#i can't put in outside links if i want this post to still show up in tag search BUT there's a very sweet short story with this character

[hispg]

Between royalty and vows

Pairings: Prince! Leon x Fem! Reader

Summary: A forced marriage, a fate set in stone, nothing could change that.

In the world of royalty, there were no choices, only obligations to fulfill. What you didn't expect was to become engaged to a renowned prince, ready to succeed the lineage.

Until that moment, you still had some hope that everything would work out, maybe it wasn't so bad. But it would be a shame if your future husband had a mistress.

Wouldn't it?

Wc:3.4k

Warnings: slow burn, angst, hurt/ comfort, cheating, arranged marriage, eventual smut, one-sided love, affairs, manipulative behavior from Leon, (I'll put more once things start to progress).

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

An: Sooo there is the new chapter! I was so anxious to write it and post it! In all honesty, this is the chapter that I most liked to write(so far).

I've been receiving some dms about creating a taglist, so I'll do it from the next chapter and on. If you're interested in entering the tag list, you can dm me or comment on any chapters of this fic, and I'll add you. For the ones who already talked to me, I'll put you on the list already, so you don't need to message me again!<3

Also, I'll start to crosspost this fic here and on Ao3, for the ones who prefer to read in there. Here's the link Ao3. Eventually, I'll post all chapters!

Chapter 5: Pretty lies

The heavy rain outside was no bother to the couple in bed, just as the cold was no problem that couldn't be solved with the intimacy that had just been shared under the covers.

There he was, lying with his lover, Ashley. Warming another woman's bed, offering her the warmth that his body emanated, the love that made her heart beat faster every time.

Both were nude, without the slightest concern for anything, all that mattered was what had just happened in that room. The closeness they shared, the oaths of love spoken between each kiss, between each embrace.

They had just made love, done something that was yet another symbol of the compromising union they contained.

Leon hadn't gone back to the castle as soon as he arrived back from his trip, he had gone to his beloved's house, a hidden place that only they knew where it was, only the lovebirds met there.

It was their love nest.

The same place where Ashley gave herself to him for the first time, the same sacred place where they made love whenever they could. The place where they loved each other deeply, where they didn't have to hide anything.

Ashley lay with her head on Leon's bare chest, while he had one arm wrapped around her and the other stroking her blonde hair.

The only sound in the room was the wood cracking in the fireplace and the soft breathing of both of them in that bed.

The clothes were thrown about, the silk covers hiding their shame, but if Leon was being honest, he couldn't think of a better place to be.

Because he felt at home every time he was with Ashley, even if he knew it was wrong.

And he was screwed if anyone found out.

"Are you staying?" Ashley asks in a whisper, taking the opportunity to place a soft kiss on his chest.

Leon gives her a blown smile, looking at her tenderly, "I'd love to. But you know I can't."

It was already too bold of him to come to this place to spend time with her, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't go along with her every whim.

Especially as the wedding was approaching, and he was dead if he didn't show up.

She sighed helplessly, knowing full well that this would be the answer from the start. But in all honesty, what did she expect? Despite her misfortunes, she was the mistress.

"I promise I'll try to see you more, mh? My wife won't be the problem, don't worry." Leon reassured her, kissed her on the forehead and got up, soon he would be getting ready to leave.

Although he wanted to be with her for even five more minutes, he would give all the money in the world to make it happen.

"Does she know about us?" Ashley asked, picking up the blanket and covering her bare midriff.

That was enough for Leon to clench his eyes shut, buttoning his pants as he stared at her.

"She can't even conceive of it. You know our deal." It was a good deal for both sides, not least because Leon didn't even want to imagine what Ashley's father would do to him once he found out what he and his daughter were doing behind closed doors.

Ashley then sighed, the blonde strands falling across her forehead as she thought for a moment.

"Do you think you can still see me after you're married?" She asks softly, almost embarrassed by her own question.

"I'll always find a way, don't worry." He says, the sincere smile that became the perfect proof that he was saying this from the bottom of his soul.

It was always a painful farewell, but Leon knew it was necessary for him to do it. Once he'd put all his clothes back on, he turned to Ashley, taking her in his arms and planting a gentle, passionate kiss on her lips. He also made a point of pressing his body against hers to leave his cologne on her.

It wasn't enough to have his smell on the silk sheets, he needed to leave his mark on her too.

Goodbyes aside, he knew he had to leave, the sun was rising, and if he wanted to get back to the castle before it was too late, he had to leave now.

As he took the steps to leave the small chalet in the Italian countryside, where no one suspected them, he took one last look at his beloved, giving her a broad smile as he said goodbye.

Watching Ashley go all wobbly as he walked out the front door. She sighed as her lover left, waving to him and looking dreamily out of the window.

Leon walked up to the discreet carriage that was waiting for him in front of the cottage, besides the coachman, there was Leon's faithful butler, Ausdret.

And also his worst accomplice, the butler who always covered up everything Leon did, no matter how stupid it might seem or be.

"Your Highness." Ausdret greeted, leading Leon to the carriage.

"It's good that you're here." Leon replies back, tucking himself into the small carriage.

His butler nods and sits down on the opposite seat, facing Leon. Even though Ausdret knew that no one could put a halter on Leon, he was still trying to talk some sense into his young, dim-witted head.

"Your Highness do you not think it is inappropriate to maintain this relationship?" Ausdret asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Leon scoffed, narrowing his gaze at the poor butler, acting as if he had said the worst blasphemy that could be heard.

"Come on, you're a braggart too. Don't act like you're a kind gentleman with exemplary decorum." Leon retorts, crossing his legs as he fixes the buttons on his shirt once more.

Ausdret couldn't help but sigh, trying his best to make Leon understand how problematic it would be to keep all this up.

"Prince, you have a fiancée now. This relationship is no longer suitable." The butler said once again, pausing and emphasizing his lines, it wasn't possible that this was so difficult to understand.

"Well, it'll last as long as I want it to. You know better than that." Leon says, an unparalleled coldness in his voice, it was obvious, this subject was not up for discussion for him.

Ausdret always thought that this was just a youthful romance of Leon's, in fact he never thought that it would thrive for so long, for years. Leon was a man who could have any woman he wanted, not only because of the power he possessed, but also because of his beauty.

However, what the butler couldn't have guessed was that Leon would fall in love with Lady Ashley, a princess from another place. A likely romance, but love doesn't work properly in royalty.

"But Your Highness-" Leon interrupts Ausdret before he can continue.

"I am the prince, and you collaborate with me." Leon begins, his voice becoming an authoritative, voracious whisper.

"As I'm your highness, you must agree that you didn't see anything unusual. That I was on a business trip these last few days." Leon says, his gaze narrowing once more on the servant.

What could Ausdret say? He had always supported this boy, and even with a lump forming in his throat, he wasn't going to do any different again.

The butler knew that this situation wasn't fair to you, nor to Ashley, it would only end up with broken hearts and a quarrel that couldn't be undone.

Perhaps Leon was too young to understand this, but at some point fate would catch up with him.

"So? Did you see anything?" Leon asked, almost daring him to give an answer that was the opposite of what he wanted to hear.

"No, Your Highness. I didn't see anything suspicious." Ausdret replied under his breath, closing his eyes and shaking his head in denial.

"Good." Leon grumbles back.

The journey wouldn't take long, but Ausdret already knew that the rest of the way would be filled with the ache of an inconvenient silence.

You knew you'd end up getting into trouble with your recent actions, but that still didn't stop you from going ahead with them. At that moment you were in the grassy fields on the outskirts of the castle.

It was easy to get here, you just needed the help of Chris and your maid, Evelyn. Nothing more than a silly little lie to disguise your departure.

The view was beautiful, you felt almost at home in a place like this. You were sitting on the horse while Chris guided the animal, walking through the grass carefully while also keeping an eye on you.

You couldn't tell if you were approaching Chris out of hurt ego, or because he was someone incredibly interesting and good to have around.

Perhaps you had combined the useful with the pleasant, because in all honesty, you couldn't deny that you were enjoying all this time with Chris, even feeling more at peace with yourself.

"Well, at least you escaped the tea party." Chris jokes, looking at you with a smile.

You nod, smiling back at him.

"God, I can't imagine what it would be like to spend another afternoon with Mrs. Hisltons!" You grumble, frowning as you remember all the tedious conversations the lady has put you through.

Chris couldn't help himself and laughed out loud, looking at you with those beautiful brown eyes.

"Oh, tell me about it. As soon as I got here, she gave me a good lecture on why I should get married." Chris says with a playful tone, walking slowly with you through the pastures.

You smiled a little, petting the horse as a question popped into your mind.

"But, forgive me for being impolite, but why haven't you gotten married yet?" You asked calmly, giving him the opportunity not to answer if he didn't want to.

"Nothing in particular, I just haven't found any suitors that catch my eye." He says, without much ado, getting straight to the point.

You'd think someone as cultured as him would want a woman who knew a bit more than just dresses and jewelry. Completely fair and understandable.

But you still can't help thinking that Chris was alone by choice, it wouldn't be the first time a man had preferred being alone to being married.

"I understand, but is it something you're thinking of doing? I'm sorry if I'm being intrusive." You say with a peaceful smile, trying to get to know the man you've grown so close to over the last few days.

Chris then paused and pondered, thinking of an answer that would measure up. But he couldn't think of anything more sincere than:

"Yes, I intend to." Just like that, or any other explanation.

But you saw his eyes light up a little when he looked at you for a brief moment, making you quietly gasp.

You then returned your gaze to your surroundings, the countryside that was such a contrast to the life you had. Which was far from peaceful.

Although you knew it shouldn't take you so long to get back to the castle, as they would probably notice you were gone, you could stubbornly stay here with him.

With Chris, the man who had been giving you so much comfort recently.

Chris then looked at you with a charming gaze, helping you off the horse. His hands found your waist, steadying you as you got off the animal.

Feeling his heavy, manly hands on your body made you feel something different, but you preferred not to mention it. Not least because you were being completely inappropriate for a dame.

You allowed yourself to feel the ground beneath your heels, removing the footwear from your body, feeling the grass between your toes.

The thought of returning to your new home was already distant, you could even swear that you forgot about Leon for just a moment. You forgot about the fact that he was coming back today.

And that he would be back around noon. And it was almost two in the afternoon, he was probably already at the castle by then.

But well, what would be the point of sneaking out of the castle with the Duke if not for a bit of confusion.

"You know, this is turning out to be one of the nicest afternoons I've had." Chris says, smiling and following you as you walk across the lawn.

"Oh, yes. It's nice to get out of that place for a bit." You say, looking at the sun, which is already descending.

Chris followed you, keeping an eye on every step. And you even saw out of the corner of your eye that he tried to take your hand, but hesitated to make such an intimate gesture.

You even heard the trumpets sounding in the distance, announcing the prince's arrival, but nothing that made you move from where you were.

And well, from the way Chris stood next to you as you watched the landscape of the field, he wouldn't leave until you asked him to.

At one point, you thought it would be better to leave, perhaps so as not to cause Chris any trouble. But the moment Chris's fingers touched your cheek, and he tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear, something in you sparked.

It was impossible to hide the red tinge that appeared on your cheeks, as well as the way you just ignored everything else. Everything seemed right.

You were surrendered, and you didn't want to leave this man's side. What on earth were you doing?

Why did you feel so torn? It couldn't end well.

"Where is she?" It was the first question Leon asked as soon as he set foot in the castle, finding it strange that his fiancée wasn't here to greet him.

"The princess isn't feeling well, Your Highness." Evelyn, the maid who helped you escape, answered.

Leon wrinkled his eyebrows, glancing at the door of your chambers, he hadn't quite believed that excuse.

"Tell her I'll come and see her. She doesn't have to leave her room." Leon says, looking at the way the maid was beginning to shudder.

"She's really not well, Your Highness-" Leon didn't care how much the maid protested, he went ahead and went to your bedroom.

He opened the door without any manners, looking around as he searched for any sign of you. But he was disappointed when he found your bed empty, the room perfectly tidy and untouched. You hadn't been in that room for a while.

Your lie was already falling apart, as they say lies don't go far.

"Where is she?" Leon asked once again, this time more coldly and authoritatively, demanding an answer.

"I don't know! She was here this morning." The maid manages to stutter, unable to face Leon.

Leon clenched his fists, frustration and irritation taking over his feelings. You were getting out of hand, it wasn't enough that you'd been so bold with Chris, now this?

Even though he was away, he knew everything that was going on in that castle, and he couldn't let it continue the way it was.

Who did you think you were?

"Have her searched all over the castle." Leon demanded, leaving your room to look for you.

As soon as Leon saw that the maid hadn't moved a muscle, he added:

"Immediately." His voice was a low grunt, capable of sending a chill down anyone's spine.

The maid moved quickly, warning the other servants about the princess's 'disappearance', and they all stood by to look for you.

Nothing. They looked for you in every corner of that castle, every room, every space you could be in. And they found nothing, not a single sign of you.

Leon was fulminating, realizing that you and the Duke weren't in that castle. And you probably weren't close.

"We haven't found her, Your Highness. The princess isn't in the castle." One of the servants dares to speak, trembling at having to address the prince.

"What do you mean she's not in the castle?" Leon muttered, looking out the windows while trying to find you somehow.

And Leon had to stop himself from gritting his teeth as he watched the scene with his own eyes. You came in through the back door, a delicate hood over your head to disguise your identity.

You were sitting on Chris's horse, smiling happily as the man led the horse inside. You seemed so close, so intimate.

Something about it made Leon go crazy, he can't say, but some strange feeling rose in his chest and made a knot form in the pit of his stomach.

What were you thinking? You were a lady, Jesus! You should behave like one.

"You are dismissed, return to your duties." Leon says to the other servants, leaving no room for questions.

Drastic situations call for drastic measures, only then will you be able to understand your place. And how you should act as a future queen.

Leon waited, right in the center of the main hall, he decided he would act as if he hadn't seen anything. He felt his breathing quicken, heard the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

He didn't know if it was anger, disappointment or something else.

You didn't realize he was there until you saw the pair of blue eyes looking you up and down, for some reason sending a shiver up your spine.

"I was worried about you." He was the first to speak, approaching you without a second thought.

"Excuse me, Your Highness. I needed some fresh air." You say, your voice smooth as silk, sweet as honey.

You needed to act as if nothing much had really happened, as if you hadn't gone off with the Duke alone, without letting anyone know.

Even more so, going out alone with a man.

Leon narrows his eyes, placing a hand on your waist, pulling you close. His touch made you gasp, your eyes widen and your breathing hitch, at the same moment you felt your breath mingle with his.

For a moment, you looked at each other, his penetrating gaze causing an incomparable flush to rise to your cheeks. His hands on your body, one holding your cheek, steadying you to do what he wanted to do.

What was he going to do? Oh, you realized it in the next second, when you saw his face coming closer to yours. His nose touching yours, and then, that's when…

He kissed you.

His lips against yours, his hand holding you firmly and preventing you from moving. It was unconscious, instinctive, you moved your lips in sync with his. Your arms wrapped around his neck, and you sealed this moment with the warm intimacy of a kiss.

It wasn't sincere, it was carnal.

The world around you seemed to stop, you were focused on the warm feeling that took over your body, the way the heat of the moment enveloped you. Your body molded itself to his so well, it was so perfect.

As if it was meant to be.

It was painful to separate your lips from his, your mind in a whirlwind of emotions. Was it real? Had he reconsidered? Maybe he was going to give you both a chance?

You were a very dreamy girl perhaps, those endless dreams that you wished from the bottom of your soul were real, that you clamored for to come true at some point.

But oh, that little act, it was far from a dream.

When you regained your senses, you looked around and saw a group of high-class ladies staring at the two of you. The dreamy looks and sighs they gave when they saw the couple, the passionate couple.

In the corner, you saw the king and queen, smiling approvingly at the two of you. They were proud.

A show off.

Reality weighed heavily on your mind when you understood. It was nothing, it was a show off, an exhibition. The momentary magic wore off and gave way to the bitterness that once again fell upon you.

Whose fault was it? Yours, for having once again believed in the foolishness that was Leon's chance of seeing you beyond being a prize. Or Leon, for toying with you in such a way?

In any case, what a shame. The taste of his lips was imprinted on yours, the sensation of his lips against yours was still so vivid. So real. You felt loved in a few seconds, putting yourself in your place soon after.

With one simple action, Leon reminded you of who you belong to, legally, and also reminded you of your place. Of your obligations to him, he came out the winner once again.

Damned bastard.

#leon kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x y/n #leon kennedy x you #leon s kennedy #leon x reader #leon x y/n #leon x you #leon resident evil #leon scott kennedy x reader #resident evil leon #leon scott kennedy x you #leon s kennedy smut #leon smut

[probablyhuntersmom]

It's me again. The therapist/illustrator who can't stop squeaking and screaming about her beloved son Hunter.

I've been thinking nonstop about him finding the terrible grimwalker graveyard, imagining what would be going through my mind if I were him. Sifting through whatever moments, dialogue and frames that I can find from the existing material, along with references outside of the show, to formulate what an offscreen scene would've been like.. (And seeing if I can find editable and salvageable enough backgrounds so I could perhaps even depict this scene one day)

A soul like him who not only wants to help others, but also acquire knowledge:

heading back here to see the graveyard:

You can't tell me that this wouldn't still be on his mind, and he's even anxious while saying this below, scratching his face a little:

Whether he follows up on this or not, also depends on how he looks back on being shown this:

And is he just going to go cold turkey and totally drop these leads he was pursuing in the episodes before the finale? :

Three things prompted me to finally write this post:

@polyhexian's and @ashanimus's analyses of Hunter's fight scenes in Hunting Palismen and Eclipse Lake (links here and here, they're really cool to read!!), based on their years of experience with martial arts. Reading those was a revelation to me because learning about how high Hunter's skill level is, how in touch with his body he is by default, portrayed so well thanks to the crew...that allows me to make far more educated guesses about his mental health in the early stages of the pre-epilogue gap of about 4 years. Because he is so used to high activity and being on high alert, no thanks to having C-PTSD.

Observing how light and free Hunter's expressions are, and how transformed his demeanor became, in the epilogue sequence. That transformation is an indication to me of the magnitude of grief which had to be transformed within him. To be put back together, in order to be so radiant, generous and self-actualized in the epilogue...imagine how much had to be deconstructed and further broken beforehand. He wouldn't have room to fill his life up with all that amazing newness if the old isn't emptied out first.

This psychoeducational video by my fave author, also a practicing therapist, who specializes in traumatic grief: link. Hearing her address the topic of entering the second year after a bereavement vs. the first year, was interesting. Definitely confirms to me that Hunter wouldn't have carved Waffles until past the 2nd year of navigating his bereavement.

In the years that pass before the epilogue, Hunter will not be able to understand why the efforts he puts into all the rebuilding work, coordinating and leading others, and trying to have fun - only cycle back to him experiencing a mix of a restlessness and emptiness in the deepest layer of his mind. It'll exhaust his energy bit by bit. I bet he's going to generally look as tired as depressed Luz does below, even if he's had an acceptable hours of sleep per night:

That restlessness will be an awful psychological itch that he'll be unable to scratch, caused by losing Flapjack and now also Belos. This is the same as what happened with his anger in For the Future, except Belos was still alive back then. It will be harder to understand and messier to navigate the bereavement this time round. It'll be something gnawing into his soul which I really think only professional help can heal, especially since the show promotes that it's okay to not be okay, and more than okay to seek professional help (Steve and Lilith's conversation in Edge of the World).

He will be trying to claw his way out of that C-PTSD pit, but he'll be aware deep down that he simply cannot reach any emotional high points for long, and something will be blocking his feelings of connection with his loved ones. He won't feel nearly as free and easy the way he used to be in the human realm:

Having a routine like he used to in the Castle, and moving around a lot, was what helped him survive. However, he won't have the awareness that the shift resulting from Belos passing away has been at such a fundamental level: to the point that those old, supposedly tried-and-true methods no longer serve him in any positive way. At least, not until his mental health will be back in better shape.

