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luveline · 4 months

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jadey would you please mind giving us more of kbd!steve this season? xxxx

kbd dad!steve and mom!reader fight over christmas pyjamas, 1.4k

“I don't know what you want me to say.”

Steve frowns deeply at you. Another haircut, another day more handsome than before, he pulls off everything, but not…

“Say you like them,” he demands, hooking his thumbs in his pyjama top and pulling it outwards to properly show you the front.

Steve is wearing Christmas pyjamas. The Grinch from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas in all his scrooge glory grins at you evilly against a red background. The pants are white, patterned by red and green drawings of the Grinch holding a Christmas present. He looks much happier from your husband's thighs than the long sleeved shirt.

“Babe, they have cuffs. We're gonna be warm all day,” he says.

“They don't match,” you say, pointing to the Grinch on his leg, who holds a pink gift wrapped in yellow ribbon. “Maybe it's the pink and red throwing me off.”

His frown turns to a pout, the almond shape of his warm brown eyes at a downturn as he says, “You really don't like them.”

You crack like a weak walled chestnut over a flame. “I'm kidding! I'm just messing with you, baby, I love them. They're so Christmas-sy. Did you get some for me?”

His relief is palpable. “I got some for everyone.”

Steve got matching pyjamas for himself, you, the kids, and Robin. He shows you them from a bag on the kitchen table, where you ooh and aah reluctantly. You love him, love everything he does, but you're finally on your holidays vacation and you'd wanted to spend as much of it sitting down as possible. Not that sitting down is possible at home, but you digress.

Steve senses your reluctance with a grumble pressed into the back of your neck, his arms grabbing you from behind. “Alright, I get it! You hate me and your kids and you hate Christmas most of all, whatever. I should've married Tammy Thompson.”

You laugh and lean forward over his arms. “Tammy Thompson wouldn't have wanted a thing to do with you, H, on account of you being a cruel, know-it-all narcissist who forces his exhausted wife off of the couch at every opportunity he–”

“Alright, that's enough.”

Steve squeezes you until you're pleading with him to let you go, a riot of giggles forced from your lungs as he digs his hands into your sides, his fingers practically drilled into your ribs. You call for mercy and he ignores it, muttering about narcissism in your ear. He laughs as you laugh, can't keep up the act.

“Beg for me to stop,” he says.

“Stop!” you say, trying to pull his arms off of your stomach. “Steve, stop it!”

“Say you'll wear the pyjamas.”

“Steve! I'll wear them! Would you–”

“Get off of her!” Bethie shouts, barrelling into the room to push at her dad's legs.

It's so unlike Beth to shout that you both immediately stop fighting. For a split second, you think she's worried that Steve was actually hurting you, but then she laughs as she punches him in the thigh and sticks herself between your breathless bodies, two small arms extended to keep you apart.

When she's sure Steve is done, she wraps her arms around you, looking up into your face with a big smile. “Saved you, mom.”

“You saved me,” you agree, bending down to hug her, “thank you, sweetheart, thank you.” You drop tens of kisses into her hair and face, so many that Steve makes a show of huffing.

“Beth, she deserved it,” he says. “She doesn't wanna wear our matching jammies. Don't you wanna do that?”

She looks at him with those big sorry eyes only young children can master. “Yeah, dad, but…”

“But what?”

“But she's my mom.”

You pull one of the kitchen chairs out and sit down, patting your lap for her to climb up and sit with you. “But I'm her mom,” you sing-song, ever so slightly smug.

“And I'm, what? Cat food?”

“Don't listen to him, baby, he's just jealous.”

Steve turns away from you both, showfully miffed. Bethie giggles and turns into your chest. “He's mad,” she laughs.

“So mad.” You drop your nose into the side of her cheek.

“Are we still having a treat tonight?” she asks.

“Of course we are. It's Christmas! Mom's home, daddy's catching up on his sleep, we're all having cake and ice cream and chocolates until we can't eat anymore,” you promise.

“Wish you were home all the time.”

“Me too, baby,” you say, rubbing her cheek with the tip of your nose slowly. “I wish you could come to work with me. That would be so fun. But we have to make the most of our time away, yeah? Let's have lots and lots of fun.”

“I saved you,” she says, “so maybe I can have extra cake.”

“Beth. You can have as much as you want tonight, I promise.”

“I love Christmas,” she decides.

Steve rushes back into the kitchen with a child under each arm. Dove laughs, her eyes practically sparkling, not a care in the world though she's upside down, and Avery clings to Steve's waist, shouting, “Dad, put me down!” through nervous giggles.

“Tell mom what I told you,” he says.

“Dad, I'm slipping!”

“Avery, you're not slipping. I'm frankly insulted that you think I would drop you. Now tell your mother what we said.”

“Daddy's not a nar-pasit!” Dove says joyfully. “He's a sweetheart.”

“He's a huge narcissist,” you correct in a similar tone.

“He's dropping me!” Avery cries.

Steve shakes her until she screams. “I am not! For Christ's sake, I can curl you like two pound weight, you delinquent! Now.” He takes a deep, fake breath, pulling the two girls higher into his armpits. “Like we rehearsed.”

“I did my turn,” Dove says, reaching out for you, her smile hard to miss even if she is upside down..

“Dad didn't even want to marry that lady,” Avery says, her eyes squeezed closed. Steve chuckles and kisses her head, amused by her silly worry. “He's only ever wanted to be in love with you. And to drop me.”

Steve chokes he laughs so hard, leaning forward and depositing the eldest girl onto two steady feet. “Perfect as always, Ave. And you!” He twists into a shape, Dove's head getting closer and closer to the floor. She couldn't be happier, giggling like she's been tickled the whole while. “You did perfect too, honey.”

“I didn't even bring up that lady,” you say.

Steve and Dove return back to the right way round after some careful manoeuvring. “My bad. Babe. Y/N. I'm sorry, okay? I'm a loser and–” He nudges Dove aside gently to take your hands, your knees, ignoring Beth where she's in the way to kneel in front of you. “I just need you to want to wear these pyjamas as bad as I want you to. So pull it together.”

You put your lips to the shell of Beth's ear. “Should we forgive him?”

“Mmm…” Beth points at Avery. “He has to say sorry for almost dropping Avey.”

“Right.” You nod sagely.

Steve turns to Avery with wide eyes, “You're not actually upset, are you?” he asks, putting out his hand to her.

“My brains are like cranberry sauce,” she says.

He raises his eyebrows, delighted. “Yeah? The thick one from the can?”

Dove climbs under his arm. He pulls her in for a cuddle unthinkingly, but just as quickly she's ducking away from him to walk up to Avery, reaching for her face. Avery leans down obligingly.

Dove pokes her forehead.

“I'm not really jelly!” Avery says, giggling.

“Well, I'm sorry if I scared you almost dropping you,” Steve says, holding his hands together, brown eyes like melting sugar in his pleading. “Can you please forgive me, so mommy will forgive me, and we can put on our new jammies?”

Avery isn't stubborn. “Yeh, okay. I'll forgive you.”

He smiles, turning to you now for the final verdict.

“I already said I'd wear them, Steve,” you say with a grin.

