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miasfoxxden · 1 year

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I tried to quit when you went to shit, when you proved to the world that you only cared about yourselves and not the people who needed you most. But here I am coming back for more like a god damn junkie. I kinda hate this, not gonna lie, but there's really nothing else like VRchat.

VRchat is a weird and amazing thing when you're queer. The aging 2019 Unity Engine LTS build it uses, although held together by duct tape and super glue, provides near infinite capabilities for self expression to those who have the time and patience to understand how to use it's SDK toolkit alongside other community tools like various Blender Plugins. It goes without saying, for those such as myself who have struggled with their own identity for a long time, this shit will crack eggs. And it shattered what remained of mine in the beginning of 2020. This is why this badly written and mismanaged clusterfuck of a Unity game holds a special place in my heart.

To make a very fucking long story short, I've been on VRchat since basically the beginning. My earliest memories of VRC were in late 2017, early 2018 where everything was far more raw, simple, and experimental. VRchat itself was a blank canvas, and on that canvas was a tight knit community that spawned an iconic culture all to its own. And yes, before anyone asks I do know de wae. But for those early years, mainly because of my lack of budget and stable income, I was tied down to just keyboard and mouse controls from a desktop PC. It's a sub ideal way to play VRC but you make do with what you have in that kind of situation and make the best of it. So when I had the means to get my own headset in the beginning of 2020, an Oculus Rift S, you can bet your ass the first thing I loaded into was VRchat.

Before we continue, I need to introduce the concept of phantom touch or phantom sense. Phantom touch is a term that was originally for amputees who could feel their missing limbs when given certain stimuli, typically some form of mirror therapy or sometimes via ones prosthetics. Phantom senses in VR are along the same lines. For all intents and purposes, your avatar in VR is the same as your body to your brain. Now, not everyone gets this, and those who do get it in varying amounts in just different ways. I'm admittedly on the more extreme end of this, as far as my brain gives a shit my avatar is my body and that ends up causing some interesting sensations. Most importantly, it pretty much drives my own choice of avatar since a lot of options out there just don't feel right. Yeah an avatar may be super cute or super funny but with that level of immersion for someone like myself it becomes very apparent that a lot of things will give full on dysphoria. This isn't really limited to anything either, I've noped off of cute looking avatars for a variety of reasons, sometimes even just small things like clothing, hair style, body proportions, height, etc. On the flip side of that, the right avatar can relieve a lot of dysphoria for someone like me who does experience gender dysphoria regularly in their day to day lives. So what were my options then?

Wade through a lot of public avatars until you find something anywhere between just right to perfect. The world of public avatars available is almost limitless, as games driven by user generated content tend to be so there's plenty of options.

Make your own avatar, either from scratch or a prefab base. This is again where the limitlessness of the engine comes into play, where the only limitation is your own technical abilities with Unity SDK, and tools like Blender or Maya.

I got lucky and took option one. I found one that felt just right, a Tda based red haired fox girl in a cute hoodie, crop top, and jeans, and only needed a few minor tweaks. While there was a bit of a language barrier, the creator of this avatar and I got something worked out and the image above is the result. This is me. This was when what remained of my egg, so to speak, was completely fucking shattered into oblivion. This was where I realized that "Nah yeah I'm not fucking cis," after years of going back and forth and being on the fence about my own sense of self. Ultimately, VRchat ended up a coping mechanism for my dysphoria. I was free. I was me. I ended up parting ways with the guy who made the model posted above for reasons I won't get into. I was never given the source files to update the model to SDK3 so where it is now is where it will be forever until SDK2 gets dropped entirely. So, in mid 2021 when I found a prefab base that was relatively well support and easy to work with on booth.pm called Imeris, I jumped on that. I re-made me.

Maybe to a bit of an extreme, but whatever. Bouncy squishy boobs on my chest makes girly gender euphoria go brrrr in a way I can't get over. But this is how I stayed for about a year without any major changes save for some new outfits every now and then.

In August, 2022, VRchat implemented EasyAntiCheat into the game. The reasoning for it is all over the place and while I have some insider information as to why it's not been stated publicly and I don't feel like getting sued into oblivion. But regardless of their reasoning, no matter how much public backlash they got, no matter how many members of the community who relied on third party client mods for accessibility for various disabilities and basic usability and quality of life functions not present in the base game, they pushed the patch out live anyways. They pushed out a patch knowing it broke compatibility with some Oculus headsets and software, this even was noted in the patch notes. They didn't care about us. That much was clear.

I swore off VRchat then and there, but the reality is the other options all sucked. NeosVR had NFT integration which is something I despise on principle. ChilloutVR, while promising, still lacks a lot of the functionality for their dev tools that makes a lot of my shit work. It was on par with early VRchat SDK1 and SDK2 tools, which compared to SDK3 with Udon were beyond archaic. I tried to give that some love, but it's so far from ready to take the place of VRchat that I couldn't switch over. Maybe some day, though, CVR will be in a position where it's a suitable place to call my home in the metaverse.

So after dealing with VRC being broken for months on my machine, I finally figured out a workaround. Turns out my main issue where VRchat was crashing to desktop was because of some sandboxing options I had enabled way back when I was still running Windows 10. Disabling these settings fixed the crashing to desktop, but Oculus overlay still crashes any time the virtual desktops are used. This, however and unfortunately, is a documented issue because of how EAC works, and there's no real fix for it. In any case though, I can be me again. And while unfortunately a lot of my friends have left VRC entirely post EAC update, there's still enough to justify sticking around.

At the time of writing this, I'm a month out from hopefully receiving hormone replacement treatment and beginning my transition proper. It's a bit overdue, admittedly, but I know some day soon I'll feel comfortable in my own shell. For now, this will continue to be my escapism from the dysphoria that's plagued me for years.

Stay floofy~ 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈❤️

#VRchat #gender dysphoria #transfem #the trans experience #metaverse #trans rights

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wutlaikalikes · 9 months

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*chirp chirp*

my new Tumblr layout just amuses me lol (just scroll past)

I don't remember when it changed but only how much it annoyed me. My previous theme is called Minimal by arturkim and I like it cause I can showcase whatever I like on the header space and the icon not only act as my blog's identifier, it also reflects on the favicon.

The main body layout is of course for my tumblr posts but it also have a side body for my profile description where here I was able to add tag links I want to highlight. Under that I can also showcase things I liked from other Tumblr users. And, though not seen on the photo below, I can also show Tumblr blogs I am following. Above the headers are more tag links to my interests.

I don't remember when I realize it but the pictures I post or reblog will always be inside a scrollable space and somehow it annoyed me. I tried to temporarily change the layout to different one and switch back but it still put the images on a scrollable space. Turns out that the layout was updated.

So I thought maybe I should just change it to close to my preference. And so I change it to a theme named Chirp by rachaels, which is based on Twitter (I still refuse to call it X).

The pictures are no longer on a scrollable space. The layout background color could also be changed (there were 5 options) and since I prefer dark mode, this new layout is just nice.

I specially like that I can still put my intended description for my tumblr under What's happening section which I don't remember ever seeing on Twitter, maybe it was a space of news highlight, idk. Then there's also that side image that I would guess was intended for an ad space on an older version of Twitter. I was also able to highlight my tumblr just for my art and projects, along with Tumblr blogs of my friends (though they are no longer active) under the Who to follow section. And my favorite part, Trends for you, I mainly add my oshi tags.

My only thing now is that the videos are cropped. I'm not sure how to fix it but I would guess this layout was made before the new wide aspect ratios where added on YouTube.

I actually can also change the favicon to whatever I want and for a moment, I customized the old Twitter logo and used it but honestly it just looks weird!

The header and profile pictures are customizable and of course I used Holostars JP as my header and to change things up I used Hatena from Dogengers: Metropolis (2023) which is voiced by Aragami Oga. These are also inpendent for the chirp layout and doesn't reflect the actual profile picture that shows when you highlight a poster's icon seen on the dashboard.

So for the favicon, I put my current profile picture which is Daidou Shinove so it wouldn't look like that you've stubled upon another tumblr blog.

Also adding this here cause I'll be removing them. I wanted to have a place for it just incase I want to use again in the future.

情報 || 日記 || 好き || アート || 設計 || 欲しい物

情報 (jōhō) - information = this page! 日記 (nikki) - diary = my blogs アート (a-to) - art = artsy stuff i posted 好き (suki) - like = my favorite thing on the internet 設計 (sekkei) = my current and past tumblr avatar and header 欲しい物 (hoshii mono) - things i want = wishlist

Well that's it, I there's really no significant info here. I'm just satisfied with this layout.

#blog #design

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rainhadaenerys · 2 years

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Daenerys and Kyoshi

I read the Avatar Kyoshi novels some time ago, and noticed two interesting parallels between Kyoshi and Daenerys. (SPOILERS) When Lao Ge is trying to convince Kyoshi that murdering Governor Te would be for the greater good, he compares people like him to weeds, and this is Kyoshi's answer:

He gripped his forearms behind his back and gazed across the canyon. "I would declare the lowliest peasant is like the Avatar in this regard. All of our actions have an impact. Each decision we make ripples into the future. And we alter our landscapes according to our needs. To keep her crops alive, a farmer uproots the weeds that nature has placed in her fields, does she not?"

"People aren't weeds," Kyoshi said. It was the best she could manage. - The Rise of Kyoshi

This reminds me of Dany also refusing to see people as mere objects, when Brown Ben tries to compare people to good and rotten apples:

"Mouths on feet. And sick, you say?" Reznak wrung his hands. "Your Worship must not allow them in the city."

"I wouldn't," said Brown Ben Plumm. "I'm no maester, mind you, but I know you got to keep the bad apples from the good."

"These are not apples, Ben," said Dany. "These are men and women, sick and hungry and afraid." My children. - Daenerys V ADWD

Another parallel is how both Dany and Kyoshi aren't exactly eloquent, but have strong principles. Kyoshi's answer was "the best she could manage", after Lao Ge's eloquent speech, and Dany also has a moment like this, in which someone tries to convince Dany of something morally wrong using eloquent words (just like Lao Ge tried with Kyoshi):

"We curse the rain when it falls upon our heads, yet without it we should starve. The world needs rain … and slaves. You make a face, but it is true. Consider Qarth. In art, music, magic, trade, all that makes us more than beasts, Qarth sits above the rest of mankind as you sit at the summit of this pyramid … but below, in place of bricks, the magnificence that is the Queen of Cities rests upon the backs of slaves. Ask yourself, if all men must grub in the dirt for food, how shall any man lift his eyes to contemplate the stars? If each of us must break his back to build a hovel, who shall raise the temples to glorify the gods? For some men to be great, others must be enslaved."

He was too eloquent for her. Dany had no answer for him, only the raw feeling in her belly. "Slavery is not the same as rain," she insisted. "I have been rained on and I have been sold. It is not the same. No man wants to be owned." - Daenerys III ADWD

#asoiaf meta #daenerys targaryen #atla #kyoshi #targnation #my meta

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reinerispretty · 4 years

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rotations. (zuko x f!reader) pt4

hello!! sorry i’ve been posting so much, i’m just really excited to get to the bulk of the story. like i said before, if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!!

pt 1

pt 3

pt 5

(Y/N) looked from her new friends to the Fire Nation soldiers that surrounded them. A little voice in the back of her head said she could reveal herself now. She could pretend like she had been tricking the Avatar and his friends and get them captured. But if she did that, the world might lose its last hope of beating the Fire Nation. If she fought alongside the Avatar, she condemned herself to being labelled as a traitor.

(Y/N) had been in a city of the Earth Kingdom for two years and she was sick of it. Not of the city itself, or of its people, but of living in a city occupied by the Fire Nation. She watched from the balconies as their soldiers mistreated the people whose families had lived there for centuries. They beat the men and starved the women and children. It was sickening to watch and when she brought it up to her family, she received drastically different replies. Her mother insisted that she simply stay inside all day so she wouldn’t have to hear the injustice that was happening in the city below them. Her father threatened to write to the Fire Lord that she was questioning his orders. She wondered if her father had always been an evil man, or if it was a new occurrence.

Witnessing what the Fire Nation was doing to innocent people did not sit right with (Y/N). Sometimes she dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes that she had purchased in the market and asked people about their experiences with the Fire Nation. This war had raged on for 100 years, so everyone she had spoken to had a story to share. The Fire Nation had torn apart families, destroyed homes and crops, and imprisoned innocent children for simply being earthbenders. It made (Y/N) sick to her stomach.

So she decided to get back at the Fire Nation. It started small, like stealing food from the kitchens to distribute amongst the poor, but she eventually went as far as sneaking into the jails at night to free innocent earthbenders. It was hard, maintaining appearances as a child of a Fire Nation general while also freeing the innocent people her father’s forces had captured. She feared every night when she crawled into her bed that one day she would wake up to soldiers standing above her. But she could not stop herself from helping people who needed her.

(Y/N) was in the town square, playing with a few of the Earth Kingdom children, when she noticed a small group lurking in the shadows. They were dressed unlike anyone she had ever seen, so she knew she had to follow them. It was two boys and a girl walking together and peering around each corner to make sure that no Fire Nation soldiers lurked on the streets. While their backs were turned, (Y/N) made her presence known by clearing her throat. The trio jumped and turned around, and she was face to face with a boy in a yellow tunic and pants with blue arrow tattoos, and another boy and a girl from the Water Tribe.

“You guys aren’t from here, are you?” (Y/N) asked. The girl smiled.

“No, we’re not. I’m Katara and this is my brother Sokka. We’re traveling with Aang.” The youngest boy raised his hand to smile and wave. “He’s the Avatar.”

(Y/N) felt her mouth practically drop to the floor. The Avatar was standing right in front of her! The Fire Nation’s greatest threat was a boy who was barely older than ten. “This place is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. Follow me.” She led them through alleyways and secret passages until the were at the door of the basement of her house. It was once home to the best earthbender in the city, but her father had done quick work with kicking him out and sending him to prison along with the other earthbenders. The basement remained untouched by her family and its servants. (Y/N) was pretty sure those who lived upstairs didn’t even know that it existed.

She shut and locked the door behind them. “This is the safest place in the city.”

Sokka looked at her incredulously. “Are you serious? This is the Fire Nation general’s house! Did you see all those guys out front?”

“I can promise that I’ve been hiding out down here for a long time. I don’t even think they know it exists.” She sat on the floor and patted the dusty earth beside her. Aang sat down, then Katara, then finally Sokka, after a bunch of suspicious glances at (Y/N).

“You haven’t told us your name,” Aang noted, but he didn’t seem accusatory. She felt sweat begin to accumulate on her palms. Should she tell them her real name? Would they know that she was the daughter of the Fire Nation general? She looked at their kind expressions (except Sokka’s, he still looked very wary of her) and decided to take a risk.

“My name’s (Y/N).”

“How long have the Fire Nation been here?” Katara asked.

“About two years, I think,” (Y/N) responded.

“Have you been here the whole time?” She nodded.

“The soldiers...they��re awful. I’ve seen what they do to the people here. They tear families apart, they starve the citizens, they lock all the benders in prisons. It breaks my heart.”

“We’ll try to help, in any way we can.” Aang said. (Y/N) shook her head.

“There’s no way you can do that. The Fire Nation literally wants you dead!”

“Trust me, we know,” Sokka grumbled.

