#he has never fought back against life in the harem

[kurosiarevived]

Don't know if you remember, but I was the anon that asked about Burdohk's armor a couple of years ago. Gotta say that, even if he didn't have much impact on this universe, he is my favorite character, and I love his little interactions with Athrenna.

Their relationship is what fascinated me the most. Forged in respect, admiration and caring for the wellbeing of one another for centuries. The fact that Burdohk has something of hers, the feather attached to his horn, and Athrenna, in a way, has something of his, the scar on her chest during her battle for queenship.

I'm sure it's me and my mental disorders, but considering that his son stated that Burdohk possibly cared more for Athrenna that their society permits and despite both of their sexual leaning, I have always wandered if, in much different circumstances, the king and the queen could have been... something.

Anyway, it's glad to read from you again, and thank you so, so much for creating the grumpy, disciplined king/grandpa of Kurosia.

My goodness, I LOVED this ask! Burdohk was a soft spot for me, the old King and Queen were written to be a successful example of the rulership of Kurosia. Despite their differences, Athrenna and Burdohk sought to find their own way of ruling all the Kingdom. Burdohk was from a hardy, life or death part of Kurosia where water was scarce and the tougher and colder you were, the more likely to survive. While Athrenna was raised in a humble, small fishing village many forgot about. Both had to fight the odds stacked against them to not just survive, but thrive. When they met, they thought very, *very* little of each other just like Kurogh and Feuriah. But each learned quickly how strong their other was in their own rights. Athrenna was warm and loving to her people when Burdohk couldn't express himself, and he was an absolute powerhouse when Athrenna needed it. Athrenna thought she'd live a life forced to a male that was emotionless, but she found out Burdohk did have soft spots that only she could see. She only really saw it when they started to have eggs together. When Athrenna wanted a harem, Burdohk was silent. He left their chambers and the Queen thought she had offended him. But he came back, two hours later, with bundles of female applications to high quality positions he'd taken note of and handed them to her. He listed their best qualities, and Athrenna found herself shedding tears leaving her King silently confused. In his own way, he showed his acceptance of every bit of her even though she wasn't attracted to him because he valued her and respected her. In turn of his acceptance, Athrenna gave him her feathers. For Yinvaht Kuros, that is a sign of *immense* respect, and Burdohk wore her feathers until he died.

They had many eggs, and Burdohk was active in each of their lives. This was the type of 'love' Kruta was interested in and why he was so into Kurosian love stories. He saw his parents differences and how they worked perfectly together to parent and rule the kingdom. I will say, Kurogh and Feuriah *had* the potential to be the same. Kurogh did in fact respect Feuriah in a similar way, despite his upbringing he saw Feuriah as a strong female dragon who fought tooth and claw to find her place and somehow become Queen despite not being born in Kurosia. If Malefor never appeared, they could have possibly worked through their differences and find their own peace and rule effectively. Burdohk was a good King <3

#burdohk #king of kurosia #athrenna #kruta #art

[tealincubusspeckles]

Reverse Summons

This is an old draft I have been hanging onto that I am not sure if I should expand. The idea is Harold never showed back up and the brother's never made it to the human world. Yet, Diana and James want to host a Rebellion. Desperate times call for desperate measures and the group ask Damien to call on his second pained memory.

There is one person Izroul will never forget: Harold, the elderly man who treated him with kindness. It has been about a full year since that moment, but Harold never came back. Of course, offering a harem woman’s son freedom must have been a cruel joke. Many demons have heard the stories of humans being unjust, but Izroul had hoped this one was different. Even though he proved naïve, Izroul could not muster up any hatred towards Harold. The human had treated him differently and offered him a dream to live for. Yet, Harold’s offer must have been how heaven choose to remind him of his existence. His life and abilities constantly caused his mother to relive trauma. Also, He was born a demon. Heaven detested demons because of Lilith’s stance against Adam and her words towards God. Izroul could only blame himself for hoping that Heaven would free him from this hell. From that day, Izroul swore that his life was a penance for wrongs he could not control. Although his brothers refuted this claim, nothing has proved otherwise. Izroul was simply a stain as black as his demon markings. But, he cannot deny that his brothers making living tolerable.

Izroul’s brothers are the only ones who believe him and can prove that Harold existed. However, the brothers could not utter a word or attempt a seeking spell because of their status. Anywhere the brothers went and who they interacted with often became castle gossip. Aside from the lack of privacy, Raestro was being forced to marry the princess of Lilith's castle. All energy, preparation, and eyes of the castle ensured Raestro could not escape. Since Raestro could not leave, then none of them would either. The brothers would not leave each other behind. As the year came to a close, Raestro was married. While, Izroul isolated himself into the shadows, only coming forth to feed or respond to his brothers.

Despite the marriage being a symbol of peace, the Demon Lord’s will clashed with the goals of the new couple. A week after the wedding, the Demon Lord’s entitlement to his throne arose. The brothers, the new queen, and the army of Lilith fought to silence the Demon Lord by force. A drastic measure, but one the brothers insisted needed to be done. Their father went mad for power, and there was no cure for madness. So even as the year rolled to a close, the war continued.

It has been a year and six months since Harold's last appearance, and the war started. The brothers and those loyal to Raestro are sheltered in Lilith Castle. Teachers and parents taught young children fighting skills. Despite the move, everyone was stuck in another hopeless cycle of doom. Until Uzaeris made a sudden request to have materials to seek Harold. Sure, the idea of seeking a human sounded bonkers. But, from Izroul’s description, Harold was not a mere human slave of the Abyssal Plains. Human slaves suffered through living nightmares and rarely survived. If Harold looked healthy, then he must have come from another world. Only beings with great powers can communicate and open portals to other worlds. Maybe Harold was the key to winning this war. If the rebels against the Demon Lord won the war, they would save many lives. With the war’s current stalemate and the intention of preventing further bloodshed, Raestro agreed to provide materials for the spell. Ezeaur, the new queen, offered to help Uzaeris with the spell as she knew about the Five Worlds. Thus, the spell preparation to find Harold began!

With Uzaris and Ezeaur working together, in two months, they completed the spell. However, to search the Five Worlds, the spell needed an immense source of power. Currently, the strongest living powers in the Abyssal Plains were Ezeaur and the Demon Lord. Both were pure-blooded demon races. However, considering they required the strongest fighters to fight, Ezeaur was out of the question. The second-strongest powers were the brothers, since they came from the Demon Lord’s bloodline. Aside from power, the spell required a target. Izroul was the only one who knew Harold’s magic signature and appearance first hand. As such, Izroul was chosen to talk and make a deal with Harold. Gathered around the spell circle, the brothers hoped for the best and focused their energy into the spell. The circle’s glow bathed the room in light as the floor became like glass floating above the grey clouds. Was it raining where Harold was? Izroul let out a breath and focused his mind on the feeling, energy, and looks of Harold. Unexpectedly, when the storm clouds cleared sitting in the center of the circle was not an old man, but a young woman!

#seduce me the otome #alternate universe #seduce me damien

[carovolturi]

About Amun and Kebi(the egyptian coven), what are your thoughts on their relationship? Amun chose Kebi for her obedience and beauty😬, but is Kebi a person at all? Did she had a choice in turning? Does she really love Amun(back in the day Amun and other vampires pretend to be gods🙄)? Does she knows about feminism? Why can't she leave Amun? Stockholm syndrome? I am willing to bet a lot of money that Amun has cheated on her and was planning to make a harem before he was dethroned by the Volturi.

Hello again, and thank you for the ask :)

Given the fact that Kebi was a slave, I highly doubt she was given a choice about turning. As to whether she has any genuine affection for him/why she can't or won't leave him...the Twilight wiki states that "[t]hey seem to love each other[;] however their relationship is one more of master and slave, with Kebi barely having a voice and following Amun's commands without question."

If I had to guess, Kebi's slavery-altered (i.e. unnaturally submissive or "loyal") human brain was frozen like that when she became a vampire, and thus she's never had the impulse to rebel against Amun (even if he's cheated on her) because "rebellion" is no longer even a word in her vocabulary at this point. Even if she wasn't a slave for the entirety of her human life, it's very likely--considering that vampires canonically forget much of their human lives, and that she's thousands of years old--that she has no memory of not being a slave. Which is absolutely Terrible.

I also think it's Terrible that we don't hear a peep about this from any of our "Good Guys"--but since they're secondary characters & pretty much everything that doesn't have overt implications for Bella/Edward/Renesmee in Breaking Dawn gets filtered out; and since Stephenie Meyer casually throws out in an earlier book that one of the Cullens literally fought to defend slavery in the United States & then never meaningfully addresses it again ( 🙃🙃🙃), I can't exactly say that I'm surprised.

Oh, Stephenie...

#your asks #twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight saga #twilight headcanon #twilight hc #the egyptian coven #amun #kebi #amun and kebi #the cullens #stephenie meyer #smeyer #what the hell smeyer

[trustfarms]

Hunting lesson rose taipan

Netizen 3: This meaty smell is so bad and not delicious. Netizen 2: Chinese food? I’ve never heard of it before, who still eats this kind of nutritious and unpalatable food now! Netizen 1: Anchor, you can’t do this, I have no appetite when I look at it. The method is very simple and the braised fish with rice is a must. Ye Jin on the first day of the live broadcast: Today, I will live broadcast to make Chinese delicacies, fish porridge and braised fish cubes. Ye Jin had no choice but to go back to his old business and become a food anchor, hoping to solve his urgent needs. The weatherproof house is almost out of whack. Meanwhile, Kusumi, who dumped me when I became popular, is slipping away and regrets losing her place in both real life and online, but it's too late.Ĭomedy Drama Mecha Sci-fi Shounen Ai Slice of Life YaoiYe Jin once traveled to the interstellar era, and became an orphan on a barren star. I will be all over the world as the gentle brother of Isuzu, and I will even make my debut as a Vtuber! Isuzu, who is a cheeky little demon character in the stream, is revealed to be actually a kind-hearted girl and a brocon, who fights in the stream for her poor family. I, on the other hand, was a shady guy who was ridiculed and dumped by my classmate, Kisogawa Kusumi as a 'dull and not good-looking guy'.īut one day, Isuzu forgot to turn off the stream and her chat with me was broadcast. She is a very popular and promising newcomer, who has risen to her current position within six months of joining the big Vtuber agency. The true identity of Isuzu is 'Isuzu Wine', a very popular Vtuber with 1.9 million subscribers. When she is at home, she is the cute little sister and is usually very close to me and says, “I can't live without you, brother!” This is a romantic comedy disguised as a transformation heroine story, in which two beautiful girls who used to be men enjoy flirting with each other.Ĭomedy Harem RomanceI have a little stepsister named Shiojiri Isuzu who is a hikikomori and brocon. Thus, the two were reborn as women after their mutual goals clashed. Yes… The Wolf’s true identity was Magami, who had become a woman for the same reason as Hinata. However, the Wolf, who usually left without saying anything, suddenly asked her out of nowhere. As usual, she cleansed the Impurity with the Wolf, who also rushed to the scene. Just as she was about to ask her what was going on, the Impurity appeared and Hinata headed off to battle. She was Magami, who had made her debut during the same time. When she arrived at her classroom, nervous about her incredible summer holiday debut, she found an unfamiliar tall and beautiful woman there. Although she didn’t talk much, she had built up trust with her during their battles.ĭespite all these new encounters, the summer holidays eventually ended, and Hinata had to return to school. Always by her side in battle was the Wolf, a wolf miko. Spending summer holidays as fox miko, she fought the Impurity daily as the Fox. With this thought in mind, Hinata makes an unimaginable summer holiday debut as a gender bender. Hinata’s wish was to be with his childhood friend and best friend, Ooyama Magami, for the rest of his life.Įven though two men couldn’t be together, it wouldn’t be if he became a woman. However, Hinata has always had a wish he wanted to fulfill, and the proposal to become a woman was a godsend to reach that wish, so he readily agreed. It would have normally been an impossible proposition. He wanted to help Kon, but to fight against the Impurity, he needed to become a fox miko.Ī priestess… Yes, he had to become a woman. Kon was looking for someone to fight against the Impurity, which arises from people’s negative emotions, and Hinata was one of the few people who could fight against it. He was visiting his father’s family during the summer holidays where, by chance, he met the fox spirit, Kon. Comedy Fantasy Gender Bender School Life Slice of Life YuriInari Hinata was an ordinary high-school boy.

#Hunting lesson rose taipan

[fuckingfinwions]

i find it pretty fascinating how in the harem!au fingon is less obivously pissed off about everything but does help his kids+idril+finrod escape (and do they ever end up rescuing him?) and in the servant!au he is obviously not happy abt the horrors of his life but he doesn't quite do anything as big/drastic. also i cant help but think that they wouldnt get along very well bc they wouldnt understand each other?

Harem AU Fingon doesn't actually feel that his life is that bad or his safety is ever threatened. Sure, he has to have painful or unpleasant sex sometimes, but that only takes a few hours a week. Most of the sex he has isn't his idea but is enjoyable, or is even sex that he initiates (with the other Bastards or the Princes). And even that doesn't take up all his time, so most of his day is his own. He can read, or play his harp, or exercise in the courtyard, or chat with the Princes or other Bastards, or lounge in the bath doing nothing at all. He can ask the servants to buy him books or games or new fancy clothes, and he'll usually get them. (Requests are written, so Feanor can review them and the Bastards can't conspire with the servants, but Feanor sees no reason for his harem to be unhappy.)

Sure, any activity that Fingon starts might be interrupted by one of the Feanorians sticking their cock in his face, or demanding he follow them to their bedroom, or just declaring they need a fourth person for cards and he's it. But it still seems like a very nice life to Fingon, especially with no other experience to compare it too.

As far as Harem!Fingon can tell, Gil-Galad is neurodivergent or something similar, and that's why Gil-Galad cares way more about sex than is "normal". It's very weird to him that Gil-Galad is so strongly opposed to sex on someone else's schedule. Like sure, it would be preferable to be a Prince and get to always refuse if you were in the middle of a project, but it's not that big a deal. It would also be preferable to eat cake every day, but Fingon wouldn't cut all ties with his family if he was told he'd never get cake again.

But arguing with someone that they shouldn't find something viscerally unpleasant doesn't work. (Fingon tried, a lot, in hopes that Gil-Galad could be persuaded to stay as part of the family.) Fingon thinks he would run away himself if Feanor said that he would no longer be allowed indoors except when being fucked, but Celegorm would hardly notice a difference. Gil-Galad cares a lot about this, even if his reasons don't make much sense to Fingon. And being a good parent means you give your kids what they need, regardless of how uncommon that need is.

Also, Harem!Fingon isn't scared of Feanor. Sure, Feanor will demand things, from sex to bearing a child to permanent rules about behavior. And if someone's dumb enough to disobey, Feanor will inflict pain. But all the Bastards belong to Feanor just as surely as the Princes do, and Feanor keeps his belongings in good condition. He'd never actually do any long term damage, and has probably even punished the Princes for harming the Bastards too much. (Caranthir was sent to bed without supper or sex the time he accidentally hit Argon too hard and fractured his collarbone.)

__

Servant AU Fingon by contrast has a life that is unpleasant from moment to moment. His entire day is dictated, and it's a mix of rape and mindless drudgery. He remembers a bit of a childhood before this, and even if he didn't he talks to the servants who work with him. They don't have to worry that if they skip sweeping an odd corner they'll be whipped. And they certainly aren't compelled to have sex with their uncle and cousins.

Servant!Fingon is also very aware that Feanor doesn't care about him at all. Feanor likes having Nolo around to flaunt his victory in front of. But Nolo's kids are mostly just dildos/cocksleeves, with the bonus that Nolo reacts entertainingly when Feanor does something new or unusually bad to them.

Servant!Fingon is 100% convinced that Feanor would kill him f he became too much trouble to keep prisoner. And then Fingon's family would be raped even more, as the sex that had been distributed among four of them is now only going three ways.

Not saying Servant!Fingon would never escape, but it would have to be something very very big.

__

The two of them would definitely not get along.

For one thing, Servant!Fingon has an incest taboo and Harem!Fingon doesn't, and I feel like Harem is going to suggest selfcest at some point in this discussion. Servant is not 100% opposed to the concept but saying "It will be even hotter than fucking Dad in front of a mirror" is not how you convince him.

For another, yes, they do not understand each other at all. Servant thinks that Harem is naive and brainwashed, willing to give up his entire life in exchange for a little temporary pleasure.

Harem thinks that Servant is stubborn to the point of idiocy, fighting back when there's no way of winning purely to claim points in his own head.

#feanor's harem au #servant nolofinweans au #fucking finwion answers #another difference between S!Fingon and H!Fingon: #Finwe is dead in the servants AU but alive in Harem verse #so death seems a whole lot more real to Servant!Fingon than to Harem!Fingon #and also he's aware that you might not just pop back the next day despite Return being theoretically possible #and while you're dead people will do things you hate and would've stopped if you could #Note: Gil-Galad is not actually neurodivergent in harem-verse Fingon is just bad at modeling his point of view #which is probably at least a bit out of subconscious self defense #life in the harem would be torture if Fingon thought he ''ought to'' be allowed to refuse sex #there would be a terrible injustice done to fingon every day; that had been done to him for decades; that he was doing nothing to oppose #Fingon thinks he would speak up about or fight back against things that are unfair and cruel (and he would if he noticed) #he has never fought back against life in the harem #therefore life in the harem is not cruel! perfectly logical #victim fingon au pileup

[ajaxwrites]

GENSHIN IMPACT FANFIC REC LIST II

(previous: part i)

Seaglass by Aevas

There was more to the contract than a gnosis and test of Liyue. It seemed like a simple deal five hundred years ago: so long as Morax never had a soulmate, the Tsaritsa would never harm Liyue and she would not get his gnosis. But the moment he gained a soulmate, all that belonged to him was forfeit. He thought the deal left Liyue safe—he'd lived thousands of years without a soulmate. The Tsaritsa would be dead and gone by the time she'd have a chance to collect.

Five hundred years later, Childe appears in Liyue, Zhongli gains a soulmate mark, and everything falls apart.

(The obligatory soulmate AU, featuring a Zhongli with PTSD, an oblivious Childe, and demon-worshipping cultists.)

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: I CANNOT BELIEVE I SLEPT ON THIS FIC FOR SO LONG. Read it and I mean it! I admitted initially steered clear of this fic because I wasn’t comforted with a soulmate tartali fic pre-Osial but this fic is actually post-Ostial *facepalm* The writing is phenomenal and Aevas does some beautiful worldbuilding that you typically don’t see in Genshin Impact fics. I love the dynamic between Childe and Zhongli here and the angst is real. The author writes the two as very human characters who makes mistakes, etc. and notably Zhongli struggles with the concept of Childe as his soulmate (who understandably is upset by the rejection when he realizes). They get better though. Also very plotty. A+ writing.

it's a hard rock life for us by reptilianraven

“Ah, no need to worry about that,” Azhdaha waves a dismissive hand. “There is no real Kun Jun. He’s dead.”

A leaf blows past and plaps onto Aether’s face.

“You killed him???” Paimon screeches.

“No,” Azhdaha scrunches his eyebrows. “He was dead when I found him.”

“And you just decided to wear his corpse?” Aether says, leaf still on his face.

He shrugs. “It was free real estate.”

“Azhdaha...” Morax says, sounding vaguely pained.

-

Or the one where Historia Antiqua Chapter II: No Mere Stone goes a little bit different and Azhdaha gets more time.

He ultimately uses that time to bully Morax into confronting his immortal neuroses, to make Aether and Paimon suffer, and to figure out how to get that ginger boy Morax has his eye on to make a move already.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe, Past Azhdaha/Zhongli

Notes: Very lighthearted, humor-filled fic. Love how Azhdaha is so flippant. Interactions with Zhongli and Childe are pure gold.

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes by moonlight_mist

Childe has a Weapon problem- specifically, that he can't keep one.

He's too reckless, too wild, and too keen on pushing his Weapon partners past their limits. He's just about ready to give up when he meets Zhongli, a Weapon who just might be the solution- so long as Childe can manage to keep his dick in his pants.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: This is a Soul Eater AU with some college/university AU vibes (?) but you don’t really need to know much about the anime. It’s a cute AU and I love the premise. Light angst but otherwise, it’s a pretty semi-plotty fic. Easter egg Kaeya and Diluc though.

To Kill A God by IlluminanceinTales

In Snezhnaya, they call them sansis—lost souls that have no guidance but themselves. It’s an apt description, given that most of the time, wannabe-Archons have to go through dozens of tests with nothing as their reference, relying solely on their wit and strength and hoping it would be enough. At least, until they survive the end of the whole game—and they might not have to undergo a painful reincarnation which feels like a hundred bones being stitched together again.

On his seventh game, Childe Tartaglia reincarnates this time in the body of a young man.

Damn, he thinks, looking down at his thin body, his slightly calloused fingers. This won’t be good when facing the other Hydro Decisions.

In a world where an Archon's position is not chosen but fought for in games, Childe Tartaglia is a Hydro Decision who's poised to become the next Hydro Archon. Of course, that's only if he survives his seventh reincarnation. All would be so much easier if it weren't for a certain Geo Archon interfering with every possible chance he gets.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: Think Hunger Games meet Political Intrigue meet Genshin Impact. Love the premise and world building that’s done. Features overprotective Zhongli and lots of Childe whump. Has one or two supplementary OCs that aren’t really important outside of plot device reasons. Warning for character death tho lmao.

Three's a Family by IlluminanceinTales

Childe finds a kid that looks just like him.

Of course Zhongli wants to keep him.

Or: How a harbinger and an archon accidentally become fathers. The kid is their wingman

Ships: Childe/Zhongli (?)

Notes: Your everyday cute AF kid fic. Fluffy as hell and super cute. Zhongli and Childe get domestic pretty quickly. Xiao gets dubbed a grandfather and begrudgingly plays along. Super wholesome.

in pitch dark i go walking in your landscape by snowbrigade

He glanced down at him, at the silvery scars peeking out from beneath his robe, and at his eyes, properly now. They were the bright blue of high quality noctilucous jade, but he could see it, an underlying darkness.

Zhongli wondered what his eyes betrayed about himself. --

Rex Lapis is dead. Zhongli, formerly known as triad leader Rex Lapis, is a detective investigating his own "death." Childe, also known as Tartaglia of the Fatui mafia, is undercover as an escort looking to kill Rex Lapis- until someone beats him to it, and he wants to know who. Goals intersecting, they form a partnership of ulterior motives.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: There’s like one scene that skews NSFW but otherwise surprisingly not explicit. Really fun AU. Like how the author addresses Childe’s reaction to being stuck with the undercover escort stuff and how the dynamic between the two develops. Pretty plotty so far.