As he puts in more and more effort to escape that restless emptiness, getting annoyed at himself because he doesn't know what's going on...he'll use up the rest of his strength and eventually crash. That itch won't be solved by going back to overworking tendencies, and like how it is with addiction cycles, he would need some kind of fix for the deep restlessness within. The answer? Productivity to feel useful, which we have seen even in his efforts to fix damaged clothing and well, making stuff in general.

Where the grimwalker graveyard comes in is...once he hears news about its existence, he will stubbornly insist to want to help in investigating it, saying he has already read a bunch of books about them, and can be useful, etc. Worse, if his offer to help to investigate is refused, he will do what he did in Eclipse Lake. Go to the location anyway, to fill that deep void within.

Old habits die hard.

I don't know if he may hear from King (who he'll be seeing fairly often, I think!), The Collector or even Kikimora about it. Since they were the three characters who went all the way down there in King's Tide, and The Collector already knew about these horrors for literal centuries. King and The Collector are also still young kids! Will they have the sensitivity and awareness about breaking this news to Hunter?!

On the other hand, I don't know how the timing will be with Darius, Raine and Eberwolf..Darius will want to get serious about investigating his mentor's disappearance. Once the searching and scouring extends to the location of the Head of the Titan, they will find the evidence staring them in the face. If they want to scour every inch of the Isles, there's also a high chance they'll find the godforsaken grimwalker lab.

Worst of all, Darius would be aware by then of how much Hunter loves to help out in operations like this to be productive. At the same time, Darius's own grief will surface even more, I'm not sure he'll be able to hide that, and Hunter is highly observant. If Darius is trying to hide his own priority of finding closure re: his mentor, I think Hunter will sense that.

Therefore I wonder if this will happen except it's Hunter with Darius:

and then this poor beloved skrunkly son of mine, who so famously said these words at the beginning of his arc:

is probably going to get reckless, and endanger his mental health...not unlike moments like this:

by venturing to the graveyard, whether stealthily or accompanying the grownups, because he'll rationalize it as "getting closure" and once again "being useful". Remember how used he is to moving around so much and being active, combined with growing up isolated so that asking for help can still be a foreign concept to him. He would be anxious about grinding to a halt, and he'd want to be on the move instead.

He may demand to see the graveyard, and holy Titan I'm not sure any dilemma will be as tricky for Camila and Darius to navigate as this one. Because preventing him from seeing something he already knows exists is, in a very twisted way, also an unhelpful form of avoidance. Avoidance is a hallmark criterion for diagnosing both PTSD and C-PTSD.

How far do they go in protecting him from himself? Where do they draw that line? They might reach a compromise where Camila and Darius accompany him there. Once he sees it, it'll hit harder than this:

Letting him see it means his new parents would have to fall with him, in the sense that they follow him to that emotional place: but while he figuratively does not have a safety harness when falling into this deep dark hole, Camila and Darius are equipped with harnesses a.k.a. higher maturity, less of a trauma history, and some tools to help him get better, navigate the trauma, and manage his symptoms.

Camila will have the warmth and sensitivity to catch and meet him as he falls (she interacts with animals in her profession, who don't have the capacity for human language, in a similar way to how serious trauma can't even be put into words at times: it makes you voiceless). Darius's shared past living in the Castle and grieving over his mentor will help Hunter not feel as alone once he has seen these horrors.

And because his heart generally became more open to receiving love and support,

I doubt he'll close himself off almost completely, the way he did in the first two-thirds of For the Future (god, remember these deleted storyboards??):

It wouldn't surprise me if he weeps and panics as soon as he sees the graveyard, and his parents give him maximum support through that breakdown. As complicated as it would be for Camila and Darius to give in to his desire to see the graveyard, a response like this from him - a child seeking attachment with proper timing - is a good sign of growing into healthy attachment with parental figures.

It is an arguably better response than one of the hardest aspects of C-PTSD: where the outpouring of grief only happens after a delay, sometimes a significant delay, at very inconvenient or strange times. Hell...if I were Hunter, I'd probably want Camila and Darius to just hold me close in wordless silence for half an hour until my initial distress and shock passes.

If I use King - a child who is securely attached to Eda, who's definitely had a more stable upbringing - as a control experiment here, he could have the appropriate response immediately in Echoes of the Past and expressed his emotional needs clearly enough:

Whereas this is what Hunter has to now learn, at twice King's age, as he settles in with new parents who take care of him instead of mistreating him the way Belos did. Hell, I can't imagine what kind of Belos punishment awaited him if he cried to demand attachment.

(I need to use more King scenes as a comparison to Hunter's upbringing in my next metas! I realize this can make my explanations clearer)

Anyway, what may happen next after he can't unsee the graveyard is...Hunter will then swing to the other extreme of high activity. I.e. being passive, physically inactive and psychologically crashing into depression, which may translate into habits such as oversleeping (catching up on all that lost sleep...but at what cost?). Supposedly sliding deeper into the C-PTSD pit. A place from which he has to express the desire to seek the forms of help he needs.

Remember that this kid has only known extremes for most of his life. Until he settles in properly with his found family and attends therapy, he has no clear reference point for more balanced approaches in living.

The trauma he went through is a quadruple whammy for a 16-year-old who just survived growing up in a cult. It would be so much. I can't see him not falling into months of deep dark depression, as unfortunate as this sounds.

Grieving over Flapjack, grieving over Belos, over his childhood/upbringing, and now a grisly memory of his predecessors who didn't make it (to add to what he saw in Belos's mindscape). I simply cannot see him handling a load like this without a highly-equipped and sensitive professional, paired with his support network of family, friends and even possibly the wider community at times. Especially now that we've seen him in action during the epilogue.

The epilogue sequence would've had a different feel (and in my opinion, a not-so-good feel) for me if Dana had established that the grimwalker graveyard was still untouched after those 3.5-4 years and if Hunter never found out about it. Something like that is different compared to Dana mentioning in the recent Post-Hoot that in the he does not know about Caleb and Evelyn, or that he is related to the Clawthornes. Mysteries like the Clawthorne heritage can remain an eerie secret that only us in the audience know about, but I wouldn't feel comfy if this were the case for the graveyard as well.

To quote @idlescree's video essay about Hunter's death (link), the show's writers didn't pull any punches when it came to Hunter's development arc. Which means they had to take his story to the "categorically appropriate place for him to overcome" his greatest challenges.

Something tells me that with respect to the grimwalker graveyard and the avoidance theme in C-PTSD recovery, Hunter would've had to put in more work to confront a number of terrifying foes even beyond his Thanks to Them speech. One of which was the graveyard containing the remains of his predecessors.

PS: This is a spontaneous post which branches out from my giant post-finale meta (link) that I pinned to my blog, I suppose.

#toh hunter #the owl house #hunter noceda #camila noceda #hunter deamonne #darius deamonne #toh analysis #grimwalkers #grimwalker graveyard #loz writes a meta

[tenpintsofsundrop]

Stop? (Baby, Don't Stop)

Sub!Gar Logan x Dom!Fem!Reader Smut Blurb

Concept: Gar can't say no to you. But he can't bring himself to see that as a problem.

Word Count: 1,800

Titans Masterlist | AO3 Link

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List of detailed warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: spoilers for Titans S1, S2, and S3 if you haven’t seen the show before and want to watch it unspoiled, this is set during S3 when the Titans are staying at Wayne Manor, passing mentions of Gar’s trauma (him being killed during Trigon, him being kidnapped by Cadmus, his parents’ death), dom/sub dynamics - Gar is more submissive and the reader is more dominant, the reader calls Gar ‘baby boy’, the reader and Gar have an implied pre-established relationship, Gar (kind of) goes into subspace but it’s not explicitly mentioned or described as such, the reader has a vagina, penis in vagina sex, the reader rides Gar, overstimulation - the reader rides Gar through his orgasm and overstimulates him, possibly dubcon - the reader oversimulates Gar when he is not expecting it and he’s in a murky headspace but he does enjoy it and it’s stated in the narrative that he does not want it to stop (hence, the title), finger sucking (Gar sucks on the reader’s finger), unprotected sex, sloppy sex, hopefully that is everything. Just know that this is in line with my usual brand of filth.

A/N: One of my favourite smut tropes (kinks?) is riding a guy through his orgasm and overstimulating him - vastly underutilized. And I randomly got thinking about this + Gar this morning, so have this. I missed my green haired boyfriend, so there will definitely be more smut with him coming soon (I am thinking some stuff with virgin!Gar maybe? let me know what you think of that idea lmao)

...

Gar was someone who had experienced a lot of hardship in his life. 

His parents dying when he was still so young, him suddenly having a set of metahuman powers that he wasn’t prepared for - powers that he was kind of terrified of and definitely didn’t know how to use responsibly. Him literally being murdered by his dearest friends while they were under mind control, and then being brought back again and having to heal from the mental and physical injuries. The severe medical torture and resulting mental shitshow that Cadmus had put him through. 

It was a lot to have to push down during everyday life, having to pretend he was okay - having to put up a front for everyone else when they simply assumed that he was. 

But there were a lot of times when he could forget about all that. Times when he wasn’t actively suppressing his trauma because you made things okay - because you distracted him in the absolute best ways. Times when he thought that literally everything in life was just perfect. And most of those times were when you were on top of him like this. 

He would consider this nothing short of literal heaven. 

The feeling of your sweet, wet cunt clenching down on him as he laid flat on his back, splayed out on one of the many luxurious beds of Wayne Manor. 

(“You need to relax.” You had told him, taking him by the hand and dragging him into the random bedroom. “You’re worrying way too much about everyone else right now. Someone needs to take care of you.”) 

And while he had not at all put up any physical resistance against you, pliant under your touch as usual, that conversation had originally started out as him protesting against your thesis. He had told you that: no, he was worrying just the right amount about everyone else, that they needed him. But his protests had quickly died down when you shoved him back onto the bed and drowned out his voice with your tongue. 

Gar always had a very hard time saying no to you. 

He wasn’t sure if it was selfishly motivated. From the outside looking in, others probably say that it was. Considering that he was a guy, and you were just as horny as him - he never felt the need to say no to you. Especially considering the fact that he had never felt a greater sensation than that of your wet pussy surrounding his cock. 

And usually with the promise of that dangling over his head, you had gotten him to do a great number of compromising things, both minuscule and potentially life changing. Or perhaps it was because you were the sweetest little vixen that had captured his heart. And any time you batted your eyes and asked him to do something in that sweet voice, you might as well have been casting a spell on him. 

And he knew that it wasn’t just a weak spot he had for you. 

You had worked that magic on Conner and Jason before. Gar was actively working under the firm belief that if you simply approached Jason and asked him to stop killing people nicely please, then he would take off the Red Hood mask and surrender himself politely, no questions asked. 

But all of that was the farthest thing from his mind as you bounced on his cock. 

With your hands sitting on his shoulders, your nails digging into his bare skin. His shirt had been lost at some point while his pants were shucked off around his ankles and caught up against his shoes. But he could barely even focus on his lack of nakedness or your own because he was obsessively caught in the feeling of your cunt warmly hugging around his hard cock. 

Though he was slightly wishing that your shirt was off, but far too pussy drunk to simply reach out and lift it off so he could enjoy the sway of your tits in his face without obstruction. 

You were a perfect wet vice around him, leaking wetness down over his heavy balls and smearing it up over his stomach as you bounced. And all Gar could really do was take a gentle hold on your hips and appreciate the ride. His face was absolutely knit with pleasure in a way that made you giggle with delight, watching his almost caveman-like expression of tight brows and a heavy set jaw as he stared at the place where you were joined with utterly intense concentration. 

You had never seen a prettier man in all your days - those big brown eyes entirely rapt with pleasure, soft lips and a glisten of sweat across his skin that made you even more intent on ruining him. 

“You gonna cum for me, baby boy?” Your voice laced around the words, breathy yet so commanding, so strong, holding the power over him as you always did. 

It was enough to send a rumble through Gar’s chest, a sharp echo of pleasure from your words. 

That was the sacred question. 

Of course, Gar never wanted it to end. Ultimately, he just wanted to stay like this forever - buried deep in your sweet cunt, feeling that intense warmth hugging him, having your perfect scent surrounding him and having every worry in the world pushed out of his brain. 

But he did feel all the telltale signs - that almost painful tingle in his balls and that deep twisting in his gut that told him it was going to he over too soon. He was going to cum for you, just like he always did. 

All he could gather in response was a choked off grunt. But you knew his language well enough by now - you knew him when he was swimming this deep in pleasure, and you certainly didn’t need words. You knew it just by the expression on his face, the growing look of tight-knit desperation, the gentle whimpers that began to escape his lips. 

Something so enticing that it caused you to run a thumb along his bottom lip, finding the curve of his mouth to be all too pretty when he let out those sweet little sounds. Naturally, he drew the digit inside and began sucking on it, enjoying the tang of your natural skin oils, something that only pushed him closer to the edge. 

Feeling that that sharp whine punched out of his chest, vibrating around your finger only caused you to double down. You bucked your hips harder, riding him with an almost vengeful kick, as though you were trying to push his entire body down through the bed. It was something that caused a loud, pornographic wet smacking to echo through the room - a blatant signal to anyone walking by that the two of you were going at it like rabbits. 

If Gar had any sense left between his ears, he would have been thankful for it being such a large house. He would have been thankful for some sense of privacy. 

Instead, he was totally brainless as the feeling of orgasm overtook his body. His mouth went wide around your thumb as he released a litany of almost pathetic moans and whimpers and he arched back into the bed, a pure exorcism of pleasure overtaking him. He mindlessly endowed his animal strength onto you - digging his fingers into your hips and forcing you down onto his cock for a few moments, forcing you to still on top of him as he shot his load of hot cum inside of you. 

This caused a few hot moans from your lips, nothing but pure enjoyment as you watched the radical pleasure rock him. 

It was such an intense orgasm that it made his muscles seize and jump, it easily made his balls ache. By the time his cock had spurted those last bits of cum into you, he thought that his dick would willfully go limp and fall out of you, being just as tired as he was as he collapsed back onto the bed. But he was still semi-hard and throbbing inside your pussy, tingling with overstimulation as you unconsciously clenched around him. 

You leaned down to his panting lips, sealing him in a hot kiss. 

Gar let out a strangled shriek when you began bouncing your hips again. 

A shockwave of hot pin needles flew up his body from the point where you were joined, erratic hot overstimulation overtaking him. His cock forcefully filled with blood again as you clenched down on him harder. Clearly, you were gaining some thrill out of feeling the extra slickness of his cum sliding between the two of you, out of hearing just how wet your thrusts were now. 

Gar let out another sharp whine and moved his very limp hands back to your hips. In his mind, it was an attempt to shove you off him, to take a fucking breath. But his fingers only dug into your flesh harder and pulled you down onto his cock with force when he felt a particular hot streak of pleasure flare up through his gut. It was almost against his will - but your pussy was just too fucking good. 

“Too much.” He moaned out weakly, a hot puff against your lips, the first thing he had said in an hour of more. “‘s too much.” 

You found the way he slurred the words to be entirely adorable - as though he was quite literally drunk on your pussy. The wide gape of his mouth, trying to draw in breath as you continued to punch it out of him, and the tears pricking the edges of his eyes only made it more beautiful. 

“Do you want me to stop?” You asked, slightly breathless yourself. 

You continued to slam your hips down on his cock, over and over again planting yourself in that filthy puddle of your mixed cum. 

It was a traitorous question. 

It was too much of a strain on his body, but it was everything he wanted. He was breathless and brainless and nothing else in the world existed except for your wet cunt squeezing his aching cock, your natural smell filling the world around him, the hot press of your tits against his chest. 

The word ‘stop’ didn’t seem to be in his vocabulary. 

He let out a strained choking sound, and found himself unconsciously bucking up into you - he found himself enjoying the painful sting that ran through him. Tears leaked from his eyes, and when you reached up to wipe them away, you gave him one last thoughtful sentiment. 

“Tell me to stop and I will.” You whispered quietly against his cheek. 

But it seemed that you already knew what his answer would be. 

Gar put a hand on your back, cradling you close, shoving his face in your neck and breathing in that perfect aroma of your sweat. 

Stop? 

You ground your hips down into him, creating nothing but a filthy wet ache. He choked on a moan and found himself holding you still once again so he could fuck up into you harder. 

“Please.” He moaned weakly against your skin. “Please, don’t stop.”

#sundrop writes #gar logan #gar logan x reader #garfield logan #garfield logan x reader #titans #dc titans #dc #dc titans fanfiction #dc titans x reader #titans fanfiction #titans x reader #dc titans x you

[kayluh1915]

psssst, disclaimer…

@swiftllama: *texts me with no context* EVERY BTS THEY GET GAYER AND GAYER

Me after watching said BTS:

It's Ianthony moment breakdown time, BBY!

I know I've been gone for a while but I've really been going through it, y'all. I want to post more from here on out, but I can't make any promises. Executive disfunction and ADHD paralysis sssuuuccckkkkssss.

Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled screamings!

Also, this is from a members only video. If you can, please support Ian and Anthony directly. I do not share content outside of small Ianthony moments like these.

The noise that came out of my mouth was not human in anyway, shape, or form! Anthony has carried Ian like this before, but it was before his departure. Back then they were really stiff and awkward with each other since their friendship was strained, as they have mentioned several times. Now they're super close and don't give a flying fuck and MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT!

Sam has been keeping me up to date with everything and I just can't believe the timeline we're in. Everything else might be shit, but at least Ian and Anthony are back together and give us moments like these on the weekly! 😭They keep me sane.

ANYWAYS, I made some gifs of the moment because AHHHH and I'm going to break down the little moments that made my fandom heart flutter

Let's get to it!

Right off the bat, Ian very minorly freaks out when Anthony picks him up and immediately grips Anthony's arm. Logically, I know that anyone would grab onto the closest thing on instinct in this situation... but my Ianthony brain is screaming: "AWWW! ANTHONY MAKES HIM FEEL SAFE!!!!!!!"

Okay, my logic brain is calming down now because this gif just confirmed that Ian not only trusts Anthony whole heartedly but also FEELS SAFE! As soon as Anthony reassures him that he won't let him fall Ian relaxes and starts to let go of the death grip he has on Anthony's arm near the end of the gif.

Another demonstration of how much Ian trusts Anthony. He doesn't even flinch when he lifts him up and even has that face he makes that screams: "yeah yeah, we know Mr. Buff." after Anthony comments on how easy it is for him to hold Ian.

DUDE! The way Ian just goes limp after Anthony once again lets him know that he's got him. IT'S SO FUCKING CUTE and, again, is proof of how much he trusts him. He knows Anthony won't drop him and just decides to relax for a second, putting his full weight on Anthony's shoulders. I CANNOT! It's so intimate!!! Ian probably also took notes from Rhett's "I'm Dead" move he pulls on Link which I find hilarious.

Okay, this is my favorite one of this whole gifset. The way Anthony looks back at Ian to make sure he's still comfortable and then smiling to someone about it!?!? BRING AMBERLAMPS! MY HEART HAS STOPPED!

Damn, I needed these two in my life so badly right now. The fact that they pulled THIS SHIT just makes it so much better. I know they've said and done things more damning within the past few months, but I enjoy more intimate moments like these. Yeah, it's for a bit, but it shows just how much Anthony cares for Ian and how much Ian trusts him.

Lord have mercy, I need a nap after all of that. 😮‍💨

#kayla's ramblings #smosh #ian hecox #anthony padilla #ianthony #because it's obvious???? #☀️🔍 #smoshblr #carrying #LORDY #I still need that nap

[perplexingluciddreams]

Using the internet and technology with high needs autism

I have been trying to put this into words for a while, but due to the exact thing I am making the post about, it has been very difficult.

First of all, a short (ish - I am not the best at concise) background of me and technology: Used to play games on dad's phone, and later watch YouTube videos on family tablet (with parent restrictions). However, ability to navigate devices was very limited, and if something went wrong I just panic and give to an adult.

We used computers a bit in school for work and educational games. Every time we went to the "computer area" I would cry because I knew I wouldn't be able to find the webpage on my own, or sign in to something, or type in a word document. At these times in school, usually another pupil would just sigh loudly and then come and do the computer thing for me over my shoulder.