“Oh. Good. Alright.” He climbs to his feet, split from cheek to cheek. “I'm gonna go get the baby. Aw, shit, and the camera. Practise your poses until I come back, angels!”

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robsheridan · 10 months

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4th of July family album, 1950s-70s. The good ol’ days, a reminder of how things USED to be. Kids these days will never know the simple joy of summoning meat demons from the void dimensions to grill on an open fire. Back then we weren’t “taking selfies,” we were building bone golems of ourselves to bring to brief unholy life so we could ignite them into flames.

We didn’t need “apps” to have fun, we were outside celebrating America by self-immolating and roaming the streets smoldering with hellfire. I can still smell the burning skin! And we didn’t even get hurt, because we were just tougher back then; and also conducted human sacrifices that granted us protection, but you’d get “cancelled” for that these days.

No one complained if you wanted to fill the lake with the blood of cursed swine to bring it to a boil, and we weren’t shy about skinny dipping in it, heck we’d strip down to our bones as we gnawed on each others’ melting flesh - a little snack before heading home for barbecued ribs cracked right off the crispy meat demons.

As night fell we’d sing songs that might not be “politically correct” today just because they were the six profane recitations of Zasorael which brought forth the Araknoloids, but that’s just how things were back then: Men were men, women were women, and the Araknaloids were giant bloodthirsty hellspiders who lit up the sky with ectoplasmic glory when we fed them explosives. And as their flaming bones rained down upon the sky, burning our houses and cars and grandma, we weren’t afraid to say GOD BLESS AMERICA.

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NOTE: This is a work of fiction created by me. This alternate reality horror story is part of my NightmAIres narrative art series (visit that link for a lot more). NightmAIres are windows into other worlds and interconnected alternate histories, conceived/written by me and visualized with synthography and Photoshop.

If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon for frequent exclusive hi-res wallpaper packs, behind-the-scenes features, downloads, events, contests, and an awesome fan community. Direct fan support is what keeps me going as an independent creator, and it means the world to me.

#rob sheridan #nightmaires #alternate history #4th of July #Americana #Ai horror #Ai art #synthography #synthography horror #retro horror

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dragoninahumancostume · 4 months

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85 things I love in Hamilton:

When a line of a song repeats on another song but slightly different or the exact same in a slightly different context or the exact same with the same context ("Look around look around" by Eliza vs by Alex, "I'm helpless" in Helpless vs Non-stop vs Say no to this)

The way it sounds like Lin is spitting on the P's in "My time's uP, wise uP, eyes uP"

How everyone agrees that Lafayette let his hair loose after Yorktown and that if he put it on a ponytail again Hamilton would react the same way Doofenschmirtz does with Perry and his hat

Everyone seems to agree Laurens should go running to be with Angelica, Eliza and Maria when they sing "Me? I loved him"

Daveed Diggs

The historical inaccuracy making songs even better (example: "How the sausage gets made" sung in 1790's when sausages were brought in the 1800's. Philip dying before the election of 1800 and in July when he actually died in November of 1801. Burr being Charles' second.)

Being able to tell which song is which even when they start off the same (alexander hamilton, guns and ships and winter's ball) by slight differences

"Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?" *sends a letter wanting to duel* "All he had to do was die. We ought give it a try." *kills Alex*

"I was chosen for the constitutional convention! :D"

Aaron's voice and expressions

"Wheeeee!" -Charles Lee

Animatics vs The actual musical (example: the king dancing in the animatic, him standing with a death stare in the musical)

Hamilton being happy he finally has friends

The dance in My Shot

Lafayette and Hercules dancing

Hercules showing off his pants

Lafayette flexing his muscles

John Laurens screaming passionately in the "shout it from the rooftops" part

Angelica's voice and expressions

John looking like he's checking Ham out

The difference between the musical and the studio recording, specifically the pauses that for me sound like they're trying to regain some breath to continue singing

Hercules as the flower girl

The foreshadowing (?) ("I may not live to see our glory" *dies*/ *doesn't count to ten in French* *dies because his opponent didn't count to ten*)

Peggy getting distracted by John in Schuyler Sisters

"my dog speaks more eloquently than thee"

"You don't have the votes ha-ha-ha"

Ham stopping his dance and fixing his jacket when Philip enters in Helpless

King George literally spitting in You'll be back

*Philip dies, Ham is mourning* "Can we get back to politics 🙄. Who you gon' vote for?"

When they're waiting for their turn on the song (Ham behind the king before Right Hand Man. John and Laf on the stairs behind Washington in "Your excellency, sir")

Washington's voice

The backup dancers they're literally so good

Ham: making a plan. Hercules: BRAH

Ham pushing Laf away so he could talk with Angelica

HAMILTON WROTE THE OTHER 51

#Hamilton #hamilton musical #alexander hamilton #john laurens #marquis de lafayette #Lafayette #george washington #eliza schuyler #angelica schuyler #aaron burr #hercules mulligan #thomas jefferson #james madison #philip hamilton #I love so many things that I had to change some things for it to fit the joke #Charles Lee #peggy schuyler #king george iii

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sotwk · 1 year

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According to the lay known as “The Fall of Gil-Galad”, upon this elven-king’s death, he was “the last whose realm was fair and free, between the Mountains and the Sea”.

…say what now? Excuse me, dear Middle-earth minstrels, but you seem to have forgotten about THIS GUY:

King Thranduil Oropherion is the Sindarin counterpart of the “High King of the Noldor”, and therefore comparable to the renowned High King Gil-Galad, but is sadly not given the same amount of recognition in stories and songs.

Allow me the honor of “singing” the ways Thranduil is very similar to Gil-Galad:

(1) Both were born in the First Age, and as young elves witnessed the destruction of the cities they lived in: Thranduil in Doriath and Gil-Galad in the Havens of the Falas. They were exposed to war and bloodshed at an early age and experienced living as refugees.

(2) Both survived and possibly participated in the War of Wrath. (You know, that really terrible, bloody, decades-long war that literally broke the world--that war.) According to certain interpretations of the film “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug”, Thranduil likely did fight in the War of Wrath, where he “faced the great serpents of the north”. Elven warriors of the First Age were incredibly fierce warriors out of necessity, and if Thranduil survived those great battles when he was about 150 years old, that makes him extra badass.

(3) Both inherited their kingships from their forefathers. Gil-Galad’s claim to the Noldor throne (like his canon parentage) is a little murky, but he is related to Fingolfin whose line was pretty much wiped out, so only Elrond or Galadriel could have challenged his claim (which they didn’t). Thranduil’s claim is far more direct as the son of the first King of the Woodland Realm and ruler of the Silvan people.

(4) Both were warrior kings. Because canon stories of Thranduil are very sparse, we don’t know for sure which wars he did or didn’t participate in during the Second Age. What DID he do those 2,000+ years while his father was establishing and ruling the realm? Honing his warrior skills seems to be a fair hypothesis. How else would he have developed the deadly skills he exhibited at the Battle of Five Armies? How else would he have kept the foul creatures of Dol Goldur at bay without a magic ring? It’s very possible he’s seen more time on the battlefield than official historical accounts say.

