#lots of thoughts here but this is like. the cliff notes of where my brain is right now

[starchildrenofdustand-ashes]

Cabaret at TheKit Kat Club Experience !!

So, I saw Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse theatre on November 15 (11/15/2023) with Nic Myers as Sally and Jake Shears as Emcee.

Below the cut is where spoilers start lol: honestly the whole thing is super secretive- from the stage to the venue itself. So if you ever plan on seeing it live or have the opportunity to do so, you have been warned!

When you walk into the theatre there’s this awesome:

You will see before you descend the stairs; at the bottom of the stairs, they put a sticker on your phone :)

You’ll continue walking down the hall where the walls are white and covered with pictures all over of the actors past and present.

You probably pass some of the actors who are milling about, chatting, flirting, dancing playing instruments.

I was in the first row of the upper dress circle and god it’s tight up there. Definitely wish I’d payed a bit extra to be on the floor and to at least have room 😖

Also note; I don’t talk about Herr Schultz and Frauline Schneiderall that much in these notes, but that’s because their scenes are so sweet and straight forward. These two give you the Schneider and Schultz you’ve seen and you know you love; there’s nothing outlandish or left field that happens with these two like some of the choices with Sally and Emcee. The same can be said for Ernst and Cliff. Nothing wild has been changed with their characters. In fact, most of this will probably be me trying to decode the strange new take on the Emcee and The Kit Kat Club. Anyway! Here are my thoughts and stuff that stuck out to me!

(Also if you’ve seen this production with Eddie Redmayne or have listened to it and have a hypothesis— he makes this strange sound like he’s spitting? In a lot of the songs- I thought it maybe part of the orchestration, but I didn’t notice it with Jake Shears and chalked it up to Eddies character choices. So if you know what the sound is or can give me staging It would soothe my brain)

Willkomenn:

🍷 in Willkomenn, when the Emcee does his whole “comment ca va?, do you feel good” speil he paused after every time, as if to test what language the audience would respond to

🍷 He kept the “do you feel good- yeah I bet you do 😏” line even tho it wasn’t on the revival album🥹

🍷The way to tell Victor and Bobby apart is to lift their arm and stick your face in their armpits and take a big wiff. Bobby did not want his armpits sniffed and Emcee had to beg him

🍷 Bro I love Hermann; he was so stoic and dead inside- he just stood there and did the most basic version of what everyone was doing. He was also fully clothed lol

🍷When they sing the whisper verse, they were all posing in various positions and the Emcee crawled between their legs

Don’t Tell Mama:

🎀 When sally screams at the beginning, she was lying on her back throwing a tantrum

🎀 The Emcee is on stage for the final verse and he acts as Sally’s brother: when sally says the line, “if he squeals on me i squeal on him” they squeezed each others nipples

Perfectly Marvelous

💚When Cliff and Ernst are talking and Sally barges in, she’s wearing her coat, a beige and orange scarf, funky sunglasses and carrying a ton of luggage

💚at the end of Perfectly Marvelous, when Cliff says “besides I’ve only got one narrow bed,” the Emcee rises out of the circle in the center of the platform wearing the exact same thing as Sally: the coat the scarf and the glasses. Two Kit Kat Girls come up the same platform in a suitcase that looks just like the one Sally was carrying

💚 Nic Myers didn’t do an American accent

Two Ladies

👯‍♀️ The KitKatGirl who “makes thebed” puts on a hardware belt and does explicit things with a hammer while the other has a spatula. Or a whisk ,, The One That “Does The Cooking” goes behind Emcee and uses the whisk to “thrust” into him and when he says daily bread, she pulls out a baguette, she also fills out a whip lmao

👯‍♀️ During the instrumental break all the other Kit Kat Members come up through the stage wearing explicit things and doing explicit things to each other. The one that stood out the most to me was Helga jacking off to a copy of Mein Kampf— it was super chaotic and I don’t remember details

It Couldnt Please Me More:

🍍More often than not the sailor Kost was fucking was either Bobby or Hans- even referring to the former as such. Also, they refer to her as Fritzie explicitly so it’s cannon that Kost=Fritzie and not just an actress double casted.

🍍Before Kost runs into Schneider after letting Bobby out, Schultz is leaving Schneiders room and accidentally is trying to out her robe on instead of his jacket

Tomorrow Belongs to Me

* So Emcee comes on stage holding a box and is dressed in a robe and only a wig cap

* One by one, the member of the Kit Kat Klub put these dolls that are wearing brown suits with Blonde hair on the stage. They are standing militanty. very much providing Nazi imagery

* During the song, the figures go around the turn table while emcee is singing

* At the end of the song when he says the last line, he pulls out a blond wig and holds it in the spotlight

Money:

💸Money was the song I was most excited for because of the images I’d seen of the skeleton costume. I had a hard time figuring out why the skeleton, but it was cool nonetheless.

💸 the Emcee rises out of the middle of the floor, his clawed hands reaching out first.

💸 I watched Emcee legit drool on the stage (Groffsauce in Hamilton vibes) he was spitting those lines out so hard

💸 I don’t know how to interpret the staging of the song, the real star of the scene is the costumes, but I took it as the Emcee represented money? Everywhere he went the KitKat Girls followed, wailing and begging him and the surrounding audience for money.

TBTM (reprise )

* I mean. I feel like the staging for this song is always consistent and similar throughout all shows; the individuals singing with Cliff, Sally, Schultz and Sneider standing somberly. The emcee is usually eerily looking on and depending on the show is seemingly jubilant or looking wistful.

* In this, the Emcee rises out of the middle of the turn table wearing his outfit from money. He has a conductors stick and begins conducting them with a smile on his face.

* My sister said the Emcee is “If Art The Clown could talk” and Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. He goes form being the raunchy Emcee we’ve all come to love- I think the Emcee, no matter who plays him is kinda creepy, so the creepiness didn’t seem unusual- to an evil nazi

* But when we see him in money and onwards, he’s definitely giving Killer Clown- she was right, Art the Clown from Terrifier.

* The Art The Clown juxtaposition to when he appears bare faced during some songs was super interesting. It really feels like the idea of “The Nazi’s weren’t demons, they were people who did things we thought demons were only capable of,” and that’s what makes it terrifying. The clowning character is seen praising nazis and cheerfully conducting their songs- he really does seem like a force of evil that’s simply from hell. But then he talks off his makeup in the coming scenes and you’re reminding- he’s just a human who behaves like a demon and that’s terrifying-. Idk if I’m doing the best at explaining my analysis of this, but that’s what I was getting

Kickline

💃🏾The kickline is lively and the members of the Club are trying to hype up the audience before getting into formation

💃🏾They were all wearing red party hats so when the emcee comes on in his red Pierrot clown get up, he has the longest, pointed and most menacing looking hat.

💃🏾he also has a gun? Thing? He shoots a Nazi flag out of it

💃🏾 The Members of the club form a hakenkreuz shape around Emcee and he hand the flag to Bobby and they march off.

Married (reprise)

🧱 the scene before Married Sneider and Schultz are talking about the engagement. Emcee is slinking around the stage and he has something in his hands wrapped in a napkin. His movements remind me of a mime, or as Chelsea says, Art The Clown, the facial expressions with overdramatized emotion and fluidity

🧱 he slinks between Schultz’s and Sneider with a smile on his face and suddenly there’s a loud ass crash that makes- I shit you not- the entire theatre jump. The lights black out. When they rise back on, there is white confetti floating downward, to represent the broken glass

If You Could See Her

🦍Usually, the gorilla in this is dressed up and it looks more cartoonish, but to, this was just a straight up gorilla- (A really good costume) with absolutely no elements of humanity. No clothes, no slightly upturned mouth, no walking on two legs and absolutely no understand what was going on.

🦍The Emcee would address the Gorilla as if she was human, but she would only respond in an animalistic way like scratching her ass, sniffing Emcees ass or flat out ignoring him and doing her own thing.

🦍 The Emcee seemed to be back at his usually self- joking and less like a demonic force - he’s clowning and making the audience laugh and there’s the Jewish line at the end of the song (which?? I was kind of disappointed by. It didn’t give me shivers and I felt it was a bit rushed.) also people laughed, but it could’ve been a “I laugh at funerals bc it’s awkward,” and not because they actually found the situation funny. My sister hypothesized simple confusion for people who had no idea what was going on. I will agree that some of the Emcees choices are strange if you don’t know the plot/ haven’t read up on this revival before hand.

I Don’t Care Much:

🎙️ Next time Emcee is on stage he is wearing a brown suit and a blonde wig, no makeup on his face- he very much resembles the dolls that were placed on stage during TBTM

🎙️I don’t care much occurs after Sally and Cliff have an argument as usual. But after Cliff leaves Sally is getting dressed. She is putting on the same jacket and pants the Emcee is wearing

🎙️during the song the emcee is doing some weird puppet thing behind her and she’s mirroring the moves she’s doing. it was an interesting choice during this song, but I think it’s been my least favorite change. It was like she was on strings and he was controlling her. I guess it provided a good visual for the notion that the Emcee isn’t a person, rather a representation of the deteriorating culture of the the city as a whole.

🎙️ This song is good at humanizing the Emcee, especially in Alan Cummings revival; smeared makeup, track marks, slurred worlds and stilted motions. It really paints a picture of a human at the end of their rope. In this version it just solidifies that the emcee is the city of Berlin and the evils that are taking over (Which, goes in direct opposition to my previous theory on his costumes providing human- demon Nazi images but whatever I dont have the brain power to think harder about it)

🎙️ After this song Cliff gets beat up by Ernst. After the tussle, the nazi thugs are actually the members of the Kit Kat club, they are wearing the same coat as Sally and the Emcee. They finish Cliff off and take his coat away

Cabaret

🍷I mean. Damn. There’s not much to say here. Outstanding performance. Like there are performances from different actors on YouTube so you could watch those to see the blocking because it’s pretty much the same.

🍷 Nic Myers did an amazing job, I got full body chills

🍷 one critique I’ve heard is that it’s over directed and this song is the perfect example of it. As an actor and a director, I understand both sides,; I don’t see much individuality between the actors on YouTube vs Nic Myers because the staging is so specific. I will say, through my opera glasses, the emotion painted in her face couldn’t be replicated and I think that’s really where the nuances will lie- in their faces.

Finale

📸 The Emcee is back on the stage, in the same position as Willkomenn- it’s like this weird pose with his arms and legs bent (you can watch the Willkomenn performance in gram nortons show,, that’s the pose I’m talking about ((I’ve heard people say it’s supposed to look like a hakenkreuz ))the only difference is now he’s in his brown outfit with his blonde hair. Super eerie.

📸 All the characters are standing on the turn table and the Kit Kat Members are on the outer circle of the turn table wearing the same beige suit the emcee has on. The other characters are all wearing brown and there’s an eerie sense of uniformity.

📸 Then there’s the long ass drum roll as they continue to turn before the lights blackout.

#cabaret #cabaret west end #cabaret 2021 #cabaret at the kit kat club #eddie redmayne #jessie buckley #Jake shears #nic Myers #kander and ebb #cabaret revival #musical #cabaret musical #she reviews #my reviews

[judasrpc]

US PRESIDENTS PLAY POPPY PLAYTIME (YOUTUBE 2023) STARTERS

add context & change gendered language to your needs !! containts references to violence and horror.

if multi, please specify which muse(s) !! credit goes to the channel presidentsplayhorrorgames

" What the hell is it with you and creepy old places, [name]? "

" Let me guess, this is the neighborhood you grew up in? "

" That's like the fucking stone ages, [name], die already! "

" Is that a Pokémon or whatever it's called? "

" What the hell is that supposed to mean, [name]? "

" It's a very self-explanatory sentence. "

" I have a lot of confidence moving forward now. "

" Why are you so fucking negative all the time? "

" 'Cause I'm around you. "

" I told you assholes that we were caught in a paradox, but none of you guys wanted to believe me! "

" These are dangerous toes I'm stepping on. "

" Either he's French, or his parents did not like him as a child. "

" I mean, if your child was French, wouldn't you be disappointed? "

" Never mind, I see what you're laying down. "

" While you two nincompoops are over collecting the scraps of your brain cells, I already know the objective. "

" Good job, guys. Teamwork makes the dream work! "

" Ah, my favorite music from the menu. It's like I'm in a retirement home. "

" Did he just rip his fucking head off? "

" And what not to do! Like rip somebody's head off. "

" Just the casual things! I can reach items on the top shelf, airbend some electric waves, and land in prison for a double homicide. "

" Now you can only commit singular homicide. "

" You're vandalizing an already vandalized building. And it's not even vandalism, you're just moving some boxes around. "

" Funny, the second you mention work, he stops. "

" You know damn well that's too much like common sense. "

" Tall?? He's like the Jolly Green Giant! "

" Alright, listen here beanstalk- "

" I am not enjoying this music at all. This does not give me very friendly vibes. "

" Doesn't matter where it came from, we know where we have to go now. "

" Ah, you really just put anything in someone's mouth and roll with it, huh? "

" I don't even believe I said that yet in your imaginary little world. "

" The hell do you mean I can't misuse company time? I get paid three cents to move around boxes, I'll do whatever the hell I want. "

" Well, it looks like I'll take over for the time being! "

" I could say a lot right now, but I'll keep my mouth shut. "

" Welp, I see no problem moving forward here. Clearly no present danger that is alarming us to what's ahead. "

" I think Hell would be a better place to go than through that door. "

" A long and dark hallway never killed anybody. "

" Is it leaking carbon monoxide to kill us, hopefully? "

" Set the bar low? Got it- "

" It's not practical, but I can see why they implemented these things. "

" That's Business Failure 101! "

" Like I would waste the budget flopping around my Disneyland dick on the table because I wanted the under operations to feel magical. "

" If [name]'s hiding it, that doesn't promise anything good. "

" [Name] was definitely the kid to put the square blocks in the circle hole. "

" [Name], you probably sucked on a wooden spoon as entertainment. Hell, you'd probably do that now! "

" Damn, we're old! "

" You are old and I am not. "

" Are you smarter than a fifth grader? You can put the pieces together. "

" And with that note, I think it's about time we high-tail it out of here. "

" Have you seen how long that motherfucker's arm is? He could probably wear me like a sock puppet! "

" That's an image in my head I wish I could unsee. "

" First, jump off a cliff. Second- "

" Yeah, that really fucking helps, [name]. Just sit there and focus on commentary while you leave the puzzles to me! "

" I thought you said you were done questioning the logic? "

" And that's after five bankruptcies, two divorces, and a criminal record. "

" Another classic [name] joke. A couple more, and they might let you back on the late show. "

" He would know about shady business practices. "

" Yeah! A one percent increase in performance- Let's burst open the champagne bottles! "

" [Name], you would be the type of person to be concerned about international cybersecurity, but will watch online porn sites with so many viruses you'd think it came from a lab. "

" You old bastard, I genuinely wish you'd have a stroke. "

" You're just being an asshole, [name], but what else is new? "

" Those eyes look like they've been around since the Civil War. "

" What do you think I'm trying to do? So shut the hell up! "

" What can you say? I had to bring it home for the boys. "

" It's like the Victorian era vomited all over here. "

" This was not what I meant, but to each their own. "

#rp memes #rp meme #rp prompts #rp prompt #roleplay prompts #writing prompts #ask box meme #askbox meme #rph #rpc #judasrpc

[woozapooza]

Some quick (EDIT: This post is not quick at all. I don't know why I never learn that when I say a reaction post is going to be "quick," it is literally never quick) reactions to The Sopranos 3x08 "He Is Risen":

I don't find Ralphie particularly interesting, unfortunately. But at least he creates new situations for Tony, who is interesting. In this regard he's kinda like Father Intintoli (am I spelling that right? I don't care), who is super boring but has the one redeeming quality of occasionally creating new situations for Carmela. Though unlike the priest, at least Ralphie's actor has stage presence (screen presence?), so that's something else he has going for him.

I was really worried that the events of "Employee of the Month" would not come up again, especially after I read that Dr. Melfi's role is smaller from here on out. It would have been ridiculous to put a main character through that and then never let it be apparently relevant to the rest of her arc. So I was deeply relieved when Tony offered to walk her to her car and she thought about it for a moment and then turned him down (fantastically subtle performance by Lorraine Bracco in that moment, btw—you can see her trauma come rushing back to her, you can see her temptation to accept Tony's offer, and when she gives her answer, she's just composed enough that Tony wouldn't notice that anything was wrong, but the audience can see and hear the anguish just beneath the surface). I would honestly have been satisfied if that was all I got, but then on top of that, there's the scene where she rants to Elliot about how exhausting it is to constantly have to be there for other people when she's dealing with her own trauma. God, that scene was great. Probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole show so far. I can't believe how long it took me to realize that Melfi is the best character. Also, I feel like it says a lot about her as a person that she apologizes to Elliot for going on that tirade. God I love her.

At Thanksgiving, when Tony tells Meadow that he loves her and that he'd be devastated if anything bad happened to her, her face sort of softens. It's nice that they seem to be on the path to reconciliation (well, nice in a twisted sort of way, since she had a very good reason to be angry with him), but it's also sort of hard to buy, because Meadow has no clue of the context of that statement (that when Tony looked at her, he saw Tracee), and I feel like if I were her in that moment, I would have been like "what do you mean, if something happened to me? Do you know something I don't know? 😟"

When Tony is explaining to someone (Johnny, I think?) why he had to attack Ralphie, he first says "He disrespected the Bing," and when that's not enough, he adds, "He bashed that poor girl's brains in." When Ralphie apologizes, he does it in the same order (after first apologizing for turning Tony down for a drink): first the insult to the Bing, then Tracee. Pretty telling! Though I do wonder if, in Tony's case, he brought up the Bing first because he thought it was more likely to resonate with Johnny or whoever he was talking to, since we know that Tracee's death truly shook him. Undoubtedly he's mad about the insult as well, but I was thinking about the end of "University": someone (Paulie, I think?) says Ralphie "was way out of line," Tony sadly says "that girl..." and Paulie or whoever it was says, "That, too." There, too, the insult comes first and Tracee is an afterthought, but she's not an afterthought to Tony. King of not being the #1 most despicable person in the New Jersey mob 👏👏👏

I am still very much figuring out how I feel about Jackie Jr. 🤨

Ducks!!! I don't know what to make of them, but they sure are ducks!!!

Long before I started watching the show, I saw (and reblogged, because I thought it was hilarious) a photoset of the line where Tony says he read the Cliff Notes for The Prince and thought it was "okay." But the photoset put a comma between "Prince" and "Machiavelli," so that it looked like Tony was saying "[The] Prince, [by] Machiavelli." But in the HBO captions, and in James Gandolfini's delivery, there is definitely no comma. He just thinks the guy's name is "Prince Machiavelli." Amazing.

#The Sopranos #Anna watches The Sopranos #Anna watches tv #x

[elspeth-t-journal]

21/22 June 2022

I found the draft above. I guess I'll use it as a journal, trying to put words onto my thoughts. Attempt to make it make sense.

I liked that M (sister in law) put me soe nail polish, last summer. I was curious, she wanted to do it for fun, why not. First time i gazed into the rabbit hole "dude, what if I like it? that would be a fun adventure"

I always play feminine characters in games

I use to run by he/they on th einternet, to "be a good ally" and piss off morons.

Then i put on nail polish a few times. I made Rey's hair style (i was not in a good mood, i wanted to feel... something powerful?). Generally, people were appreciative of the nail polish, it suited me. L (friend) noticed the Rey reference.

Later, at my mom's house, i had a dream whose transciption attempt i've lost. I was sailing quite fast aboard a small boat, around an island with high cliffs. I end up chosing/being guided to one of the caverns. There were a lot of them, and I somehow got the knowledge that they were different possibilities. Around that time, before or after the dream, i watched Matrix, and got a "better"/new understanding on "following the white rabbit", an invitation to discover a new truth. I remember a bit about this series of possibilities, ideas that were inside the caverns. An idea and its opposite. I remember that one of them was "I am a man. I am a woman". After waking up, i remember hoping that there was something here, without believing there was.

Once, i replied to a tumblr post that went like "Yo, imaging there was a trans gal deadnamed Adam that changed her name to Eve, funniest person alive" by "yeah, if that happend, i'll think about it ^^"

Also, who (WHO?) while being toally cis would hope to be trans to gain a bonus in computers and hacking ? Of course, that's the inferiority complex talking. Still cis, though.

Stuff from the past:

I don't really like my name, mostly because of the teasing. I since then learned to like this defiant side, enduring the "animosity" in a "what are you gonna do, laugh? make a joke i've heard a thousand times? i'll laugh first with a better joke!"

I Hate wearing a suit, feels like a disguise, a clown, an imposter (seems it happends to a lot of people, but i'm not getting over it) (note: at this point, i'm getting married in about 30 days)

And here we are, present time. And I have questions. I'm trying to put pieces together. Maybe future me will read this again, having connected the dots.

I don't know what triggered the questionning this time. But it seems more serious, i had never acted this way before.

I remember some questionning about "Am I bi or not?" where i'm having trouble knowing if I really feel this, or if it's just something my brains entertains for some stimulation. Or it like to fuck with me, that's a thing it does. Am I just longing to be included ?

Stuff I did, checking the temperature, finding euphoria?:

shaved a bit. Took care of my hairs (conditionner and the rest). Found a name ? Elspeth, ada, eva ?

I watched One Topic at a time, his videos on egg_irl, trying to find something, answers? kindhip ? i do feel kinship with trans people. Bits of envy)

I've heard that wanting to be trans makes you valid enough or something. Right now, I think, as i used to, to be just besides "Man", but maybe i'm a bit farther than that.

These days, i look in the mirror, wondering about how a feminine version would fit.

I'm affraid i'll be ugly.

I am also affraid to talk about it. i'd rather "have some results to show" first, have an answer. I'll never be able to tell my family.

On one hand, I think i'd like to be trans. I'll probably try to wear my hakama, some nail polish. Pluck my eyebrows, maybe shave a bit more of my body. And find a way to talk about these things with S (my wife, now).

Same day: I sent an anon ask to lizzy frizzle, regarding that name. And I smiled hard, reading the answer ... ("oh? OH .. well, fuck" moment). Especially the part "Does thinking about the name Eva Elspeth make you happy". Thrill sensation (chill? shivers? the nice one)

At night: after moments i'd qualify as "pleasant confusion", discovery, i've began to feel scared. The kind that stays for the next days.

#trans #trans journal

[steveyockey]

man it’s like dean never got to be a kid because he had to be a parent in john’s absence and dean refers to cas as being like a child but as cas loses faith in god he too is forced into maturity just instead of as a human adolescent as a million year old elderitch horror going through the same maturity process as a human adolescent who just realized their progenitor is fallible and will never help them become the thing they choose to be and instead only expects them to conform to the thing they are “meant” to be and both of them now exist as these entities that appear as grown men but are at once infants and elders performing a version of adulthood they never practiced but were simply expected to embody and every mistake they made along the way was blown up exponentially to further their sense of doubt and confusion around their own selfhood and purpose and then jack. is born without a living father but believes so deeply in his father’s goodness. in his father’s willingness to fight and die for him. in his father’s love that his cry pierces through realities to wake him and bring him back home, to bring him back into existence, to give him perhaps his most true state of embodiment, so thoroughly convinced that castiel is a presence that he makes it so. knows on this instinctual level through his memory of cas from inside the womb that a father’s role is to protect and guide and nurture and believe you can be the best version of yourself AND that you are allowed childhood and allowed to question and wonder and doubt but never doubt that he loves you. and you don’t need to prove that to him, your own existence is enough.

#unfortunately I must say it again: castiel canonically queers fatherhood #spn #ziz watches spn #lots of thoughts here but this is like. the cliff notes of where my brain is right now #cas assigned father at birth #this is related to why I don’t mind that jack isn’t a literal baby I think it’s very important that he’s able to articulate feelings #in the same way it’s important cas did that in his early seasons

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Oh please go into more detail about skeppy kidnapping techno from pogtopia, my brain would like the juicy details

YES absolutely. To begin with, please note that while I jokingly called this a Dark-not-SBI story (dark happyduo is how I originally pitched it?) I'd say the premise could just as easily be adopted for a more general hurt/comfort-y vibe story. I just crave other characters being protective over Techno and it's fun to take that to scary extremes.

General premise is that this is set during Pogtopia (duh), more specifically right after the Red Festival and the subsequent Pit fight. After that whole debacle, Techno leaves the ravine to cool off because a lot of his fellow revolutionaries basically resent him, and certainly don't trust him. He's wounded from the festival/fight - nobody has exactly cared to patch him up of course - and also lowkey sick because he's been spending his time not sleeping, barely eating, overworking himself, etc to tend to the revolution.