Phantom Lines by iskendaris

“It’s a measure of one’s self, Mr Zhongli.” Childe says. “Maybe you don’t understand it since you work as a consultant, but as an ambassador from the Tsaritsa, as one who fights in her name— this is how I learn to know the measure of myself.” “I understand,” Zhongli says thoughtfully. “It is a warrior’s way, to test one’s strength against the incomparable. To find where one falls short. To find where one has risen to the challenge.”

In which Childe has insomnia, vandalizes public property and runs into a mysterious funeral consultant on his first night in Liyue.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: THE FEELS. I can only describe this as the fic where Zhongli pays Best Boyfriend Ever only to FUCK UP big time (via Gnosis deception). Poor, poor Childe. Look, he gave the boy feelings and then broke him. You can really feel Childe fall in love in this love. He also does mental swooning a lot lmao. 

adventitious by Anonymous

It's said the Ley Lines remember all things that happen in this world, from the surface down to the deepest depths... But in the hidden corners where the Gods' gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming.

There's a dormant bud where Kaeya's eye once was. One day, it will bloom. (Never forget: memory is untrustworthy.)

Ships: Diluc/Kaeya

Notes: I don’t even know where to start. This is very headcanony and lore-focused. Very much concentrated on Khaenri'ah. The implications of this story is grotesque to say the least (according to this fic, Visions are the literal eyes of the people of Khaenri'ah). Warnings for eye and body horror.

Without Those Dark Memories by StrangeDiamond

Diluc awakens in Stormterror’s Lair with no memories of the past five years. Kaeya is on the trail of a rogue alchemist, with a habit of testing his chemicals on unwilling human subjects. Now, in addition to capturing the criminal, Kaeya has to shake him down for an antidote . . . and deal with an amnesiac Diluc who acts exactly like he did before their brotherhood fell apart. (Standalone Fic.)

Ships: Diluc/Kaeya

Notes: This is sort of a classic amnesia fic. I particularly really liked the way that Kaeya was written in this. I feel like the author did a really good job nailing his character and they have a way of capturing the subtle things.

Through the warmth, through the cold by strikedawn

“It’s you!” Paimon shouted with a twirl in mid-air.

“…Excuse me?"

They were drunk. Were they drunk? Was he drunk? Because Kaeya had the feeling his guests had been talking to him for a while now, but none of their words had made any sense whatsoever.

That was, until Venti stepped firmly in front of Kaeya’s desk and set his hands on the top, the better to lean over towards Kaeya and say: “For the end of the Windblume festival, Sir Kaeya Alberich, we’re going to auction a date with you.”

Ships: Diluc/Kaeya

Notes: Shortword, Kaeya gets auctioned off. Diluc makes impulsive (but good) decisions and scores himself a Date but displays an inability to do Date Planning. Venti deserves a pat on the back. Very sweet.

Hide and Seek by Kiri_Kaitou_Clover

Childe did not expect regaining his memories would bring him such frustration.

He makes the best of the situation by messing with one amber eyed consultant in anyway he can.

A reincarnated storm god wades through life in Liyue, all while screaming about one dragon god's incompetency at being human.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: Features Childe as Osial’s very exasperated reincarnation, who gets the joy of discovering that his rival/enemy Morax is not only an idiot but also broke AF. He still falls in love anyway. Contains this golden line: 

"Did... did that complete blockhead really use my money in order to get me a gift that basically says that he is proposing to me?!"

(Osial was screaming. When had the other god become like this?! Had he always been like this?!)

Getting that Bread by tzitzimeme

Concubine AU where Zhongli is Emperor, Xiao is an assassin sent to kill him while disguised as a woman in his imperial harem, and the only reason he doesn't actually do it is because he pities Zhongli for being so catastrophically stupid (also Xiao falls in love).

Ships: Zhongli/Xiao

Notes: Like Xiao says, Zhongli is an idiot. Fluff and humor filled. Xiao spends a good 95% of this exasperated by Zhongli’s bullshit. 

prayers for a boy by Recluse

The only way to reconciliation is fierce combat!

Hm... Come to think of it, there will be a lot of interesting news to be heard the next time we gather for drinks. Filling in the blanks.

Ships: N/A

Notes: I...don’t really know where to begin with this? It’s exactly what the summary implies...but more? I was tempted to describe this as the fic where Zhongli puts his foot in his mouth but...that’s not exactly write? I feel like this was more of a character study. It explores the aftermath of the Osial Incident and how Zhongli and Childe reconnect. Platonically...though I guess it can be read romantically. 

one kind of longing, two places of sorrow by lady_peony

Zhongli's hands rest behind his back, both gloved hands clasping one another. His fingers tighten around one another for the merest moment, before he relaxes his grip.

"There is a tradition in Liyue," Zhongli says, his back still to Childe standing behind him, "of inviting out a companion to a last meal before a farewell."

A pause.

"A tradition?" Childe echoes.

"Yes."

"With a companion?"

"Yes."

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: The fic where neither of the two communicate about jackshit but go on a quiet, sad not-date before Childe leaves for Snezhnaya. Childe pulls (? on accident or on purpose, I can not tell) the equivalent of leaving the jacket in the car post-date to get date to call for the second date. Also, the author has a gift for like...writing angst...without writing angst? Like the whole fic is like brimming with everything that the characters aren’t saying but the thoughts aren’t necessarily written out BUT YOU KNOW THOSE DUMBFUCKS ARE JUST LIKE. BRIMMING WITH FEELS? 

The People of Liyue by queer_occurrences

But Zhongli whispers, his low voice rooted in the back of Childe’s mind. “Changsun, the merchant, who is never too Mora-enthralled to turn away a needy child. There’s Tiantian—she will allow anyone to join the Adventurer’s Guild—she knows what it is to be desperate.”

Childe ducks away from them and hurries out over the bridge. It’s a warm, sunny day, the kind he would have complained about, whining about his delicate Snezhnayan skin. “It’ll burn, or worse, freckle. Would you still like me if I was freckled?”

Then Zhongli would say, “The people of Liyue will remember your sacrifice.” And he would wrinkle his nose.

Or: after it all goes down, Childe takes a walk.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: The author has a way with perfectly balancing angst with humor in a way that makes you cackle. There’s a lot of feels in this one. Zhongli tries communicating--Childe runs away a lot. There’s a lot of love for Liyue in this one.

cold blooded, warm blooded, hearts all the same by reptilianraven

Teyvat Petting Zoo @tyvtpettingzoo

Well would you look at that! Zhongli, our resident spinytail iguana, has gotten quite cozy with Childe, our new (and very feisty) ginger ferret! Aren’t they adorable all cuddled together like this? 😍😍😍

[Attached image shows a brown spinytail iguana curled up against a ginger ferret. The iguana’s head is nuzzled under the snout of the ferret.]

-

At the Teyvat Petting Zoo, Zhongli and Childe fall in love.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: ...I promise I’m not weird. This is just super cute. Cross-species love affair? Childe the ferret is very besotted. The internet is confused and the zoo keepers are just done.

a geo archon's guide to the modern era by Erina

“Morax,” Xiao says after Zhongli finishes his retelling of the incident. “He thinks you’re a weirdo.”

“No, don’t say that,” Barbatos snickers. “You’ll give him hope that this is salvageable.” He lowers his voice. “Morax, he thinks you’re a boomer.”

(In which Zhongli hibernates for centuries and wakes up in the modern world)

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: This took me, I shit you not, FIVE SEPARATE ATTEMPTS to read. Not because it was bad but BECAUSE THE SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT WAS REAL. Like, omg, just reading about Zhongli’s introduction to modernity made me want to dig a hole and die. Super funny though. Do not read in public or you will look like a lunatic. Has a...parallel (?) fic in the same series called  buy two get one archon free where Zhongli gets reversed isekai’d into an anime convention.

time flies like an arrow by Erina

He’s tired, tired of the unbreakable loop of watching his loved ones pass on, tired of getting attached only for the connection to be violently ripped away from him. He wonders if the real victors during the Archon War were those who perished, who died long before their godhood turned into a curse that chained them to the land that they were fighting for.

But that is not a problem for Childe to worry about. That is Zhongli’s burden to bear, delivered to him in a pretty package years ago in the form of a gnosis.

His very first contract.

(Zhongli and Childe, across many lifetimes)

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: This is a quiet fic. It’s this kind of slice-of-life fic colored by this overpowering sense of love and loss as Zhongli remains immortal and Childe dies and lives and dies and lives for hundreds of lifetimes, but always finds his way back to his geo archon. It’s so lovely but also unbearably sad.

Tartaglia’s Favorite Professor by GreyLiliy

The famed hitman Tartaglia of the Fatui Syndicate spends his days as the charming college student Childe. The two lives remain as separate as possible in order to maintain a flawless cover to keep the authorities off his back and to better serve the Tsaritsa.

However, new intel about a rival syndicate intersects his two lives in a way he could never have predicted.

Ships: Zhongli/Childe

Notes: Mafia AU meet College AU. Childe is somehow both a horny AF college student and murderous hitman. Zhongli gives off major DILF vibes. GreyLily somehow makes this work while also avoiding cringe. Highly recommended!

like a handprint on my heart by fallingintodivinity

“Strictly off-the-record,” Jean says, with a small smile, “I’m really happy to see you and Captain Kaeya getting along again, Master Diluc.”

“We’re not – we’re not getting along,” Diluc tells her, indignant. “We’re working together. Unwillingly, I might add.”

“Yes – oh, yes, of course.”

Diluc stares at Jean suspiciously. “Are you laughing at me?”

Jean clears her throat primly. “I would never.”

Ships: Diluc/Kaeya

Notes: Super, super cute! Sort of reads like a first date fic except genshin impact style? Writing style is very refreshing!

#genshin impact #genshin impact fanfic #fanfic rec #rec list #zhongli/childe #childe/zhongli #tartali #chili #diluc./kaeya #luckae #fanfiction #took a while but i have been steadily reading my way through the fandom #still not all my recs #but you can check my ao3 for what i'm reading lmao

[thecandywrites]

Micro-mermaid Chenera Part 3 Finally

Last and final part. Short and sweet. This was fun. I should do another series for Mermay 2022. Again, sorry Mermay 2021 I was late, by like, two months. But hey, better late than never? Hope you enjoyed reading this. I should have named this series, Against All Odds but it didn't occur to me until I was proofreading this last part. Oh well. Enjoy.

Micro-Mermaids

Chenera

Part 3

A few days later, you were all at the subadult stage to set your permanent adult colors as your parents seemed eager to get rid of their current brood so they could have some peace and quiet and start a new brooding season as Ethel scooped all of you up and put you into the colors tank with the other chameleon beta micros and it was almost instantaneous that your siblings began changing and morphing while pairing up with others from the other pairs and there was something in the water that seemed to accellerate the maturation process as you could feel yourself already start to form eggs within your abdomen as the males were already fighting for the attention of your sisters as your brothers could have any pick of any other female in the tank. Their fancy and flashy colors and bountiful fins were impressive but in your mind and heart, they were no match for Nona.

So here you sat, on the only part of the tank with black obsidian rocks, looking bittersweetly at your tail that still had Nona’s pattern on it and still missing him, and having no desire to ‘pair up’ with any of the others.

“Hey, you need to pair up.” Your sister Dina insisted as she took a break from her many suitors who were trying to playfully chase her around the tank.

“I am not attracted to any of the others.” You argued as you refused to move or even look at any other.

“Chenera, listen to me, if you don’t find a mate in this tank right here right now, you’ll be left as a single, and be sold as a single and put into a single’s tank where you stand a very slim chance of finding an equally attractive mate. And even if you don’t find a mate there, there are other breeders who specifically look for single females just to put them into harems, where you’ll be forced to mate with their males, who may be far more aggressive and mean and cruel than the ones from Ethel’s tanks who have been bred to treat the females with tender loving care. And you’ll have to compete with the other females just to be laid with, and you’ll raise your clutches all alone and your life span will be half of what it can be with a mated pair like this. I know you miss Nona, but he is a guppy micro, you’re a betta micro, a gold chameleon one at that. Your worth far exceeds his and there is no hope of ever meeting him again, let alone ever breeding with him. Betta micros can be two to three times the size of guppies and interbreeding among the different kinds never works, it's been tried and it usually ends in failures. Follow his own advice and let him go completely. If you wish to be all black, then so be it. But keeping this guppy pattern will only hurt your worth and keep the other males away, they're allready calling you "guppy girl" do you really want to be known as that for the rest of your life? You have to know that you're better than that! You have been through more than they could ever dream of, you may be smaller than the rest of us but you're stronger than any and all of us, you're a warrior, you beat up a dwarf gourami for crying out loud! You could bank on that and get that big red male over there instead of moping on this black rock at the bottom. It's either this or the harems by other breeders who would scoup you up in a heartbeat because you're different, but not in a good way. Do you want to die so quickly and so horribly?” She pressed anxiously.

You looked at her and just felt pity for her before you looked out over the tank of other potential mates, and while they did look strong and handsome, they were still no match for Nona in your heart and you just curled in on yourself, hugging your tail that still had Nona’s pattern on it, it was a sorry excuse for the real Nona but it was all you had before you found a cave and hid yourself away in it and dismissed every male that tried to approach, even getting aggressive towards the more insistant ones before all the males bonded to the others instead, leaving you alone completely.

The next day Ethel came back and happily scooped up the different pairs into separate bags for the shop as she counted up how many pairs she had before she noticed there were still a few unmated girls in the tank since these clutches were a bit girl heavy because the ratios were never perfectly equal, which was a good thing because the last batch of betta micros were boy heavy and the boys were getting a little too eager to mate up with a betta woman.

“Ok, all the others into the net now, I’ll put in with the single female tank.” Ethel said before you finally left your cave and swam into the net with the other females and into its own bag before you simply sat at the bottom of the bag, feeling the water shift with the motion of the car as Ethel drove you and your siblings and their mated pairs to the shop before she dumped the mated pairs into their own little tanks as the pairs eagerly hid away in the caves to start the mating process after their first meal in their new enclosures before you were dumped into another larger tank and there was only a pane of glass with several holes that separated the females from the males who were all waiting by the holes to see the new girls that didn’t get into mated pairs as the other girls eagerly swam around to the different holes to meet the guys who were a few to several cycles older than they were but who were desperate and eager to find a mate.

But one look at them and none of them were anything close to Nona, so you ignored their calls out to you as you found a cave-like hide and began digging under it, moving the sand and gravel out of your way to make a crevice like cave under the hide before you got to work, taking your long gold hair and putting it into a bun to collect and tear up bits of foliage to line your new cave with, just like how you used to with Nona and by the time you were done, Ethel came back by and noticed the new pairs and eagerly scooped them up and put them into their new enclosures as you settled into your new cave under the hide as your eggs began to mature, waiting to be fertilized but you kept them inside you and simply re-absorbed them. If Nona himself was not going to fertilize your eggs, you were never going to lay any as you fought with your own instincts to pair up and mate as you stared determinedly at Nona’s pattern on your tail.

Meanwhile on the other side where a line of guppy micro tanks were, Nona was doing the same exact thing, he had been here for over a week, and had dodged and ditched every attempt every female who tried to mate with him, even though his own instincts were screaming at him to try to mate with every mature and available female present, but if none of them were you, he was never going to pair up or mate with any other female as he worked on collecting new foliage for his cave under the hide, which was made a little difficult since he had grown into a pretty impressive guppy micro male. He still sorely missed you, and he had vowed he would keep doing this in remembrance of you for as long as he would live and if he could not fertilize your eggs, he would fertilize no one else’s. And he would continue to live his life alone, but committed and faithful to his memory of you. That sounded better than passing on what little good his own personal genetics had to another guppy woman who would only like him for his flashy colors and handsome pattern instead of his personality. That and no other guppy woman, could come close to your beauty.

“So what’s the story with this girl?” Amy asked as she walked by the beta tanks and saw you instantly dive towards your cave under the hide and noticed your unique coloring and pattern.

“Oh that one, that’s Chenera, she’s actually a gold headed chameleon betta micro- her siblings are all the ones you see with the same gold head and gold hair but much prettier colors. But when Ethel’s house was broken into by fairies when she was a youngling, one fairy yanked her out of her tank and tried stealing other younglings from the odds and ends tank when they dropped her into that tank. A betta micro’s instincts are always to hide, so she hid in a little cave under one of the hides in the tank and she ended up growing up in that tank with guppy micros, dwarf gouarmi micros, molly micros and all that, so that’s why she has that guppy pattern to her because chameleons change to their environment but at a certain stage when you put the sub adults into a brightly colored tank filled with semi precious stones and surrounded by those shimmering fabrics, they change themselves into these gorgeous colors. But she never did. So she’s actually on sale, but I don’t think she’ll ever breed for you because she has rejected every single male that’s ever met her, sometimes aggressively so, I think she’d be best as a pet only.” Samantha explained, repeating what Channel had told everyone at work.

“So she’s been through hell, like me, I’ll take her.” Amy said before she went around the store and bought everything she could for the perfect micro beta tank and all the foods and things she would need, including some guppy flakes because if you had grown up eating some micro fish flakes, you’d probably like to have them supplement your diet and it would be comforting to you as Samantha put a “sold” marker on the tank with your name and description on it and once Amy’s tank had been set up and stabilized, Amy came back and took you to your new home a week later.

The whole way though, you cried because you feared your sister’s words were about to come true but once your bag was put into the water and you looked around the new tank, you didn’t see any other micros in the tank and you didn't smell any other either as you looked from the tank to your new owner in confusion and once she tilted the bag so that you could swim out, you called out to see if any others were in the tank but were hiding before you tentatively explored the tank, discovering it before you realized- you were alone. You were not going to be forced to breed after all which was a big relief for you.

Granted it was going to be a lonely life but you were no stranger to solitude at this point. This tank was perfect. It was larger than your parent’s tank, it had been previously used, it wasn’t a brand new tank either, but it had been salvaged and refurbished and most of the plants had clearly come from some kind of sale since most of them had damaged leaves or broken stalks but in the new environment, they were regrowing and thriving with the proper care now, it had a surprising variety of foliage and mosses and little snails to eat up algae, mostly sand at the bottom, really soft sand too and a few spots of brightly colored gravel and several patches of moss you could lay in and soak up the rays from the lights. It had multiple caves and hides of all sizes and even a really nice amethyst geode, which is what Amy could afford, after she spent what she had on everything else since you had been on sale for such a steep discount and Samantha had given her everything else for practically a song because Amy was “rescuing” you and Samantha got to unload the less “pretty and perfect” items in the shop to help set up Amy’s tank because from a business perspective, you were kind of a “lost cause” but that didn’t mean your story was any less compelling, especially to Amy who was a self proclaimed bleeding heart.

But for Amy, she was used to rescuing those who needed rescuing as she had her fair share of three legged animals or one eyed animals or birds who had plucked out most of their feathers and were now sporting little “sweaters” and micro- mermaids now completed her menagerie.

And with a peaceful heart you realized the special geode that your new owner had bought for you and the way it had been placed in the sand that there was already a very soft cave under the geode, already prepared for you that you didn’t necessarily need to line with foliage to keep comfortable, but you couldn’t help yourself, you still lined it with moss and other soft foliage to make it perfect as Amy took pictures of you and your pattern in your new home as she fed you the special food she had bought you as you happily munched down before she took a chance and fed you guppy flakes as well as you let go of your beta food to grab them as you ate those reverently, remembering how you used to eat those with Nona, having missed the colorful and flavorful flakes more than you had thought you would.

After a couple days and you seemed to settle in quite nicely, not hiding in the cave at all, still preferring to sleep in it though, actually spending your days exploring every inch of the tank and discovering all the fun things about it and enjoying all the enrichment it had been filled with and laying in the soft moss and taking naps, braiding your own hair so it wouldn't tangle, making your new space wholly yours as you rearranged it a little to suit your liking and improving the flow of water and functionality before Amy returned to the store and asked to speak with everyone involved with you and your story before she got a hold of Channel.

“So you’re the one who found Chenera in the odds and ends tank?” Amy asked her.

“Yup, it was quite something…” Channel explained before she repeated the story and remembered the key part, how there was a guppy male that you kept holding onto and kept trying to hide and protect and how once you got into the net, you had camouflaged yourself to his pattern but how you kept that pattern once you were taken out of that tank.

“Can you show me where the male guppy male micro is? Did you sell him already?” Amy asked.

“No we haven’t, he won’t pair up and he hides in caves he makes under the hides themselves, and he keeps lining bits of foliage in them, he’s actually right over here.” Channel said as she led the way over to where his tank was before she got the flashlight on her phone and shined the light into the little cave as he tried to hide from the light but Amy recognized his tail pattern as the same pattern on you.

“He’s actually on sale as a pet only because he refuses to pair up and mate with anything and forcing micros to mate can send them into a depression and they can die prematurely.” Channel explained.

“I’ll take him. I already have the perfect set up for him.” Amy insisted as she showed Channel the tank before you had moved into it as Channel had the hardest time catching Nona and putting him in a bag for Amy.

Amy bought “baby bits” and put them in the bag with Nona who starred reproachfully at the baby food. He had been bought and was going to be forced to mate with a guppy and produce hatchlings despite his best efforts. He was hoping he would have avoided this but it seemed that there was no way for him to keep avoiding it now as Amy happily bought him and brought him home and put his bag into the tank.

When you heard the lid open you came out of your cave from putting new foliage in it but stopped and hid away again when you saw a bag with another micro in the bag as once again, your fear and anxiety that your new owner had bought you a mate and was going to expect you to mate with whatever she bought as you tied your hair up and armed yourself. You’d rather die a virgin than be forced to mate with any other.

Meanwhile Nona stared out into the empty tank in relief that there were no other guppy micro women already at the bag, ready to pounce on him the moment he would be let loose, he’d rather die a bachelor than be forced to mate with another and once the water had been acclimated Amy let Nona go and sat in front of the tank with baited breath as Nona hesitantly began exploring before she saw him call out.

You stiffened in your cave at the sound of a male’s voice as you got a whiff of the water that he had come from that had been in his tank, it smelled foreign but you could smell a male in the water as once again, your body reminded that you had new eggs that were now moments away from being mature and ready to be fertilized as you fought with your instincts once again.

His voice was deeper and much more mature than most others you had heard before as you stayed in your cave, ready to attack if he came near you.

Nona could smell a female in the water though, but it wasn’t quite like anything he had smelled before, it smelled good actually as his own body reacted to it, as his body’s instincts were screaming at him that it was time to find this female and fertilize her eggs that were already at the proper stage to be fertilized. But even though he could smell this female, there was no sign of her as Nona carefully and hesitantly inspected the tank, looking for her and calling out to see if anyone else was there before he followed his nose and found the little cave under the geode hide and slowly approached the mouth of the cave but once he was about to climb in to see if it was occupided, he saw you and froze as you did the same, letting the two pieces of gravel fall from your hands as you pulled yourself towards him and stared in disbelief at a very grown up Nona as he stared at you in the same way, in awed wonder, you had grown and matured and while he could still recognize you, you were even more beautiful now all grown up and mature.

