting something inside you. Though the kiss lit a fire in your stomach, you found the power to resist, helpless pushing him away. 

“No, please!” 

“You don’t have to be scared of me,” he said, his hand gently caressing your cheek. “I won’t hurt you. I only want you to be by my side. To accompany me from now on.” 

“I want to go home.” 

“I want you to marry me,” he confessed, a ring magically appearing in his grip. 

A shocked gasp left your lips as you frantically shook your head. “No!” you cried. 

Seungmin tensed. “No?” he took your hand, attempting to force the ring onto your finger. Despite you pulling and curling your finger, he managed to get the band on your ring finger. “I’ve protected you all these years, accompanied you for all this time. You dare reject me?!” 

“Please,” you cried, pulling on the ring, but it was no use, the metal was enchanted. “I-I don’t want this.” 

“Fine,” he said, snapping his fingers, and suddenly a spinning wheel appeared behind his figure. “Then you’ll prick your finger.” 

“W-what will happen?” you asked hesitantly. 

“You’ll fall into a deep sleep, and only a kiss from your true love will be able to wake you,” he explained honestly. “But- are you so sure that man in the woods is your true love?” he questioned harshly. “Are you sure he will be able to find you in such places?” 

“Don’t make me do it,” you pleaded. 

“I won’t make you do anything,” Seungmin explained. “It’s your choice. The only thing you must do is choose.” 

You looked at him, the man that had kept you safe for all these years, and though you were unsure if that man in the woods was really able to break the spell, you knew that you couldn’t spend the rest of your life with Seungmin in this castle. And so you pricked your finger on the spinning wheel, and into a deep sleep you fell indeed. 

👑

When your motionless body appeared in the bed of the room where Seungmin had tricked you, the fae’s worst fear indeed proved to be true. There you laid, your eyes peacefully fluttered shut on the bed. Seungmin had nearly placed your hands together above your naval as if you were dead, and Felix approached you with sad eyes. 

“What do we do, Minho?” Felix asked sadly, stroking your hair gently. 

“Oh that Seungmin! I’ll kill him! Let me at him, and I’ll turn him into a rock and throw him off the highest cliff into the deepest ocean!” 

“No, Hyunjin we can’t,” Minho urges. 

“We first need to decide what we're going to tell the king… He’ll be furious!” Felix cried. “All these years… no- he’ll be heartbroken…” 

“They aren’t going to find out,” Minho pointed out. 

“They aren’t?” the other faes asked. 

“Like I said, we’ll put them all to sleep with Aurora. When she wakes, they will as well.” 

Hyunjin and Felix looked at each other. “You think that will really work?”

“I know it will. Come.” 

And so the faes flew around the castle, casting a strong spell on each and every inhabitant in the castle. The Queen, King Chan, King Changbin… and all the rest, but just as Felix moved to place King Changbin into sleep, his eyes fluttered shut with the words, “Falling in love with some peasant girl… hmph!” 

Felix halted. “Peasant girl, your majesty?!” 

Changbin’s eyes fluttered open and shut slowly, “peasant girl…” he mumbled. “Once upon a dream…” 

“Minho!” Felix cries, flying off just as the King’s eyes fell permanently shut. 

“What is it, Lix?” Minho asked curiously. 

“Once Upon a Dream!” 

“What is the world are you talking about?” Hyunjin hissed. 

“Rose came to me and told me that she had met a man in the woods once upon a dream! But King Changbin- he- well he said that Jisung had met a girl once about a dream!”

Minho’s eyes grew wide. “We must find him before Seungmin discovers the truth!” 

Hyunjin’s face fell into a grave expression. “Let’s hope he hasn’t already…” 

👑

Jisung couldn’t help but feel nervous. Had he been stood up? He abandoned his fathers wishes of marrying the princess to marry a maiden girl that didn’t even bother to show… He was just about to mount his horse and apologize to his father and King Chan when suddenly he heard movement in the brush of the woods. 

He turned to see what the sound was when suddenly a raven was swarming around his face. Jisung let out a yelp of surprise, swatting the bird away before suddenly ropes were wrapping around his whole body. His hands, arms, legs, and feet tightened together though no figure could be seen in the moonlight except the raven. 

The ropes tightened, burning his skin, until a dark figure appeared to him. 

As Seungmin revealed himself, Jisung was on high alert. “What kind of trick is this?!” Jisung yelled. 

“You already fell for the trick, little prince,” Seungmin laughed. “You thought the princess would meet you here? No, she’s mine.” 

“The princess…?” 

“Look how puzzled you are, picking up the pieces of the puzzle,” Seungmin laughed with a playful tisk. “Your fair maiden is indeed not a peasant woman as you told your father but rather the very princess you were destined to marry.” 

“Let me go!” Jisung snapped, pulling against the rope, causing them only to tighten. 

“I don’t think so,” Seungmin seethed. “I have better plans for you.” 

👑

“We’re too late,” Hyunjin said sadly as they reached the woods surrounding the cottage. “He’s nowhere to be found.” 

“Then we know who did this,” Minho nodded. “And we know what we must do.” 

“Oh, you don’t mean… go to his palace, do you?” Felix asked with wide eyes. 

“It’s the only way, Felix,” Minho nodded. “We have to face Seungmin.” 

The other fae nodded sadly. What once started as a misunderstanding somehow grew into such a catastrophe. 

As they made their way through the woods, the purple fog began to grow darker and darker. Once the fae reached the old jaw bridge, Felix could feel the nerves in his stomach. “This is a bad idea.” 

“We must save the prince so he can awaken Aurora,” Minho urged. “We have to.” 

The others nodded nervously before they flew across, not daring to step foot on the rotting wood of the jaw bridge. On the other side, enchantments were placed at every door, guarding the prisoner somewhere inside. 

[Tag list: @hyune-bun​ @hannie-squirrel00​ @cb97zone @corruption-skz @bearseungmin-events Please let me know if you want added!!!]

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