This is where Skeppy comes in. Now I'm actually undecided here. It could be fun to make it so Skeppy knows about the Red Festival and he reaches out to Techno first, basically already proving he's the only person bothering to check up on him after all the shit it's put him through. Alternatively, I thought of a scene where Techno messages Skeppy a quip, since it usually makes him feel better. Skeppy responds, but notices after less than three messages back and forth that something is wrong, because he probably knows Techno better than anyone, then he rushes over.

Either way, Skeppy immediately goes to find Techno, brings him back to the Badlands mansion (forcefully or otherwise), and BBH and Skeppy help him recover (which takes a bit because Techno's 'lowkey sick' has definitely turned into full pneumonia)

While he's there, two things happen. 1) Techno bonds with the other members of the Badlands - which at this point would be Antfrost and Sam, also Ponk who is not a part of the Badlands officially but spends a lot of time there thanks to Sam. They all become very attached to Techno very quickly. And 2) Happyduo in particular find out more about what Techno was called to Pogtopia for and how Wilbur was basically using Techno as a glorified war machine, and they decide they will have NONE of that.

After Techno recovers is where the story begins to deviate depending on how 'dark' you want to make the characters. Some of the members of Pogtopia probably come looking for Techno then, because they kinda realize their revolution doesn't stand a chance without them. They try to convince him to rejoin, either through kindness (apologies, begging for his help, telling him they need him) or guilt-tripping (telling Techno he owns it to them, accusing him of what happened at the festival and how the only way he can make that up to them is helping them) or a combo of both depending on which characters show up.

I really would love for Skeppy to give a 'the reason you suck' speech to Wilbur and Quackity in particular lmao. Also, BBH is a shapeshifter who is an absolute sweetheart to Skeppy and Techno but would rip out the heart of anybody who seriously threatens them <3

If you want the more wholesome hurt/comfort vibe, I'm thinking Techno decides he wants to stay in the Badlands willingly and it's all peaches and roses. If you take the more dark route - which is the one I would do and the one I've thought about more - Techno's swayed by at least parts of the Pogtopian's arguments and also his own still existing conviction that the Schlatt administration needs to go. And he wants to return to the revolution, which the Badlands won't let happen so easily.

(the whole "they don't care about him like we do. he doesn't know what's good for him" vibe)

Where would the story go? No clue, all I know is that Techno was going to fall off a cliff at some point and horribly fuck up his leg, much to the delightment of Bad and Skeppy because now Techno can't run away anymore uwu

#skeppy #badboyhalo #technoblade #thoughts #as mentioned the other badlands people would feature #but it was mostly dark happyduo focussed

[katesbridgerton]

Hi! Here's some dialogue prompts if you like,

"Well last time that worked."

"It's only illegal if we get caught."

"Please don't go."

Or some situational prompts,

Walking through a Halloween haunted forest

Accidentally crashing a party or wedding

Having a food fight

All for Kaysanova, no pressure, just have some fun if one of these sparks anything 💜

Hi, Anon! Thank you so much for sending prompts. I wrote a little something and I hope you enjoy. ⭐

"Please don't go," Joe says, the tip of his nose is touching Nicky's cold cheek; Joe has been holding his body since they have arrived from the mission. "I can't do this without you," he whispers, the tears that had stopped just a few seconds ago are now falling again.

It's been 24 hours and no signs that Nicky is healing. One bullet went straight into his heart and the other was allocated in his brain. Everyone doubts Nicky will make out of it alive, but not Joe. Joe knows he will come back, because he promised back then, centuries ago, after their first night together that they wouldn't leave each other. And Joe believes in Nicky, Nicky never lied to him.

After four days, Joe already died at least three times next to his beloved; he is not getting up to eat or drink water no matter how many times Andy, Nile and Booker knock on the door of their room. 

"I hate you. I hate you for putting yourself in front of Andy and I hate Andy for getting inside that building even though she's now mortal," he sniffles, hiding his face on Nicky's t-shirt. "I can't watch this, ya amar. I can't watch you leave. I'm sorry for being so weak."

He stands up, makes a bag with Nicky's clothes — because they smell like him — and writes a note to leave on the bedside table.

We promised we would wait a year for each other. Please. This is my only request. Do not bury or burn him. Joe.

It's a lie. They had promised they would wait a month, but now Joe can't help himself. A month is nothing, what if Nicky doesn’t wake up? Joe leaves the house in the middle of the night because he can't look at Andy without feeling anger, he can't look at Nicky without hating him and he doesn't want those feelings. 

He really doesn't. He's not entitled to them. No matter how much his heart is shattered. 

They were in Italy when it happened. Nicky died at home, and now Joe is left without one. That's his first thought when he is showering in their place in Malta; the hot water is hitting his back muscles as he cries for his lost lover. When he leaves, he dresses himself with one of Nicky’s clothes and goes to bed — he still doesn't bother to eat, or to drink water, no matter how much he craves for it. The rain outside makes his entire body shiver, not because it's cold, but because he wishes he was holding Nicky. 

They both loved staying in bed on rainy days.

When Joe dies that night, he wakes up knowing exactly what he's going to do the next morning. He sits down slowly, blinks, and almost falls when he tries to stand up; leaning against the walls, he arrives at the kitchen, opens a can of soup — Nicky is probably cursing him wherever he is — and eats it slowly while drinking a glass of water. He needs to be strong enough to walk tomorrow.

Joe wakes up early on the next day, around six in the morning, and walks out of the house leaving behind a note on Nicky's pillow. The hike to the cliff has memories all over it, stolen kisses, laughs, hugs and even a pig back ride when Joe was too sleepy to function. He stops and smiles, before continuing his journey

"I was thinking about Malta," "What time in Malta?" "..." "Oh, THAT time in Malta."

Nicky proposed to him for the first time on the top of this cliff. The place where Joe is standing now. After the proposal, Joe remembers so vividly, they went back to their house and had one of the best nights of their lives. And every night was perfect with Nicky, so that says a lot.

Nothing makes sense anymore. Not now. Not without Nicky and if Joe can't endure a life on earth, maybe he can under the sea. He takes one step forward without thinking twice, and then another until he's falling.

He let himself sink, and as his lungs are slowly filled with water, the last thing he sees is Nicky’s eyes. If he's lucky enough, this will be his last death.

Joe wakes up naked and wrapped in a blanket, in their bed. He hears a way too familiar voice coming from the living room.

"Yes, I'm with him. We're staying here, boss. Call you tomorrow." 

"Nicky?" Joe's voice is weak when he calls the name, then he stands up, bringing the blanket along to warm him up. "Nicolò?" 

The green eyes meet his brown ones and he doesn't even have time to process what's happening before being pulled to Nicky’s arms. It smells like Nicky, it looks like Nicky, it holds him like Nicky, but-

His thoughts are interrupted when long hands cup his face and pull him to a kiss.

It tastes like Nicky. When Joe is about to open space to a way Nicky’s tongue knows too well, he falls on his knees.

An illusion, of course. Because Nicky is- Nicky is dead. The ghost kneels in front of him and gently repeats his previous movements, kissing Joe slowly. Joe is not sure of what's true or not anymore, the sensation of their mouths together is too real to be just a hallucination. 

"Sono qui," Nicky whispers against his lips. "You're still awfully weak. I don't even want to think about what you did, my love. All the pain you went through. I made you a proper dinner."

"Nicolò," he cries, hiding his face on Nicky's neck and allowing himself to be held. 

Nicky is nothing but patient, he sits on the floor, opens his legs and gives Joe enough space to sit in the middle and snuggle against his chest. Joe doesn't know how long they stay there, and he could have stayed more if his stomach had not complained.

"Food is ready, but I know my husband very well, so shower first," Nicky smiles and stands up, helping Joe to do the same.

Joe doesn't move while Nicky is bathing him, he doesn't even blink because he's too scared that if he does the sensation of Nicky’s hands on his body will disappear. 

"One year, um," Nicky laughs, kissing Joe's neck. "I would have done the same."

"No, you wouldn't. You're more rational. More practical."

"Not when it comes to you, habibi. Never when it comes to you."

"When did you-" Joe finally turns to stare at his husband. 

"Two days ago. I'm not healing slower, I did hurt myself before and everything is normal. I guess the type of wound," he shakes his head. "You jumped."

Joe nods. 

"What if I hadn't gotten there in time, habibi?" Nicky pulls him by the waist, their bodies touching everywhere; Joe rests their foreheads together.

"But you did," Joe whispers. "You did."

"Let's eat something now? You really need it. I'm going to be there, I'm going to hold your hand, I'm never leaving you again. This is a promise."

The food smells delicious, it's one of Joe's favourite dishes, but when the plate is full in front of him, he can't bring himself to let go of Nicky’s hand; their fingers are intertwined and he never wants to let go. He will never let go, because if he does, Nicky might die again.

He only notices he's crying when Nicky’s free hand wipes the tears away. And after that, without asking, he starts to feed Joe. Joe wants to say it's not necessary, that he can do it alone, but he's too focused on the sensation of his husband’s warm skin against his. He can't really do anything else.

"Thank you, habibi," he whispers.

"Not the first time. Won't be the last," Nicky smiles. "Are you cold, my love? You're still shaking."

"I hated you," Joe admits, biting his lower lip so hard that he can taste blood. "I hated you so much," the tears start to fall (one more time). Nicky doesn't interrupt him. "I hated Andy. I was so angry. I hated you more than when I did in the Crusades," he admits. "I don't want to eat anymore." 

"It's ok. Do you want to go to bed?" 

Joe shakes his head. He doesn't want to sleep. He doesn't want to close his eyes and miss Nicky.

"Let's go to the couch."

Nicky is the smartest person Joe knows, there are blankets waiting for him and a pillow; he can't really fight when Nicky tucks him in, because 1) he's too weak; 2) he'll do anything Nick wants.

Nicky sits on the floor, in front of him, he still didn't let go of Joe's hand. Or vice versa. Joe doubts he is giving any other choice.

"You're going to sleep and when you wake up in the morning, I'm going to be here with you. You need to rest."

"The rings," Joe mentions. "You're still wearing them."

"Your rings? Of course. Your necklace too."

Joe had left the items behind because in case Nicky was really gone, Joe wanted him to have something material that belonged to him.

"You didn’t leave your wedding ring. Tell me why," Nicky kisses the ring on Joe's finger.

"Because I'm always going to be married to you. It doesn't really matter if you're alive or not."

"I'm going to be here tomorrow morning. And the day after and until you grow old and get tired of me."

"It's never going to happen."

"Please believe in me," Nicky begs. "I need you to rest."

Joe can't tell if it’s Nicky’s wish or his own tiredness, but he eventually falls asleep. He wakes up startled in the next morning, scared even. It’s when his eyes find Nicky’s.

"I brought you to bed so we could stay together. You were very agitated during the night. Very unlike you," Nicky touches his cheek. "We're staying here, Joe."

"I like that," Joe smiles.

"No. Not in bed. We're staying in Malta. It's over for us. The missions."

"What? But Nicky, you-"

"If it were you," Nicky closes his eyes and when he opens them again, Joe sees a mix of fear and anger. "No. You’re never going through that again. I'm never going to watch you heal again. You threw yourself off a cliff!" he raises his voice a bit. "It's over for me. Unless you disagree, of course."

"There's nothing I want more than to just be with you. I don't want to watch you die again either. I don't want- it's over. It's the end for us." 

Nicky smiles. 

"It's just the beginning for us," he whispers against Joe's lips before kissing him.

#yusuf al-kaysani #nicolò di genova #immortal husbands #otp: he's all and he's more #the old guard #tog fanfic #userbooker #userlyde #demonicneonfishy #moonlightandromache #usernicolo #userkayla #userkourt #bea writes

[sp00kworm]

SIREN (AMMB): Zadok’s Ending

Chapter 1: Meeting the Band

Pairing: Deep Sea Merman (Zadok) x Gender Neutral Reader

Adult Content below the cut. Dom Reader and collar use.

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---

A lithe looking figure was draped in oversized clothing. Loose cuffed cargo trousers were covered in chains and topped with a large hoodie and a coat which made your own look positively thin. You frowned before you caught sight of the pale, micro-scaled skin underneath. The white scales shimmered with pearlescence as Zadok glanced around behind himself and touched the water pumps attached to his neck, which were then coupled to a small tank fastened like a backpack to him. There was a sense of worry in his posture as he reached for his wallet to order.

“A chai tea please. And an anchovy sandwich to go.” He ordered quietly as the barista noted it down and carefully took his money, trying to avoid staring to badly at the suction cups and tank attached to him. Zadok ignored her look and stood to the side, pulling his hood further over his fins to avoid any more unwanted attention from the customers and staff. It was weird seeing the confident lead singer to upset and shy about being seen in public. Your staring, however, got you caught firmly in the act. With a rush you turned back to your phone, and pretended not to be looking as his white eyes caught you. A huff sounded but he didn’t move to come and say anything. He turned back to the counter and opened his phone, clawed webbed fingers typing across the keyboard.

 Sadly, and awkwardly, you turned back to your table and waited for your food, trying to put Zadok out of you mind. He didn’t owe you anything after all, you were just a fan of the band. The barista was quick to make his drink before she packaged and wrapped his sandwich for him in the red and white plaid paper.

“Thank you.” He rumbled as he took the food and paper cup, “Have a nice day.” Zadok’s webbed fingers adjusted the wrapped sandwich before he tucked it into his satchel and placed his wallet firmly back inside. The singer reached upwards, his pale skin flashing with purple light, to adjust the cups over his gills. They didn’t budge, and so he walked away from the line, his hood up and his head ducked as he headed towards the door, leaving with a soft ring of the bell. You ducked over your food as he turned to walk left, past the glass window you were sat next to. He stopped just outside of the door and pulled something out of his pocket as he sipped at the tea in his hand. You realised it was his phone and as he raised it closer to his eyes you ducked back down to avoid being seen, sipping your own drink before your phone vibrated on the table again.

 Thinking it was just another text from Tom, you opened the screen with a disappointed sigh, upset that Zadok had ignored you. The screen lit up again and you clicked your tongue at the incessant buzzing. A message, but not from an account that you knew, nor did you follow them. It was a picture of a figure huddled by a cliff as the profile icon, decked in all black and shielding themselves from the wind. The water looked choppy and you saw the faintest hint of waves in the background. With a confused look, you opened the message.

‘Sorry for ignoring you.’

The second message was not twenty seconds after the first.

‘This is Zadok by the way. Don’t start gawking out of the window at me please.’

Slightly rude, you thought as you looked closer at the obscure profile icon, wondering just how the weird, huddled mass of black could be the singer. Your phone buzzed again before you could give it much thought.

‘Meet me by the Elf fountain.’

 You looked up from your phone as the Merman tugged his hood a little higher and tucked his hands into his pockets again. You didn’t see him then as he disappeared into the mid-morning crowds beyond your sight. With a rush you finished up your food and took your coffee to go before you made your escape out of the café and into the street. The Elven fountains weren’t too far from the café and you were eager to know just why Zadok had even spoken to you at all. The fountains were fresh water and housed a few species of pond fish, usually Koi kept for decorative appeal in the gardens. A car slammed its horn at you as you dashed across the crossing at the last moment heading towards the park where the fountains were.

 It didn’t take you long to weave your way through the streets and it took even less time for you to manage to find Zadok. He was perched on the edge of the fountain, his feet beneath the cool water. You were sure it wasn’t allowed but none of the busy workers seem to be bothered by the man as he trailed them back and forth. His heavy work boots were shoved by the side of the stone, his socks tucked into each boot. You stood by the gate to the little fountain area for a moment before white eyes turned and found you staring. Zadok pulled a hand free from his pocket to give you a small wave, claws flashing a silvery colour in the light.

“Good morning.” he offered as you approached, his voice soft and calm despite your obvious staring from the gateway.

“Good morning.” You replied, feeling awkward and caught out by his kind greeting, “So…”

Zadok chuckled at you as he pulled his feet up onto the stone, perching his head on top of his knees, “So…” he replied.

“Why did you invite me here?” You asked quietly as Zadok brushed water from his webbed feet, avoiding his other filed claws on each of his toes, “You seemed well, pretty gloomy when you walked in.”

 Zadok just watched you for a moment, his ghostly eyes staring at you before his mouth stretched to reveal a wide smile full of thin, sharp teeth, “I tend to look like that when Duncan spends his night crushed against me instead of in his own bed.”

Suddenly, it was like the tension dissipated, like a lightning bolt and smashed right through it. Your tension seemed to evaporate, and you returned his smile, “I can see why that would make you upset.”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe.” he chuckled, “I’m sorry for seeming like an utter creep, but I don’t…well I don’t much like public places. I get recognised and its just never much fun after that.”

“No, I understand, I’m just confused about how you uh…found my socials.” You asked as Zadok’s eyes widened in realisation.

“Ah. I see now.” he lowered his head and awkwardly played with the tops of his shoes, “I found the pictures. It wasn’t too hard to find considering the show was last night.” he confessed, “That’s my private account for family and friends.” Zadok reached for his phone and showed you the screen of his page, “I wanted to talk, if that’s alright with you?”

You stepped closer and sat down on the side of the fountain with the singer, “What do you want to talk about?” You smiled as you sat down, folding your hands in your lap as you tried to get comfortable against the stone.

 “It seems weird now that I think about it.” Zadok confessed as you sat next to him, your drink clutched between your two hands, “I just wanted to thank you for what you said yesterday. It really does mean a lot to have someone feel so strongly about our music.” You watched as he tucked his clawed, webbed hands away in his pockets before looking him in the eyes.

His white eyes were striking, and you struggled to reply immediately, “You don’t have to thank me for being honest. Your music is amazing, just like you’re an amazing singer.”

“It means more than you think.” He insisted as he reached for his own drink, and pushed aside a small plastic bag, “I’ve spoken to a lot of fans, and, trust me, not one of them has spoken like that. Not with such passion about it all.” he laughed softly as he leaned back to take a drink, revealing the water pumps over his gills. He caught you staring, “They’re more to stop me drying out and hacking on everyone. I find I really need them after shows. So much singing hurts my lungs, so I have to revert back a little.”

“I had no idea you had to breathe water too.” You marvelled at the gills again before turning your gaze back to his pale scale-skin face, “Wait…” You held up your hands, “You sing so much it actually hurts?”

“Now don’t worry yourself!” Zadok bumped your shoulder gently, “Its not bad. Just like human singers need rests from growling, I need my own rest and recuperation.” He chuckled again, “But it is much easier to sing with water, but its not something anyone but a Mer can understand well.”

 “Is that why you looked like you enjoyed the beginning solo so much? Because its easier to sing in the water?” You asked, curious and eager to pick Zadok’s brain.

He laughed at you before nodding, his hood sliding to reveal the pointed tip of one of his fins, “I’m surprised you noticed.” he held his drink in his lap, wiggling his wet toes in the cool air, “Its not just that its easier to sing, really…I was born in the ocean, even though my parents have long lived with humans. We still spend our early years in the deep black waters before integrating into society. I’ve always just loved the water. Its always brought me peace. Its like a veil on the audience so I can just be myself.”

“That seems like an odd way to start life, but the more I think about it the more I think it must be nice, to be just you and the water.” You sat back, your palms pressed into the rough stone as you looked at the water, “And I bet it made you an amazing swimmer.”

Zadok paused before laughing again, the noise gentle and soothing, like the sound of water in a stream full of pebbles, “It did make me a good swimmer, yes, but it also taught me a lot about our culture. It made me who I am.” he looked at his feet and the water in the tank gurgled quietly.

 Silence fell between you both again, and you sat looking at the little goldfish in the fountain as they swam around Zadok’s ankles and disappeared under the lily pads. It was serene. You looked up and soaked in the weak sun.

“I have one more question for you.” Zadok said.

You looked over to him, “What’s that?” You asked.

He looked around and leaned over, “Is there somewhere more, private than this?” he sighed, “I just…I’m sick of being recognised. I ran into a group of fans on my way here and had to sign a few things. I just…”

“Want a day away from it all?” You asked gently, “I think I have a place in mind.”

Zadok smiled at you, “You’re not planning to kidnap me, are you?” he joked as he took another drink of coffee.

“Me? Kidnap you?” You exaggerated, “I think I would have more luck catching one of these goldfish, and that’s a pretty slim chance!”

 Zadok laughed gently, like the sound of water over stone, and you stood from the fountain, holding your coffee as you waited for him to shake his feet dry and put his shoes back on. He looked at his socks and huffed before pushing them into his pockets, opting to instead carry his boots and walk barefoot through the grass.

“So, where do you have in mind?” he asked as he followed you, “Will I need my shoes on?”

You nodded at him, “You’ll need your shoes for now. The city might be okay but I’m pretty sure you’ll get glass in your feet if you don’t wear something.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s too fun. I can’t be having a day in the minor injuries unit.” Zadok followed you to the gate before he took his napkin from his coffee and wiped off his feet. He hopped on each foot as he put his sock on and then his boots. Quickly, he tied the laces up before he checked his wrist. A silver watch flashed, and he hummed at the time.

“Have you got somewhere to be?” You asked.

Zadok shook his head as he clicked the sound off his phone, “Nope. Let’s get going.” he pulled his hood back up and hid his face as you exited the park and headed out towards the city’s edge.

 “I suggest you keep your stuff close.” You suggested as you both entered into a small, abandoned area of the city. It was overgrown and the small homes here were derelict, with ivy and bushes sprouting out of the windows and collapsed roofs.

Zadok looked up through the trees, “What kind of place is this?” he asked quietly as you both stepped around a couple of mushroom circles.

“It’s a fae pool. A spirit pool of sorts.” You pointed past the houses towards a large clearing where a natural pond glittered with the light pouring through the centre hole of the canopy, “Its protected by the city for small fae and creatures to use and live in. Some species can’t integrate with humans, so these are the result.” You pointed to the rocks where a nymph combed her hair. She turned and saw you both, smiling before she blended into the air and disappeared into a small creek that trickled away from the large pond with a chime of laughter.

 “This is amazing.” Zadok breathed as he ran his claws over a rotten wooden fence, touching the ivy which wrapped around them gently, “I’ve never seen something like this before, not unless it was in the actual countryside.”

You smiled brightly as you reached the edge of the water, “Well, its something a lot of people don’t know about. I only know because of the guy I work with. He comes out here sometimes during shifts.”

“Is that the one that was with you last night, the werewolf?” Zadok asked curiously as he laid his bag down by the edge and undid his coat.

“Oh yeah, that’s Tom. He comes with me to a lot of stuff. We’ve been friends for years now.” You answered him, “I saved him a spot at the front since he was just as excited as me to see you guys.”

“He’s a nice guy then.” Zadok smiled, his needle like teeth parted slightly as he turned to sniff the air, “Sounds like a keeper.” he teased.

You shook your head, “Nah. We’re just friends. Tom is like a brother to me. We’ve both been through this before.” You shrugged, “I’m sure I’ll find someone like that though.”

“Yes, I’m sure you will.” Zadok awkwardly added before he changed the subject, “Are we allowed in the water?”

 The water was clear enough to see the heavy, dark stones that covered the bottom and you shrugged at Zadok.

“So long as you don’t kiss any Nymphs, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” You joked as you sat yourself next to the water and sipped the last remnants of your drink.

“Oh, I don’t plan on kissing any of them.” Zadok chuckled as he shrugged his coat off and reached for his tanks, “Would you mind…”

“Oh, gosh, sure, sorry.” You rambled before turning around, “Are those tanks hard to get off.

In reply you heard the hiss and click before water glugged and the tank thumped to the floor, “No. It’s not too hard, just a lot of suction cups and water glugging.” Zadok hummed and you made sure to keep turned around as fabric fluttered to the floor, “You can turn back now.” He announced quietly.

 You turned back around, clutching your drink between your hands, and looked at the man as he laid on his back and floated out into the middle of the clear water. He was bare of clothes, but nothing was exposed, and you remembered your anatomy lessons enough to know that most Mer’s had slits which hid everything away. Zadok flipped himself backwards and plunged himself deep into the pool. The water swirling was the only sign he was moving, and you walked back to the edge and sat down. Much like he had earlier, you took your shoes and socks off, and plunged your feet carefully into the water. It was quite cool, and you shuddered at the sensation before you wiggled your toes back and forth and swung your feet in the water. A hand grabbed your ankle and you jumped with a squeak until Zadok’s white head appeared. His head emerged and you marvelled at the glittering silver and purple of his bioluminescence. His eyes blinked back their protective eyelids, the third lids sliding to the sides of his eyes as he peered up at you with a grin of needle like teeth.