“We have a bit of experience breaking benders out of prison,” Katara said with a smile. “Maybe you could help us do that! Are you a bender?” Warily, (Y/N) nodded.

“I’ve been bending since I was a kid but I’m scared to use it around here. I hope you all understand.” Aang and Katara nodded.

“It’s settled then. Tonight, we’ll break all of the benders out of the prison and help them take their city back.” The trio put their heads together as they started to formulate a plan.

“Hey, (Y/N),” Sokka said. “Are you just gonna sit there or are you gonna give us some intel on where the earthbenders are being kept?”

(Y/N) felt herself smile. She scooted closer to the three kids to begin discussing their plan. For the first time in a long time, she felt less alone.

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

Alright, so their plan didn’t go quite as expected.

Their night began as easily as it could. They covered themselves in cloaks (Y/N) had found in the basement and traveled back alleyways to reach the prison where the earthbenders were kept. She tried her best to remember the layout of the prison on her father’s desk that she had seen for a moment, but she ended up leading them to many close encounters with Fire Nation soldiers.

“I’m sorry!” She whispered once more as Sokka had to quickly knock out one of the guards. “I told you guys, I’d only barely seen the map! I don’t know why you put me in charge!”

“I guess we just thought that the Earth Kingdom girl might know a little bit about the Earth Kingdom prison!” Sokka whispered back, causing (Y/N) to deepen her frown.

“Guys, it’s okay,” Aang said, putting himself in between the two teenagers. “Where there’s guards, there’s prisoners. I heard some more voices down to the left. Follow me.”

Quickly and quietly they followed Aang through the twists and turns of the prison. While Sokka held his boomerang and Katara had water at her hip, (Y/N) felt utterly useless. There was no way she could use their bending to help them. If she did, she would be outed as Fire Nation immediately, and they would lose all trust for her.

They finally found the cells where the prisoners were kept. The benders looked at them suspiciously, but (Y/N) pulled back her cloak to reveal her Earth Kingdom clothes. “Don’t worry,” she said as she worked at one of the locks on the cell door. “We’re here to help.”

She and the others made quick work of the locks, freeing each and every one of the benders that had been arrested. Although the people were weak, they assured the group that they would be ready to fight if necessary. Successfully, they led the prisoners out of the prison. That is where their real trouble began.

Somehow, an alarm had been sounded that alerted the guards of the escaped prisoners. Fire Nation soldiers began flooding out of the prison at rapid pace. The group of four stopped in their tracks and Aang turned back to the rest of the prisoners. “Go!” He shouted. “Get back to your families! We’ll hold them off!”

The prisoners turned and ran back toward the city. The guards there had no doubt noticed all of the commotion, but by the time they thought about stopping it, it was too late. The prisoners, although weakened, were fighting to take back their city.

(Y/N) felt a pit of fear in her stomach. She felt like she could do nothing as Aang, Katara, and Sokka fought off the Fire Nation soldiers. Soon, their backs were pressed against each other as the soldiers had them surrounded.

“You said you’ve been bending since you were a kid,” Sokka said to her through gritted teeth. “We could really use some of that right now!”

(Y/N) took a deep breath and felt the fire roar through her body. It was a powerful feeling. Her father had once said that fire ran through the bodies of the people of the Fire Nation, and that was one thing he said that she actually believed. She began shooting fire blasts at the soldiers. While they had been trained by the military, she had been trained by some of the best firebenders in the entire Fire Nation. She danced around the people she had grown up beside, knocking them unconscious with her techniques. With the help of the others, they swiftly conquered the soldiers.

Aang landed on the ground and pointed his staff at her. “You lied to us.”

She felt ashamed of herself. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Katara demanded. “You’re the enemy!”

“I know,” (Y/N) exclaimed. “But I’m not! I promise, I’m not. I’ve seen the bad things the Fire Nation has done to this city. And I tried to help where I could. I would sneak the citizens food, or I--I would break them out of the smaller jails. I knew I couldn’t break everyone out of the prison by myself, so when you offered to help, I knew I had to take it.”

“How do we know you’re not trying to double-cross us right now?” Sokka questioned.

“I’m the daughter of the Fire Nation general who conquered this city! I could’ve turned you in when you first got here, but I didn’t. By helping you guys, I’ve betrayed the entire Fire Nation.” She turned to Aang. “Please, let me escape with you. I promise, we’re not all that bad.”

Aang stared at her for a moment, eyeing her up and down. (Y/N) weighed her options as she watched him ponder. If they didn’t accept her, she would have to run away regardless. She wasn’t sure if she could survive on her own, but she knew she would receive a punishment far worse than death if she remained here.

“I believe her.” She let out a sigh of relief.

“Are you kidding me?” Sokka shouted. “She’s Fire Nation! She’s the enemy!”

“The Monks taught me that we can’t define one person based on the actions of the group. (Y/N) proved that she’s on our side by helping us today. She’s right, she could’ve turned us in so many times, but she didn’t.” He turned to her. “You can come with us. You know how the Fire Nation thinks.”

Katara and Sokka grumbled unhappily, but she couldn’t contain her smile. She hugged Aang tightly as tears formed in her eyes. “Thank you, thank you! I promise, I won’t be anything but helpful to you all I want nothing more than the reign of the Fire Nation to end.”

---

Tag List!

@soft4kei , @bubblebars , @pleasantfankingdom , @vintageroses1014516

thanks so much for reading!

part 5

#atla #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #aang x reader #katara #toph #sokka #aang #zuko #azula #avatar #writing #fanfiction

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mach-speed-spin · 2 years

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I was bored and decided to check the play store for Beyblade games. Here’s what I found

Bold means I’ve played it. If it’s not bold it means I haven’t but will update this soon once I give them all a try

Spinner.io: Basically Bumper.io but worse

Beyblade Burst App: Official app. Terrible everything. The only good thing about it is that the app will ocassionally leak beys before they’re announced (that’s the first leak we got of Magma Ifrit)

Beyblade Burst Rivals: Another officially licensed game. It’s a puzzle matching game but it also requires speed and the movement system is kinda cool. My only complaint is the slow progression and that it tries to have a story but fails at it

Bladers: Online Multiplayer: First off, terrible name. I haven’t downlaoded it but the trailer makes it look like an even worse version fo the Beyblade Burst app

Super God Blade: Beyblade Burst season 2.5, set between God and Super Z. I have no idea what this is. It kinda looks like an endless runner but your character is a bey? The designs look kinda cool

Blade Bouncer: I have no idea what gameplay is like but cool bey designs

Blade Bouncer 2: Revolution: It apparently has a story. That is enough for me to take a look at it. Also, cool bey designs

Spiral Warriors: Also seems to have a story and cool bey designs. And anime girls for some reason? Who is the target audience here? Anime waifus are mainly marketed to straight men but no Beyblade fan is a straight man. Don’t believe me? Watch this episode and tell me who the fanserive characters are

Draw Coliseum: Looks like Spinner.io but slighly better with a cool design mechanic that lets you make your own beys

Top.io: Literraly Spinner.io

Tops Champions: What the fuck. Why is it an air hockey game? Why is the app icon God Valkyrie? Not even a bey that looks like it. Just straight up a mirrored image of God Valkyrie that’s badly cropped. Also it being mirrored makes it look like a left spin bey. Left spin Valkyrie. Why

Gyro Buster: looks kinda cool

Spin Tops World Blade: Holy copyright infringement. The play store images include L-Drago Destructor, Phantom Orion, and Proto Nemesis. And the text displays those exact names

Spin Blade: Metal Fight Burst 3: What the fuck. The images on the play store include official control art for Da Xiang, Shu, and Gingka

Update: I downloaded and played the games I hadn’t already. Here are my thoughts after playing

Bladers: Online Multiplayer: So some copyright infringement. Besides using official character images, the soundtrack is also the first 10 seconds of multiple pieces of the original series soundtrack Loading times take forever. Gameplay itself sucks

Super God Blade: It crashes whenever I open it

Blade Bouncer: The soundtrack sounds like what happens when you ask a robot what EDM is. The gameplay is basically “avoid the enemies” which kinda defeats the entire purpose of battling but ok

Blade Bouncer 2: Revolution: Is this even related to the original? The story feels incomplete and is very short, so I’m hoping that this is a new game with updates coming out very soon. The little that there is to the story is alright. Nothing special but good enough to make me want an update. The gameplay is also ok, but somehwat basic

Spiral Warriors: Bey designs are pretty cool. The story so far is alright (I just started it but there’s a lot of chapters, so I assume it’s complete). The customization is pretty in-depth and takes a while to get used to due to all the abilities (most beys will have 3-4 passives plus an ultimate, in addition to base stats). The bit-beasts/ avatars are 70% cute anime girls, 25% cute anime guys, and 5% non-cute anime guys. That is way more guys than I originally expected but I am not complaining. There’s also some steampunks. Gameplay is somehwat lacking since once you launch there is no control over your bey other than activating your ultimate. My biggest takeaway is I want the character art because some of them have drip and I would 100% dress up as them next Halloween (the only reason I wouldn’t dress like them regularly is because their outfits look very impractical)

Draw Coliseum: Basic gameplay and the idea of drawing your bey’s contact points is horribly underused. Also rounds are extremely short and I spent most of my time watching ads

Tops Champions: Shitty air hockey game where the only connection to Beyblade is the pucks being badly cropped mislabeled images (Cosmic Pegasus labeled Virgo, Xcalibur labeled Flame Libra). Also a Dragoon Storm made in MS Paint labeled Heat Leone

Gyro Buster: Won’t let me connect to the server to start playing

Spin Tops World Blade: Crashes as soon as I open it

Spin Blade: Metal Fight Burst 3: Asks to access my files then crashes instantly. Can’t even steal my data right. Also, here’s their starting screen

#beyblade #beyburst #mfb #beyblade burst

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biot08 · 3 years

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Avatar

Ysayle took to her feet, startled, as she heard a loud metallic thud behind her. As she turned, she caught sight of the source of the noise.

One of the knights of Ishgard, judging from the heavy armor and the shield and the way they moved. The mysterious interloper was a tall Elezen, with purple-highlighted short-cropped hair and light brown skin. And just this moment, they were standing up next to the startled sentry who was supposed to be keeping an eye out for that sort of thing.

Not that the sentry could be blamed, really. Nobody could have anticipated that even an adventurer would be fool enough to jump from the cliff face that made up one side of their encampment, but they had, and there she was. Ysayle frowned. Such a loud entrance for a single person didn’t make any sense. Surely they would know that any advantage of surprise such a maneuver would get them would be swiftly blunted by sheer force of opposing numbers.

The sentry had been startled, and was only starting to recover their wits, reaching for a spear. The knight did not give them any such chance, as she rose from her crouch and drove the shield into them, bodily slamming them up against the cliff wall. With a pained noise, they dropped their spear. Seeing their quarry still conscious, the knight proceeded to follow up by slamming her shoulder into the back of her shield, hard. The sentry’s head slammed back into the cliff, bouncing off of it, and the knight helped them finish their journey to the ground by hitting them in the now-exposed back of the head with the pommel of her sword.

The sentry sunk to the ground, unconscious. The knight looked down at them for a long moment, then carefully stepped over the unconscious sentry, walking towards Ysayle, shield up, but sword pointed downward.

Next to Ysayle, another guard, who had been helping her take account of the crystals they had gathered thus far, edged forward cautiously, spear in hand. Ysayle held a hand out towards them as though to bar their way, and shook her head just the tiniest amount. The person looked up, a questioning look on their face, but they halted, and waited.

“Hail, knight of Ishgard,” Ysayle called out, her voice as clear as always.

“What? Oh. Oh! Right. Sorry, no. Just an adventurer. Adventurer-type. I’m from the Scions. Former knight though. House Vauban? We held one of the minor outposts near here for generations.”

The adventurer was calm, conversational. Ysayle found herself momentarily off guard at the brashness, but outwardly, her composure never wavered. She frowned, clenching a fist.

When she spoke, her voice contained velvety venom, and obvious disdain. “And what do you hope to gain here, former knight? Are you hoping to regain your title through glorious combat? Blood to water your supposed honor with?” Ysayle shifted the arm she was holding up to signal her guard to stay back, preparing to give him an entirely different signal.

“One week.”

“…what?”

“Yeah, sorry, wanted to get that bit out fast before you had your man there start in with the jabbing. About a week, that’s what I’m hoping to gain here. That’s how long Lord Drillemont thinks he’ll need to get the place fully evacuated. Snowcloak’s a lot of territory. Well, actually, he wanted two, but you people seem really good at getting crystals together.”

Former knight Vauban swept her gaze around the camp, looking at the boxes of crystals that Ysayle and her followers had already gathered. “… really good. Wow, that’s, what, a quarter of what you had last time? Already?”

Ysayle waved her hand at the remaining guard, dismissing them. The guard frowned in response, but did not question her, placing their spear on their back and walking away, leaving Ysayle and the adventurer alone. “… you are not among those who I faced last time.”

“No. Sorry. But we talk to each other, you know. It’s different, outside of Ishgard. People are less guarded, we talk to each other more. Our particular gift is not common, but it seems it’s maybe not extremely rare, either? You know. There’s a number of us. Small, exclusive club. Some of us are kind of tight knit about it. Sorry. I’m rambling. Anyway, I asked to take point on this one. So here I am.”

The knight found a box of crystals that still had its lid on it, and helped herself to sit down on it, resting her hand on the sword hilt with its tip in the ground. Still holding her shield.

Ysayle regarded the knight cooly for a long moment. “So what is the point of all these theatrics, then? If it is not blood you seek, then what? Parley?”

“Sure, let’s go with that. I mean, sort of. Well, not really. Part of it was I wanted to prove I still knew the area as well as I thought I did. You and your people have done a good job, exploiting the tunnel and ravine network. I’m impressed. Though, uh, that route that your caravan with the latest load of crystals is taking to get here? It’s so smooth on top because it’s just an ice sheet over what used to be a river ravine. Fast to travel over, generally.”

The knight leaned her sword against the box for a moment to dig around in a bag. Finding what she wanted, she pulled out an alchemical flask, and rolled it on the ground towards Ysayle.

“… Hearth’s Warmth.”

“Yeah. Common enough. You know the sort, right? Good replacement for a campfire if your wood’s garbage or you can’t find any tinder. Nice, gentle heat, spreads everywhere, scales up well. Make the right batch and arrange it right, you can heat an entire fort for a sennight. Place it in the right place in some underground ravine tunnels, and you can really mess up an ice sheet.”

Ysayle’s gaze snapped from the flask to the former knight’s face, clenching a fist and beginning to take a step forward. “The caravan-!”

“Is fine. Will be fine. Unless they’re a lot faster than I think they were. They’ll have to go around, though. It’ll take some time. Few days. Maybe even a week.”

Ysayle’s glare was fit to melt the ice the adventurer was talking about all by itself. Her hands were in fists, now. Violence seemed like it would almost be pointless. She could always summon the guard back, and all of the guard’s compatriots that would be elsewhere in the camp. For her part, the adventurer did not see to be very much bothered by the fact that she was, in fact, sitting in the center of a very dangerous position to be in.

“You said ‘part’,” said Ysayle, slowly, annunciating each word for a kind of emphasis.

“Oh yeah. Other part. I should let you know, while we’re just talking, I’ve got friends behind me, and a little thing in my back that’ll make it easier for them to travel the streams to get here. I… I don’t think I want to fight you though, Lady Iceheart. It is Lady Iceheart, right?”