I had an MP3 player that I got for I think my 8 or 9th birthday. The only thing I knew how to do, was play music and google search. But I still didn't really understand what a "link" was, or how to find important information. We were supposed to learn online research skills in school, but nobody ever explained the most simple stuff to me, so I lack the basic knowledge.

I got my first phone at age 10. This was when I also first get Instagram, my first social media (parents set up for me). I was in a group chat for my school year, but the only time I put a message there is when mum asked me to ask a question, about a non-uniform day for example. Nobody interacted with me in there, and apart from the messages I don't know how to navigate the app. I posted a few pictures a few times, but only when someone else recommended, and I didn't interact online.

I have poor language comprehension, slow processing and take longer to learn new skills. My computer skills and especially typing skills are majorly behind my peers. I have slowly learned some skills allowing me to be even on Tumblr in the first place, but I still need a lot of support and it makes me very anxious. Part of my difficultly on social media, is the social interacting part. Mostly due to low interest.

But my biggest challenge is poor comprehension. I get very anxious and upset when I come onto Tumblr and all the posts I try to read don't make sense to me. Especially when the post is about a topic I care about - if I read it and I can't know what people mean, then I will just be very upset for the rest of the day.

Second biggest challenge, not being able to express opinions on important topics. Often, I can't even understand something. Then, I can't form an opinion because it's too complex. Or, I have an opinion, but I don't understand if someone agree or disagree with me from what they write.

I work so hard to gain skills and learn enough to even be here, and then all I can find about people like me is other people arguing about our existence. Want to express my frustration at this. To even write this post I had support from mum, and it takes all my mental energy.

It is true that I have low interest in socialising - direct impact of autism. So social media maybe not best place in the world for me, by default. But I still want to understand and be included. Not be treated like place to just ask "am I counting as high support needs". I don't understand even my own needs enough to answer this for myself - I definitely can't answer for anyone else.

A lot of my challenges, come direct from autism. That's just a fact. Wish it was easier, very often. But also wish it was easier online - I can't be part of outside community, only online.

I post here to express thoughts and feelings, that is also just what this post is doing. I did less big big edit on my words this time, wanted words to be closest to how I think it (don't think in words so not possible to show abstract thoughts direct, but closest to first translation).

#autism #autistic #nonverbal #nonspeaking #high support needs #nonverbal autistic #nonverbal autism #language comprehension #language disability #language disorder #technology #accessibility #from the chaos of my mind

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 23/02/2024

Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume D

Ripped by R.L.99

In my excitement leading up to February 22nd and to finally get to write more in-depth about Kara's Flowers' meaning to the SiIvaGunner channel...it dawned on me a bit too late that I was ignoring another meaning to the very date before it. I'm still very proud of how the post on As Miku Collides connects together with Collision Clouds, but there was something far more important to remember from February 21st. The birthday of late ripper R.L.99.

R.L.99 is the second known SiIvaGunner team member to have left us in tragedy, and its always going to be a very difficult topic for someone like me, effectively an outsider, to approach. The first was Marrow, who I've written about thrice now with Telling Fish Tales, Turnabout Fishters and 8​-​bit Fish With Dreams - a true friend to the SiIvaGunner team whose contributions are too many to list, but had been present since the very early days of Season 1. I can't claim to have known the guy, nor ever claim to have felt the same grief that his friends did upon his passing - yet althesame, through how recognizable and frequent his contributions were, losing him did hurt. Yet with R.L.99, my heart sank for a somewhat different reason. I'd barely had the time to truly appreciate him before he was gone.

As a ripper, R.L.99's most defining trait lay in his ambition - he was always seeking to outdo his last work, always shooting higher, yet higher. Joining the team early into Season 5, his twenty-one contributions across the year, ambitious or not, all feel crafted to a sheen. In a Season that already had some of the strongest output in the channel's life, his rips often still managed to impress beyond those expectations. I described one instance of this occurring on my one prior post on the ripper, One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop, but it needs to be reiterated that this was effectively standard procedure for each of his big projects. But despite the reverence I hold for him now, I'd chosen the worst possible timeframe to begin distancing myself from SiIvaGunner - during Season 5, I was at my most disinterested in the channel's goings-on, and thus paid far too little mind to the incredible efforts the entire team were making during the year. I'd check in, add some rips to playlists, and check out.

When the news of R.L.99 broke early in Season 6, I didn't know what to think, because...I didn't know R.L.99. But as I looked through my own playlists, looked through his list of contributions - I realized that just about everything he had ever made had found its way into my list of all-time favorite rips. I'd loved his work without ever truly acknowledging or understanding who made it. Without ever having had the chance to truly show my appreciation, until it was too late.

Linked under his username credit at the start of this post, you'll find a Twitter thread I made two years ago now, the day the announcement was made. I wasn't able to appreciate him during his time, but on that day I wanted more than anything else for other people still like what I once was, people far too blind to the talent and care individual rippers put into their work, to know exactly what kind of legacy he left. And so, I put the thread together as one of my first-ever forms of written SiIvaGunner analysis, trying to concisely convey all the ways that R.L.99's work truly was unique - in all the ways I'd failed to pick up on before it was all too late. There was, of course, a lot missing from that thread - notably the as-of-then unreleased rips he'd made that would be uploaded the day after in his memory, culminating in the downright breathtaking Dancing Masked. Yet, I still want to dedicate todays post to a rip I'd heard from before that day, one of those rips I'd loved for so long without knowing the man behind it. A rip like Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames.

A hugely ambitious project, it feels difficult to find one rip that quite so concisely encapsulates all the qualities of R.L.99's work. A distinct love for the MOTHER series, a love for rip arrangements of popular music, a love for Rock music, and the aforementioned scope - it all culminates in a nearly 8-minute long tribute to the legendary Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. Althewhile, it adheres incredibly well to the expected restrictions of a Game Boy Advance game, each of the shredding guitar samples used being from MOTHER 3 itself, with vocals authentically bit-crushed to match. It manages to rock out incredibly on its own, and that's without mentioning the insane details strewn throughout, such as the song's occasional bumps in tempo to match other boss music within MOTHER 3, or the other songs from MOTHER 3 that become referenced throughout the arrangement. Released on the date of MOTHER 3's birthday, much like Jesus of the Underground - it's a beyond impressive tribute, with love shown in every second of its runtime.

The fact remains, though, that I never knew R.L.99, and never knew Marrow either for that matter. There's far, far too many rippers that I've still not been able to express my full gratitude and affection toward, and many of which I'll likely never be able to reach. But that's part of why I want to run this blog in the first place - to give myself, and other SiIvaGunner fans that chance to show genuine, outspoken love for rips and the people behind them while we all can.

Rest well, R.L.99.

#todays siivagunner #season 5 #siivagunner #siiva #R.L.99 #mother 3 #mother series #earthbound #mother 2 #lucas mother 3 #ness earthbound #gba #game boy advance #dragonforce #through the fire and flames #guitar hero 3 #guitar hero #Youtube #Bandcamp

[danwhobrowses]

nothing to see here just a crazy shipper guy going crazy over Callowmoore under the bit, if that's not for you then go about your business

So fellow Callowmoores how we feelin' this morning/evening? Because it's evening right now and I'm still bouncing off the walls in my mind

The one post could not keep me contained! No seriously the amount of tags I put in hit a limit and doesn't show them all

I mean yes we didn't get a kiss (yet) but goddamn we got so much, it has possessed me, deranged me, it's leaking outta my brain I gotta talk about it, so either jump out or buckle up because this overflow is gonna be long

First off I just gotta talk about how so many things almost lined up how I imagined them because it just makes it feel like they looked into my head and thought 'hey that's kinda good'. Like, I wanted Fearne to take the shard at Mori's, it was a safer space for her than the Ziggurat which is tainted by bad memories (this and other campaigns), I just didn't expect it so soon, thought they'd at least have a full rest first. In fact I had a whole scene in my mind where in a desperate gambit Delilah took over Laudna while she slept and just knocked on Ashton's door in a form of dread going 'where's the shard Ashton?'. It's key to this I promise not only because I enjoyed the idea of Ashton not taking any of Delilah's shit (plus for you Imodnas out there the mental scene involves Ashton whispering 'Imogen's in danger' to wake her, they also ask where Paté is because they still have that 'Paté is Delilah' theory) but it also expanded on the possible helplessness Ashton would have being unable to assist Fearne with taking the shard

'You're a child, Ashton. A blunt instrument that charges blindly into harm, would you really risk Fearne's life to earn her forgiveness? You know what it can do, what happens when you can't protect her from it?'

Of course, Ashton would never give Delilah the shard, which would frustrate Delilah since she can't manipulate them, but the comment weighs on Ashton a little. Which is when the whole waking Laudna happens and she leaves, but Fearne is in his room (the Vox Machina bathtub scene being inspiration), having asked to sleep there for comfort and asks them if it worries them. Which is where I often got to use this quote

'I don't believe in fate, but I believe in you'

And it sticks with me because it's super romantic, but also on-brand for Ashton, there were variations like the longer 'things only affect our path if we choose to believe they do; fate is complicated, the gods don't give a fuck, and I don't wanna even think about legacy anymore, I don't believe in them, but I believe in you' but then the next morning comes and Ashton gives her the ring, since I forgot about attunement there were instances where it was a sneaky sleight of hand thing, and Fearne completes the process. Of course, with weeks to go on there were a lot more scenarios like Fearne pickpocketing the Ashton doll to practice talking to and putting it back, Ashton seeking Mori for advice, herbal tea visions where Ashton entered their own mind and encounters the empress while on the outside Delilah possesses Laudna to try and drain the power from them, one where the shard having been reshaped through Ashton is less intense on Fearne for the first 4 rounds (since they blew up on the fifth) because Ashton's essence is containing and dissipating the hostile energy, and one where the group secretly vote against Ashton being there for Fearne taking the shard (Imogen, Laudna, and Chetney 3 to 2 against Orym and FCG) but Fearne as the decider pulls them over because she needs them there, stuff like that I'm sure fanfic writers could consume to their heart's content (and are free to, go nuts). But these scenes stood out because it had elements of stuff that are linked to or actually happened in the episode; Fearne does take the shard, Ashton endorses that Fearne is the only one who can take it, Ashton gives her the ring and Shattered Vigor is apparently a thing where Ashton is practically taking Fearne's pain to protect her, that alone is enough to go insane over.

And can we talk about the ring for a moment, because like THE RING. I'm not talking about generically either I mean that this ring has been significant to the shard saga ever since Ashton claimed it. It was found on the corpse of someone infused into stone, into the earth, right between the whole eidolons stuff where Ashton connected with an Earth elemental and then the Grau Dashari stuff with the crystals they merged with their hammer and then the Bor'dor incident, that could've easily been a titan-based punishment. Also, Ring of Volcanic Flesh, like Ashton's stone arm? And if that wasn't enough, what was the first thing Fearne stole from Ashton when they reunited? The ring, the act that broke down Ashton's walls as they let out a most heartfelt 'I missed you, so much' the ring that Fearne stole right off of Ashton's fingers only for them to willingly put in her hand to protect her, because just as they said at the clock tower, everything they have belongs to her. And while legacy and hubris had a part in the shard incident, part of it was also for Fearne. I don't believe there's any situation where if Fearne said she wanted the shard at the clock tower Ashton would've said no; Ashton knows that Fearne was key to the shard dislodging in the lava, they sensed it was in a way key to both of them, but there was no reality where Ashton was gonna force Fearne to take the shard if she didn't want it. And yes it blew up in their face, much like Fearne they saw an image of themselves they didn't want to be, their soul broke with the realisation that they hurt the one person they never wanted to hurt, but thanks to Percy they also realised that they had to change. It wasn't enough to see everyone else having someone at the reunion and internalizing 'if someone has to not come back it's gotta be me' they had to make steps towards being the person the Hells needs them to be, someone who can come back with them.

Which is where last episode started setting it up, and I didn't speak much about it at the time because other than the pretty plain 'I would've rather died than hurt Fearne' insinuation (which in turn was confessed to save Fearne from falling) there was only crumbs that could be interpreted other ways; for instance Birdie's tale with Athion and Olly being somewhat of a parallel to Tevan and Ashton, the formers wooing Birdie and Fearne with temptations of indulgence while the latters drawing their attention by being subjects of intrigue, defiance and kindness, plus they saved the latters (Birdie literally via escaping the prisons and Fearne emotionally and literally), or before the Orym conversation when Ashton takes 'one last look' Taliesin looks towards Ashley last. But I knew there was poetic significance to Ashton failing the communication trial, Marisha sensed the vibe too, but even though Fearne was nervous about guiding Ashton, the fault fell to poor dice rolls (and Liam not keeping shtum and summoning thunderwasps) and once again Ashton in an attempt to prove themselves falls flat on their ass in front of the person they most want to prove it to. And that did break my heart a little I must admit because as poetic as it was who hasn't been there? Ashton's journey of proving themselves has been laden with failure too; being unable to protect anyone from Otohan led to them almost being TPK'd, being unable to keep the group together at the Malleus Key led to the group being scattered, and then Team Trauma's stuff - Orym was despondent and Laudna's a wreck, got a random 'shepherd's boy', a powerful Cobalt Soul teen prodding about the solstice and all of Deni$e here added as mainly combat support, loners but no leaders, Dawnfather angel thinks them insignificant, dark spirits trying to consume their only leads about the Hishari - and the moment Ashton started to trust Bor'dor after the pipe vision what happens? Betrayal, Hunger of the Shadow and Delilah is let back in, Ashton couldn't even keep Laudna safe from herself, they reunite, try to sort out their shit with their past, discover that they might have a destiny to fulfill and end up being too willing to die in place of others, and unable to protect their new family from themselves, because of these recent failures it was important that Ashton proved themselves in the trust trial.

And thankfully they did, there was no way to prove that anyone was a Doppelganger and yet, Ashton still trusted Fearne; twice saving her from the flora even when told to leave her behind. And they were close to another failure when the branch was snatched - after their attempts to keep it safe by throwing it in the pool alone - but they trusted Chet and Orym (father/son duo) to cover more ground while they helped Fearne. And even when FCG told Ashton 'I think it's Fearne', and when Imogen was untrusting of Fearne, Ashton abandoned their held action to save FCG from the brambles because they knew Fearne could be trusted. They trusted Imogen to connect to Ruidus and as mentioned endorsed Fearne to take the shard.

And sure, in my mental scenarios Ashton gives her the shard, doing the same she did for them, but I did say almost like how I imagined. And Ashton still did everything they could, plus Imogen comforted their visible worry, but once it's complete they're just in awe, and then their own spark awakens through her touch, a touch they were unafraid of even at the threat of newfound fire, and now for the first time ever they feel whole. She saved them, and now they finally feel complete, and now this time Fearne is agape, Fearne is in awe, and everything she had hoped Ashton would gain from taking the shard before has come to fruition through her, and it's just, joy, pure incorruptible joy, a kindred connection that belongs to just them. Plus a big piece of paper for all the new powers they are excited to learn about from each other, with each other, and while Matt can talk about there being risks to them because you gotta balance the combat the narrative significance is still there.

But dammit they need to kiss, I've yelled it enough times in my head; like the lava, the clock tower, before and after Fearne took the shard, the only times they did kiss was before the solstice (the forehead kiss) and the ziggurat and both preceded bad times, they deserve a proper one, not one at risk of being a goodbye, something precious, irreplaceable and theirs to have, to share. And I don't know if they should use the patented 'can I kiss you?' or take a tip from BeauYasha and use 'I wanna kiss you so bad right now' or find something else to make their own but I desire it so much, had it happened this ep I probably would've melted out of my seat. They're awkward and nervous but they gotta take the leap, Ashton needs to realise they're loved and maybe even be told that they deserve it even when they feel they don't, and Fearne has to take a risk too, the shard put doubt to her decisions but that doesn't mean she can run from her strong emotions. It doesn't fix everything of course, but sometimes people heal better together than apart. As a currently vorbed half-elf once said 'drink the courage first'.

Curiosity continues to send me after the ep, and while some people are attempting to blemish or rain on the parade (I mean, I try not to speak ill of other ships in general, but if you're gonna be negative about it you can at least do it in your lane, your tags not ours) I am still just riding the high of the possibilities. True, the unknown can make me nervous, and I will admit the group has to give Ashton and Fearne space (they're just excited, and with the bloody bridge hinting to be a final moon-based battle there is that sense of urgency) Imodna had nudges sure but they have been a bit heavy-handed and kinda chaperoned around them, Fearne and Ashton seldom get time alone, one can hope they can get that time with each other next episode.

#critical role #cr 3 #cr 3 spoilers #c3e80 #callowmoore #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #ashton x fearne #fearne x ashton #rockwild #bells hells #for anyone who read the whole thing props to you I understand I unloaded a lot of crazy onto you I'm sorry #I have questions about the new powers too; does Mister get an upgrade? Can elementals be summoned? Is it like a Sorcerer multiclass? #do primordials have a equivalent to divine smite? Can it be used on other champions or Predathos? #how do the divines react to this? Asmodeus wanted them for the Calamity and Dawnfather does seem to hold grudges...Wildmother not so much #and do the titans themselves feel adverse to stopping Predathos? Since it aids their enemy that essentially colonized on them #I fear fuckery next episode of course but today's a good day and I will not let anyone ruin that #I will ride this high as long as I can though but I do also need to sleep I got a travel weekend to do visiting relatives #I am so consumed by this ship that it rivals my own birthday as the best thing to happen this week #I am absolutely unashamedly not normal about them #tag bonus: matching shirts! Precious/Irreplaceable and Adorable/Ignorant also all the Hells have 'if lost return to Nancy' shirts #taliesin jaffe #ashley johnson

[astrxsee]

FALSE GOD chap. 2

(chap 1) (chap 2) (chap 3)

percy jackson x child of demeter!oc

𝑰𝑵 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑪𝑯 Rose St. Claire sets off on a quest to save the goddess in chains.

𝑶𝑹

𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑪𝒀 𝑱𝑨𝑪𝑲𝑺𝑶𝑵 learns to see what is right in front of him.

!CONTENT WARNING! gore, romance, swearing, blood, heavy themes

a/n: omg! hi i love posting on tumblr so much?? like i finally wanna write again LOL anyways I can also take requests! only if you want anyways pls i hope you like the next chapter i PROMISE there will be romance but it’s a slow burn dw

also can someone please show me how to link the first chapter i cannot for the life of me pls and thanks

sorry for the delay yall fr i just have to be in the right headspace to write im so sorry anyways i hope you like it please feel free to give any feedback

also if you like it i would be happy to put anyone on a tag list as well <3

The clicking of heels against the polished floor grabs my attention, the game I was holding in my hand lays idly to the side. Bianca shoots me a nervous look from her seat next to me before peering up at the stern lady. The lady's grey hair was slicked back into a bun, her nose crooked, almost like a scythe. She did not look very nice.

"Bianca Di Angelo." She states, matter of factly. "I am here to take you, your brother," The woman shoots a pointed look at Nico, "And your... friend."

The look the mysterious woman gave was poisonous, her eyes daggers as she looked at me. Her nose sneered as she took in the surroundings of the casino. It was loud, I could tell she didn't like it.

"My name is Rose." I snapped, quickly rising to my feet. I cross my arms as her eyes narrow as she looks at me. I glare back at her, not backing down from her imposing stare.

She sighs and rolls her eyes muttering something under her breath, something along the lines of 'stupid demigods'. I feel Bianca stand next to me, putting a calming hand on my shoulder. She quickly steps in front of me, breaking my cold stare at the unpleasant woman.

"Excuse me, but are you here to take us to school?" Bianca asks, her head tilted in a curious way. The old woman nodded, a careless look on her face.

"Yes, now come, we haven't got any time to lose. Don't ask any questions." The woman says before turning on her heel to the exit of the casino. I cast a look over my shoulder to Nico, his face twisted in a worried look. His hands fiddled with a silver army soldier toy, as he glanced around at everyone except the lawyer.

"Are you sure we can't just stay?" A small voice speaks out from behind Bianca. The stern woman whips around to look at Nico, who looks like he was about to cry. The lawyer scoffs.