 “Boo.” He whispered before submerging his gills again, his eyes poking out above the water while the slits on his neck and ribcage flared and moved water.

“You’re an ass.” You commented before splashing water at his head.

Zadok flared the fins on his head, the sails on top of his head and one each side shaking in a ripple before they shone with purple light, “You stuck your feet into a pool with unknown creatures in it.” he shot back at you as he laid himself on the incline of the pool, his stomach resting against the stones, keeping his gills submerged.

“Is the water okay for you? Don’t you need salt water since you’re from the deep ocean?” You asked curiously, “You won’t get any infections from it will you?”

Zadok gave you a withering look, “I’ll be fine. If this is a fae pool it will be perfectly clean. They don’t like dirty water.” he wiggled back into the water, “I can breathe fresh water just fine, since this is pure, its even better.”

“That’s great then. I didn’t want to be responsible for making you ill or anything! Considering you have a few more months of touring it would be pretty disastrous.” You smiled with relief.

 For a while, you watched Zadok swim and dive. He dipped beneath the surface seamlessly and you marvelled at the glow to his fins and scales as he dove to the bottom of the pond. You could make out the colour of his bioluminescence beneath the surface, glowing through the water as he swam in large circles. As you sat, quiet and still, the sprites seemed to return to the water, and you smiled as a few smaller sprites sat by you in the reeds and grass. A couple of small looking mushrooms rattled together before their small arms and legs appeared and they opened their eyes, trundling over to pick at Zadok’s clothes and shoes before they hopped into his shoe and made happy noises. You laughed at them before a small, hummingbird like fae zipped in front of your face and giggled before settling herself on top of your head to play with whatever she could reach. Zadok surfaced and opened his eyelids as a couple of kelp looking creatures clung to his fins. They flopped back into the water before he could complain but he only smiled beneath the surface, snapping at them with his sharp teeth to scare them away from his fins. He reached and tugged a few of them free of his dorsal sail, the sharp needles tearing a few of them a little, but they didn’t seem to complain as they floated back into the depths of the pond.

 “They seem to like you.” Zadok commented as he swam close to the edge, his body bending before he laid his webbed hands in the grass, claws plucking at the strands and snapping them.

“If you come here long enough, they take a liking to you. They just like people who can sit quietly, and who don’t litter.” You replied as you placed your cup into his plastic bag. You hummed as you reached inside and plucked the bottle out, “Did you plan on doing a little more than swimming?” You teased as you shook the bottle of whiskey in front of him.

Zadok plucked it out of your hands and scoffed, “A little more than relaxing…” he muttered, “Something like that. It’s been a rough few weeks, being on tour and all.”

You didn’t know Zadok well, but you found yourself replying before you could stop yourself, “Is it something you want to talk about?”

“No.” he replied brusquely, “Its something at home. Nothing you can really help with.” Zadok hummed, “But some company might be nice?” he asked as he held the whiskey a little higher out of the water.

 It was only just past midday, but you smiled at him, remembering that you had the day off work anyway. You checked your phone and nodded.

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind sharing some of that. Its expensive.” You commented as Zadok undid the lid and tossed it into the grass.

He held the drink up before taking a few sips and hissing, “Definitely decent stuff.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” You joked, “As a bartender, I have a keen sense for what makes a good whiskey.” You laughed before taking a mouthful and humming at the burn as you swallowed, “Oh yeah, definitely decent.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Zadok chuckled as he leaned back and floated out into the middle of the pond, his eyes closed as the sun shone through the leaves and hit the skin of his belly. His stomach glittered with blue and purple light from the natural sunlight and you watched the light show in awe before you took another sip of whiskey to dampen the feeling swirling in your gut.

 Zadok floated for a while before he dipped below the water and dove to the bottom, the water swirling in his wake. His fins popped back out of the water as he swam to the edge and surfaced, smiling at you before he held out his fist.

“Open your hand.” he insisted, “I have something for you.”

You did as you were told and placed the whiskey down to open your hands for what he had to give you. He opened his claws and dropped a large looking rock. You frowned but span it over to reveal the inside of a geode. It was split some time ago but Zadok’s swimming had cleaned most of the silt from inside of it, revealing a shiny gathering of blue and clear crystals. The sprite in your hair chirped happily before a magpie squawked and landed nearby, eyeing the shiny object up with one beady eye.

 “Wow.” You whispered, “Was this at the bottom of the pond?” You asked as you turned the crystals away from the sunlight, so the magpie didn’t decide to dive at you for the object.

“There’s a small cave at the bottom. It probably leads to some fae lair, but the inside was full of rocks and geodes. Its obviously a lair which has been abandoned though, there’s silt all over it.” Zadok commented, “They probably moved along a while ago.”

“That’s amazing.” You replied, “Thank you. Its very pretty.”

Zadok failed to stop his fins from flaring as he puffed with pride, “Sorry.” he grunted, “It’s a natural thing. I can’t stop myself.”

You only laughed at him, “Its fine, don’t worry about it.” You took hold of the whiskey again and held it out for him, “Want some more.”

Embarrassed, Zadok nodded, “Yep.” And took the whiskey as he swam back out into the pond, treading water easily as he sipped whiskey, back and forth across the length of the body of water.

 The whiskey was strong, and it quickly got to your head, making you smile as you laid near the edge of the water, talking as you watched the clouds roll overhead. You grinned as Zadok started to cloud watch with you. It was childish almost, but peaceful as you both laid back and watched the day roll past, sipping whiskey before you started on the bread and meat he had shoved into the bag as well, chewing slowly as you listened to the trees rustle and fae giggle. The sun started to dip below the horizon as you both finished off the bottle of whiskey, giggling and slapping water at each other before you flopped back against the bank with your feet swirling back and forth in the water. Zadok dipped below the surface and resurfaced happily, stretching his lithe figure out before he swam back towards you. One of his hands wrapped around your ankle, the black, tapered claws grazing over your skin before he pulled himself out of the water, and grazed them up over your calf, to the point where your bottoms were rolled up your legs. His white eyes continued up your legs, following their own path over your chest before your gazes locked.

 His fingers pressed against your skin, softly mapping the expanse of your calf before he trailed his other hand up your other leg, touching the back of your leg in a slow stroke before he heaved his body up and out of the water, resting between your legs as he dripped water over your stomach. Intensity burned in his white eyes as his nose holes flared and his mouth opened, scenting the air. You looked up at him and felt your body go hot. After a moment looking at his perfect, pearl coloured skin, you dared to stroke your hands over his stomach, following the deep purple colours as they zipped up over his shoulders and down his back. A croaking purr escaped Zadok as he pushed his skin against your hands, enjoying the petting as his lips pursed. His gills flared with a sigh before he leaned over and pressed his lips to your own. His second eyelids closed over his eyes, like he was snatching a fish from the water, and he watched you melt against the grass, one of your hands cupping his cheek, stroking at the fin on the side of his head, while your other hand dared to trail down his stomach, stroking the soft, scaled skin before you reached the mound between his legs.

 Another soft rumble ran up Zadok’s check before he croaked, the sound accompanied by the soft fluttering of his gills. His eyes were closed as your fingers grazed over the flushed flesh of his slit. You stroked along the centre where the rough scales parted to reveal a peak of his soft, blue coloured flesh.

“Fuck.” Zadok whispered as his arms shook, “Please.” he whimpered in your ear.

“Please, what?” You gasped as your finger dipped into the slit as it grew slippery with a natural lubricant before you kissed him again, stroking the flushed flesh gently as you felt his tongue prod at your lips. The two of you kissed a little deeper, tongues touching before Zadok tilted his head and pulled himself out of the water completely, pressing his wet skin and scales to your front.

The mer shifted against you as your fingers came away from his slit, covered in a thin slime, “Let me…” he croaked again with a purr, “Let me have you.”

 You grinned as he pressed his slit to your hips, rubbing the scales against you, “Do you have a room somewhere?” you asked, no louder than a whisper.

Zadok nodded his head as you dragged your nails down his back, shivering before he managed to speak, “The Rouge Bard. We have our own rooms. Everyone is out today.” he added as he blinked and leaned to nip at your lips, his gills fluttering again before he leaned back.

“We best continue this there then.” You stated as Zadok kissed you once more and pulled away, shaking water from his body as he hissed and pulled his clothes back on. The cotton dragged at the swollen flesh of his slit and you drunkenly hummed, looking at his angular ribcage, structured with thin bones and heavy scales. You were admiring him. Zadok smiled as he zipped up his cargo pants, moving the chains out of the way as they linked together and jangled.

“Yes. Let’s.” Zadok shuddered as the wind blew, but quickly covered up before stealing another heated kiss from your lips, his fins flaring as you clicked the water tank breathers to the gills on his neck.

 The two of you stumbled from the abandoned homes, stealing kisses and dragging your hands over each other’s skin as darkness settled over the city. You stumbled and laughed with one another as you reached the hotel and he dragged you into the elevator, purring his croaking noise again as he pressed you to his front and stole another kiss, his lips demanding more from you. His tongue slipped into your mouth and you gasped against his teeth as they nipped at you. The elevator pinged the floor and you both collapsed out of it, dragging each other down the hall until you reached his door. You pressed his back against it as he fumbled for the keycard to get in.

A whistle sounded behind you as Zadok opened the door, “Golden boys getting some ass tonight I see.” Senoz purred from across the hall.

“I think I might be the one getting the ass.” You purred as the demon’s tails swung upwards, curled curiously.

“Well, when he’s a disappointment, you know where to find me, sweet thing.” Senoz swiped at your neck and licked the skin before leaving you both to tumble into Zadok’s room.

“Fucking demon.” the merman growled, “I’ll…”

“You better not be all talk. I might get bored and head over to see how good Senoz is in bed.” You countered as his coat fell to the floor.

 Zadok was quick to pull the suction cups of his water tank free, wheezing for a moment before he pealed his shirt off, revealing his angular chest and plated ribs again. You leaned back to admire the sight before he grabbed at your own clothes. You let him wrangle your coat and shirt off before you pushed him back towards the double bed. He went with a soft rumble, laying back against the cushions as he undid his trousers. You stood and slid them down over his hips to reveal his underwear. They were wet with lubricant. Pulling them down, you tried not to lick your lips as his slit sat before you, puffy and glistening, the head of his cock already peeking out from the blue flesh. Zadok threw his head back as you pushed your fingers against the soft scaled skin, revealing the v-shaped head of his cock.

“Fuck, please.” he whined again, “Please.” he reached for your neck and leaned up for a kiss, only to be denied as you spotted the jewellery collars on top of his dresser. They were probably from the show the night before. Before he could steal a kiss, you retrieved one of the studded black leather collars and grinned.

“If you’re a good boy, I’ll let you have what you want.” You promised as you slid back into his lap, holding the studs of the spiked collar open.

 The merman looked from the collar to your face. His white eyes widened before he nodded, licking at his lips with a blue, pointed tongue. You reached around his neck to click the collar closed before leaning back in his lap to admire the black leather and silver spikes against his pearlescent skin. Bioluminescence trails ran up his arms as you trailed your hands over his scaled skin. It was rough over the tops of his arms and you dug your fingers into the meat of his tricep to enjoy the feeling of the rough skin against your palms. Sitting back on his thighs, you turned your gaze downwards as you looped a finger through the ring hanging from the leather. Zadok moaned quietly as you gave it a soft tug and teased the tip of his cock. It bobbed, stirring between the blue fleshy lips before it extended out of its hole, shining wet with lubricant. His dick was long and curved upwards, with a head that tapered into a v shape. Beneath the head was bulbous, in the shape of an oval, and the bottom was flared with ribs. It was entirely new, and you felt your mouth water slightly at the sight of the blue gradient of the organ. The bottom glittered with silver light at your staring and his cock bobbed upwards sharply as your fingers trailed over his shoulders and down his ribs. Zadok let out another purring croak as you finally reached his pelvis and ran your fingertips along the top of his dick.

 “Please, master, please.” he croaked as he flopped back into the cushions, easily falling into a more submissive role as you dragged him up a little by the ring of his collar, “Please touch me.”

You shuddered at his tone of voice, enjoying the soft pleading from a voice which was usually so confident and demanding of attention on stage.

“Are you going to be a good boy and do as you’re told?” You asked as you sat on his thighs, running your fingers over his hips, towards the base of his cock, before you trailed back again, letting the head of his dick leak precum and his slit drip with more lubricant. The clear fluid leaked down over his buttocks and you watched as his face lit up with a blue blush.

Zadok swallowed thickly, “I’ll be g-good.” he promised quietly as you let go of the ring of his collar and stroked the length of his dick.

“Good boy.” You cooed as you stroked him, “We can stop anytime, just pat my thigh twice.” You told him before leaning down to steal a kiss from his lips as you pressed your finger to the sensitive head of his cock.

 “Ah!” Zadok cried sharply as your fingers twisted underneath the bulbous part of his cock, “That’s…sensitive.” he whined as you grasped the oval shape again and stroked around it, watching his clawed feet curl into the sheets, cutting slits into the sheets.

“Its sensitive is it?” You asked as you trailed over the bump again.

“Yes.” he cried, “Please, master, I can’t…I’ll cum before…”

Abruptly, you let go, watching his cock bob and throb with a hum. Zadok whined and croaked again before leaning up to kiss you, demanding your attention.

“I think I need a little help before I can fit that in baby boy.” You uttered against his lips, “How about you open me up a little?”

Zadok nodded as you took hold of his hand and looked at his claws, assessing them for a moment before you decided they were clipped enough to not shred your insides.

 Zadok croaked before purring again as you sat on your knees, resting above his lap as his hand encompassed your sex, the rough scales on the outside of his fingers grazing against your sensitive skin before they ran back and pushed at your hole. He met with resistance and the mer quickly gathered the natural lubricant from his slit, smearing it over his fingers before he pushed back against your hole. Carefully, he slid one finger inside to the second knuckle, letting you rest for a moment before he eased the rest in. Your inside were warm, and Zadok shuddered at the temperature difference before he crooked his finger and began gently thrusting it in and out. His other hand occupied itself at your chest before his mouth took to teasing your nipples, sucking on the buds until they were pert and sore, his sharp teeth nipping at the skin as he croaked again in happiness.

“You’re such a good boy.” You moaned between the attention of his mouth and hands, enjoying the pleasurable stretch as he pushed another finger into you and scissored the two apart, pressing against your plush insides.

“Anything for you, master.” Zadok purred drunkenly, his pale face flushed with blue blood. You watched his cock bob and weep a pearl of light blue precum, following the fluid as it dripped back down the length and mixed with the lubricant seeping from his slit.

 “Zadok, you’re dripping all over yourself. Is this turning you on that much?” You asked breathily as his fingers pressed into a sensitive spot, keeping your composure as he sucked on your nipples again, leaving cool spit over the skin with his blue tongue.

“Mmm. It is.” Zadok hissed as you wrapped your hand around the head of his cock, “Please, can I be inside you?”

“Hmm? What was that? Where are your manners, baby?” You asked as you pulled his fingers from you looking at them before you leaned back in his lap and pinned his hands to the bed. His dick bobbed as you stretched his arms up over his head and you admired the shape of his lithe figure, all bone and sleek muscle. His luminescence burned bright in striped over his entire body, shooting like currents as you nudged your hips against his own, “What’s the magic word?”

“Please, master, I can’t stand it. I need to be inside you.” Zadok moaned as you tugged him up by the collar for a kiss, mashing your tongues and teeth together messily before you reached back and lined his dick up against your hole, “Thank you, thank you…” He uttered incoherently as you sank down on his cock.

 A moan tore from you as the bulbous part under his head sank into you, stretching you wide before the ribs along the bottom scraped gently at your insides. A sharp bolt of pleasure ran up your spine as you took him to the base. He was unique, slippery, and textured in ways you had never taken, and you took a moment to admire his face as his second eyelids flicked and blinked back and forth. His hips shifted, jolting you on top of him, and you felt the cool seep of lubricant from where your hips were pressed together.

“You’re just gushing for me, aren’t you?” You teased as you slid up his cock and slid back down, enjoying the wet squelch that sounded as your hips collided. Zadok nodded and croaked again, reaching for his collar as his other hand wrapped around a bed post, anchoring himself as your rhythm took over, rocking his dick in and out of yourself. He struggled to say anything as the bulbous protrusion expanded, squirting something unfamiliar inside of you.

 “Did you just….” You paused as he shook his head, and your insides turned into jelly, numb to the swell but tingling with extra pleasure. It was a thin stream of jelly and you sat up on your knees to see it drip out of you thickly, numbing wherever it touched.

“Its for…eggs…” he moaned, “I couldn’t stop myself…”

You moaned as your legs shook, “It’s fine…Fuck its.” You pushed your fingers to your sex and shuddered again.

“It’s an…aphrodisiac and its…” Zadok moaned sharply his hand flying to the bed post again as you dropped on his cock, picking up the pace in a frenzy as your insides throbbed with the need to cum.

“I need to cum, baby, can you do it with me?” You asked as you leaned for another kiss and to tug at his collar, tightening the hold of your hand around his neck slightly as you thrust onto him. The ribs of his cock brushed your insides and you quivered before you came, white hot pleasure burning behind your eyes before Zadok croaked and shot his load. You shuddered at the feeling as you slowly brought yourself off his dick. Light blue cum dripped from you and you flopped against his chest with a sigh, thumbing at the collar around his neck happily in the afterglow of it all.

 Tiredly, you roused from your sleepy state as Zadok placed you back against the cushions and tugged the sheets over your body. You hummed against the cushions before the sheets slid back down over your skin.

“You’re not already up for more are you?” You cooed as you peeled open your eyes.

“If only. I’m not that young anymore.” Zadok chuckled as he eased you over onto your back and revealed a warm wash cloth. He hummed as he slid it over your skin, wiping away the cum and jelly like substance which had made your insides tingle.

“I might be able to go for another.” You hummed as he wiped between your legs and tapped at your thigh.

“Well, this one hasn’t got it in him, I’m afraid.” Zadok flopped next to you, clean and relaxed as he laid back against the cushions and reached around the back of his neck.

You reached for the collar for him, “Here. Let me do it.” You kissed the skin of his shoulder and squeezed his shoulder softly before you unclipped the press studs and pulled it away from his neck. You kissed his neck where the leather had bitten into his skin a little and placed the collar on the bedside table before snuggling back against his chest.

 Zadok croaked a little before he ran his fingers over your back, running his claws up and down your spine as he laid back and enjoyed the warmth of your skin against his own. He was cool to the touch, and you slid your fingers down over his plated chest, swooping to the side to feel the odd angle of his ribcage before you stopped above his pelvis, remembering that his dick had probably long retracted into his slit.

“Wait you don’t have anything do you?” You asked sleepily.

Zadok thumbed at the bottom of your chin, “Unless you count drug laced jello as having something, then no.” he let out a raspy breath of air before sitting up, easing you off his body, “Sorry. I need to just go and soak a while. Come and join me?”

With a smile, you leaned up on the edge of the bed and kissed him, enjoying the scrape of his scales, “Sure. Give me a minute though, my legs are still a little like jelly.”

Zadok chuckled again before he purred softly and walked to the bathroom.

 You watched his backside go before you sat back against the headboard and massaged at your thighs, hoping that the numb, tingling feeling would wear off. It felt like a residual tingling pleasure, and you felt your insides burn with the idea of another round in the posh hotel bathtub. A rumbling sounded from the floor. You perked up at the noise before looking at Zadok’s bottoms on the floor. His pocket lit up with the screen of his phone. Someone was ringing him. It wasn’t polite, and you knew that as you curiously leaned down and plucked the phone from his pocket.

‘Misty Conrad’ it read, and you felt your heart drop into your stomach. Miss Conch. The words rang in your head from the band meet and greet. Senoz had implied that they were together. Suddenly, the mild buzz from the alcohol wasn’t there, and you sobered up as the ringing stopped and the screen went black. You clicked the screen back on and looked at the notifications. Three messages. Ten missed calls. The phone buzzed again with a new message and you clicked it to reveal the short message.

‘I know you’re with that fan. Answer my calls Zadok or it’s over.’

 Your eyes burned with tears of humiliation. He was with her. What they had was more than a song recorded together, and you were a fool for not seeing the signs earlier. You let out a small noise as you sniffed and grew angry, the tears siding down your cheeks as you grabbed for your clothes on wobbly legs.

“Was that my phone?” Zadok asked and you turned to face him as he poked his head around the bathroom door. He was dripping with water but his eyes widened as he saw you crying and grabbing for your clothes, “Are you…”

You threw his phone on the bedside table as you tugged your underwear and bottoms on, “You’re a cheating fuck!” You accused, “And you used me! I should have known that this was stupid but… Miss Conch. She’s been ringing you all say and now she knows.” Your brain couldn’t seem to quite catch up with you as you pulled your shirt on and grabbed your bag. Zadok wrapped his waist with a towel, his mouth open as he grabbed his phone from the table and looked. He cringed at the messages and turned.

“Look, its not what you think!” he insisted as he caught your arm, “We’ve not been together seriously for ages and…”

“And nothing!” You threw back at him, “You used me to console your feelings because you can’t bare to deal with her, and you’ve made me into some kind of…”

“I’m not…” Zadok took a breath, croaking as he pulled at his fins, “Look, I’m sorry, I’ll sort this…”

“I…I don’t care.” You tugged your arm free, feeling the tears beginning to burn into your anger again, “You’re a bastard, Zadok, I want you to know that. A selfish bastard.”

 Zadok let your arm go as you opened the door and stood with his phone clenched in his claws as you slammed the door behind you. You wiped at your eyes furiously in the hall and took a shaky breath before you turned on your heels.

“Hmm, leaving so soon, sugar?” Senoz purred as he peered out into the hall, “Or did you want a piece of this instead of the fishy boy?” he sniffed and tilted his head, his horns scratching at the frame, “Wait, why are you crying? Are you alright?”

You held out your hand to him, motioning for him to stop as you wiped the tears away, “I’m fine. Leave it. I’ll be going.”

The demon turned his head to Zadok’s door as you left him stood in the hall. As you rounded the corner you heard him knock on the door.

“You know that’s real bad fucking PR to make fans cry after fucking them, Zadok!”

 You didn’t hear from Zadok after that. The band continued their tour globally, and you watched the highlights happily, listening to the songs with your usual interest. You smiled at Duncan’s solos and watched the crowd go berserk. It was energy you lived for. Zadok’s performances were stunning. He draped himself over a piano and sang a ballad before he did more singing in his ancient mer language. It was lovely, but it stung a little. It wasn’t long after their tour finished that you turned on the alternative radio station. The ends of a metal song chugged along as you made a sandwich. It was your day off from the bar and you had been cleaning most of the day, enjoying cleansing yourself of clutter and dust. You hummed as you placed two slices of bread on the plate.

 “Although we have drama in the metal scene, we’re all used to the usual knucklehead fights between rival bands, or better yet, accusations of plagiarism, but we’ve never quite had some news like this. The frontman of the band SIREN has been caught, if you mind the pun, in a fishing net of accusations. Miss Conch, the mans supposed former partner, has been blowing the lid off his life outside of his band. The accusations range from ritual sacrifice to cheating, and its not something we usually endorse. But, to answer these claims, we have the very man, or mer, with us in the studio right now.”

 You dashed for the volume dial and turned it up a little before you moved your plate closer and began to cut up your filling for the lunch.

 “So, Zadok, what do you have to say about these claims by Pop Star, Miss Conch?”

“Some are right, but most are wrong. The ritual sacrifice, for starters, is a ceremony done by my people to appease the currents of the ocean. We take a fish and its bones and lay them in art decorations as an offering. Its an old and sacred tradition. The cheating accusations are, in part true, but our relationship was never official, and I had already broken things off by the beginning of this tour. Her more serious allegations…well my manager and lawyer are already dealing with those. They are untrue and slanderous.”

“Are you calling Miss Conch a liar?”

“For the most part, yes, I am. She invaded my private life and failed to see when our relationship was over. I want to be transparent and come out to speak for my side of the story. I’m not calling her obsessed or anything derogatory, I am just justifying what is fact from fiction.”

“That’s understandable and I’m sure your fans appreciate your honesty.”

 “Unfounded and untrue.” You scoffed as you slapped your sandwich together, “Next he’ll be telling everyone that he-”

 “This drama has gone on long enough and it has hurt people close to me, not just mine and the band’s reputation. I hurt someone I now know I shouldn’t have with this mess and this is my start to fixing that mistake.”