Ysayle stepped back out of combat stance, standing tall, statuesque. “Lady Iceheart. Yes. I am the leader of the heretics, if that is who you seek. As I am certain you have heard, I harbor the spirit of Shiva, reborn, if that is what you came here to ask me.”

The knight was quiet for a long moment, and turned her gaze away, to look down at the ground a little bit away from her. She rubbed her fingers idly, seeming to be suddenly uncomfortable.

“You seem to be a lot of things to a lot of people, you know. Of course you know. You’re more than just a person. Even more so now, that you’ve demonstrated that neat trick with the Shiva manifestation or … whatever you want to cal it. I don’t want to argue about that, let me have that, never mind that. The point is, you know… you’re a symbol. People believe in you.”

“They are right to do so. I accept Ishgard’s tired and weary and unwanted all in kind. I accept those who want to see an end to this pointless bloodshed. Know this true, former-knight of House Vauban. I will see an end to this war.”

“Yeah? And the tired and weary of Stormcloak?”

Ysayle took a deep breath in, and let it out slow. “Unfortunate but necessary.”

The knight looked up at Ysayle, and then gestured at the place where the guard used to be. “Noticed you sent the guard away. If you hadn’t, we might not be having this conversation at all. But you did.”

“I do not spill blood needlessly, nor let it be spent on my behalf without cause, adventurer. Not every problem needs to be solved with your kinds’ particular brand of overwhelming violence. And if it does,” and at this Ysayle stood up a little taller, “I am capable of delivering it myself.”

“Yeah. Admirable, I guess,” said the knight. She still looked uncomfortable, and had not stopped fidgeting.

“…my cousin looked up to you. I don’t imagine you’d know him from anyone else, but he looked up to you. I first thought he was just lovesick again. You know how they are when they’re young. He would go on about your beautiful hair, the way you held yourself. He was careful, of course, none of us knew he was talking about you, specifically, the leader of the heretics. But it wasn’t just infatuation. No, figured that out eventually. He was a true believer. Tried to share his views with the rest of us. We didn’t listen, of course. I still think he was wrong. You haven’t exactly convinced me otherwise. But… but he believed.”

“And the Inquisition found out, and they cleared your house, and they executed some of your people? I am familiar with the tale. I do not control the Inquisition, knight, and while your misfortunes -are- unfortunate they are not from my hand.”

“Oh. I know. Not where I was going with that. I mean, you’re right, but I don’t blame you for what happened to my house. The Inquisition happened, and maybe one day there will be a reckoning for that, but that’s not your problem. No, I… I guess, what I really wanted to know, is… my cousin. Your people. You take care of them, right?”

Ysayle frowned. This adventurer was an odd sort. Certainly, she was not used to one who talked so much before getting around to introducing the pointy end to whatever problem they thought needed it.

“So you are not here to join my forces, and you are not here to eliminate them. You… just want to know… that your cousin is all right?”

“No. I mean, yes, but I don’t expect you to know that, and I know what it’s like out here, I’m not naive. I want to know… that you’re taking care of them. All of them. You lead, that’s obvious. I get that. But… do you really truly believe you’re going to end this war? And for what? For the dragons? For yourself?”

The adventurer was obviously leading the conversation to an obvious point, and Ysayle so no reason not to let them. It helped that it would be true.

“For all of us. For every Ishgardian. And for the dragons, as well. That every drop of blood spent will be the last.”

Ysayle stood tall. Resplendent. Snow crystals floated down gently through the camp. The knight sat, continuing to fidget, slowly. Ysayle was a pillar in the storm. She always was.

She always would be.

The knight nodded to herself before slowly standing to her full height. As much a pillar as Ysayle, tall, imposing. The two faced each other in the silence of the cold winter night.

“The delay in the crystals getting here, I think that buys three, four days. Fighting you here would drain the crystals you already have. I figure that buys another two, three days. That’s a week for Lord Drillemont to fully evacuate Snowcloak. One week.”

The knight twirled her sword in her hand.