“Chenera?” He breathed.

“Nona?” You asked, almost afraid to believe your eyes.

“Yeah, it’s me, Nona, wow you’ve...oof.” Nona began before you quickly left the cave and tackled him to the floor rolling with him in the soft sand and holding him and kissing him all over his face as he did the same as you were both laughing and crying at being reunited as Amy recorded it and cheered before you and Nona disappeared into the little cave under the geode to continue with your reunion.

“I thought I would never see you again.” You cried happily as you hugged him tight, his now adult size and pattern still of some resemblance of his sub adult pattern that you had copied onto yourself but he had gotten better with age.

“Me either.” He confessed as he happily kissed you all over and held you just as tightly, his heart feeling like it was going to burst with happiness as he recognized his own subadult pattern on you, that you had kept for all this time. He felt that you would have changed like all the others he had seen in their little dishes as other buyers had bought them in pairs along with their clutches of eggs in other geodes and carried them throughout the store, their gold heads and gorgeous colors and impressive sizes still eye catching but his heart hurt too much to see if any of them had been you.

Finally, after what felt like eons of time, you were back together and in a similar place where you had first met, in a cave, under a hide, but this time, under a wonderful geode of your own. And while you were still a little bigger than him, but still smaller than the rest of your family, he was used to the size difference of the females being bigger than the males and while you had gotten used to seeing males with fins twice as big as yours, somehow, Nona’s fins were just to your liking because of who they were attached to.

“Please, I have eggs already, I can feel them and I don’t want to keep reabsorbing them, fertilize them, please.” You pleaded between heated kisses and that was all the permission Nona needed before his cock speared your entrance and he began to make love to you in your little cave curling around you and holding you and caressing you and rutting you so vigorously into the sand underneath you as you found your sexual release and Nona did as you asked and fertilized every available egg in your egg sack, your abdomen getting even larger from the fullness of them before you led him to the geode and together you placed each one, carefully into its socket surrounded by facets of amethyst.

“So this is how beta micro’s lay their eggs, in geodes.” Nona noted as he helped catch each one and put it into its place, already seeing signs that they were fertilized and that the fertilization had taken successfully. Never been brave enough to even dream that this was possible.

“Yes.” You giggled as you did the same. Since it was your first, official clutch. It was rather small, but oh so precious as Amy was once again, outside the tank with her phone, recording it.

“Well, fingers crossed, and they can hatch.” She smiled happily, happy to see such a star crossed lover’s pair be reunited and mate and already get to laying clutches in just a matter of moments.

Over the next several weeks, Nona and yourself took turns waving fresh oxygenated water over the eggs, watching as the little micro-merbabies grow and develop. Feeding each other and even when you had no other eggs to lay, continuing to mate for the fun of it as well as to bond even closer all over your new home as you eagerly awaited for the clutch to hatch.

Then one day, just as the shells of the eggs grew super thin and soft- the babies began to squirm and hatch into your waiting hands as well as Nona’s as you instinctively gave them their first milk and brought them up to the surface so they could get a gulp of air for their swim bladders before touching your head to theirs, the gold transferring to their heads and hair as well as you could already see that the middle of their tails had the same guppy pattern that their father had but otherwise were the perfect mix of you and him as you named each and every one as you helped them eat their first meal, “the baby bits” and after they ate one baby bit, they caught another before Amy put in some baby guppy flakes for them as they all caught the flakes with their other hand and began to congregate in one of the many super soft sand pits, each one with a baby bit in one hand and a flake in the other, taking a bite out of both as you and Nona continued to repeat the process until all of the eggs hatched successfully as the shells dissintergrated in the water completely, before you happily gathered your little family in the pit and began your new lives as parents, and living long, happy lives together. Raising a new breed of micros- betta-guppy micros.

#Mermay #Mermay 2021 #Again #sorry this is so late #But better late than never #slight lemon #little bit of mermaid smut #tasteful amount #Mermaids #Micro mermaids #Micro-mermaids #exo #exophillia #thanks for reading!

[reallifesultanas]

Portraid of Ahmed I's sons / I. Ahmed szultán fiainak portréi

Ez a portrésorozat nem tartalmazza I. Ahmed három fiát, akikből később szultán lett (II. Oszmán, IV. Murad és I. Ibrahim). A szultánoknak különálló portré készült vagy fog készülni.

This series of portraits do not include the three sons of Ahmed I, who later became sultans (Osman II, Murad IV, and Ibrahim I). Separate portraits have been or will be published for them.

Şehzade Mehmed

Ahmed ascended the throne in December 1603, his first son Osman II was born in November 1604, followed a few months later by Prince Mehmed. Mehmed's mother was Kösem Sultan and he was born in March 1604 in Istanbul. The identity of his mother has long been in question, but nowadays we have evidence that indirectly clarifies that he was born as the son of Kösem Sultan. One such proof is that Kösem Sultan became a Haseki in late 1605 or early 1606, and this would hardly have been possible without a son. Another piece of evidence is an ambassadorial report from 1611/12 that says "The King has two sons, one is seven years old, the other six. His Majesty has three daughters as well, and to him sons are born very often, both for the abundancy of women and both for his youth and prosperity". Simone Contarini, who wrote this understood Osman and Mehmed as the two boys, but the three girls must have been mistaken, as Ahmed had four daughters alive at that time (Ayşe, Gevherhan, Fatma, and Hanzade). Perhaps Contarini only knew about the existence of Ayşe, Fatma, and Hanzade, as they were the children of Kösem Sultan, the famous favorite of Ahmed.

The counter-arguments that Mehmed was not the son of Kösem Sultan have now been overturned. In 1614, Della Valle recorded the second son of Sultan Ahmed as Sehzade Mahmud, which was mistakenly identified with Prince Murad by some. Murad was born in 1612 though. Mahmud was certainly a misunderstood version of Mehmed, not Murad. Another counter-argument was Valier's account of 1615. In that, he wrote that the Sultan not allowing the two older princes near Kösem Sultan, for the Sultan is well aware of Kösem Sultan's ambitions for her own children. Many identified the two princes as princes of Osman and Mehmed, so they though none of them were Kösem's sons. However, it was more likely that Valier meant Mustafa, Ahmed’s brother, and Osman, Ahmed's firstborn son. This is supported in particular by an earlier account of Valier, where he clearly describes that the sultan has four sons, two from the dead sultana and two from the living one. Since Mahfiruze - the mother of Osman - died around 1612, it is clear that she was the dead sultana. Mahfiruze's other son may have been Prince Bayezid, who was born in 1612 soon after Murad, the second son of the living sultana, Kösem.

It can be seen that the counter-arguments are much weaker, so we can say with relative certainty that Prince Mehmed was the firstborn son of Kösem Sultan. Not much is known about Mehmed's childhood. It is known that although they were taught and raised separately with Osman, their teacher was the same Ömer Efendi. Mehmed had joint programs with Osman after 1612 though. Kösem Sultan visited the Old Palace regularly to meet with Safiye Sultan, Ahmed's grandmother, and she regularly took Prince Mehmed with her, and occasionally also Osman. After Ahmed forbade her to spend time with Osman, she probably traveled to the Old Palace with Mehmed and possibly with her daughters or her second oldest son, Murad.

Mehmed's first real public appearance was shortly before his father's death, in 1617. It was then that the mosque complex of Sultan Ahmed was completed. Ahmed took his two oldest sons, Osman and Mehmed, to the opening ceremony. Ahmed died at the end of the year and a chaotic period ensued. The abolition of fratricide has long been a central theme in the Ottoman Empire and although Ahmed himself was against it and he did not execute his brother, Mustafa, he never made a legal decree about the topic. The only chance to save the lives of Mehmed and his younger brothers was to change the succession-system. Kösem Sultan for years tried to convince Ahmed and although she undoubtedly had something to do with Prince Mustafa surviving, after Ahmed’s death she could do nothing. However Haci Mustafa Aga, the chief black eunuch who was in close association with Kösem Sultan, was able to do something. He influenced the divan and ulema to enthrone the oldest living prince and spare the lives of the others. Thus the brother of Ahmed, Mustafa I, was put to the throne, so Mehmed and his brothers were locked up in the harem, but stayed alive.

Little is known about this short period since Mustafa was soon dethroned and Osman was enthroned. It was easy to influence Osman and this often pushed him to make wrong decisions. Osman was not popular, there were no supporters of his, there was no strong mother behind him who would have helped, so he was understandably terrified of Prince Mehmed. Mehmed was only four months younger, but his mother was an extremely popular and influential woman. Kösem Sultan never did anything against Osman, on the contrary, she tried to build a nice relationship and Osman also visited her in the Old Palace regularly. Over time, however, Osman's paranoia grew bigger. In the spring of 1621, he wanted to leave the capital to go on a campaign but was afraid to leave Mehmed in the capital. Osman feared that Kösem Sultan and Mehmed would do something and would enthrone Mehmed while he was at war. The logical step would have been for Osman to take Mehmed with him to the campaign, but Osman wanted a more definitive solution. For this reason, during the preparations for the campaign, he executed his brother in January 1621.

Mehmed certainly saw exactly how dangerous the situation was, and we can assume that during Osman's reign he feared that Osman would eventually revive the law of fratricide. Mehmed’s death shook Istanbul, poets of the age often write about this bloody event with immense disgust. Naima, for example, openly condemns and calls Osman a tyrant for making an innocent prince, Mehmed Khan, a martyr for his own power. According to legend, while Mehmed fought for his life with his executioners, he cursed Osman: "Osman! I beseech God that your life and your reign be full of dread, and as you have deprived me of my life, may the same fate be yours."

Whether the curse is true or not, the end soon reached Osman. A few days after Mehmed’s death, a huge snowstorm struck Istanbul, killing thousands of people. Commoners interpreted this as Revenge of Allah for Osman's disgusting act, so his popularity sank to unprecedented depths. And soon after his failed campaign, Osman was dethroned and brutally executed and mutilated.

Şehzade Cihangir

All we know about Prince Cihangir was that he was born in 1609 and died soon after. The identity of his mother is unknown, but it is almost certain that it was not Kösem Sultan. Kösem Sultan gave birth to another child, Hanzade Sultan, in 1609. It is unlikely that she would have given birth to two children in one year.

Şehzade Selim

Prince Selim was born in the summer of 1611 and died a month after his birth. The identity of his mother is unknown. He was buried in his father's mausoleum.

Şehzade Hasan

Prince Hasan was born in November 1612 between the later sultan Murad IV and Prince Bayezid, as the child of an anonymous concubine. He died shortly after his birth and was buried in his father's mausoleum.

Şehzade Bayezid

Prince Bayezid was born in December 1612, a few months after the birth of Prince Murad (later Murad IV) in July. Accounts suggest that Bayezid was Osman's full-brother, so his mother was Mahfiruze, too. Mahfiruze disappears from the harem records around this time, perhaps for complications after childbirth, perhaps for other reasons, but she died during this period.

We don't know much about his childhood. After the deaths of Prince Mehmed and Sultan Osman II, Murad, who was barely older than Bayezid, ascended the throne in 1623. This essentially made Bayezid the heir to the throne, with many dangers, especially since he was only a half-brother to Sultan Murad. Because of Murad's youth, his mother, Kösem Sultan, ruled the empire as a regent. The situation was very bad, in recent years the empire has gradually sunk into anarchy and the situation has become increasingly bleak. Kösem Sultan and the statesmen fought hard to pull the empire out of the chaos, and although they achieved success, they failed to solve all the problems.

Then, in 1632, tension peaked in a Janissary rebellion. The Janissaries executed several of Murad's close confidants and demanded that the Sultan show them the princes. Murad was forced to agree to this and showed his brothers the Janissaries, who at this time began to rejoice for the princes. This humiliation was never forgotten and forgiven by Murad later. It was then that he experienced for the first time in his life that Bayezid (and also his other brothers) posed a huge threat to him. It is not known how Bayezid felt about the situation, however, given that he was not the son of Kösem, he could not expect too much support, which made it probably a difficult time for him.

In fact, we know almost nothing about Bayezid's life and personality, he lived his life locked up in the palace. Contrary to the picture conjectured by the series, Bayezid was not particularly close to Murad and there was no bond between them. This, too, certainly played a role in Bayezid's destiny. Murad considered Selim I to be his role model, trying to follow him in everything, so he also wanted to bring back the old succession-system so that his son would follow him on the throne, and not one of his younger brothers. In addition, Murad was getting worse mentally and physically over the years, so he began to become paranoid and saw conspiracy against him in everything. These things together caused the end of Murad's brothers. After the victory of Revan in 1635, while the people celebrated he ordered the execution of two of his half-brothers, Prince Bayezid and Suleiman. Bayezid was buried in the mausoleum of his father, Ahmed I.

Şehzade Orhan

The birth, death of Prince Orhan, and his mother's identity are all unknowns. Most give his birth date between 1612 and 1617, but there is no primer evidence to suggest this. Since we know so little about him, he probably died shortly after his birth.

Şehzade Hüseyin

Prince Hüseyin was born in November 1613, not knowing who his mother was, but it is certain that it was not Kösem Sultan. The time of his death is 1617, however, we do not have a more precise date. It is interesting, however, that he was not buried in the mausoleum of his father, Ahmed I, but in his grandfather's, Mehmed III's mausoleum. The reason for this was perhaps that Ahmed's mausoleum was not completed when he died (very early 1617), which is why he was buried in Mehmed III's mausoleum. Of course, they could have been reburied him to Ahmed's mausoleum as they did with Ahmed’s previously deceased sons. We don't know why they did not rebury him. Maybe since Ahmed himself had soon passed away, there was no time for that. Maybe the prince's tomb was too fresh when the other princes were reburied so he was left out?

Şehzade Kasim

He was born in the beginning of 1614 as the son of Kösem Sultan. Prince Kasim spent a significant part of his childhood separated from his mother, locked in the kafes during the reigns of Mustafa II, Osman II, and then again Mustafa I. From 1617 to 1623 he had little or no access to his mother. It is not known how Kasim spent his childhood after 1623. As the son of Kösem and Murad's full-brother, perhaps during Murad's early reign, he was able to enjoy a little more freedom in the palace than his half-brothers. At least we can assume this when Kösem's reign lasted, until 1632.

In 1632 his life changed radically, for Kösem lost her regent position and Murad began to rule by himself with extreme strictness. This year there was a Janissary uprising in which the Janissaries, fearing that Sultan Murad had secretly executed his brothers, demanded that the Sultan show them the princes. Murad complied with the demands of the Janissaries, but never forgave the humiliation.

Little is known about Kasim's life during Murad's later reign. There are several legends based on contemporary and somewhat later accounts, however, their reliability is rather doubtful. These legends suggest that Kasim was very close to Murad. Knowing their mother, it seems logical that she tried to push the two boys to love each other, as this was how Kösem could protect her other sons from Murad. Murad and Kasim spent much time together, which Giovanni Cappello also confirms in his account from 1634. According to him, Murad regularly took Kasim with him, treated him very kindly, and even allowed his brother to grow a beard, which was not a custom among the princes living in the palace.

Knowing this, it is particularly surprising that Murad eventually turned against Kasim. Murad considered Selim I to be his role model, trying to follow him in everything, so he also wanted to bring back the old succession-system so that his son would follow him on the throne, and not one of his younger brothers. In addition, Murad was getting worse mentally and physically over the years, so he began to become paranoid and saw conspiracy against him in everything. As a result, Murad first made a fatal decision in 1635 and executed his half-brothers, Bayezid and Suleiman. He spared Kasim and his other brother, Ibrahim back then. But over time Murad's paranoia continued to grow and in 1638, after the victorious campaign in Baghdad, he also executed Kasim in the Revan Pavilion. Interestingly, barely two years later Murad died in the same place. Prince Kasim was buried in his father's mausoleum.

Şehzade Suleiman

Prince Suleiman was born in 1615 as the son of an unknown concubine. Some believe he was the son of Kösem Sultan, but this is completely ruled out for two reasons. On the one hand, Kösem gave birth to Ibrahim (later Ibrahim I) in November 1615, who was surely her son, so it is not mathematically possible that in 1615 she would have given birth to another child; on the other hand, Suleiman was executed by Sultan Murad in 1635, while his full-brother Kasim was executed only in 1638. It is clear that Murad first wanted to get rid of his half-brothers, so the fact that Suleiman died in 1635 along with Bayezid (who surely was Murad's half-brother) is in itself enough proof that he was not the son of Kösem. Prince Suleiman was also buried in the mausoleum of Ahmed I.

Used sources: C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; L. Peirce - The imperial harem; G. Börekçi - Factions and favourites at the courts of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) and his immediate predecessors; S. Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Howard - A History of the Ottoman Empire; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; : F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad

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Şehzade Mehmed

Ahmed 1603 decemberében került trónra, első fia II. Oszmán 1604 novemberében jött világra, őt néhány hónappal követte Mehmed herceg. Mehmed édesanyja Köszem szultána volt és 1604 márciusában jött világra Isztambulban. Édesanyjának kiléte sokáig kérdéses volt, azonban napjainkban rendelkezésünkre állnak olyan bizonyítékok, melyek közvetetten egyértelműsítik, hogy Mehmed Köszem fiaként jött világra. Egyik ilyen bizonyíték, hogy Köszem 1605 végén vagy 1606 elején lett Haszeki szultána, ez pedig fiúgyermek születése nélkül aligha lett volna lehetséges. Másik bizonyíték egy 1611/12-ből származó követi beszámoló, mely úgy szól "a szultánnak két fia van, egyikük hét éves, másikuk hat. Emellett a szultánnak három lánya is van. Fiatalsága és termékenysége, valamint az, hogy nőkben nem szenved hiányt arra enged következtetni, hogy hamarosan több fiú fogja követni az első kettőt. Simone Contarini, aki az írás szerzője a két fiú alatt Oszmánt és Mehmedet értette, a három lány viszont minden bizonnyal tévedés lehetett, ugyanis Ahmednek ekkoriban négy lánya volt életben (Ayşe, Gevherhan, Fatma és Hanzade). Talán Contarini csak Ayşe, Fatma és Hanzade létéről tudott, ők voltak ugyanis Köszem - a kedvenc ágyas - gyermekei.

Az ellenérvek arra, hogy Mehmed nem Köszem fia volt mára megdőltek. Della Valle 1614-ben Ahmed szultán második fiát Sehzade Mahmudként jegyezte fel, melyet tévesen Murad herceggel azonosítottak néhányan, aki 1612-ben született. A Mahmud minden bizonnyal a Mehmed félreértett változata volt, nem a Muradé. Másik ellenérv volt Valier 1615-ös beszámolója, aki arról beszélt, hogy a szultán nem engedi a két idősebb herceget Köszem közelébe, ugyanis a szultán jól ismeri Köszem ambíciójit és tudja, hogy Köszem csak ártana a két hercegnek saját gyermekei érdekében. Sokan a két herceget Oszmán és Mehmed hercegekkel azonosították, azonban valószínűbb, hogy Valier Musztafára, Ahmed öccsére és Oszmánra gondolt. Különösen alátámasztja ezt Valier egyik korábbi beszámolója, ahol egyértelmen leírja, hogy a szultánnak négy fia van, kettő a halott és kettő az élő szultánáról. Mivel Mahfiruze - Oszmán anyja - 1612 körül elhunyt egyértelmű, hogy ő a halott szultána. Mahfiruze másik fia talán Bayezid herceg lehetett, aki nemsokkal Köszem - az élő szultána - második fia, Murad után született 1612-ben.

Látható, hogy az ellenérvek jóval gyengébbek, így relatív biztonsággal állíthatjuk, hogy Mehmed herceg Köszem szultána első szülött gyermeke volt. Mehmed gyermekkoráról nem sokat tudni. Ismert, hogy bár külön oktatták és nevelték Oszmán hercegtől, tanítójuk ugyanaz az Ömer Efendi volt. Oszmánnal 1612 után is voltak közös programjai Mehmednek. Köszem szultána ugyanis rendszeresen látogatott a Régi Palotába, hogy ott találkozzon Safiye szultánával, Ahmed nagyanyjával és ezekre az utakra rendszeresen vitte magával Mehmed herceget, és alkalmanként Oszmánt is. Miután Ahmed eltiltotta Oszmántól valószínűleg Mehmeddel kettesben, esetleg lányaival vagy Muraddal kiegészülve utaztak a Régi Palotába.

Mehmed első nyilvános megjelenése nemsokkal apja halála előtt volt, 1617-ben. Ekkor készült el ugyanis teljes egészében Ahmed szultán mecset kompelxuma, ahová két idősebb fiát, Oszmánt és Mehmedet is magával vitte a megnyitóra. Ahmed még az év végén elhunyt és kaotikus időszak következett. A testvérgyilkosság eltörlése régóta volt központi téma az Oszmán Birodalomban és bár maga Ahmed ellene volt és nem is végeztette ki édesöccsét, Musztafát, sosem hozott döntést arról, hogy halála után ki kövesse a trónon. Az egyetlen esély Mehmed és öccsei életének megmentésére az volt, ha az öröklési sorrendet örökre megváltoztatják. Köszem éveken át próbálta Ahmedet meggyőzni erről és bár kétségkívül köze volt ahhoz, hogy Musztafa herceg életben maradt, Ahmed halála után ő már nem tehetett semmit. Nem úgy a Köszemmel szoros szövetségben álló Haci Musztafa Aga, a fő fekete eunuch, aki befolyásával meggyőzte a divánt és ulemát, hogy Ahmed helyére a legidősebb élő herceget tegyék, a többiek életét pedig kíméljék meg. Így került I. Musztafa néven Ahmed öccse a trónra, Mehmed pedig testvéreivel együtt elzárásra a hárembe.

Keveset tudunk erről a rövid időszakról, hiszen Musztafát mentális betegsége maitt hamarosan trónfosztották és helyére Oszmánt ültették. Oszmán nagyon befolyásolható volt, mely tulajdonsága maitt gyakran hibázott. Oszmán nem volt népszerű, nem voltak támogatói, nem állt mögötte egy erős édesanya, aki segítette volna, így érthető módon rettegett Mehmed hercegtől. Mehmed csak négy hónappal volt fiatalabb, édesanyja viszont rendkívül népszerű és befolyásos asszony volt. Köszem sosem tett semmit Oszmán ellen és Oszmán maga is igyekezett jó viszont ápolni a nővel, rendszeresen látogatta a Régi Palotában. Idővel azonban Oszmán paranoiája eldurvult. 1621 tavaszán el akarta hagynia  fővárost, hogy hadjáratra induljon, azonban félt Mehmedet a fővárosban hagyni. Oszmán attól félt, hogy Köszem és Mehmed puccsot elkövetve elfoglalják a trónt, amíg ő háborúzik. A logikus lépés az lett volna, ha emiatt Oszmán magával viszi Mehmedet a hadjáratra, azonban Oszmán ennél véglegesebb megoldást akart. Emiatt a hadjárat előkészületei alatt 1621 januárjában megölette testvérét.