 “That he didn’t know where his dick was going…” You whispered as you looked at the radio like it was a person staring back at you. You wondered if he was talking about you as you moved around the island of your kitchen and headed towards your couch to sit and eat your sandwich. The host thanked him before announcing the next song as Burn by SIREN. You listened to the thunderous drums as you chewed, mulling over the words in your head before the guitars wailed and you thumped at the cushions.

“Why do I even think that? He’s the one who just failed to tell me he has a girlfriend!” You grumbled to yourself before pulling your phone out. You sighed as you opened MonstGram. In your inbox, there sat one message.

 ‘Can we talk? I need to speak to you. I know I’m a selfish bastard but I want the chance to apologise.’

 The same image of the figure by the sea. You took a deep breath as you looked at the vague image of Zadok and placed your phone down, the screen black as you finished off the last bits of your sandwich. Contemplation lasted only a moment as the screen lit up and the notification registered. Another message. You looked at the icon and opened it again.

 ‘I know I’m the last person you want to see but I’m sorry things ended up how they did. I hope my stupid actions didn’t ruin your love of our music. I’ll leave you alone. That’s all I wanted to say.’

 It stank of desperation. You looked from the message and back to your empty plate. It wasn’t manipulative. It was honest, and that made you hate how you were feeling even more. You opened the conversation again and stared at the picture of the sea and cliffs. Your fingers danced over the keyboard before you started to type.

 ‘One chance. Meet me at Full Moon Bar. Friday. I’ll be on shift but I’ll talk to you.’

 ‘I’ll see you then.’

 With a great sigh, you closed your screen and looked up at the ceiling, your head resting on the back of the sofa cushions. It was a leap of faith, you knew that. You were trusting him with your good faith again.

“If he doesn’t show up, Miss Conch will be the least of his problems. I’ll slice him up like sushi and mail him back to his manager.” You spat, and the poisonous words made you feel a little better and hate him a little less. With a smile, you ran a hand over your face and got up to go and put your plate away in the sink for washing later. For now, you had a living area to deep clean, and you headed for the vacuum to try and clean Zadok from your mind for a while.

 The bar was quiet on Friday. Thankfully, there was a small group who had a lot of orders to keep you entertained. It distracted you from the nerves brewing in your gut.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you today?” Tom asked as he leaned over the bar, his nose perked as he sniffed at the air, “You smell off as all hell.”

“Get your werewolf nose away from me, Tom. I mean it.” You threatened as you turned to place some clean glasses under the bar, “I’m not in the mood for your meddling.”

“Meddling? Me? Never.” Tom teased gently, “Its like you’re worried though. Talk to me.”

With a great sigh, you turned back to face him, “Someone I’ve not seen in a long time is coming…I just need you to be there in case. Not with me or anything, just around.”

 “Of course.” Tom consoled, “I hope this isn’t some abusive asshole, because I swear on the moon I’ll…”

“Don’t worry. Its not. Its just something I need to sort out.” You assured him.

“Okay. What time do you need a minute?” he asked as he opened the bar door and stood next to you. You peered at the clock as the bell on the door rang, and Tom turned to greet them with a smile.

“Evening.” he said before he turned back to you, his eyes wide and his nose flared, “Tell me I’m not dreaming, and that Zadok from SIREN did actually just walk into the bar.”

You stiffened as you peered around him, “You’re not dreaming big guy.” You headed to the door, “So keep your cool. This is the one I need to talk to.”

Tom’s mouth opened like a large fish but he didn’t ask you any questions as you headed over to Zadok.

 Zadok ducked into a booth near the entrance, his head low and covered by a large black hood. His water respirator was on and he was wearing a mouth piece over his face. You watched him before finally taking the last couple of steps and sliding into the seat. You slid him a shot of whiskey. Zadok caught the shot glass and looked up, his white eyes locking with your own before he reached for his face and clicked a few buttons. The water drained from the mask and he pulled it free, smiling with needle sharp teeth. He was dressed in his usual baggy combats and a large, long sleeve shirt. The shirt was torn and had a few chains linked across his chest. He tugged off his hood and looked at the shot glass for a moment.

“Look I know that…That I fucked up. What I did was selfish, and I took advantage of you.” he started as he clutched the glass between his hands, “I shouldn’t have I shouldn’t have let you do what you wanted but it happened and I’m sorry.”

 You looked at his face and the wetness of his eyes, “You still did it, and that hasn’t changed. I was…I was hurt and upset. I had her message me, Zadok. Spiteful, horrible things. None of that hurt will go away but its fading.”

Zadok cringed over his drink, “We weren’t even properly together. We had sex and a few dates but with the tour, it wasn’t going any further. She messaged me constantly. Harrassed me with phone calls and I was just…I should have told her.” he looked you dead in the eyes, “I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess.”

“It’s a mess, but I appreciate you being so honest with me.” You confessed as he thumbed at his drink before downing the whiskey. His hands looked a little steadier after the strong liquor.

“It’s the least I could do. She’s in the past. She’s tried to file a lot of shit against me. It wasn’t worth it, and I’m…I’m tired. She can have the song rights and royalties. I just want her out of my life”

 You didn’t comment but nodded as he ranted a little. You knew about the allegations. It was widely known news to the fans now. Still, his interview weighed on your mind.

“What you said in the interview you did on Metal Talks.” You started, “Is this what you were talking about? You wanted to make this right with me?”

“Yes. I knew…Look I was a fucking idiot, I know that, but I ruined something that I thought was going to be…”

“More?” You added with a small smile.

“Call it stupidity, but…You were just stunning, and I got carried away. The alcohol didn’t help matters but I still think you’re amazing. Your love for the music, for life, it just spoke to me and… Look I can’t change anything, but I can try and sort this out.” He pushed the glass over to you on the table, “We don’t know each other, not really, but would you be willing to know me, in a better way?”

You gut churned as you looked at his pearlescent skin and his beautiful white eyes, chewing the inside of your cheek, “Maybe I would. I thought you were moving, in everything, from the moment I started to follow you all, but that doesn’t change what you did. I need time and space, but I would like to know you, the real you.”

 Zadok carefully reached for your hand and squeezed at your fingers carefully as he smiled and ducked his head. The door opened and Tom greeted the next customer. You sat, letting him hold your hand, before you blushed and got up.

“You still have to pay for the drink, but you can stay, if you like? I know Tom is dying for an autograph and a picture. He’s probably your second biggest fan.”

Zadok chuckled and looked up at you, “Who’s my first?”

“Well, you just might have to find that out.”

#merman x reader #merman x gender neutral reader #merman #monster x reader #monster boyfriend #monster bf #monster boy x reader #monster boys #monster reader insert #reader insert #zadok #SIREN #siren: a metal monster band #zadok x reader #monster boys x reader #exo #terato

[the-second-tonks]

The Dark Past | E.P

part 4 of the series

You can check out other parts here and even something more on Edmund!

This is not a stand-alone part , so I'd recommend you to read the other parts first .

Warnings : Arranged marriage , changing POV's , time skip , English is not my first language . anything else?

Pairing : Edmund Pevensie x fem!reader , Lucy Pevensie x fem!reader (platonic)

Summary : After an alliance marriage with King Edmund , y/n begins the new chapter of her life only to be welcomed by her worst fears - thunder and lightning . But the thing to be noted was the fearless princess- y/n had a fear as such ..

Age : Edmund is 18 , reader is 17. (Golden age)

Third person POV

Not delaying much , y/n and Edmund leave behind the walls of cair paravel to spend time together , after a breakfast which had some awkward glances shared between Edmund and y/n and some funny glances between the other siblings .

Nothing to lie , Ed and y/n both knew that the other one knows that there's no scandal going on and that y/n was simply gone to Lucy's room yesterday night . But the uncomfortable silence was something that was disturbing the couple who walked towards the stable to get themselves a horse for long travels , as they both clicked together while answering the question on how to travel ?

"Ah ! Kind Edmund and Queen Y/N ! What a pleasure to have your highness here !" A white horse , Dorcas as they called her , greeted the couple .

King Edmund greeted her back and asked her "Dorcas , would you mind giving our new Queen a lift ?" .

"Not at all my king !" Dorcas came forward rather proudly , but just as y/n was about to climb , a sweet voice spoke up .

"Whatt?! Y/n , you and Edmund should go on the same horse !" Lucy stuck the idea out , wait .. they both didn't notice her presence until now !

Both y/n and Edmund wiped their heads towards her , who was smiling teasingly .

Edmund , if would've been honest in here , really wanted y/n to sit in front of him while he rode the horse , he didn't know why , he just wanted her to , but he waited for y/n to make a move . Where as y/n wanted the same , but wasn't too comfortable asking for Edmund to do it . Not knowing why , Edmund thought she wasn't comfortable with the idea and popped up with an excuse quite easily

"Lu , we are gonna race on the horses , we had a talk about it already , right y/n ?" Edmund asked her for cover up.

"Yeah Lucy" y/n timidly replied .

Lucy wasn't that convinced but agreed and took farewell . Edmund let out a breath he didn't knew he held .

Y/n concentrated back on mounting the horse and did it as easily as one ever could . Edmund smiled rather proudly at that , the feeling that 'this girl' is my wife warmed his heart ... And slowly his cheeks , as he realised y/n was staring at her , while he was being dumbfounded .

He cleared his throat and mounted Philips , his horse.. and both the horses slowly walked swaying their tails .

Y/n's POV

Holy . Aslan.

Was Edmund staring at me with pride ?

Wait.

..

He was staring at me . He was staring at me !!!! Oh my my-

Wow I can't believe I'm reacting so much on a simple thing as this. He might be staring proudly at Dorcas , you know narnian horses .. like they are something to be proud of . The way the horses look is nothing less than beautiful .. oh by the way , did I mention to myself on how handsome Edmund was looking today ? His messy hairs , twinkling eyes and his dark green clothes .. oh and the crown on his head just made him more enchanting , just a king right out of someone's dreams . Okay I've been trying to stop these embarrassing thoughts but...it's been tough to not get attracted to this king ... Anyways , as my horse , Dorcas began moving , I tried my best to look at everything except Edmund .

Also hoping it doesn't rain today .

Edmund's POV

She caught me staring at her .. eww that's so embarrassing . I hope she doesn't think of me as creepy or something . I've been trying to not react to these strange butterflies in my stomach , but .. it's tough . Ofcourse I know what those butterflies are for , I maybe took an liking to my wife ... No I have to get over with constantly calling her my wife.. what's wrong with me ? I know I'm actually starting to like her in a romantic way , but I can't just start claiming her , right ? As Philip began moving , I looked ahead , making sure to make this time that I got to spend with her , a memorable one.

Time skip..

Still Edmund's POV

"They're beautiful" Y/n spoke softly , as if trying not to disturb the peaceful environment .

I watched her fingers delicately touch the petal of the beautiful flower as the horses slowed down a bit for us to take a look . We were in the forest of Narnia , roaming around and smiling .. well atleast I was smiling like a foolish everytime she looked in my direction out of surprise for the beauty of the forest . The sun shone gracefully , making it warm , but not hot , which I was grateful for ofcourse .

"Yeah , Narnia has tons of beautiful views ." I wanted to add the line 'even queens' but .. it felt too soon to flirt .. and I don't even think that's a good line .

She smiled warmly at me as her Dorcas moved to the end of the forest. Finally , we could sit somewhere and I could concentrate on something else than my wife- y/n's beauty . As soon as the view in front of me cleared , I noticed we were near a cliff as soon as we exited the forest . The air was in full force , but gentle at the same time . It felt nice to see a whole bunch of Narnia from somewhere top . I slowly slid down of my horse and saw y/n doing the same . Could I be more thankful to aslan ? No , because I know I'm not that gentlemanly when it comes to it . I wouldn't have offered y/n any help and that would've been such a bad impression , good that she's independent . I looked at her to indicate that I was going to the cliff . Noticing my looks , she followed me .

With our legs dangling in free air and our hands mere inches apart , we admired the view in front of us .

I didn't want to think of work , I felt so relaxed at the moment . With that , I closed my eyes to feel everything around me .

Y/n's POV

Throughout the ride in the forest , I felt Edmund's eyes on me . Maybe ? Or was he looking at the other things in my direction? Ugh .. I could've atleast looked back into his eyes at that time to know .. but I didn't . I don't even know why I begin to blush as soon as my eyes meet his today .

At the moment , I could feel his body heat as our hands laid mere inches apart , on the floor , supporting our lean and relaxed posture . I looked at him , his side face looked at pretty as he was . His eyes were closed as he took in the warmth and positivity .. maybe he was happy that he got a day off , and I felt like he was enjoying how relaxed he felt . But the quietness didn't feel right ... I wanted to enjoy and make sure I don't waste a second with him .. because I know how busy a king could be . I don't know how just some attraction for him can change me from an unhappy bride to a curious one . I wanted to know him ....

Before my brain could stop , my mouth threw up the words "So , Tell me about yourself Edmund "

Edmund peeled open his eyes and those intense eyes met mine , infinite number of emotions in them ..

"Hello , my highness . My name is Edmund . Edmund Pevensie from Narnia . I'm the King Just and it's a pleasure to meet you" he spoke with a small smile/smirk tugged at his lips .

I let out a small laugh and spoke "Oh ! It's a pleasure to meet you , King Just . I'm Y/N . Y/N Y/L/N-" I stopped myself as I realised that I was no more a Y/L/N .

"Oh , I'm really sorry . My name is Y/n Pevensie and I'm a Queen of Narnia , The King Just's Wife ."

Edmund smiled a bit (and maybe , according to my eyes , he even blushed ?) at me and spoke "Come on , y/n . Tell me about you , I've heard a lot about you from your people but it'll be better to know it from you "

"Your wish is my command" I laughed with him and began telling him about me , without realising how easily we both conversed .

Time skip

Edmund's POV

"Really ?!" Y/n let out a snort when she heard how I defeated Peter so badly in chess

"Yeah , and then Peter gave me his classic look.." I made Peter's face , earning another beautiful laugh from her .

"Oh my god , you all are so fun and amazing to be with ! Just like a real family would be !" She remarked , but I couldn't quite understand what she said .

"I didn't get it " I spoke up .

"Oh , what I mean is , that you all are a family , right ? But in many kingdoms , family is full of wrath and jealousy . I haven't ever met a family like yours . It's really such a fun to hear your stories . I like it when you don't have to be king , I like it when you are Edmund , just Edmund " she spoke .

"I'm glad you liked my stories !" I exclaimed , deciding not to comment on the last part of her sentence .

"So , you're really good at chess and horse riding , huh?" She questioned .

I cockily replied "I'm good at other things too , but since you highlighted these , yeah I'm good at them !"

"and has anybody managed to defeat you ?" She questioned

"Not a soul !" I answered back , smirking .

"Then , King Edmund , I'd request you to be prepared for your very first defeat in the above stated fields .." y/n replied , a playful smile stretched on her face

"Oh really ?" I question playfully

"Yes , really .." she smiled at me childishly

"And who's gonna do that?"

"Me , your beloved wife !" She exclaimed proudly

I smiled at her , and she smiled back , but our eyes could shake off from each other . A silence encircled us as our eyes refused to leave each other's . Involuntarily , my eyes shifted from her eyes to her lips , and back to her eyes . The classic move before kissing .

And she leaned in . But the twinkle in her eye told me something was off . As soon as I began leaning in and we were close , she got up and ran towards Dorcas .

Mounting her horse , she yelled "The first one to reach the castle , wins the race !!"

I got up and ran towards my horse , even though we didn't kiss , my heart was hammering in my heart and blood was rushing furiously throughout my body . I , soon reached Philip and we raced towards the castle .

Time skip

Third person POV

"Haha , Edmund , you loose !!" Y/n teased Edmund as she waited on her horse while Edmund made his way to her ."I didn't expect you to be fooled so easily !" Y/n laughed as she dismounted Dorcas and patted her .

"Hey ! I'd rather blame it on your beauty ... It hypnotised me .. as it does everytime !" He clearly flirted . Like , yeah he did. Edmund's heartbeat had escalated to an alarming level as soon as he flirted . But.. y/n couldn't stop her blush . The positive response from y/n made edmund's heart swell with happiness . Tucking some hair behind her ear , she slowly made my way away from her horse and towards the castle , Edmund following her behind .

Let's say that the evening continued with the same romantic spirit as young love blossomed . But as known , nothing lasts forever . Unaware of the upcoming trouble , the couple happily strolled into the castle .

°°

Stay tuned for next parts !

You can check out other parts here !

#edmund pevensie x y/n #king edmund the just #edmund pevensie x reader #king edmund #edmund pevensie #narnia fic #narnia fandom #narnia #the chronicles of narnia

[wolfstar-in-color]

August colorful column: AUgust special - The World Needs Your Highly Niche AU

During August, here in Wolfstar in Color we decided to celebrate AUgust - or, the existence of Alternative Universes in fandom. Because of this, we invited @fforsythiaaa​ to talk a bit about AUs from a literary point of view - and let me tell you, folks, we are beyond amazed and inspired by her words.

So we invite you to read the column that follows. If you want to know who @fforsythiaaa​ is, here’s a primer from herself: “I post about wolfstar, fanfiction as an art and experience, and whatever words, fanart, thoughts, tips, or anecdotes that I can't let go unshared.”

Read under the cut for the full column!

The World Needs Your Highly Niche AU

@fforsythiaaa​

I don’t remember when I found out that fanfiction came in AU flavor, but looking back, that was definitely the moment I fell head over heels for the fandom. Reading wolfstar come together, fall apart, orbit around each other, or weather the storm in a thousand different settings is amazing. It’s romantic to think that they would find each other no matter which plane of reality they’re on, and it’s satisfying to see their core traits manifested in so many different contexts. And considering JKR’s harmful views and actions, as well as how her views make it into the text, I’m finding myself much less inclined to interact with fics that are even canon-divergent. 

That said, there’s one thing that gets me so, so excited, and that’s when I see someone refer to a fic as a “highly niche” or “weirdly specific” AU. Stories that are specific to time, place, culture or identity are my favorite kind. It’s Remus and Sirius as scientists doing fieldwork together in a fellowship program in the mountains! It’s Remus and Sirius as communist organizers in 1920s Chile! It’s Remus and Sirius in a rural town impacted by the opioid epidemic! It’s Remus and Sirius as an architect and a contractor at odds on a very important and difficult project! (I made that one up, but if you write it, please, please tag me.) You’re telling me I get to read about these two starcrossed idiots and learn stuff at the same time? Count me in.

“But no one will want to read this,” the author will post. “It’s too specific, no one will be able to relate, and people won’t be interested in this kind of premise.” 

To which I say, unequivocally, I WANT TO READ YOUR HIGHLY NICHE AU. And what’s more, I think your highly niche AU is going to make the fandom a better place.

Let me start by saying that I completely understand why you think no one would be interested. People like stories that they can relate to; fewer people can relate to a very specific setting; therefore, fewer people would like a very specific story. Right?

The main problem with this logic is the assumption that people can only relate to stories that they have some prior experience with. With every story, the reader is learning about the time period, the place, the norms and rules and societies, and the characters. As readers, this learning is what makes reading fun, and as wolfstar fans, learning about these characters is the reason we read fic in the first place. So my logical conclusion is that the more we get to learn about Remus and Sirius and the world they inhabit, the more we enjoy reading. And in a highly niche au, there’s a lot of learning to do.

Full disclosure, I did not make this idea up. There was one post that made me think of Viktor Shklovsky, a literary critic who coined the term “defamiliarization.” They wrote something like: “I’m worried that all the details would be distracting for the reader and interrupt the story.” Shklovsky basically says that that’s the whole point. 

For extra credit, you can certainly read “Art as Technique” in its entirety, but I’ll dig up my literature degree and give you the gist. When you think you know something, you don’t really see it or perceive it. Think about a stretch of sidewalk you walk on every day. How much time do you spend noticing weeds growing up through the pavement, or where the concrete was repaired with a different material, and how much time do you spend just walking to work? Your brain skips right over the details to be more efficient. Art is meant to make us perceive the world instead of skip right to knowing it; it’s meant to make us notice those weeds and that concrete. Shklovsky says that the technique of art is to make objects unfamiliar so it takes us longer to perceive, to understand. In poetry, each unfamiliar word or detail is a rock in the path that makes us walk more slowly and look more carefully at a road we thought we knew. 

In your super specific AU, that niche setting that your readers aren’t familiar with is part of what makes reading enjoyable. You’re making us walk more slowly through Remus and Sirius’s story so we can perceive their character and conflict differently; that gives us more time to enjoy the story. You’re making us think differently about what the human experience can look like. 

That’s where I start making my argument that branching out from coffee shop and college AUs (which I also love dearly) is a positive step for the whole fandom. We know that representation of people outside the dominant culture is really, really beneficial (that’s another post, and also the whole point of Wolfstar In Color; if you want some Cliff notes to share with the class, check the classic Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TED talk). When we’re in the habit of hearing lots of different stories instead of only one, we’re in the habit of being curious about each other; it’s much easier to build compassion, understanding, and solidarity when we genuinely want to know more about other people. 

But my push for highly niche AUs is not about filling AO3 with a thousand million stories that perfectly represent the lived experience of every individual reader (unless…?). It’s more about filling the fandom with enough different types of stories that people start thinking, “you know what? If their story belongs here, so does mine.” 

That’s how we make this space feel safe enough for people to participate, whether as writers, readers, or tumblr posters. It’s a much more effective way of demonstrating that the fandom values diverse voices than just saying platitudes about how everyone’s voices matter. Sometimes your existence is radical enough. We need it, and we want to hear about it.

So the next time you think about writing “literally no one asked for this highly niche au,” come back to this post and think again. I’m asking for you to give me an opportunity to learn new things. I’m asking for you to add one more reason for a budding author to think that maybe their fic belongs here, too, and maybe their experiences are more valuable than they thought. I’m asking for you to give me an opportunity to discover new facets of human experience with this painfully tragic and romantic pair as my companions. Here it is: I’m asking.

#colorful column #August Colorful Column #fforsythiaaa #wolfstar #Wolfstar fandom #fandom analysis #HP fandom #art and perspective taking #Alternative Universes #Niche AUs

[robininthelabyrinth]

Now I want the story where NMJ is half war god and NHS is half fox spirit, thank you so much xD

based on this tumblr post and Lao Nie’s decision to refer to WRH as A-Han in this one ficlet

on ao3

Nie Zonghui had long ago suspected that his Sect Leader was a madman, but he didn’t really know it for certain until the first time he lost the man while on a bodyguarding mission – his first, and a great honor. 

Supposedly.

“It’s all right,” his father said, looking long-suffering, when he reported back in distress. “He’s an adult, our sect leader, and this is a small city with no major threats in the middle of some idiosyncratic festival celebration for some goddess or another. How much damage can he really do before he sobers up?”

Nie Zonghui stared at his father, then turned to his mother, who was also staring at her husband with an expression of sincere incredulity.

“Lots,” she supplied. “Lots and lots and lots, and that’s assuming he doesn’t get himself killed in the meantime. Why would you even say that?”

“He’s our sect leader, have some respect.”

“I respect the boss bull of the herd, too, but it doesn’t mean I let it go wandering around the fields wherever it pleases!” She shook her head, snorting in a manner not entirely unlike a bull herself. “Well, if we’re very lucky, maybe our cousin will knock up a cow while he’s out and about rather than just breaking things. We could use a direct heir already; he’s not getting any younger.”

“We could use him being properly married is what we could use. I don’t understand why he’s so resistant – ah, Zonghui, you’re still here? Go gather some cultivators and go look for him, but don’t kick up any fuss, and worry too much if you can’t find him at once. He’ll be back to business soon enough.”

He was, if by “soon enough” one meant “after nearly ten days” and by “back to business” one meant “still drunk off his ass and waxing rhapsodic about some girl he met and possibly married”.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure the sun shines out of her ass,” Nie Zonghui’s father said, his face stormy. “You still could’ve told us where you went. Look what you did to poor Zonghui, he’s been wearing down his heels pacing in worry over you!”

“Oh, heels, yes, did I mention that my gorgeous goddess had amazing legs, too?” their sect leader asked with a soppy smile and stars in his eyes, totally uninterested in any of their petty complaints. “She could kill a man with them – oh, but I would die a happy man between those thighs…!”

“Zonghui, go guard the outside door,” his mother told him. “Also, tell his younger sister that she might need to be sect leader sooner than she’d hoped, because I’m going to murder this fucking –”

-

Nie Zonghui was there, too, when ten months later his new little baby cousin was (metaphorically) ditched on their doorstep.