“So. We wanna do this?”

~~~

Zoissette returned to the base camp, her hair a mess, her expression tired, and her movements belying a deep exhaustion. She waved away several squires that stepped forward to offer to help, making her way to center of the camp. She dropped her shield unceremoniously into the snow next to the central fire that was burning, and then landed bodily with a thud on the ground next to it. She fought her sword belt for a few moments, and then, growing frustrated, she growled viciously at it and began to bite at the straps holding her gauntlets in place instead.

“Enjoy your climb?” said Y’sthola, barely looking up from her tome.

Zoissette stopped chewing her armor’s straps for long enough to answer. “Invigorating,” she said, before returning her teeth to their task, managing to wrest the strap free of its latch. She waved her hand in the air, trying to shake the gauntlet off rather than try to take it off properly.

Y’shtola sighed, setting her book aside, and got up, coming around the fire to grasp the gauntlet.

“I swear, you are like a child, and one I did not ask to look after.”

“Thanks for the help, mom.”

“Hnh.”

“Help me with the other one?”

“…if you insist.”

Zoissette gave Y’shtola a broad exaggerated smile, and Y’shtola rolled her eyes at Zoissette’s antics.

“You are older than many of us. Must you act like you are half that?”

Zoissette shrugged with the one shoulder. “It’s fun.”

Y’shtola got the other gauntlet off with little effort, and set it down neatly on the ground next to the first one. “Please tell me you at least managed to track down our elusive quarry.”

Zoissette’s playfulness evaporated, and she seemed to fold in on herself a bit. “Yeah. Found the crystals, too. It’ll be a problem again eventually, but for now… we can tell Lord Drillemont that he has his week.”

Y’shtola looked at Zoissette’s face with a frown. “And the Lady Shiva?”

“Handled.”

Y’shtola sat, crouched in the snow next to Zoissette. Zoissette, her hands now free of their gauntlets, set about unlatching her sword belt instead. She decided not to push the matter.

“Well… very well. We should return once you are rested, then, and inform the others.”

Zoissette just nodded. Finally free of her sword belt, she set it and its sword aside, and leaned back slowly into her shield, looking up into the sky. Y’shtola turned her gaze upward as well, and watched as snowflakes fell gently into the camp.

#202109-07 #ffxivwrite2021 #avatar #zoissette vauban #ysayle #lady iceheart

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somethingwritey · 3 years

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sneak peek: “run to you” - a rangshi longfic

💖 i am currently working on a rangshi longfic (50k words at the moment) that i’ll eventually publish on ao3. it takes place directly following the events of The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee.

💖 my writing commissions are open! message me with commission requests or questions!

💖 here’s a sneak peek of “run to you”!

---

Kyoshi had blood on her hands.

Quite literally, at the moment.

She stared down at her palms and fingers, hoping they didn’t shake as badly as she feared.

She knew she needed to wash the weight of Rangi’s blood away, watch it swirl down her arms and out of sight, as if that alone could wipe away the pain she’d caused her girl, but for some reason, Kyoshi couldn’t seem to move her feet.

Every part of her felt heavy and languid, and it was hard work to imagine that these were the same limbs that had carried, defended, and healed only hours ago. Kyoshi wanted to curl up into a ball and wait for someone else to save the world for once.

Because that was the oh, so incessant problem about Avatarhood. No matter how many messes Kyoshi cleaned up, there were still new terrors cropping up the moment she sat down to catch her breath. It was exhausting. Behind all the makeup and armor, she was still the servant girl in the mansion - tasked with the never-ending job of cleaning up.

“You saved her life.”

Kyoshi lifted her head to see Hei-Ran, standing only a little less poised than usual. The teetering fate of Rangi had taken a toll on even the most rigid members of her group.

“I did my duty.” The words came out defeated, as if Kyoshi had lost instead of won. Then again, with Yun’s grey body lying somewhere inside the ruined mansion waiting to be put to rest, and a bloodied Rangi being tended to by Atuat, maybe she couldn’t claim victory after all.

Peace comes at a price.

She heard the words in Lao Ge’s voice, although she was fairly certain he’d never actually uttered them to her.

“You did far beyond that, Avatar.” Hei-Ran thought about it for a moment, then took a seat beside her - flicking her robes out behind her as she did. “You should be honored for what you’ve done.”

“Yeah, except no one will even know!” Kyoshi slammed her fists down on the ground, causing a small tremor beneath them. “Zoryu’s made sure of that! He gets all the credit, and all he’s done is sentence an innocent man to death!”

This outburst probably wouldn’t win her any favor in Hei-Ran’s eyes - the woman so committed to her duty that she’d willingly sacrificed her hair and honor to acknowledge her failures - but Kyoshi couldn’t help it.

Her first choice for a confidant would’ve been Rangi, of course. Or maybe Kelsang. But with the latter dead and the former barely conscious, she supposed the old headmistress would have to do. The woman had claimed Kyoshi as a daughter back in North Chung-Ling. Perhaps that warranted a bit of sympathy or at least a listening ear.

“The Fire Lord’s job is complicated,” Hei-Ran stated. “As is yours. You’ve both been tasked with the impossible: governing a world that does not wish to be governed by you. Chaos is the natural order, Kyoshi, as much as we pretend it is not. The Fire Nation must go to great lengths to maintain our control. Even if it… requires some bloodshed.”

“I didn’t ask for this.” Kyoshi shook her head. She no longer felt the dull aching in her chest that used to come with a reminder of her station, but that didn’t mean the Era of Kyoshi hadn’t been stained with blood and confusion and deceit.

“The Spirits chose you.”

Why?

The plaintive question would’ve made her sound like a child, so Kyoshi sealed her lips and kept the pleading inside. She wanted answers. And since Hei-Ran would understand nothing more about the mysterious methods of the spirits than she did, Kyoshi decided to at least start with something the woman stood a chance at knowing.

“Was Rangi mad?” She rubbed the side of her face and dried blood flaked off, fluttering towards the ground. “When I left, I mean.”

A ghost of a smile flitted across Hei-Ran’s face. “Enough to shoot flames out of her ears.”

For a moment, Kyoshi tried to picture it - a steaming mad Rangi, with her face boiling red and fists clenched into tight balls. The last time she’d gotten that upset, the Firebender had flipped a table off a balcony. For a moment, the memory tugged at the corner of Kyoshi’s mouth - lifting it into a lopsided smile.

And then the moment passed.

“I’m sorry I killed your daughter.”

Hei-Ran frowned. “You healed her, Kyoshi.”

Only after Rangi had traveled to fight alongside the girl who’d locked her into the ground and put her mother on a possible death bed. “Because I put her in danger. It doesn’t count. Doing right by her after that was just… canceling out the bad.”

Kyoshi felt like she’d been doing that her whole life: making mistakes and then fixing them. It didn’t seem right to take the credit for something she’d messed up in the first place.

You were the one innocent party, Yun had told her. Oh, if only that were the truth.

“Hei-Ran?” Atuat had emerged from the infirmary, traveling up to where Kyoshi and the headmistress sat. Hei-Ran was on her feet immediately, but whether to appear respectable in front of the doctor or out of fear for what news she’d bring, Kyoshi couldn’t be sure.

“How is she?” Kyoshi found her way to her feet as well, Atuat’s presence sending a fresh wave of worry down her spine.

“Oh good, Kyoshi’s here, too. Saves me a trip.” Atuat took her time reaching them and with each passing moment, Kyoshi found herself more and more on edge. By the time the Waterbender made it over, she could feel her body vibrating again.

“Well?” Hei-Ran demanded, clearly just as impatient as Kyoshi, but with better control over her exterior.

“She’s asleep.” Atuat’s manner always confused Kyoshi a bit. She never seemed exhausted by the threat of death. Perhaps she’d just become too acquainted with it, or maybe mastering the power of healing made her immune to the fear. Either way, she always emerged from battle hospitals like she’d finished a rather routine examination.

“Will she be okay?” Kyoshi remembered the crunch of earth as it impaled Rangi’s back. The way the blood had rushed away from her lips. How she’d looked up at her as the life drained away. “Is the damage permanent? I know I didn’t heal her right. I tried my best, but -”

“Kyoshi.” Atuat held up her hand. “Rangi is a strong girl. She’s going to be alright. In pain, certainly, but in the end alright.”

Kyoshi exhaled shakily, barely able to keep it together enough to thank her.

“You need rest, too, Avatar,” Atuat pressed, motioning down towards the infirmary. “There’s a spare bed down the hill.”

The last thing Kyoshi wanted to do was sleep. How could she just let herself clock out when Rangi needed caring for? When the Flying Opera Company was wounded? When Jinpa still hadn’t come down from his medicine high due to her own poor measurements?

As if Atuat could read her mind, the doctor narrowed her eyes. “That monk is off his rocker. You gave him too much.”

“Sorry, sifu.”

“Rest, Kyoshi,” was the only response she got in return. “And take off those clothes. You’ve got blood all over you.”

///

“I can feel you staring at me.”

Kyoshi jumped a little, hurriedly switching her gaze to the other side of the room and away from Rangi’s bed before deciding hiding it was futile. The Firebender hadn’t moved in over two hours, but apparently, the wounded girl was more perceptive than Kyoshi had anticipated.

“I thought you were sleeping!” Kyoshi whispered, doing her best not to disturb Kirima and Wong, who were asleep in their respective wooden beds.

“I’m resting.” Rangi still hadn’t opened her eyes. “A concept you might not be familiar with.”

A hum of relief ran through Kyoshi’s arms. If Rangi was well enough to give her shit, then maybe that meant the girl would be alright after all.

“I know how to rest.” Kyoshi crossed her arms and did her best to look wounded.

“Yeah, and Jinpa’s a murderer.”

Kyoshi glanced over at her secretary, who was propped up against the wooden headboard and still singing to himself in dulcet tones.

“Kyoshi, please try to sleep,” Rangi pleaded.

Easier said than done. Sitting still seemed too difficult for Kyoshi at the moment, let alone actually falling asleep.

“Yeah, well,” Kyoshi mumbled offhandedly. “I’m not really keen on seeing you die again in my dreams.” It came out sounding more dire than she’d meant.

Only then did Rangi open her eyes, staring at Kyoshi from across the way. “I’m fine.”

It would’ve been a lot more convincing if her hands weren’t locked tight around the thin cotton sheets, compensating for some sort of pain she must be feeling.

“Fine?” Kyoshi stared at her incredulously. “You were stabbed.”

“Can you two please keep it down?” Kirima suddenly cut in, gesturing to her splinted leg. “Some of us are trying to heal!”

Apparently, her ability to tell who was asleep badly needed fine-tuning.

“Noise won’t delay that process!” Kyoshi shot back, trying to keep her smile at bay. She really had missed her friends.

Silence fell back over the infirmary, and Kyoshi allowed herself to lean against the headboard for the first time all night. She drew in a shaky breath, basking in the safety she felt around the Flying Opera Company - even if their legs were broken.

It was a few minutes before Rangi spoke again, lowering her voice to whisper in that raspy way of hers. “You’re pretty far away, you know.”

At first, Kyoshi wanted to protest that of course her energy was distant - she’d killed one of her closest friends and nearly lost the other one - before she realized Rangi was speaking literally. She closed her mouth. Hard.

A little too hard, actually. Her jaw still ached where Yun had thrown the discs.

Rangi even managed a little grin. “Do you think Atuat will kill you for sleeping with a patient?”

Giddy with the idea of lying beside Rangi again, Kyoshi slid out of bed and made her way over to the other side of the room. She’d flirted with the idea of climbing in before, but with Rangi’s fragile state, she hadn’t wanted to cause any more damage than she’d already done.

“You’re not gonna break me,” Rangi mumbled, but Kyoshi still saw her struggle to make space in the small frame.

“This is a bad -”

“Will you quit worrying and just crawl in, please?” Rangi did her best to pat the bed beside her, wincing horribly. “I’ve suffered worse.”

“Mmm, what a terrible fate,” Kyoshi grinned, finally allowing herself to gingerly lie down beside Rangi. “Sleeping next to Kyoshi. What an awful - hey!”

Rangi had elbowed her in the ribs. She tried to laugh, but it barely masked the tremor behind it.

“Stop hurting yourself,” Kyoshi hissed, laying an angry kiss on the Firebender’s cheek. “I mean it.”

In response, Rangi moved to curl up closer against Kyoshi’s chest, her eyes falling shut again. For a long while, they stayed just like that - Rangi in too much pain to move and Kyoshi too nervous about causing her any more. It felt awfully reminiscent of the first time they’d shared a bed, with Kyoshi awake all night inhaling the smell of Rangi’s hair against her lips.

Kyoshi had vowed to protect her then, and she still wanted to protect her now. She didn’t miss the way Rangi’s face screwed up as she slept, sleep inhibiting her ability to hide the discomfort. A couple of times, Atuat came to check on her. She clicked her teeth together at the sight of Kyoshi in the bed, but didn’t seem altogether surprised. The doctor didn’t force her away either, something for which Kyoshi was eternally grateful.

In the blue-grey hours of the morning, Kyoshi finally succumbed to the heaviness in her eyelids - letting them shut as her head fell back against the headboard - at last, too tired to worry about any new dangers coming for them that night.

-----

💖 that’s all for now :) i might post a little more soon! i’m very excited to get this up on ao3 in the near future!

💖 if you enjoy my writing and want to commission me, send me a message! my commissions are open!

💖 keep an eye out for more commissioned pieces coming soon :)

#kyoshi #rise of kyoshi #rangshi #rangi #rangi x kyoshi #shadow of kyoshi #avatar the last airbender #writing commissions #my writing #longfic #sneak peak #writing #wlw #avatar kyoshi #atla #fic

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sokkascroptop · 4 years

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traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 6

part 1 | part 5 | part 7

A/N: I can’t tell you how much it means to me that so many people like this fic. Y’all are seriously so sweet ❤️here’s part 6

“No!” He drew his dao blades and slashed. They danced around each other like old times. Though both of them had a longer reach and more strength behind each blow, it felt exhilaratingly like back when they were children. Y/N missed the challenge of fighting against two blades.

“What do you think this is?” Ty Lee held up something with two fingers to show Y/N and Mai. Something that was sopping wet and disgusting.

They had stopped along the river to stretch their legs and get some fresh air while Azula conferred with Lo and Li. Ty Lee was currently wading back to the bank from the river where Mai and Y/N were basking in the sun, still clutching–whatever it was.

“Always rule number one: don’t pick up dead things, Ty Lee.” Mai waved her away when she got near.

“Ew, get it away from me!” Y/N shrieked and giggled when Ty Lee tossed it in her lap.

“It’s not dead, it’s fur or something,” Ty Lee said defensively. She sat between them and crossed her arms.

Y/N poked it with one finger. She was right, it wasn’t anything dead, just a clump of white fur. She could tell that it was soft, even though it was wet. Y/N looked around them. There were more clumps in the water floating away with the slow pace of the river, there was even some blowing in the wind on the bank. Y/N threw the wet patch of fur away and ran to grab a dry piece. She rubbed it between her fingers as she walked back to the other two girls.

“What are you thinking?” Mai asked.

“I think that this is a way to find the Avatar,” Y/N said absentmindedly.

“How is that patch of fur going to help us find the Avatar?” Ty Lee asked.

“I think it will help us track them. Look around–” Y/N gestured to the clumps of white all over. There was more than she had seen before, “–it’s everywhere, even in the tops of the trees. I think that maybe it’s fur from their sky bison.”

Ty Lee gasped. “Let’s go tell Azula!” She shot to her feet and did a celebratory cartwheel in the direction of the machine.

“Does anyone know why we’re even going after the Avatar?” Mai asked. She hadn’t moved from her spot in a patch of sunlight. She raised one sharp eyebrow waiting for their answer.

“Because Azula–”

“No, Ty Lee, not why we are searching for him. But why does he need to be captured at all? Why was Zuko sent after him when he was banished?” Mai shrugged like the answer didn’t really matter.

Y/N looked around nervously. They were alone, but it didn’t mean they were able to talk freely. “We shouldn’t concern ourselves with the why. The only thing we need to worry about is doing what we’re told.” It was the answer that Y/N was expected to give. And any other time it would be the answer that satisfied her. But this time it didn’t. What Mai said stuck with her, she wondered the same thing: why were they doing this?

That question continued to swirl in her head as Y/N pretended sleep that night during her allotted shift while the other girls kept watch. She just laid there listening to the metal contraption roll and creak over the ground. It wasn’t her place to question orders, and most of the time she didn’t; she listened and did what was asked of her. So why was she so worried about it now?

Y/N had learned in school about the Avatar and what their mission in the world was. Peace and prosperity sounded nice, but something had happened long ago, when the war had started. Y/N could never be sure, stories were different, but she thought she remembered hearing that the airbenders had amassed an army and had to be eliminated because the Fire Nation feared their destruction. Now it was the job of the Fire Nation to spread that peace and prosperity between the nations. But, the other nations were resistant to it. It had been one hundred years, why were they all still fighting? Y/N had to admit, the way they were going after the Avatar and his Water Tribe friends wasn’t sitting right with her. It felt vaguely like a hunting party…

These were all questions she wasn’t supposed to think about, much less ask outloud. Azula had the answers but that didn’t mean she was going to give them up if Y/N opened her mouth. She turned over on her other side and tried to push everything out of her mind; to ignore all those nagging thoughts about how this feels wrong! and just get some sleep. Morning and daylight would bring clarity. And surely once they actually caught up to the Avatar all would be revealed.

It felt like she had just closed her eyes when someone shook Y/N’s shoulder. She gasped and sat up quickly. “What’s happened?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mai yawned.

“Is it your turn?”

“No, we spotted their camp. Come on.”

----

“These things terrify me.” Y/N patted the hide of her lizard-hound and watched the skin shiver over layers of hard muscle.

Azula rolled her eyes and huffed. “Just get on.”

Y/N wrinkled her nose as she slid her foot in the stirrup and kicked her other leg over the saddle. She could feel the lizard hound already tugging at the reins, only held back by her two hands, lucky that she would get the one who desperately wanted to escape.

The wall of the car that they were in lowered and the four of them led their lizard hounds down the ramp. It was still pitch black out, save for the moon which lit their way. They were in the mountains now. A thin road ahead of them led to three–wait, four kids standing on the edge of a cliff looking over them. Y/N kicked the lizard hound and together they all started running.