Mehmed minden bizonnyal pontosan látta, milyen veszélyes helyzetben van és feltételezhetjük, hogy Oszmán uralkodása alatt rettegett attól, hogy Oszmán végül feléleszti a testvérgyilkosság törvényét. Mehmed halála megrázta Isztambult, a kor és későbbi korok költői gyakran írnak erről a véres eseménnyel hatalmas undorral. Naima például nyíltan elítéli és zsarnoknak nevezi Oszmánt, amiért saját hatalma érdekében mártrírrá tett egy ártatlan herceget, Mehmed Khant. A legendák szerint amíg Mehmed életéért küzdött a kivégzőivel elátkozta Oszmánt: "Oszmán! Könyörögni fogok Allahnak, hogy egész életed és uralkodásot rettegésben teljen és sorsod legyen ugyanolyan, mint az enyém."

Akár igaz akár nem, Mehmed átka hamarosan elérte Oszmánt. Néhány nappal Mehmed halála után hatalmas hóvihar sújtott le Isztambulra, több ezer ember halálát okozva. Az emberek ezt Allah bosszújaként értelmezték Oszmán undorító cselekedete miatt, így Oszmán népszerűsége sosem látott mélységekbe süllyedt. Sikertelen hadjárata után pedig hamarosan trónfosztották és brutális módon kivégezték és megcsonkították Oszmánt.

Şehzade Cihangir

Cihangir hercegről annyit tudunk, hogy 1609-ben született és nemsokkal később el is hunyt. Édesanyjának kiléte nem ismert, viszont szinte bizton állítható, hogy nem Köszem volt. Köszem ugyanis 1609-ben egy másik gyermeknek, Hanzade szultánának adott életet, így valószínűtlen, hogy egy évben két gyermeket is világra hozott volna.

Şehzade Selim

Szelim herceg 1611 nyarán született és születése után nemsokkal meg is halt. Anyja kiléte nem ismert. Apja mauzóleumában helyezték végső nyugalomra.

Şehzade Hasan

Hasan herceg 1612 novemberében született későbbi IV. Murad és Bayezid herceg között, egy névtelen ágyas gyermekeként. Születését követően nemsokkal elhunyt és apja mauzóleumában helyezték végső nyugalomra.

Şehzade Bayezid

Bayezid herceg 1612 decemberében született néhány hónappal Murad herceg (későbbi IV. Murad) júliusi születése után. A követi beszámolók valószínűsítik, hogy Bayezid Oszmán édesöccse volt, így édesanyja neki is Mahfiruze volt. Mahfiruze innentől eltűnik a hárem jegyzőkönyvekből, talán a szülés után fellépő komplikációk, talán más okok miatt, de ebben az időszakban elhunyt.

Gyermekkoráról nem tudunk sokat. Mehmed herceg és Oszmán szultán halála után kisebb kitérővel a Bayezidnél alig idősebb Murad jutott trónra 1623-ban. Ezzel lényegében Bayezid lett a trónörökös, ami igen sok veszéllyel járt, különösen, hogy csak féltestvére volt Murad szultánnak. Murad fiatalkora miatt édesanyja Köszem szultána uralkodott a birodalmon régensként. A helyzet igen rossz volt, az elmúlt években a birodalom fokozatosan süllyedt anarchiába és vált egyre kilátástalanabbá a helyzet. Köszem és az államférfiak erősen küzdöttek, hogy a birodalmat kihúzzák a csávából, és bár értek el sikereket, nem sikerült megoldaniuk a problémákat.

1632-ben aztán egy janicsár lázadásban csúcsosodott ki a feszültség. A janicsárok kivégezték Murad több közeli bizalmasát és követelték a szultántól, hogy mutassa meg nekik a többi herceget. Murad kénytelen volt beleegyezni ebbe és megmutatta janicsároknak testvéreit, akik ekkor éltetni kezdték a hercegeket. Ezt a megaláztatást később Murad sosem felejtette el. Ekkor tapasztalta meg életében először, hogy Bayezid hatalmas veszélyt jelent rá. Nem tudni, hogy Bayezid, hogyan élte meg a helyzetet, azonban tekintettel arra, hogy nem Köszem fia volt nem számíthatott túl sok támogatásra, emiatt feltehetőleg nehéz időszak volt ez számára.

Tulajdonképpen Bayezid életéről, személyiségéről szinte semmit nem tudunk, életét a palotába elzárva élte. A sorozat által sejtetett képpel ellentétben, Bayezid nem állt különösebben közel Muradhoz és nem volt köztük semmi kötelék. Ennek is minden bizonnyal szerepe volt Bayezid végzetében. Murad példaképének I. Szelimet tartotta, őt próbálta követni mindenben, így a régi öröklési rendet is vissza akarta hozni, hogy utána fia kövesse a trónon, ne pedig öccsei közül valaki. Emellett Murad mentálisan és fizikailag is egyre rosszabb állapotban volt az évek során, így kezdett paranoiddá válni és mindenben konspirációt látott személye ellen. Ezek együttesen okoztákazt, hogy 1635-ben a győztes revani hadjárata után, míg az emberek ünnepeltek ő elrendelte két féltestvére, Bayezid és Szulejmán hercegek kivégzését. Bayezidet apja, I. Ahmed mauzóleumában helyezték végső nyugalomra.

Şehzade Orhan

Orhan herceg születése, halála és anyja kiléte egyaránt ismeretlen. A legtöbben 1612 és 1617 közé teszik születését, de nincs erre utaló bizonyíték. Mivel ennyire semmit nem tudunk róla, valószínűleg röviddel születése után elhunyt.

Şehzade Hüseyin

Hüseyin herceg 1613 novemberében jött világra, nem tudni, hogy ki volt az édesanyja, ám az bizonyos, hogy nem Köszem. Halálának ideje 1617, azonban pontosabb időpont nem áll rendelkezésünkre. Érdekesség viszont, hogy nem Ahmed mauzóleumában, hanem nagyapja III. Mehmed mauzóleumában temették el. Ennek oka talán az volt, hogy Ahmed mauzóleuma még nem készült el, mikor meghalt, emiatt III. Mehmedébe temették. Természetesen újratemethették volna, mint Ahmed korábban elhunyt fiait, azonban mivel Ahmed maga is nemsoká elhunyt erre nem jutott idő. Esetleg túl friss volt a sír, amikor a többi herceget újratemették, így ő kimaradt?

Şehzade Kasim

1614 legelején jött világra Köszem szultána fiaként. Kasim herceg gyermekkorának jelentős részét édesanyjától elszakítva töltötte, elzárva a kafesben I. Musztafa, II. Oszmán majd újra I. Musztafa uralkodása alatt. 1617-től 1623-ig nem vagy csak alig találkozhatott édesanyjával. Nem tudni, hogy Kasim gyermekkorát hogyan töltötte. Mivel Köszem fia volt és Murad édestestvére, talán Murad 1623-ban kezdődő uralkodása alatt valamivel nagyobb szabadságot élvezhetett a palotában, mint féltestvérei. Legalábbis feltételezhetjük ezt amíg tartott Köszem uralma, 1632-ig.

1632-ben élete gyökeresen megváltozott, ugyanis Köszem elveszítette régensi pozícióját és Murad kezdett vasszigorral uralkodni. Ebben az évben zajlott egy janicsár felkelés, mely során a janicsárok félve attól, hogy Murad szultán titokban kivégeztette öccseit, követelték, hogy a szultán mutassa meg a herceget. Murad eleget tett a janicsárok követeléseinek, azonban sosem bocsátotta meg a megaláztatást.

Kasim életéről Murad uralkodása alatt keveset tudunk. Több legenda is létezik korabeli és valamivel későbbi beszámolókra alapozva, azonban ezek megbízhatósága meglehetősen kétséges. Ezek a legendák azt sugallják, hogy Kasim igen közel állt Muradhoz. Ismerve édesanyjukat logikusnak tűnik, hogy igyekezett úgy nevelni, hogy a két fiú szeresse egymást, hiszen így óvhatta leginkább Köszem többi fiát Muradtól. Úgy tartják, hogy Murad és Kasim sok időt töltöttek együtt, amit Giovanni Cappello követi beszámolója is alátámaszt 1634-ből. Szerint Murad rendszeresen vitte magával Kasimot, nagyon kedvesen bánt vele és még azt is megengedte öccsének, hogy szakállt viselhessen, ami nem volt szokás a palotában élő hercegek között.

Ennek fényében különösen meglepő, hogy Murad végül Kasim ellen fordult. Murad példaképének I. Szelimet tartotta, őt próbálta követni mindenben, így a régi öröklési rendet is vissza akarta hozni, hogy utána fia kövesse a trónon, ne pedig öccsei közül valaki. Emellett Murad mentálisan és fizikailag is egyre rosszabb állapotban volt az évek során, így kezdett paranoiddá válni és mindenben konspirációt látott személye ellen. Ennek eredményeként Murad először 1635-ben hozott meg egy végzetes döntés és végeztette ki féltestvéreit, Bayezid és Szulejmán hercegeket. Ekkor Kasimot és másik öccsét, Ibrahimot megkímélte. Idővel azonban Murad paranoiája tovább nőtt és 1638-ban a győztes bagdadi hadjárata után kivégeztette Kasimot is, a Revan Pavilonban. Érdekesség, hogy alig két évvel később Murad ugyanitt halt meg megtörve. Kasim herceget édesapja mauzóleumában temették el.

Şehzade Szulejmán

Szulejmán herceg 1615-ben született egy ismeretlen ágyas fiaként. Egyesek úgy tartják Köszem szultána fia volt, ám ez teljességgel kizárt két okból is. Egyrészt Köszem 1615 novemberében adott életet Ibrahimnak (későbbi I. Ibrahim), aki tudottan az ő fia volt, így matematikailag nem lehetséges, hogy 1615-ben egy másik gyermeknek is életet adott volna; másrészt Szulejmánt 1635-ben végeztette ki Murad szultán, míg édestestvérét Kasimot csupán 1638-ban. Egyértelmű, hogy Murad először féltestvéreitől akart megszabadulni, így a tény, hogy Szulejmán 1635-ben halt meg, önmagában is elég bizonyíték, hogy nem Köszem fia volt. Szulejmán herceget is I. Ahmed mauzóleumában temették el.

Felhasznált források: C. Finkel - Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire; L. Peirce - The imperial harem; G. Börekçi - Factions and favourites at the courts of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603-17) and his immediate predecessors; S. Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; G. Piterberg - An Ottoman Tragedy, History and Historiography at Play; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Howard - A History of the Ottoman Empire; Öztuna - Devletler ve Hanedanlar; Uluçay - Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları; : F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Y. Öztuna - Genç Osman ve IV. Murad

#Ahmed I #Murad IV #sehazde bayezid #sehazde kasim #ibrahim I #deli ibrahim #Kösem sultan #kösem #mahfiruz hatun #mahfiruze #Sehzade mehmed #Osman II #fratricide #selim i #yavuz selim

[thoughtfulstudentsalad]

I have a question who is your favorite dragon and why please explain?

Hi anon! I can’t say I have a particularly favorite dragon - each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Zeno has the most knowledge and his backstory is arguably interesting as mysterious, but I have trouble properly sympathizing with some of his ways regarding the current group he is in. I feel like he could do much more than relax and let Yona handle everything, only to drop bombs at the least expectant moments. 

Jae-ha is... well personally I find his pirate life something interesting to explore, and I liked that he fought against the dragon’s blood. He lost in the end but I admired his desire to be free. 

Sin-ha is easily the most endearing of the dragons... I personally would have liked to see him meet Yona as a cute little boy instead of a big 18 year old. I never understood the people who found Sin-ha’s character charming or even the girls who saw him attractive as a man lmao, I find him too child-like. I feel like his backstory would be even sadder and the relationship between him and Yona would be cute if she became a sort of elder sister for him.

Kija is probably my least favorite. I admire his steadfast desire to serve the Crimson Dragon King... and I do sympathize with his wish to meet his father and also having his granny back home... he’s strong-willed. But he’s a bit too diligent for my liking. 

The thing that deters me from loving the dragons to the best of my ability is that they somehow fulfill that reverse harem trope, which I’m not really fond of. Kija and Jae-ha could have devotion to Yona and some sort of conflict regarding that, but I never saw the reason to make that devotion romantic. All it did was add unnecessary plot points that were completely forgotten within the next arcs. Additionally, both Kija and Jae-ha are in their twenties, why don’t they find other women in their lives who’s not 16? 

I also never saw a real reason to make all the dragons men. Where are the female dragons? Jeez, there could be some supernaturally powerful women in this story. I love Lili, I really do, but I never saw a reason to make Lili the only real female friend that Yona has? (LMAO this is totally the Lili in me talking, “why is this countryside girl only friends with men???!?”)  Besides initally Yona wasn’t even that much attached to Lili as much as Lili was to her.

Really, just imagine Kija or Jae-ha as women. I might like them better lol. Zeno and Sin-ha can stay men. Then we have a pretty even group gender-wise. Though, I do like the hilarious relationship between Hak and Jae-ha. 

As a collective weapon? Yes, I think the dragons are powerful nukes that can destroy any country at the command of a good leader. As a group, that is their greatest strength. I personally see them as this. I admire each of their powers. I only wish we had more knowledge on the mythology behind them. 

This is likely an unpopular opinion and I’m not going to force it on anyone LOL, but I assume I have a right to express such thoughts. I hope I answered your question in depth! 

#akatsuki no yona #yona #dragon warriors #zeno #jae-ha #kija #sin-ha #yona of the dawn #mythology #thoughts #opinion

[the-odd-job]

Harem AU Chapter 18 - Made Of

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Rape/Non-Con Category: Other Fandom: Transformers Relationships: Sunstreaker & Sideswipe Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Soundwave, Shockwave, Chromia, Lancer, First Aid, Perceptor, Greenlight Additional Tags: Noncon Experimentation, Angst Words: 14547

( Previous )

Sunstreaker still had a limp the next day. It wasn’t just pain that had stolen his legs from under him—apparently Megatron had generously messed up his entire hips. Knock Out had fixed or replaced everything, but they didn’t have the time to wait for the parts to fully integrate before Hot Shot came to let them know they were wanted at the door.

They could guess what that was about.

At least Sunstreaker stayed on his pedes well enough, partially numb areas making his movement lag or not. The guards opened the doors for them, and on the other side was waiting… The same blue mech that had given them their dinner instructions. He had another smile to give them. “Good morning. Master Shockwave sent me to get you.”

As they’d guessed, then. They nodded their understanding and the mate waved them along. No guards moved to accompany them, oddly enough. Was it because the way wasn’t that long?

It didn’t seem like that was the case when they headed for the elevators instead of any of the other wings on the same floor. Sideswipe watched the number the mate picked on the lift’s control panel. They were way high up, nearly at the top of the whole damn tower.

Their destination, according to the floor the elevator was directed to go to, was far, far lower. He wasn't sure they'd ever gone that low in the tower. They'd been brought in via a rotorflier that had already landed pretty high up, and they'd only gone higher still from there.

Total opposite now. It was going to be a long ride.

And awkwardly quiet if no one said anything, in Sideswipe's opinion. Or, well, awkward for him. Sunstreaker wasn't likely to care, and he wasn't sure the other mate would either.

But in the name of not feeling so awkward himself, Sideswipe spoke up. “You’re from… Shockwave’s harem?” he asked. The blue mech had a brand on him and was clearly running around on Shockwave's business, so… 

They confirmed it. "I am. We never had proper introductions, did we? I'm Chromia." His field flared in proper greeting and Sideswipe's automatically responded to it. Sunstreaker's did too, after a moment's delay.

"You probably know our designations already," Sideswipe hazarded, a guess Chromia confirmed with a nod. He had to have asked for them specifically, anyways. Hard to do that if you didn't know who you were supposed to get.

But if they were going to have some small talk… There were things Sideswipe was curious about, and Chromia might just have some answers.

Firstly, "How high ranking is Shockwave, exactly?"

"He answers only to Lords Megatron and Soundwave," Chromia said, and it looked like this wasn't an off limits topic, because he stayed relaxed and casual. "He's Lord Megatron's Head of Scientific Research. Rather important figure, as I'm sure you can imagine."

As for his part, Sideswipe wasn't feeling very relaxed or casual when keeping in mind where they were going, but tried to pretend he was anyway. Just chit chat, that was all! And learning a bit more about Kaon's ruling class or whatever you wanted to call it while at it. That couldn't hurt. 

But. So. They were headed to get experimented on by what might be the third most powerful mech in Kaon, when they'd already established to themselves that you didn't make it to ranks like that by being nice. "What's he like? Shockwave I mean,” Sideswipe asked carefully. What kind of things could one even say about their mate? ‘Oh, they’re a total rapist and abuser, real jackass, I hate their guts’.

No one in Megatron’s harem would’ve said that. Well, aside from him and Sunstreaker. They would’ve said that.

"Hm?" Chromia looked at him, although Sideswipe wouldn't have called his expression all the way surprised.

He really wasn't sure what to call it at all, but Chromia answered him anyway, unreadable emotions or not. "He's fair, I'll give him that. Unapologetic in the pursuit of knowledge, but you don't need to worry about that. Lord Megatron doesn't allow harm to come to his mates. Master Shockwave respects that."

Out of genuine respect, or because Megatron would do something very bad to him if he broke his rules? Probably the latter.

"What do you mean, 'unapologetic'?" Sunstreaker spoke up sharply. Chromia gave him that same look that neither of them could quite name.

"He'll go as far as he needs to to get answers, when orders otherwise aren't holding him back."

Like orders would be holding him back in his and Sunstreaker's case. Hopefully. But the implications behind those words were… Heavy. Chromia didn't outright say so, but Sideswipe could imagine that as far as he needs to really did mean as far as he needs to. Ethics, morals? Damn those, most likely. It would fit the rest of the place. All the other things they’d already seen and felt them do… What was some experimentation while at it? The subjects probably didn’t consent, but consent meant jackall here.

They weren’t consenting either, but Megatron had given them up for tests and whatever else, so… That was what was going to happen. Chromia’s assurances that no harm would come to them felt thin when he fully expected that even some very unpleasant things would count as not harm.  

Then, was it too personal to ask… Sideswipe asked anyway. “How long have you been in his harem?”

Megatron’s harem didn’t talk about things like that, but then again, they hadn’t gone out of their way to ask either. They had no idea how long anyone there had been in Megatron’s clutches, or how they’d gotten caught in that net, what their life was like before… None of that. They had no idea. 

But Chromia wasn’t put off by that question either and merely chuckled. “Oh, most of my life at this point. I wasn’t that old when I fought in the Pits to prove my worth and gain the interest of the court—and succeeded! Master Shockwave chose me over all the others.”

He sounded… Proud. Really proud, but Sideswipe couldn’t get past the feeling that this didn’t quite compute.

Fought? Gain interest? Chose, like that was a… A good thing?

Sunstreaker recovered from their shock slightly faster, at least partway—enough to ask an entirely incredulous, “You… Wanted to become a mate?”

Chromia nodded, still looking all kinds of self-satisfied. “It is an honor. Not everyone wants it, understandably, but– You’re not Kaonites, are you? Here, those that desire it are given the option to try to impress the court enough to be chosen. Lord Megatron has a pair too, ah, what were their names… Runamuck and Runabout? They were quite a sight when they fought; I’m not surprised Lord Megatron himself would choose them.”

Primus. That was a hell of a lot to digest after all the slag they’d gone through and seen and heard about and… Slag. And they sure as pit hadn’t known that about Runamuck and Runabout, but that was no surprise since they didn’t know that much about anyone. 

Sideswipe released a ventilation he hadn’t realized he was holding, leaning against the wall of the elevator. He felt a little woozy right there. This, the information that some came to this life willingly and even thought of it as a good thing, an honor as Chromia put it… It went against everything they felt. This was hell to them. There was nothing good about any of it.

And some fought to get to their garbage standing. 

But not everyone. “Why doesn’t everyone want it?” Sideswipe had to ask, not particularly fond of the way his voice was caught somewhere between a squeak and a wheeze, but at least his vocalizer worked. That was something.

“It’s a sacrifice,” Chromia shrugged. “You give up a lot of your freedoms and lay your future in the hands of another. It’s not a choice that should be made lightly.

“But many consider the tradeoff worth it. You get to be so close to our leaders, to serve Kaon in such a way, maybe make yourself more useful than you would’ve been otherwise. And obviously, the surroundings you’re given are very lavish and comfortable. There isn’t a hell of a lot to complain about, at the end of the day.”

Not a lot to complain about.

Right on the heels of admitting that even those that took the role willingly lost their freedom, as if Runamuck and Runabout weren’t enough proof of that. They had never suspected there was anything different about them, because they didn’t get treated any differently. They were as stuck in the harem wing as everyone else. They didn’t have magical rights to leave at will.

But… What? It was worth it because they got to be Megatron’s berth toys and ‘serve Kaon’ through their servitude to its sovereign leader?

If that was the logic, then the other set of twins was probably even more honored than Chromia. Chromia only belonged to the third most powerful mech, whereas Runamuck and Runabout belonged to the most powerful. 

It was so messed up.

Arguing probably wouldn’t have worked any better than it did with Megatron’s mates, though. If outlanders, those that had clearly come from outside of Kaon, bought into this bullshit, then how much more were natives going to do the same? They were raised here, into this culture of… What was it? Extreme nationalism or something? If it was drilled into them from the moment they were activated, how was Sideswipe going to change their mind in the duration of one elevator ride?

“How often do those fights take place?” Sunstreaker asked, his voice tight.

“Rarely, sadly. The court does try to keep the sizes of their harems manageable, and that won’t work if they’re hoarding new mates at every turn.”

And it looked like quite a few mecha were brought from outside for some reason. Why even do that if there were willing mecha within your own city?

He asked that much, and Chromia didn’t withhold that answer either. “In part it’s kindness, to rescue mecha from Unified Cybertron into the cultural freedom of Kaon. But maybe a bit more than that, it’s… How would I put it. A delicacy for the ruling class? They have a far wider range of frame types to choose from, and there is always allure to frames you might not find in Kaon at all, or at least not often.”

Kindness.

Delicacy.

So ultimately this whole thing was just because of the arrogance and egotism of Kaon’s ruling class. It wasn’t enough to take willing mecha from within their city’s walls, they wanted the exotic goods from elsewhere too—nevermind what those goods thought about. Living mecha with wills and sparks of their own, brought here to… To… 

Slag. Slag it all.

Maybe they were better off not knowing any of this. Blissful ignorance had kept them from realizing the full extent of Kaon’s depravity, but they were quickly falling down the rabbit hole of being horrifically informed of how Kaonites thought. It didn’t look a hell of a lot like it was only the court that thought this was somehow acceptable. Was the general populace of that opinion too? Did they think being a mate was such an honor that anyone who got brought here for it should be grateful and devote their damn lives to Kaon without question?