The entire thing was entirely too dramatic for his taste, and yes, he was aware that as a person who chose to dual wield sabers he had very little room to criticize others for being overly dramatic, however correct he might be.

They had been fighting bandits – barely disguised mercenaries, really, probably paid off by the Wen sect to harass them – in what had turned into a particularly bad situation. Three separate regiments had joined together to take advantage of a terrible thunderstorm and ambush them at all once and them with their backs against a raging river, swollen with rain to the precipice of flooding, with no way to retreat except by fleeing on their sabers, abandoning the common people they were protecting and losing all face. 

The sect leader had been raging on the battlefield, saber in hand, but even he had seen that they would need to shortly choose between death and dishonor; Nie Zonghui, close by his side, had seen how his face was split with a terrible scowl as he wracked his brain for more options.

Then there had been a terrible roar of thunder, and then a flash of light that had blinded them all.

Nie Zonghui had immediately noted the anomality of it, thunder first and lightning second, and wondered it if it was some sort of array working against them, especially when the light had not faded away but grown brighter, causing searing pain in his eyes that made him fall and clutch at his face. But he was a good soldier, loyal and true, and he forced his eyes open to squint into the night, looking to see he did not know what.

Through his sun-blindness, he vaguely thought he could see a silhouette not unlike that of a woman, ten feet tall and radiant as the sun, wearing a dress of nine colors and carrying a guandao in her hand that seemed to reach the clouds, but when he blinked again he saw nothing at all.

Or, well, he did see something: all of their enemies were headless, no matter where on the battlefield they were, their bodies dropping like a loosened string of coins where they had been standing and splattering anyone they were fighting with blood as they gawped at the sudden corpses.

Also, the sect leader was suddenly holding something in his arms when he hadn’t been before.

“What’s that?” Nie Zonghui asked, and the sect leader turned towards him. Nie Zonghui squinted, and suddenly wondered if this entire battle had been a very bad dream. “…is that a baby?”

“Yes,” the sect leader said, grinning broadly. “He’s my son!”

“He’s your what,” Nie Zonghui said.

“My son! I didn’t know about him, of course – apparently he came as something of a surprise to her as well – but anyway she thought that it would be more appropriate for me to raise him, all things considered. A baby doesn’t quite fit her lifestyle. What do you think of ‘Mingjue’ as a courtesy name? Good, yes?”

Nie Zonghui suddenly understood why his parents were always cursing all the time.

-

“I don’t see why I need another wife,” the sect leader said. “I already have a son.”

“Don’t you want to give said son a mother?” Nie Zonghui’s mother asked, her arms crossed. “One that isn’t the Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens, the war goddess you somehow managed to knock up without getting killed?”

“She never specified that she was –”

“Someone needs to be Nie-furen,” the sect leader’s younger sister interrupted, “because I am sick and tired of doing the job, and it’s a little difficult to ask a goddess to do it. So you are going to find yourself another one that’s a little closer to the ground this time, you understand me?”

The sect leader nodded and agreed, which was universally agreed upon to be the only appropriate reaction when his beloved meimei said something in that particular tone of voice.

(He did, after a suitable period of time, state that he wanted to make clear that there was no actual evidence that he had knocked up Jiutian Xuannü and that it was quite plausible that the mother of his heir was nothing more than a rogue cultivator of particular strength and possibility even immortality. If Baosan Sanren had managed it, why not someone else?)

At any rate, they brought him several pictures of women that might fit the bill and who would not be too offended at being asked to be a secondary wife – their sect leader swore up and down that he had performed bows with the mother of his first son, rendering him legitimate, and anyway no one was in the mood to see if the maybe-a-goddess would take offense to someone calling her child a bastard – but none seemed to catch their sect leader’s interest.

“Consider visiting a few brothels,” Nie Zonghui’s great-uncle suggested. “Anything to get you back in the habit of thinking about women of a less divine nature – though of course we’d prefer that she be literate.”

The sect leader scowled and stalked off to go night-hunting instead.

“I don’t like brothels,” he said to Nie Zonghui as they made their way through an especially deserted mountain valley in search of something that had murdered all the local mensfolk in the surrounding villages with especial viciousness. “Surely there’s an option in between.”

Nie Zonghui preferred his sabers to either men or women, but he obediently wracked his brain to think of where people in stories and famous songs found their wives. “Innkeeper’s daughters?” he finally suggested.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the sect leader scoffed, but the very next day, he decided to break his usual habit of staying out in the wild no matter the weather in favor of taking shelter from the encroaching storm in a small inn right at the base of an especially lonesome and nasty-looking cliff.

“We’re always happy to have guests,” the innkeeper said with a somewhat sinister smile – he was pale as a ghost in the guttering candlelight, and his lips looked very red. “My daughter will show you to your rooms.”

The daughter in question was inhumanly beautiful: small and graceful, with a fox’s face and dark hair that fell to her knees.

“Wow,” the sect leader said, staring at her. “You know, I think you could kill me with those nails of yours.”

Nie Zonghui took a look and agreed with the sentiment, seeing that her nails were as long as claws and looked just as sharp, but apparently he and the sect leader had somewhat different interpretations of this sequence of events and plans on how to address it.

Namely, Nie Zonghui pointed out that the lady was obviously some sort of yao or maybe a gui and that she was probably the one seducing the local mensfolk, draining their yang energy and then slaughtering them, and therefore that it was undoubtedly their duty as cultivators – and cultivators of the Nie sect in particular – to put an end to her vile deeds through the swift application of their sabers. Furthermore, he explained, they should take care never to allow themselves to be alone with her in the process, lest she seek to entrance them with her seductive magics and lure them to their undoubtedly violent deaths.

The sect leader’s rebuttal to this line of logic was limited to “I’m the sect leader and if I want to bang the probably-a-ghost, I’m going to bang the ghost and there’s nothing you can do to stop me”.

Amazingly enough, the sect leader did not end up dead the next day – the innkeeper looked just as surprised as Nie Zonghui felt – and instead announced, very happily, that he was planning on marrying her.

“You what,” the innkeeper said, staring at his very smug-looking ‘daughter’. In light of dawn, she was wearing a dress of many colors with a foxfur ruff, and her beauty was almost painful to behold.

“You why,” Nie Zonghui moaned.

“You shut up,” the sect leader told him. “I’ll have you know that my lady here is very clever, literate and well-learned, and she doesn’t at all mind being the second wife. Weren’t you one of the ones on my case about getting a Nie-furen to help managing things back home?”

“I didn’t think we needed to specify that the person in question didn’t murder a lot of people!”

“Isn’t his first wife supposedly a war goddess?” the lady inquired, her clever eyes dancing in amusement.

“Well…yes…”

“Also, all those men deserved it,” she said. After a brief pause, she added, “In my opinion as a totally unrelated observer, of course.”

“See?” the sect leader said, putting his arm around her waist. “No problem. Anyway, she’ll stick to killing bad people from now on, it’s fine.”

The lady smiled. There were many teeth in that smile, and they were very sharp.

“If she doesn’t, I’ll have my first wife discipline her,” the sect leader added and her smile abruptly disappeared.

Nie Zonghui coughed into his hand, but reluctantly admitted that maybe this wouldn’t turn out to be as bad as all that.

-

“Huaisang is a lovely name,” Nie Zonghui’s mother said, being the best of them at diplomacy when she put her mind to it, although admittedly it was something she did only very rarely. “I think we were just expecting something a little different, that’s all.”

“Possibly something a little more fox related,” Nie Zonghui’s father said.

“Please,” the sect leader’s second wife said. “That would be gauche.”

They looked at her.

“…all of my suggestions along those lines got rejected,” she admitted, and glared at the small shrine in the corner as if it had personally wronged her. In this context, it very well might have.

“Is there anything we should keep an eye out for?” Nie Zonghui said, watching his little cousin carry around his even littler cousin under his arm as if he were a sack of potatoes and not a baby that hadn’t yet had its first month celebration. He would have interfered but for the fact that little Nie Huaisang seemed to be notably more in control of his various limbs than the usual infant. “A tail, for instance?”

“Oh, no,” the second lady said. “Nothing like that.”

“Great,” Nie Zonghui said. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“It’s very rare for fox children to achieve a grand plot worthy of a tail in their first lifetime.” A pause. “From what I understand, that is.”

“Great,” Nie Zonghui said. “…great.”

“You’ll take good care of him when I’m gone, won’t you?” she asked, and when they all looked at her, smiled. “Not for another year or two, don’t worry, but I really can’t stay here that long. Sometimes, a girl’s got urges she has to take care of.”

“The sort of urges where we’d need to hunt down a mysteriously appearing fox yao for having murdered a lot of people?”

“I already promised to stop killing people,” she said sulkily. “Although I do think I made some plausible arguments in favor of a little bit of entirely justified murder in connection with the Jin sect and maybe the Lan sect and, oh, the Jiang sect –”

“Please don’t.”

“It’s not my fault your Great Sects are all headed by men who wrong women.”

“You’re not wrong,” Nie Zonghui’s mother said, and Nie Zonghui’s father looked alarmed. “But still, don’t.”

“You’re such spoilsports. But no, as it happens, it’s getting to that time when I need to return home for a while to pay my respects to the older generation.”

“How often does that happen?” Nie Zonghui’s father asked. “Once a century?”

“A gentleman shouldn’t ask a lady her age,” she sniffed. “At any rate, my family home is rather far away and they’re fairly insular, so I’ll probably be gone for at least a decade or so. I’d take the baby with me, but, well, you know, long travel and all. He’s better off sticking with his father.”

“All right,” Nie Zonghui’s mother said. “We understand, and we’ll help take care of him as best we can.”

“I’m glad.”

“We have only one thing to ask of you in return.”

Their second lady arched her delicate eyebrows.

Nie Zonghui’s mother smiled. “You be the one to tell your sister-in-law that you’re leaving your post.”

“…you know, on second thought, maybe I can push my departure out a few more years…”

-

“Before you say anything, I want to be clear right now that I don’t need a third wife,” their sect leader said. “I’m fine.”

“Sect Leader,” Nie Zonghui’s mother said, not unaffectionately. “You’re not allowed a third wife.”

“And therefore – wait, really?” he asked, a little skeptically. “You’re not concerned about me?”

“Oh, we’re very concerned about you,” Nie Zonghui’s father said. “But not in that specific respect. Some celibacy would probably be good for you, at least in terms of increasing your life expectancy.”

“…my sister is lying in wait with a cleaver to make sure she doesn’t have to take on the duties of Nie-furen again, isn’t she.”

“I’m not discounting that possibility, but don’t worry about it, it’s fine, we’ll talk to her. The Lan sect haven’t had a proper hostess in years either, we can just say we’re following their example.”

The sect leader eyed his cousins beadily. “They haven’t had a proper sect leader in years, either.”

“No, you don’t say,” Nie Zonghui’s mother said dryly. “What a coincidence -”

“You have two fine sons,” Nie Zonghui’s father said hastily. “That seems like enough, really.”

“You don’t think they need a mother…?”

“Sect Leader,” Nie Zonghui interjected politely. “While we admit that it may be within your capabilities to be able to find a mother willing to deal with one step-son who has been waiving around a saber taller than he is since he learned to walk and has a penchant for the unyielding, unmerciful and very violent application of the norms of divine justice –”

Nie Mingjue’s presence bolstered the spirit of good men, while his gaze seemed to make evildoers itch. He was the most earnestly good person Nie Zonghui had ever met, and also one of the most stiff and unbending in respect to what he believed should and should not be done.

Unfortunate that his standards didn’t seem to match up to the needs of either human law or diplomacy…

“– as well as another who can scheme circles around anyone and persuade them of anything as long as he puts his mind to it and only doesn’t because he’s too busy lazing around in the sun to bother –”

Nie Huaisang liked to file his nails down to something that looked quite normal, but they grew sharp quickly enough if he wasn’t paying attention, and he had a penchant for pranks. There was nothing quite as unnerving as running into a sudden and unexpected ambush and then suddenly hearing the shrill peal of a fox’s laughter, hidden behind a scholarly fan.

“– but all things considered, we’d really rather you - didn’t.”

His mother and father nodded fervently.

“Good,” the sect leader said, though he still looked suspiciously at them as if he thought they were hiding something. “Good. As long as we’re agreed.”

-

Nie Zonghui walked in on his sect leader pinning the Wen sect leader to a wall, murmuring something in a low voice with a very particular smile on his face, and then he turned around and walked right back out again.

The sect leader of the Wen sect might appear beautiful and young, but he was at least a generation older than the Nie sect leader. Not that that had stopped the latter from relying on their respective positions to refer to him in startlingly intimate terms – my dear A-Han, the sect leader would say with a touch of wickedness that reminded one of his second son and the tiger gall bravery of his first – and while at first the Wen sect leader had taken it as a challenge to his authority, an act of brash insolence, it appeared that they had progressed beyond that.

That the Wen sect leader already had three wives and two concubines apparently didn’t present any obstacles either – except perhaps in what those poor women might have to endure from their husband when he returned from the wretched teasing he was enduring. Nie Zonghui felt a bit of pity for them.

Shortly thereafter, he felt a bit of pity for himself. The Wen sect had long dreamed of dominating the cultivation world and sought to increase their influence with the other sects through underhanded means, with the Nie sect opposing them at every turn. Even if war was not on the immediate horizon, the wise could smell its distant approach in the air - the best estimates said that it would take another decade or two to arrive, unless the Nie sect leader took an especially hard stance.

It appeared, however, that the Nie sect leader had chosen to take a different sort of…hard stance.

Ugh.

Maybe Nie Zonghui could conspire to throw his sect leader into a cage with a live tiger in heat next time he felt in the mood. It’d probably be less dangerous.

Nie Zonghui had assumed that the first person to talk to him about what he had seen would be his sect leader, even if it was only to remind him of the general rule that the sect leader had ultimate power and therefore could exercise his own bad judgment in deciding to fuck whoever he wished, but instead it was the Wen sect leader that found him later that afternoon.

A flush had yet to fully fade from his cheeks, and Nie Zonghui raised his eyes to the ceiling to avoid looking directly at the man in front of him. 

He did not want to know. Others might, given that no one had ever complained about the looks of either party, but he himself had realized long ago that he had no interest in matters of the flesh under any circumstances; he was very content with that conclusion.

“Is there some service this one can provide to Sect Leader Wen?” he asked politely, and it was only when the sect leader flushed again that he realized belatedly that his words could be misconstrued. After all, his own sect leader had probably already made a similar offer regarding the provision of services…

“Your sect leader has a sister, doesn’t he?” the other man asked, his voice tight and his hands in even tighter fists. “I’m not misremembering that?”

“He does,” Nie Zonghui responded honestly, and not without sympathy for the Wen sect leader’s position. He was given to understand that making certain belated discoveries regarding one’s own preferences could be highly disconcerting, particularly later in life. “But she’s rather different in kind than what you may be thinking, so it won’t work out that way. It wouldn’t work even if she wasn’t already married, which she is.”

After a moment of thought, he added, “Also, consider your predecessors.”

The Wen sect leader’s eyes narrowed.

-

Really, it was the sect leader’s own damn fault that he got himself murdered.

#mdzs #lao nie #nie zonghui #madame nie 1 and 2 #wen ruohan #my fic #my fics #the alternate name of this fic was #a goddess a yao and a tyrant walk into a bar to bitch about their boyfriend #but I refrained #atwitchofthewrist

[tonesplash]

painkiller (leah clearwater x reader)

@super66legends87​ asked:

Hi! Can you do a Leah Clearwater x fem!reader where reader used to be good friends with Leah. When Leah shifts they stop talking and reader goes into the forest to take pictures to relieve stress, but catches Leah shifting. Thanks!

pairing: leah clearwater x reader

warnings: cursing, imprinting,kissing

a/n: whew i never thought i’d get this done. I have never written for leah before and think i need a refresher but i hope you like it! i dont think i used any gendered terms for the reader but this feels p sapphic to me lol. named after the beach bunny song of the same name.

Y'know, with how temperamental Leah had been the past few weeks before she completely ditched you, you'd think you wouldn't miss her as badly as you do now. You'd heard from her brother that their dad had passed away, but you hadn't been invited to any kind of funeral, and from then on, any calls to the Clearwaters went unanswered. 

Recently, it'd seemed that all of your friends on the reservation were too busy for you. Always ignoring calls or coincidentally busy on the days you'd wanted to hang out, going so far as dropping out of school so you couldn't even confront them then. You'd thought what you'd had with Leah was different, that despite the changes you'd both been going through that you'd miraculously stick it out and finally get to tell her how you feel. Evidently, it was too late for that.

So you threw yourself into your art. Photography had always been a nice outlet for you. Whenever you became stressed or upset, driving out into the mossy woods of Forks, Washington, and capturing the sights was as good as a long talk with someone you trust. And since she was apparently too busy, this was your next best bet.

You pull off of your favorite backroad outside of city limits and climb out with your camera bag in tow, fully prepared to spend the afternoon losing yourself in what the great state of Washington had to offer.

You had just gotten comfortable amongst the roots and rocks when a grey blur came barreling out of the woods. When it staggers to stop, you can see that it's a massive wolf. With gargantuan paws and lengthy but muscled legs that lead to an absolute barrel of a chest. Your camera slips between your fingers in your shock.

Its hindquarters are to you, and it looks to be in pain, stumbling to the side and violently throwing its head back and forth before its form shrinks and flinches down to the forest floor, leaving in its place the bare crumpled form of your best friend. You sit up in surprise to get a closer look.

"Leah?"

The choppy hair of her head whips with it as she faces you, blushed red with exertion, and stained in angry tears, as she glares at you over your shoulder before her eyes soften with something you’d never seen directed from her at you before.

All at once, you are tackled to the forest floor. She seems to have grown a foot in your time apart, body corded in lithe muscle, so unlike the slender girl you knew before. Leah's stern expression doesn't match the tone of her voice as she keeps you pinned beneath her.

"You can't tell anyone, and I mean ANYONE, what you just saw." Your shock keeps you still and silent, like a deer in headlights, and when your brain continues to short circuit, she leans closer to speak quietly, her hair tickling your cheeks. Her scent and overwhelming heat immediately encompass you, leaving something warm and fuzzy to grow inside you.

"Promise me you will keep this a secret." Her voice is uneven and creaky like she'd been crying. You’d never found her more beautiful, cheeks suddenly on fire.

"Yo-” you stutter and pause to swallow. ”Your tits are out." Leah’s resounding laugh washes over you and makes you all fuzzy inside. You feel as if you could pass out. The heat rushing off of her is comforting and suffocating all at once.

"Yes, and they were out last summer when that wave got lucky, (Y/n); I need you to focus."

"I promise not to tell anyone that my best friend turned into a gigantic wolf if she would just put a shirt on." You rush out in one breath, eyes tightly shut. Amidst your disorientation, you still try your best to be respectful.

Later, after Leah had procured a pair of Soffe shorts and a tank top from rifling around in a bush and dressed with your burning face turned away, you both settled in your backseat for a serious talk.

You both start at the same time. 

“Wh-”

“(Y/-)

That’s never happened before. You’ve never felt so out of sync. The emotional overload of the situation is making you jumpy, and you honestly can’t tell what Leah is thinking behind her dark eyes.

“No- you go ahead.” her firm tone leaves no room for argument and after that, the words just fall out. 

“What the hell Leah?” You didn’t mean to yell, and she flinches at your intensity at first, but you press on, incensed by your anxiety. “Do you know how worried I was about you? All I wanted to do was be there for my best friend and you- you shut me out! I thought you’d done something after what happened with your dad! With Sam?” 

 Leah remains silent during your outburst, respectfully listening, but looks like she’s holding herself back with the way her eyes anxiously flit over you. She begins to bounce her leg, shaking the carriage with the corded muscle and you notice for the first time how close your knees are, and it feels like a current is running between the joints, something inside you urging to close the gap, but your ire keeps you from being tender.

“A-and then you show up and you’re a goddamned wolf? Am I fucking dreaming?” Your hand’s card through your hair and nervously run your thighs as your anger turns to sadness.

“Lee… I was in love with you.” Your voice cracks at the admission and suddenly you are looking at your hands, playing with the hem of your shirt. “And you just left. I thought I meant more to you than that,” you admit, quieter.

Suddenly, the backseat feels a whole lot warmer, your tears are welling with emotion before she scoots closer, eyes warm, and you startle, now crowded against the window.

Leah pulls you in gently, first cupping your cheeks and regarding you quietly for a negative reaction before pressing her lips to yours. Your worry dissipates, and you’re just alone with Leah. In that moment there is nothing else but her and you are warm, and safe, and overwhelmingly loved. When she pulls away from the kiss, you can’t help but unconsciously follow before it breaks off. She lingers, propping one arm on the seat to support her head as she entwines your fingers. 

“After my dad I just…” She wavers at first but her voice firms up quickly, leveling her gaze with you and gripping your hand tighter in her sweltering hands as she speaks with conviction. “Shut down. And I'm sorry, that wasn't fair to you, and you didn't deserve that.”

“I wanted it to be you, but I couldn’t risk putting myself through that again (Y/n), you have to understand.” You shift uncomfortably, bracing for rejection, but she takes up your other hand in her own and squeezes reassuringly.

“But now I know, you were right here in front of me the whole time!” She says a bit too loudly at first. “It’s you. You’re it for me.” Leah excitedly scoots closer, more animated than you’d seen her in years. She drops one hand to tuck your hair behind your ear, eyes shining with adoration and you’re frozen on the spot.

“I love you.”

She kisses you again, harder this time, and you pull away before you can lose your train of thought again.

 “Leah- what do you mean I’m-” You reluctantly interrupt before she cuts you off with a final peck ,moving to give you room, intense concentration crossing her face.

“Do you remember? What Dad told us about the Spirit Warriors?”

You had spent many a night on the res, sleeping over with Leah to watch Seth or just sit by the fire and listen to the elder’s tales and legends. The night he’d relayed the story you’d both spent chasing each other around the house pretending to be wolves.

“Are you saying you’re….” You trail off, already knowing the answer when she nods, still watching you for a reaction. You guess that’d make the most sense. When you stay silent, she continues.

“And I know this is sudden and confusing, but (Y/n) I swear it will all make sense later.” Leah tangles your fingers again, bringing them to her face to kiss your knuckles nervously before continuing.

“You’re my-” she pauses, hesitating. “my imprint.”

You try your best to take this seriously but the words come out before you can stop them.

“Oh, so we are really in Warrior Cats territory now.” You really need to get some help.

“(Y/n) you are my soulmate and I love you. But if you bring up Warrior Cats to me like that again I will find the highest cliff just to throw you off it.” Her deadpan expression is marred by a smile she can’t fight, so you know you’re safe for now.

“Noted.” You giggle and pull her closer. “Kiss me.”

#leah clearwater x reader #leah im sorry ur gf is a bimbo #twilight imagine #twilight x reader #reader insert #sapphic #fluff #twilight

[clonerightsagenda]

Hey hi! I remember you’ve mentioned parent-child themes in Wolf before referencing Eiffel and Hera, can you say more about that? :0

Ok, let's stop talking about necromancy to talk about something even more terrifying... parenthood.

Anyway, yeah! That's the read on their relationship that makes the most sense to me. I'm basing that read on three elements:

Juxtaposition of Anne & Hera

Parallels to Cutter & Pryce

Complementary narratives (idk what to call this bullet point tbh)

Since I know Eiffel/Hera is a popular ship, let me preface this by saying that I'm not saying you shouldn't ship them or that shipping them is incorrect or wrong or whatever. This is a reading, one that I think makes sense and is well-supported by the text, but it's certainly not the only one.

Anyway, lengthy explanation + textual evidence under the cut bc I am putting off having to do this week’s meal planning:

Juxtaposition of Anne and Hera

The narrative draws a connection between Anne and Hera several times. The most obvious is in “Limbo”, where the A plot is Hera struggling with the effects of mental and physical trauma inflicted by Hilbert and Pryce (sort of her evil mom), and the B plot is Eiffel revealing his past where he inflicted mental and physical trauma on his daughter. In case the parallel isn't clear enough, he directly bridges the two plots near the end of the episode.

MINKOWSKI God. I don't know what to say.

EIFFEL Say Hera's gonna be okay.

In "Mayday", Eiffel hallucinates specific crewmates at specific moments. As brain ghost Hilbert notes, "If I am here, it is because some part of you thinks you have to confront [the mathematical reality]." To Eiffel’s subconscious, Hilbert represents cold hard facts in the same way that Minkowski represents crisis response and Lovelace represents a can-do attitude. Near the end of “Mayday”, when he realizes he’s doomed, he says "I guess I'm never going to talk to..." Although he doesn't finish that thought, given the person he tries to leave a message to in the finale, we can guess he's probably thinking about Anne. Who does he hallucinate immediately afterward? Hera.