Each of the four kids got into fighting stances and suddenly large rocks erupted in front of them. Their respective lizard hounds scaled the rocks easily without direction and continued running. Apparently, the Avatar had found an earthbender to travel with.

Three of them ran back to the sky bison, while the last one, a girl in green raised a large rock wall meant to cut Y/N and her friends off. So, a really good earthbender.

Next to her, Azula dropped her reins and shot a bolt of lightning at it, crumbling a section for them to climb through. Mai threw four knives at the earthbender that were deflected by another rock that launched the girl into the sky bison’s saddle. Azula’s streak of blue fire she opened up on them just missed as they flew away.

The four girls sat and watched as the Avatar and his friends flew out their grasp once again. The white speck of their bison got smaller and smaller until he disappeared on the horizon.

Azula let out a frustrated scream and turned her lizard hound back around and ran back to the machine. Mai sighed loudly and the three of them shared a look and headed back themselves.

“Too bad we don’t have a flying bison,” Ty Lee said, dejectedly.

“They’ll get tired flying all night.” Y/N looked to the east and saw the pinky hues of an incoming sunrise.

----

“More wads of wet fur,” Mai mused. “How delightful.” The girls had pulled off at the banks of the same river that they had found the wet fur in first, just much farther upstream. Azula bent down to pick them up and wandered off to look around.

“They’re not wads, more like bundles or–” Ty Lee screwed up her face as she searched for a word.

“Clumps?” Y/N supplied.

Ty Lee jumped into her arms and hugged her tight. “Yes! Clumps!”

Y/N laughed at her as she hugged back and watched Azula study the trees over Ty Lee’s shoulder.

“The trail goes this way.” Mai pointed off to the right.

Azula looked to the trail of fur and then back to the trees. “The Avatar is trying to give us the slip. Mai, Ty Lee, you head in this direction.” Azula pointed to the trees she was looking at seconds before. “Y/N and I will follow this trail.”

Before parting ways, Y/N pulled Ty Lee aside. “You two be careful.” she tugged softly on the other girl’s braid.

“You too,” She said brightly. Y/N looked back at Azula who was already mounting her lizard hound and getting ready to leave Y/N behind if she didn’t hurry up.

Y/N sighed. “Yeah, let’s hope.”

----

They traveled through the forest, into the mountains and into the desert before they saw it. A little derelict town on the edge of civilization. The buildings were worn and falling apart; and sitting right in the middle of it was the Avatar. His staff lay across his lap and he looked exhausted. Good, Y/N thought. It’ll be easier to convince him to come back to the Fire Nation if he can’t think too hard.

“All right you’ve caught up with me. Now who are you and what do you want?” He asked. His voice was high, he was young. Just a kid. Azula and her both slid off their lizard-hounds and walked closer, dust raised with every step.

“You mean you haven’t guessed? You don’t see the family resemblance? Here’s a hint–” Azula covered her left eye and deepened her voice. “–I must find the Avatar to restore my honor.”

When that didn’t get a rise out of the Avatar, she smiled. “It’s okay. You can laugh. It’s funny.”

Y/N didn’t think it was.

“So what now?” the Avatar asked.

“It’s over.” Y/N said. “You’re tired and you have no place to go–”

“–You can run, but we’ll catch you.” Azula added.

“I’m not running.” he stood up with his staff.

“Do you really want to fight me?” Azula taunted.

“Yes, I really do,” A husky voice said from the shadows of a worn building.

Y/N gasped. “Zuko..”

He jumped down from his ostrich-horse and threw his wide-brimmed hat to the side. His ponytail was gone, his hair was close cropped to his head. The significance of it didn’t evade her. Zuko had cut off his topknot. He’d cut off the Fire Nation.

“I was wondering when you’d show up Zu-zu,” Azula used his childhood nickname to cut him a little deeper. Y/N could hear the Avatar giggle from where he stood.

“Back off Azula, he’s mine.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Y/N slowly started sliding away from Azula. She didn’t need to be part of this sibling rivalry. If she could just edge to the side and get to the Avatar…

“Don’t act like I can’t see you moving, Y/N.”

She drew her sword slowly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Using his distraction to her advantage, Azula launched a blue fire ball at Zuko. He blocked it with his own fire but was still thrown backwards, tumbling through a pole.

The Avatar opened his glider up and tried to fly away but Azula threw a whip of fire on top of him forcing him back to the ground and to use his staff to blow the flames away. Azula then climbed onto the roof and ran along the edge to drop down closer to the Avatar.

Y/N focused on Zuko. He readied himself to throw fire at Azula’s back when she knocked his arm away with the flat of her blade. The fire flew left and caught one of the buildings on fire instead. “Just let us have him!” She yelled.

“No!” He drew his dao blades and slashed. They danced around each other like old times. Though both of them had a longer reach and more strength behind each blow it felt exhilaratingly like back when they were children. Y/N missed the challenge of fighting against two blades.

She blocked, stabbed and twisted her wrist just right to disarm him of his right-handed blade. He punched with a fist of fire and she was too slow to dodge. She ducked and tried to block most of it with her sword but she still felt flames lick her arm. She yelped as she felt her sleeve sear into her flesh.

Zuko froze.

Y/N knocked his other sword from his hand and punched him in the face. He fell to his back and she ran, following Azula and the Avatar inside of one of the buildings.

Her arm was numb. That was expected

What she didn’t expect was to fall through the floor. She twisted midair to grab the ledge. She made to pull herself up but ducked as she saw Zuko come barreling in. He fell right to the first floor with a yell.

She dropped down next to him and Azula was knocked down by a blast of air. The Avatar ran out of the building and Y/N followed. “Avatar! Stop!” She ordered.

He didn’t. But they both turned when they heard an explosion behind them. Zuko lay in the street unconscious and Azula walked towards them unharmed. Blue flames danced on her fingertips.

But he still wasn’t giving up. The Avatar jumped between two buildings to avoid the fire Azula threw at him. Until she cut away the building he was climbing with her fire and he fell in.

Y/N followed behind Azula as they entered the building. Azula lit two fires along the walls of the room, surrounding the Avatar in fire. He was trapped more ways than one. There was also a beam that had fallen and was keeping him from bending.

Y/N tugged on Azula’s arm. “Let‘s get him and go. This has been more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Just wait,” she commanded. She held up two fingers and stalked towards the airbender.

Just then, a rope of water shot out of the doorway pulling her arm back.

“Again?” Y/N groaned. She cut the rope of water, and ran after the waterbender with Azula hot on her heels.

The waterbender took a quick turn to the right and Y/N was surprised by the waterbender’s brother who came out swinging. She blocked one blow which made her arm shake with effort. She caught the hook of his club with her sword on his upstroke and pulled it straight out of his hands. She grabbed his club mid-air and threw it far enough away that he couldn’t run and get it.

“Really?” she asked, exasperated.

“Really,” he echoed, pulling his boomerang out from behind his back. Y/N began to back away.

Azula stepped in front of Y/N blocking the airbending and waterbending assault coming at them. Y/N worked to find a way out.

That is before the ground was pulled out from beneath them like a rug and they fell into one another. That earthbender was back.

Azula and Y/N rolled off of one another and ran, Azula threw balls of fire behind her to keep the others a bay. And Y/N thought they were home free until she ran into someone large enough to knock her down. Iroh and Zuko stood over her. Azula grabbed her arm and pulled her up. They were cornered, literally.

Iroh, Zuko, the three benders and the water tribe boy stood in a half circle trapping them.

“Well, look at this, Y/N. Enemies and traitors teaming up against us. I’m done. I know when I’m beaten.”

Y/N gaped at her friend standing there with her hands up in surrender. “Um, I’m not done?” She looked out to the people surrounding them. She raised her sword. If this was a last stand it was going to be a hell of a fight. She remembered words her father had all but burned in her mind. You never, ever surrender. You die before kneeling in front of the enemy. Promise me you’ll do as I say, Y/N…

Y/N blinked and she almost missed it.

She just caught the tail end of a fireball hitting Iroh in the chest. He fell into a heap on the ground.

The next thing she knew, Y/N was raising her sword to block the boomerang aimed for her head and she was engulfed in flames.

Azula’s blue flames.

They surrounded both of them like a shield from the other benders who released everything they had against the two of them.

There was an explosion as the four elements bombarded their shield. And then black smoke filled the town. Azula grabbed Y/N’s hand and they ran, using the smoke to cover their escape.

Y/N wasn’t sure how her legs were still working. They mounted their lizard-hounds that had run out of the town from the fight and were waiting nearby and they galloped through the desert back in the direction they came from.

Y/N’s mind raced. She kept turning over what she thought about this morning. All would be revealed. All would be revealed. Azula had just tried to kill her Uncle, hell Iroh could be dead for all she knew. And it wasn’t an accident. And Azula had used her as a distraction to do it.

She knew the response Y/N would have to surrendering. She knew what Y/N would say if she was asked to stand down. Y/N had just fought side by side with someone she didn’t recognize anymore.

Tears blurred her vision as they rode their lizard-hounds through the mountains. It was dark, the sun had set hours before, but she still hid her face. Azula couldn’t see her cry.

She didn’t even know what she was crying for. Her arm that burned like it was still on fire? Iroh whom, she barely knew? Zuko, who for the first time ever, had looked at her like she was the enemy? Or was it because she was confused? Because Y/N had never been so conflicted in her life. Fighting was easy, but feelings and emotions and ideas were getting in the way.

The same fear that had burned in her when Azula lit the net on fire underneath Ty Lee built up in her chest again. It made it so hard to breathe.

A/N: so what did you guys think? Definitely more animosity on Y/N’s part. The end of this was loaded with feelings. If you can’t tell, things are breaking down fast. I also added in some of the things that Y/N was taught when she was younger; some propaganda from the Fire Nation school, some things she learned from her father.

Taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon , @reclusive-chicken-nugget , @astroninaaa , @bubblebars , @beifongsss @crownofcryptids , @welovediaaxx @littlefluu , @lozzybowe , @thebluelcdy , @ohjustlookalive , @sugarmoongey

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astra-galaxie · 9 months

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Scottie Riddle

Biographical information

Full Name: Scottie Riddle

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

Status: Deceased

Age: 29 (season 2)

Birth: 1986

Race: Human

Cause of Death: Shot in the head

Nationality: American

Origin: Rhine Canyon, Pacific Bay, USA

Residence: Rhine Canyon, Pacific Bay, USA

Profession(s): Police Officer

Family: Unnamed parents (deceased)

Affiliation(s): Pacific Bay Police Department

Profile

Height: 5’9" Age: 29 (season 2) Weight: 205lbs Eyes: brown Blood: AB-

Scottie was a tall man with a slightly chubby build. He had short black hair framing his brown eyes and dark skin with some short stubble around his jaw. He wore a standard PBPD uniform consisting of a dark blue dress shirt, a bulletproof vest, black pants, shoes, a utility belt, and a badge.

Synopsis

Scottie was the victim in Escape from Pacific Bay. He was a prison transport officer who agreed to help the G.I.A. "kidnap" Jarvis Donne from his transport van when he and Kirby were escorting the "killer" to prison. While he had never become a G.I.A. agent, his parents had been, and he felt he owed it to them to help save Jarvis from his prison sentence after Randolph had been reduced from Area 61.

After meeting with the G.I.A. rescue team and devising a plan to fake a car crash after Adalet had pulled Jarvis from his van, Scottie got to work. He felt terrible about lying to his friend Kirby, but until Jarvis was safe, no one could know about the G.I.A's plan. So, he had Kirby drive the police car while he took the van and watched as Loki possessed his friend's vehicle and drove Kirby out of sight. Once Kirby was a safe distance away and Adalet had gotten Jarvis out of the back, Scottie performed a controlled crash to stage the scene.

Moments after he had climbed out of the van, Kirby returned and panicked at the sight of the crashed vehicle and missing prisoner. Scottie told Kirby that the plan was a success and tried to let him in on the secret, but Kirby was so distraught that he wouldn't listen. Before Scottie could do anything, Kirby attacked him with a riding crop, beating him to the ground.

Scottie tried to fight back, but even though Kirby was smaller than him, he had adrenaline and rage on his side. Soon, Scottie was beaten till he was bruised and bleeding. As he struggled to speak, he heard the sound of a gun going off, and everything went black.

He was angry that Kirby killed him, but at the same time, he felt partially responsible. If he hadn't followed the order to keep the mission a secret from Kirby, they could have worked together to save Jarvis. He never liked Aslan and should have defied the man. Maybe then he would still be alive and friends with Kirby…

Organization(s)

PBPD

Rank: Police Officer

Story Information

First appeared: Escape From Killer Bay

Trivia

The name of the case he is the victim in is based on the title of the movie Escape From Planet Earth

His name comes from the Star Trek phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty!" and one of the directors of the Alien movie series, Ridley Scott

His mother was a descendant of the original Libra, while his father's ancestor was the first Sagittarius

For some reason, I only described him as a dead body and gave him no physical description beyond that… Oops? So I guess I'm somewhat obligated to give him a design now… just a couple of years late!

Disclaimer: Character design was created using Rinmarugames Mega Anime Avatar Creator! I have only made minor edits to the design! Background courtesy of CriminalArtist5

Links to my stories:

The Case of the Criminal (Ao3/Wattpad) Killer Bay (Ao3/Wattpad) Where in the World are the Killers? (Ao3/Wattpad)

#criminal case #astra's ocs #my ocs #criminal case pacific bay

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trash-but-respectable-trash · 4 years

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I did some NSFW headcanons of the brothers + Diavolo for my best friend

@beel-is-a-snack this is the best I could come up with.

Lucifer

- He’s 100% a dom, he won’t let you dom EVER (ok maybe once at your birthday if that’s what you want but when midnight strikes, he’ll make you pay)

- I headcannon that he would enjoy a partner who isn’t a 100% sub, he would prefer a bratty sub because he can punish you afterwards

- If you behave he will reward you, if you’re a brat, tease him during the day where he can’t do anything about it or if you’re too flirty on purpose with his brothers, he will punish you

- Punishments can include edging, humiliation like making you beg for it, not letting you cum for sometimes a week or using his whip or riding crop in you if you’re into impact play

- He won’t ever do anything you’re uncomfortable with (even if some people think otherwise) everything is done in consent and he’s willing to try anything you want, you just have to ask him nicely

- Does have a safe word obviously

- He’s probably very soft and loving most of the time with someone he loves, but nights where he’s overworked because of Diavolo’s demands or when he’s being harassed by his brothers shananighans all day, that’s when the dom and sadist Lucifer comes out

- His kiss are very controlled, he knows what he’s doing and will leave you breathless every time

- He’s flawless in everything he does, so I feel he’s the same with sex since he pays a lot of attention to details, he knows exactly what you wants even if it’s your first time together, he wants to make sure you want no one but HIM (he’s possessive you’re HIS).

- Sex will take place either in his study or in his bedroom, he likes the idea of being caught having sex in his study, but he doesn’t ACTUALLY wants to get caught

- Also he isn’t into quickies, he prefers to take his time, but sometimes he’ll quickly fuck you either by bending you on his desk or by having you on his lap while he’s still sitting on his desk chair

Mammon

- This boy gets bully all the time by his brothers, so I imagine he would have a praise kink, he wants to be told he’s doing a good job because he probably feels like he’s not good enough for you

- He’s maybe a masochist, but he’s also a switch. He’s a sub most of the time, but if you tease him enough or make him angry he will get possessive, marking you to show everyone that you belong to the GREAT MAMMON.

- He’s the avatar of greed, so he probably thinks about his pleasure first and he might get into his head during sex, so it’s better to be the one in control

- Very sloppy when kissing and he’s also greedy so one quick peck is never enough

- He’s a demon so you can be really rough on him, he’ll probably even ask for it to be even harder, digging your fingernails in his back, biting him, chocking him, WHIPPING HIM

- Probably enjoys being pegged

Leviathan

- The most awkward of them all

- Kisses are awkward at first because he’s super tense, but if he can relax, he’ll be much better

- Not a virgin, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience except for his dating games and hentai.

- He probably does that annoying sound (you know which one) when he cums

- Very easily flustered and it will never go away even if you’ve been together for a long time.

- Very shy, he needs someone who’s patient with him because he doesn’t know what to do with 3D women

- He has a degradation kink as well as a praise kink, he likes both the same

- Likes to be tied up, and having his partner on top of him.

- He’s the avatar of envy and also a switch, he will be very dominant if he gets jealous like if you’re hanging out with one of his brother (probably Mammon)

- Might use his tail during sex without realizing and if his partner likes it he will continue using it

- He loves thighs, loves thigh high socks that are a bit too tight, loves being between his partner’s legs and even more if they’re pressing their thighs against his head.

- Obviously would LOVE to see his partner dressed as Ruri-Chan or any cute or sexy cosplay really, as long as it short so he can see those legs

- Will 100% call his partner Ruri-Chan during sex AT LEAST ONCE

Satan

- This boy isn’t the avatar of wrath for nothing

- He will try to restrain himself, but if you tease him enough or if you explicitly tell him you don’t want him to hold back... well you might not be able to walk the next day... or week

- He’s a tease himself, LOVES to tease, a hand on an exposed thigh, whispering filthy thoughts while you’re both in the library, a slap on the ass or a quick makeout session in one of the empty classroom without ever going further than teasing

- Wants to know what you want, even if you’re shy about it, he won’t give it to you if you don’t ask nicely first

- Secretly really want to have sex in a library and if you end up doing it, he’ll make sure you stay quiet or else he will stop

- He’s not into pet play, but he would totally be turned on by you wearing cute cat ears