(5) Both fought at the Battle of Dagorlad, during the War of the Last Alliance. Gil-Galad fought hard and valiantly to the end at Mordor, slaying Sauron by his own spear. Because Oropher died at the first onslaught, it was likely that Thranduil had to exit the war early, either to bury his father and their slain soldiers, or because he himself was injured. There may have been enough time for him to rejoin the Alliance at the Siege of Barad-dûr, to avenge his father and salvage his family’s honor and pride. But Thranduil, whom people mistakenly dismiss as arrogant or proud, was a king who valued his people and the soldiers under his command. It would have been easy glory to join the Siege since by then the war had been all but won (and won by the blood of his people, might I add). Thranduil chose to stay with his kin and help them through the loss of their king and many loved ones, and to reassure them that they were in good hands with him as their new ruler.

It’s a big, sad shame that Tolkien was not able to write more stories about Thranduil, his family, and the Mirkwood elves. Based on the theories we, his fans, are able to formulate about him, it seems he may have been the most successful, even most benevolent, Elven ruler of them all. He will just have to get his glory and renown in the “songs” and “lays” of our headcanons and fanfics.

Looking for more Thranduil content?

Introduction to SotWK

My Headcanon Masterlist

My Fanfiction Masterlist

Thank you for your support and interest!

#king thranduil #thranduil #thranduil oropherion #thranduil fanfiction #thranduil headcanons #lotr fandom #the hobbit #battle of the five armies #lee pace

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nyashykyunnie · 8 months

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˗ˏˋ Idol Au inspired by @manawari ◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕘 𝕁𝕚𝕟𝕨𝕠𝕠˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

╰┈➤ ❝ [ The Prince of Death; Monarch of Shadows] ¡! ❞

Idol!Sung Jinwoo in which his theme revolves around darkness ofc. But specifically it revolves around time and the bitter clutches of being alone on the bring of insanity.

His songs revolve around the idea of wandering in an infinite loop. Existential crisis and such. The pain of being being alone. The agony of a soul who yearns for the spotlight, who yearns for recognition, the crave for glory.

He sings songs of misery, of tears, of anguish and longing. His instrumental with dramatic violins and pianos. Luring you even more into the dark depths of the abyss that he embodies. He tugs at your soul with his deep voice. Lullabies that are full of sadness and complexities and such

Idol!Jinwoo in which his solo choreography is similar to an emotional ballet. Fluid movements as if he were drawing shadows in the air. Hypnotizing you with his movements that were ever so beautiful and graceful.

Though, he does take a change of phase sometimes. Love songs that are just fluffy and warm, dreamy instrumentals that goes along with his deep voice. It's as if he is coaxing you, cooing at you ever so lovingly. His love songs make you feel like dancing around in the rain in his hand. He makes you feel like a princess with how gentle and loving his voice becomes.

A lullaby so to speak, a lullaby that makes you feel like you are floating on clouds. A field of flowers on your bare feet, and there he is, guiding you in such a breath taking view. He wants you to feel his heart, he wants you to feel important, his love songs exist as his canvas of longing.

"Can you call out my name sweetly once more? Let me hear your voice, part your pretty lips and utter my name." His voice lowers into a teasing whisper, tickling your ears and most especially your heart. After all, our Jinwoo is such a charmer.

Will you give in though? Will you call out his name so dearly?

#solo leveling #sung jin woo #sung jinwoo #solo leveling headcanons #solo leveling x reader #sung jinwoo hcs #sung jinwoo headcanons #only i level up #para sayo toh sa mga delulu at baliw #im like grinning like a freaking idiot rn with how much im squeelinf #bij im so downbad

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thrashkink-coven · 5 months

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Hail Inanna! Great shining Lady of Love and War, we praise you and hold you dearly in our hearts! Praise the lovely and vibrant Lord Lucifer, the illuminator and liberator of the children of Inanna!

Since I started taking up the role of Inanna’s devotee more seriously, she has visited me every morning in my dreams. She has been the most active and personal deity I have ever had the honour of worshipping. I hear her lovely song as she rises into the sky, every morning around 3-4am, her presence along with Lucifer’s will fill my room and permeate my dreams. Her warmth is welcoming, sweet and rich. A dancing drum and an orchestra of beautiful singing voices will creep into my ears until I see her realm in my dreams. She is a smiling and dancing joyous God. I am among her and her children and we are together and in love. I am beyond lucky that she has taken the time to come to me so consistently.

She thanks me for loving Lucifer, for trusting and following him back to her, she thanks me for loving him all of her spirits. She thanks me for resting my body and praying to her. She asks me to show myself love today as an offering to her. She protects me into the morning and guides me into night. Thank you Great Lady of Heaven, thank you Lucifer! Hail Inanna! Glory to Venus! 🔱✴️🔱🖤

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phoebepheebsphibs · 27 days

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Using only lyrics from music, convey the dreams of each of your oc’s

You said OC’s, so in addition to the Until I Found bois (which I’m not so sure count as original characters so much as re-envisioned versions of the characters) I’ll also be doing songs for my babies from The Future and a Robot

UIFY

Leon: "But I have a plan... and I will be remembered -- I will be great -- Just wait and see! You'd better wise up, 'cuz I'll rise up! BRING ON ANY CHALLENGE! And someday soon, I swear -- I don't know how or when -- but I promise you, I'll never be invisible again! Someone will notice... me."

‘Phael: "I can't be what you expect of me... and I'm not what I seem... but I would love to know you --! Is it dangerous... to dream??"

DvD: "I will make you proud! I will make you have faith in me. I will prove that the way I used to be is all in the past. I will save the day, and come back here triumphantly! 'Cause I long for that look of surprise when you see your son rising at last! The pride in your eyes when you see your son rising at last!!"

Michael: "Just let me give you the freedom to dream and it'll wake you up, cure your aching, take your walls and start 'em breaking -- now that's a deal that seems worth taking! ...But I guess, I'll leave that up to you."

April: "One normal night, that's all I want, that's all I need from you. One normal house without a mouse to feed a plant or two!”

Karai: "As a child you would wait and watch from far away, but you always knew that you'd be the one that worked while they all played. In youth, you'd lay awake at night and scheme of all the things that you would change, but it was just a dream... Here we are, don't turn away now - we are the warriors that built this town!"

Draxum: “The rule of the land, it's so crucial to obey… Believe in yourself, or you won't be appreciated -- Don’t you overthink it, JUST DO WHAT I SAY!! Lay the politics out before me, whatever it takes to get my glory!”

Big Mama: “Money, money matters most! Money, money I can boast -- Money, money, make a toast to -- Money! Money! Money!” OR "Come live with us in the garden… there’s a room waiting for you… come on, come on, come on! Just let us adore you…”

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TFaaR

Lloyd: “So now I'll sing for you 'til I can't talk! I've been teaching myself to speak for when the music's not enough. I'm gonna be just like you and never stop, mm-mm. But since I'm made from you, do you think I could be someone like you?"

Julia: "And when I find my hope Imma bring it on home!”

Harris: "I don’t know when… I don’t know how… but I know something’s starting right now! Watch and you’ll see, someday I’ll be part of your world!”