Finally, in the finale, Minkowski overhears Eiffel making a recording for Anne, where he tells her "Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something." Later in the same episode, when he's encouraging Hera against Pryce, he tells her, "You can do anything."

An aside: I've heard secondhand that Word of God is that Anne was four when Eiffel last saw her, which would be another point of comparison. However, I can't verify that, and it's not in the text. And no, I'm not saying Hera is the equivalent of a human four-year-old. (Hera's age and whether it even makes sense to assign her a human equivalent is its own post, but mostly I refer to Hera as four in the same way that I refer to myself as a girl - only when it's funny.) I'm an adult, and I still have parents. Our parent/child relationship simply looks different than it did when I was younger.

Parallels with Pryce and Cutter

Based on the way the writers discussed their planning process, most of the characters echo other members of the cast. Eiffel and Cutter - pop culture savvy, communications in their title, the only two to speak 'directly' to Bob - could be seen as one dark reflection, and of course Hera and Pryce reflect each other as well. I've already written about how the numerous Tempest references in the finale suggest a twisted father/daughter relationship for Cutter and Pryce (Prospero my behated), so if they've got an *evil* father/daughter thing going on, then it follows that their non-evil counterparts might have something similar.

Complementary narratives or whatever we’re calling this chunk

Both Eiffel and Hera enter the story with backstories involving parent/child trauma. Eiffel, of course, hurt his daughter when he selfishly and impulsively decided he was entitled to custody, regardless of her comfort or safety. Hera doesn't technically have parents, but her creator and closest equivalent to a ‘mother’ belittles AIs in general, treating them as machines rather than people, and stuck disabling code in Hera's head to keep her compliant.

The two of them are on outwardly friendly terms in season one, but both make comments (Eiffel in "The Sound and the Fury" and Hera in "Am I Alone Now?") suggesting they don’t necessarily respect each other. I imagine a lot of the initial draw was that they like socializing, and neither Hilbert nor season 1 Minkowski are particularly chatty. However, during/after the mutiny, Eiffel gets much more defensive of Hera, and he repeatedly circles back to the attack on her ‘brain’.

I'm not doing it if it means that he gets to stick his fingers in her brain and mess around with her mind again. ("Painfully Ever After")

You know, she's been a little twitchy ever since Hilbert tore her brains out. ("Limbo")

Well, you know how it is when your mechanical brain gets broken and you have to get it replaced with a new one made mostly out of electrical tape and paperclips. Oh, wait, no you don't. ("Happy To Be Of Assistance")

Given what we learn later, I think it's reasonable that he's reacting to the similarities between what happened to her and what happened to Anne. After the mutiny, they grow closer over the rest of the show and start to deal with some of the issues tied to their earlier bad relationships - Eiffel more actively giving a damn about the people around him, Hera bonding with people who treat her as an actual person. Imo, two characters with a past involving opposite ends of a damaged parent/child relationship striking up a *better* parent/child relationship that helps them heal and improve gels better with the narrative and character arcs presented than a budding romance.

Finally, I think this reading adds to the way Eiffel's story ends. In "Limbo" when he's recounting his daughter’s accident to Minkowski, he says bitterly, "I was fine. Of course I was fine. The driver's always fine." In the finale, right before he and Pryce get deleted, he tells her "We're driving off the cliff together". He ended up on the station in the first place because he selfishly hurt his daughter, and he exits the story (as himself, anyway) by choosing to selflessly prevent a daughter figure from being hurt more. (Giving her even more memory-based trauma in the process, but life's a bitch sometimes.) I still dislike endings that erase character development, but looking at it this way made the narrative logic click for me in a way it hadn't before.

In conclusion: Again, I’m not saying people have to read the relationship that way, but I think it fits really well with the text as presented and adds nuance to how the characters’ stories progress and resolve. Sometimes a podcast is also a bad dad competition. This is also more or less what Fullmetal Alchemist is about.

#wolf 359 #interrupting my blog's lengthy run of TLT posting #I’ll note that most of these examples are from his perspective #bc this is a human concept she doesn’t necessarily have context for #but I think it makes sense for a human character and potentially for human readers #I mean listeners

[lucemferto]

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT PH1LZA (or Why Philza is a Victim of Narrative Circumstance)

Heyo! Per request I am posting the script to my video of the same name here on tumblr. I must warn you that just reading the script will probably not give you the full experience, so I would encourage you to watch the video (linked above).

There might also still be a lot of grammatical errors in the text, because I don’t proofread.

Intro

LAST TIME ON LUCEM FERTO

Okay, so! I don’t want this to turn into a reaction channel OR a Dream SMP channel for that matter! [echo]

Well, I lied.

[Intro to “Luc is pretentious about the funny blockmen. Episode 2”]

I swear, I’m working on other stuff. It’s just that my dumb lizard brain has only capacity for one interest at a time!

So, something you might not know about me, is that I am on tumblr – who am I kidding, most of you will know me from tumblr. Before starting this whole YouTube thing, I thought that website died years ago – but as per usual reality proves me wrong. I’m also on Twitter and Reddit, but I get the most engagement on tumblr – by far! – and I need those sweet, sweet numbers for the serotonin!

Anyways, one of my favourite past-times on tumblr is to razz Philza Hardcore Minecraft – that’s his full name – for being a frankly awful father [clicking away] – wait, wait, no! Philza fans, this isn’t a hit piece on him, I promise! Please come back!

This is video is meant to be a companion piece to my previous video about Technoblade and the Doomsday event – you can tell by the shared nomenclature – so you should probably watch that one before you proceed. Unless you don’t want to, which is also perfectly understandable.

DISCLAIMER: This video is mostly about the character Philza plays on the Dream SMP. Whenever I talk about the content creator Philza, I will say so properly. Also, Spoiler Warning for Dream SMP Season 2.

… What is that? You’re wondering what the Dream SMP is? Well, if you had just watched the other video like I told you to do, you would know, because I explained it pretty well there. But in case you don’t know, here’s the cliff notes.

Dream SMP is the hottest New Media Series on Twitch right now! It has it all: gaslighting, child soldiers, Machiavellian political intrigue, Hamilton roleplay, desecration of the dead, shounen protagonists, SO! MUCH! AMNESIA! Filicide, furries, a red egg that’s definitely homophobic and teenagers inventing nuclear warfare. And it’s all done in Minecraft – yes, the funny block game where the only way to emote is to crouch.

And you say the perfect brief doesn’t exist!

Now, you might be wondering, why do I want to talk about this? Well, it’s because Content Creator Philza is one of least controversial internet personalities that I can think of. That man exudes pure comfort. So, it’s just very, very amusing to me that his character became one of the most controversial figures on the SMP, only outshone by Tommy and Technoblade.

And it’s not just amusing, it’s also extremely interesting! I want to dig deep to uncover and discuss the dynamics behind why that is. How did it come to this point? How did a man who appears genuinely so pleasant create a character that inspires so much discourse!

Now, if you watched that Technoblade video – like I told you to twice now! – you might know, that I am the resident character analyses hater of fandom! And that impression is false and slanderous! Don’t tell other people that I hate character analyses! I love them!

It’s just that, in the Dream SMP in particular, there is an abundance of character analyses! Every streamer has at least two very good essays written about them, exploring every possible angle to view their characters and backgrounds and everything. All I’m saying is: I don’t have anything to add on that front.

So, instead I want to pursue a different approach – something, that I feel is a bit underrepresented in the fandom! And I’m not just talking narrative analysis – that’s right, this episode we’re going even more pretentious! – I’m talking Transtextual Analysis!

Now, what is Transtextuality? Well, unfortunately it has very little to do with actual Trans people – #transrights, just in case that wasn’t obvious – but instead describes a mode of analysis with which to put – to quote French literary theorist Gérard Genette – “the text in a relationship, whether obvious or concealed, with other texts”.

Basically, you know how the L’Manburg War of Independence heavily quotes and borrows from the hit musical Hamilton? That’s transtextuality! A lot of the analyses surrounding how Tommy mirrors the Greek hero Theseus, who was invoked by Technoblade multiple times in the series, are already doing transtextual analysis! So, it’s really not something that’s new to the Dream SMP fandom.

But how does this apply to Philza and how he is looked at and judged by his parental skills? Well, there are multiple forms of transtextuality, two of which we will discuss today.

But before we continue, I gotta do that annoying YouTuber thing. I know these videos don’t look like much, but I spend a really long time making them. I work fulltime and I try my best to keep up, but sometimes I can’t. So please, like, subscribe, comment to give me some algorithm juice – I really need it – and most importantly share it! Share it with your friends, share it with your family – I’m sure Grandma is very interested in what I have to say about Philza Minecraft.

And I’m trying to be better! If I sound at all different for this video, it’s because I finally bought a new pop filter, so I can hit my plosives without it sounding like there’s a thunderstorm in my room. I hope it makes a difference; it was a very cheap pop filter, so maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it sounds worse – that would be bad!

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, CHILD NEGLEGT!

 Intertextuality: Why is Dadza?

You know what’s really interesting about the Dream SMP – aside from, you know, most things about it? Very few of the characters have concrete, fleshed-out backstories – and that’s pretty weird! In no other medium or genre could you get away with something like that – at least for long-form storytelling!

So, how does Dream SMP get away with this? Well, it’s because every character on the Dream SMP is basically a self-insert – and I don’t mean that in the “This character is based on me”-kinda way, but in the “This character, for all intents and purposes, is me!”-way. This, like many things that are fascinating about the Dream SMP, is owed to the fact that this series didn’t start off as a continuous drama – it started off as a Let’s Play.

And while we can talk about how someone’s on-camera/on-mic persona is in some ways a character, it’s still miles off of being an actual, fully-realized, separate character in a storyline.

This is where Intertextuality comes in.

Intertextuality is a subset of Transtextuality. It describes how the hypertext, which is the text, you’re currently engaged with, uses another text, the hypotext, to supplement itself. The interconnection the hypertext establishes with the hypotext, through stuff like allusion for example, uh-hum [Hamilton], can colour how an audience interprets the hypertext. Basically, Hamilton and Theseus are the hypotexts; the Dream SMP is the hypertext.

So, what does this have to do with backstory? Simple: The backstories of the characters in the Dream SMP consist basically of nothing but intertextual references. Through intertextuality their content effectively substitutes their character’s backstory.

You can see it everywhere. Wilbur’s and Schlatt’s relationship and rivalry is hugely enriched, if you are aware of their shared history like SMPLive, for example – I think anyway. I haven’t watched SMPLive, because … there’s only so many hours in the day and I cannot keep up with the Dream SMP and catch up on SMPLive and live a healthy life – which I already don’t do, so…

BadBoyHalo’s and Skeppy’s relationship, which has become the crux of the Crimson-Storyline of Seasons 2 and 3, is hugely supplemented if you know that they’re also very close as streamers and in real life.

Another great example of intertextuality is basically Technoblade’s entire deal. If you just look at him completely within the text of the Dream SMP and try to transplant his entrance to any other medium: It would be extremely weird! Like, he’s just this guy that comes in in the middle of a very climatic arc, no build-up, no explanation what his deal is, and he’s treated like he has always been there. In any other medium that just wouldn’t work – at least not without a flashback or some sort of exposition!

But because of stuff like Minecraft Mondays, the Potato Wars, his Duel against Dream and SMPEarth, we understand that he is a Big Deal!

Anyways, to bring all of this back to Philza Minecraft: What kind of hypotext informs how the audience sees his character? Well, this is where I will have to talk about SBI.

SBI is an acronym that stand for State Bank of India, the 43rd largest bank in the world and…

It also stands for Sleepy Bois Incorporated. Sleepy Bois Incorporated is a loose assembly of content creators, consisting of Philza, Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit and Technoblade. It is most well-known for its very endearing family dynamic – a dynamic that is frequently acknowledged and played up by the creators involved. Tommy is the youngest brother, Wilbur and Techno are the two older brothers and Philza is of course the dad. And when I say, it’s played up, I really mean it! Wilbur seems to be especially enamoured with the idea and leaves no opportunity untaken to bring it up – which we will come back to.

And I’m not saying that they’re faking this and this is somehow an act. While I know none of these people personally, it appears to me, that this is genuinely how they interact – if a little exaggerated for the streaming experience. Even when they’re not consciously playing into the family dynamic, their interactions still very much lend themselves to that interpretation by the viewers.

Philza especially just radiates Dad-Friend energy – so much so that it has become a huge part of his brand identity – yay, I can bring that back (check out my Christmas video if you want to hear me ramble about that). The nickname Dadza stuck even before SBI was a thing.

So, even if we completely disregard SBI – which we shouldn’t for reasons I’ll get back to – Philza has cultivated an image of strong paternal guidance. He is, in my opinion completely deservedly, regarded very positively. He is highly respected and in turn seen as a voice of reason.

All of this would eventually inform the hypotext of the character Philza within Dream SMP.

 Interlude: Before Dadza & November 16th

Okay, so now we have established that a) Dream SMP heavily hinges on intertextual readings by the audience to supplement character backstory and b) that Philza’s entire deal is that he’s the dad-friend – more specifically that he’s the dad of SBI (not the bank). I think you know where this is going.

So, yeah, ever since it was on the table that Philza could join the Dream SMP, it was immediately assumed that he would take on the paternal guardian role all these traumatized people on that server so desperately needed – and with good reason! Like I said before, the audience at this point was trained to take intertextual interpretations as basically canon or at the very least canon-adjacent.

I want to emphasize that this is most likely not done deliberately. I’m sure content creators Wilbur and Philza didn’t sit there and said: “Yes! We will rely entirely on the audience’s inclination to interpret our characters intertextually to define character Philza!”. Like, obviously that did not happen.

But it’s also important to remember that unlike with traditional media and the fanbases cultivated there, the separation between the Dream SMP and its audience is almost non-existent – and purposely so. The story events are streamed live, Chats are acknowledged in canon and even outside of livestreams creators are extremely involved with the fandom. So, the weight of fan-expectations is equally amplified and will more likely be incorporated into the writing process. Case in point:

[Wilbur “I miss Philza”/Philza about Wilbur]

During Wilbur’s villain arc, even before his official involvement, Philza became a prevalent point of discussion. The hope that he would be the one to snap Wilbur out of his downward spiral was not only wish-fulfilment on behalf of the fans; it also very much played off of the intertextual reading of the SBI-dynamic in relation to the Dream SMP.

Of course, this still doesn’t make Philza and Wilbur canonically blood-related – but it definitely used the “paternal”-dynamic of SBI to build-up tension and drama.

And that ultimately brings us to November 16th. The Grand Finale of Season 1 and Philza’s first canonical appearance on the SMP.

Now, for this I want to pull back from the transtextual analysis and talk about simply narrative analysis: What is Philza’s narrative purpose on November 16th?

Philza serves as the last threshold on Wilbur’s Villain’s Journey – to appropriate Vogler’s version of the monomyth for a minute here – he is what Vogler calls the “Threshold Guardian”. He is the last enemy the Hero faces before completing his quest – in this particular case Wilbur’s quest is to blow up L’Manberg. Multiple people have at this point tried to dissuade him from this course of action: Tommy, Quackity, Niki and others. So how come this Philza moment is not redundant in terms of dynamics compared to these prior scenes?

Well, it’s through our intertextual understanding of Wilbur’s and Phil’s relationship. Because Philza does not just occupy the role of the Threshold Guardian – he is also implicitly the Mentor. Before Phil there was no character in the storyline that held a higher position of moral authority than Wilbur – Dream and Schlatt, while at points more powerful in terms of actual authority, were never positioned by the narrative as Wilbur’s superiors in the same way as Wilbur was to Tommy, Tubbo or even Niki.

Before November 16th all challenges Wilbur faced were from people narratively subordinated to him. But that trend is broken with Phil. That is why he is the Threshold Guardian, why this confrontation is at the climax of Wilbur’s arc. Because Phil is the last thing tethering Wilbur to whatever morality he held before his villain arc; Phil is the last, moral obstacle Wilbur has to discard before gaining his reward.

And, just a quick sidenote, because I’ve seen it around the fandom a bunch: When I’m referring to Wilbur denouncing his morality, I’m using that in terms of narrative analysis. I’m mentioning it, because Wilbur’s character can very easily be read as mentally ill or neurodivergent and some people have – rightly! – pointed out that the excessive vilifying when talking about his character is … problematic, to say the least.

So, I just want to make clear, this isn’t a character analysis, I’m being purposely broad when talking about Wilbur and Phil.

In the end, Wilbur takes that final step and gets his “reward”: As his final request his mentor takes his life and vanquishes the evil – the dragon of Wilbur’s story slays the dragon of L’Manburg. It’s very Shakespearean in its tragedy – but beyond the larger theatrics it’s not really used to further characterize Phil – at least in the context of Season 1. There’s not a lot of focus on his characters internal conflict during November 16th.

Phil, like Techno, is very utilitarian in how content creator Wilbur writes him: He serves as a moment of hype; an obstacle Wilbur has to face; a participant in the tragic climax of Wilbur’s character and ultimately takes on his implicit and expected role of mentor and guiding figure to the rest of L’Manburg.

I think not a lot of people talk about how Philza does not join Technoblade during November 16th. He takes the side of L’Manburg – he fights against the withers and he joins Tommy, Tubbo and the others at the L’Mantree, thus framing him as loyal to the L’Manburg administration – even though Season 2 would make his loyalty to Techno central to his character. But more on that later.

What’s also important about November 16th is that this is the day when the general intertextual interpretation became canonized text.

[You’re my son!]

Wilbur is made Phil’s canonical, biological son. The intertextual interpretation of SBI as it pertains to these two characters on the SMP was completely reinforced by the narrative. Or to put it in Fandom terms: The headcanon became actual canon. At least when it came to Wilbur … but what about Philza’s “other” children?

Well, that leads to our second form of transtextual analysis:

 Paratextuality: Is Dadza?

These titles are just getting better and better.

The Paratext is defined as all those things in a published work that accompany the text. It comes in two forms: One of them is the Peritext, which are non-diegetic elements directly surrounding the text – like chapter titles, author’s notes, and stuff like that. Translated to the medium of the Dream SMP, it would be stuff like this:

[Examples]

And, trust me, I could make a whole separate video about how people on the SMP use their peritext as a tool for storytelling – I’m looking at you, Ranboo – but that’s not what we will talk about in the context of Dadza.

Instead, we will focus on the second form of Paratext, the Epitext, which consists of all authorial and editorial discussions taking place outside of the text. That’s stuff like interviews, private letters or J. K. Rowling’s Twitter Account – you know, before she decided to become a full-time asshole.

[Wilbur: Transrights]

After Season 1 ended, Wilbur indulged pretty heavily in providing epitext for the Dream SMP, something he had not done prior to November 16th. His paratextual additions ranged from the playful, like assigning DnD alignments to various SMP members, to the extremely impactful, like the whole three lives system!

You probably think, you know where this is going. Wilbur provided some epitext about how Tommy and Techno either are or are not biologically related to him … and I have to be honest I thought that too. But then I began looking into the impenetrable web that is the SBI-canon on the Dream SMP and found this!

[Ghostbur explains family]

So, it wasn’t paratext, it was just straight text. Said in character, in canon, without any implication that we the viewers should question this. The text of the SBI family dynamic was explicitly linked to Dream SMP-exclusive lore, namely Fundy being Wilbur’s and Sally the Salmon’s son. This is as clear as Philza’s anguished declaration on November 16th in establishing the intertext as text. And because Wilbur also had a very heavy hand in the discussion of paratext around that time, it gave his character’s words even more “canonical” weight. Metatextually speaking, this very much read like the author giving exposition through his character – exposition that we should understand as reliable.

And, by the way, before I continue, I need to give a huge, huge shoutout to kateis-cakeis on tumblr, I hope I pronounced that right, who was just so quick in providing me with these crucial clips. Without him I would have looked for days because these people don’t archive their shit! And the Dream SMP Wiki was NO help, by the way! I love what you guys do, but stuff like this belongs in the Trivia section on characters’ pages!

Anyways, basically during the entirety of early Season 2 the SBI family dynamic was basically canon to the SMP. Sometimes it was only alluded implicitly, again letting the intertext fill out the rest.

[Philza clips]

But just as often it was just explicitly talked about – both in the text and in the paratext.

[Fundy clip/Wilbur “Twins” clip/Tommy clip]

So, I know what you’re thinking: “Why is this part called paratext, if the entire family tree is just textual”. Well, that last clip might give you a hint, as to what I will talk about. Notice how Tommy, one of the people most directly impacted by the canonization of SBI lore, is both unaware of and seems generally unenthused about it, to put it nicely? Well, that would soon turn out to be a much bigger deal than anyone could have imagined as he wasn’t the only one.

[Technoblade decanonizes SBI]

Yeah …

This happened on 20th of December. Regular viewers of this channel will remember that I put out a 90-second joke video, where I complain about this very development. And while I was mostly kidding around, the core idea is still true. The paratext provided by Technoblade and established text were in direct contradiction with one another – and that brought a lot of confusion into the fandom. Confusion, that would soon be followed by frustration.

Because Techno only decanonized himself as part of the SBI family dynamic – but what about Tommy and Tubbo, the latter of which was incorporated into the dynamic exclusively within the lore of the Dream SMP. Was this still canon or wasn’t it?

What followed was a muddled mess of contradictions, intertextual implications, text and paratext in conflict with each another. It was for the most part inscrutable to figure out how Tommy and Philza related to one another. I’ll spare you every comment made about this – mostly because I want to spare myself from looking for all of them.

In the end, the current status is that their familial relationship is … unclear. Philza said, again in paratext, that it’s ultimately up to the writers to decide, whether or not Tommy is his son … which, I personally think he and Tommy should be the ones to establish that, but I’ll come back to that later.

But why is all of this important anyway? Why would this ambiguity create such an uproar, such controversy – especially when it comes to Tommy’s character? What makes Tommy’s and Philza’s relationship such a target for discussion in the fandom?

Well … this is where we will have to talk about the storyline of Season 2.

Interlude II: Tommy’s Exile and Dadza in Season 2

Okay, Season 2. This is where the spoilers are, so I will just sneakily drop this again. It took me five seconds to google this gif and I will milk it for every penny it’s worth!

At the beginning of Season 2, Philza’s narrative role has not changed much from where Season 1 ended. He is in L’Manburg dispensing earthly wisdom, being a paternal figure to Fundy, Ghostbur and Tubbo, helping with the nation’s rebuilding efforts; just generally occupying the role of the mentor.

[clips]

And then came … the Exile. The Exile Arc took place between December 3rd and December 15th during Season 2 of the Dream SMP. It revolves around TommyInnit getting exiled from L’Manburg and slowly getting psychologically tortured and broken down by Dream. It’s a really great arc, at least in my opinion, that explores and deepens a lot of Tommy’s character relationships, whether that be Tommy and Dream, Tommy and Tubbo or Tommy and Ranboo. One relationship, however, is noticeably missing.

So, yeah, Philza spends basically the entirety of the exile doing pretty much nothing of consequence. And that’s not a problem specific to him – One big criticism I would levy against the Exile Arc is that a lot of characters are left spinning their wheels. Which is why we get zany stuff like El Rapids, Drywaters, Eret’s Knights of the Roundtable, Boomerville – anyone remember Boomerville, that was a thing for 5 seconds, wasn’t it? – basically a lot of storylines are started and then unceremoniously dropped. Now, I will talk more about this, when I make a video about Season 2 of the Dream SMP … in ten years, look forward to it.

In the case of Philza, this inaction was especially damning, because at this point it was still a considered canon that he was Tommy’s dad. So, the fans were left with a situation, where just a few weeks prior Philza was occupying a paternal role for Fundy and Ghostbur … but now, that his youngest son was in a very concerning predicament – to put it lightly – he was nowhere to be found.

So why is that?

Well, the most obvious answer is that Dream and Tommy didn’t write him into the storyline. We’ve seen that Tommy wasn’t particularly interested in exploring a familial relationship to Philza, at least at the time. And it would just not fit in with what Dream and Tommy tried to do with the Exile Arc: they wanted to tell the story of Tommy being isolated, completely under Dream’s mercy, slowly worn down and manipulated. If Philza had been constant presence for Tommy during that time, it would have definitely shifted the narrative focus. That doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have done that, it’s just a matter of fact that they didn’t.

This also reveals another truth about content creator Philza’s character work, that I think is extremely crucial: He takes what the writers give him. Outside of a few choice moments, he doesn’t seem particularly interested in expanding or even solidifying his character on the SMP.