- Also into edging you

- He’s a bit more willing than Lucifer to give up control in the bedroom, but he’s more confortable being a dom than a sub

Asmo

- Well, let’s just start by saying he isn’t the avatar of Lust for nothing

- Probably the best sex you’ll ever have, mostly because of all of the partners he had in his life, he knows exactly what he’s doing

- Loves to please and having you tell him how good he makes you feel

- He’s willing to try anything you want, even if he definitely already tried everything at least once

- He likes to have sex in his big ass bath

- He has no shame, semi-public sex isn’t a problem and he also doesn’t care if someone wants to watch

- The simplest touch makes him super horny, so be careful if you’re in public and you want to wait until you both get home

- VERY loud and vocal

- He likes to have sex in front of a mirror, probably even has one on the celling above his bed

- He’s really into aftercare even if you kept it vanilla, he wants to make sure you’re okay

- Loves to cuddle after sex, which sometimes leads to more sex

Beel

- Oh boy, his dick is huge, sorry not sorry

- He’s always afraid to crush you during sex, so he prefers to keep things vanilla and have you on top of him

- LOVES giving oral, he’ll go down on you for litteral hours if you don’t stop him

- He’s very sloppy, but he’s also very good at it

- Probably has the lowest sex drive of them all, but can easily be turned on by you licking something of a spoon or by just kissing him

- Wants to please you, he won’t rest until you cum

- Falls asleep usually right after sex, but he still wants to cuddle

- He would let you dom him or dom you, but he doesn’t really see the point

- He’s technically a switch

- Obviously he’s into food play, he would eat any food from your body

- He would fuck you on the counter in the kitchen in the middle of the night after getting snacks

Belphie

- Super fucking lazy all the fucking time

- Wants you to be on top so he doesn’t have to move as much

- He’s a power bottom though, so he’ll control the rhythm and the speed

- Likes you to go down on him, but will rarely do the same for you except if you sit on his face

- It’s a one round thing and then he goes back to sleep. Good luck getting out of his embrace

- He likes to fuck first thing in the morning after cuddling you all night

Diavolo

- He’s HUGE, his dick his huge just like the rest of his body

- His dick is even bigger than Beel’s

- But he knows you’re only human, so he’ll be extra careful not to hurt you

- Sometimes he gets lost in the moment and that’s when it can get dangerous, but a simple reminder is enough for him to go back to being gentle

- Steals your underwear even before you start dating, he probably found the first pair by accident either by finding them on the floor in your room, or by them being somewhat mixed up with his clothes (I don’t know how this could happened, but let’s just pretend it’s realistic)

- He won’t give them back and he’ll probably jerk off with them until he can get the real thing

- Really likes when you call him "my lord" or "my king"

- He enjoys quickies, usually with you bend over his desk or during one of his countless parties

- Always puts your pleasure first

- He’s actually making love to you, not just fucking you

- He has A LOT of stamina, so be prepare for a looonnng night

- He would be super proud if you manage to take his entire length into your mouth since he’s so big

- Might ask Lucifer to join you one day

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me mammon #obey me lucifer #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo

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wishingforatypewriter · 3 years

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Dream of Home

Note: Sort of written for Baavira Day under the prompt "Regrets" (but also late and kind of off topic)

Kuvira had thought to keep her mind off politics, as that was where all her trouble had really started—in newspapers and history books and the speeches of others who had hoped to bring change. She'd tried to fill her days with poetry and novels instead, and twirl on her tiptoes beneath the domes like the figure in a music box. Mindless and obedient, as Su had always wanted. But even that crude imitation of peace hadn't lasted long.

It had become something of a pattern lately; they came for advice and in return brought letters, clothing, small fragments of her former life. It was usually Korra who sought her counsel—sometimes Wu, or the new leader of some fledgling state.

It was both of them this time, the king and the avatar, asking for her thoughts on the protests cropping up in Ba Sing Se after the returning nobles tried to cast low-income workers out of the city center and restore the rings. They’d never be able to do it, of course; Baatar saw to that when he drew up the plans for the city’s reconstruction. But there was no doubt the nobility would come up with some new and creative way to oppress the poor without a strong hand to stop them.

She heard them out, read the statement the little king's advisors prepared and tore through it with red ink.

"There," she said, sliding the document back across the table. "Now at least they won't throw cabbages at you."

"You really do have a way with words, gumdrop," Wu said as he looked over the edits.

"Words aren't enough. If you want real peace, you need to put the nobles in their place."

"Legally," Korra added quickly.

He groaned, slumping down in his chair and Kuvira exchanged a tired glance with the avatar. At the very least, she didn't have to fly home with him.

"Isn't that what the Dai Li are for?" he whined. "Hey, whatever happened to those guys, anyway?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to," Kuvira told him.

They picked her brain for about an hour—taxation, infrastructure, transportation—and then Korra drew a sheaf of letters out of her bag

"These were at your place in Ba Sing Se."

"Thanks."

Kuvira knew better than to open any in front of them. A handful of visits ago, Wu brought a garment box that had been waiting for her in an Upper Ring boutique—her wedding dress, finished at long last. It had been so unexpected, so soul-rending, that tears welled in her eyes at the sight of it. She would sooner scoop her eyes out of her skull than let something like that happen again.

That night, after they were long gone, Kuvira opened the letters in her room, one by one. A few messages from friends still in the capital—Shan, who she had served with on the metal guard, got engaged to one of Baatar’s university friends; Lian, who’d always had a soft spot for children, was sworn in as Minister of Education. Also, a note from a little girl at one of the bending schools she founded, and a request for an endorsement from an up and coming politician.

She had almost believed that she'd get through the stack mostly unscathed when she came across the inquiry—a wealthy buyer looking to purchase the city estate.

Kuvira still saw the house every time she closed her eyes—the gates that moved like elegant clockwork under the slightest push of her bending, the turtleduck pond in the shadow of a dance pavilion, the his and hers studies equidistant from the master suite. The idea of some other family living in the only home she'd ever loved stole the breath from her lungs. But then she remembered that it was no longer hers to sell or keep or yearn for through long nights under a starless platinum sky. From the original sketch of the design to the matter of buying land within the royal mile, it had always been Baatar's house.

The walk from her room to his stretched on for an eternity. She tried to give him space to heal from her, usually asking Huan to convey any messages she had, but this...this was too personal.

Baatar didn't look angry when he opened the door, just a bit surprised. A small step, but a step nonetheless. "Kuvira."

She handed him the letter, trying hard to keep the anguish off her face. “Korra brought this when she came by,” she explained as he read it over in the doorway. “Naturally, I won’t argue with whatever you decide to do.”

He looked at her and sighed. “You don’t have to worry. I’d never sell it.”

"Why would you assume I was worried?" Kuvira knew the question was ridiculous even as she asked it. During the days of the Empire, this man had been able to intuit her moods from the sound of pen strokes and micro-changes in her posture.

"The chandelier for one," he said, and sure enough there was a slight trembling in the silver fixture. Another person might have chalked it up to a breeze gone by, but he knew better.

"Damn it." The chandelier stilled as soon as she noticed, but Kuvira still wanted to kick herself for letting it happen.

"Come inside," he said, likely more out of habit than true intent. He’d never been able to leave her alone when she was feeling like that. It was a rare exception in her life, the way he always pulled her in where others pushed her away. But in the end, she’d managed to ruin that, too.

“You shouldn’t feel like you have to keep it for my sake,” she said, once the door was closed behind them.

“It isn’t just for your sake,” he said. “That house is the best thing I’ve ever designed, or it would be if not for—never mind.”

“What?” Kuvira asked.

He shook his head. “No, let’s not.”

“Baatar,” she said, slipping into a tone she hadn’t used since before Republic City.

“Alright, fine. I always hated that turtleduck pond.”

Kuvira’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked, remembering their many mornings spent sitting beside it, discussing infrastructure plans over breakfast and feeding the ducklings. “Why?”

He groaned. “It completely clashes with the architectural style of the house, and it’s symptomatic of that tacky kind of Agniphilia that’s plagued Earth Kingdom design since before the Hundred Year War. Li Na always said I murdered the house by adding it on.”

Kuvira felt her ears grow hot as he explained. She liked to think that her tastes had grown sophisticated over time, that she’d completely removed herself from her mother’s fake antiques and costume jewelry. “Then why would you even include it in the design?”

“You always talked about it when we were kids. A house of your own with a big library and a dance studio and turtleducks in the backyard,” he said, shaking his head. “At the time I cared less about the aesthetics than making you happy.”

Kuvira closed her eyes slowly, feeling a dangerous warmth pooling beneath the lids. She wouldn’t. She would not. Spirits, what was wrong with her lately?

“Thank you,” she said, finally. “For not selling it. And everything else.”

She slipped out of the room before she lost her composure entirely, and when she fell asleep that night in a lonely bed within a city that knew no stars, she dreamed of home.

#baavira #kuvira #baatar jr #legend of korra #baavira day #baavira day 2021 #regrets

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wolf08 · 4 years

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Igniting the Fuse

A fic for @zutaraweek

Summary: Zuko can’t stand Katara’s obvious contempt towards him. Determined to fix their relationship, he asks Aang and Sokka for help, who, in turn, devise a series of team building exercises with the intention of sparking friendship between the water bender and the banished Prince. They hadn’t anticipated sparking something more. Pre- (and post-) Southern Raiders. Zutara.

Available on A03 and FanFiction.net.

Prompt: Loosely inspired by the prompt “Fuse” (Zutara Week 2020) Genre: Romance/Humour Words: 4293 Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.

A/N: Hi! Please accept my humble offering to the ATLA fandom for Zutara week. :) I’ve only ever written fics for the Naruto verse, but I just finished ATLA last month and have been fangirling about Zutara and the Gaang dynamics ever since. When I learned that Zutara week was just around the corner, I just knew I had to write something. Enjoy. :)

***

Igniting the Fuse

Now that he was part of the group of vagabond do-gooders (who he used to think were his sworn enemies), Zuko felt a sense of contentment and purpose like he’d never felt before.

It had been an excruciating uphill battle filled with awkward encounters and blows exchanged to finally convince them that he was on their side. But he’d persevered because Zuko just knew he was destined to be here, with them, to support their quest of defeating his father.

Thankfully, in the end, they accepted him.

Well, all except for the water bender, that is.

Katara, the last water bender from the Southern Water Tribe, who had the biggest heart and kindest smile that Zuko had ever seen, utterly despised him.

She made no effort to hide this fact, with how she always sat as far away from him as possible, sneered at his (attempted) jokes, and ignored him point-blank whenever he spoke.

As the Fire Nation’s banished Prince with a prominent scar on his face marking him as such, Zuko wasn’t unfamiliar with this type of treatment. But what made it different with Katara was that (a) she was avoiding him out of pure dislike – not fear (hell, he’d faced her in combat before and knew she could hold her own against him), and (b) it was Katara.

Why did it have to be her who hated him, of all people? She was level-headed, compassionate, and strong, in other words, she was an embodiment of everything that Zuko wished he himself could be.

And, not to mention, she was rather easy on the eyes and nice to be in the presence of (though, of course, Zuko would never dare admit this out loud).

Perhaps the worst part of all of this was that Zuko knew her hatred was justified. After she’d let her guard down in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se by confiding in him and offering to use her few drops of sacred water to heal Zuko’s scar (a gesture that Zuko would never ever forget), Zuko had responded by siding with her enemy and trying to kill her.

So, yeah, Katara had every right not to trust him ever again.

But that didn’t mean Zuko wasn’t going to give it his best shot anyways. After all, he was a changed man now. He was determined to reconcile for his sins. Earning Katara’s trust wasn’t just something he wanted – it was something he needed to fulfill his personal quest for redemption.

Not that Zuko had a clue where to begin.

After numerous fruitless attempts to force an interaction with her around camp like some school boy trying to get a girl’s attention, Zuko realized he needed help fixing his relationship with Katara.

He cast a wistful glance at Katara’s tent before turning towards the sea, where Aang and Sokka were currently fishing.

Zuko sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy, black hair. Despite being a little weird, Aang and Sokka were the most helpful sources of information around, with one of them being Katara’s brother and the other being, well, the Avatar. So he slipped off his shoes, hiked up his pants, and waded out to meet them.

Their fishing tactics were a rather theatrical sight, with Anng literally blowing fish out of the water with some air bending technique and Sokka spearing them as they flung into the air.

Zuko cleared his throat.

Aang, who was wearing nothing but his orange underpants, beamed at the sight of him. “Zuko! Have you come to help us fish?” he asked. “It’s not really my thing, but Sokka needed a hand.”

Zuko shook his head, folded his arms, and proceeded to explain his dilemma. The other boys listened attentively.

“Have you tried being, well, nice to her?” Sokka asked with raised eyebrows. “Katara likes everyone. It shouldn’t be that hard to get on her good side.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve tried being nice! But I guess I just suck at it.”

After a moment of deep thought, Aang’s eyes lit up. “I’ve got it!” he said, clapping his hands together. “We’ll do team building exercises to foster trust. When Katara sees that you can trust each other, I’m sure she’ll like you more.”

But Zuko wasn’t entirely convinced. “This isn’t Air Temple preschool, you know,” he grumbled.

“No, no, I think Aang’s onto something here,” Sokka said with a smirk. “No offense dude, but your social skills suck. Structured ice-breakers are exactly what you need.”

“What? My social skills don’t suck!” Zuko shot back, but Sokka just shook his head, still smirking.

Then, in a deep, mocking tone, Sokka said, “Hello! Zuko here. I sent an assassin after you. Can we be friends?”

Aang covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

Zuko’s eyebrow twitched, his face burning. “Okay, fine. Let’s try your stupid team building then.”

“Great!” said Aang. “Let’s start after lunch. We’ll handle everything Zuko, so don’t you worry about a thing.”

***

In an effort to gain Katara’s support for their day of team building, Aang and Sokka selected an activity that she was sure to enjoy for the first exercise: surfing lessons – an activity that was, quite literally, right in Katara’s element.

It wasn’t a bad idea, Zuko admitted and side-eyeing Katara’s enthusiastic response to Aang’s proposal of the activity. Her blue eyes were brighter than he’d ever seen them.

Shortly after, the four of them, with the additions of Toph and Suki, were gathered around the shore, with the girls in their swimming attire (cropped shirts and shorts for all but Katara, who wore a white skirt overtop) and the boys in their shorts. Then, Sokka explained that there would be no surf boards.

“No surf boards? How’s that supposed to work for surfing?” Toph asked, voicing Zuko’s concerns.

Katara stood, a smile on her face. “I’ll bend the water to make you float – you’ve just got to balance,” she said. Toph raised her eyebrows and crinkled her nose and Zuko made every effort to refrain from making the same face.

The water bender proceeded to demonstrate. With her feet pressed to the rolling waves as if she were on a solid surface, she jumped and glided in a shower of water droplets, her arms outstretched, like she was sliding through snow or sand. In a way, it looked like she was dancing, Zuko observed, and he wondered if he could really do that too, so effortlessly.

The demonstration came to the end and Katara approached the group. “All right – who’s first?” she asked cheerily, while wringing water from her thick, brown hair.

Zuko avoided eye contact.

“I’ll go!” Suki beamed and hopping to her feet.

And said Kyoshi warrior, despite not being a water bender, made it look rather easy too, in Zuko’s opinion, his confidence boosting ever so slightly. Suki jumped and twirled on the water, laughing the entire time, clearly having a blast. Sokka wolf whistled as Suki neared the shore at the end of her turn. She met his eyes and blushed before leaping into his arms with a big smile.

Zuko watched the interaction from the corner of his eye and wondered if he could ever get Katara to feel that comfortable around him.

Yeah right.

Aang went next and he glided over the water with ease (though it was hard to tell if he was truly surfing or floating over the waves with air bending). Even Toph took a short turn, despite her obvious discomfort over being parted with solid ground.

“Zuko’s turn!” Aang exclaimed after everyone had gone, like he was afraid Katara would forget about him.

Zuko caught her gaze and was met with an icy stare. More like she doesn’t want me to have a turn.

He got to his feet and sloshed through the shallow water before turning to the group in anticipation.

With mixed emotions, he noticed that Katara was smiling at him now, her eyes bright once more. What’s with the sudden mood change? he wondered while returning the smile with much hesitation.

Then Katara raised her arms and he was off.

“Whoa!” he gasped, arms outstretched for balance, while the water carried him upwards and backwards, towards the sea. He pivoted and widened his stance for stability, while he adjusted to the strange sensation of a rapidly rolling current against his bare feet, and his total loss of control over where he was going.

Despite this, before long, Zuko began to relax, leaning into the waves’ winding motions, feeling a thrill with each dip and jump, as he climbed higher and higher and farther out to sea.

And then – SPLOOSH!

Like a rug being tugged from beneath his feet, the water supporting Zuko vanished, falling back to the sea – along with said fire bender.

He fell into the water in a rather undignified manner, limbs flailing. When he came up for air, spluttering, to his displeasure, just about everyone was doubled-over laughing.