Imogen Love: “What good’s a dreamer without a believer? We all just need someone to care! One who might listen and root for our wishes, someone to simply be glad that we’re there — what good’s a hand if nobody needs holding? When everything else falls away… if no one believes her, what good’s a dreamer, anyway?”

Ms. Delilah Emelyn: “One way, or another, I’m gonna find ya -- I’m gonna getchya, getchya, getchya!”

Dr. Alger J: “Can't wait to meet you! So join the animatronic family! We open real soon; try your best to hold onto sanity.”

If you can guess the songs the lyrics are from, you get 10 points

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etoilehistoire · 5 months

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When talking about Astarion’s choice to ascend or not, we tend to act like it's our choice. The player decides if he ascends or not. But... there IS a roll involved. Yes, as players if it doesn't go the way we want we can always reload and try again, but... in-game, the characters don't have that option. What would happen, then, if a Tav desperately tried to talk him out of ascending... and failed? Rolled a one? What might they do? What might happen next?

This story takes place after the end of the game.

The little farmhouse was in the middle of nowhere – no other homes in sight, miles from the nearest town.

Not that Wyll was surprised. In her shoes, he’d surely value his solitude too.

It was pretty, he noticed as he rode up the path. A dark brown roof over white walls, almost completely hidden behind trellises of morning glories, climbing roses, and other flowers. A spray of sunflowers nearly hid the door. Berry bushes sprawled across the front yard in glorious disorder, many of them sporting ripe fruit that filled the morning air with a sweet scent. And there, filling a bowl with blueberries, her dark hair pulled back in a scarf, was Xia.

She turned when she heard his horse's hooves, a slow smile spreading across her face. “I’ll be damned. How long has it been? Ten years?”

“At least,” he agreed with a grin. Hopping down, he clasped her arm in greeting, and wasn’t the least bit surprised when she pulled him into a full-bodied hug instead. “Oof! You’re strong as ever. Country life suits you.”

She looked well too, he mused a moment later, stepping back to look her over. Her hair had a little grey at the temples, and crow's feet were beginning to form at the corner of her unscarred eye, but she seemed more at ease with herself and the world than he remembered her being before.

She laughed at the comment. “I suppose it does. But what about you? I didn’t expect to see you out here in the middle of nowhere! How’s the war going? How’s Karlach? How’s her heart?”

He threw up his hands in mock surrender, laughing. “So many questions! And the answers are all related. The war never ends, of course – it will outlive all of us. But sometimes you have to step away from battle for a moment, to focus on more important things.” He smiled, a softness entering his voice. “Karlach's new heart is treating her well. It’s stable. So stable, in fact, that… well, that’s part of what I came to tell you.” His dark skin flushed even darker. “We’re expecting.”

She gasped. “No.”

“Yes! Dammon's with her now; she’s already complaining about us coddling her.”

Xia laughed, the sound open and free. “Oh, I’ll bet. Tell her you’ll knock her down and sit on her if she doesn’t behave.” Looping her arm through his, she continues. “You have to tell me everything! Let me show you around while you do; I’ve got a little orchard started – the trees won’t bear fruit for another year or two, but it’s pretty. And oh, do you like tomatoes? Please say at least one of you does, I have so many tomatoes and I don’t know what to do with them all…”

She’s freer with her words now too, he noted, holding back a smile as he let her ramble on. She gave him a quick tour; he dutifully admired the gardens, and smiled at the chickens and the cantankerous goat.

Finally she gave him a sideways glance. “But happy as your news is, it could have been delivered in a letter. And you didn’t come all the way out here to see my flowers and be loaded up with spare vegetables. What’s up?”

He gave her a gentle smile. “Actually? I wanted to check on you. I was surprised to hear you’d hung up your sword.”

She smiled, but it seemed more reserved now. “I got out of the game, Wyll. It happens.”

“Doesn’t usually happen to someone who makes the kind of name for themselves as you did.”

She was silent at this. After a long moment he added, gently, “They’re singing songs about you, you know. About what you did.”

Now her shoulders sagged. “Ah.”

“Is it true?”

She looked away, dark eyes staring off into the blue morning sky. “They would hardly sing songs about it if it wasn’t.”

He touched her shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“What is there to say?” She still didn’t look at him. This, this was the Xia he remembered, careful and closed-off. It made him sad to see. “The ascended vampire lord has been destroyed and his budding empire torn down. I dealt the death-blow myself.”

His heart hurt for her. He, too, had grieved what Astarion had become, but he’d never been as close with the vampire as she was. Xia had always been driven to do the right thing, but he couldn’t imagine how it must have felt, having to kill her former lover. “Is that why…?”

“Why I stopped?” She shrugged. “I made a mess, Wyll. It was on me to clean it up. Once I did, that life didn’t have much appeal for me anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and meant it. “We should have been there with you. You shouldn’t have had to do it alone.”

“I did have an army with me,” she replied mildly. “I was hardly ‘alone.’” Glancing over at him, she gave him a small smile. “I’m glad you weren’t, honestly. It makes me happy that you and the others are living your lives. You deserve some peace.”

He returned the smile. “Well. So do you.”

“And I’ve found it.” She leaned into him, wrapping an arm around him in a half-hug. “Listen, I do want to catch up, and I have missed you, but I’m afraid I have to be a bad host. The house is a mess – turns out I’m a much better gardener than I am a housekeeper – and I never get company out here so I don’t have a guest room set up. Maybe we could-"

Just then the door banged open and someone strolled out of the house. Lanky build. White, curling hair. Skin tanned pale gold from the sun. Pointed ears. Clutching a mug of coffee in his hand.

“Darling,” he drawled, “did a blight destroy our berry bushes overnight? Did you have to plant entirely new ones before you could pick the blueberries? I don’t mean to be impatient, but you promised me muffins, not abandonment-"

“Astarion??”

He froze. She froze. Wyll stared between them, his eyes growing wide as he tried to process what he was seeing.

Then Xia turned toward him, slowly, with the absolute strangest expression he had ever seen on her face: a guilty, sheepish smile.

“Explain.”

~15-20 Years Earlier~

Astarion sat on Cazador’s- no. His throne, now. His, all his, and he should be happy about it, damn it. Instead he drummed his fingers, their last conversation playing in his head.

“You will regret leaving me. More than anything else you live to regret.”

She’d simply looked at him with her quiet eyes. “No, Star. The only thing I regret is that I couldn’t stop you from doing this to yourself.”

He scowled. What did she know? He hadn’t ‘done anything to himself’ except seize the power he deserved, the power that always should have been rightfully his. After 200 years of pain, of fear, of being weak, now finally he was the one who was strong. He would never be afraid again. He could have kept her safe too, could have given her everything she ever wanted. Instead she rejected it. Said she liked him better when he was weak. When he was pathetic.

She didn’t deserve him. Didn’t deserve the gifts his power would have bestowed. So be it. She could grow old and suffer and die, while he was beautiful and strong forever, and he wouldn’t care. He was better off without an ingrate like her anyway. He would put her entirely out of his mind and never think of her again.

It didn’t go as well as he’d hoped.