"Stupid boy. You three are too important to be kept here." She bluntly states. Kept here? Too important? Her words make my mind spiral. I cast a worried glance over to Bianca who also has a troubled look on her face.

I couldn't help the nervous feeling in my chest. My Dad had brought me here about two months ago. Now that I think of it, I couldn't really remember what he looked like, let alone why he left me here. Were we being kept here? I shake my head, trying to rid my mind of these troubling thoughts.

My brows furrow as I try to remember the events leading up to entering the casino. It feels like the memories are just out of reach, like a blank space fills the area where they used to be. All I could remember was the year; 1976. I didn't want to go back out there, I didn't want to face what was waiting for me on the outside. Surely, the police would still be looking for me. Most of all, I didn't want that... thing to get me.

I roughly bump into Bianca, who stopped in her tracks. Daylight poured through the open door of the casino, I could hear many voices and sounds coming from outside.

"Bianca, what the hell." I ask, my mind snapping back to reality. I glance up and all words are lost as I become rooted to my spot. The cars zoomed by in the road, hundreds of billboards lined the bustling streets. There were bright screens with neon words that I couldn't even understand. Where was I? All I know that this was not 1976.

"Hurry up, children. We haven't got time to loose." The lawyer snaps. I look over to her, my mouth wide open. Bianca and Nico still had their eyes glued to the unfamiliar scene, their faces contorted into looks of panic.

A feeling of anger rose up inside of me as I took steps closer to the woman. She didn't even flinch as I leaned as close as I could to her.

"Where the fuck are we?" I yell, my confusion getting the better of my rationality. My arms gesture to the enigmatic scene in front of me. What year is it? What happened?" My mind is running too fast that I can't comprehend one thought. Where were we? What happened while I was in the casino? Why did it look like we were in the future?

An annoyingly amused smile makes it way onto the lawyers face. She shakes her head and lets out a condescending laugh.

"Stupid girl." She began, her eyes bored, "I told you to not ask any questions." My eyes open incredulously at her dismissive words. My entire world had been flipped on its head and she tells me not to ask questions! The anger boils up in my chest as I stand there with millions of questions. I notice pink flowers start to pop up in the cracks of the sidewalk, I didn't care at this point. I couldn't control it.

"What year is it?" A soft voice breaks me from my confused spiral. Bianca, now looking over to the woman, asks, her face full of confusion. She then looks at me, her eyes filled with tears.

"2007." She bluntly states, rolling her eyes as if it was a stupid question. My hand flies to my mouth in shock as I hear the woman's words. 2007! I have been in that damn casino for thirty one years? I reel back, the realization finally hitting me. I shake my head, a feeling of sickness washes over me. This can't be happening.

The woman guides us towards a large black car. I had never seen a car so big and with so many seats! She motions to the driver to leave after we all file into the car. Nico looks completely lost, his hands still on his silver army toy.

"Now, you may be confused." The woman, Camille according to the driver, starts. I scoff at her words, my arms crossed as I look out the window. A growing feeling of sadness wells up in my stomach, a twisting sort of feeling. "I can assure you that you will be safe at your new school. We will be there shortly."

How much did the world change? Why does time pass differently in that casino? Why did my Dad leave me there? Thousands of questions circled around in my head, too many unknowns for me to handle.

I feel my breaths begin to quicken, my hands shaking. I fiddle with the pins and patches on my worn out bomber jacket, quickly grounding myself. I think of my hands in cold grass and a warm breeze blowing over my face. I breathe out a sigh, accepting of the absolutely crazy situation.

I place my hand over Bianca's, she breaks her stare from out the window to look over at me. I give her a reassuring smile and her hand a small squeeze. She gives me a small smile, telling me that she's okay.

"Okay, children, grab your things. We're here." Camille orders. She quickly climbs out of the car and starts making her way to the man standing outside of the ominous front doors of the school. I grab my green duffel bag and follow Bianca out of the car, Nico follows me slowly. I didn't even want to think about how scared he must be. We all follow Camille slowly, our necks craned up to take in the vastness of the school.

Standing on the pathway, there stands a man. He towers over my friends and I as we stand behind our lawyer. He gives us all a large, slightly creepy smile. His two different colored eyes almost seemed to glow as he looked at us.

"Welcome to Westover Hall. Your new home."

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

taglist: @cxcilla

#percy jackson x reader #percy jackson #annabeth is our friend #slow burn #percy will probs be in the next chapter #percy jackson x oc #percy jackson fanfiction #canondivergent #percy jackon and the olympians #percy pjo

[gurugirl]

Tales From the Modern Incubus Part 6*

Summary: After breaking up with Miguel, you and Harry go to a bar to see a band and when Harry can't finish what he started with you under the table you suggest leaving early so you can go to his house.

A/N: My original post(s) that disappeared had links so you could see what I imagine Incubusrry’s house to look like but because I’m scared that it was a link that made my posts invisible, I won’t be sharing that with you 😢 So just imagine some very eclectic, expensive, and colorful decorations and furnishings and even walls. 10k words

Warning: This is dark!harry content and Harry's a demon so beware before reading on - check out all warnings in the TFMI masterlist. This post contains: SMUT (oral f&m receiving) & public indecency/slight exhibitionism

Part 5*

Part 6*

He was looking at you like you were nuts, “You… Just yesterday we… How can… I don’t understand, Y/n.” He put his hands in his hair and you took a deep breath. You hated this. Miguel was a nice guy but you realized that you really just didn’t have feelings for him like you thought you did. Because now that you’ve met Harry, everything is different. You still feel like the same person, just somehow… elevated now. Harry makes you feel things that Miguel never did in all the time you dated. You question whether or not you’re even sexually attracted to Miguel, because compared to Harry, well, there isn’t a comparison.

“I’m sorry Miguel. I really am. I just… I don’t know. I feel like I’m changing and I think I just want different things.” You kept your eyes on his. You felt bad, but not really as bad as you thought you would. Yes, it was hard to deal with Miguel’s emotions and you hated confrontation, but you just kept thinking about Harry and how you’d see him again tonight at your sister’s boyfriend’s show. And of course you couldn’t forget last night and the way you got yourself off by just rubbing yourself over him. The way Harry’s lips felt on yours, his hands…

It took some more minutes of explaining and listening before you left Miguel’s. He was not expecting it at all. And you didn’t have the courage to tell him that you were dating Harry now. He’d find out soon enough. Probably at church on Sunday. You sighed as you got into your Hyundai and drove off. Glendale traffic wasn’t bad because you left pretty early to talk to Miguel. You wanted to get it over with so you could focus on your date with Harry tonight.

Harry of course watched you breakup with Miguel. He expected that you’d be nervous and sad and probably hold off until the last second. But what actually happened was that you hopped out of bed at 7:30am with a large smile on your face. He watched you hum to yourself as you showered and then nearly skipped to your car before getting to Miguel’s by 8:30am so you could break him the bad news. Harry impressed by you. You were eager to end things with Miguel and you were happy. Harry was making you happy.

When you got back to your house you ran up to your bedroom and threw yourself back onto your bed with your cellphone in hand. You texted Harry right away.

To Harry: I broke up with Miguel. :) See you tonight at 8

Harry grinned. You were kind of cold about it, and Harry loved that. He figured that Miguel was a nobody anyway. Even if Harry had never come into the picture, it was never going to be Miguel. Nice guy. Not your type, Harry decided.

From Harry: How did he take it?

From Harry: Looking forward to seeing you tonight.

You looked at Harry’s texts and got up, not answering him right away. You turned on your radio and then opened your window, leaning out a bit. Your room really smelled like Harry. Not that you didn’t like the scent, you loved the scent actually, but you still couldn’t understand why you always smelled him now. You thought maybe opening a window might clear the room and you could feel like you weren’t losing your mind if the scent finally vanished. Your drapes fluttered with the breeze that came through from the outside and you did a few side steps to the beat of the music on the radio, dancing around your room a little. You sang a few of the lyrics to the chorus, the words you remembered, and then climbed back onto your bed to text Harry back.

To Harry: He wasn’t expecting it but he’ll be fine. I think he was mostly just confused.

To Harry: I’ve already got my outfit picked out for tonight. Do you drink alcohol?

You thought about how you didn’t really know certain things about Harry. Like his age for starters. He could be your age. He was probably a little older though. He seemed older. You didn’t know how many siblings he had, if any, and you didn’t know anything about his parents… Or if he had social media.

From Harry: He’ll be okay. I agree.

From Harry: I’ve got my outfit picked out too ;) and I drink alcohol occasionally. Why?

You glanced at your texts as you had the idea to see if you could find Harry on Instagram or Twitter, anything.

You typed in his name and searched. There was one Harry Styles on Instagram but the picture was of a brightly colored pillow that had the words Gucci stitched into the fabric. The account was private so you couldn’t confirm it was your Harry. Nothing on Facebook. Nothing on Twitter either.

You put his phone number into google search and came up empty. Then his number plus his name. The only results you got are those generic sites that tell you the first name and last initial plus the phone number, estimated age, and their location. Nothing more that is useful. Though you laugh when his age is estimated to be at 73 on one of the sites. Harry seems to be a bit of a ghost. But, now that you’re together, officially, you look forward to getting to know him. You plan on finding out everything about him.

To Harry: Because the band is playing at a bar. I was just curious. I don’t usually drink. Actually, I’ve never had alcohol.

You and Harry text one another throughout the day and you go back and forth on what you want to wear. You don’t have anything particularly scandalous in your closet to wear but something about Harry makes you want to be a little bit scandalous. But of course, the idea that your sister will be there tempers that thought.

You stick with your original outfit. The skirt is a little short and your black top skims the very top of the skirt’s waistband but it’s still mostly conservative and your sister probably wouldn’t say anything about it. Harry loves the outfit. Though, he honestly wouldn’t mind you wearing anything else. It truly didn’t matter what you wore. He’s seen you naked and he knows what lies beneath.

At 7:25pm you leave to drive to the Union House and text Harry and your sister that you’re on your way.

When you arrive, Harry’s already there and standing at the front. You are so excited to see him, even though you’d just seen him the night before. You wonder where the night will take you. You’d been thinking about it all day long.

Harry watched you park and grins to himself as you nearly jog toward him. You’re such an eager little thing.

Harry’s grin widens as you get closer to him and you notice how his gaze goes over your body, down your torso and to your legs and then back up. It makes you feel warm and excited the way he so obviously checked you out.

“Hi.” You say as you stop about a foot from him, still hesitant on everything, it’s all so new. But Harry isn’t having that and he reaches out to grasp your elbow and pulls you into his side, wrapping an arm around you.

“Hi.” He speaks back to you, his mouth in your hair, muffling his response. You sigh at the feel of him near again. You haven’t been in such a good mood in long time and it’s all because of Harry. Even though you just broke up with Miguel this morning, you can’t help how excited you feel.

You both enter the bar together and Harry takes your hand in his. You look around for Marianna but you don’t spot her right away. So you and Harry find a table at the side of the room, a round table with some bar stools surrounding it. The show will begin soon and the bar is already starting to feel quite crowded.

The music and chatter in the room is a little loud as you and Harry sit next to one another. Harry scoots himself directly next to you and presses his thigh against yours. To Harry this isn’t much of a move but he knows that to you, this probably feels like foreplay, which is exactly why he does it. He wants you aroused around him all the time because he loves the smell of you and he loves how your heart pounds in your chest and your breathing gets heavier. He wants it all.

Harry leans in so he can speak to you and so you can hear him, “Do you want anything to drink?”

You turn a little so you can respond, but Harry doesn’t move his face and it makes you laugh a little at the proximity. Harry smiles warmly at you and just waits for you to respond.

“Yeah, the server should come by, though. Every time we come here we get served at our table.” You smile at him and look down at his pink lips and the smirk on his face.

“Okay. We’ll just wait then. What will you have?” Harry speaks low and gets closer to you yet, his lips are so close to your ear that you can feel his breath over your skin. Goosebumps rise over your neck and you breathe him in.

“Maybe just a Sprite?” You have your head turned toward Harry again. You like the closeness. How his thigh is pressed to yours, how his warmth is radiating onto you, the way when he speaks into your ear his arm bumps into your shoulder and his breath falls down over your neck.

Just then your server arrives to take your drink order. Harry orders a Sprite for both of you.

You lean back into Harry, this time pressing your arm into his and intending to keep it there. You want to be as close to him as possible, “I thought you might order a drink, like a beer or something.”

Harry can see how you’ve shifted just enough that it makes your arm brush into his and so he puts his arm around you as he speaks closely again, “Don’t want to order any alcohol if you’re not going to be having some also.”

Harry’s warm arm draped over you feels so good and it almost makes you forget what you two were talking about. So instead of responding to him right away you just get lost in his gaze. He’s so handsome it almost hurts. You wiggle in your seat a bit and Harry smirks and licks his lips, looking down to yours briefly. He’d like to make out with you right here in this bar in front of everyone, which is such a juvenile thought to him at this point in his life, but he loves how your lips feel and the way you taste.

“Hey, Y/n!” You are pulled out of your reverie when you hear Marianna. She approaches the table with her eyes on Harry and then she looks at you with confusion. And in normal Marianna fashion asks, “Where’s Miguel?” She can be rude at times.

You sit up straight but your thigh stays glued to Harry’s and Harry removes his arm from your shoulder, bringing himself to sit forward, where he gently places his hand over your bare knee. You were prepared to answer Marianna with a bit of snark but as soon as Harry touched your knee you felt warm and your thoughts got a little fuzzy and so you suddenly didn’t care about Marianna’s lack of tact.

“I broke up with Miguel. Harry,” you turn to look at him and point at the girl with dark brown hair, “this is my sister, Marianna. Marianna, this is Harry, he’s my boyfriend.”

Marianna laughed and then eyeballed Harry for a moment before sticking her hand out, “Nice to meet you, Harry. Can I borrow my sister for a few minutes?”

Harry put his own hand out to shake Marianna’s and nodded, “Nice to meet you as well. And I would imagine that Y/n can answer whether or not she’d like to be borrowed. She doesn’t belong to me.”

Marianna caught on to Harry’s attitude and then looked to you with eyebrows raised.

You rolled your eyes and sighed, looking at Harry, “I’ll be right back.”

Marianna led you to the side of the stage where she stopped and turned to you with an unamused expression, “Who is that? You suddenly just have a new boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Now is when you feel like responding with snark, “That, is Harry. He’s my boyfriend, maybe you didn’t hear the first time. And maybe it feels sudden to you, but I really like him and we just… anyway, why is it your business that I tell you everything about my personal life?” You cross your arms over your chest with a frown.

Marianna looks toward the table where Harry’s sitting and shakes her head, “Because you’ve never really done anything like this. It was shock when you started dating Miguel. This guy looks like, I don’t know… how well do you know him?” Marianna matches your guarded pose.

You cock your head to the side and just before you can speak, you watch the server bring your Sprite to the table, “My drink just got here. Are you gonna sit with us?” You decide not to answer her right now. You didn’t want to get into it and have her ruin your evening.

Marianna shook her head and uncrossed her arms, “I’ll sit with you. Obviously. I’m just curious about all this. I thought you and Miguel were doing okay…”

You put your hand up to suggest she stop talking about it as you turn to walk back to the table.

Sitting next to Harry again, you make sure that your thigh is against his as Marianna takes a stool from across the table.

When Harry places his hand over your knee again you finally feel that exciting and fuzzy sensation you’d experienced before Marianna arrived. Harry leans in to speak to you again as Marianna watches.

“Everything okay?” Harry heard everything (because of course he did). He knew you were fine and he liked how you displayed a bit of attitude to Marianna. But he would be wary of the sister.

“It’s fine. Marianna can be a… bitch sometimes.” You felt your face grow hot when you said the word bitch. You weren’t one to say bad words but sometimes Marianna was just awful to you. Your parents had you later in life and Marianna was jealous of you at times. She would never admit that but you knew she was. Sometimes you felt like you were from different planets. It was weird to you that you shared half of her DNA through your mother with her. You two couldn’t have been more opposite. Including the way you looked.

Harry chuckled and smiled at you. You felt his thumb run across your knee back and forth and you were instantly turned on. The gentle brush of the pad of his thumb over your knee was all it took and you began to secrete arousal. You hadn’t wet your panties just yet (which you knew was only just a matter of time because you’d gotten yourself wet around Harry every single time you were near him) but you could smell yourself. And so could Harry and this was exactly what he wanted. Not only did he adore your scent, he wanted you to want him like this. You were going to be his.

Marianna’s boyfriend, Duncan, appeared to the table in a rush. He was breathing a little hard, probably from the adrenaline of anticipating going on the stage. He ducked down to kiss Marianna on her cheek and waived at you, then nodded at Harry. He whispered something to Marianna and she smiled and looked down at her lap. Then Duncan kissed her cheek again and then he stood up waving at you and Harry again, “See you after Y/n… Miguel…” he nodded at Harry and then jogged off. The three of you laughed as Duncan joined the rest of the band on the stage. Duncan had met Miguel before and you’d all hung out together five or six times and yet somehow, Duncan thought Harry was Miguel. You aren’t that surprised. Duncan’s sweet, and handsome, but not quite the brightest. Usually has his head in the clouds a bit.

Once the band started, Marianna was occupied with keeping her eyes forward. So she didn’t notice it when Harry began to slide his hand up your thigh, just a little. He never went too high that you would feel like he was doing something too far outside of your boundaries. It was just enough. The perfect amount of pushing the envelope for you. And Harry knew this. He didn’t want to push you over the edge, but maybe just to the edge if he could. Make you want more, crave more, and soon have you begging him to do a little more.

And it worked well. His warm palm over your thigh, his thumb dragging along the soft inner part where your legs met. You couldn’t pay attention to anything going on in the room but Harry. The music was muffled, everyone’s faces were blurred, the smell and taste of your Sprite watered down… the only thing clear in your mind was Harry’s hand on your thigh and his presence enveloping your senses.

He watched you as you looked at the band play. He could tell you weren’t paying attention to the music. He saw your gaze turn into a far-off look as you softened and yielded to him, letting his hand smooth up your thigh, his thumb dragging along the inside so he was nearly grazing the seat below you.

You were fully aware of your own arousal. You couldn’t help yourself around him. You imagined the filthiest things about him, about him doing the filthiest things to you. It had you wiggling in your seat and biting your lip as you pretended to be into the music Duncan’s band was playing. You couldn’t care less about Duncan and his band. You were beginning to feel yourself desire Harry in a way you’d never desired anyone before.

The band started another song and you adjusted yourself in your seat, your thigh still pressed against Harry’s, but you spread your legs apart as you adjusted yourself, allowing for Harry’s hand to slip further down toward the stool under your leg, so now his palm was cupping the inside of your thigh. You squeezed your thighs back together and looked at Harry.

Harry licked his lips and looked down at you, his eyes searching your face, lingering at your lips for a moment, “You like my hand here.” He squeezed again as he said the word here.

You breathed out heavy through your nose and with your eyes still on Harry’s, smiled and nodded, “Mmhmm.” You felt nervous and light headed. You looked at Marianna and then back to Harry with a look of expectation.

Harry leaned in close to you after taking a quick glance at Marianna, and then kissed the edge of your lips. You were nearly panting for the man. You watched him as he sat back up after that tease of a kiss and then put your own hand on Harry’s inner thigh.

Harry squished his brows up for a second in confusion and titled his head and looked at your with a smirk, “I like when you touch me, Y/n. You can touch me anywhere you want.”

You laughed and looked down at where his hand was on your leg. Harry’s thumb was over the top part of your thigh but the rest of his hand was squished between your legs and the stool under you.

“Well, not here obviously…” you look around the room and shake your head at Harry’s comment about touching him anywhere you want.

At this point, you and Harry were seated very close so it was easy to hear one another, “Why not?” Harry spoke into your ear, his nose nudging at your cheek. You closed your eyes at the feel of him so close.

“Because we’re in a bar. In public.” You open your eyes and look at Harry with incredulity.