Zuko gritted his teeth as he swam towards shore, glaring at the mischievous water bender.

“Oops,” she said with a shrug, though she didn’t look the least bit sorry.

Well that was a flop… literally, Zuko thought with a grimace as he trudged along the beach and shook water from his soaked hair.

Aang had the decency to try to look apologetic though tears were streaming down his face.

***

“The next activity better not end like that,” Zuko hissed when the boys regrouped. “How about we try something where she has to trust me this time? Because clearly the other way around doesn’t work.”

“Hm. Maybe you can teach everyone something. What are you good at Zuko?” Sokka asked.

“Fire bending.”

“Well, you can’t exactly teach everyone fire bending.”

“Oh, I know!” Aang piped up. “Zuko isn’t a bad dancer. He nailed the Dancing Dragon formation.”

Zuko dismissed the suggestion immediately. “That wasn’t a dance! And you’re out of your mind if you think I’d ever teach dancing lessons.”

A moment of silence passed while all three boys contemplated their next move.

“It’s probably best if I don’t hire another assassin and like… save her from it. Right?”

“Yes, Zuko. Best we table that idea.”

***

Zuko felt a little more confident about the second activity that Aang and Sokka planned for the group.

“We’re going rock climbing!” Aang exclaimed and gesturing to the ropes and makeshift pulleys he and Sokka had fastened to the cliff side earlier. For the most part, in Zuko’s opinion, this activity far exceeded the last because he and Katara would be on relatively even footing as far as their bending was concerned.

“Everybody partner up!” Sokka instructed. “I call working with Suki!”

“And I call Toph!” Aang shouted, which garnered suspicious looks from both Toph and Katara. “I thought we could work on our teamwork?” he added to the earth bender sheepishly.

Toph smirked. “Whatever you say, Twinkletoes. Gosh, I’m popular, huh?”

Through narrowed eyes, Katara directed her attention to the person she was evidently stuck with.

Zuko tried his hardest to seem friendly, though he was suddenly uncharacteristically nervous. “You can go first, if you want,” he offered.

Katara lifted an eyebrow. After a moment, she said, “All right then,” and turned towards the cliff, her braided hair flipping over her shoulder as she did.

The rock climbing ensued, with Toph practically flying up the wall while she bended parts of the cliff side to jut out like stairs. Momo was doing quite well himself from a little further down, not even holding onto the rope, though Appa dutifully spotted him anyways.

Despite not having any distinct advantages, Suki flourished in this activity too, scaling the wall like a ninja. “Atta girl, Suki!” Sokka cheered on from below. She responded with a glowing smile at her rock climbing partner.

Zuko turned his attention to his own rock climbing partner, who was faring well, though not quite as well as the other climbers. Her movements were a little clumsy and she clung to the rope and handholds like her life depended on it. After all, with each step she climbed, the water bender ventured farther away from the comfort of the sea behind them.

There was no way Zuko would let her fall though, considering the death grip he had on her rope. He needed to prove he was the most trustworthy rock climbing partner she could ever have.

Taking a page out of Sokka’s book, Zuko decided to egg his partner on. “You’re doing great!” he called.

Unfortunately, his comment prompted an icy glare. “Are you mocking me?” Katara snapped, as she freed her blue sleeve from a protruding twig that had snagged it.

“No...,” Zuko snarled through gritted teeth.

This is impossible! I can’t even compliment Katara without her getting mad!

She proceeded to climb in silence without sparing him a glance, and Zuko couldn’t think of what to say, so he just sighed and frowned in her general direction.

How on earth was this activity supposed to bring them closer together now?

She’s probably clinging to the rope for dear life because she doesn’t trust me to stop her from falling, Zuko thought with a scowl.

But then he was struck with a brilliant (and morally questionable) idea.

What if Katara’s rope were severed… for some reason… and Zuko caught her?

Now, Zuko was no expert, but saving someone from falling seemed like the ultimate gesture of trust if you asked him.

Surely Aang and Sokka would disprove if Zuko deliberately severed Katara’s rope, but she was maybe only twenty feet up – so surely, even if she did fall, she’d survive.

Before Zuko had properly thought through his plan, he’d sent a barely discernible fireball – no more than a small collection of sparks – up the cliff side. It went undetected by the others, who were focused on their rock climbing tasks.

With the softest of hisses, the fire made contact with the rope about ten feet above Katara’s head. The rope began to fray immediately but no one seemed to notice. Until –

“Whoa!” Katara exclaimed as the rope started to give. She clawed for the nearest handhold and gripped it firmly while looking around with wide eyes.

Now, Zuko thought, dropping the rope and racing towards the cliff.

By now the others were catching on to Katara’s predicament.

“Oh no, careful Katara!” called Aang.

“Hold on!” cried Suki.

“Just drop!” Zuko shouted from below, his arms outstretched. “Don’t worry – I’ll catch you!”

Katara peered down at him, like she was mentally calculating the risk of doing what he asked. When she met his eye, Zuko felt a swell of anticipation for a reason he couldn’t quite place.

Then, something determined entered Katara’s eyes and she directed her gaze beyond him, towards the sea.

The rope snapped and Katara began to fall.

Zuko braced himself for the impact, his arms at the ready.

I won’t let you down!

And then – WHOOSH!

Zuko faced an impact but it wasn’t the one he was expecting.

An aggressive current of water slammed straight into Zuko’s legs, knocking him off his feet.

“What?” he gasped as he lost his footing, toppled sideways, and fell to his back. Spluttering, he watched in disbelief as Katara bended a neat stream of water through the air, stepped into it, and directed it towards the ground to safety. She landed beside Zuko with a splash – soaking him from head to toe.

Katara straightened up and regained her composure, brushing off the front of her blue dress, as the water drifted back out to sea.

She turned to Zuko like she was just noticing him for the first time. “Oh!” she said while extending her hand. “You okay down there?” she asked, eyebrows raised and the slightest mischievous glint in her eye.

Zuko accepted her offer to help him up, but didn’t have it in him to celebrate the kind gesture – he was far too embarrassed and couldn’t meet her eye.

As soon as he was on his feet, he retreated and stomped away. “I’m fine,” he growled while shaking water out of his hair for the second time that day.

***

“The next team building exercise will be different. We’ll use our words this time,” Aang decided during a brief rendezvous with Sokka and Zuko.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zuko asked, eyebrow raised.

“You’ll see – I’ve got a plan. Just make sure you’re sitting beside Katara when we gather round the campfire after dinner. Trust me.” He patted Zuko’s shoulder and flashed him what he probably thought was a reassuring smile, but given their track record with team building exercises thus far, Zuko didn’t feel so confident.

“Fine,” he said anyways because he didn’t have anything to lose.

***

True to his word, after the sun had set, bellies were full, and Aang had summoned everyone to the campfire, Zuko claimed the spot beside Katara, even though he had to wrestle Toph in the process of squeezing in between them.

Katara gave Zuko a weird look and motioned to get up.

He grabbed her sleeve. “Wait – stay here,” he said before he could think better of it (and immediately regretting the motion).

She startled and opened her mouth to respond, but thankfully, Aang chose that moment to command everyone’s attention and start the activity. Zuko released a breath.

It turned out the activity was rather simple. Each person was required to share a compliment about the person on their right – and once everyone had a turn, they were to repeat the exercise in the other direction.

Zuko was skeptical about the cheesy activity having any effect on his relationship with Katara but he figured he might as well try.

He frowned and glanced at Katara, who was on his right, noticing the firelight dancing in her blue eyes. He would have to share a compliment with her first.

I’ve got one shot so I need to think of something good, Zuko mused while absently bending the flames from the campfire into little loops.

His first thought was to comment on her water bending, which was quite good as far as he’d seen. But would that just remind her of the times she’d used her water bending against him?

Then what could he say about her to get her to like him?

It was Sokka’s turn to pay a compliment to Suki.

He turned to the brunette Kyoshi warrior with a wide smile and an arched eyebrow, and said, smoothly, “Suki, you are as radiant as the sunset.”

Suki’s face lit up and her lips curved into a shy smile. “Oh, Sokka,” she sighed and shoving his arm lightly, in a friendly, teasing manner.

That’s it! That’s the reaction I want from Katara, Zuko thought, his chest tightening at the very prospect of it, but would complimenting her physical appearance have that effect on her? He wasn’t sure.

By the time Zuko tuned back in to the activity, Aang was telling Toph that she was the most terrifying girl he’d ever met.

Zuko watched the exchange in anticipation for surely the earth bender would take offense to the remark. But instead, she punched Aang’s arm and beamed. “Thanks, Twinkletoes!”

Would Katara want to be called terrifying? Honestly, Zuko thought she was the farthest thing from terrifying (unless she was really angry). No, Azula was terrifying. And Katara was… well, not like Azula.

Toph turned to Zuko next, gazing up at him with a cheeky smile. “Oh, this is easy. Thanks for the entertainment in the water today. I haven’t laughed that hard in weeks!”

Zuko bristled with anger for a moment, but when he realized everyone was chuckling, and he remembered that he would much rather them find him funny than evil, he swallowed his pride and smiled. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.

“Okay, Zuko’s turn!” Aang prompted, and then, suddenly, everyone was starting at him expectantly.

Zuko swallowed. “Okay,” he said before turning towards Katara, whose arms were folded and was watching him from the corner of her eye.

Here goes, Zuko thought. He said the first thing that popped into his head, inspired by Sokka’s earlier success.

“You’re… as beautiful as the… ocean?”

Now, Zuko wasn’t sure what reaction he was expecting, but, strangely, no one seemed to react at all. In fact, the entire group was eerily silent, their eyes trained on him, including Katara’s.

Suddenly, Zuko felt nervous. I did something wrong, didn’t I?

He turned towards Sokka for support, but only then, to Zuko’s horror, did he notice that Sokka and Suki’s hands were clasped together.

Is Suki his… girlfriend?

That hadn’t occurred to Zuko, honestly. He’d dismissed the idea because surely Suki was too good for the guy.

But maybe he was wrong. Maybe they were so close because they were dating. And maybe, by mimicking Sokka’s behaviour, Zuko had inadvertently suggested that he wanted to date Katara.

He felt his face heat up.

I could use some of Uncle’s calming tea right about now.

Then, Katara was on her feet. She avoided eye-contact when she growled, “Really? Don’t have anything to say about my abilities, do you? I’m just some damsel in distress to you, huh?”

And then she stormed off, effectively ending the team building exercise. Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

I should have just called her terrifying.

He followed her.

***

Katara was perched on a rock near the ledge of the cliff, overlooking the sea and star-sprinkled night sky. She was hugging her knees and her shoulders were slumped.

Zuko approached with caution. “Hi,” he said when he was within earshot.

Katara glanced at him and turned away quickly.

He sighed.

Why do I suck at everything?

“Um, let me try the compliment thing again,” Zuko mumbled, not sure how much Katara was paying attention to him but going for it anyways. “My uncle taught me how to control lightning using the principles of water bending. I never really thought about water bending much, but since then, and since I saw what you can do, now I appreciate it more. It’s a… beautiful ability. And it’s strong. Like you.

“And that’s… what I’m trying to say.”

Katara glanced at him again, and to his relief, there was something kinder in her eyes.

This encouraged him to continue. “And I’m sorry for everything I did before. Please tell me how to make it up to you because I’m trying but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

After a moment, Katara’s lips curled into the smallest of smiles. She turned towards the sea. “You could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King. Or bring my mother back,” she said sadly with a humourless chuckle, like what she was proposing was ridiculous. She buried her face into her knees.

Later that evening, after a brief consultation with Sokka about the story of his mother’s death, Zuko made plans for what would end up being the most effective team building exercise yet.

***

Many days later, Zuko found himself standing on a dock overlooking the ocean and a sunset painting the sky a glowing medley of pinks and oranges.

He had just returned to camp after a long trek with Katara to track down her mother’s killer, with the intention of executing revenge, but Katara ended up sparing him in the end – while still finding the closure she needed.

Zuko had learned more about Katara’s motivations and abilities on the trip, including her impressive repertoire of water bending feats.

To put it frankly, Zuko had no shortage of compliments to give her if they ever played that campfire circle game again.

And now that he understood Katara better he was filled with hope that maybe, just maybe, she didn’t hate him anymore. Though he wasn’t completely sure.

Katara was sitting at the end of the dock with her toes dipped in the water. Aang was beside her and speaking about the importance of forgiveness.

She got to her feet and faced the two of them. “Thanks Aang, but I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him.”

And then she turned towards Zuko, a smile blossoming on her face. Zuko’s breath caught in his throat.

“But you,” she said and drawing closer, “I am willing to forgive.”

Before he knew quite what was happening, Katara pulled him into a tight hug. Zuko was startled at first – hardly able to believe what was happening.

I did it! he thought in awe, thinking back to how envious he had been of Suki jumping into Sokka’s arms on the beach.

He smiled in spite of himself and returned the hug with equal enthusiasm, his heart racing.

But then, abruptly, Katara retreated. She stared at Zuko from a short distance away, looking positively radiant in the light of the sunset. A strange expression crossed her features. Embarrassment? Anxiousness? Zuko wasn’t sure. But then –

“I’m not flirting or anything, you know,” she said.

Not… what?

Katara seemed to remember that her hands were still on Zuko’s shoulders and pulled them back quickly. “I forgive you and that’s – that’s it!”

Zuko was still processing her words when she scurried past him, down the dock.

He gaped at her retreating form. “What was that about?” he asked.

Aang, who had been hanging back from the exchange, approached. One of his eyebrows was distinctly twitching. “Well, after the team building exercise around the campfire, everyone thinks that you… well, you know.”

Oh.

Zuko put his head in his hands, face burning. Something told him he was going to need a lot of help, and maybe even a new round of team building exercises, to figure out this new development in his and Katara’s relationship.

#zutara week 2020 #zutara week #zutara #zutara fanfiction #atla fanfic #zuko #atla #wolf08fic #my first atla fic #loved every second writing this

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dafukdidiwatch · 3 years

Text

Signs (2002)

Were aliens always this boring?

Overview: Former Priest Graham is raising his two kids with his brother in a farmhouse after his wife died. However mysterious crop circles pop up and strange things start to happen as it appears aliens have arrived.

So this is a Shyamalan movie and honestly the track record for me liking his films is pretty low. Avatar the Live Action was terrible. You guys can all see my review of The Happening I did before. I think the only film I liked of his was Unbreakable which was a pretty realistic take of Superheroes. With that in mind, I didn’t really have high hopes here.

It also sort of doesn’t help that I first heard of this movie as a bad movie by watching movie reviews of it. I watched a lot of Nostalgia Critic for the longest time, and this movie was one of his reviews. So...didn’t really help my perception of a movie, as a movie.

But, I still tried to give a benefit of the doubt here. NC made Mama Mia seem bad but when I watched it, it was a fun dumb movie. Maybe it was lies, or a bit more exaggerated that what the movie really was like. Hence, watching the movie for my Movie Reviews.

I was bored out of my mind.

So my sister watched it with me because she said she saw it before and it also bore her out of her mind. So we decided to be bored together.

I couldn’t help it! Everyone spoke in a monotone all the time. Regardless of what paper-thin reaction they called an emotion they were trying to convey. It was really really hard to even get invested when everyone was speaking in the “this is a serious film, we need to be serious here, this is dramatic and serious so everyone has to have their serious face on” like, how an I supposed to care about the issues when the characters don’t even seem to care?

The only like that I liked because it actually had emotion was when the cop was saying was trying to give suggestions about who the morph-suit batman alien really way, and the brother Merrill says something along the lines of “So outside of Scandinavian women long-jumping outside our house, who do you think it really is?“ That’s the only good line in the film because it was Funny, Realistic, and had some fucking emotion in it damn.

It also doesn’t help that me and my sister fought over the boy of the film. I said it was the Home Alone kid, she said I’m crazy and it wasn’t. Turns out it was his brother. Has no relevance to the movie, just a fun thing to know.

For the most part, the movie just felt flat. Even though the plot beats were on point. I can see them do the build up, the tension, the “wtf is going on”, how the whole world is affected and not just them. I can see the logic and reason for how most of the film is structured, but it just doesn’t work for me. I’m sorry but monotone doesn’t make things more dramatic it makes it hard for me to relate to the characters. I can’t feel for them, if they can’t feel for themselves.

Not saying that everything was done pitch perfect here. Like, the slow-burn of how Graham lost his wife to the point of flash-backs. Ok, that can work. But then we have like the girl always leaving water glasses half way all over...ok weird but it’s a little kid so I get it. Then we have like, a scene where we all just got info-dumped by the military and some podunk punk about Merril’s failing baceball career? And Shyamalan being the guy who killed Graham’s wife and giving a monologue about how he was meant to have killed his wife?? While being also “oh btw I locked it in the closet, wood is it’s weakness, same with water, later“ like.....OKAY??? The plot beats were there but they could have done a lot better with the execution of exposition and foreshadowing.

I think it’s the way they also tried to humanize the characters just doesn’t work. Like when the Cop Lady was talking about how some mean old biddy was spitting on store skateboards, that reminded me of a scene in Jaws where the secretary was telling Brody that 9 year olds were karate chopping a fence. And comparing them, it works a lot better in Jaws than Signs. With Jaws, it’s 4th of July, literally the entire police squad is busy preparing for the holiday, dealing with the locals, and trying to go through the actual paperwork. The secretary was A) making the small town more realistic and B) just piling on to the already chaotic chores that Brody needs to take care of. But in Signs, there was no connection to this story and Graham. Graham had nothing to do with the crazy old lady, no connection between him and the town at that point. It might have tried to flesh her out, but nothing to actually bolster the plot. The environment doesn’t match the story she was telling, being quiet and alone and just the two of them.