What I’m saying is that he is very go-with-the-flow: Wilbur wants to enact a Shakespearean tragedy? Philza’s up for it. Fundy wants him as a parental figure and mentor? Philza’s here for him. Tommy, conversely, doesn’t want him as a paternal presence, even though it would make sense for Philza’s character, as it was established so far, to be there? Philza will oblige.

The reason I’m mentioning this is because, while Tommy and Dream were unwilling to utilise Philza in their storyline, someone else was more than happy to. Which leads us back, like it always does, to everyone’s favourite Porky Pig-kinnie in a crown: Technoblade.

Technoblade and Philza, from everything I’ve seen of them, seem to be very good friends – and they share a lot of history even outside SBI. So, it’s commendable that they would collaborate on a storyline together.

A consequence of that, however, is that Philza’s narrative purpose shifts completely with very little transition. His entire character changes from being the Mentor-figure of L’Manberg to being pretty much exclusively defined as Technoblade’s ally; his man on the inside. It is a very sharp turn from the end of Season 1. Their relationship is once again informed via intertext – this time the Antarctic Empire on SMPEarth serves as the hypotext – but there isn’t a huge effort made to smoothly integrate that aspect of Philza’s character into the larger narrative framing around him.

How much the narrative utilisation of Philza has shifted can be very easily observed through the Butcher Army event on December 16th, a story event that I like less and less the more I think about. Here Philza is used to show just how corrupt and violent Tubbo’s administration has becomes. He is no longer the respected mentor, he is now the stand-in for the oppressed populace, similar to Niki’s role in Season 1. On a narrative level, he is here to prove a point.

If you’ve seen my Technoblade video, you know how I feel about … just that entire storyline, so I will not reiterate too much on it. I just want to make clear that I’m not principally against this development – if they wanted to truly explore Tubbo going down a dark path and getting corrupted by power, so much so that he would even treat the person who effectively raised him like a prisoner, I would be extremely here for it, I cannot stress that enough.

The problem I have is that it’s just so sloppily done. It is not coherent with how these characters behaved and, more importantly, how they were narratively framed prior to the Butcher Army event. Fundy gets one token line about Phil being his Grandfather – a far cry from the very emotionally complex relationship they had established at the beginning of Season 2 – and Phil then callously disowns him.

The major problem simply is that we don’t see how Philza changes from Mentor-figure to embittered, oppressed citizen. And there was enough time to build to that. During the entirety of Tommy’s exile Tubbo was pretty much spinning his wheels and Quackity and Fundy were opening up plot cul-de-sacs that didn’t end up going anywhere. This is time they could have spent on developing their relationship to Philza and the dark path they were going down – but again, Season 2 video.

There is not much to say on Philza’s narrative purpose and framing beyond the Butcher Army event. He remains pretty much exclusively Techno’s consigliere with his role as Mentor to L’Manburg a distant memory. He has some cute character moments with Ranboo, because content creator Philza is just big dad-energy whether he wants to or not, and whenever he and Ghostbur share a scene suddenly the narrative remembers that there are people other than Technoblade that should exist in Philza’s inner world. But aside from that, Philza’s storyline in Season 2 remains … pretty definitive is the nicest way I can put it.

Most importantly his relationship with Tommy continues to be completely unexplored – whether by chance or choice – and that combined with ever vaguer paratext leaves “Dadza” in a very peculiar situation.

 Conclusion: Is Dadza a Good Dadza?

So, the question to end all questions. The big, obnoxious text, that I will probably have put in the thumbnail – I haven’t made it yet, but I know myself. The honest answer is: I couldn’t tell you.

I have, in the past, been expounding the virtues of narrative analysis. That is because I feel that Narrative Analysis and Textual Analysis, like in this video, can provide certain tools that Character Analysis lacks. Often times I see people trying to get at a writing problem or query and getting frustrated because they’re not using the toolset, they need to figure out what they want to figure out.

But I’d be a hypocrite if I pretended like everything could be solved through the modes of analysis I prefer. And I think the Dadza-issue is exactly such a case.

I set out to explore why the Philza-Tommy-“Dadza”-relationship has become so controversial. It’s a combination of expectations build up through intertextual readings, that were partly canonized – something that is very common for the Dream SMP – conflicting pieces of paratext, which only serve to muddle the issue further and a text that is not only completely uninterested in actually exploring Tommy’s and Philza’s relationship – as it stands right now they might as well be strangers, narratively speaking – but also completely changes Philza’s narrative purpose as it relates to characters like Fundy or Tubbo about half-way through with little to no transition.

That is why I say, that Philza’s character is a victim of narrative circumstance. Because unwittingly, through all of these factors and decisions, there is not coherent reading of Philza that frames his parental skills in a particularly kind light.

The question of how we can judge Phil as a paternal figure ultimately falls within the purview of the character analysis – and that’s a very multifaceted issue, highly dependent on which POV you focus on and how you interpret the other characters in that POV’s periphery.

To put my cards on the table, I think that Philza is a very flawed father/father-figure – and I find that absolutely okay. Flaws are the spice of character building. He is not Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother – but he’s also definitely not Mufasa. If we were to read Philza as a paternal figure, then he would have made a lot of mistakes and decisions to the detriment of his “children” – least of all everything that happened on Doomsday.

But I also have sympathies for Philza fans who are tired of the Dad-Debate and would like to have his character judged independent from his relationship to Ghostbur, Fundy, Tubbo and Tommy.

Ultimately, to bring it all to a point, I’d like to end with saying, that I think that Philza, out of all the characters on the SMP, has the potential to be on of the most intriguing, multifaceted ones. There are all of these different patches of story, character moments and narrative and transtextual implications, that, if brought together, could create a beautiful tapestry of the character Philza.

You have his relationship with Techno, which holds the potential for so much emotional conflict and vulnerabilities, you have his time as mentor of L’Manburg, which is just criminally underused; the complex relationship between him and Ghostbur/Wilbur; and – for me, personally – most intriguingly this weird, almost uncomfortably distant non-relationship with Tommy. That last one is intriguing to me, because it contrasts just so much with our intertextual understanding of the characters and streaming personas – and it just holds the potential for so much conflict, so much drama, so much angst. Which I live for!

And, yes, I do believe that most of this is narrative happenstance, that this was largely not intended by Philza or really any of the writers. It’s just what happens when hybrid-roleplay-improv a long-running, livestreamed storyline in Minecraft.

But I want them to realize the potential they have on their hands, because it could – with barely any adjustments – turn Philza from a victim of narrative circumstance to a champion of it!

 Outro

Thank you so much for watching this video. Usually, I don’t record outros this standard, but after this beast of a video I felt it necessary. I hope that whether you’re a Philza fan or a Philza critical or just completely uninvolved in the whole thing, there is at least a little entertainment you could get from this.

I want to take this opportunity to say that my next few videos will probably not be Dream SMP related – a sentence which undoubtedly lost me a bunch of subs – simply because I don’t want to burn out on it. I genuinely enjoy watching the SMP and being exhausted by it would be something I wouldn’t want to force on myself.

But who knows what will happen? The Karl Jacobs video was something I did spur of the moment because the idea just came to me – so I can’t guarantee that the next video won’t be a three-minute joke about Purpled or whatever.

Anyway, my concrete plans for future Dream SMP videos are essays on Season 1 and Season 2 as well as one for Tales from the SMP.

Before that I have a longer video in the works, which I’ve already teased a bunch, so I hope it will finally be finished sometime. And I also may be working on something … eboys-related? Maybe. I’m not making any promises!

#dream smp #dsmp #dsmpblr #dreamsmp #dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #ph1lza #philza #dsmp philza #dsmp ph1lza #dsmp phil #antarctic anarchists #the syndicate #dsmp syndicate #technoblade #dsmp technoblade #dsmp techno #wilbur soot #dsmp wilbur #dsmp wilbur soot #tommyinnit #dsmp tommyinnit #dsmp tommy #tubbo #dsmp tubbo #fundy #dsmp fundy #dream smp season 2 #lucem ferto scripts

[1a-imagines]

Where the land and ocean meet

(Merman!Izuku x reader)

Type: sickeningly sweet fluff.

Overview: From the moment he watched you stumble onto his beach he was enamoured by you. The more he watched you the more he fell in love and when your worlds accidently collide he only falls deeper.. and so do you.

A/n: This is day 5 of the Izumonth collab! You can find the announcement post here. I hope you enjoy!!!

You climbed down the steps of the cliff, taking caution not to slip. They were old and crumbling, steps created by nature and not man. 

 Your eyebrows knitted together, lips pressing into a thin line as you took on one step at a time. Sadly, they were the only way down to your little, secret, beach so you had no other option but to brave them anytime you wanted privacy. 

Ever since your family had moved up onto the hills, away from the town, you had been exploring a lot more. Eventually stumbling across this private beach. It was hidden by the cliff, the sand receding into a small cave-like structure. It was peaceful, your very own pirate cove. You had been coming here almost every day since you had moved. 

You had yet to tell your family about this discovery. You wanted to enjoy the solitude for a while longer before telling them about it. You were sure as soon as you told them they would also be down here every day, therefore breaking the peaceful aspect of your hidden treasure. You had thought about never telling them a few times but they would most likely find it eventually anyway. 

Especially because you keep disappearing everyday for hours at a time. Someday you would have to come clean, but today was not that day. You lay down your blanket, the sun at a perfect point for it to shine directly on the beach. The heat tickled at your skin making you hum, it felt like a thousand warm kisses. You threw your bag down next to you and got comfortable. 

You skimmed through a new book you had bought, though you only made it a few pages in before the idea of a nap hit you. With the sound of gentle waves rolling against the shore, the feeling of the sun caressing your exposed skin, and nobody around to disturb you, it was the perfect condition to catch up on sleep. 

You pushed the book aside, making sure to lather sunscreen over your skin for the second time that day. The cold gel made you shiver, but it was still better than waking up to a nasty sunburn.

You rolled onto your stomach, using your arms as a makeshift pillow, and before you knew it you were falling into a blissful slumber.

---

“What are you doing!” The brunette asked, eyes widening, as her friend dove into the water, swimming towards shore, right where the human was.

“I just want to get a closer look! They’re asleep so this might be my only chance!” He replied.

He had been observing you almost every day since you started showing up at the beach. Usually, it was where he would come to relax, but now you had come to claim the beach as your own, unaware you had stolen his hangout from him.

Not that he was complaining, he had found himself admiring you from afar. He enjoyed watching you from behind the rocks, observing your habits, listening to you sing to yourself, and watching as you splashed in the shallow ends of the water. 

He was completely enamoured by you. You were a beautiful mystery to him, and he would do anything to get a closer look. 

This was the first time he had seen you fall asleep on the beach and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity. He wanted to poke around those human objects you always brought with you. Sometimes he would find you laughing or smiling, even talking! To that rectangle you were always holding. Humans were so strange, you would never catch him talking to kelp, or corals! Maybe the rectangle was a new species of land animal?

His curiosity got the better of him and despite the warnings from his friend he kept swimming forward. Her cries of worry drowning out as his eyes focused on you. 

He halted once he reached a cluster of rocks by the side of the beach. He was close enough to see you better, your chest was rising and falling at a steady pace, the sun bounced off your skin in a way that made you look like you were glowing. He had never been so close to you before, his tail wagged beneath the water in a giddy manner, he could even see the grains of sand that stuck onto your feet.

He took time to admire you again, a small lopsided grin spreading across his face, accompanied by grand blush. You looked so relaxed, he could only see one side of your face but your expression was so soft, he wondered if you were dreaming of anything.

Seeing your eyes closed gave him more confidence to move forward. His tail pushed him through the water, the sand started to rise as he reached the shallow end. He pulled himself from the water using his hands, his tail dragging behind him like a dead fish.

His torso made it onto the and but he made sure his tail didn't leave the water so he wouldn’t dry up. You were so close now, he could've reached out an arm and caressed your soft skin. The thought sent tingles down his spine. 

Despite knowing his friend was likely having a panic attack from behind the rocks, he pulled himself closer once again, his face finally coming up next to yours. A small part of his brain told him to go back, you could wake up any second and see him, but his body didn't comply.

He couldn't focus on the fact that this was reckless, that if Uraraka told anyone about this he would be in a lot of trouble. All he could focus on was you.

He lay beside you, head resting on his bicep as he listened to your gentle breaths. His irises traced over your face, soaking in every detail. The way your lashes brushed against your cheeks, how soft your parted lips looked. You were even more beautiful up close. 

He was so deep in thought, he hadn’t realised his hand had come up to brush, stray, strands of hair from your face. His feather-like touch brushed against your skin and he felt sparks rush through his body at the contact. So many weeks of watching you from afar and falling deeper in love with you.

It had all come to this moment. If only your eyes were open, he would give anything to see your sparkling irises up close. He sighed, dreaming of what it would be like to stare into your eyes.

It's true when they say be careful what you wish for, your eyes slowly fluttered open. He wanted to admire them, they were gorgeous, shining more than anything he could have ever imagined. 

But panic overtook him and without a second to lose he dived back into the water, the ocean acting as a blanket of protection.

He swam back to his friend, heart racing in his chest. He couldn’t believe that had just happened!! You saw him! Your eyes met! His head finally poked out from the water when he reached the rocks, turning back to you. 

You had turned over onto your side, your breathing still steady. He sighed in relief, you had gone back to sleep.

“You got really lucky there…” Uraraka shook her head, she couldn’t understand what had gotten into him. He was a naturally curious person, but that was so reckless!! Her heart was still in her throat, and seeing him laying down next to the human, was he not thinking at all?! If anyone found out about this he would be put in lockdown. Never allowed to leave their kingdom again.

“Yeah..” He muttered, he noted the worry in his friend’s eyes and looked down. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok. Let’s just go.” She said as she turned away, she paused for a second, not daring to look back at him. “I don’t think you should come back here anymore... For your own safety. I won't tell anyone what you did.. just, please, never do it again. You know the consequences.” She said before diving into the water. 

His blood went cold. Never see you again?... Could he really live with that? He turned back to your figure curled up on the sand. He watched you longingly. Maybe Uraraka was right... These feelings were getting stronger everyday, he was becoming attached to you, a human, and he didn’t even know your name. 

Maybe it was best he didn’t come back. If you found out about him, his kind, who knows what you would do. That's why merfolk had these rules in place. Any merpeople found getting too close to the shores would be put under temporary lockdown, break the rules more than once and it would be permanent. By doing this he was putting his whole species at risk. He couldn't be selfish like that. No matter how much he would miss you, his first love. He had to let go. With one last glance, followed by a sigh, he dove into the water and followed Uraraka back home.

---

Warm..

Why did he feel so warm? He forced his heavy eyelids open. A goan bubbled in his throat as the sun blinded him. The noises of yelling seagulls and crashing waves filled his ears. Was he on a beach?

His brain raced as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered going to hunt for food with his group, a shark attacked them… he used himself as bait to distract it so the others could swim away to safety. It fell for the bait and chased him for what felt like hours, he swam as fast as he could, Echoed thoughts of dying entered his memory. After all, not many of his people went up against a shark and lived to tell the tale. He remembered swimming closer to the shore, hoping the shark would be dissuaded from following him into shallow waters. 

He had almost reached shore but as he looked back to see if the shark was still there he swam head first into a rock, and everything went black. There were no memories left after that, just black, a feeling of cold and then another of warmth.

"Are you awake now?" A melodic voice asked from beside him. He turned his head only to be met with your worried eyes. His heart leaped into his throat, he wanted to reply but the words got caught. His mouth went dry, eyes widening as he struggled to decide how to feel about the situation.. 

Should he panic that a human had seen him? Or be happy that the human was you?

It had been weeks since he had last seen you, staying true to his words and keeping away. It pained him so much, his heart constantly tugged him in your direction, but he had to fight himself every step of the way. He had to keep his people safe.

But now, here you were! Talking to him!! You had seen him! All those weeks of torture seemed pointless now! Izuku rushed to push himself up from the sand but his body rejected the quick movement, pain striking through his head, he let out another groan. Your hand placed onto his chest and pushed him back down. "Be careful, you're hurt." You scolded softly.

When he lay back down his head didn’t hit the sand as he intended, but instead something that was a lot softer. He turned to see the strange material you always lay down on, it was folded over a few times, and he had to admit, it was quite comfortable. He felt the waves rolling against his tail, he wondered if you were the reason his gills were still being fed water or if it was just by pure chance. 

Despite being intrigued by the soft object beneath, he couldn't forget about you. His heartbeat quickened again upon meeting your eyes. He gulped. You looked surprisingly calm for a human meeting a merman for the first time. He always figured if you two ever happened to meet you would be all over the place, questions spewing from your mouth as you paced back and forth. 

You saw his eyebrows knit together, he probably had a lot of questions. You weren't even sure if this creature would be able to understand your language. Technically he was half human, so it was worth a shot. "I found you here, knocked out on the beach, I think the shore washed you up, you had a few cuts on you, but other than being knocked unconscious and a bump on your head, you're ok." 

You smiled and he felt hypnotized. That smile he had admired from afar for so many months, the smile he had missed every day he was away, he was finally able to see it up close. It was as if fate was rewarding him for taking on a shark.

Your eyes were beautiful too. He had spent most of his time noting every single detail about you, but seeing you up close gave him a whole new perspective. You were even more gorgeous than he had thought. 

"You're not… surprised?" He asked. You giggle as if he had said something funny. "I was at first, but you've been knocked out for about 3 hours now. I had time to process it while I was waiting for you to wake up."

3 hours? He had been unconscious that long? He was going to be in so much trouble when he got back home. As much as he knew he should leave this beach right now and never return. He couldn't find it in himself to want to move. Not because he was in too much pain, but because this was the first time he was able to speak to you. 

The human who had captured his interest as well as his heart was right in front of him, taking care of him, smiling at him. Maybe he was dead after all and this was just his version of heaven. He smiled at the way the sun hit your face. You were an angel roaming the sandy shores. "You stayed here with me that long? Thank you!"

"Well, I couldn't just leave you washed up on shore alone now could I? Besides, the chance to talk to a real mermaid! No way would anyone pass that up!" You chuckled. 

Midoriya sat up. His head still stinging from the pain, he felt a little dizzy but overall ok. Merfolk tended to heal pretty fast, by tomorrow this injury would be completely gone, so there was no need to worry.

He bit back a smile. He was just as excited as you were. Maybe it was selfish but he trusted his instincts, you didn't seem like a bad person at all, he had observed you for months, even if you had never had a conversation, he knew you. He was there when you helped that crab out of the plastic it had gotten stuck in and when you went around picking up all the washed up trash on the beach. He knew you were a kindhearted person, he wouldn't have fallen in love with you otherwise. 

Without realising he let out a dreamy sigh, his eyes trailing down your body, not in a sexual way, more out of curiosity. His eyes landed on your legs, they were on show as usual. He smiled, they looked so weird! You had two of them and those weird things attached to the bottom. Toes? He recalled.

You smiled at his reaction to your legs, lifting one up for him to see. "I guess seeing them must be unusual for you?" He nodded. He used his hands to pull himself forward, his tail dragging behind him, staying in the water. He didn't touch them since he didn't know what kinds of boundaries humans had. Merfolks tails were pretty sensitive, only to be touched by a mate! Maybe it was the same for humans and their legs? 

"They look so complicated, there's two of them and they look like they have so many parts. It's like having two tails with ten extra tiny fins on the bottom." His eyes sparkled as he got to admire them up close. You laughed at his analogue, wiggling your toes for his own entertainment. "I suppose that's one way to look at it."

He sat back up until he was level with your face. It felt like the closer he got the prettier you became. To test this theory he absentmindedly brought his face close to yours. You shrank away from him, averting your gaze from him. Maybe it was normal for merfolk to inspect people like this? Or maybe he was just curious about seeing a human for the first time. You didn't want to push him away and hurt his feelings but feeling the tip of his nose against your cheek made your nose scrunch up. You could smell the salty ocean water on his skin.

He pulled back a little, noticing your body language. you turned back to him now you had some space. You looked into his emerald eyes, they shone like jewels underneath the sun's light. He was very good looking, no doubt, but that didn't make the close proximity less awkward. 

"So- uh. Do you have a home?" You asked, your voice wavering. Thankfully he sat back, leaving your personal bubble alone. He looked out to the sea and nodded. He did have a home, and if he wanted to stop his family and friends from getting worried he would have to leave soon. They might think the shark had killed him and pronounce him dead. He didn't want to put his mom through that.

"It's getting a bit late and you should probably get back home before the sun sets." You warned him, you had already been here for hours while taking care of him. Your family were going to start getting worried too. So much for your daily relaxing beach day. 

Instead it had become ‘nearly fainting upon finding an unconscious mermaid on your beach’ day. You chuckled as you remembered the feeling of your legs giving out from under you and collapsing into the sand. You had never felt so many emotions in one go, doubt, shock, worry, confusion. What a day it had been. You were sure no one would believe you if you told them what happened, not that you were planning on telling anyone anyway. You didn’t feel like being laughed at or mocked.

Despite the sun sinking below the horizon, both of you had yet to make a move to leave. Instead you opted for sitting in an awkward silence as you waited for something to happen. Each of you desperately wanted the other to ask them to stay. You wanted to know more about him and merfolk, to understand this phenomenon. And he wanted to stay so he could get to know the human he had fallen so hopelessly in love with. 

He bit his lip, couldn't let you go, not now he finally had you back! "I'll come back!!" He blurted out without thinking. His hands quickly came up to cover his mouth. He couldn't believe he had just said that! What made him think you'd even want him back?! You didn't know who he was! Now he sounded desperate and creepy! Why did he have to be so stupid. Not to mention how frowned upon it was by his people! What if he had just put them all at risk!

"Really!?" He watched as your eyes lit up with joy. You looked ecstatic. His heart melted seeing how happy he had made you, his worry slowly faded. That smile was because of him, and it felt really good knowing that. He nodded, he couldn't find it in his heart to take it back after seeing you smile. His head turned away, the thought of this becoming a regular thing had made the blood rush to his cheeks.

"I'll be here again tomorrow then! I'm here almost everyday." You didn't need to tell him that, he already knew your schedule, not that you could have possibly known that. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" He smiled with a nod, though, still, made no movements to leave. He sat admiring you for a few seconds longer before hesitantly turning and crawling back into the water.

He had to remind himself that this wasn't the last he would see of you. He would see you tomorrow, he would get to talk to you, see you smile again. Once he was far enough out he dove into the water and swam away. He resurfaced by the same rocks he always used to admire you from behind and looked back to see you waving at him. He brought his hand out of the water and gave you a small wave in return, his face sporting a love struck grin. 

Before he knew it, the days were flying by and turning into weeks, then months. No matter how tedious the journey to the beach got, he never missed a day. Even if he could only be with you for 30 minutes, he took whatever he was given with a smile. Every second with you was worth it. He lay awake at night, on the sandy ocean bed, thinking about you. How you talked for hours and it never felt awkward, how one time made you laugh so hard you snorted. You were so embarrassed but he thought it was the cutest noise in the world.

He even loved those moments you both lay in silence, listening to the waves crash onto the shore, and watching the sunset, as seagulls danced in the sky. He remembered one time, you lay so close to him your hand accidentally brushed against his. It sent electricity through his body, just like the first time his hand made contact with your skin. It was too bad you pulled away before he could intertwine his fingers with yours. 

He continuously convinced himself he definitely would have taken your hand in that moment had you not pulled away so quick. 

His tail flopped against the waters edge, you sat beside him, eyes sparkling with passion as you explained to him about the concept of art and photography. “Capturing a single moment in time forever?” he repeated with a hum, bringing a hand up to his chin in thought. He thought over the concept, sometimes they would carve pictures into rocks but it was a hard and grueling task so not many people took to the hobby.

You used your phone to snap a picture of him before turning the device to his eyes. He gasped, grabbing the phone from you so he could get a closer look. “Whoa! That’s me!?” his lips parted, “.. Do I really look like that?” He tilted his head, one cheek puffing out. You giggled, there probably weren’t mirrors in the ocean. Was this the first time he’s been himself? “What’s with that expression?”

He shrugged, tilting the phone in his hand as if it would make him look better. “I’ve only seen myself in the reflection of the ocean, but the ripples make it hard to get a clear image.." he leaned closer to the phone, eyes narrowing, "My eyes are really big...” He muttered, pressing his fingers to his eyelid. You snatched the phone from him, He wasn’t about to get insecure on your watch. “Well, I happen to think you have beautiful eyes.” 