Harry just shrugged and kept his cocky grin on his face, “Mmmm… you sure you wouldn’t like a little sneaky something under the table?” He edged his palm up your thigh, just the tiniest bit, but enough that you got the hint. He was moving toward the bottom hem of your skirt. If he traveled any further up he’d be slipping his hand under the flower patterned fabric.

You just stared at Harry in disbelief, but underneath it you were intrigued. Harry could tell you were because you had the slightest upturn of your mouth in a smile, though you were trying to use your façade of disbelief to make it seem like you weren’t considering it. So, Harry wiggled his pinky finger under your thigh and stretched his digit a little closer toward your panties.

You inhaled a sharp breath through your nose and the look in your eyes told Harry you wanted it, “No one would even know, angel. We could get away with almost anything here.” He looked around the room and then back to you. You had the smallest smile on your face and you seemed lost in contemplation as you could do nothing but just look at Harry. Did you want to do something like this? It sounded fun, especially because it would be with Harry. But you had your doubts that you would actually get away with something like that. When you looked down to your lap, though, you realized that no one could really see you under the table. No one would know…

“What would you do?” You questioned the man who hadn’t taken his eyes off you.

“Maybe I could move my hand a little higher like this…” he spoke low into your ear as he slid his hand further up your thigh until it was hidden under your skirt, “rub you right here, where it felt really good for you last night.”

You gasped quietly as you felt Harry’s finger brush over the front of your panties. Your mouth dropped open at the feel and how scandalous this was.

“I can either just do it like this,” he said as he flicked his fingers over you, “or if you want, I can move your panties to the side and really make you feel it.” He nudged his fingers toward the edge of the crotch of your panties where he could just push them out of the way. You felt his finger at the crease of your thigh and the way he was looking at you made you want to relent. You wanted to know what it would feel like to have his fingers on you, with no clothes in between.

You looked at Marianna who was watching the band and then back to Harry, “Okay. Yeah. I want to feel it.”

Harry kept his eyes on yours as he moved the fabric of your panties to the side. He was not exactly expecting you’d give in to him here at the bar, but he would make sure he gave you what you wanted. With your pussy uncovered, Harry slid a finger very gently upward over your labia. Your eyes widened at the feel because it was really happening, right here in public, under a bar table.

“Why are you so wet, Y/n?” Harry’s mouth was watering already. He wished he could just climb under the table and get on his knees for you, eat you and lick you up.

You laughed at Harry’s question but then he pushed his fingers into your crease and began dragging his fingers over you with more pressure, barely grazing over your clit before sliding his finger back down again. That stopped your laugh and had your mind blank for a moment.

“Did you hear me? Why are you so wet?” Harry couldn’t really finger you how he wanted in this position without people noticing so he could really only use his pinky and ring finger to rub over you, but he could get you worked up.

“Um… come on, Harry. You know why.” You felt your cheeks get warm as Harry rubbed up and down over you. His movements were slow and you knew this might be as much as he could realistically do to you under the table with the way his hand was angled. You suddenly wished you were alone with him so he could show you more.

“Mmm… I do know why. It’s because you like me. Your body is reacting to the way you feel when you’re near me.” And with that he dug his fingers in closer to apply more pressure. He found your clit again and focused on that, his pinky and ring finger dragging over it, up and down.

You nodded and bit your lip. You looked around the bar and at the band playing but nothing registered to you except Harry and his fingers.

Harry decided he’d ask you to come over to his house after this. He wanted to see if you’d let him do more. Though he was having fun touching you under the table in a public place. And you were surprised how much you enjoyed it as well. Who knew doing something so sinful would be so fun?

Harry’s generous strokes over you had you pink in the face and the stool under you wet and sticky. You leaned forward and put your elbows on the table, spreading your legs a little more.

“Can I bring you to my house when we’re done here?” Harry asked.

You moaned and nodded, “Yes.” Was all you could get out. Everything around you was fuzzy and soft and muffled.

“So nice and wet for me. Wish I could clean you up with my tongue. Would you like that, Y/n? My mouth on your pussy and fingers inside of you?” Harry continued lazily swiping up down over you, but he kept most of his focus over your clit. His fingers were drenched.

You nodded again and even though Harry knew you were turned on he didn’t expect for you to be as enthusiastic as you were about being snacked on. But it seems you wanted it.

“You want that? Would you like me to show you what it feels like when I get you to my house?” Harry kept his face near yours and you turned to look at him. Of course you wanted that. With Harry, you wanted that. Not with anyone else. Just Harry.

So, you nodded again and wiggled into Harry’s fingers a little with your mouth hung open, “Yeah.”

Harry closed his eyes for a moment to internally celebrate your willingness to try it. He would be having you so soon. He knew that once he’d gotten you that far, it was only a matter of time until you’d let him stick his cock inside of you.

“It’s gonna feel so good. Gonna have you coming all over my face. Gonna eat you up and swallow it all down. I just know you’ll taste so good.” Harry groaned when you rocked forward into his hand. Hearing Harry’s words mixed with the way his fingers felt over you, and how he practically gazed into your soul every time he looked at you made you tremble in excitement. You were nearly shaking.

“Put them inside. I want to feel it.” You whispered to Harry and looked at him with your big innocent eyes. Harry looked at you in astonishment. He continues to be surprised by you and he would never dream of telling you no.

So, with his eyes on yours and his body turned into you, practically casting a shadow over you with how he was sitting, he brought a finger to your entrance, “One finger to start, okay?”

When you nodded with your eyebrows raised in anticipation, Harry slowly entered you and your jaw went totally slack. Harry had to switch the position of his hand so he finger you under the table. With his middle finger inside of you, he kept the heel of his palm pressed over and rubbing into your clit.

You smiled and nodded at Harry as he smiled and nodded back at you, “Do you want me to make you orgasm right here in front of your sister?” Harry’s dimples made all of this seems so much more innocent than it really was.

“Yeah. Make me come.” You looked at Marianna and realized she had just averted her gaze from the two of you. She had been looking. But had she seen anything? You almost didn’t care.

Harry dropped his mouth to yours and kissed you on your lips quickly. But then he began using his fingers very skillfully inside and outside of you. His middle finger was stroking something nice inside of you but it was his palm at your clitoris that felt like magic.

“Got my whole hand wet, baby. Fuck, I bet I could slip another finger in. Want another one?” His once light green eyes were now mostly dark pupil at this point and you could tell he was excited by what he was doing. You nodded and held your breath when he removed his finger and then prodded at you again, dipping two inside. It didn’t feel bad. You were a little nervous to feel two of his fingers, but you could handle it.

When he began pumping, as much as he could with the way his palm was angled, you wanted so badly to feel his lips on yours again.

Harry saw the pained look on your face and stopped moving his fingers, “Does this hurt?”

You shook your head and put your hand over his to keep it in place, “No. I feel so good. It’s okay. But can you kiss me? Just a quick one before Marianna looks back over here.”

Harry smirked and continued petting your inner walls with his fingers as he bent down and pressed his lips to yours. He quickly stroked his tongue over your lips and then sucked your bottom lip into his mouth before sitting back up before your sister could see the display.  

You started feeling the familiar sparkle of an orgasm as you nudged your clit against Harry’s palm a little harder. Harry sucked in a sharp breath as he watched you fuck yourself on his hand. He willed his erection to stay down, as much as possible. You were making it a challenge but he was determined to get you out of here and bring you back to his place. Maybe you’d even help him get off too.

The band finished off another song and Marianna turned to look at you and Harry again. Marianna wasn’t sure about who Harry was, but she recognized how attractive he was. But she wasn’t a fan of whatever was going on across the table from her. She couldn’t quite tell what was going on but she was aware something was going on.

Harry noticed the sudden change in Marianna and he slowed down his fingers and leaned away a bit, to make it appear like nothing was wrong. Of course, you weren’t aware and you pouted at Harry and just as you were about to ask him what was wrong you noticed that he was looking at your sister.

You redirected your gaze to her and she had her eyes squinted looking at you and then to Harry. The look she gave you meant she saw or thought she saw something and it had you straightening up fast.

Harry slowly removed his fingers from you and gave Marianna an obnoxious smile complete with dimples. You really wanted to adjust your panties back into place now that Harry’s fingers were removed and Harry really wanted to lick you off of his hand but he decided you’d probably not appreciate that much right in front of your sister.

You raised your eyebrows at your sister and then grabbed Harry’s arm to pull him closer so you could speak into his ear, “Let’s get out of here.”

You didn’t have to say it twice. Harry was standing up from his stool and helping you off yours before you’d even let go of his arm.

Marianna furrowed her brow and stood as she watched what she assumed was the two of you leaving.

“Are you going already?” She said already as if you two didn’t stay for nearly the entire set.

You nodded and gave Marianna a small hug, “Yeah, headed out now. Um… see you on Sunday? Will you be at church?”

Marianna’s expression seemed wary. She looked at Harry and then back to you, “Yeah, if I don’t get called in for work I will be.”

You nodded and waved and Harry smiled and waved as you two made a hasty exit.

Harry finally allowed himself to indulge in your taste all over his hand.

“Mmm… fucking taste really good. I can’t wait to get it all over my face.” Harry looked at you as he licked his digits.

You still weren’t used to hearing the sort of dirty things that Harry would say, but you did like it. You gasped at Harry’s words and acted as if what he’d said was a shock and Harry laughed.

“Don’t pretend to be all innocent after I just had my fingers inside of you under that table in there. You liked it.” Harry laughed. And you did like it. More than you understood. And now, that you’d been denied an orgasm, when you felt yourself so close, you just wanted to get back to Harry’s so you could continue where you’d left off.

You looked around the parking lot and Harry kept a hand on your forearm as he pulled you toward his black Land Rover. He unlocked the door and opened the passenger side for you as you quickly jumped in and buckled yourself up.

Harry didn’t live far, but he did live in an area you’d considered expensive. It was the part of town not far from the college but closer to the central part of the city. The houses were larger with nice cars in driveways and big yards.

The front of Harry’s house was impressive. It was a modern Spanish colonial style. He didn’t have the biggest house on the street, but it was far bigger than your parent’s house. He parked along the front driveway and you looked all around. It didn’t look like a young bachelor’s home. Which just added to the fact that you needed to start asking some questions about him, because you also didn’t even know what he did for a living.

The interior of his home was not what you were expecting, even more so than the exterior. Inside was colorful and filled with expensive looking furniture and paintings. Harry watched you take it all in. He was rather proud of the house (but this was just one of many) and his interior design selections.

“Do you like it?” Harry asked you.

“It’s big. You have some really cool stuff in here. Wow…” and then you walked into what looked like a second living room area and you saw the bright pillows and a couple had Gucci sewn on them. So, that was Harry’s Instagram page, you thought to yourself. You picked up a pillow and turned to him, “I found your Instagram page. I know it’s you now.” You lifted the pillow up and smiled. Harry knew what you were referring to. He rarely used Instagram, other than for his own curious information gathering.

“Yeah, we’ll have to follow each other now.” He joked. He didn’t mind you following him but you’d be disappointed when you saw how little there was on his page. Harry watched you for a moment longer before his long legs brought him behind you as you continued looking around. He gently placed his palms over your shoulders and ducked down to kiss the back of your neck after moving your hair away.

This got your attention and you sat the pillow down on the red velvet couch that looked like no one ever sat on it and turned to him. Your heart was pounding. You were really going to do this. With Harry. But his face and his warmth made you feel relaxed and comforted.

Harry tilted his head and looked at your lips as he pressed his over yours. You were quick to put your hands in his hair and he scooped you into his body and then moved you onto the couch with the Gucci pillows. Your back hit the pile of pillows and Harry kept his mouth over yours, soft lips, wet and warm tongue.

Your panties were still wet from what Harry had done to you at the bar and when he slowly moved his hand up your thigh again and his finger grazed over the fabric he paused and you could feel the smile on his mouth before he continued the movement of his lips on yours.

You shifted your hips as Harry grasped onto one of your thighs, spreading your legs apart before squishing your flesh under his fingers, “Y/n…” your name came out of his mouth in a whimper as he kneeled onto the floor between your legs, “can I put my mouth on you? Please?” He asked as he rubbed over your wet panties in between kisses.

You did want him to and there was something about how desperate he seemed as well that made you want to comfort him, to let him have what he wanted out of pity. Harry sat back onto the back of his shins with his eyes on yours and his face set in a serious expression.

You smiled, “Yes.” You saw something dark flash in Harry’s eyes and over his face, but it was brief and it you doubted you’d seen it after all. Harry’s features wouldn’t just suddenly shift. Perhaps a light above flickered out, casting a shadow over him. But before your brain could digest your thoughts Harry was pushing your skirt up and putting his fingers into the top band of your panties as he slowly began to slide the material down your legs and over your shoes before dropping them to the floor. He lifted your right leg, removing your shoe from your foot and then doing the same to your left foot.

His hands smoothed up your inner thighs and he pushed your legs apart as his long fingers brushed over your labia. He took slow strokes over the top at first and you watched him as he touched over you.

He slid his thumb over your slit and pushed your arousal through your crease and his mouth dropped open as he lowered himself down to you. When you finally felt his mouth on you there was a shock in your core. You immediately let out a soft moan and leaned back into the cushions that were softer than you imagined they’d be.

Harry licked at you and fed. Your flavor was so good. He was brought back to the night he did this to you just days ago. But now you could moan and whimper and cry out as loud as you wanted to. So, he lifted his face to speak.

“I want you to tell me what feels good. Moan and be loud for me, okay? Show me how good I make you feel.” He reached up to take your hand in his and as he lowered himself back down to you, he placed your hand in his hair for you to hold on to. You were quick to take the hint. When he began sucking gently at you, your fingers in his hair became tighter.

You wiggled under Harry’s hold and the feel of his tongue on you. You let yourself moan and whine at the sensation. You weren’t sure how to tell him what felt good. You were pretty sure he was doing exactly what felt good in your body. And come to think of it, it felt quite a lot like your dream felt.

You grasped onto Harry’s hair with both hands when Harry dug into you further, his tongue running up and down your labia and then dipped his tongue into you, drinking you in.

Harry lifted his face and gently took your hands out of his hair, “Can I take your top off?” He kneeled up and put his hands on the couch on both sides of your thighs, leaning in to kiss your neck. He knew that if he kissed your neck you’d probably let him do almost anything. He learned this quickly about you, your neck being your weak spot. So as he brushed his lips at your pulse point and licked over your skin you nodded, “Yes…”

Harry smiled and sat back, putting his hands at the bottom of your little t-shirt and began to drag it up causing you to lift your arms. When he pulled the material over your head, it messed up your hair a little and Harry was quick to put his hands through your strands to smooth it out as he looked down at the black bra that covered your breasts.

He could hear your heart pounding, as he lowered his mouth over the swell of your skin that wasn’t covered by your bra. He gave soft, open mouthed kisses to your flesh and it had you panting. The way Harry’s hands held on to your ribs under your breasts, how he was still knelt between your legs, his hips flush to the couch, his small groans, his dark curls tickling at you… Harry was just like he was in your dream.

You sat up a bit, causing Harry to remove his mouth from your skin.

“Um… I want to see you too. But, maybe we can go to your bed? If that’s okay? Uh… I don’t like want to have sex but I think… a bed would be nice?” You liked what Harry was doing to you in his living room on the couch but you wanted to see him and finish this in his bed where there’s likely to be more space. You were curious if real Harry was anything like dream-Harry in appearance. Your mouth nearly watered at the thought of seeing Harry’s dick in real life. You were hyper aware of the very decent sized mass pressing into the crotch of his pants. You wanted to unzip him and pull him out, let him breathe a little.

Harry smiled and a dimple appeared, “Of course. Should have taken you there in the first place. You deserve a nice soft, bed underneath you while I taste your pussy.”

You giggled at Harry’s lewd remark. He helped you stand and smoothed his hands down over your arms and dipped in to kiss you again with his warm mouth devouring yours and it made you wobbly. You couldn’t believe you were doing any of this but you also decided you wanted it more than almost anything else.

You followed Harry upstairs to his room. His home was so nice, high ceilings, expensive looking furniture and art all over. He certainly wasn't shy to use color everywhere you looked.

In his bedroom, once again, his design taste followed in there as well. The room was slightly less colorful than the living room, but still not what you'd expected. You felt a little exposed with no panties and no shirt but when you turned after hearing Harry close his door you watched him take his own shirt off.

You gasped a bit louder than intended when you saw his torso and his body with all his dark tattoos, and how well built he was under everything. But you were mostly surprised because this was exactly how you dreamed him. From the butterfly under his pecs, down to the fern tattoos on his hips.

"This is going to sound crazy, and I don't quite understand it..." you spoke as you stared at Harry's broad chest while he walked toward you undoing his belt, "but, you look exactly like my dream. You know the one we talked about... uh... like, kind of weird."

Harry stopped and looked down at himself, "I look weird?"

"No! I mean, it's weird how I dreamt these exact tattoos on you. I dreamt of everything. Like, I don't understand how my dream mind could have come up with this." You were at a total loss. You loved dream-Harry's body and all his tattoos and you hadn't stopped thinking about him from your dream, the way his body looked. But this was too eerie.

Harry smirked and bit his lip and finished removing his belt as he inched his way to you, "You look exactly like what I dreamed too. Maybe we just have a psychic connection somehow." He stopped in front of you and put his hands over your tummy and slid them up to your bra and then brought them out to your arms, nudging you toward his bed.

Harry didn't want you to think about that too much. He felt that at this point, you hadn't been under his spell at all when he ate you out in your bedroom the first time. You were lucid and aware but you had convinced yourself it was a dream. And now you remembered details that a dream-state wouldn't usually let you remember.

You fell into Harry's bed and giggled at his pushiness. He climbed over you and unbuttoned his pants and then pushed your skirt up again. Before he could get his mouth back on your pussy like he was so desperate for you sat up and pushed at his shoulder, "Will you take your pants off? Please. I... would feel better, um... because it looks painful." You motion toward where his obvious erection is still trying to burst from his pants.

Harry isn't a sentimental man. He's been around far too long to hang on to things like that and to feel something deeper than just primal need for anyone is strange for him. But you have somehow dug your way under the surface of his well-kept barrier. And your request to him almost sounded like a demand lined with concern and he was stunned for a moment. You didn't know that he was internally struggling with his feelings. But he did encounter a struggle when you spoke those words to him.

With his eyes on yours, he stood from the bed and pushed his pants down his long legs and then put his fingers into the band of his boxer-briefs, "Want these off of me too?"

You nodded and then quickly put your arms behind your back to unclip your bra. So you'd be bare for him as well. If he was going to be fully nude, you could let your boobs out. It felt so vulnerable to be sitting on Harry's bed like you were. With your eyes on his as he brought his underwear down his legs you blinked at the sight. Exactly like what you'd dreamed. Odd.

You tossed your bra to the floor and sat up on your knees as Harry crawled up toward you. He put his large palms over your breasts and gently massaged both and your breathing deepened at the feel. He lowered himself to lick and suck on your right nipple and pushed you down so your back was flat. Harry settled in between your legs as he tongued at your skin and nibbled on your nipples.

“Oh, god…” you breathed out and put your hands into Harry’s hair, knowing he liked that. You parted your legs further, allowing Harry more access. When he moved to your left nipple you felt the coolness over your right one as the moisture from his saliva blotted your flesh, causing it to pebble.

Harry slotted himself into you, pressing himself right over where he wanted so desperately to be inside of you. You gasped again, something you couldn’t help because everything Harry was doing to you caused you a startle and ignited in you a deep need.

When you felt his dick, solid and warm, sat directly over your pussy your ears heated and your chest felt on fire. He was gentle and moved himself with caution over you but it created a sudden urge of something absolutely sinful and lustful in your body, but you did well to suppress it (well, mostly suppressed).

Harry continued kissing over you and pressing himself on you. He knew you liked it when you rutted your hips upward toward him. The slickness of your arousal dotting his cock, making him feel feral and a bit uncontrolled, but he kept himself sane. He had to remove his lips from your breasts so he could lower his mouth back over you. If he stayed with his prick pressed over your pussy for much longer he was likely to just hold you down and fuck you right there. Especially because he knew you liked it and that made him wild.