And many questions about the Aliens. Actually, more comments than questions really. Because it took me a while after the movie to realize that, the Aliens never did anything bad did they? Think about it, all they did was be in camo and watched more/less. It wasn’t like they ever had guns, weapons, tried to nuke a city. Most of the “dangerous” alien feel was from the people not knowing why they were there, which we STILL don’t know why they were there in the first place. So the tension comes from us trying to react to a possible threat on a small-scale farmhouse, without actually knowing if it is a threat or not.

Now, you can say “well what about the alien that tried to kill Morgan, or when they attacked the house, that was bad” let me hit you back with this one. The Alien that mainly attacked was the one that Graham had chopped some fingers off. He was locked in a closet, barely got out. And by the time he did the rest of his team ditched him on a dangerous planet that he couldn’t leave from. This human asshole prevented him from going home, yeah I would probably be pissed and want revenge on that one guy.

Morgan said that there were only two options for aliens to have come here, which is bs because there could be other reasons why. Like, crash landing. Got Lost and putting out an SOS. Maybe scientists trying to study them. But having a child give out only 2 possible options does add to the parania so I’ll let that slide.

Science Wise I don’t think the aliens would have even worked. If water is like acid to them.....what about fog? Clouds? Mist? Where do you think morning due comes from? Hell the sky is BLUE because of the water being refracted in the air. So their weaknesses are Water, Wood, and being beating the shit out of them.

Also....the alien had fucking CLAWS. What is that bullshit of just puffing out poison perfume from their wrists?? Like, dude, shred him. You wanted to give the kid a more civilized death or something??

But the worst thing I can think of is, We Don’t See The Aliens. Yes, foreshadowing and slow reveal of the monster adds to the fear of the monster and the gravity of the situation when you do see it. Jaws did that well. And the slow reveal of the aliens was also well done in Signs too, like blurry cameras, only body parts where you don’t see them. The PROBLEM comes from the fact that Even at the END of the movie, where the alien HAS little boy Morgan captured and poisoned, you STILL don’t see shit! Nothing! It’s just backlighting to block the view or reflections in water glasses and frames. It’s the END! The dude it beating it with a BAT! Give us like SOMETHING here.

Overall: This wasn’t a good movie. Well, it was a “proper” movie, but not an enjoyable one. You can see the plot and think it makes sense. Some of the thriller tension scenes were done well like Graham and the Pantry Alien. But overall it was boring. There was no emotion for me to latch onto. I was confused by choices made in exposition and direction. It just wasn’t fun.

#dafukblog #Dafuking Films #signs #signs 2002 #week 43 movie

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astrablossom · 4 years

Text

Three Cups Of Tea

A03 Version 》 Buy me a coffee?

Pairing: Barbatos x Mammon x Diavolo

Shall We Date? Obey Me Fic

Word Count: 2.9k

Tags: double penetration, oral sex, anal sex, spanking, whipping, use of toys, slight praise kink, threesome

Summary: Mammon gets caught in the castle and Diavolo and Barbatos decide to humor him.

* this has been in my drafts for months. Never done a threesome till now.

Once more Mammon decided to sneak into the castle to steal something priceless and sell it on Akuzon. And of course, Barbatos caught him red-handed. Nervously he tried to make up some excuse but Barbatos wasn't having it.

"Oh, we have a guest?" Mammon jumps up in shock at the deep voice and slowly turns around to see Diavolo smiling down at him.

"Yes my lord. It seems Mammon has decided to take an interest in your father's crown." Barbatos said in his usual calm demeanor.

Nervously, Mammon runs a hand through his hair "Hahaha!" He looks from Diavolo to Barbatos who both blocked any possibility of him escaping. "Well now t-that I've seen it up close...ima just gonna head on home. Bye!" He rushed the last part of his sentence to turn heel only for a large warm hand to rest on his shoulder, freezing him in his tracks.

"Now now Mammon I'm sure you can stay a bit longer. After all, you did take the time to visit us right?" The hand slowly trails down to Mammon's hip and for a moment his brain short circuits.

"Lord Diav-"

Barbatos pique in, "I would suggest you take your lord's kind offer Mammon," a small smile gracing his face. But Mammon knew better than to believe that for a second.

Mammon was beginning to regret coming here.

As Barbatos left to pour some tea for the three of them Mammon sat in his seat with embarrassment. Sure he's been caught more than once on a quick grab and run theft but never has he'd been caught red-handed by Diavolo. Speaking of which Mammon could feel Diavolo's gaze piercing through him. Tentatively the avaricious demon raised his head to see Diavolo smiling lightly at him. It shamed him to admit the prince was indeed handsome and he ended up looking away, sucking his teeth.

"What're you lookin' at?" He mumbled in an agitated tone. He wanted to go home. Any punishment from Lucifer would be better than this.

Probably.

Diavolo chuckled at the thief's attitude, making Mammon give a confused look. Diavolo merely sighs in content. "I am simply looking at you Mammon,” he purrs in a very low tone. "I can see why your modeling career has done so well." The door to Diavolo's room opens and Barbatos walks in with three cups of tea on a platter. "It makes me wonder why you would have to steal from me." Mammon gulps at the sudden change in the atmosphere and coughs to distract himself.

Barbatos picks up a cup and hands it to him while Mammon is accepted. Diavolo picked up his cup of tea last and silence fell upon them. The flavor of the liquid felt warm against Mammon's tongue and he swallowed it with no problem. He was unsurprising with the sweet taste it left in his mouth.

Barbatos takes a sip. "Shall we discuss your punishment?" The question came so naturally to the butler that it brought a shiver down Mammon's spine. "Y-You're joking, right? I rather not...uh." He shakes his head even though he typically had no say in the matter. "Besides, I gotta go anyway!"

Before he could even move a large warm hand touched his clothed knee which made the avatar jerk up.

Diavolo smiles gently, his golden eyes barely illuminating what was in store.

"I implore you to stay."

Diavolo's attention strayed to his D.D.D as he typed something before sliding it back into his pocket. He sat in a grand chair across from the bed where Mammon sat squirming around in Barbatos' hold. A riding crop and lube sat down forgotten on the sheets. The hum of the vibrator and Mammon's labored moans were the only sounds that echoed in the private chamber. Golden eyes showered over Mammon's glistening form. Barbatos' nimble fingers travel to the front of his chest to tug on the nipple clamps harshly enforcing a scream from the thief as the pain sends sparks through his body.

How long had they teased him? Mammon had lost track after the first three hours. Between the spankings, Barbatos had given him and the pretty cries that fell from his now kiss blistered lips he was sure he had ascended to the Celestial Realm.

Barbatos carefully bends Mammon down, the whip marks from earlier activities still throbbing red and anew on the demon's melanin skin, now visible to the prince. His white hair was an entire mess, straying in odd directions from being gripped on too long.

"Please direct your attention to Lord Diavolo, Mammon," Barbatos commanded and Mammon being a bit sluggish in movement, took time to raise his head to meet Diavolo's eyes. His eyes were watering and fluids dribbled from both his nose and mouth. He was trying to say something but only a whimper left his lips when Barbatos' bare hands ran over the shell of his ear. He wanted to be fuck. It didn't matter which cock it was, any would do.

Diavolo's grip on the chair arm tightens to the point it nearly cracks. He had held himself down for hours, suppressing his sexual urges as he watched his loyal servant break the Avatar of Greed down to a basic concubine.

"B-Barbatos-" he finally managed to stutter, bucking his hip against the butler.

"G-Gimme...p-p-please." A chuckle escapes Barbatos and he comments how he was still greedy even in bed but it went over the demon's head. All he wanted was release and it seemed like Barbatos was finally going to comply. His sapphire eyes roll into the back of his head when the pressure of the vibrator in his ass increases. A high guttural noise that sounded more like a growl was released from his throat as he came on the expensive silky sheets. He arched his back against Barbatos, the deep slope of his backside curving downward in bliss.

Mammon looked gorgeous.

Barbatos eyed Diavolo with a twinkle in the gesture. Once he had his lord's undivided attention he began raising a hand. The sharp blow on Mammon's cheek came down with no warning and Barbatos took full enjoyment in the scream and the way Mammon's ass jiggled in front of him. Hushing the other softly he caresses the reddening cheek with false kindness, waiting for Mammon's whimpers to die down before immediately continuing with his ministrations.

"Ouch!" Mammon screamed out and squirmed a bit as the manslaughter against his ass continued. No part of him was safe. The tears were returning and Mammon could feel himself hardening once more, even moaning a bit when Barbatos' hand moved just above his balls.

"You truly are a sadist" Diavolo comments in a playful tone, his words making the demon more ashamed of his situation.

"This is part of your punishment", Barbatos explains through each spanking. "But if you manage to behave you'll be rewarded significantly." His hands switched to the other cheek and Mammon was starting to cry again, small moans mixing in with his pain.

"Now apologize."

"N-No..." He grunts when he is suddenly flipped on his back getting a view of Barbatos' bare chest. The butler somehow still kept his formal appearance, a small smile on his pretty face. but his face was different from its neutral expression. His smile was crueler and his brows furrowed.

"No?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, you heard me!" He hated the stutter in his voice. Did Mammon make a mistake? He probably did but for some reason just seeing Barbatos become unraveled felt worth it.

He is kinda pretty too, he thought to himself, eyes minding the fit but petite body.

Mammon watched as the nude butler raised his hand in a backhand position. Before Mammon could even think, the slap that collided with his cheek was enough to make his head turn in the direction.

Another slap was down on his face again. And again. And again. He was gasping at pain blossoming in his face and it was long before he was crying out for Barbatos to stop. It only made the butler's pupils dilate.

When another bruising slap lands on him, this time on his sensitive nipples, his back arched in pleasure.

"M'sorry...for stealing..." he slurs out but even Mammon wasn't sure he meant it.

"To think you would get off on this." Diavolo's voice brought Mammon back to reality. Barbatos watched silently as the two locked eyes, Mammon's attention shifting down to the huge tent straining against the prince's pants. His eyes widened and unconsciously he ran his tongue over his lips, the final warning before Diavolo broke his restraints.

"Enough." The demon stood from his chair, hands already unbuttoning his jacket and Mammon watches with embarrassment as the prince stripped himself before him. He grunts when he feels the vibrator finally being pulled from his ass, leaving a large gaping hole. He hears a small hum from behind and the shuffling of more clothes falling.

"I should warn you that Lord Diavolo tends to go overboard." Warm hands pull Mammon up into a sitting position and the demon manages to give the butler a puzzling look which he merely smiles at. Wasn't he just beating the shit out of him just now?

"Do not be surprised if you blackout." Was the only warning he received before the bed sunk from the extra pressure of a body finally joining their extracurricular activities. Mammon gulps at the sight before him. All of him was screaming to run but he knew it was useless, the majority of his body was exhausted. He flinches a bit when a finger pushes a few strands of hair away from his face.

There Diavolo stood naked in his royal glory, the lights from above defining all his muscles and his face in all the right ways. If Mammon wasn't blushing before he certainly was. For once a quiet spell came over him as Diavolo took to studying every nook and cranny of Mammon's handsome face. His fingers graze the side of his jaw, trailing down to his lips. Unsure of what to do Mammon opened his mouth a bit and gently bit down on the prince's thumb. His body still sensitive felt hyper-aware of Barbatos wrapping his arms around him, placing a small kiss on his neck.

"You truly are gorgeous." Mammon stutters at the sudden compliment from the prince who smiled. "Don't you agree Barbatos?"

"I do." The butler places another wet kiss on Mammon cheek, taking joy in the way the other flushed. "Your moans are very pretty. And you are rather needy in bed..."

"Yes. He is isn't he?" Mammon averts his gaze from the towering prince suddenly feeling uncomfortable from the compliments. It seems Diavolo was onto him and firmly grips Mammon's face directing to his gaze only.

"You don't believe me?"

He starts to stutter. "I-I never said-"

"The prince's word is law Mammon." A hand travels down to the thief's gaping hole. Barbatos used a single finger to outline the circle of it, occasionally pushing a finger in. He places a kiss on his ear before whispering in a taut manner. "You should show some manners and thank him."

Mammon looks at Diavolo unsure but it didn't matter when the prince captured his lips. He lets out a soft moan, not used to soft gestures. He feels Diavolo's tongue run over his lips demanding entrance. He parts them and moans into the kiss when Barbatos' tongue slips into his ear, probing at the inside. It should've made him feel disgusted but instead, he ended up moaning in the kiss with Diavolo. His body searing hot and he couldn't keep up with his tongue was exploring the inside of his mouth.

He's really warm, Mammon thinks between the kisses. This went on for a few more minutes before the two separate, a trail of saliva trailing from their lips. Mammon hums a bit when Barbatos pulls from his ear looking proud of his handiwork. Carefully, without instruction, the demon pulls away from the butler to lower himself in a more lewd position and neither of the older two stopped him. His ass stood upright in Barbatos' lap, back arching into a lewd slope allowing his face to be dangerously close to Diavolo's erection. Mammon eyes it dutifully, noting the barbs that stood on both sides and how the girth as thick as his wrist. Diavolo was hung.

And Mammon wanted it. He hooks his arms around Diavolo's waist and places a small kiss on the side of the tip, looking up for permission. Instead, he was greeted with lustful eyes staring daggers into him. Diavolo laughs.

"I can see why you're Lucifer's favorite." Just the mention of his brother was enough to fluster the avatar.

"Don't bring him up during sex!" The Avatar of Greed could hear Barbatos chuckling from behind and opted to ignore it. His attention drifts back to his Majesty's cock. Licking his lips, he presses them against the budding red tip, flicking his tongue around. The taste of precum greets his taste buds and he does this a few more times before finally taking the tip in his mouth, suckling like a baby. He can hear Diavolo sighing from above, and he feels his chest heat up from the pleasure.

As he continued Mammon slowly started to take more of Diavolo in his mouth. It was a difficult task since Diavolo could barely fit, drool dribble down his mouth onto the bedsheets and even the prince himself found this in its own right adorable.

However, this was a punishment and his patience was wearing thin. Grabbing Mammon's head he chuckles slowly at the dazed expression on the demon's face. Mammon's eyebrows rise when he feels something warm probing at his ass. Fingers crawled up his spine in a sensual manner and Barbatos lined himself up.

"W-Wait-'' a warm hand pries his jaws open and it seemed the two were in sync when they shoved themselves into Mammon with perfect coordination. The thief screamed out from the sudden intrusion, his loose hole somehow tightening around Barbatos' girth and sending vibrations up Diavolo's shaft. He squirms around but the two start to move inside of him, their cocks sliding in and out of his holes at a brutal pace. It hurt so much but it felt good in all the right places. Each time the demons thrust in him the heavy nipple clamps tugged his skin. Barbatos has scarily accurate coordination and kept slamming into it with no mercy. And the soon to be king was even more relentless, using Mammon as nothing more than a simple tool for relief.

It felt so good. So incredibly much that even Mammon wasn't aware of his approaching orgasm. It crept upon him like a snake and the force made his body heave and clench around both demons before he came again, more aggressively before blacking out.

When he had woken up it was in a body of limbs. It was hot. Hazy from the sleep, Mammon slowly started to raise himself, wincing at the pain that traveled down his spine. The wounds and bruises from the whips and spanking might've healed already but his body was still tender.

The room was dark save for the little light from window and it took a moment before all his memories returned. Mammon was quick to turn only to see Diavolo fast asleep. Barbatos on the other hand was awake, although a bit tired.

"Come." He whispers in a surprisingly soft tone, tapping the space where Mammon slept a mere seconds ago. Of course, Mammon wanted to say, to run and bail but instead, he made a noise of irritation before flipping back down, cursing when pain shot up through the body.

He knew Barbatos was still awake. It made him feel a bit on edge but what he didn't expect was for the butler to slowly wrap a leg around the demon's waist, carefully moving with silent precision to not awake the sleeping prince.

Mammon immediately flushed, anger in his voice. He wanted to sleep for crying out loud. "Are you insane?! He'll wake up!"

"Not if you stay quiet." Was all he heard in reply before an arm wrapped around his neck. Something wet touched his collarbone and he realized Barbatos was kissing. Just the way he was acting now was a huge contrast to the sadist from earlier.

"Didn't know you were a freak" he grumbled but his tone held no bite when he moved his hand to grip his softened cock. He pretends not to notice the small jump in his chest when he hears the butler huff. Almost like a laugh.

Whatever. He didn't want to think anyway. By the time his erection hardened Barbatos had already lubed himself which made Mammon think how if he didn't even move?

He feels Barbatos stirring, warm skin gliding on his and the sheets moving down to reveal the butler's form. Carefully he crawled into Mammon's lap, a finger on his lip to be quiet. He looked over to see the prince sound asleep and smiled before clamoring on top of Mammon. Grabbing a hold of his erection he carefully sunk himself on the avatar, the two moaning softly. "Damn...it's like a pussy…" Mammon murmurs and watches idly as Barbatos rocked himself. The very little nightlight that cascaded through the room and onto his pale skin made him look more ethereal and erotic by the second. He said nothing as he rode himself with such ease to hold his moans.

This day made no sense. But it was a night Mammon wouldn't forget.

Buy me a coffee?

Comments and reblogs are appreciated.

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