He sucked in a harsh breath, his cheeks dusting pink. “Y-You do?” He asked, his voice wavering as he spoke. 

You nodded. “By human standards, you’re very good looking. So don’t be putting yourself down!” You scolded him softly while putting your phone away. His fingers dug into the sand, the grains lodging underneath his fingernails. Hearing you say he was good looking, that you thought he had beautiful eyes, his heart couldn't take it. His clenched up in his chest, stripping him from breath. He gulped, hoping you wouldn’t see how hot his face had gotten. 

“Oh! I actually wanted to ask you something!” You turned to him, eyes wide with curiosity. He nodded, urging you to go on as his hands played with the sand. “Well, Ever since i’ve met you you’ve been able to understand me. How come? You say you’ve never met another human? So how can you speak the same language?”

He shifted in his spot to get comfier, hoping to relax his tense body. Your compliments were still ringing in his ears, boosting his ego. “Well, from what’s been told from generation to generation, merfolk came first, humans evolved from us. I’m not the first merperson to talk to a human, there have been many. At one point, almost all merfolk were doing it, we were all friends! We learned your languages so we could communicate better! But that… was a long time ago.” He frowned, a shadow sweeping across his eyes. “Things went bad, our people started being hunted, disappearing never to return, those humans wanted to hurt us. Now we have rules in place, we’re not allowed near humans, we hide our existence, which is easy since humans have only discovered about twenty percent of the ocean.”

“You’re not allowed near humans!?” You repeated, jaw dropping in the process. Izuku let out a breathy laugh, though there wasn’t much humour to it. “Yeah… everyone at home always tells me I have a dangerous curiosity. I guess they’re right since technically… I shouldn’t be here..” He looked down at his tail splashing in the water, his eyes remained distant for a moment before he shook his head. “Even if it's frowned upon, I don't regret the time we've spent together, In fact, I treasure ever second.” He smiled, looking into your eyes so you knew he wasn't lying. 

You turned your head away from him, unable to fight the smile coming onto your lips. “I’m Glad you don’t, my life has been so much better since i’ve met you and i’m not just saying that because you’re a magical, unknown creature from the depth of the ocean.” You joked and he giggled. “Even if you were a human like me… It wouldn’t change a thing. I like you for who you are, you make me happy.” You admitted with a red cheek. Now it was his turn to hide his face, his cheeks pushed up into a smile. “You make me happy too.” He replied, the giddy feeling in his chest made his tail wiggle with joy.

Everyday he spent with you felt like he was on cloud nine. He got to admire every little detail about you, how your eyes sparkled when you talked about something that you were passionate about, how your nose crinkled at things you didn’t like, how you mimicked him without even realising it by splashing your feet in the water next to his tail. He loved hearing about human culture too, something his people had become greatly disconnected with. He was surprised to know about all the creations humans have made over the years. He was slightly jealous you had so many machines to help you do tasks with ease. 

You brought him human food and he brought you ocean treasures. He shared just as much about his people as you did about yours. He trusted you, You had both created this unspoken bond together. He was falling deeper and deeper in love. His connection with you rivaled that of the ocean, if he was ever given the chance he would leave the sea behind and choose to be with you in a heartbeat. 

The sun began to set over the horizon, leaving a painted reflection on the water's surface. Like everyday, before you both left, you sat and watched the sun set. It was silent, peaceful, not a word spoken between you two as you found comfort in each other's presence. The familiar sounds of waves crashing against rocks and seagulls yelling from the skies were enough for you both, you didn’t need to speak.

Izuku turned to you. Catching the way the orange glow of the sun reflected on your skin, how your hair danced in the gentle breeze. There was a content smile on your face making his heart leap into his throat. He wondered if one day he would be able to look at you and not feel like his heart way about to implode.

He wasn’t sure what overcame him but the need to confess his feelings grew stronger the more he stared at you. Maybe it was the serenity? Or maybe it was how breathtaking you looked? It just felt like the right moment. He cleared his throat, ready to speak. “Y/n.. I. u-uh-” When you turned to him his body froze, words lodged into his throat. His breathing became rapid and choppy, his hands gathering sweat.

“Yeah? What's up? Are you ok?” You tilted your head, worried about this strange behaviour. He looked like he was about to pass out, or throw up, maybe both?

He suddenly shook his head and with the speed of a cheetah he crawled forward and dove into the water. “Nevermind!! I’ll see you tomorrow!!” He yelled not leaving any room for you to reply as he began swimming away as fast as his tail could manage, not daring to look back. When he submerged under water he slapped his palm against his forehead, teeth gritted together. “I’m such an idiot.”

The next day, he swam back towards the beach like he was in a marathon, he was desperate to apologise for his weird behaviour yesterday but his friends had started prying into where he was rushing off to. Out of all the days for them to get nosey and interrogate him, it had to be the day he was going to apologise to you. He was worried you might be upset at him for rushing off yesterday, and now he was going to be late too!? He could only hope that you would wait for him.

Izuku looked back a few times to make sure they weren't following him. He wasn't the best liar in the world. He'd never had to lie to them before, so he wasn't sure he had convinced them that he wasn't doing anything special. He told them he was just going for a swim with the dolphins, but they didn't look convinced, his body language gave him away.

He hated lying to them, it felt awful! But he knew they wouldn't understand your situation. You were safe to be around, there was no danger. Upon his second visit to the beach you promised not to tell anyone, in fact, you had no interest in telling others about your find. You knew what humans were capable of and you promised to protect him from any harm. You cared about him and he trusted you with his life. 

But the others would never see it that way.

As the waters got shallower he moved up to the surface, eventually his head poked out, locks of green hair being pulled down by the water, covering his eyes like soaked curtains. He remembered the first time he had poked his head from the water in front of you. You laughed, claiming he reminded you of a "wet dog." Whatever that was.

Using his hand to brush his hair back from his face he noticed the vacant beach. There was nothing but foot imprints left in the sand. He slowly sunk back into the water until it was just under his eyes. "I missed her…" his words creating bubbles in the water. 

He turned to leave, but he noticed your bag was there, partially hidden behind a rock. He swam forward towards the shore. The footprints looked like they trailed around the cliffside, disappearing once they reached the rocks. He dove back into the water, much like a dolphin, and swam around the rocky terrain. He resurfaced to see if there were any signs of you. 

He sighed in relief once he saw you. You hadn't left early after all. You stood at the edge of an abandoned pier. Most of the wood was chipped away as if someone had taken a hammer to it. It creaked with every movement you made. Though you didn't pay any attention to it.

You turned upon seeing the green hair poking from the water. You waved, getting ready to turn and run off the pier. He sighed, at least you didn’t seem upset with him about yesterday. 

You barely finished taking one step, when the wood beneath your feet cracked. Your sporadic movements didn't agree with the feeble pier. It felt like it happened in slow motion, your body fell, disappearing into the void of water below. 

He didn't have time to think or react, his body dove forward as soon as your body fell. His heart sunk along with your limp figure, his hands outstretched as if that would get him to you faster. A cloud of red enveloped your head, mixing in the blue of the water. He would have panicked if not for all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. All that mattered was getting you back to safety.

He finally grabbed you, his arms looping under yours as he pulled you back up to the surface. When you hit the open air, you didn't make any movement, your body floating lifelessly in his arms.

He shook his head, the worst case scenarios started eating at his anxieties. He had to get you back to the beach. He moved you behind him, pressing you onto his back and looping your arms around his neck. He grasped your wrists tightly as he shredded through the water with the strength of a speed boat. 

In a matter of minutes you were back at the beach. He placed your body safely onto the sand before he pressed his ear to your lips, there was no breath. With no hesitation he placed his lips onto yours, the water filling your air way came back up, filling his mouth. What a nasty feeling it was, but if it was to save you then he would ignore it. He pulled away and spat out the water onto the sand beside him. 

He was in no way good at healing, especially not humans! He could only thank Poseidon that he was graced with the ability to use water magic, it may have just saved you.

His calloused hand pressed against your cheek, turning your limp head to him. "Y/n.. please.. please, wake up." He pleaded helplessly. You let out a cough, excess water dropless leaving your airways. You were breathing again, but your eyes didn't open.

The red blotch of sand under your head brought attention back to the other problem. "Oh god.." he looked around, his stomach was churning. He had to stop the bleeding!

His eyes darted around for a solution, eventually landing on your bag. He used his arms to drag himself towards it. He began rummaging through for anything he could use to stop the bleeding. 

He found a spare shirt, he let out a breath of relief, this would stop the bleeding for now. He took the material and ripped it apart into strips, hoping you wouldn't be mad at him for destroying your shirt, but it was for a good cause. He moved back over to you, his hand cradled your head, holding it up. It was only a small wound, thankfully, it wouldn't kill you as long as he stopped the bleeding. He examined it, he didn't want to bandage it without cleaning it first. He grabbed your bag again, and found a water bottle. He remembered you telling him about how humans didn't like salty water. He didn't really understand why but it was probably a safer bet to clean it using your human water than his ocean water.

He tipped the bottle over the wound, water washing over the cut, drenching your hair in the process. After he was sure it was clean enough he bandaged it up with the cloth, making sure it was secure.

Even after he was done, he never let you go. Rather, he held you tighter. One hand cradling your injured head as the other arm went around your waist. He rocked you gently, holding you against his chest. He was breathless, his mouth was dry as his heart thumped against his ribcage. He was more scared now than when that shark chased him all those months ago. The panic of losing you was worse than anything he had ever felt, and losing you to the very place he called home no less. It sent shivers down his spine.

You let out a groan, your arms shifting in his hold. He looked down and his eyes met yours. You winced in pain as you moved. "Careful, don't move too much. I've got you." He brushed hair from your face. Your half lidded eyes looked up at him, dazed and confused. "What happened?"

"That pier you were on broke. You fell into the ocean, must have hit your head on the way down too. You almost drowned." He explained, his face twisting into worry again. 

To utter shock, you smiled despite the obvious pain in your eyes. "You saved me?"

"O-of course I did!" He exasperated as if it were the most stupid question anyone has ever asked him. He felt your hand come up and brush through his damp hair, much like he had done to yours a moment ago. "I guess we're even now then." You chuckled, he always made such a big deal of repaying you for helping him when he was washed up. Being out of the water for too long would have dried up his gills, and that would have suffocated him to death. You had saved his life, and now, he had saved yours. 

"Ow, shit, this really hurts." You pressed your fingers to the cloth around your head. Izuku helped you sit up, steadying you when you swayed, you had lost a lot of blood, he was worried you might not make it home on your own. "You should really go to the housepetal." He was only trying to help but when you laughed at the suggestion, his shoulders deflated. 

"I think you mean hospital." You corrected him. "Oh." He giggled along with you, finally understanding. "But you're right, I should. I'm just not sure I can make it up the cliff right now. I feel so light headed."

He shuffled closer, despite you sitting up just fine on your own, he was ready to catch you if necessary. He was not going to let anymore harm come to you.

"Is there any water left?" You asked him, he reached over for the bottle that he had used to clean your wound. There was a little less than half left. He gave it to you and you hastily drank it all down.

Once finished you let out a satisfied gasp before discarding the bottle into your bag again. "Feel better?"

"Not yet. Soon." You replied, tilting your head forwards as if it would help get the blood back to your head any quicker. He watched your movement, his tail gently splashing against the water's edge to stop himself from drying up. 

His eyes skimmed the back of your head, where the wound was. His mind went back to seeing your lifeless body sinking into the ocean's darkness as a cloud of red engulfed you. It was something he never wanted to see again, though the memory was well carved into his brain at this point. 

He hated to admit it, but for a second it crossed his mind that you might have died. That he hadn't been quick enough to save you. Holding your limp, unbreathing body in his arms had shaken him to his core.

You hand accidently grazed against his on the sand, pulling him out of his swirling thoughts. It was just like that day a few weeks ago, when your hands brushed against his for the first time, but this time he didn't hold back. You went to pull your hand away but his larger hands encased it, pulling it back towards him. You gasped as your hand was snatched from you, his skin felt so smooth against yours. 

He looked deep into your eyes. "I have something to say." He'd never looked so serious before. You gulped, nodding for him to go on. 

He inhaled through his nose, his fingers subconsciously squeezing yours. “Before you found me washed up on shore.. I used to come here everyday." He started, pausing for a second but you didn't make any reactions, just waited for him to go on.

"My friends and I used to spend a lot of time here but then we had to go away since a human found our cove, but I found that-... I couldn't leave. I was so enamoured by you,  and... I slowly started to fall in love." He heard you sucking in a breath. "Then, I finally got to know you, I fell more in love than ever before! Seeing you almost drown, thinking about what would've happened if I hadn't been there. It made me realise…" he looked away, out at the vast ocean that separated his world from yours. "What we're doing right now, seeing each other everyday, it might not last forever."

He hated admitting it outloud, he could hear his heart breaking it two at the thought of being torn away from you again. Thoughts of you moving away, someone else finding this beach and ruining your secret space, one of you could get hurt, he could be put in lockdown. There were so many possibilities that were running through his head. "I just wanted to tell you how I felt. I want you to know how much you really mean to me. I'm in love with you. So whatever happens in the future.  Please, always remember that." 

"You think too much." You whispered without missing a beat, your expression unreadable through his eyes. "We're always going to find a way to be together, no matter how long it takes. We'll always find our way back." You whispered, your fingers shifting in hand to intertwine with his. 

"How do you know that?" He asked, his eyes were full of doubt but you seemed so sure of yourself. You pulled on his hand, yanking him forward until his nose brushed against yours. 

"Because I love you too." 

His eyes widened, he sucked in a breath as your lips moved closer to his. He could hear his heartbeat echoing through his ears like the beating of a drum. Your lips finally made contact with his. He inhaled through his nose, your lips were so soft, softer than he could ever imagine them to be. His lips quivered under yours, shaky breaths exhaling from his nose. He tried to keep up with your moving lips despite the lack of expertise. You smiled into it, putting a hand onto the back of his head,patting down his hair and like putty in your hands, he relaxed. 

You finally pulled back to see his flushed face. He brought up a hand to his lips? pressing his finger tips to them.  "A.. kiss?" He breathed out, looking at you with half lidded eyes. He smiled, shuffling closer so he could sit side by side with you on the beach. His arm came to your shoulder as you curled into his side. 

You were right. As long as you loved each other, there was nothing that could tear you apart. You would always find your way back, and you would always have a shared home where the ocean and the land met.

Bonus:

Izuku kept pressing his fingers to his lips, eyebrows knitting together. "You really haven't had a kiss before have you?" 

He shook his head, "Well, merpeople show affection in other ways is all.. but that kiss felt so good.. I wonder why we don't do it more often?" Even if he was speaking out loud it felt like that last part was a question meant for himself. 

You tilted your head, "Well, what do you guys do to show affection?" You asked, curiosity getting the better of you. 

He smiled and turned to you, genuinely happy that you had taken an interest in his species. "I can show you if you want!!" You nodded, curious to see what he would do. 

He moved closer to your face, aiming for your cheek. His tongue rolled from his mouth and as it got dangerously close to your skin your leaned back, face turning red. "AHH! WAIT! NEVERMIND! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW-"

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[buckyownsmylife]

t r e a c h e r o u s - chapter iii

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A/N for this chapter: we’re in the smut, finally! From this chapter until the end, it’s just a sucession of smut smut and smut, pwp really. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chris’ P.O.V.

“What are the rules?” I asked Sebastian, my gaze fixed on the sinful woman sitting on the bed before me. I had never felt this attraction to Y/N before. Sure, I knew she was hot and desired by men worldwide, but having met her when she already was with Sebastian, I never really allowed myself to pay much attention to her, choosing to focus on the fact that she was so young, instead. 

She was forbidden territory. That should have been enough to keep my wandering thoughts away. But everything had changed since Sebastian came to me for advice. Since that day, I had found myself wondering how he could ignore her allure, not feeling in the slightest the sexual grip his girl had. It had been so hard for me to ignore it and there he was, completely oblivious to it. 

After our talk in the bar, I finally allowed myself to think of her that way. And that very same night, I dreamt of her. I had her spread out on my bed, under me, and I pounded her like the dirty little whore I finally allowed myself to imagine she was. I mean, I had heard her songs. I saw the way she moved on stage. There was no way that girl didn’t like to be fucked hard and the fact that she had begged Sebastian to relent and try anything necessary to give her what she needed was only proving my thesis.

And by God did she look the part. Her breasts were spilling out from the top of the little black lace lingerie she had chosen to wear and despite the fact that she looked at me with the most innocent doe eyes I had ever seen, I couldn’t ignore the image I had briefly caught of her ass on the tiny excuse of a panties she had put on. 

I licked my lips, eager to finally get my hands on her.

“I don’t know. Whatever, man.” Sebastian interrupted my train of thought and I had to think for a few seconds to realize that he was answering my question. I’d forgotten I’d even asked it in the first place. “I trust you. You do whatever you feel like it’s appropriate, whatever she agrees you can do. I think it’s the only way for this to work.” And with that, he found a spot in one of the chairs in one corner of the room, crossing his ankle over the knee and settling his piercing gaze on us. 

Turning my attention back to the woman waiting for me, I noticed she shivered as I approached her on the bed. Cautiously, I let my fingers caress the skin of her arm all the way to her jaw, smiling to myself as goosebumps raised on the path I had traced, loving the way she rested her head on my open palm as I took her face in my hand.

“You okay there, princess?” I asked, my face mere inches apart from her as I searched her eyes for any signs of hesitance there. I couldn’t find any, only a lust so powerful that almost took my breath away.

“I’m okay,” she whispered, her eyes never travelling away from mine. Her breathing was coming out from her lips in short pants, and I absentmindedly realized she must have been really desiring me for her body to be reacting that way.

I forced myself to be reasonable, remembering she hadn’t had anyone touch her in a sexual manner since before she started dating Sebastian. This didn’t mean she had any special feelings towards me, one of her closest friends, only that she really needed to get laid.

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” I asked, briefly glancing at Sebastian, almost waiting for him to jump up and stop this, at least to say that it was a far too personal move, but nothing. He truly was about to let me do whatever I wanted to his girl, I realized. 

Oh well. I wasn’t about to lose this opportunity. Sitting down by her side, I carefully wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, feeling how tense her muscles were under my fingers. “Relax, babygirl,” I whispered, leaning into her and pulling her gently to me. 

I tried to ignore how electrified I felt the moment that our lips touched. Such a simple gesture, still so pure, and yet a carnal need I had never felt before suddenly arose from the depths of my being, urging me to swallow her whole. I separated from her for a bit, trying to catch my breath and control my emotions, but her concerned eyes made me remember what had brought me here. This was a girl who was struggling with her own self-esteem, thinking that there was something wrong with her for her boyfriend to not be able to fuck her, and by restraining myself, I was probably making her think that I wasn’t really interested in her.

So I let go of my carefully constructed control, pulling her to me once more, for a kiss that was all tongue and teeth and pure, unbound desire. I could think it was only from me, but the truth was that I felt her hands roaming my chest and the warmth that emanated from her was unbelievable. When we pulled away to catch our breaths, her pupils were dilated to the point I could barely see the color of her eyes.

So I kissed her once more, carefully laying her down on the mattress as I positioned myself between her legs. By now, I had completely forgotten about the man seated on the other side of the room, my best friend. I could only focus on the goddess in front of me, the way she tasted, how she felt underneath me. One of my fingers teased the edge of her bra, making her release the sweetest little breathless gasp as I slowly went to tease her nipple over the lace still covering it.

“Can I take this off?” After her nod, I did just so, briefly remembering Sebastian was watching us as I threw the undergarment his way. Luckly, he seemed to have thought that I had thrown it directly for him, and he caught it with a chuckle.

I tried to forget about his presence again. I thought it would be hard, but then her breasts came into view and my mind could only focus on her. I slowly rubbed her nipples with my thumbs, our eyes meeting as I silently asked if it was okay to continue. When she once again nodded, I didn’t hesitate to envelop her hardened bud with my mouth.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

It was hard not to moan at the simple sight of Chris trying not to smile at my instinctive reaction to chase his mouth by arching my back. That was something I never thought I’d get to see in my life. This was my boyfriend’s best friend, for God’s sake.

Still, Sebastian was the last thing in my mind as Chris swirled his tongue around my nipple, cautiously sucking it into his mouth. I wanted to scream. God, it had been so long. It felt so good to feel the touch of a man on my skin again. And the way Chris was touching me… It was like he really desired me. It wasn’t love, no, but I’d been frustrated for so long. This passion would serve just fine.

Chris continued with his kisses over my belly after he gave my other breast the same treatment he had given the first one. His kisses were wet, he tasted my skin as he went further down, until his lips danced just over my underwear. This time, he didn’t ask, opting simply to connect his eyes to mine and see if there was resistance before pulling it from my body and throwing it away. 

He returned his spot between my legs, but his face was now eye-level with my glistening pussy. I watched as he licked his lips, his attention now clearly fixated on the task at hand, and I tried not to shiver as he softly ran the palms of his big hands on the inside of my thighs.

The first lick was torture. He did it so carefully, only testing the waters, making sure to check my reaction. But the thing was, that simple touch was enough to awaken that part of me that I had put to sleep, in an effort to save my relationship with Seb. That one movement went straight to my brain and then I was nothing but a puddle of red hot passion, desperately in need to feel pleasure running through me.

And Chris noticed.

So he immediately latched onto my little nub and sucked, eventually going down to slurp on the wetness pouring out of my hole before coming back to languidly lap on my clit again. It didn’t take long for him to bring me to the edge, and when he noticed it by the way the muscles of my thighs quivered and I forcefully took a hold of his hair to keep him against my pussy, he pushed one finger into me and started thrusting, throwing me off the cliff of desire completely.

I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t scream his name.

Looking down, I noticed that Chris had been watching my reactions with a predatory glint in his eyes. It took my breath away. With one last kiss right over my clit, he started to climb up my body until he was hovering just over me once more.

“I wish I could take time with you,” he whispered before reaching for a condom I’d left on the bedside table. I didn’t have a lot of time to ponder about what he meant, because then he was pushing inside of me.

My mouth fell open at the feeling of him invading me. Once again, I’d never thought I would get to experience this. I held him tightly by the shoulders, terrified that he would second guess this moment and leave. Because at that second, I didn’t want to remember what it was like to live without him inside of me.

Chris kissed my cheek, my jaw, until he reached the crook of my neck while he waited for me to adjust to his size. Only when I tried to force him to move did he actually do so, but not without hiding his face against my skin, his hands finding mine and forcefully securing them against my head. 

It was a gesture far too personal for something that was supposed to be only sex.

His hips were the only thing moving, and I felt the way his mouth fell open against my skin as he started to thrust into me with all he had. I was being effectively fucked into the mattress where I was used to laying with my boyfriend, by someone who wasn’t my boyfriend.

Once again, it took everything in me not to moan Chris’ name out loud.

He fucked me so good, I was seeing stars behind my closed eyelids. And the only reason why I was keeping my eyes shut was because I was scared of meeting Chris’, scared of what I would find there and how it would make me feel. Of what it would bring out of me.

He might have thought the same, because he kept his head safely hidden in the crook of my neck, whispering my name so lightly it was impossible for Sebastian to hear over the sounds of Chris’ cock slipping in and out of my wet pussy. His horse voice was enough to bring me to that delicious edge again, and when he met me there, one of his hands came up to pull on my nipple while he bit on my shoulder to suffocate his own scream of release.

But he covered his teeth with his lip, mindful to not leave any marks on a body that didn’t belong to him. Still, that bit of pain was precisely what I needed to cum around him at the same time I felt him filling up the condom. Then we just stood there, catching our breaths for a moment, uncertain of how to behave around each other now, especially since Sebastian was watching.

Seb’s P.O.V.

One thing was sure, after that little show, I didn’t know if I was more horny or jealous, but the fact was: I was horny. And for the first time, I felt the pressing need to bury myself inside of my girlfriend.

“Chris…” I started, rising up from my seat. My friend immediately got out of the bed, struggling to look for his clothes. “You know where the bathroom is, right?” I continued, but my eyes were fixated on Y/N, who looked slightly out of breath, still spread out in bed. He didn’t say anything, but I assumed he nodded, and before long, it was just my girlfriend and I in our shared bedroom. “Baby.” I leaned down next to her, caressing her head to call her attention to me. “Do you think you can handle one more round?”

Her eyes grew big as she stared at me in surprise.

“You mean…?” Grinning, I nodded.

“Yeah.” She nodded slowly, her eyes traveling from mine to the bulge barely contained in my jeans. “I can handle one more round.”

“Let’s do it. I can’t wait to be inside of you.”

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