When his lips were back on your clit you closed your eyes and whispered his name into the thick air. Your fingers were wound tightly into his curls and when Harry dipped two fingers inside of your entrance and slurped you into his mouth you yelped and nodded when he looked at you. Harry’s mouth curved up in a smile with his lips still on you and his long digits pumping into you.

You weren’t really able to articulate anything to Harry except with gasps and moans and the occasional groaning of his name. And Harry knew what you meant exactly. You were quite a lot more in tune with your sexual side than you realized. Every time Harry looked up to you to check in, you’d somehow just know to look down at him in that moment and it confirmed to Harry he was making you feel good. He really preferred to hear how good he was doing with words but having you speechless was a pretty good indicator as well.

Harry hummed over your clit before harshly sucking it into his mouth and you whimpered and then moaned loudly at the sensation. You threw your head back when the tingles of your orgasm began to spark through you unexpectedly. It was intense and overwhelming and unexpected but when it started to take over you suddenly couldn’t stop yourself from expressing how good you felt.

“Oh god! Yes… oooh! Yes! Harry! Fuuu…” of course you couldn’t bring yourself to say that last word fully, but you were close and Harry felt your legs shaking and your cunt squeezing over his fingers as your orgasm spilled out.

You were loud and wiggly and Harry was nearly coming from your taste alone. He ate you in and licked over you as your climax erased your thoughts. You were pulling Harry’s hair so hard he felt the burn on his scalp and reveled in the way it hurt.

When Harry gently pulled his fingers out of you, you panted and sighed in relief with your eyes closed. Your body felt warm and exhausted and happy.

Harry kissed your naval because it was so cute and then he sat up and looked down at his masterpiece. He created this moment, this look on you. Your chest dramatically rising and falling and face flushed, your breasts soft with hard nipples at the peak and goosebumps covered your sides and your arms, causing the fine hairs to stand… A masterpiece for sure.

When you opened your sweet eyes and looked up at Harry he was pumping himself slowly, his large palm wrapped around his large cock. You sat up and put your hand out toward him but before touching him you spoke, “Can I do anything? I want to help you.”

Harry slowed down his strokes and shook his head in amazement at you, “If you want. What did you have in mind?”

You shrugged and kneeled up to your knees and touched the very tip of his penis and then looked up at him, “I don’t know. I can lick you too, if you want.”

Harry grinned and sat back, spreading his legs and pulled you with him so you were sat between his thighs.

“Lick away. However you want.”

You’d never done anything like this so you didn’t even know where to start. But you were determined and so you leaned down to him and kissed the tip of prick and looked up at him with a sheepish smile before pressing your lips along the frenulum. Harry keened and sucked in a sharp breath as he watched you. You drew your tongue around the head and Harry groaned as he watched you lick down his shaft until you met his pubic hair and then drew your tongue back up over him.

You wrapped your fist around his base (as much as you could, he was quite thick) and then covered his tip with your mouth. You looked up at him sucked on his tip and Harry’s face was slack, his jaw dropped, eyes hooded and heavy.

“Fuck baby. Do it how you want. Love those soft lips on me like this. Take your time.”

You felt your cheeks burn with his words and you chuckled a little, but the sound was muffled as your mouth was occupied. And Harry feeling your muffled laugh over his tip tensed. It was… what could he say other than heavenly?

Your saliva dripped down over him as you began to suckle and draw him in a little more. You didn’t really know what you were doing but you knew a few things and understood the idea of what probably felt good on a penis. So you licked and nursed his head into your mouth and began to slide your palm over his shaft.

Harry’s own moans were encouraging, and his dirty words were embarrassing but you liked it.

“Fucking beautiful with my cock in your mouth like this, Y/n. Never had head so good before, baby. Just like that…” Harry was trying hard not to cram his cock down your throat. He’d get you there another time. He didn’t want to scare you but part of him thought you might actually like it.

You popped your mouth off of his tip and Harry watched as strings of your saliva stayed attached from his cock to your lips.

“I like how you taste.” Was all you said and Harry’s ears began to ring when he felt the familiar edging of his climax moving into his balls. He was surprised at how close he was and so suddenly. You were like a little magic nymph or something. He’d never been so easy to finish off, yet here you were, being gentle and sweet with his cock (which he usually wasn’t a fan of) and making him tremble under your innocence.

You put your lips back over his tip and swiped your tongue around and hummed at him when you met his eyes. Your hand continued pumping him and Harry very softly lifted his hips toward you when he felt he could burst.

“Fuck. I… I’m about to come, honey. You want it in your mouth? Want to swallow me down?”

You kept your mouth around tip and nodded with your eyes on him. Harry groaned and squeezed his eyes closed, his jaw clenched. You were already willing to take his come down your throat and Harry couldn’t believe his luck with you. A sweet innocent virgin girl wanting to get her throat coated with the devil’s come (well, technically you didn’t know he was a demon just yet).

When you tasted the start of Harry’s orgasm it wasn’t bad. It reminded you of warm melted butter that was salted, but without the dairy flavor. It didn’t taste like much really. You swallowed and continued stroking his shaft as you suckled his head.

But suddenly, the small taste you got became warm squirts and flooded your mouth. You swallowed what you could, letting it slide down your throat but some of his come dripped from your lips and glazed over Harry’s cock.

Harry grasped his comforter in his hands (he really wanted to grab your hair and shove you down his shaft but he had to control himself) as he came into your mouth. He watched as you did take him a little deeper and his come dribbled down your chin and over his shaft. He could make no noise other than to groan and whimper. You had him coming hard and he couldn’t wrap his brain around how quickly you’d done it.

When you’d felt the last of Harry’s sperm spurt from his tip and he seemed to relax under your touch you drew your mouth off him and sat back as you wiped your face with a smile.

Harry popped an eye open and peeked at you smiling down at him. His own smile spread over his face and he sat up to grab your wrist, yanking you down over him.

“Best head I’ve ever had. You made me come quicker than I’ve ever come in all my life.” And it was true, even if you felt he was only saying that to make you feel good.

You breathed out a laugh and pressed your cheek firmly over his left pec, which was warm and soft. Harry’s scent was so nice and it made you feel so attached to him somehow. You’d been smelling him for days even when he wasn’t around, but now you just wanted to bottle him up and keep it with you all the time.

“Me too.” You laughed at your joke. Obviously Harry was the best head you’d ever had, he was the only one who’d ever done it to you.

Harry chuckled and reached down to your bum to lift your skirt (which was the only piece of clothing that hadn’t come off of you) and pinched your butt.

You jumped and yelped and tried to reach down to pinch at Harry’s bottom but he was flat on his back so you settled for pinching over his thigh. Harry laughed and swatted at you and you gasped.

You lifted your head to look at him, you were both grinning and red in the face. Harry kept his palm on your ass and smiled at you, “Could you stay the night with me? Would your parents mind?”

You bit your lip and thought for a moment. You could obviously lie to your parents, but it wasn’t something you really did much. You hated lying in general and normally you’d easily say no to something like this (not that you’d ever been in this type of circumstance). But you didn’t want to leave. You wanted to stay with Harry and lie in his arms and laugh with him and pinch his thigh while he swatted your bum. You couldn’t believe yourself, but you knew this was different. Harry was different and so you nodded with a smile.

“I just have to think of a lie.” You lowered your head back down to Harry’s chest and closed your eyes.

Harry smiled to himself. He was feeling the most content he’d felt in many long years. He liked you a lot. More than he intended. But this was different. You were different.

“I’ll help you come up with a lie.” And so, Harry did because he was an expert at lying and deceiving and your parents were none-the-wiser.

Part 7*

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[unseededtoast]

Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Part Thirteen

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

Through watery eyes I see Joel's jaw set tight and I quickly come to terms that I might die here too.

The truck grumbles down the road filled with abandoned cars and debris, and I'm honestly surprised it's lasted us this long. The engine's roar is enough to fill the truck's silence, so that I'm not suffocating from it. Joel and I haven't exchanged a single word after last night, and that's fine with me.

My eyes are glued to the green exit sign that I know we'll be taking and my stomach churns with nerves. Tate said the Fireflies are in shambles, which is nice to hear, but I hope that Trevor is still there and he's willing to answer. I know that I'll have to feign amicability with the Fireflies, but if it means I'm closer to unraveling this mystery then I'm about to be the nicest visitor they've ever met.

Joel stops the truck a few miles away from where the Fireflies should be and sighs heavily. Maybe while I'm gone he'll just drive away and leave me be. Sure, I'd be alone and more vulnerable but I also wouldn't have to put up with his secrecy that hangs over my mind like a dark cloud. Gathering my bag in my hands, I think through the questions I want to ask and what information I really need out of these people. The truck's door squeaks as I hop out, and Joel stays put.

Without checking to see what he's doing, I start heading towards the building the Fireflies claimed. They're easy to find, they practically guide me there with their graffiti spraypainted on the side of every building. Admittedly, the streets are suspiciously empty but that might be due to their declining numbers.

Behind me I hear the slam of the truck's door and heavy footsteps come up behind me. My pace doesn't falter as he catches up to me.

"The hell is your problem?" He asks and I stop in my tracks. My body turns fully towards him, eyes wide. He sure has some nerve.

"What's my problem? What's yours Joel? You're the one who's keeping some sort of secret and you're the one who didn't want to let that kid go last night." The words that fly out of my mouth are probably a bit too loud, but I can't seem to care in the moment. He can't seriously think that our issues are my fault. His cheeks flare with blood, his eyebrows crease harder than they usually are.

"He could've come back to kill us." Joel's voice is low and serious, and I fight back the strong urge to roll my eyes.

"You know he wouldn't have. He was running towards a city that's fallen with nothing but the clothes on his back. He was harmless, it was plain as day." My hands begin moving as I talk, my temper getting the best of me. He huffs in response and goes to keep walking, stepping a few feet in front of me towards the base. Angrily, I turn on my heel and stride towards him.

"Thought you hated the Fireflies, why are you even coming?" My voice is bitter and I think I would have rather had him stay in the truck or better yet, drive off without me.

His broad shoulders tense up as he keeps on the path to the Fireflies, opting to ignore my question. It feels like the blood in my veins is boiling but I push my anger away as I see the main doors of the base. This argument will have to be settled later.

I pick up my pace to reach the base before Joel, not wanting him to be their first impression. His irritability and rough demeanor is not how I want this to start off. The man outside the base points a gun at us and I raise my hands instinctually to show them I'm not a threat.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" The guard barks out and I speak before Joel can get a word in.

"We need to speak to Trevor." I call back to him and he keeps his gun aimed at us as we continue approaching the doors.

"What business do you have with Trevor?" He questions again, and I plaster a fake smile on my face but I hope it comes off as genuine.

"We have information regarding an operation he's conducting." I keep my answer vague enough so that it's believable, but I leave out the part where I'm going to interrogate Trevor for his possible involvement in the slaughter of children. After a few minutes of silent debate, the guard puts his gun down and beckons us to follow him into the base.

The base is dilapidated and it's obvious that things around here have been rough. There's an overflow of trash piled up in some corners, discarded cans and bags lay all over the place. A ripped Firefly flag hangs from a doorway, acting as a makeshift curtain. The guard leads us through the first floor and up the stairs to the second level. The old wooden stairs creak with every step we take, and I'm half convinced I'm going to fall through them at any given second.

As we make our way through the second level, there are some Fireflies that watch us with curiosity, others look at us with skepticism. Everyone is quiet as we pass through, all of their conversations coming to an abrupt halt. Joel's presence can be felt behind me, he's practically right on my heels as we walk through the place.

Finally, the guard leads us to a closed door at the end of the hall. My heart pumps heavily as I wait for it to open. Footsteps sound on the other side of the door and it swings open, revealing an older man with a receding hairline. He doesn't look very friendly, his face is morphed into a scowl and he gripes at the guard, asking him why he's knocking at the door and not down keeping watch. The guard tells him about our exchange and the man's beady eyes land on me and then on Joel.

"Come in." He opens the door wider and I enter the room with a small thanks.

The room is chaotic. There are maps hung over the walls, all marked up with different circles, lines, and shapes. On the old desk there are dozens of papers scattered and torn. Shredded curtains cover the windows, or try to at least, but there's a steady ray of sunshine that beams into the room, making it hot and stuffy. As Joel steps in, the man closes the door behind him.

"Who are you?" The man wastes no time in getting to the bottom of things.

I smile once more and channel the hospitality in me. I extend my hand and introduce myself. He's kind enough to take my hand and shake it, and he ignores Joel who stands leaning against the far wall with his hands crossed across his chest. I'm thankful he's staying out of this.

"Nice to meet you-?" I prompt the man for his name, hoping and praying he's who I'm hoping.

"I'm Trevor." He walks behind the messy desk and leans forward on it, his weight being pressed down into his palms as he keeps his eyes trained on me.

"Trevor, it's a pleasure. Now I'm not going to waste your time here, I'm hoping there's a way we can help each other out." I push a stray piece of hair out of my face and maintain eye contact with him, noticing how his eyes travel all over my face and down my sweaty chest.

"How so?" His eyes snap back up to mine, narrowing every so slightly.

"I've been travelling for a while now and came across this group of raiders or something. They weren't like normal raiders though. No, these people all had the letter T carved into their skin." I fabricate my story in a way where it seems I'm oblivious to every shred of evidence in my bag. I want to see what he gives up about these people first before I start playing my cards.

"Okay?" He asks, not understanding what I'm getting at.

"Well, I found some Firefly tags in their camp. Seems like they were almost targeting you all." I lie to him again and notice his jaw twitch, but he recovers smoothly with a nod of his head.

"Interesting. Yeah, we've known there are some raiders about and some of our people have left. But, they haven't tried to attack us yet. Thanks for letting us know." He's not going to give anything up it seems. Either he doesn't know about the operation, or he's covering it up. In a desperate attempt for information, I ask one more question.

"Yeah of course. But there's nothing you know about them? Where they might be located? I'd really like to avoid crossing them again." I rub a hand up and down my arm like I'm scared of seeing them again. Trevor scratches the back of his neck,

"Well, no not really. Sorry." His answer is short and he glances down at the papers in front of him as he speaks. I notice a bead of sweat running down the side of his forehead and he makes no move to wipe it. Nodding my head, I quickly start forming a plan of my next line of questioning, pacing back and forth a few steps as my brain scrambles to come up with anything. I think I'm going to have to be bolder if I want the information I came here for.

"That's okay. Tell me Trevor, why would they have a note signed by the Fireflies in their possession?" My pacing ceases and Trevor's shoulders tense up. His gaze meets mine and I see a darkness in his eye. Now I might be onto something. He tries to recover his composure,

"What kind of note?" He asks me, slowly walking around to the other side of his desk. I take two small steps back and shrug,

"I don't know, most of it was burnt up. But I could read a little bit of it. The word immune was on it and QZs were mentioned. Didn't really get to make out a whole lot." I feign ignorance, trying to see what gets him talking. Trevor sits on the edge of the paper-covered desk, a hand on his chin.

As he thinks, my eyes glance up to look at one of the maps taped to the wall. I recognize it immediately as an exact copy of the one that's in my bag. My jaw sets tightly and I try to keep my look of indifference on my face. Trevor definitely knows, there's no way he doesn't. He shakes his head and his voice breaks the momentary silence,

"I really don't know about that one." He's shutting me down again, and I know I'm down to my last resort. The façade of kindness falls from my face and I know that sitting across from me is a man who knows all about the killing of innocent children. My fingers itch to grab the knife from my holster, but I refrain for now. I clear my throat and step towards Trevor this time, knowing I need to get under his skin. A photograph on his desk shows me how I might get him bothered.

"Well, maybe Marlene knows. I worked with her a little a few years ago but I heard she's out here now, she's pretty high up there in rank, she might have a clue." I lie again, knowing full well that she's dead. A photo of her lays amongst the documents on the desk, it looks like she's smiling in it. Trevor's eyes have turned almost black as he looks back up to me.

"Marlene is dead." My lips curve down into a frown,

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know how she died?" I try to get into his head this way, make him mad about my questions and his dead associate. Trevor's knuckles turn white as he balls a hand into a fist and I see Joel shift out of the corner of my eye.

"She was murdered. She was out in Salt Lake City at the hospital and a maniac shot her." I fight to keep from looking to Joel. He's told me that he was with her when she died, but maybe he was withholding some other information about what happened.

"What was she doing out there at a hospital?" My voice almost cracks as I ask. I know my questions are getting off track, but there may be some sort of value knowing this information as well. Trevor shakes his head with a bitter laugh. We're locked in a staring match and I know he's onto me. He knows that I'm aware of more than I'm letting on and he's done playing the game. Which is fine, because I've grown tired of the game myself.

Within the blink of an eye, I grab the gun that's holstered on my thigh and point it towards him, flicking the safety off. Joel moves again out of the corner of my eye, but I keep my focus on the man in front of me. The only thing that's on my mind is getting as much as I can out of him. I repeat my question again, my tone becoming low and the man in front of me sighs.

"She was out there trying to make a cure. We were back in Boston together about a year ago and she found some girl that was bitten but never turned. Unfortunately for Marlene, she was injured and couldn't take the girl herself, so she hired someone else to get the girl from Boston to the Fireflies out west. I left as she was setting up the deal. My men who were there tell me that the man she hired gunned down everyone in that hospital to get that girl back from the surgeon. Then he shot Marlene and took off with the girl." My blood runs cold in my veins but I can't afford to lose my composure now, there's still stuff I need from him. My mind is working a hundred miles a minute, there's too much information to process at once. Too many things are coming to light and I can't focus on unpacking it all right now.

"So why do the Fireflies want the children in the QZs dead? And what do these other people have to do with it?" My finger twitches on the trigger, throwing all sense of secrecy out of the window. A twisted grin spreads across Trevor's face,

"Someone's gotta pay for Marlene, someone's gotta pay for jeopardizing our shot at a cure. I'm going to make sure they pay the same price she did. It's only fair, after all." I shake my head, not understanding what he means.

"Those children have nothing to do with what happened to Marlene." I say, my voice becoming louder and rougher. I step forward and press the gun to the man's head. He glares up at me and grits his teeth as he speaks,

"One of them does, and they'll kill all the children they can just to find her."

Before I can get another word in, there's a loud bang that resounds through the room and the man's blood is splattered all over my front. As if time were moving in slow motion, I look down to see the man collapsed on the floor, his blood draining out rapidly, pieces of his brains scattered on my shirt. I'm frozen to my spot and feel someone's arms wrap around me and push me back behind the desk.

Seconds later, the door swings open and gunfire sounds everywhere, echoing off the walls. I shake my head and come back to reality and realize that the Fireflies left in this building are all coming down on us. Something in my mind switches and it's like I'm back on patrol in the QZs, my movements are on autopilot.

I peek over the desk and quickly aim at a woman rushing in. My trigger finger twitches and I send a bullet through her neck. She gurgles and falls to the floor, but another Firefly is quick to take her place. They shoot at me, but I make my shots count. The way I'm positioned behind the desk gives me the upper hand, and I'm able to shoot the Fireflies as they enter the room before they can see me.

I lose count of how many bodies I shoot down without a second thought. The building is now eerily silent, there are no more footsteps coming up the stairs or down the hall. Carefully, I stand and peek outside the door with my gun drawn, confirming that there are no more.

Once I'm satisfied with the lack of Fireflies, I turn back and see the carnage. There are at least twenty people all piled on the floor, lifeless. My eyes drag from their bodies to the map on the wall, now splattered with blood.

With a reeling mind I leave the room and head back down the stairs. Trevor's words replay in my head over and over and over again and my palms get clammy, my stomach starts turning as more pieces of the puzzle begin hastily putting themselves together.

My hands push open the base's front doors and I breathe in the fresh air and stumble away from the building. There's a sturdy tree just off to the left and my feet drag over the pavement to reach it, chest heaving as I begin hyperventilating. I haven't killed a man in over three years and now I've just slaughtered a dozen. And if that's not bad enough, I think Joel might be a madman.