“How many harems are there?” Sunstreaker asked while Sideswipe was still busy trying to sort his thoughts into any kind of a functional order with very little success.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually counted,” Chromia mused, then began to tick mecha off with his digits without actually saying anything before he’d apparently counted them all. “Nine or ten, if I remember everyone? Lord Soundwave should have one too, but he’s never taken any mates himself, for whatever reason.”

“Is that why Megatron shares… Us? With him?”

“Possibly. I won’t pretend to know their reasoning, but Lord Megatron and Lord Soundwave are good friends.”

So apparently they could build friendships too. That was almost surprising.  

“How big are the harems?” Sunstreaker, again.

“Usually around ten members, and I think there’s at least one that is over twenty mates strong. Lord Megatron’s is undoubtedly the largest, though, as is fitting for a mech of his standing.”

Several times the size of his subordinates’ harems, in other words. What greed.

The elevator stopped, effectively cutting their bit of interrogation short. Chromia, still, didn’t look at all perturbed by all of their questions, just gestured them along when the doors opened to a hallway that didn’t look that different from any of the other hallways they’d seen. They took a couple of turns until they came to double doors similar to what led to the wings located on the harem’s floor. There were guards here too, like there were everywhere, but the doors opened on Chromias approach and in they went.

At first it didn’t look so different and he wondered just where Shockwave was going to do their testing, but then they went through another set of doors, and suddenly there were hallways and doors all over the place leading to who knew where. Maybe just rooms, maybe other, closed off hallways. They took two ramps down, then through big doors, again, and he was getting kind of lost already.

But Chromia walked ahead of them with confidence, so they followed and tried not to worry about it too much. 

More smaller doors and corridors, up until they stopped in front of one specific door that, to Sideswipe, didn’t look any different from all the others. Chromia pinged for entrance, and with minimal delay the door slid out of their way. They followed the blue mech into the room, although they didn’t follow in the short bow Chromia gave to… Shockwave.

Shockwave was looking at them. “Here they are, master,” Chromia said.

The apparent scientist only responded with, “Dismissed,” and at once their guide took his leave. The door closed behind him, and there they were. In a room. With the very creepy Shockwave. The door probably wouldn’t open for them even if they tried to get out.

“First Aid,” Shockwave called without actually raising his voice, and a mech they hadn’t noticed set something down on the other side of the room before scurrying over. They could just catch a glimpse of a brand on his shoulder. Another of Shockwave’s mates, then, which… Was a little weird. Were they working together?

“Yes, master?” First Aid asked once he got closer, and pits but it grated to hear the title at every turn. They were clearly too used to the casual air in Megatron’s harem, at least when the tyrant wasn’t present. Even Megatron’s mates spoke in a more respectful manner around him. Yes, my Lord; of course, master—the works.

It didn’t look to be so different with Shockwave, in that aspect.

“Get them ready,” was the instruction Shockwave said before he turned away. First Aid voiced his understanding, then waved the twins forward.

To the center of the room, where there were two berths, currently pushed together to form one larger slab. The lights in the ceiling above it were too bright for comfort, and Sideswipe couldn’t even begin to name the contraptions that circled around the lights, ready to be pulled down for use. “If you’d lay down and open your chestplates, please,” First Aid requested once they got next to the berths.

Righty! Apparently there was going to be no warmup whatsoever. “Not even a single date first?” Sideswipe said, and it was such a weak joke and his obvious nervousness only made it weaker, but First Aid nevertheless snorted before quickly smoothing his field. Sideswipe could imagine the same happened to his face, if he had one, but once again there was both a mask and a visor in use. It was impossible to tell what was behind them. 

Sunstreaker reached to squeeze his arm before his brother hopped onto one of the berths. Sideswipe followed, and only after they were both sitting on their respective berths did they lay down fully.

“Open your chestplates and bare your sparks, please,” First Aid repeated when they didn’t do that right away. Sunstreaker bit his denta together so hard his jaw ached and Sideswipe gnawed on his bottom lip until he was sure to leave marks–

But after a few more moments of hesitation, they both initiated the transformation in their chassis—their chestplates pushed apart, then their internals moved out of the way, and even more reluctantly their spark chambers pushed forward, until those too opened to let their sparklight through.

“Thank you,” was all First Aid said, looking back in Shockwave’s direction. They didn’t know what the scientist was doing, but fraggit, could he hurry up with it. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to lay around with their spark in plain view, even if there were only two other mecha present to see.

Two mecha too many.  

Luckily Shockwave didn’t take that long before he came over, pulling along a cart with more… Things on it. Probably some science thingies, but they wouldn’t know one whit about that sort of stuff. 

“Don’t close your chestplates,” Shockwave ordered them, and Sideswipe had just the time to worry why he saw fit to say that much–

And then Shockwave had already brought a fancy looking vernier right up to his spark, and by the pits his first instinct was to slam his chestplates right back shut alright. There wasn’t even a warning! Unless the order was the warning. It was a crappy warning if that was the case.

Instead of trying to close his chestplates, though, Sideswipe tried to sit up instead, not because he was really thinking clearly, but just because it wasn’t cool to have something so close to his spark–

But First Aid caught him by the shoulders before he could get anywhere and pressed him back down with surprising strength. 

“Stay still,” Shockwave said, staring at him with that one lonely optic. “You will be restrained if you don’t cooperate.”

...Right. Okay. So. Reminder. There was no saying no to any of this, and honestly he was getting pretty damn worried here–

But Sideswipe bit his lip harder and nodded his understanding even as Sunstreaker growled deep from his frame. 

Shockwave stared at him for a few more seconds before he repeated his original motion and… Brought the measuring tool to his spark. Then he tightened it until it was just on this side if uncomfortable, stopping only when Sideswipe hissed at the near pain.

But he got the diameter as far as Sideswipe could tell, and seemed satisfied with that. He left Sideswipe and his half of their spark alone and went to do the same to Sunstreaker, and Sunstreaker growled some more but didn’t put up a fight. There was exactly nothing they could do whether or not they were tied down, but they’d still rather have even the illusion of being able to protect themselves. 

Better behave, then.

Scanners came next, a whole assortment of them. Some worked from a distance, others were pushed right up to their spark, and it was a fight and a half to not try to stop the process at every turn. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t comfortable. Their instincts were screaming at them about protecting their core and lifeforce and they felt really damn naked keeping their sparks bared like that, but Shockwave undoubtedly had Megatron’s authority behind him.

And he would force them if they didn’t submit willingly.

So they tried. And succeeded, mostly, only earning themselves a couple of warnings when they jerked or flinched when they shouldn’t have. 

First Aid jacked into their medical ports on Shockwave’s order and took some more readings with their frames’ built-in scanners and diagnostics systems, and rooted around in general. He seemed to know what he was doing, at least, although Sideswipe worried over the amount of data he downloaded from each of them. The pit was he going to need all of that for? Or what was Shockwave going to need it for, rather?

They didn’t ask. Shockwave didn’t seem the chatty type. He sure as pit didn’t tell what he was doing or going to do any step of the way. It would’ve been really nice if he had, but they kept their silence the same Shockwave kept his.

Sunstreaker snarled even harder when Shockwave had taken an ungodly amount of readings out of them and then… “Merge.”

They really should’ve expected this too. And had, honestly.

Didn’t make them any more happy about it.

First Aid stayed connected to their ports and that didn’t help make things feel any less awkward, nor did the fact Shockwave had all of his scanners ready to record the whole damn process, but all the same Sunstreaker rolled over to be atop Sideswipe. He only barely even made it to straddling his thighs before their spark halves already surged from their chambers, meeting between their frames and merging in midair, as per usual—the scant few times they’d had the chance to do this.

The world imploded.

It was fucking heaven. He always forgot what it felt like, and then he wondered how could he ever forget. When the physical separation between their spark halves was removed, so was… Everything. It all stopped mattering, everything their frames had ever gone through—inconsequential.

All there was was the unity and the rightness of being together in the way they were supposed to be, but weren’t allowed to be, not even just temporarily—too risky, not safe enough, always someone who could hurt.

It was that thought that made them attach to the physical world a bit better, now. Sunstreaker’s frame had entirely collapsed on Sideswipe’s, all sense removed from their physical shackles for precious moments. It left their spark mostly protected, at the very least, out of sight aside from the light that bled from the gaps between their frames.

Sunstreaker lifted himself laboriously, just enough that he could look Sideswipe in the optic—rest their forehelms together. It didn’t matter that the circumstances of this were… Less than ideal.

What mattered was doing it. Fuck everyone else when they could have this. Their spark pulsed, whole, comfortable, full, swirling into itself and blending together until there was no end to him and no beginning to Sunstreaker.

They just were.

He just was.

Shockwave still didn’t say anything, but they could feel the intrigue in First Aid’s field. Split-sparks were rare, weren’t they? Mech had probably never seen this before. Had Shockwave either? They didn’t know. 

More scans, more diagnostics, more of everything, but it didn’t matter. They basked in being what they were supposed to be, and it didn’t matter. Maybe they were too compliant right then, too withdrawn, too careless, and maybe this was why they barely ever merged–

But in the moment, it was all the same as long as their spark was whole.

“Can you overload?” Shockwave asked after a while of observing them. They both shook their helms, not quite finding the will to speak—but it was a simple answer to a simple question, wasn’t?

Could they overload their spark like this?

No. Of course not, where would they have even found the energy for that from? Did the whole sparked walk around overloading all the damn time? No? Then neither would they.

First Aid logged and downloaded those thoughts, and those were some high level privileges he’d given himself in their systems.

They didn’t quite find it in themselves to care.

“Pull partway apart,” Shockwave ordered them next, and they did only because they knew nothing would come of it—that their halves wouldn’t part from that. Sunstreaker pushed himself up on his arms, but their spark remained merged, suspended in the halfway point between their chambers. Only tendrils connected it to either frame, once Sunstreaker lifted himself high enough.

Tendrils that weren’t enough life for their frames. Grey began to form at their extremities and creeped towards their core slowly. First Aid outright gasped in surprise—had they never seen that before, either?—but they weren’t dying, no matter what their frames thought. And really, what were their frames supposed to think when they could register the spark weakening? It was only their link to the spark, not the spark itself, but their bodies didn’t differentiate between those two.

Sideswipe grinned all of a sudden, full of mischief. “Watch this,” and he brought his servo between their spark and its connection to Sunstreaker’s chamber.

The tendrils were severed entirely and Sideswipe heaved his brother’s frame to the side before it could fall back over him—his brother’s frame that was, now, fully grey. Without a spark signature, or indeed, a spark.

Dead, for all intents and purposes.

First Aid’s field was full of a mix of shock, horror, and surprise, though he didn’t say anything and didn’t disconnect from them. Sideswipe giggled even as their spark sank into his chamber, larger than before and fitting in so snugly. He would’ve closed his chestplates out of reflex too, if Shockwave hadn’t chosen that moment to start poking around his core again.

This time… He was floating, a little bit, or so it felt like. Light. Right. 

He didn’t really care that Shockwave repeated the whole entire process he’d already put their spark halves through, but now with their spark fully merged. So many scans and physical measurements and who knew what else.

But he was floating. Happy.

When was the last time he’d been happy?

Shockwave did step back eventually and Sideswipe very lazily turned his helm to look at him. “How do you separate?” the scientist or whatever asked, and Sideswipe focused on his frame enough to remember all of its parts.

Stupid, stupid frame that usually acted as a physical barrier between himself and himself.  

Was he supposed to step back to that reality again?

He didn’t really want to.

...But some part of him reminded him it’d be best to follow the instructions they were given, and answer the questions. “Like… Oof. Like this,” Sideswipe managed to click, turning over and taking his turn to straddle his other frame. Grey frame. 

It wasn’t nearly as upsetting as it should’ve been. Why would he be upset? He was just about to resurrect it. Sideswipe sat on Sunstreaker’s thighs, leaned over him, and carefully brought his arms between their frames to pull his spark from his chassis, though not so far he would’ve had the whole nearing so-called death, going grey thing happen. 

Then he sank his claws into it, all of them—caged portions of it into each of his servos–

And began to pull it apart.

It put up a fight, it did every time, but with a bit of patience and care he managed to separate it into two clear portions that pulsed brightly, but were half the size they had been together. One he pushed back into his own chassis, the other he directed into Sunstreaker’s. It hesitated for a second or two before connecting to Sunstreaker frame with an audible crackle and snap, followed by a clang as Sunstreaker’s chestplates automatically closed around it without any conscious thought on his part. Sideswipe barely pulled his digits free in time. 

Color returned to his brother and Sideswipe smiled a satisfied smile even as the gape between them began to yawn again, larger, more uncomfortable by the second.

Not right.

But it was how they lived. One spark in two places at once, directing two separate frames. That was all.

“Move aside, Sideswipe. Sunstreaker, bare your spark,” Shockwave ordered them both once Sunstreaker’s optics had lit up with clarity. Unease was weaving into them and quickly so, but Sideswipe still felt a bit languid when he rolled off of Sunstreaker and back onto the other berth. Sunstreaker was reluctant, but opened his chest back up—not that he even remembered closing it.

And again there was the whole hullabaloo of taking all the readings. That was getting old and tiresome fast, but Sideswipe feared they’d have to bear similar boredom several times still, before Shockwave was through with them.

They laid around all the same, trying to pass the time mostly by focusing on what First Aid was doing in their helms. Unfortunately it wasn’t anything he wouldn’t have already done though, either.

Shockwave only spoke up once he was done and set all of his instruments aside. “How do you know which half belongs to which frame?”

That was… A question. “We… Don’t?” Sideswipe ventured, but it was Sunstreaker who provided the more informative answer.

“Our spark’s one and the same no matter what. It’s the frames that call forth different aspects of it—personalities, if you want to call them that.”

Shockwave seemed to think on it for a moment, then nodded. “Close your chestplates. First Aid, show them to their quarters. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Lancer will interview you later.”

First Aid disconnected from them and handed Shockwave something, probably all the stuff he’d downloaded, before the scientist left entirely. Off to do some sciency stuff with all the sciency stuff he’d managed to pull from them, maybe? Or something.

They wanted to start splitting sparks, huh? That didn’t seem healthy. He had to wonder how many unfortunate test subjects that attempt was going to take.

...Best to not think about it too hard.

“Follow me, please,” First Aid requested once they’d both safely closed their chassis and gotten off the berths. 

So they did. There were more doors and hallways, although they didn’t go far this time before First Aid stopped at a door and opened it without going in himself. He gestured for them to do so instead. They did that too.

The room wasn’t big and it was impossibly spartan, but there was a berth big enough for the both of them, a desk with a chair, and some shelving that was entirely empty. 

And that was it. There was nothing else. 

They glanced back at First Aid when he spoke up. “For everyone’s safety, the door locks and you won’t be able to come out.” That… Wasn’t entirely surprising, although it also wasn’t particularly welcome. But what was the other option? Let them wander around? There was no way in pit anyone was going to allow that. “I’ll have Lancer bring you some entertainment once he comes to do your interview.”

“What kind of an interview is it?” Sideswipe asked before First Aid managed to close the door. It looked like he was in a bit of a hurry, but took the time to answer anyway.

“Just a questionnaire to chart… Well, everything possible about your spark condition and how it affects you. Being as thorough as you can is the most helpful.

“Lancer should be by soon. We’ll probably see later, so…” Without a proper goodbye and a bit awkwardly, First Aid closed the door. They could hear it lock, too, as he’d promised. 

And then they were alone.

The silence of the room was only broken by the sounds of their frames, and that was… Was the last time they’d had that when Megatron had separated them, taken turns leaving each of them alone in his quarters to break them?

Those times they hadn’t even had each other. This was different. They were alone in the right way, now, but that was… Weird as all pit, after spending so much time in the harem. There were always others there. Even the library wasn’t real solitude. There were sounds made by the others, their fields, energy signatures, everything their senses would constantly pick up and keep them aware of, even when they were consciously ignoring it all.

Now?

None of that.

It was just them, their one and same spark signature, the energy signatures and the functioning, lowkey whirr, hiss, rumble and whine of each of their frames, sounds changing with every motion they made, every shift of weight. But all of that was so infinitely familiar. Predictable. They knew each other inside and out—their spark, and their frames. So… It was nowhere near the same as being surrounded by the others in the harem. 

They weren’t really sure what to make of it. The kind of extreme quiet they were experiencing now they’d only experienced in Megatron’s quarters before this, and if that wasn’t a lovely way to surface some memories they weren’t particularly fond of. In the streets, even during the quietest night, you could hear distant traffic, the hum and clang of the city living around you, its systems making sounds the same any frame did. It was an eternal background noise you could never escape without four walls around you.

Right now? There were four walls around them, and they were who knew how deep into the tower, and here there wasn’t the sounds of the towers’ functions. That was probably deliberate.

They were perfectly isolated in the bright room, locked in so they couldn’t have left even if they’d wanted to, and… They sort of wanted to. There was something infinitely disquieting about the space, its almost clinical emptiness and… Lifelessness.  

Sideswipe sat down on the berth even as Sunstreaker frowned and crossed his arms, glaring at the tiny room at large. They couldn’t help but draw more comparisons to the harem wing. Say what you will about it, but it was alive, and not just because of its occupants. There was actual color, and lights placed so that they cast real shadows even as they lit anything that needed to be lit, and never leaving things so dark it would’ve been unwelcoming. There were the scents—of oil and repairs in Knock Out’s medbay, clean as the room was; the electric scent of the book files in the library, sharp and piquing; the mingling of energon and additives in the dining hall, perfect to rouse one’s appetite; solvent and so many scented products in the washracks…

And the entertainment room and berthroom, with the smells that permeated every other part of the wing too. Lubricant, transfluid, overloads. Interface. It was everywhere in the harem, for obvious reasons.

And despite that, he would’ve rather been there. There was something homey about the lush colors and intimate feel of the harem wing.

This? Despite the light colors and offensive brightness, he was mostly reminded of Megatron’s wing. Megatron’s wing had more furniture than this, but it still felt nearly as empty because of its color scheme and lack of any sort of decorations whatsoever, anywhere. 

Being reminded of Megatron’s living space wasn’t exactly welcome, either.

Here they were though, all the same. And why?

Because Megatron controlled every aspect of their life. 

Sideswipe gushed a sigh from his vents and fell onto his back on the berth. Sunstreaker finally moved to sit down next to him. 

Then there was more quiet and growing discomfort. Not physical, despite the amount of prodding and poking their spark had endured, but… Mental. Emotional.

But they could probably expect to be interrupted by their interview pretty soon. It wasn’t the best chance to try to chill out. And there might be cameras, too. That wouldn’t have surprised him.

...You know, he’d never wondered if there were some in the harem wing. It didn’t feel like a space where there would’ve been some, but maybe there were anyway.

“Wonder who Lancer is,” Sideswipe mused, just to break the silence even a little bit.

Sunstreaker, ever the best conversation partner, grunted.

“Think he’s another of Shockwave’s mates? ‘Cause First Aid was, but he was still, like… Being an assistant to Shockwave or something? In all sciency stuff?” That was weird. Really weird, when all they’d known was Megatron’s harem. Megatron only wanted interfacing out of them. Entertainment.

Were things so different for Shockwave’s harem, or what was going on? 

“We should ask, if we get the chance,” Sideswipe concluded. Theorizing with the very limited amount of information they had was hard as pit, and it would be nicer to get actual answers, anyway. Maybe Lancer would be willing to answer some questions, on top of making them answer questions?

Probably a lot of questions.

Weren’t they just real winners.

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

Lancer was, indeed, another of Shockwave’s mates. He was chipper, but efficient, asking all the questions and recording all the answers, prompting them with more questions that didn’t seem to be on his list if their answers weren’t in depth enough. He charted everything from their experience of their activation to medical history and every last detail they could think of over how being split-spark had affected their life, positively or negatively. He didn’t overtly react to anything they said, either, but remained perfectly professional. Which was nice. It kept things from getting so awkward, despite all the stuff they told—right down to how being so connected made them react to all the rape and abuse they’d endured here.

Of course, they were careful to not state or even suggest they were still very much plotting how to leave the whole place, even as they were frank enough about their dislike over the treatment they’d endured.

“Thank you so much! This will help us a lot,” Lancer said with satisfaction once it looked like he’d bombed them with all the questions he was going to. Sideswipe already opened his mouth with questions of his own, but snapped it back shut when Lancer continued, “Oh! Before I forget…”

He subspaced the datapad he had been using, made the twins a bit envious of his ability to actually access his subspace, then proceeded to pull out other datapads that he set on the desk.

Quite a few datapads, in fact—a whole pile by the end of it. “I grabbed some movies, book files, music, and a few games and podcasts for you! I wasn’t sure what you’d like, but hopefully there’s enough variety that you’ll find at least something to your liking.”

Sideswipe blinked, but Sunstreaker remembered their manners. “Thank you.”

“It’s no bother—you’ll have to stay here a few days anyway. Need to pass the time somehow, right?” He turned to leave, but a noise for his attention from Sideswipe had him halting and looking back at them.

Sideswipe spoke quickly, before the opportunity passed them. “Could we ask a few questions?”

Lancer looked a little surprised, but then smiled with a small laugh. “Well, I did just get from questioning you real good. I think it’s fair to repay that. Okay, what would you like to know?”

Okay, wow, they actually got the chance and Lancer seemed very open to questions too. That was a little unexpected, but Sideswipe gathered his thoughts quickly. “Alright, so… You’re in Shockwave’s harem too, right?” he asked first, and continued after Lancer nodded a simple confirmation, “And so’s First Aid? But First Aid was assisting Shockwave when he was taking all sorts of readings and whatnot off of us. Is that… Normal? For the harems? For Shockwave’s harem?”

“Not really normal for the harems, no,” Lancer answered and sat back down on the desk’s chair. “But it’s normal for us—Master Shockwave’s harem, I mean. Most of us have the know-how to help him in his projects, and he makes use of that.”

Lancer really seemed as forward as Chromia. That was… Nice. As far as getting their questions answered went, anyway. “How do you have the know-how? Has he taught you?”

“He continuously teaches us, yeah, but only really those who already had a background in the sciences or medicine—so, again, most of us. Really only Chromia doesn’t.”

“...What does Chromia do, if not that? Why does Shockwave have him?”

“Chromia is kind of… Our Starscream. Starscream takes care of Lord Megatron’s harem, right? Chromia does that here. Enforces Master Shockwave’s rules and orders, makes sure everyone has what they need, runs around doing Master Shockwave’s bidding when the rest of us are busy.” Lancer laughed there. Sideswipe cracked a smile, just to hide his… Confusion? No, not really confusion. There wasn’t that much to be confused over Shockwave having someone who filled Starscream’s role in his own harem.

Disturbance, rather. They knew what Starscream was like, how… Thoroughly he devoted himself to Megatron.