The first thing to do, of course, was make new spawns. He was powerful, of course, but he was only one man. An army of offspring, all loyal to him, all able to be controlled by him, would increase his power exponentially, allow him to effectively be everywhere at once.

So he started.

His first spawn was less than pleased by his new fate. That was fine. Astarion hadn’t suffered under Cazador all those years without learning a few tricks to break the will of a rebellious slave. If the boy couldn’t see the advantages of serving the most powerful vampire lord to ever exist, he would instead learn the folly of resistance. He’d come around in time. Astarion would make sure of it.

The second, by contrast, took to it like a duck to water. She had a streak of cruelty that delighted him, and she was a sensible girl, able to understand the quid-pro-quo of “serve me loyally, and I’ll be good to you.” Yes, she would work out nicely.

It was when he was out hunting his third spawn that he hit a snag.

A tall girl. Well-muscled from hard work. Dark hair, dark eyes – a round face with a serious expression. Not Xia, of course, but similar enough to her that they could have been sisters.

He brought her back, of course, fully intending to turn her. As he should have turned Xia, nevermind that she said she didn’t want it. Once it was done she would have seen the benefits, and even if she hadn’t, she couldn’t have left him then anyway. He should have done it.

Her face came back to him, the way he’d seen it last. Cold. Sad. Judgmental, as if she had any right to judge him. He snarled, the rage filling his mind, and lunged.

When he drew back she was dead, her glassy eyes staring at the ceiling as the tattered remains of her throat slowly dripped onto his second-best couch. Ugh. Such a waste.

He made his first spawn clean up the mess – it would do the boy good to get used to such things. His second spawn (he should learn their names eventually, or perhaps give them new ones) he sent out to hunt a replacement. “And,” he added, glancing back to the cooling corpse. “If you can… find someone who looks like her.”

He could control himself better the next time. Of course he could.

He saw her again, a year or so later.

By that point his influence had grown enough that he was making alliances with other power players, but he wasn’t quite high enough – yet – to force them to come to him. So he was traveling, visiting a strange town to seal a deal.

He hadn’t had to hunt himself for months – his pets brought him all the fresh blood he could want. Still, there was nothing quite like the thrill of the chase, and he was in a new place where his face wasn’t widely known… so why not? Why not, for old time's sake? He donned a cloak, headed to a nearby tavern, and watched the crowd.

And there she was. Singing, for the gods' sake, like she was some common wench and not a paladin. His lip twisted in pity and disgust. If she’d only listened to him, she could be living in luxury right now, her every whim seen to, instead of debasing herself like this. Singing for her supper. She might as well whore herself out.

He stayed and listened, his fury growing as he did so. The song was sad, and told the story of a woman who had loved a powerful man, but her love wasn’t enough to keep him with her and so he had abandoned her.

How dare she. As if she hadn’t left him! As if he hadn’t offered her the world, if only she’d stayed! How dare she paint him as the unfaithful one, how dare she mourn their love! She had no right!

His hunt forgotten, he waited for her until she left the lights of the tavern. Stepping out of the dark night, he grabbed her by the throat and forced her back against the wall. “You know, darling, if you miss me that much you could always come home.” He bared his fangs, moving in closer. “Your place as my consort is still open. In fact, I’ve half a mind to put you there anyway – there are others who would kill to be my most beloved spawn, you’d learn to appreciate it in time.”

A blade pressed against his throat – gods, he’d forgotten how fast she was. Cold eyes stared into his. “If.”

He considered his odds. Her throat was right there – but lunging for it would mean the dagger slicing into his own neck. Possibly he could incapacitate her before it cut all the way through… but possibly not. “Beg pardon?” he asked, playing for time.

“If.” Her gaze grew, if anything, even harder. “I told you that it was a big ‘if.’ That I didn’t see it happening. But it’s getting closer.”

He stilled. He remembered now – a conversation long ago, around a fire. How pathetic he’d been then, cringing and sniveling, as if he needed her approval or affection. “Oh, pretty paladin, please tell me you aren’t threatening me.”

“Not a threat. A warning.” Now she leaned into him, bringing their faces close. “I know that ethics won’t move you, nor morality. Not love, not mercy, not kindness. You’ve seen to that.” Her words were quiet and emotionless, fired at him with a dreadful matter-of-factness. “So I’m appealing to enlightened self-interest. Keep your predations to a reasonable level, vampire. For your sake and mine: don’t become something I’m honor-bound to kill.”

He snarled, hate twisting his features. The blade biting into his neck was becoming uncomfortable; he took a few steps back, pretending it was his own idea, glaring all the while. “The arrogance. You really believe you could do anything to me? To me?”

She sighed. “Oh, Star. You know I was never afraid of you, right? Not once. Not even with your teeth in my neck. That hasn’t changed.” Her knife disappeared, vanishing into whatever hidden pocket she’d drawn it from. “Perhaps you should have been more afraid of me.”

And with that, she turned her back on him – deliberately – and walked away.

And Astarion, for reasons he absolutely did not understand, let her.

It wasn’t enough.

He wasn’t safe enough.

He wasn’t strong enough.

He had an entire horde of spawn bound to him, yes, but they could only operate at night. That was a limitation, and limitations were weakness.

He’d had the idea, once, to cover the city in fog and clouds, blocking out the sun, making it safe for his little pets. So he did. It took a while, of course, but he figured it out in the end.

Of course, then the people in the city were angry. There were rumblings of discontent. That wouldn’t do. The city should be his – he deserved that much, didn’t he? And anyone who disagreed, well. He always needed food. And he always needed entertainment. Those who spoke against him could provide both – quietly at first, then as publicly as possible – until no one else dared to speak.

So the city became his. But then it occurred to him – it was only one city. A single city could be destroyed, could it not? No, it wasn’t enough. To be truly safe, to be truly powerful, he needed multiple cities.

He needed an empire.

And, after all, why shouldn’t he have one? Why shouldn’t he rule this land? Who could stand against him?

Some years into this, the rumors first reached his ears. Whispers of tales told in taverns and common rooms, songs sung in secrecy. The story of a paladin who had been betrayed by a vampire lord, who would ease her heartbreak by taking revenge on her evil ex-lover.

He was furious. He sent out an entire squadron of spawn, with instructions: tear out the tongues of anyone heard repeating this rumor. He nailed the tongues to a board in the square, scores of them, a grisly display for all to see.

But the stories kept being spread.

Soon it was more than whispers. An army was amassing to the west, led by a scarred paladin, sworn to bring him down. Xia's name seemed to be on every pair of lips – a beacon of hope, they called her. A hero, come to free them from the scourge of – well, of him.

He hated her. Gods, he hated her. How could he have ever thought he loved her? It wasn’t enough to abandon him, to throw away everything he’d tried to give her. She had to try to destroy everything he was working so hard to build, too? Everything that would finally, finally make him secure, safe, happy?

They moved slowly. First a tiny border town, one he had only barely secured. The spawn he’d left in charge was killed, the fog dispersed. The people were free.