Quick and ragged breaths enter my body and I'm unable to get control of myself. What does this all mean? My thoughts are cut short as the base door opens again and Joel strolls out, rifle in hand. He meets my wide eyes and tilts his head to the side with an unreadable expression on his face.

Scrambling to move, I push myself off the tree and urge my feet to start running. I don't know where I'm going, but I need to get away from Joel. I sprint the fastest I can, but it's no match for his speed. His boots thud on the pavement as he comes after me, and he wraps a strong hand around my wrist to halt my running.

It feels like my shoulder is pulled out of the socket as I'm jolted to a stop. I turn around in his grasp and try to wrestle myself away, but I can't. He's too strong for me. Through watery eyes I see Joel's jaw set tight and I quickly come to terms that I might die here too.

#joel miller #joel miller hbo #joel miller tlou #joel miller the last of us #tlou #the last of us #joel miller fic #joel miller fanfic #joel miller series #joel tlou #joel the last of us #pedro pascal #the last of us fic #the last of us fanfic #the last of us series #tlou fic #tlou fanfic #tlou series

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC Season 2 Chapter 54 Translation (Lucien's Route - Part 1)

⚠️  SPOILER ALERT  ⚠️

This post contains a VERY HEAVY SPOILER for the chapter that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

"Speaking of which, if there's a beautiful dream, would you like to stay in it with me?"

"A beautiful dream? Is it the kind where I don't have to go to work every day?"

"More beautiful than that—it's a dream where we can always be by each other's side."

Translation under the cut!

Previous Lucien’s chapter -> [Here]

[Background Info]

Please read Lucien's previous chapter first before this chapter jnsnjsdjd. Lucien might feel OOC if you don't.

Long story short, although the world already diverted from its original path of heading toward destruction caused by a comet, now the world is ascending to the fourth dimension and the rifts are the manifestation of it. The boys' each route is basically how they deal with it.

About me dividing it into parts- the S2 Chapter 54 is FULLY translated and released at once. Just for fun, I divided it like this so you can also choose and get bad endings just like in-game~

[Chapter 54-1]

In the office, I occasionally hear birds chirping outside as if they are singing in celebration of the arrival of a new day.

I type the last Enter key in the document, click the save button in the top left corner, and take a deep breath.

A client I've been pursuing for a long time finally showed interest in collaboration yesterday. However, they also presented additional requirements, requesting a draft proposal by noon today.

I'm working overtime with my colleagues, and we've finally put together a decent draft.

I asked Anna to send the document to the client's contact person and I massaged my sore shoulder.

Beside me, Kiki suddenly leans over and shakes her phone.

Kiki: Boss, I just discovered a hidden gem of a beverage shop! I heard their best-selling hot chocolate is especially delicious. Do you want to order takeout together?

MC: Sure, send me the link to check it out~

I open the store page, and the cover features promotional image of their best-selling drink. However, the packaging looks a bit familiar.

=Flashback Start=

Lucien: On the way to your company just now, I happened to come across a newly opened beverage shop.

Lucien: The staff recommended this "Orange Hot Chocolate", and I thought it might be to your liking. Do you want to give it a try?

He hands a steaming paper cup into my hand and passes on his warm scent with it.

MC: Wow- it's delicious! It has the refreshing fragrance of oranges and is quite sweet. But I can't keep something this good all to myself~

I raise the paper cup and bring it to him, Lucien bends his eyes to a smile and lowers his head. His hair gently falls amidst the dense steam and----

=Flashback Ends=

The sweet warmth from the memory gradually surfaces at the corner of my lips, and I shake my phone at Kiki.

MC: I'll pass for now; I suddenly remembered I have something to do and need to step out for a bit. Go ahead and order; it's on me!

As I speak, I walk towards the exit and pick up my phone to send a message to that person in my heart.

MC: "Professor Lucien, are you still in? I'll come over now to see you~"

Lucien quickly replied with two voice messages, accompanied by a sticker of a little fox looking dizzy while doing experiments.

Lucien: I just finished a task, now I'm pondering on how to capture a photo of the scenery outside the window that hints I miss you a bit.

Lucien: But I'm happy because you'll get to see it in person soon.

I reply to him with a smile while briskly walking in the direction of the beverage shop. I can't help but feel that this year's winter isn't as cold as it seems.

MC: Hello, give me two cups of "Orange Hot Chocolate," please.

Clerk: I'm sorry, but we just ran out of the ingredients for that beverage this morning. Can I offer you a different flavor instead?

MC: ...Oh, okay.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I point to the "Rich Winter Hot Chocolate" on the side of the menu.

MC: I'll go with this one.

The clerk starts preparing the drinks and hands me the two cups after a moment.

Clerk: Please be mindful of the cup's rim, it's hot.

MC: Okay, thank you.

I instinctively reach out, my gaze still fixed on the phone screen. With a muffled sound and liquid splashing in my peripheral vision, I abruptly snap back to reality.

MC: ...Oops!

I frantically try to catch the fallen cups, but it's too late.

The newly changed shirt takes the brunt of it, and the little mochi* beside me isn't spared either, now adorned with unsightly brown stains.

[T/N: The little mochi is a keychain that Lucien gave to MC in the last chapter]

MC: …..

Frustration and speechlessness well up within me. I impatiently grab tissues to wipe it, but the effect is minimal.

So, I quickly ran to the restroom, wetting the stained areas with water. Despite my persistent efforts, hot water successfully turned a few drops of chocolate stains into a large light brown patch.

Looking at my disheveled reflection in the mirror, I take a deep breath.

Forget it, who cares! Lucien won't mind anyway. Thinking so, I hastily walk out, only to be tripped suddenly—

I manage to grab onto the wall, preventing the third mishap of the day.

MC: ….

Why does it feel like I've been a bit unlucky since leaving the office...

Suppressing my dismay, I push open the shop door, and the cold wind hits me as the wet clothes turn stiff.

Without thinking, I quicken my pace. Let's just walk faster, get there a bit sooner, and see the person who can soothe all my irritations.

Fortunately, the way to the Bioscience Research Institute is smooth.

The elevator carries me up, and when the door opens, a somewhat familiar voice reaches my ears.

??: ...So, you want to activate it again.

It's Cyril's voice... How could he be here? I freeze when I see Lucien standing in the corridor not far away from Cyril.

Lucien: This is a necessary step to obtain the results.

Cyril: May we both achieve the worlds we each desire.

Cyril says this as he walks past Lucien towards the direction of the elevator. When our eyes meet, his cold gaze blinks, seemingly surprised.

Cyril: Didn't expect to see you here.

MC: ...Shouldn't I be saying that?

I can't help but make a sarcastic remark, but Cyril doesn't answer my question. Instead, he takes another step in my direction and speaks calmly.

Cyril: Have you made a decision about the matter I asked you last time?

Our conversation in the jewelry store flashes through my mind. I look into his clear eyes and shake my head.

MC: I still need time to consider.

MC: After all, the world in the dream is false. If there's another solution, I don't want to choose this method.

Cyril nods, his expression as calm as ever.

Cyril: I understand.

Cyril: But if you delay further, you might fall behind.

Fall behind... what does he mean?

I'm slightly taken aback. Before I can ask, Cyril has naturally walked past me.

His slender figure, accompanied by unhurried footsteps, quickly disappears into the elevator.

MC: Why does he never make things clear...

I glance back from Cyril's departing figure, and when I look up, I see Lucien walking towards me.

His gaze inevitably falls on the large stain on my clothes, then slowly moves to my face.

I thought he might ask what happened or say something comforting, but he just smiles lightly and speaks.

Lucien: I smell the scent of hot chocolate, but it's different from the previous one.

I blink in surprise. It’s as if the earlier worries have suddenly dissipated and I take a step closer to him.

MC: It's the Rich Winter Hot Chocolate~ from the same shop as the "Orange Hot Chocolate" you brought last time.

I open the bag, watching as Lucien takes out one cup and uses his other hand to push open the office door.

Meanwhile, a researcher comes out from behind the door. As they pass each other, Lucien's hand holding the cup inadvertently shakes a little.

The cup tilts ever so slightly, and a few drops of hot chocolate splash onto his cuff.

Lucien: Hmm... This is troublesome.

He walks into the office and fixes the glasses on the bridge of his nose in a slightly distressed manner.

Lucien: I'm not very good at dealing with these stains. Can you help me think of a solution?

He says it quite seriously as if facing a challenging problem. I can't help but laugh, feeling a softness in my heart.

The little thoughts I keep to myself never need to be explicitly stated; this person always understands them.

MC: Of course. But I just learned from personal experience that you shouldn't use hot water.

MC: Unexpectedly, both Professor Lucien and I are getting a bit of chocolate "favor" today.

Lucien: Hearing MC say that makes this small trouble seem kind of cute.

We exchange smiles, and he raises the cup, gently tapping it against the one in my hand.

Lucien: So, before dealing with it, let's toast to these cute little troubles today.

-

[Chapter 54-3]

Following Lucien's footsteps, we enter the laboratory deep in the corridor. Unlike the usual laboratories filled with the smell of disinfectant, the air here is surprisingly fresh.

Lucien skillfully takes several bottles of reagents from the shelf and places them on the table.

Lucien: If you want to deal with stubborn hot chocolate stains, there are actually many methods.

Lucien: The reagents in front of us can all address our current predicament at a molecular level.

MC: But using them to clean up little chocolate spills, wouldn't that be a bit wasteful?

Lucien: How about considering it as conducting a fun little chemistry experiment?

His words create a cascade of ripples in my heart, and I can't help but laugh, pretending to roll up my sleeves and stand up straight.

MC: Well then, Professor, please give me instructions~

The transparent bottles and jars in the laboratory reflect the cold light from the overhead lamp.

Under Lucien's guidance, I pour the reagents into the beaker, submerging the little mochi treated as the "experimental subject".

Its originally dull fluff becomes damp, and soon, a faint color begins to emerge.

MC: It works quickly!

Lucien: After all, it hasn't been stained for a long time. As long as we target the lipid-soluble pigments appropriately, solving it is not difficult.

After confirming the results, we also took care of the clothes stained with the hot chocolate spills.

I inadvertently turn my head and see a few scattered experiment documents on the nearby table.

MC: "The possibility of transferring perception through neural links"... Is this your recent research direction?

Lucien's gaze sweeps over the proposal, placing the stirring rod on the dark rubber tabletop.

Lucien: It's... a kind of unexpected gain.

Lucien: In a recent neuroscience experiment, we discovered a similar phenomenon, but it has been temporarily set aside for now.

My gaze lingers on the obscure experiment documents for a moment, then turns to Lucien's composed face.

Thinking about my recent overwhelming matters, I can't help but let out a "sob".

MC: Darn it, how come I don't have a brain that can multitask problems like yours...

I mutter wearily, and Lucien immediately strokes my head.

Lucien: (chuckle) It seems there is indeed a challenging problem troubling our Great Producer.

MC: Absolutely, a super-sized problem!

MC: I need to absorb some of Professor Lucien's intelligence energy to make my thoughts clearer too.

I rest my head on his shoulder, rubbing against it, and hear a soft laugh by my ear.

Lucien turns towards me, pulling me into his embrace.

Lucien: If that's the case, then you can absorb a bit more.

I "hmm" in agreement, and after a moment, I lift my head, looking at Lucien with a feigned look of grievance.

MC: Professor Lucien is so cooperative; he doesn't think I'm silly, does he?

Lucien is slightly surprised. He places a hand on his lips, his voice carrying a clear sense of amusement.

Lucien: Miss Producer, if you think like that, you're unfairly judging me.

Lucien: What I meant is, there's still a troublesome future waiting for us.

I lock eyes with Lucien for a moment, only then realizing he's referring to the troubles we faced in the rift before.

Being captured in the glass chamber in NW, the chaotic escape during the pursuit... scenes after scenes flash before my eyes.

After a moment of silence, I let out a deep sigh.

MC: Oh no, let's just not talk about this for now. Let me be an ostrich a little longer...

MC: Dealing with the troubles at hand is already more than enough for me to handle.

I suddenly pause in my words, realizing something.

MC: Lucien, what if there are other troubles in the world at that time point? Would NW not have the time to deal with me?

Lucien: For example?

MC: For example... I recently saw a terrifying vision.

MC: Our world will face countless disasters in the future, and everyone's lives will be in ruins.

Thinking about those devastating scenes, my voice unintentionally carries a hint of gravity.

Lucien: Is this what has been troubling you these days?

I nod with a hint of distress.

MC: I really want to find a solution, but I have no clue where to start.

MC: How could these disasters suddenly happen out of nowhere? I always feel like there's a missing key link in the middle.

The steady breath falls by my ears, Lucien seems to be thinking seriously, and after a moment, he speaks.

Lucien: Perhaps I can help you find that link.

I instinctively look up, inquiring with a hint of surprise.

MC: Do you already have an idea so quickly?

Lucien: Because the question you mentioned aligns perfectly with my previous hypothesis.

Lucien: Let's go, I'll take you to the laboratory.

The quiet corridor echoes with our footsteps. After turning several corners, we arrive at the entrance of a hidden laboratory.

Lucien raises his hand and enters something on the keyboard on the wall. Accompanied by a series of beeps, the massive door slowly opens before us.

After passing through several rows of intricate instruments, a wall of glass comes into view, enclosing a white, sealed space.

A rift silently stretches across a corner, its edges faintly shimmering. I observe for a moment, then hesitantly speak.

MC: Why do I feel like the shape of this rift is somewhat familiar?

Lucien: Because a few months ago*, we used it to enter NW.

[T/N: refer to what happened in the previous chapter]

MC: It's been so long, and it hasn't closed yet?

I murmur in surprise, but thinking about the recent influx of submissions regarding the prolonged duration of the rift, I decide not to inquire further.

Just out of curiosity, I turn my head and look at Lucien beside me.

MC: Is there a specific reason it was deliberately moved here?

Lucien: No, it just has an unusually long duration, no different from other regular rifts.

MC: So, do I need to do anything? Should I use CORE to close it like before?

With my previous experience, this doesn't seem like a challenging issue for me. However, Lucien shakes his head.

He then picks up a small glass orb-shaped device from the lab bench.

Lucien: This time, our goal is not elimination but addition.

MC: Addition? It can't be as simple as figuring out 1 + 1 equals 2 to find the crucial link, can it?

I blink with a bit of confusion, but Lucien doesn't seem inclined to provide further explanation, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

Seeing him deliberately keeping me in suspense, I clear my throat and pout, then take the device from his palm.

MC: Alright, I'll listen to your explanation later~

I exhale deeply, invoking that familiar power within me once again.

The device in my hand trembles slightly. I lift my head seemingly in response. I look expectantly at the rift behind the glass.

The next moment, it suddenly enlarges before my eyes.

-

[Chapter 54-5]

The rift expands without any warning, like a wound suddenly torn open, stretching out before me and Lucien.

I pause for a moment, unable to help but softly exclaim, "Wow," swiftly turning my head to look at Lucien.

MC: Lucien, its area expanded so much in just an instant!

Lucien: Well, it seems our "addition" has worked.

Lucien: With this, perhaps the link you're looking for will soon appear.

As Lucien speaks, his inky eyes slightly narrow, there's a hint of cunning in his voice.

I lock eyes with him for a moment, unrelentingly leaning closer to him.

MC: No more teasing! What's the connection between this experiment and the "critical link"?

Lucien takes the instrument from my hand and places it back on the lab table, looking at me with an unhurried look.

Lucien: This experiment shows that the impact of CORE on the rift is actually bidirectional.

Lucien: Apart from closing, it can also trigger the expansion of the rift.

I contemplate his words for a moment, then ask with a hint of confusion.

MC: But what happens after the rift expands?

Lucien: The change in area is just the most apparent manifestation. In reality, the energy within the rift is also expanding.

Lucien: Once it surpasses a certain critical point, it spontaneously seeks a more suitable "outlet", no longer manifesting catastrophically.

Lucien: This way, the situation you're concerned about won't occur.

[T/N: Not gonna lie, I'm not sure how to explain this one except that it's similar to how the stars turn into a supergiant and then white dwarf once it runs out of fuel lol. Or once the rift is big enough it'll let go of the energy less chaotically. Anyway, it's just sci-fi don't think about it too deeply]

The question that had troubled me for a long time was resolved so casually. I blink my eyes, feeling a bit surreal.

MC: ...Is it really that simple?

Lucien: The essence of this issue is not as complicated as it may seem.

Lucien: But if the lady wishes for a more convoluted approach, I can certainly give it a try.

MC: No need! I trust Professor Lucien's discovery, of course~

The heavy gloom that shrouded my heart finally reveals a glimmer of hope. My tone lightens involuntarily, and with a touch of anticipation, I speak.

MC: What do we need to do next? I'll do everything I can to help~

Lucien's gaze shifts to the window, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. He changes out of his research attire and opens his mouth with a light smile.

Lucien: I do have an invitation.

Lucien: Next, let's go and see the snow.

After a simple drying process, I hold the small mochi keychain that has regained its fluffiness and whiteness. I follow Lucien down the stairs with light steps. As we step out of the Bioscience Research Institute, I blink in surprise.

Countless delicate snowflakes silently dance in the air—this year's first snow has arrived so quietly.

The snowflakes gently blanket everything around in pristine white.

I can't help but raise my hand, catching a few falling snowflakes. Lucien looks at me, and his eyes seem to soften a bit.

Lucien: You look particularly happy.

MC: Of course~ I've been looking forward to a scene like this for a very long time.

MC: This time last year, I was running around in a time loop, searching for dark matter...

MC: There was never enough time, and I never had the mood to stop and appreciate this scenery.

MC: Until spring arrived, we never had the chance to quietly watch the snow together.

He tightens his grip on my hand. Lucien seems to follow my lead, tilting his head upward, quietly gazing in the direction of the falling snow.

A few delicate snowflakes land on his eyelashes, softly melting away without a sound.

Through the warm night, I hear his gentle voice.

Lucien: (softly) Perhaps… this belated snowfall is a gift for us now.

The fine snowflakes soften the features of the person before my eyes.

As the snow gradually intensifies, pure white flakes float down from the distant sky, quietly tinting the boundless night in serenity.

Reluctant to part with such fervent snowfall, we return to the car.

Lucien casually turns on the radio, and light music immediately fills the car. Accompanied by the swirling snow outside, it feels like a scene from a crystal ball.

I rest my head on Lucien's shoulder, gently rubbing against it, unable to help but murmur with emotion.

MC: So beautiful... it's like a dream.

The sounds of the evening breeze wafting in through the window crack resembled a delicate and subtle white noise. The fatigue from staying up all night last night gradually surfaces.

The phone screen lights up for a moment, and the digital clock shows eight in the evening. I let out a gentle yawn.

MC: I can't believe I'm tired at this hour... blame it on the recent excessive overtime.

Lucien shifted, allowing me to lean more securely on him, and he spoke in a gentle tone.

Lucien: (in a very, very gentle tone) Have you been tired lately?

I nod and lazily begin counting with the fingers resting on my knee.

MC: I'm exhausted... there's a ton of tasks at work to push through, and I also need to figure out how to save the world.

MC: It either keeps me tossing and turning in insomnia or gives me a night full of nightmares.

Lucien: (gently) What kind of nightmares are you having?

I vaguely recall for a moment and make an exaggerated gesture.

MC: I've been snatched away by a dinosaur this big—

MC: And I've been flattened by this many project proposals—

MC: But you know~ After waking up, as long as I see the messages you send me, all those dinosaurs, all those project proposals, seems like nothing!

Lucien: (chuckle) Mm... I've had that kind of dream too. I wonder if the dinosaur that snatched us is the same one.

Lucien gently squeezes my hand, a hint of uncontrollable laughter in his voice.

I imagine the scene and can't help but burst into laughter as well.

Lucien: (laughs softly) Silly, next time, come knock on my door before you get snatched away by a dinosaur.

The snow outside falls gently, and Lucien speaks amidst the delicate melody.

Lucien: (murmur softly) Speaking of which, if there's a beautiful dream, would you like to stay in it with me?

MC: A beautiful dream? Is it the kind where I don't have to go to work every day?

Lucien: More beautiful than that—it's a dream where we can always be by each other's side.