And Chromia did the same with Shockwave? Even when the other mates didn’t necessarily want to cooperate otherwise? 

Like that?

But Lancer didn’t seem bitter over it, or like he thought it was a bad thing. 

“How come most of you have the kind of backgrounds Shockwave makes use of?”

“We’re not from Kaon, but we were brought here specifically because of our skills. Master Shockwave has enough rank that aside from Lords Megatron and Soundwave, he can pick anyone he wants, and… He wants those with the skills. Lord Megatron has no use for our skill sets, so I don’t know anyone from his harem who could fill our roles.”

Yeah, Megatron really had no use for that kind of stuff, did he? You didn’t need to be a scientist to learn how to suck a spike.

“Doesn’t he work with anyone science type who isn’t from his harem?”

“Oh, he does. Flatline works here full-time, as does Perceptor—and Mixmaster, Hook, and some others occasionally collaborate with him on something. But Master Shockwave finds it… More agreeable, to work with his own harem.”

“...Why?” Sideswipe asked suspiciously, although he thought he might already know the answer.

Lancer shrugged. “We belong to him, and we serve him. He ranks higher than anyone else he works with, of course, and they obey his orders too, but that’s still not the same.”

He was more equal with other free mecha, wasn’t he? Sideswipe suspected they could say no to him, rank or not.

His harem, though? Probably had no such right. Megatron’s sure didn’t, and he didn’t think Shockwave’s was that dissimilar despite his use of his mates as his assistants.

Lancer didn’t say that much, but wasn’t it sort of written between the lines, anyway?

Sideswipe did no more than nod at that.

“Was there anything else?” Lancer asked after neither of the brothers said anything for a moment. Sideswipe gave it an actual thought, but…

“Not right now, ‘least.”

“Cool. If something comes up, ask one of us, we’ll be happy to help.” With that, a smile, and a wave, Lancer took his leave.

The door locked after him. Again. Naturally. Of course.

They both sighed in the silence that was left behind, but Sideswipe plucked the topmost datapad off the pile and turned it on to see what it contained. Sunstreaker did the same with another ‘pad, and… Well. They better get good at passing the time like this, probably.

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

The room had no windows, or clocks of any sort for that matter. If their chronometers hadn’t counted the day, they would’ve never known what time it was. They recharged during what would’ve been the quiet hours in the harem wing, and when no one came to interrupt them right away in the morning… Lazed around a bit. 

Hopefully whoever might come to take them for more tests would at least knock or ping first, instead of just barging in. And energon. They’d prefer fuel at some point, as much as it wasn’t strictly necessary. Yet. They probably, hopefully wouldn’t be here long enough for that to matter, but if they were hanging around for a full orn, they’d definitely have the time to get a bit uncomfortable from hunger.

They didn’t worry about that too much right in the moment, though. Sideswipe had draped himself along the full length of Sunstreaker’s side, his brother’s arm around him, tracing patterns on his armor.

Sideswipe did the same to Sunstreaker, dragging his claws along seams he knew were a bit on the sensitive side, and grinning every time he was a little too good at it and made the golden twin squirm. Sunstreaker didn’t tell him to knock it off though, or hadn’t so far.

He might at some point.

But for now he was too… Thoughtful, to really bother. And Sideswipe knew those thought tracks just as well. 

They merged so rarely. For obvious reasons, or… What had been obvious reasons. For Primus’ sake, they were guttermechs. They didn’t just have an apartment of their own that they could lock the door of and do what they willed. The best they could do was rent a room someone else would always have access to, too. 

Where were they supposed to merge? Nowhere, that’s where. 

So… They didn’t. Hadn’t. They had risked it… What, a grand total of three times in their lives, since emerging from the Well to get discarded in no time at all?

They weren’t old, but even for a short life that… Wasn’t very many merges. It wasn’t a necessity so it didn’t really matter, but pits it felt good. It was probably some sort of sucky coping mechanism to forget about the feeling after every time, because what would they have done otherwise except spend every moment of their life wishing they could do it again?

They’d done it now, and they hadn’t forgotten about it, not yet. It populated their thoughts, the… Feeling of it. 

Would they get used to it if they did it more often? Seemed likely. The whole sparked walked around the way they did all the time and nothing happened to them, but to him and Sunstreaker… It was so novel. It felt so good, was so right, fixed every problem they’d ever had, or so it felt like. It was how they were supposed to be, but how they weren’t despite it all. Was it any wonder knocking all the wrongness out of their life with just one act would be such a drastic difference that it would muddle their thoughts more than a little? That they’d want to just enjoy it, forever and ever?

Like the whole sparked got to do all the time. They took it for granted, didn’t even think about how else it could be.

Well, the twins knew how else they could be. They couldn’t take it for granted, because it wasn’t their usual state of being.

What kept them from occupying only a single frame, from being just one, in one? Was it just a habit? ‘Because that’s how it’s always been’?

Or was it an… Advantage? It never felt right, but it didn’t cripple them either. They could experience life at twice the pace everyone else could, because they were in two. Wasn’t that a good thing?

And the tradeoff was just to feel wrong on such a deep, inescapable level. 

That wasn’t so bad, was it? There were hardly any downsides… That they knew of. They had to admit they didn’t understand their spark very well. They took it at face value, but why did it do the things it did? Why could they be split, when trying to split a normal spark would only result in death? Ask anyone who had ever gotten stabbed in the spark. It didn’t tend to work out so well.

And when they pulled apart, why did their spark exchange its energy perfectly between its halves, neither bigger than the other when they separated? How the pit did it know to do that when there was no… Rift between them, when they were merged? It was just one whole spark with the ability to split for whatever reason, but the re-splitting was always a pretty crude process and still it always worked out.

That wasn’t even getting into their exchange of emotion and thought—or “thought”, rather. Emotion came through raw and unfiltered, but it was never words, never sounds, never perfect images that their spark was made of. Just… A mess. Shapes, textures, color, but they all came together to mean something, if you knew how to interpret it. Put it together. Translate it into something the frame could understand. Their spark was never confused by itself.

It was just the frame that didn’t always keep up with everything. 

They were pretty good at that, and they could also do the most important: segregate. Synchronization came naturally to them, but what they needed to do to function was to… Split their thoughts as their spark was split: one set of thoughts for the frame that was Sideswipe, another for the one that was Sunstreaker. They needed to function separately, steer their frames separately, divide themselves, sometimes to the point they became near senseless to one another–

And that went against their very being, but they had to do it. It was a skill. It had taken practice.

They didn’t usually think about any of this, honestly. It wasn’t important, it wasn’t relevant. What mattered was that they made it work.

But after trying to describe the whole mess to Lancer in as much detail and with as little confusion as they could manage, it was hard to not consider it all—wonder if it mattered anyway. They had no idea.

All they knew was that merging was… Better than any drug in the world, and they’d tried quite a few out of curiosity. 

And they weren’t on the streets anymore. They were never really alone either, aside from right now, but the other mates weren’t exactly… Threats? Were they? They had never actively tried to hurt them.

Could they even consider doing it again sometime, while they were still here? Because they’d be right back to the streets after they got out, and then they’d again be without the chances to do it.

So many thoughts. They should probably stop before their processors started steaming. Sunstreaker glanced at him at that, cocking one of his optical ridges at him and– Primus, he was just pretty. Beautiful. From helm to pede, their commissioners had done at least that right and given him all the looks in the world.

His optical ridges too. Their arch was just… Elegant, and Sideswipe knew that came without trying. 

Sunstreaker’s amusement turned into an outright, huffed laugh when he stared for too long.

Frag it.

Sideswipe lifted himself, just enough that he could silence it by pressing their mouths together—no grace, just want. Sunstreaker returned the kiss with quite a bit more thought behind it, and Sideswipe happily let him take the lead, melting a bit further against that lovely frame.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, you know,” Sunstreaker muttered against his mouth. Sideswipe could feel his grin.

It was his turn to laugh, just a little. “I know.” They were quite a pair, weren’t they? 

At least this much Megatron would never take from them—their self-centered love, devotion. There was no tarnishing it, even if he took everything else. 

They enjoyed each other for a time, cuddling and making out, lazy and without rush. Not that they couldn’t have done this in the harem, but there was always so much going on there, and that wasn’t even going into the fact there was no real privacy to be found anywhere in the harem wing.

Chances were they’d still have the time to get hella bored here even with the entertainment they were provided, but for now they were going to enjoy it.

They did the entire morning. Only a ping at the door interrupted them when it was starting to tip into the day proper. They untangled themselves at the interruption, and were sitting side by side on the berth by the time the door opened after a polite delay. 

First Aid stood on the other side, two cubes held in his servos. “Hope you slept well and have gotten the time to pass. Did Lancer– Oh, I see he did.” He was probably referring to all the datapads; at least those were what he was looking at. 

“He brought us stuff, yeah,” Sideswipe confirmed with a wry grin. First Aid’s field flared with something akin to a smile. He moved into the room just enough to place the cubes on the desk before returning to the doorframe.

It looked like he was going to leave, too, but Sideswipe interrupted that process with a, “Hey.” First Aid looked at him in askance, and out of the mates they’d met he seemed the least inclined to start answering any amount of questions, so Sideswipe kept it short. “When will there be more… Tests?”

“Probably not today. Tomorrow at earliest, I think,” First Aid answered, and… That was kind of surprising? But he also explained the reason for it quickly enough. “There’s a lot of data Master Shockwave wants to comb through before he does anything else. Your spark is very unusual.”

Well. At least they were entertaining some scientist with their existence. Could be worse?

Sideswipe nodded and when they asked nothing else, First Aid bid them goodbye and left. They took the cubes they’d been brought and went to enjoy them. It wasn’t anything fancy, just basic midgrade, but that didn’t make it any less delicious.

And it looked like they wouldn’t have to worry about hunger, at least.

As First Aid had guessed, nothing happened for the rest of the day. Sunstreaker went through the datapads for things to read or listen to, Sideswipe grabbed the couple of them with games on them. They were the same games as in the harem, but he had his saves in his own systems, so it wasn’t a big thing to plug into the datapad and continue playing where he’d left off back there. 

It wasn’t the most interesting day ever. The harem was… A prison. There was no getting around the fact there wasn’t really anything physical to do, aside from ‘facing. And oh boy did the other mates ‘face a lot. Sideswipe had to wonder if some of that was just to try to make up for the lack of any other exerting activities, on top of being prompted by the protocols corrupted by the infernal transmission. 

He and Sunstreaker had put up with it so far because, you know, they didn’t exactly have any other option. They couldn’t just leave to go on drives or whatever. It worked in their favor that they had never had the ability to be as active as they would’ve liked. For the duration of their life, up until coming here, conserving energon had been a necessity. Technically they could have done whatever they wanted to, driven as far as they’d liked to–

But the practice was quite different. 

Now they would’ve had the energy, but not the freedom. That sure got flipped around a bit. 

But so there weren’t any past habits of long drives that they would’ve missed, for as many things there were that they did miss.

And some came here willingly? 

Frag.

Yeah, no, he wasn’t going to get over that anytime soon, especially after what he’d seen at the dinner—though to be fair he didn’t think he’d get over any of the shit that happened here anytime soon. But there was… Something. Their first time here, their whole initiation? Had been awful in so many ways.

But it was just that one time. They’d had some shit thrown at them since then too, mildly put, but they hadn’t gotten gang raped with that level of brutality since.

And the public servants? It looked a lot like brutal gang rape was their entire existence. He didn’t know where they lived, or were stored, what their downtime was like, but slag… He couldn’t imagine there was anything to want in that life. They looked to be halfway to the scrapyard already, on the inside. If he had to make a guess, they probably wished they could’ve gone the rest of the way.

He thought he would’ve, in their place. All the things Megatron had done to them and had made others do to them… It wasn’t those levels of bad. Maybe there was an instance here or there that compared, but it wasn’t continuous. That made the difference. 

Instances like Sunstreaker’s little outburst. Megatron knew how to damage a frame. Getting just beaten would’ve been one thing. Unpleasant and it would’ve hurt too, but it was so outlandish to mutilate a frame with nothing but a spike. Who else could do that but Megatron?

It was just… A more intimate sort of way to punish someone—taking something that was usually done for fun and affection, and using it as a weapon instead.

Violent.

Sunstreaker hardly even ached anymore. The physical signs of the whole incident were all but gone, even at the places where Knock Out hadn’t replaced the parts, only fixed them instead. 

But on the inside? His brother was tough, but Megatron was an enemy like nothing they’d faced before. Time and time again they could not win, not even in a small way, and if they stepped out of line… They were returned to it with devastating certainty.

Would Sunstreaker throw a drink at someone again? Was it worth it?

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

It was near the midday of the next day that there was a ping at their door again. Sideswipe paused and saved his game and Sunstreaker set down the bookfile he’d been perusing, seconds before the door opened to reveal Lancer.

He smiled and waved. “Master Shockwave has some more tests he’d like to run. If you’d come with me.”

Of course there was nothing about were they fine with this, or if they agreed to having more tests done on them.

They weren’t and they wouldn’t have, but you know.

They placed their datapads on the desk before following Lancer out of their temporary quarters and back into the same room from before, with its berths and contraptions. “Dismissed,” Shockwave said to Lancer once they were safely deposited in the room, and so he left.

Leaving them with Shockwave and… There was another mech present too. Red, but even searching, they couldn’t see a brand on him. 

He didn’t look like Kaonite though, not one bit. 

“On the berth,” Shockwave ordered them and they walked a couple of steps ahead of him to do so. Whatever cart the scientist had with him had more things on it, some that they could recognize from last time.

Was this going to be as boring?

Would they get to merge again?

“Perceptor.” With just one word from Shockwave, the red mech came over, although there wasn’t the same… Haste in his motions, as Shockwave’s mates had when they hurried to follow his orders.

There was something different about him in general, although they couldn’t place it. He was nervous though. Not overtly so, but it was still in his field. 

“Yes, hello, we haven’t met yet. I’m Perceptor, and I’ll be assisting Shockw–”

“Lay down,” Shockwave entirely interrupted his colleague—were they colleagues?—to order him and Sunstreaker around instead. But at least this much had already happened, so despite their very extant reservations, they laid down.

“Bare your sparks,” was the next thing, and they did that too, reluctant or not. Shockwave pushed and pulled some of the things hanging from the ceiling around, bringing some lower. Sideswipe would’ve guessed it was a scanner of some sort that he positioned around Sunstreaker’s spark, his brother watching the process with so much distrust.

But if they didn’t cooperate, they’d be made to cooperate anyway, so. He’d still rather go unrestrained.

Perceptor did what First Aid had done and jacked into their medical ports to bring up their internal scans and spark readings. One educated guess, they were going to do something to their spark.

And they probably wouldn’t like it.

The scanner thingy was secured directly against Sunstreaker’s chestplates before Shockwave pulled a different device down and aimed that at Sideswipe’s spark-half. It spun just that much more wildly in its casing as his concern grew. It would’ve been great if Shockwave had even told them what he was doing, but of course he couldn’t be bothered with that much.

Perceptor probably noticed that thought with the privileges he’d granted himself in their systems, because he took that role instead. “We’re going to feed some dead energy into your spark to–”

He didn’t get further than that before Shockwave cut him off with a, “Stay still.”

“What do you mean dead energy–?!” Sideswipe tried to demand in full alarm, but he couldn’t get further than that before Shockwave activated the device directly above his half of their spark. It came to life to shoot pure electricity into his spark, or at least Sideswipe thought it might’ve been electricity, it sure was something–

But that wasn’t what he could focus on.

There was just the pain.

It burned and he could scarcely even hear his own scream as his very core lit up with agony, and pain of the frame was one thing–

But this was so much more than that. It was his very being that hurt, that cut straight into his emotions, the well of his thoughts, his life–

His back arched off the berth, and bringing his spark closer to the device didn’t help at all, but he didn’t know what to do, couldn’t do anything with the–

And then it ended.

Sort of.

Sideswipe collapsed back onto the berth when their respective devices powered down and were moved away from them both, sobbing—from relief, and from pain, because his spark wouldn’t stop hurting and feeling like it was going to tear itself into so many pieces until there’d be nothing but shreds left–

He was barely aware Sunstreaker was gasping, feeling all the same he was, that it tore at the both of them, their one–

“Merge.”

They focused enough to make sense of Shockwave. There was no inflection to the order.

Sideswipe shook his helm, crying. Their spark felt so raw and adding more energy into the play, even if it was just his own, was the last thing he wanted to do–

“Your spark is destabilizing. You’re dying. Merge,” Shockwave said, sounding absolutely uncaring as he stared at one of the screens that might’ve had their spark readings or something, Sideswipe didn’t know.

Perceptor’s field had flushed with very real anxiety and concern where Shockwave had none to give, but at least the unfeeling scientist’s words were enough to provide some… Motivation. Sideswipe looked to the side but Sunstreaker was staring resolutely at the lights above, trying to survive the agony in their lifeforce—and presumably doomed to fail at that, if they didn’t merge. 

So this was what dying felt like, huh? He could’ve gone without the experience.

But he didn’t want to die. There were still things to live for, and this was an out he didn’t want to take.

He rolled onto his front and heaved himself up, gritting his denta the whole way. It wasn’t his frame that hurt, his frame functioned perfectly, but the pain still threatened to cripple him. His spark throbbed so unevenly, its pulses and rotation stuttering in a way he had never experienced before. It distracted him from the physical world something fierce–

But they were probably on a bit of a timer. He had no idea how long it’d take for a spark to destabilize completely, and how long it would take their spark.

Would merging even fix it, or was Shockwave just grasping at straws? Who the fuck knew. It was sort of their only shot though, wasn’t it?

Sunstreaker reached an arm to help pull him over and Sideswipe barely waited until their chests were even half aligned before he collapsed over his twin. Their halves surged to meet each other before he was even all the way down, wove together, became one, seamless, and…

The pain receded.

They were both shaking, their vents barely functioning, but the tearing stopped. Sideswipe let his forehelm fall against Sunstreaker’s shoulder, feeling the ache in their spark even as things… Evened out. Calmed down.

And they, presumably, stopped dying so actively.

“The pit,” Sideswipe gasped, “was that?” He lifted his helm enough to glare at both Perceptor and Shockwave, as much as he expected Shockwave wouldn’t give a damn.

Perceptor looked apologetic, at least. “The energy approximates a spark merge without the risk of actually bonding two sparks and tests your spark’s response to it. Your reaction was entirely unexpected, I assure you; all sparks respond a little differently, but this?”

Right. So nearly killing them wasn’t the plan. That would’ve sort of gone against Megatron’s orders anyway.

Had to wonder how much trouble Shockwave would’ve been in if they had died.

“Pull back.” Was there no end to the orders? And what was this one for?

That. Shockwave was pulling the same zappy device towards them. Was he seriously trying to kill them?

“No!” Sideswipe said instantly, like any smart person with a sense of self-preservation would’ve, and flattened himself further across Sunstreaker. Sunstreaker was growling, hard, his glare beyond vicious.

“Pull back,” Shockwave repeated, still sounding so utterly indifferent. Like he didn’t really care about any of this, about their resistance or their potential death or… Pit, anything.

“Go frag yourself,” Sideswipe snarled.

Defiance. When had that ever worked?

They were locked in a bit of a staring contest before one of the doors into the room opened to admit Lancer and another of Shockwave’s mates they hadn’t seen before. All Shockwave did was nod at the twins, and at once the mates came over—but what for? They couldn’t possibly have strength on him and Sunstreaker, being smaller, slimmer. 

It turned out they didn’t need strength, just speed and deftness, and that they had in spades. “Hey–!” but true to form, no one listened to him. The nameless mate had reached and grabbed his arm before he knew it, and he didn’t have the time to even jerk away before one of his ports had gotten uncovered.

And suddenly Shockwave was there and plugged right in, and pits, his presence in his systems. Shockwave used direct overrides to access exactly what he wanted to access, no detours taken, and–

Severed Sideswipe’s motor controls.

All of them.

His frame immediately fell limp and Sunstreaker started cussing for the both of them, and that was where all of their cooperation ended.

It didn’t matter. Lancer and the other one were fast to grab each of Sunstreaker’s limbs and securely tie them to the berth, as if they’d done this plenty of times before, and once that was done… They, together, lifted Sideswipe’s strutless frame. Shockwave stepped over again and reached between them, doing what they’d done the other day—put his servo between their spark and Sideswipe’s frame, forcing it to disconnect and retreat into Sunstreaker’s chassis only.

Sideswipe’s grey frame was pushed aside, unnecessary.

Sunstreaker snarled and tested the bonds, but they looked to be designed to hold mecha far larger and stronger than him and he got exactly nowhere no matter how he struggled. Shockwave? Had no reactions to give to any of it. Neither did Lancer and the other mate. There was that focus in their fields again, like Chromia had had at the dinner, like… Pits, he didn’t know what to make of it. Were they so task-oriented? How? Why?

Perceptor though, he was different. He was alarmed.

“Get that thing away from me,” Sunstreaker growled when Shockwave unerringly brought the device towards him, clearly intent on trying the whole thing all over again. For what? Did he expect a different outcome, or did he just want to kill them? If merging had saved them, what were they supposed to do when they were already merged?

“Maybe we shouldn’t–” Perceptor tried to say, hovering over them, but once again, he didn’t get to finish.

“Record,” was all Shockwave said, staring directly at Perceptor.

“This isn’t–” Perceptor tried again.

Again Shockwave interrupted him. “Greenlight.”

The other mate, apparently named Greenlight, immediately stepped up, shooed Perceptor away and replaced Perceptor’s jack in Sunstreaker’s medical port with his own. Once he made sure everything relevant was in his reach and available, he nodded at Shockwave.

Impassive, Shockwave brought the device and a scanner to his spark no matter Sunstreaker’s vitriol, and… Activated it all over again.

Sunstreaker grunted when the energy again shot against their spark, and though he feared the worst… That didn’t come to pass. Oh, it wasn’t comfortable and his spark rebelled against the lifeless energy even as it couldn’t escape it–

But there wasn’t the agony. Just discomfort.

Nothing more.

And although Perceptor hadn’t seemed to entirely approve of the whole thing, he now breathed, “Fascinating,” earning a vicious glare from Sunstreaker. It entirely remained that he wasn’t agreeing to any of this, and even when it had looked like Perceptor might care about details like that, clearly his scientific curiosity was winning over. 

It was Sunstreaker’s turn to strongly disapprove. 

“Yeah, great, you didn’t nearly kill us this time,” he growled, venting a sigh of relief when Shockwave turned the zapper off and pushed it aside. 