He sneered when he heard it. ‘Free.’ Free to live their miserable, pathetic lives, perhaps. To die meaningless deaths. Instead of being led by someone with vision, someone who would have protected them, who would only have taken a few lives here and there – and even then, those who died would have known they were sacrificing to further a glorious cause! But no. They wanted to live and die like animals? Fine. He didn’t need that town anyway. He had others.

But her army didn’t stop there. They moved forward, inexorably, whittling apart his budding empire and growing stronger all the while as people flocked to her banners.

He screamed as the reports came in, as he heard of each new city lost. Sometimes he took it out on the messenger. Sometimes he took it out on the townsfolk. So what if he did? It was her fault anyway, for angering him like this.

Then they were there, in his home city, moving closer, fighting pitched battles in the street. It should have been impossible for them to fight him here, in his own territory, but here they were, growing closer by the day. Until the city was theirs. Until they reached his walls.

And stopped.

They didn’t move on the castle.

Maybe they were recovering from the battle, licking their metaphorical wounds. Maybe they didn’t think they were strong enough. Maybe they were doing reconnaissance, or building a powerful weapon, or waiting for the stars to align. Whatever the reason, they stopped, and for months there was a stalemate. Astarion took advantage of it, building up his defenses and training his pets. If they were going to give him breathing room, he’d make them regret it.

Then, after several months, something changed. He wasn’t sure what – he shuddered, as if someone had walked over his grave, and afterwards he knew something was different. Something had fundamentally changed, and he hated that he didn’t know what.

A week after that, the attack came.

The fighting in the lower levels wasn’t going well, he could tell by the sound. His spawn were fighting for their own lives and his, he’d summoned wolves and bats and everything else he could think of, and yet the army kept coming, kept slicing his forces apart.

And then she was there.

In his private rooms. Alone.

He grinned when he saw her. “The years are catching up to you, Xia. Is that grey I see in your hair?” He clucked. “Should have let me turn you when you were still young and – well, as pretty as you’d ever be.”

She regarded him quietly, naked sword in hand. “I didn’t come here to talk, Astarion. I came here to kill you.”

“You still think you can?” He sneered. “Your little soldiers down there might be able to defeat my spawns, pretty paladin. But I am the ascended vampire. You cannot bring me down.”

“I can,” she said – calmly. Steadily. “And I will. I promised to make it quick, Astarion. And it will be.”

With that, they flew at each other.

She was every bit as fast and strong as he remembered – more so, even, after the decade or more she’d had to improve. But he was stronger too. Faster. And he had more tricks up his sleeve.

He drew first blood – the fingernails he’d allowed to grow long, had sharpened into talons, missed her neck but scraped against the melted flesh of her scar. He paused, grinning, and licked a drop of blood off of one of them.

Hells below, it was sweet. He’d forgotten how good she tasted.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy draining you dry,” he purred, and lunged again.

He relished the look of surprise on her face the first time he turned into mist, her sword passing harmlessly through him. He danced around her, waiting for her to grow tired and out of breath, something he no longer needed to worry about.

She stabbed. He misted. He laughed inwardly at the confusion in her eyes as she looked around, trying to figure out where he was this time. Silently, he materialized behind her, moving in for the kill.

Too late, he realized it had been a feint, as she whirled to face him, knowing exactly where he’d be.

Too late, he saw the blade swinging for his neck.

Too late.

In his cold dead heart, he hadn’t actually thought she could kill him, any more than he could kill her. Oh, he could consider it. Fantasize about it, even. But actually do it? No. They were bound together. He would disarm her. Render her helpless. Then turn her, as he always should have, and they would be together. Forever. As it always should have been.

He was wrong.

There was the excruciating pain of the sword through his neck. The sickening spin of the world as his head left his shoulders and tumbled down. The darkness taking over his vision.

Then nothing.

The first thing he was aware of was… warmth.

He was warm.

That was new.

He opened his eyes to see Xia bending over him, her eyes red and puffy, tears streaming down her cheeks. That was wrong. Xia never cried. Not once, in all the time he’d known her.

“Oh gods,” she gasped out, as soon as she saw his eyes open. Then, standing, she stumbled away, turning her back to him as her shoulders shook.

Carefully, he sat up. His body felt… weird. Something was on him, littering his lap and the floor near him. Little stones, or gems maybe, but hollow and blackened as if they’d been burnt from the inside. He touched one and it crumbled to dust.

Something was wrong. Something felt wrong, familiar and alien at once. He stilled, trying to feel it, to understand what was happening to his body.

It was a heartbeat. It was his heartbeat. For the first time in over 200 years.

He stared at the paladin’s back. “Xia… what did you do?”

The answer was slow in coming. When it did, it was in a voice that was dull and despairing. “I undid the most important choice you ever made for yourself. I ignored your wishes and turned you into what I wanted you to be, without your consent. That’s what I did.”

His breath (he had breath!) caught. He stared at the crumbling gems again. Diamonds, he realized. Or they had been, before.

He remembered… oh, he remembered the ritual. He remembered Xia trying to talk him out of it. He’d ignored her, so sure he knew what he was doing, so sure it was the only way.

He remembered everything he’d done after.

His stomach heaved and he doubled over, retching, unable to bring anything up except strings of yellow bile. Still the horror and disgust washed over him in waves.

He'd become his own worst nightmare. He was as bad as Cazador.

No. He was worse.

When he finally regained the ability to speak, he croaked, “Why?”

She shrugged – one-shouldered, listless. “Because I’m selfish? Because I knew I needed to kill you, but I wasn’t ready to live in a world without you in it? Because I would rather have you alive to hate me dead.”

He shook his head, not understanding. “No. Not – what? Why would I hate you?”

She hesitated. “Star. You made a choice. You chose power. That was your choice; my choice was to fight you. And that choice was mine to make… but I didn’t have the right to take your choice away. You’ve been treated like a thing for too long, you deserve to make your own choices about your own life. And I knew that, and I did it to you anyway. Knowing it was wrong.”

He felt sick. “No. I didn’t – I didn’t know. Xia, please, I – I chose to do the ritual, yes. But I didn’t know it would be like this.” He swallowed. “I didn’t know I would be like this.”

She did turn then, tears streaming from her eyes, turned and knelt with him. Shaking, her hands reached out to cup his face. Hope, wild and fierce, blazed in her watery eyes. “You didn’t? Star. Please. Swear it. Tell me you didn’t want… this.”

He shuddered, shaking his head fiercely. “I swear it. Xia, the things I wanted to do to you – I would never.” He covered his face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Strong arms wrapped around him then, holding him close; he let himself lean into her embrace, feeling like he didn’t deserve it. “You should have killed me,” he whispered. “You should have let me stay dead. The things I did… Xia, you don’t know the things I did.”

“You can tell me,” she murmured back, “if you want. But it wasn’t you. If you didn’t know what the ritual would do… then you didn’t choose what you’d turn into. The person who did those things, it’s not you, and it’s not anyone you would choose to be.”

“It was still my hands,” he whispered. “Still my voice that gave the orders. You tried to warn me.”

“I did,” she replied, rubbing his back. “With things I guessed. Suspected. Not things I knew. You were scared. You wanted something to make you strong. I wouldn’t have believed my warnings either.”