MC: If there's such a thing I'm willing to dream it for eight lifetimes!

A low chuckle comes from above my head. His voice quietly melts into the night breeze, sounding like a casual sigh.

Lucien: What if I say, I hope never to wake up from this dream with you?

MC: That sounds good too. As long as I'm with you, anywhere is fine…

I blink my heavy eyelids and hear a soft laugh beside my ear. A warmth covers my eyes that I find a bit hard to open.

Lucien: (whispers gently) Get some sleep.

Lucien: I'll make sure to wake you up.

—--------------------------------------------------------

Winter seems to have truly arrived after that night's first snowfall.

With the dropping temperatures, a layer of frost forms on the branches along the river and roadsides. The news on the streets gradually shifts to reports about snow and cold prevention.

I pull my gaze away from the lengthy red light outside the car window and engage the handbrake.

The rift continues to quietly spread, casting shadows of various sizes throughout the city.

However, for some reason, the popularity of news related to the rift is steadily decreasing, and the submissions on this topic are dwindling.

Perhaps people have become completely accustomed to these rifts. Despite some lingering confusion, I do feel a sense of relief.

The green light in the middle of the road lights up, and I put away my phone. After turning a few corners, a spacious bridge suddenly appears before me.

...Strange, there were so many cars just a moment ago. How did it suddenly become so empty?

A hint of confusion creeps in as I carefully survey the surroundings, finding nothing unusual.

As I drive onto the bridge, I suddenly feel the wheels slipping. I instinctively hit the brakes, but the road in the rearview mirror shows no signs of anomalies.

Just as I fall into bewilderment, the throttle gauge on the dashboard spins violently.

The tires emit a harsh, squeaking sound as they uncontrollably move forward.

MC: What's happening...?

Before I can grasp the situation, there's a distinctly audible sound of shattering beneath the car. The next second, the car suddenly plummets.

MC: ....!

I struggle to push open the car door, but the resistance of the water turns my efforts into futility.

No matter how hard I pound and shove, the door remains steadfast. Only the icy water keeps pouring in through the window crack.

The air inside the car diminishes, and I strain to tilt my head upward, closing my eyes in a somewhat desperate attempt.

The world before me gradually fades into darkness.

Next Part-> [Here]

#mlqc lucien #mr love queen's choice #mlqc cn #mlqc spoiler #mlqc translation #mlqc #mr. love queen's choice #mr love lucien #mlqc xu mo #mlqc spoilers

[brynnmclean]

(there was a post making the rounds about writing smutty drabbles for people to read while a lot of Americans are presumably surrounded by family for the Thanksgiving holiday-- and, well, this is longer than 100 words and it isn't smut, but here's Mairon/Artanis for y'all from the Uncorrupted Mairon AU:)

ETA: an AO3 link!

-

Mairon gasps apologies into Artanis's mouth, but she barely hears them for the ringing in her ears.  More important words fill all the hollow places fear had carved inside her, relief flaring like fire over his assurances: Yes, of course I'm coming with you, I won't leave you now, not ever.

Outside of this room in Tirion, the Noldor shudder in fear and dismay, but Artanis clutches at Mairon and weeps over how her joy blazes in the dark.

"I made silver rings," Mairon says when the necessity for air means she must stop kissing him.  Tears track down his cheeks too and she can't help but litter kisses on his face until his mouth curves into a smile, though he still looks rueful.  "I meant for them to be prototypes.  They aren't perfect—"

"Show them to me," she laughs, now realizing what the half-fond, half-despairing look Findaráto had kept shooting Mairon's way has meant for all her months of wondering.  Mairon untangles himself from her grasp to bring a small wooden box out of his desk and there they are in his hands: two silver betrothal rings gleaming in candlelight, defiant against the shadows and the despair that had struck her heart at the idea of leaving Aman without him.

She holds her right hand out so he can slip her ring on her finger, a band reminiscent of ocean waves and ship rope, Telerin design in Noldorin custom—perfect, even for all Mairon's protests.  When she says so, he shakes his head but puts the ring's twin on his own hand.

"I never meant to make you doubt my commitment.  I was going to do it all in the proper order when they were made right," he says, the words flowing out of him fast, all his secrets cut loose.

"When you were satisfied," she replies, pushing him onto the daybed of his quarters and climbing into his lap.  What an impossible word, satisfied.  She shoves her hands into the russet waves of his hair and thrills at the sound he makes, hungry. "You would have kept me waiting a hundred more years."

"No," he groans, gathering her up in his arms.  Even through the linen of her dress, she can feel the warmth of his body and she wants him closer.  She rolls her hips into the hard lines of him and he falls back, taking her down with him flat onto the bed.  "Yes.  All right.  I never would have been satisfied, but you deserve—"

She kisses him until he stops talking nonsense, until they're both gasping and laughing and maybe crying a little still, but when she says, "Bind yourself to me," he says yes.  Yes, of course.

He knows the vows to make, has learned every word passed down among the Eldar.  He murmurs them reverently into the skin of her throat, the curve of her breast, the softness of her inner thigh.

When they reach the end of the ritual and there is only the part Eärwen and Arafinwë had told them no one could teach them, that they would have to discover for themselves—Artanis opens her mouth to say something, she doesn't know, nerves overwhelming her, but Mairon holds her close, and says, “I know.” 

He sounds just as loving and lost as she is for a moment—and then he hums a few notes of a Song she has never heard before, but recognizes immediately.  It’s theirs.

#rough drafts #my fic #an uncorrupted mairon au #artanis x mairon #galadriel x halbrand #fell in love with the fire #rings of power #silmarillion #the darkening #haladriel #happy american thanksgiving to all celebrating right now and to all the rest! happy thursday 💜

[laceratedlamiaceae]

I saw your posts abt how you were disappointed with how the show handled ed/the crew/the amount of trauma he put them through and I was wondering if you knew that there's a series on ao3 that's currently running that focuses on the crew's trauma/recovery/finding safety/comfort in each other? Ed only ft. Very briefly a few times and every time he is forced to actually EARN his redemption and even then it is made very clear that it the crew is still traumatized and THEY get the final say over whether he is forgiven or not, definitely not Stede? The vast, vast majority of the series is them slowly recovering and focuses on their relationships with each other outside of Ed, who, btw, it is made very clear they WILL kill rather than have him as a captain/put in a position of power ever again. It gives Izzy, Jim, and Lucius far more fleshed out arcs than the show, and doesn't make them forgive Ed. Idk if that's the sort of thing you're interested in, but I thought I'd share!

well you can't just say all that without dropping a link! I've kind of given up on reading ofmd fics but that sounds really cool and I'd definitely want to check it out

#thanks for the ask! #asks #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers

[straw-beret]

The significance of the claw machines in the opening of season 2

This is the first theory I've ever really posted or even MADE, and I haven't seen anyone else address it so apologies if I'm just repeating what someone else has already said; but yeah, these are just some observations I made recently, and they mostly have to do with the the intro to season 2 and how that potentially relates to the future of a rather significant main character.

More under the cut! And spoilers for season 2, if you haven't already guessed.

Every week I tune in to watch Link Click with my friends, and only at episode 10, i.e. a week ago, did i notice that in the opening, all the stuffed animals surrounding the claw machines are bunny rabbits.

It's a bit hard to see on account of the dim lighting, but I assure you that every single plush on the outside of those claw machines (and inside, at least in this shot) is a bunny rabbit. You can check the OP out on youtube if you want as well, if you want to confirm.

At first I thought, "Maybe the animators were just trying to save money on the budget!" But then I remembered that in the very next shot, we see other stuffed animal models that aren't rabbits:

This is the interior of one of the claw machines, presumably the one from episodes 4-5, and we can see 3D models of plushies such as bears and cats, alongside the rabbits of the outside.

And even in episodes 4-5, which are conversely animated in 2D, we can see there are a variety of other animals in each of the claw machines. And although the outlines aren't the clearest, it's still easy to discern they aren't ALL the same plushies as in the machine Tianxi is focused on:

From left to right as seen in the second image, I'll call each claw machine CM1, 2, and 3.

In CM2, we can see there's many different animals, majority with tails. I had a theory that they might be related to the animals of the Chinese zodiac, but you can't see them too clearly, so I'm not too sure.

CM3 isn't clear either, but the plushes/toys are definitely different to the other ones. On close inspection, I think there are bears and rabbits, but coloured red and white instead of pink, brown and greys/whites, like in CM1.

So clearly they didn't just have just one bunny plush model they had to reuse, and they put in the effort of hand drawing different plushies in the other claw machines. Plus, the budget for the intro must have been enormous— they weren't exactly pinching pennies. So why pile ONLY rabbits on the outside of the claw machines in the intro?

My theory is that it has something to do with my beloved Qiao Ling.

From the very first episode season 1, the show has set up a recurring rabbit motif in relation to Qiao Ling. We see this first in her phone case:

I put in a second photo of her phone for reference, and that one is from season 2, either episode 9 or 10.

So, bunny ears on the phone case. Big deal, probably just a fun piece of visual storytelling to add to her character— maybe she's into 'meng' culture. She's about the age to be into it, right?

Well, let's look at the chibi spinoff, Daily Life in Lighttime!

I don't think it's at the end of every episode this animal segment appears, but after the main events of each episode, we get to see the main characters as animals, doing animal things. Pretty straightforward— LG is a cat, CXS is a dog, and QL is a rabbit. Another thing connecting QL with the motif of rabbits.

In the official art by INPLICK, who did the character designs for the show, Qiao Ling is also commonly depicted with rabbits/a rabbit motif, and the boys with their respective animals as well.

On top of that, we know the show is set in 2021. Based on her character profiles, we know Qiao Ling is 22 years old, making her birth year 1999 (March 16th, if anyone cares). This makes her, you guessed it, year of the Rabbit!

So, let's tie this back to the claw machines. We've got a character who is established in show and in official art to be associated with rabbits, and we've got an abundance of rabbit plushes on the outside of the claw machines. Link Click is always very intentional with their imagery and mise en scene, this isn't an accident. So, what exactly does this mean?

My theory is that Qiao Ling will come to play a very significant role in the finale and upcoming season 3.

Initially, when me and my friend discussed this (shout out to Lara if you're reading this); we figured it might just be another reference to how Qiao Ling is metaphorically on the outside of the supernatural happenings. She is the only main character without powers, she didn't know what CXS and LG were doing with the photos, she was the first of the mains to get possessed by red eyes, who we now know are a wombo combo of Li Tianxi and Li Tianchen. But why go to such lengths to compound on something we already know?

So then I started to wonder, maybe it means she is less protected than the others? After all, she was the first to get possessed, she is the only one without any supernatural powers. I thought it might mean imminent doom for Qiao Ling— which would suck, because (and this is especially applicable if you've seen the most recent episode, i.e. s2e11) Link Click is not the best when it comes to leaving female characters alive!!!!!

It adds up— the animals on the inside of the claw machine are "safe", metaphorically and literally. They are protected by the glass (and also the impossibility of winning anything from a claw machine). But on the outside, they are up for grabs, easy to be destroyed or harmed. The claw machine ensures safety, and when you're outside the machine, nothing is guaranteed. So when we see the inside of the claw machine in the shot of that pink cat plush, i.e. the second image in this post, we see that there aren't as many rabbits in the claw machine, meaning less safety for QL.

(also if you want to strengthen that argument, that stuffed cat that liu lan and li tianxi won from the claw machine was torn apart by li fan when they got home).

((and even in the est. shot where we do see rabbits on the inside, there are much less than on the outside.))

So, Qiao Ling the outsider in this situation, who has as far as we know no powers and not much of a clue as to the supernatural happenings (and who let's be real only became plot significant recently, as much as i love her), her animal is on the outside of the claw machines. Simple.

And then the trailer for the finale of s2 dropped, and we got this lovely frame:

My friend and I thought it might be Qiao Ling's powers awakening, some others think it might be Tianxi transferring her powers to Qiao Ling. However, if you watch the rest of the trailer, you'll notice that Qiao Ling is left entirely defenseless, just sitting by Tianxi's body.

While the rest of the fight is presumably happening. These characters have guns and tasers! Why is she turning her back on them when she has no natural defenses of her own (save for those sick martial arts skills)?

Especially because Qian Jin, who has been established to want to harm QL and even rigged up a god damn BOMB to set off for when she and CXS went to retrieve LG:

Is on the scene with a gun!

I think that something bad is going to happen to Qiao Ling, the "outsider", either in the finale or in season 3. Could be death, could be a major injury, but whatever it is, it will have been foreshadowed through the stuffed rabbits and the claw machines.

-

kudos if you read this much lol i'm not sure if i structured my arguments well but i got really into this theory. and maybe i might make a post about the symbolism of the pacman machine in the intro as well? idk. lmk what you think!! i'd love to know if there's anything i'm missing or if there are any other interpretations to glean from this :)

#link click #shiguang dailiren #link click season 2 #link click theory #shiguang daili ren #cheng xiaoshi #qiao ling #lu guang #link click spoilers #sgdlr #sgdlr spoilers #时光代理人 #fan theory #theory #speculation

[cursedwithgloriouspurpose]

Just to put it out there, this is the post that set this off though I've been seeing shit like this for weeks. I'm not reblogging it because I don't want to directly spread this.

Can't believe I have to say this, but: AO3 is not an inherently community properties. It is a Non-Profit Organization that was begun and organized by people with certain ethos in mind; in a very condensed nutshell, the freedom to write and share any and every kind of fic, no matter what subject matter it contains. Period. They wrote the charter to suite their ideals, funded it alongside like-minded individuals, and manned it for many years. People who believe in the dream that they set up are the ones largely running the show now (a few founding members may still be around, though I'm not sure about that,) but so far that ethos has remained in tact.

While AO3 was always meant to serve the community (and they do,) it was never meant to be run by anyone who does not share their ethos. That's why actively contributing to the organization itself--ie, through volunteering, and/or donating--is a requirement for having a say in what the archive does. You do not get to vote on board elections if you are not involved. You do not get to be on the board if you do not do these things. That is how all non-profits work. A non profit is not a union (and outside of possibly the original vote to organize, no union I've ever heard of allows non-union members to vote on union procedure, policy, or in elections.)

One of the reasons why this is true is that anyone who doesn't agree with the founding tenants of absolute free speech, no matter how vile that speech may be, will not stick with the organization long enough to change things internally--that is a feature, not a bug.

Why? In this case, because of that ethos. Because of the fic bans and the purges that the idea for AO3 was born out of, which always stemmed from "concerned individuals" and calls for "morality." Completely unironically, because of all the shit that's happening to regular libraries across the US right now. Essentially, because of all the things AO3 was always meant to stand against.

God fucking damn but am I tired of this latest round of anti nonsense disguising itself as "Proship" and "Anti-racist" and "Anti-harassment" in order to try and drive a wedge between AO3 and its donors. I've seen this song and dance before. We all have. It used to be "child porn" and "think of the children," and now its "harassment," and "abuse!" Ie, the exact things that the modern lefty is hard programmed to fall into line behind without actually considering the evidence.

People please read through this shit critically before just assuming its valid. Note the lack of actual, clearly displayed and easily legible proof*. How all the "I've complied everything in one page!!!" posts seem to just be paragraphs after paragraphs of conjecture and vague statements without, again, any goddamn proof (except, maybe, a list of links entirely removed from context, appended to the bottom.) Be critical of authoritative statements about how things "should" be run without any sense of where that authority is coming from, and the lack of solid answers (or even suggestions) as to how the problems should be fixed in any way that isn't "Fire everyone I've decided is responsible for this (again, without proof,) and replace them with people who want to completely rewrite the ethos of the site to allow bans on content that everyone (and by 'everyone,' I mean me, the speaker) agrees is objectionable."

There is an alarming number of parallels I've been seeing lately re: how people are currently attacking AO3 and how bad actors in various states are forcing through book bans. Please be mindful.

*"easily legible" is kind of a weird phrasing, but i can't think of a better one. What I mean, specifically, is a good 90% of the "proof" links I've found are all links to mid-page comment streams on anonymous wank boards which mostly start mid-conversation, effectively removing them from their original context, and never site any sources of their own. Literally everything is He Said/She Said levels of bullshit with some corporate buzz words tossed in to make it sound more valid than it is.

#call out culture nonsense #i thought we left this behind in 2016 #ffs #i really wish people would stop couching things in the language of 'abuse' #suspending someone you think is involved in an attack is not abuse #it is LITERALLY responding to the problem you say you want them to respond to #also the Legal team IS the team that should be interpreting the TOS #that is literally their thing #The TOS is a legal document #someone without a legal background should not be interpreting it

[jamesvowles]

some ppl in the motorsport zone have made a playlist for their ocs so i thought i'd jump in with mines too. tbh it's a wippy but also i kiiiiiinda don't really like long playlists so it's done to me. anyways. posting it here so i can talk about each song in detail

link to the playlist

brutal - olivia rodrigo

the playlist begins with tragedy as adren's own life takes a tragic turn after the death of his brother. with no more close relatives, adren's emotions are...unstable as he navigates the paddock alone.

faster than you - reaubeau, eke

adren has momentum in his car and he shows why he deserves a spot in the grid

gasoline - halsey

to be honest it was either gasoline or drive. but i think this one fits adren better. adren learns the car. something something something.

beck and call - july talk, tanya tagaq

adren and his teammate begin to move between each other but it feels like there's something wrong with the dynamic. and yet they find each other coming back for the other.

'cause im a man - tame impala

adren takes a hateful look at himself. he's sort of unsure about who he is. and thinks he sucks as he can't figure out what the hell anyone wants from him.

chamber of reflection - mac demarco

yeah we're getting into adren's sad boy era as he tries to figure out whether the emotions his teammate shows him privately are real. he lives with the shame of being unwanted in a public space, though he can't do anything about.

bad habit - steve lacy

adren wants to know how his teammate feels. he realizes that his teammate is nothing but a coward. at this point it's manipulative, with his teammate trying to make him stay. adren hates it. and yet he still yearns for him.

blue racecar - sassy 009

unstable relationships around adren as he can't seem to let go because he just wants someone to put in the same effort back!

cage - wyatt smith

despite everything, adren wants to help, knowing that this was one of his brother's strongest traits and he wants to have it too. he would sacrifice himself for his teammate over and over again, even if it means he destroys himself in the process.

trustful hands - the do

adren is surrounded by people who love him. and he knows that. adren lives in spontaneity. and trusts he'll always get back on his feet even after everything.

alive - pearl jam

after a crazy rookie year, adren makes it to his second year with a different outlook. he's still there. he remains resilient.

this feeling - my!lane

tbh this song is included in a lot of car playlists and i like how upbeat it is. it really suits adren a lot!

so many details - toro y moi

managing a relationship remains difficult for adren. there's so much that overwhelms him. the amount of shame his teammate still goes through internally and the mixed messages....adren isn't surprised he leaves. but they're still so intertwined.

babydoll - ari abdul

adren still wants his man sooooooo bad....

find a way - vallas, philsofie

adren begins to believe that he can do this. he's finding the balance. he's got everything he needs. he just needs to push himself closer to what he truly wants.

cure for me - aurora

the playlist ramps up again. adren knows who he is and he's unashamed. each win is nothing to hide. his own queer identity is not worth hiding. he takes pride in himself.

outsider (donald durand remix) - kavinsky, donald durand

for adren, it's still uncertain. he has to keep moving. and everything's building up. the song is instrumental and meant to depict how much adren wants to be champion. he knows it won't be easy and there's still so much going on. but he needs to just push that car to the finish line.

like a rockstar - chase altlantic

this is adren's celebration song. champagne sprays and confetti. the absolute riots, the mechanic screams, everything. he reflects on the journey.

still feel. - half alive

adren's got the energy to keep going!

take me where your heart is - q

still such a painful romantic, adren wants his partner to be just as emotionally vulnerable. and also adren loves. he's just full of unconditional love.

touch the stars - french 79, sarah rebecca

adren is optimistic. both for himself and others. he sees the goals in sight for more bright events. another championship? a stable relationship? healthy grieving? he's just needs to reach for it.

#long post #unless read more LOVES ME #da mind prison #oc stuff ig