“Indeed!” Perceptor said, apparently completely missing Sunstreaker’s sarcasm as he hurried over to one of the screens with some readings on it. Sunstreaker couldn’t understand them, but Perceptor sure looked excited. “Your spark’s negative reaction to dead energy when split… Has that ever been recorded before, Shockwave, do you know? But to get a near opposite reaction when you’re merged! I hypothesize that trying to merge with another spark separately would kill you, although we need to go over these readings to find out the reason why—but equally it looks like your spark’s reaction falls into perfectly normal ranges when merged–”

He prattled on further but Sunstreaker tuned that out, judging Shockwave to be a greater concern when the scientist brought more measuring devices of various sorts to their spark and took whatever readings. Many, many more readings. Lancer and Greenlight lingered too, following Shockwave’s instructions to the letter without hesitation even as Perceptor seemed fully distracted by the screens—and was he still ranting? Primus.

The rest had already happened, but when Shockwave took something small, small enough to fit into his spark chamber, and tried to insert it there, Sunstreaker rebelled.

Or tried to, very unsuccessfully seeing he was tied down and whatnot. “The pit is that?” he demanded, but no amount of tugging or squirming would discourage Shockwave.

At least he got an answer out of the mech, for once. “A monitor.”

Just not a very useful answer. Monitor for what?

When he asked this time, no one responded. The little thing was installed into his spark chamber, and then the same was done to Sideswipe’s frame on top having his motor controls reestablished.

Once that was done, they untied him. “Split,” Shockwave ordered him.

Sunstreaker snarled. “No.” Mostly for the sake of it, honestly; he wouldn’t have had anything against having his second frame functional right then.

“Split, or you will be split,” Shockwave said. An ultimatum, huh? So which would be rather have, doing the whole damn thing himself when he at least had some experience at it no matter how inelegant they made it–

Or have someone who had most likely never successfully split a spark do it for him?

Did he really want to have his spark prodded at even more? 

No, he’d rather avoid what he could. Sunstreaker glared, but nevertheless moved over to Sideswipe, straddling his brother’s frame and pulling their spark apart until he had one half to push into the grey frame, the other to keep to himself.

Sideswipe’s chestplates slammed shut before life properly returned to him, and when he onlined good and proper, it was with a growl. Not like he had forgotten what had happened.

Shockwave didn’t seem to care at all. “Lancer, return them to their quarters,” was all he said before he accepted their data from Greenlight and left.

Sideswipe wiped at the tear stains on his cheeks before they both got off the berth and, without a fight, followed Lancer. That… Hadn’t been so mighty pleasant. They’d gotten to merge, sure, but pits, they hadn’t wanted it to be because of something like that.

At least it sort of confirmed their theory that they could function pretty normally even when merged. They hadn’t gotten distracted this time like they had before, though hopefully it wouldn’t need to be just situations that registered as highly dangerous that would manage that. 

And they still had however many days of this?

Pits.

“What’s the monitors for?” Sideswipe asked once they were at their door.

“Your spark had a pretty extreme reaction to the fake merge,” Lancer answered as he opened the door and they went inside. “It seems to be fine now, but it’s better to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t destabilize again.”

Was he sulking? Sideswipe was definitely sulking, and he didn’t even feel like trying to pretend otherwise. “Yeah, Megatron would probably be real unhappy if something happened to us,” he grumbled, plopping himself down onto the berth with more force than necessary. Sunstreaker sat down next to him. 

Primus forbid someone other than Megatron himself hurt them. He could rape and slag them all he wanted, but the moment someone else tried to do what he did? Lines drawn, big time.

Ugh.

“I imagine so, yeah,” Lancer agreed. “Try to unwind for now though, okay? That was pretty rough.”

With that he left and they were once again locked in their tiny ass room that was getting more claustrophobic by the hour. 

They sat in silence for a minute or two before Sideswipe broke the silence with a simple, “Wanna merge?”

Sunstreaker nodded, and merge they did—just to try to wash away even some of what had happened.

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

The next day, again, nothing happened, Shockwave presumably busy with all the data he’d gathered from them.

But every day after that, there was something. They didn’t cooperate half the time, anymore, not when some of the things got increasingly outlandish. Sometimes they were made to merge, other times held separate, many a time Shockwave separated them without even giving them the chance to do it themselves. There were sharp objects, blunt objects, samples taken, the limits of what their spark and its ability to split could withstand truly tested to the last.

More often than not, it hurt. Nothing compared to the whole incident with dead energy, but it still hurt. It wasn’t the last time Shockwave used the zappy thing on them, either, though he never again did so separately at full force—but he did feed smaller amounts of energy into their spark even when they were split, just to test how much they could withstand before their spark started to destabilize all over again.

It never got so bad as the first time, but that wasn’t much of a comfort. 

They had so many wires attached to them, too. To their chest, primarily, as Shockwave went about trying to uncover all of the secrets of their spark and recorded everything he could about everything he did. Their heads weren’t left alone either, usually one of the mates always keeping an eye on what their frames thought about what was done to their spark at any given moment. 

Oh, and all the times they didn’t agree to keep their chestplates open, only for Shockwave to then jam them open. Sometimes there was a see-through pane involved too, when he wanted to sort of protect their spark from the outside world while still being able to visually observe it.

Wasn’t that just so kind of him. 

None of it was pleasant and a few times they honestly feared he’d pushed too far and caused permanent damage, and… Slag, when they were left alone they spent more time merged than separate, now, trying to assure themselves they were fine, that their spark was fine despite everything Shockwave put it through. That was mostly true. Physically they didn’t think he was doing anything that they wouldn’t recover from.

But wasn’t the story always that physically they could recover from everything that was done to them here in the palace, in Kaon, but that matters were quite different as far as their damned emotions went. Sideswipe spent an increasing amount of time crying, not just from the physical pain that sometimes grew to truly uncomfortable extents, but also from the… Helplessness. As ever. If they fought, Shockwave would just have them restrained to whatever point was necessary for him to go through with everything he wanted to do to them without interruptions. 

They didn’t see Perceptor again, and they had to wonder if that was because their disagreement with what was happening grew more vehement and their lack of consent ever more obvious. Perceptor had seemed like the type to care about details like that, where Shockwave definitely didn’t, and where his mates followed his lead. 

They were just as powerless here as they ever were with Megatron. They couldn’t even say they were very surprised by that, but it still… Hurt. 

And no one gave a damn.

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

It was exactly a full orn later that Shockwave finished with another round of doing whatever to their damn spark. Sideswipe was panting hard, his vents wheezing as he tried to center himself after having his spark toyed with—what was it this time, testing how their spark reacted to separation from the frame. After having his half pulled out of chest who knew how many times, every time to the point his frame greyed out… Yeah, excuse him if he wasn’t feeling the greatest. 

Sunstreaker wasn’t much better off. He wasn’t even growling anymore, his optics tightly closed where Sideswipe was instead staring at the bright lights, letting them blind him.

Lancer moved to remove their restraints—that by now had severely worn off their paint from the affected areas—first the ones holding their spark chambers and chestplates open. The moment those were gone both of their chassis slammed back shut so fast it hurt.

But it was still an intense relief, despite the sting.

Neither of them got up right away after their limbs were freed, still reeling a little too badly. However, then Chromia entered the room, and what Shockwave said next was right the thing to bring some more life to them. “Return them to Lord Megatron’s harem.”

They both stilled from disbelief, just for a time before Sideswipe shot to sitting and Sunstreaker leveraged himself onto his elbows. They stared at Shockwave first, as much as the scientist’s back was turned to them, before their attention moved to Chromia.

“Yes, master,” the blue mech said with a small bow, then turned their way and requested their compliance. 

Normally that would’ve been about the point where they told everyone to go frag themselves, but… Was it over? Was this over? Could they go back to the relative safety of the harem and not have to worry about Shockwave anymore?

Pits, they wanted to. They’d wanted to for quite a while now, and with unparalleled eagerness they both jumped off the berths and followed Chromia out of the room—a little unsteadily at first, but they regained their bearings little by little as they went through the corridors and doors, past even more doors, until they’d left Shockwave’s… Area of the palace entirely. Or what they assumed was the portion of the palace that belonged to Shockwave exclusively. 

Things were silent for a time, but once they were closing in on the elevators and their relief increased with every step away from Shockwave they took, Sideswipe’s curiosity got the better of him. “What’s Perceptor’s deal?”

Chromia glanced at him, but answered as readily as he had before. “I assume you mean he doesn’t look too Kaonite? He isn’t. He was brought in because of his scientific proficiency, though I’m not privy to what about him exactly caught the Lords’ attention.”

‘Brought in’? “Did he come… Willingly?” Sideswipe asked carefully.

Chromia smiled at him. “With how protected we keep our city, not many outsiders understand the honor coming to Kaon is. They do with time, though.”

So… No, Perceptor most likely hadn’t come willingly. They had to wonder how close to ‘understanding what an honor it is’ Perceptor was. Shockwave didn’t exactly seem to treat him with a lot of respect, but just as much it hadn’t looked like Perceptor was actively unhappy with being there. He’d looked downright excited at places.

Had to wonder how long he’d been in Kaon and how he had acted when first arriving.

Sideswipe would’ve asked more about it if the elevator doors hadn’t opened to reveal it already had an occupant.

“Lord Onslaught,” Chromia bowed immediately, before he stepped into the elevator anyway, no hesitation.

The twins sure hesitated before Sunstreaker steeled their spark and stepped inside too, Sideswipe following a step behind him.

Then the doors closed and the elevator continued up, with them stuck in the relatively small space with the tank—whose amusement filled the elevator. It was probably their unease that he found entertaining.

“Have you recovered yet, Sunstreaker?” Onslaught asked without much fanfare. Of course, there was no real concern about him. He was just continuing what he’d done at the dinner.

Except this time Sunstreaker didn’t have anything to throw at him. 

Likely for the best, honestly.

Instead of attacking Onslaught with objects or liquids, Sunstreaker contented himself with just one hateful glare before he turned away to ignore him, intent on showing as much disrespect as he possibly could. If Motormaster’s case was anything to go by, Onslaught himself wouldn’t be able to do anything about him anyway. 

Onslaught chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes. Knock Out is quite good at what he does.”

Then, with a glance at their frames, their scuffed portions in particular, “I hear Shockwave got his hands on you, too.”

They stayed silent. He continued, “Spark splitting—now there is a useful ability. Imagine the applications. Doubling the amount of soldiers while granting the pairs a connection that surpasses that of bonded pairs, even bonded twins. Am I wrong? If Shockwave succeeds… My, you would have truly served Kaon, no doubt even earning yourselves a mention in the history books.

“Think of it. Thanks to you, no one could combat Kaon’s elite army. Unified Cybertron and its Prime could never threaten us again.”

Threaten them? When was the last time that had even happened? After Zeta’s failed conquest, how many times had Free Cybertron actually tried to take Kaon?

Obviously they’d failed even if they’d tried, but they honestly didn’t know if there had been smaller wars since the Unification. 

And still… Even speaking of such an advantage, Onslaught didn’t word things as if Kaon would have wanted to go on warpath against the rest of Cybertron. Were they really, honestly that content to just be left alone, or was Onslaught leaving things out?

“I really couldn’t care less about whatever benefits Kaon,” Sunstreaker couldn’t keep himself from growling despite his earlier intent to just ignore the damn mech, even as he still stubbornly didn’t look at Onslaught—whose field burst with amusement, while Chromia’s edged with… Disapproval?

Well, frag Chromia too.

“You should. You are Kaonite now, yourself,” Onslaught disagreed.

This time Sunstreaker glared as well as snarled at him. “Never.”

Onslaught chuckled again, although the sound was cut off when Sideswipe blurted a question before he could stop himself. “Do you uh, have a harem?” Change of topic, anyone?

“I do indeed,” the tank confirmed easily, apparently not taking offense from that either. “One that I share with my team.”

Team? “...How big is your team?”

“There’s five of us.”

Five mecha sharing one harem? He could only hope they had enough mates that… No one got overworked.

Oh, Primus.

Sideswipe swallowed, but still asked further. “Are you the leader?”

“Of my team, yes.”

He had to wonder how high Onslaught ranked overall, though it was probably… Pretty high, all things considered. 

“Cool,” Sideswipe said lamely and things lapsed back into silence until the elevator came to a stop—one floor below their final destination. 

Onslaught stepped out to a bow from Chromia. “Stay safe,” he drawled in parting before he set down the hall to destinations unknown. The elevator doors closed, they traveled up one more floor, and then they were back to the level of Megatron’s wing and his harem.

Chromia led them out and through the relatively short walk to the harem wing’s doors. Soundwave was standing outside, by all appearances waiting for them.

“Lord Soundwave.” Chromia bowed at him too.

“Dismissed,” was all Soundwave acknowledged that with as if he was a Shockwave copy or something, and Chromia bowed again before giving them a smile and then going right back the way they came.

Leaving them alone with Shockwave. Oh, and the two guards standing at the doors but decidedly not opening them, but the guards barely counted.

They didn’t need to wait for long for what Soundwave was here for. “Experiments went well?”

And… That was what he wanted to know? Sideswipe huffed. “I guess, aside from him nearly killing us. But we didn’t die all the way, so yaaaay.” No one would probably care that it all had sucked in so many other ways too.

Soundwave’s visor flashed, and that was about the most reaction they’d ever seen out of the mech. “Permanent damage?”

“Not as far as we know, no?”

“Why do you care?” Sunstreaker growled, glaring all proper where Sideswipe was mostly just miffed.

“Megatron concerned,” came Soundwave’s answer.

And that… Was a bit concerning in its own right. “...Were there that good chances Shockwave would’ve gone too far?” Sideswipe asked carefully.

The fact Soundwave didn’t say anything was probably answer enough.

So. Megatron had entirely and knowingly risked their life, just for the sake of knowledge. Which… Honestly, wasn’t surprising. They hadn’t expected they meant that much to the tyrant to begin with, and if the whole split-spark deal was as useful as everyone made it out to be, what kind of a tradeoff was it to possibly lose a couple of mates and gain an entire army? Megatron would’ve been dumb as hell to not take that risk, even if he’d have preferred them alive.

Sideswipe’s shoulders slumped. It made sense, but it still wasn’t a nice feeling that their life was valued to be that… Insignificant. Not worthless, really, because if Shockwave succeeded then it would’ve been worth it for the powers that be. A loss for the twins, but not really anyone else.

And who cared about the twins?

...He just wanted to be out of here. No one had given a damn about his life on the streets either, but at least there he’d been in charge of it.

Here no one gave a damn and he was completely at the mercy of another.

“Can we go?” Sideswipe asked, voice quiet as he glanced longingly at the harem’s closed doors. He didn’t see Soundwave’s nod, but Sunstreaker did–

And then the guards opened the doors. 

They didn’t hurry in, but it was a close thing.

( Next )

#transformers #maccadam #sunstreaker #sideswipe #shockwave #chromia #lancer #greenlight #perceptor #first aid #fic #2021 #harem au

[a-world-in-grey]

A Year and a Day

@secret-engima Six curse it all WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME-

(Fusion with the new Mer AU because I ALSO have no self-control, ffs. Also, because I’m going off of the one posted story and a single ramble, I have absolutely NO IDEA how much of this actually fits in your Mer AU so like, yeah? See the end/tags for more.)

.

-It’s been a year since those horrible two weeks after Libertus lost Nyx in a storm (a year since Libertus nearly lost her forever) and a year since the realization that mythical merfolk aren’t quite as extinct as everyone thought.

-At first it was just Nox and his Uncle, but after that it seemed like the floodgates opened, because one particularly rough day - not quite a storm thank Ramuh - on the waves saw another merman with the fins of a Lionfish but in red and liquid silver clawing his way on deck and screeching at Nyx and Tredd and it wasn’t until Libertus’ heart stopping trying to beat out of his chest that he realized the merman was scolding the two idiots-

-Captain was the only merman to stick around near constantly, even more than Ardyn and Nox (to Nyx’s disappointment) but occasionally other mer would pop by to talk with Captain in that strange language the rest of the crew was slowly but surely beginning to pick up. 

-It’s been a year since that fateful storm. No, a year and a day, and Libertus is maybe a bit on edge because if there’s something Libertus has figured out, it’s that Fate loves her Significant Numbers.

-(A year and a day. A decade. A century. A millennia.)

-A year and a day. If anything is going to happen. If anything is going to happen, it’s going to be today.

-And to top it off, it’s storming. Again.

-Nox is with them this time. Libertus isn’t sure he should be relieved by the merman’s presence or worried that a powerful mythical being shares his worries.

-The Flotilla is facing off against another Niflheim Fleet. Not Tummelt this time, though Tummelt had survived the storm that nearly claimed Nyx’s life. No, this time it’s led by the Aureus, captained by Caligo Ulldor and that’s the only reason they’re facing off in such a storm at all.

-(No matter the risk, they cannot let Ulldor reach land. Every Galahdian would give themselves to the Stormsender’s Wrath then allow the atrocities Ulldor would inflict upon their people.)

-But Ulldor isn’t the young and reckless captain Tummelt is, surviving by daring and wits. Ulldor, for all that no Galahdian would ever admit it to his face, is a match of skill for any Furia captain, and a crew equally sea-worthy. The Aureus keeps up with the Stormheart, even with Captain at the helm, even as the rest of the Niflheim fleet falls to Nox and the Flotilla.

-Until a note splits the thunder-struck sky, not so much a Song as a shriek, high and shrill and inhuman and panic-desperation-betrayal-runrunRUN hitting all of them like a rogue wave.

-And the scream cuts off with terrible suddenness and Captain roars, hate and fury blanketing the ship as he shouts for them to brace for impact, just in time for a ship - Tummelt - to somehow appear from nowhere and ram them from the port side.

-Libertus manages to grab Nyx and the rigging, wrapping one arm around her waist because he refuses to lose her a second time-

-It doesn’t matter, as the Stormheart splits, sending them into the waves and the last thing Libertus hears is Nox’s furious scream.

-(A year and a day.)

.

-He wakes.

-Libertus wakes with sunshine on his face, in his soul and lungs, hands helping him turn and vomit up sea water as his own clench in the sand beneath him-

-Heaving for air, reveling in the pain because Shiva’s tits it hurts but pain means he’s alive, how-?

-Nyx’s worried blue eyes, checking him over, helping him sit up before wrapping arms around his neck and sobbing. Libertus returning the hug because his brain still can’t comprehend anything his eyes are seeing.

-The crew of the Stormheart, laid out on the beach. Most of them awake and sitting up, being tended to one of the many red-haired Furia that must be from one of the local villages, given the children and Elders among them, handing out food and water and bandages.

-Nox and Ardyn - and when did the other merman arrive? - seeing to the worst of the wounded, blue and gold magic shimmering through the air. And Captain, beside him and Nyx, grim faced but guarding the-

-Libertus’ heart skips a beat, and he wonders if he’s actually dead.

-Nyx lets out a wet snarl and smacks his shoulder. Did he say that out loud?

-“Y-you were.” Nyx hiccups, hands clenching in his shirt.

-Libertus wants to disbelieve it. Coming back from the dead isn’t possible. Only, he can’t, because the Koi mermaid with red and gold scales in the tones of a summer sunset, trailing up arms and from sea-blue eyes, hair the same red-violet as Ardyn, bends over a horribly pale and still Tredd, pressing lips to his and breathes.

-And in a shimmer of gold, Tredd sputters, coughing up seawater as Luche and Axis help Tredd turn over.

-“Breath of Life.” Captain tells him, eyes dark. “A rare gift. And not one without consequences.”

-Consequences? What consequences-

-Sunshine on his face. But the sky is clouded over and Libertus can still feel a warmth in his soul, like the hearthfire of his childhood home, like the summer sun as he and Nyx played in the Galahd River.

-Breath of Life. Nox and Nyx mated with a kiss, “We didn’t just get married, did we?” He squeaks.

-Libertus might be panicking. The least Nyx could do is not laugh at him, thank you very much.

-The Captain’s chuckles are much more reassuring. Mostly because he wouldn’t laugh if it were serious. “No. Mating requires consent.” Captain shoots a wry look in Nyx’s direction. “If not informed consent. Of either party.”

-Nyx just snorts, a year of teasing on the subject inuring her to any embarrassment. Nox on the other hand still turns as red as Ardyn’s hair whenever someone brings it up.

-Libertus is relieved. Not that he’d necessarily mind being married to the mermaid who - on top of being very pretty - saved his life and the lives of most of the crew it looks like, but Libertus doesn’t fancy suddenly becoming part of a harem no matter how pretty said mermaid is.

-“So what happened, then?” Libertus asks, because if he’s not married, he’d like to know what Captain means when he says consequences.

-“A gift of magic.” Captain says bluntly. “Most merfolk aren’t capable of it, but most merfolk aren’t the Draconian’s either, and dragons have always been possessive of their Claimed.”

-What did dragons have to do with merfolk- wait. Libertus’ head whips around to stare at the fire-haired mermaid. At the Koi mermaid, and suddenly Libertus remembers the tales of koi fish climbing the mountain rivers to reach the Sky and become Dragons. “I thought- those are myths.”

-The Captain raises a wry brow. “So are merfolk.”

-And as Libertus sputters at the fact he’s been Claimed by a Princess, Nyx gives up and cries with laughter.

.

More notes on this so I hopefully don’t go any further down this rabbit hole-

-Sola was captured by Niflheim, and experimented on by Besithia who learned how to harness and shape her magic - and the magic of other mer - essentially turning Sola into a magical battery. She and other magically powerful mer are brought into battle to give them a magical edge against their enemies.

-Sola was most commonly brought aboard Caligo’s ship and used to hide the presence of other ships so Caligo could crush his enemies in flanking and pincer maneuvers. 

-Sola sensed the presence of other mer, sensed Titus’ presence and fought back, if only by screaming a warning because she refused to be the reason another of her people were captured and used. She’d die first.

-She thought she would, when Caligo slit her throat and dumped her overboard. But Ardyn found her and healed her, and then he and Nox destroyed the Niflheim fleet and Sola helped rescue and heal the Galahdians.

-Like Titus, Sola has a lot of scars. The worst is the scar across her throat, the scar over her chest and back from someone running her through - the Kings of Yore, multiple times from when Niflheim pushed her magic too far - and the scar across her back from when they first captured her. The rest are from torture, experimentation, and being forced to heal her captors.

-Sola once had a beautiful singing voice. But now, despite Ardyn’s healing, Sola’s voice is a raspy croak and she can’t speak much before the pain gets too be too much, so typically sticks to sign language anyway. Sola doesn’t mind the loss, but Titus and a lot of the other Galahdians feel guilty because she lost it - and almost her life - because she warned them.

-Everyone Sola saves with the Breath of Life ends up getting the gift of her magic. Similar but lesser in scale to the gift of magic Nyx has from her mating with Nox. It also means that Sola becomes very possessive of the Galahdians she saved, because they are Hers.

-The day Sola decides to start Courting Libertus is the start of many Shenanigans and much hilarity for everyone on the Stormheart II. Because Sola’s picked up just enough of Galahdian Courting to know generally what to do (bring gifts/kills to show Ability to provide, bring dead enemies to show Ability to protect home, etc), but she’s a mer so like, not all of it comes across.