He had nothing to say to that, unable to believe in the easy forgiveness but unwilling to reject it either. He clung to her in silence, until the shaking stopped.

Finally he asked, “…What happens now?”

“Mmm. My army is pretty gung-ho on ‘kill the vampire,’” she mused. “Probably you’ll want to lay low for a while. I’ll tell them you’re dead, and after things calm down I can smuggle you out of the castle.”

He nodded, sitting back and wiping his face. “I’ll… I don’t know where I’ll go,” he admitted, “but I’ll figure something out. I won’t make trouble for you, I promise.”

She frowned. “…Oh,” she said after a moment. “I mean… yes, of course you can go off on your own, if that’s what you want.” She hesitated. “I just… can I give you anything? Money, supplies?”

He shook his head, not looking her in the eyes. “You’ve given me the greatest gift I could ask for. I’m… Xia, I’m alive.” A laugh escaped him, soft and disbelieving. “I never thought, never even dared to hope… it’s freedom. True freedom. A second chance, despite everything I’ve done. I… I couldn’t ask for more. I’ve done enough to your life as it is.”

Silence. Then slowly, tentatively, gentle fingers reached out to push hair away from his face. “I mean,” she said, hesitant. “You could do more.”

He looked up then, meeting her eyes with a look of utter confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I delayed my attack for months – over the loud objections of my generals – until I could get my hands on the magics that could bring you back,” she said. “Because I didn’t want to risk killing you for real. I mean that even knowing that I had the magic to fix it, it still hurt more than I can say to see you dead by my hand. I mean that I didn’t do all of that because I never wanted to see you again afterwards.”

Now his eyes filled with tears. “Xia. You can’t mean that.”

“Can’t I?” She met his stare unflinching, and there – in her dark eyes, there she was, his quiet, pretty paladin. “Astarion. My Star. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Nothing has changed that. Nothing could.”

He shook his head. “I’ve killed people. Enslaved people. Tortured people, mutilated people. For bad reasons, when there was a reason at all. I don’t-" He ducked his head. “I don’t deserve you. I never did.”

“Oh, Star.” She reached out, her fingers soft in his hair – and then, suddenly, she was gripping his hair, gently forcing his his head up like she did the first time he fed on her, when he lost control. She raised his head until she could meet his gaze. “I already cut your head off once.”

He stared at her. “I. What?”

“I already cut your head off once.” Her mouth twisted. “It almost killed me to do so, but I did it. Was that not enough punishment? I can do it again, if you need me to; bringing you back should be much easier now. Or I can just yell at you a lot, if that’s easier. Tell you what a horrible awful person you are and why you should feel bad.”

His heart lightened even as he scowled. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Little bit.” Her grip on his hair loosened and she sat back, ruffling the curls once before letting her hand drop entirely. “I could tell you again that I don’t blame you for what you did, but you didn’t believe me the first time, so. Let’s do this instead. You say you don’t deserve me. But what do I deserve?” She leaned in. “Do I, or do I not, deserve to finally be with the man I love? After fighting for him all this time?”

Gods, she was going to be the death of him. Again. He swallowed hard. “Can you blame me for thinking you could do better?”

“Better than the love of my life?” She smiled. “Can you blame me for not believing that that’s possible?” He melted. How, how could she still believe such things about him?

She touched his cheek again, her thumb running lightly over his cheekbone. “Beloved. My night has been empty for over ten years.” She leaned in. “Please. Give me back the stars?”

He felt himself sag forward. Felt his lips meet hers.

It felt like giving in. It felt like giving up.

It felt like deciding to live again.

~Present Day~

As the story wound down, Wyll reached for another blueberry muffin – they were really very good. “So… a combination of Wish and True Resurrection? Clever.”

Xia nodded. “I cast Wish ahead of time, to undo the time limit on my next use of True Resurrection.”

“Which I felt,” Astarion chimed in. “It was itchy, feeling someone mess with my fate.”

“I’m not sorry. Anyway, I took a week to recover from the effects, and then the rest is history.”

He nodded. “How did you know it would work?”

“She didn’t.” Astarion arched an eyebrow, smearing butter on a muffin. “Which I remind her of all the time, that if her theory had been wrong I would be dead for good.”

“Yes, you do, love, and it’s not traumatizing at all,” Xia deadpanned, poking him. “But, Wyll, you can see why we keep it a secret?” Her eyes met his, pleading. “You and I, we knew him before, and we understand the circumstances. But someone who lived through the Dark Times… whose son or daughter or sister or husband was taken to the castle and never returned… they wouldn’t forgive. They’d come looking for him.” She glanced at the elf by her side. “Maybe they’d even have a right to. But gods help me, I don’t care.”

He nodded slowly. “No, I… I understand the predicament. But… well, you understand I’m not the only one who cares about you two?” He leaned in across the breakfast table. “Astarion, I’ve talked to some of the others from back then. We all grieved, when we thought you were dead.” He glanced at Xia. “And for you, when we thought you’d had to kill him.”

Astarion blinked, but recovered quickly. “Hmm. I would have thought I’d burned those bridges long ago. Surely a decade or so of terror matters more than a few weeks of sharing a common enemy?”

Wyll reached out, laying a hand across his pale wrist. “You were our friend. We didn’t forget that, even after you changed. We never stopped caring about you.”

Astarion blinked again, then looked down; there was a rustle under the table, like the sound of one person kicking another. “I told you,” Xia murmured, then turned to Wyll. “Every new person who learns a secret increases the chances that it will get out,” she said seriously. “That’s why I was trying to get rid of you before. Nothing personal, just. That’s how the numbers work.” She sighed. “But… we do trust you. If you’re in contact with the others, if you think they can keep this secret… we’ll trust your judgment.”

He felt a rush of warmth within him at the words, at the two cagiest members of his old party choosing to trust him with something so monumental. “It’s been about fifteen years,” he remarked. “Maybe twenty. Might be high time for a reunion. We could have a party and everything.”

Xia and Astarion glanced at each other, a whole conversation seeming to pass between them. Finally Xia sighed, turning back to him with an expression of resignation that didn’t actually hide the joy beneath the surface. “You’re really going to make me set up that guest room, huh?”

He grinned. “I am. I really, really am.”

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #baldurs gate astarion #xia!tav #astarion x tav #bg3 #etoilewrites #astarion bg3 #non-canon #wyll ravengard #bg3 wyll

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rustytrident · 1 year

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has anyone ever made the connection that mc's cycle of being in the human world and back in the devildom is suspiciously a lot like persephone?

like, sure, this could give us some of the juiciest angst to work with but all i could think about all day was the brothers being absolutely rekt for a whole year – more irritated, strict, snappy – and then the exact moment mc sets foot on that unholy land it's all sunshines and rainbows.

it gets even better when u think ab lesser demons discussing what happened in their days and when they hear that mc is back they feel like jesus himself descended from the highest peak in heaven into the depths of hell to give them a forehead kiss and rid them of all their sins once and for all. the world is full of colour again. the birds are chirping. there are no clouds in the sky.

i could go on and on about this like bro,,,, demon brain just goes "my human is gone :((" and starts malfunctioning just a tiiiny bit whenever mc is in the human realm mark my words (aka the brothers' glares are so cold lesser demons feel like winter has finally settled into their season-less, forsaken land).