-Though, the day Sola presents Libertus with a beautifully made sash of woven sea-silk (that the Lazarus weep over) dyed in shimmering blue and black is the day Libertus finally gets a clue and everyone gets to see Libertus choke and turn bright red. Sola just laughs and kisses Libertus on the cheek.

-Sola and Libertus are very affectionate with each other, though they carefully never kiss on the lips. But forehead kisses, cheek kisses, hand kisses (the first time Libertus does this to Sola, she turns as red as her scales), and lots of cuddling is very common to see.

-Sola crafts a marriage bead out of a golden pearl that she gifts to Libertus. Libertus waits for Sola to braid it into her hair, then braids the Ostium braids into her hair, before he seals their marriage with a kiss. (And, if it applies in this AU, Sola gives up her mer form and most of her magic for the form of a human, and gets to learn how to walk on human legs.)

-(By the time they marry though, Libertus has met the entirety of the royal family including Regis and Aulea and has decided that Aulea is by far the scariest of his in-laws. Nox and Ardyn included.)

.

Fun Fact: in Japanese (and Chinese?) myth, koi swam up river to try to climb the mountains. If they succeeded in reaching the sky, they transformed into dragons.

#Shadow of Heaven's Light #ffxv #fusion #Nox verse #mer au #SE feel free to use any of this #I dunno what you've got already for this au #I'm going off literally two posts #so like this is an au #of an au of an au #AU-ception #all hail the author #who can inspire almost 2k words #at the drop of (ardyn's really ugly) hat

[fuckingfinwions]

Prompt: Maedhros/Fingon/Nolofinwe/Curufin/Celebrimbor, servant AU-Au where maedhros becomes king, submission, power play: Fingon being head concubine of the pseudo-harem, Fingon & Nolo teaching Curufin the ropes (or not! because fingon hates him?), stuff about tyelpe being the least used concubine, curufin being forced to submit and broken down while nolo & fingon enjoy relative calm and freedom, the orgy where maedhros takes control for the first time, fingon/nolo being ordered to dom curufin?

(This doesn’t cover all of that, but here's Curufin being "broken in" with lots of power play)

Curufin had been tied to the wall in Maedhros's bedroom for two days straight, ever since Feanor's death. There was a spreader bar between his ankles, and ring gag buckled in his mouth. Occasionally Maedhros ordered Fingon or Nolofinwe to turn him to face the wall so that Maedhros could fuck him, but most of the time he faced the room with a plug in his ass.

Maedhros returned from his business ruling the city.

Maedhros idly picked up a crop, twirling it in one hand as he looked at Curufin. "Hmm. I want to relax after a long day, but you're just going to cause me more stress, aren’t you?"

Maedhros summoned Fingon and Nolofinwe. While he waited for them to arrive, he played with the crop, striking Curufin's chest and thighs but avoiding any particularly sensitive spots.

There was a knock at the door. "Your Majesty?"

"Come in." Maedhros sat in the armchair by the fire. "Fingon, strip and come over here. Are you prepped for me?"

"Not yet, your majesty."

Maedhros sighed in disappointment. "Open yourself quickly then, you know where the oil is. I want to fuck someone interested in my pleasure before spending an evening training this stubborn new one."

"Yes, your majesty," Fingon said.

Curufin made a noise behind the gag that was presumably intended to be a cutting remark about how Maedhros could just not rape him at all.

"Nolo, discipline your new friend for me while I'm busy. Five hits with the crop, anywhere except his cock. And take your tunic off first, I like your back when you move.”

"Yes your majesty." Nolofinwe had imagined many times what it would be like to make Prince Curufin endure the beatings he regularly dished out. But still, there was no joy in forcing another to the same life as his family.

Fingon rode Maedhros to completion - Maedhros's if not his own. Fingon let Maedhros's cock slide out of his hole, began to stand up.

Maedhos's hand on his ankle convinced him to pause. Instead, he sat back down, careful to place his weight on his spread legs rather than on Maedhros’s lap. Maedhros kissed him once, then ran a hand down his back, slipping between his cheeks and back out again.

"Nolo, what advice do you have on how to break him in?"

"I'm sorry, your majesty, I don't understand what you mean?"

Fingon wished he could exchange glances with his father, see if he should distract Maedhros or let this continue, but turning to look would be far too obvious.

"To teach my former brother his new place in this household, and stop having him try to bite in spite of the gag."

"I'm afraid I don't know, your majesty. I doubt I have a more informed opinion than anyone else."

"Oh, don't be modest. My father trained you in similar circumstances. Since he's no around to ask for advice, you're the only one with firsthand experience."

Nolo generally tried to put the whole year after his father's death completely out of his mind. "I have not thought on that in a while, your majesty. It was a painful time."

"I'm telling you to think on it now. How did my father turn you from a noble prince of the Noldor into an obedient servant and whore who will follow any order I give, regardless of the pain?"

Nolo sighed. “Feanor started by having me do normal servant’s tasks. When I protested that they were demeaning, he kept me in his bedroom for three days, beating me and raping me.  The guards had orders not to let me leave, and though I might have fought free alone, I had three small children and would not abandon them. I continued to do servant’s work in the day. For the nights, I would rather walk to Feanor’s room and walk out in an hour than be dragged there for all night - or even several.”

Fingon shivered. He had never heard any of this, and had not known he was the reason his father submitted to this mistreatment.

“Tell me the details. I’m sure I’ll do some things differently with my own servants, but it will be a good start. Were you told the rules at the start, or only when you broke them? Was it pain or humiliation that you noticed most? Did the old king let you think you had any power at all to bargain away, or did he make clear your worthlessness immediately?”

Fingon didn’t want to hear any of this. “Should we be speaking of such in front of him? He can fight back better if he knows the plan.”

Maedhros wrapped one hand around Fingon’s balls, stopping just short of making a fist. “Do not interrupt. When I ask a question, I want to hear the whole answer. And you will address me by title unless I’m fucking you, in which case you may use my name, but you can never just skip addressing me at all, as if we were peers.”

Fingon’s eyes watered from the pain. “I’m sorry, your majesty. I intended no insult. I won’t speak out of turn again.”

“If you do, you’ll have to put on a gag,” Maedhros warned, though he loosened his grip. “Nolo, speak.”

“Of course, your majesty. King Feanaro didn’t explain the rules at all, unless you count saying that I was his personal fucktoy now. I was punished for being late or rude, but he did not tell what counted as rudeness until I had overstepped - and sometimes not even then.

“The pain was harder to ignore, but the humiliation hurt more. I could at times almost disconnect, focus only the next necessary action rather than its reason, but pain was always going to happen. The first few weeks - perhaps months - I was constantly in pain, whether because I had disobeyed or simply because Feanaro wished to see me cry."

“That is useful to know,” Maedhros said. “Hand me the crop now and get between him and the wall. I’m going to hit him while you pleasure him, but don’t bring him off.”

Fingon asked, "Your majesty, is there a reason you haven't been calling him by his name? We all kept ours when we were made servants."

"None of you are named after the previous high king. I suppose Nolo technically is, but that's easy enough to shorten. This one, though, used to be called Curufinwe Atarinke. There's very little to that name that doesn't indicate he is the son of King Curufinwe Feanaro, a title he no longer has a right to."

Curufin yelled at that, trying to bring his legs up and kick Maedhros.

"What should the steward put on his lists then your majesty, once the new one is..." Fingon paused as he searched for term Maedhros would like better than ‘beaten into submission’, "properly trained? Painslut or pet might be confusing."

"Hmm," Maedhros said. "I'd name him after a feature, but those are all so extremely Nolodrin it's hard to pick one out. Cumdump is likewise not specific. Perhaps Inke would do. It's already part of his name; should be easy enough to change the records."

Curufin protested wordlessly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Nolo, pull his legs up and fuck him. Don't bother with oil, he's had a plug in all day."

Curufin may have been plugged, but it had been hours ago. He was practically dry by now. Nolofinwe sheathed himself in one thrust, and his own moan of pain was covered by Curufin’s louder scream.

Nolofinwe didn’t dare take long to adjust though, with Maedhros staring at them. He slowly began to thrust, trying to focus on how nice it was to be topping for once, and not on how rough the slide was or on Curufin’s tears of pain.

To the sound of flesh slapping against flesh, Maedhros said. "Yes, Inke fits him well. Such a tight little thing to stick my cock in. Lissinke if I want something longer, once he eventually sweetens up."

Maedhros allowed Nolofinwe to come in Curufin’s ass. When he pulled out, there was a sticky mess dripping between Curufin’s thighs, but no trace of blood.

Maedhros turned to Fingon, who had been obediently waiting, kneeling with his cock hard and his arms behind his back. "Is Inke any good at sucking cock?"

"I have no idea, your majesty."

"I though he might have swallowed one of you before; those lips would look perfect stretched wide."

"He was very conscious of his station - I mean his former station."

"Take him down and try him out. Report to me whether or not he knows what he's doing."

"Your majesty, is that wise?"

Maedhros slapped Fingon across the face. "Don't question my orders. I don't plan to leave Inke on my wall forever; it’s very inconvenient to use him like that, and some nights I’ll prefer to not see him at all. Take him down and fuck his throat."

Fingon did so, with his father helping control Curufin’s flailing arms until Fingon could get them properly cuffed together. He tied to crawl away repeatedly, until Fingon tied Curufin’s feet to a small table and sat down himself in one the chairs nearby.

Fingon was still reluctant to put his mouth in Curufin’s face when he was so angry, and looked around for more things he could do to waste time.

"He has a ring gag, he can't bite,” Maedhros said. “Fuck his face now, or else I'll take the gag out and you can do it to shut him up”

“Yes, your majesty.” Fingon grabbed Curufin’s hair and yanked him into position - it was only fair after all, with the number of times Curufin had done the same to him. Fingon kept moving Curufin by the hair, setting a harsh pace and barely giving Curufin time to breathe.

“Well, how is he?”

“He has absolutely no idea what he’s doing, but his mouth is gorgeous. And he’s not choking.”

“Then let’s see how well Inke does with multitasking.”

Maedhros oiled his cock and thrust into Curufin’s ass. Curufin choked as he was shoved forward and further onto Fingon’s cock.

Fingon winced as his cock bumped into Curufin’s back teeth, but in a moment he was down Curufin’s throat. It was hot and tight and wet, and Fingon barely remembered to let Curufin breathe. He had never been deep-throated before, and it was amazing from this side of the experience.

Fingon and Maedhros quickly fell into a rhythm, one of them pulling out of Curufin as the other pushed in, tugging Curufin’s body between the with no care for his comfort or pleasure at all. Fingon wondered if this was how the Princes always felt, when two of them took him, or one of them ordered him to team up on Turgon and Fingon spent the whole time hoping his little brother didn’t pass out.

Fingon liked it a lot. He told himself it was justice, that Curufin had raped him and others often without even the excuse of orders, and so deserved to know what it was like to be on the receiving end of such treatment.

But it wasn’t any high principles that Fingon though of when he came. It was simply his cock in Curufin’s throat and his hands in Curufin’s hair, and Maedhros’s tongue licking open his lips, pleasure without any hint of pain.

Maedhros came a few moments after. Curufin didn’t move when he pulled out, simply laying on the ground and trying to catch his breath.

“Nolo, pick a plug and put it in Inke for the night; something different than he had earlier so he doesn't get too comfortable. Get a guard in here to put Inke back up, and then you’re dismissed. Fingon, you’ll sleep in my bed tonight. I’ve been busy lately, and haven’t touched you nearly as much as I would like.”

#timeline branch: maedhros gets the concubines #season of kink #servant nolofinweans au #power play #to add: Curufin expressing worry about his son rooming with ''perverts'' and Nolo finding that hypocritcal #to add: Fingon teaching celebrimbor how to do scutwork #actually this is already pretty long those additions can go in other pieces in this verse #lisse means sweet or sugar #so Maedhros has declared that Curufin's name is either Sweetie or Sugarbaby depending on how you want to translate it

[give-me-back-my-rhodey]

Steve, I feel Pretty

Title:  Steve, I feel Pretty

Creator: Purple_ducky00

Square filled: C3 Free square Bucky Barnes bingo; I4 Recovering Starkbucks bingo

Rating: Teen

Warnings: n/a

Pairing: Bucky/Tony, Bucky & Steve, Tony & Rhodey

Link: Read on ao3

King Tony rules a kingdom that runs as smoothly as a calm brook. One might question how this is as the man himself is a disaster. He never sleeps, he forgets to eat, his stylists take hours concealing the bags under his eyes and the nicks and scrapes on his face when he is to make a public appearance, and he is constantly talking to himself. Nobleman Stone tried to have him exorcized at one point. If these faults weren’t bad enough, the lords and ladies of the court are appalled when, one day, the king brings a concubine to the throne room.

“King Tony,” sputters Lord Stane. “What is the meaning of this?”

 “Meet Bucky, my concubine,” the king replies.

 Everyone cranes their neck to take a good look at said companion. The man is tall and well-built. His shoulder-length hair is a rich brown, and his eyes are grey as steel. No one fails to notice that his left arm had been amputated at the shoulder. He is dressed in purple silk pants with a large golden belt, a sheer wrap over his shoulders. Golden hoops hang from his lobes, and a thin line of kohl surrounds his eyes. The most scandalous part of the whole affair is that the concubine has no face covering, as is the standard protocol!

 The king having a concubine is not new news – everyone knows has a rather large harem. Rumors of his orgies spread far and wide throughout the kingdom. Many speculate the king has a sex addition, and for that, no one would marry him. He must rely on the stamina of his many companions.

 The court does not know how to react. The king has a large harem, but he has never brought one of his companions to court! They stand silently as the king nods to the cushion beside his throne. Bucky, the concubine, takes a seat.

 King Tony sits on his throne and claps his hands. “Ok, first order of business today. We have rumors that France will try to attack. What defenses do we have?”

 “Your Majesty.” Lord Hammer bows, asking permission to speak. The king rolls his eyes but nods. “I can have naval ships set to attack at any moment. We are known for our fleets; surely that will scare the French away.”

 “But France only reaches us through land,” the king’s companion says. “Why would we prepare our navy when we can have armed men stationed by the border? Why not try an air attack?”

 “Why don’t you cover your face and learn your place?” Lord Hammer growls. King Tony clears his throat, and Lord Hammer is met with the terrifying death glare of the king. “Yo-your Majesty. This is outrageous. You must see how this looks.” “I asked Bucky to accompany me today. And I asked him to speak up if he had any insight. The last five times you proposed a move, it failed spectacularly. You must see how I would need a second opinion.”

 Bucky snorts quietly, and Tony touches his shoulder as they share a private smile. The rest of the meeting follows suit – Bucky giving his opinion on each new topic.

 So, back to the original question. How does a disaster of a man like King Tony run his kingdom so smoothly? He surrounds himself with some of the smartest people in the kingdom… and that doesn’t mean his royal advisors. Let me tell you the tale of this Bucky, the king’s favorite concubine.

 +++++++

Bucky Barnes was a leading army officer before falling from a train, injuring his left arm so badly amputation was needed. He spent the last few years living with his half-brother, Steve, wasting away in self-pity. One day, Steve had enough. “Get up. Dress yourself in your best military outfit. Look presentable.” He commanded. “You’re getting out of the house.”

 Bucky fought a little but complied. He followed Steve throughout the royal city. Their path ended at the palace. As Steve handed in a mission report, Bucky got caught up in conversation with a mere wisp of a woman. Introducing herself as Jan, they quickly fell into a rousing discussion. A short man joined them within a few minutes. He introduced himself as Anthony and asked Bucky of his profession.  Bucky wanted to lie, but he didn’t know what connections these people had. He told them he was an ex-army officer who was discharged due to injuries. The man nodded and fell silent.

 Steve returned at that moment and bowed. “Your Majesty.” Bucky looked around in horror. Where is the king? Anthony waved at Steve to stand up.

 “Please. Call me Tony.” He grinned. “Is this your brother Bucky? He’s very pretty.”

 Bucky’s eyes widened. No one had ever called him pretty before.  He is even more shocked when Anthony – no King Tony – turned to him and asked if he’d like to live in the palace. “I promise you all the niceties you could ever want.” Feeling the rush of being admired, Bucky quickly agreed.

 Now, Bucky is living in the king’s harem as a concubine. Surrounded by many beautiful men and women, it was hard for Bucky’s self-worth. How could he measure up to these people? King Tony, well he asked to be called Tony, spends most of his time in his workshop or in his harem. Much to Bucky’s surprise, Tony does not have huge orgies with his concubines. No, he just calls them to a big bed where he cuddles with them, asking their opinions on the kingdom. Bucky realizes Tony uses their opinions ninety percent of the time that he has to make a big decision.

 A few weeks after his arrival, Bucky is stopped by Tony. “Have you gotten any new clothing?” He asks, to which Bucky replies with a negative. “You must accompany me to my stylists. They will help you pick out what you want. I don’t know what Panaè will say, but I think burgundy will look wonderful with your complexion.”

 Panaè does agree with Tony, but they have many, many more opinions. “Try this! Try this! Try this!” Panaè yells at Bucky until he sinks to the floor, overwhelmed with the amounts of clothing in his lap.

 Tony notices quickly and pulls Panaè aside. “Thank you, darling, but I believe Bucky is needs a few moments.”

 “Oh,” Panaè puts a hand to their mouth. “I am so sorry. I’ll fade into the background. Let me know if you need me.”

 Bucky takes his time trying on all the outfits that Tony gave him. He basks in the feel of the silk, admires the gold and silver adornments, and gasps over the tiny details in the slippers. Tony oohs and ahhs over his little fashion show, and Bucky takes notes on which things Tony likes the best. He will gladly wear them on the day when Tony claims his stake and beds him.  There was a point in Bucky’s life when he couldn’t care if he never had sex again, but if Tony wanted it, he would gladly consent. Sure, sex was enjoyable, but his insecurities stopped him from enjoying it as he once had.

 Steve comes to visit Bucky whenever he has a spare moment. The first time he sees Bucky in concubine garb, he eyes it suspiciously. “Does the king make you wear this?”

 “No, I want to,” Bucky replies, eyes dancing. “What do you think?”

“Why? Isn’t it humiliating, having people stare at you like you’re a piece of meat? They should be praising you for all your achievements!”

 “I like the attention. Look, doesn’t this belt compliment my waist? And Tony says burgundy makes my skin shine. For once in my life, I feel pretty, Steve. And I’m happy.” Bucky knows Steve understands, and he gladly accepts the tight embrace his brother gives him.

 A month goes by, and Tony spends more time with Bucky than all the rest of his concubines put together. When Bucky asks why, Tony tells him. “You’re my favorite.” Bucky wants to believe him, but how can he when he sees Tony go into Thor’s room? Thor is everything Bucky is and so much more. Why would Tony like Bucky better? Bucky does what he can to make himself look available and fuckable. He starts wearing the scantiest outfits he can find while lining his eyes with a dark kohl. He gets plenty of attention from the other concubines, and he appreciates the compliments, but he just wants Tony.

  One night as he sits sulking in his room, a thought pops into his head. What if Tony doesn’t want to force himself? What if he’s waiting for me to go to him? Bucky never thought of that. Ordering some wine, Bucky drinks until he works up enough courage to see Tony. He changes into a royal blue satin loincloth and wraps a silver mesh belt around his waist.

 Bucky walks over to Tony’s room and opens the door. He flushes in embarrassment when he sees Tony in deep conversation with his right-hand man, James Rhodes. Looking up, Tony stares at him. Rhodes looks up, too, and a smirk crosses his face. “Thanks, Tone,” he says. “I’ll leave you now.” As he walks past Bucky, he pats him on the shoulder. “He’s all yours.”

 Waiting until he hears the door shut behind him, Bucky slinks over to Tony who sits back in his chair, his full attention latched on Bucky. “Hi Bucky.” Tony smiles softly.

 “Hey there,” Bucky tries to say sexily, but he falls short. “How goes it, Your Majesty?”

 “You know you can call me Tony,” The king responds. “But I’m thinking tonight is looking up.”

 Bingo. Bucky takes a seat on the foot of the couch on which Tony is reclining. “I think so, too.” Bucky smirks and crawls his way up Tony’s lap, bending his spine so his ass sticks up. He stops when their faces are inches apart. Closing his eyes, he leans into kiss Tony, except Tony isn’t where he should have been.

 “Um, Bucky?” Tony asks, and Bucky opens his eyes to see Tony leaning backwards away from the kiss. “What are you doing?”

 Immediately mortification rushes in. Bucky falls back on his rear, sitting beside Tony’s calves. “I am so sorry. I just, I thought that maybe you were waiting for me to make the first move. I realize now what a stupid idea that was. I can-” His rambling is cut off by a finger to his lips.

 “Bucky, it’s ok. It’s nothing against you. I just – I don’t like sex.” Tony says. “I like human contact, cuddling per se, but I don’t like sex.”

 Bucky gapes. “You don’t?”

 “No. I don’t. I’m sorry. I thought you knew.” Tony’s eyebrows furrow. “I thought that was why you didn’t try anything.”

“Is that why I was your favorite?” Bucky regrets asking as the words leave his mouth.

 Tony’s eyes turn sad. “Do you think so lowly of yourself? Bucky, you are my favorite because I love you. You are beautiful, I love spending time with you, we have such amazing conversations, and I love being in your embrace. How could you not be my favorite?”

 “But what about Thor? And all those rumored orgies?”

 “The court would never allow my true advisors to show up in court. Everyone in my harem is highly skilled in their own field. I trust all of your advices more than anyone in my royal court, save Rhodey. My “orgies” are when I call them all to my bed and hold my own court, asking everyone for their opinion. What better way to discuss kingdom matters than when cuddled up in an embrace? As for Thor, there are days when you seem to distance yourself. I never want to force myself upon anyone. So, on the nights when you need your space, and I need contact, I go to one of the others. Thor is my second favorite, after you,” Tony explains. “Is… are you upset by this?”

 “No, I just didn’t know. I’m happy you have others to turn to when I can’t be there. Or when you don’t want me. I have no claim whatsoever on you.” Bucky stammers.

 Taking Bucky’s hand in both of his, Tony insists. “But you can if you want. Bucky, I was yours the first day we spoke. I’m still yours if you want me.”

 “I do,” Bucky cries, “more than anything else in the world!”

 As they embrace, Tony asks, “Will it be a problem – the no sex thing? Because if so, you can have someone to…”

“Why do I need sex when I have you?” Bucky smiles. “You’re all I need. Can I make one request?”

 “Anything you want,” Tony promises.

 “Can you take me with you in all your meetings? I’d like to see how His Majesty the King spends his days.”

 “Your wish is my command. Do not hesitate to drop out if you deem necessary. Court meetings can be quite boring.”

 “Darling, spending time with you will never be boring.” Bucky embraces Tony and kisses his temple. What did he do to deserve such a life?

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