#obey me #obey me shall we date #lucifer x reader #mammon x reader #leviathan x reader #satan x reader #asmodeus x reader #beelzebub x reader #belphegor x reader #sing me a song // the song of our glory

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tsahikkk · 1 year

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Eupneic Chance

pairing: aged up!neteyam x fem!metkayina!reader

a/n: after thinking about writing again, this is my first Avatar (Na'vi) fic and whosever worthy to break my hiatus than my love, Neteyam te Suli Tyeyk'itan. I hope you girlies like this :> I also take requests or message me ya kno let's be mutuals!! <3

PSA! the whole premise of eupneic chance is from @theblueflower05 's First Love/Late Spring. they own the intellectual and abstract property of this fic. check it out and bask in all of fic neteyam's glory <3

word count: 3.9k+

warnings: this story is extremely explicit so minors dni. you are responsible for your own media consumption, bestie. also, if aged up! ATWOW is not of your likes, kindly click off. boundaries are there to be observed and respected.

✨SMUTTER SMUTTERY SMUT✨, mentions of drinking and swearing, a lil' jealousy somethin somethin, mutual masturbation, mentions of mating, the d taps ifykyk, not a warning but uhhhh a lotta' fluff if u blink alot

summary: Ftxozä si Eywa'eveng, a celebration of Pandora as the Great Mother blessed her children with fertility, abundance, and grace. Tonight is the height of the week-long celebration in Awa'atlu. Singing and dancing as the Metkayina celebrates all in the praise of Eywa around a large bonfire shone in the heart of the feast. Yet again by the bonfire, Neteyam finds himself enthralled by your presence. Liquid courage and a little nudge might just work as he finds himself wanting you.

vocabulary: Ftxozä si - (v) celebration; Eywa'eveng - Pandora; olo - clan; zeykoyu - healer; Eyweveng - colloquial term for Eywa'eveng; ma'metsmuke - my two sisters (literal transl.); utral - tree; tarpongu - hunting party; eykyu - typically temporary leader of a small group (in this case, a hunting party); timuntxa- mating; sa’sem - parent, a set of parents; Ma'sa'nok - my mother (literal transl.); ma'pxetsmuk - my three siblings (literal transl.); syulang - flower

Amidst the eclipse, people have began piling in the tent as Ronal and Tonowari sat at the head of the banquet. People have brought in baskets of food and abundance while others rolled in barrels of kava in celebration of Ftxozä si Eywa'eveng. Dried driftwood and other organic materials were brought in by the women and children, piling them at the center to make the bonfire.

The opening at the center of the high tent peered light through as the midnight sun and the torches illuminated. As the men piled on organic material, Tonowari stood up from his seat to address his people. "My good people of Awa'atlu, I welcome you to Ftxozä si Eywa'eveng! I thank the Great Mother of the abundance and grace our olo has received this season," he paused as Ao'nung handed him a torch and made his way to the unlit bonfire at the center, "I no longer wish to hold pause on our celebration of Eywa. Let us feast!" He threw the torch as the bonfire is set ablaze.

Log drums were hit as the elderly sing songs of praise. Women and children dances and sang along filling the air with rejoice. You were in the circle along with Tsireya. Feeling your body as you raised your hands in a trance-like dance swaying your hips close by the bonfire. Tsireya laughed light-heartedly as she saw you enjoying yourself. She leaned in to whisper, "You seem to have eyes on you, ma'tsmuke." Tsireya laughed as your eyes widened and you halted dancing. "Stop it, Reya!" you laughed. "What? It is only but the truth Y/N!" Tsireya light hit your arm as you resumed enjoying yourself in the presence of your best friend.

Unbeknownst to you, what Tsireya said is true. Eyes have been looking at you. Many of unmated Metkayina men have been looking for unmated women of the clan to court as Fertility Season is coming in the next few months. They've completed their iknimaya and are now recognized men and hunters of olo' Metkayina. As you were one of the eligible maidens of the clan, celebrations and feasts like this prop as an ideal place to find possible maidens to court; ultimately, find their mates.

Even so, one of these men aren't too keen on looking for mates. Neteyam bore in his mind to the need to carry his weight even if he is an accomplished member of the clan. It's not that he hasn't been growing fond feelings for a fair Metkayina zeykoyu-to-be, its just that the weight he bears is something he didn't find the need to share with someone else. It seems as if he sees it as a baggage that hinders his chances at love.

Neteyam sat in the conversation circle along with his siblings, Kiri and Tuk who seem to have been having a conversation of their own. Lo'ak comes over with a wooden cup of kava. He nudges the cup towards his older brother to drink. "What's up with you and the silence, bro?" Neteyam sighed and drank the kava ignoring his brother. Ao'nung came and sat down beside Lo'ak. "How are you guys enjoying Eyweveng?" clunking his cup with Lo'ak's. He turned and answered, "It's a bit different from what we'd do back at Hometree but same same."

Ao'nung looked over to Neteyam who still silently drank his kava. "What's up with this skxawng?"

"Why so serious, bro? You should be enjoying." Lo'ak nudges Neteyam again. "Must be fawning over Y/N again. I saw him staring at her earlier." Kiri teases. "Yeah! If looks could melt, she'd be a puddle by the bonfire now!" Tuk laughs.

"Oh shut up, ma'metsmuke!" Neteyam replied, annoyed, breaking his silence.

Rotxo laughed as he propped himself against the log they all sat on. "Come on, brother. I hate to pry but your performance in your iknimaya is attractive to all the ladies. Come with us, options, you know? Have some fun!" Ao'nung laughed as Neteyam rolled his eyes, "Give me another." His cup was then filled with kava near to the brim by Rotxo.

"Y/N and 'Teyam sitting on utral! K-I-S-S--" Tuk sang earning the laughter of the circle. "I don't want another lady, Rotxo. And you skxawngs stop the teasing. I'm just fine on my own." Neteyam said in light laughter. While it is true he's fine on his own, he's always been fond of you. Your smile. Your laugh. The way sunlight hits your face when you're out doing your duties for the zeykoyu and the clan. Not to mention, your physique, how blubber made you look supple and perfect in his eyes. Your hair flowing in the sea breeze. Almost as if it's inviting him to come to you.

He chugged the kava he was holding and nudged yet again for a refill. Twice. "Woah, 'Teyam. Calm down. We were just teasing with the kava." Lo'ak said trying to take his brother's cup from getting refilled with the potent liqour. "Kava is not for the light of heart, brother. Take it easy!" Kiri told her older brother who was now propping himself up to sit better.

"I am fine, guys!" Neteyam pasued as he glanced at your laughing self by the bonfire. "Ao'nung, why don't you tell everyone the story about that time when..." Rotxo segued the circle into story.

"Oh thank Eywa." Neteyam thought.

He finds himself enjoying their company but as he looked back to glance at you, only find that you were looking at him as well. You quickly broke eye contact and turned to Tsireya and the other ladies of your circle, blushing mad. Neteyam smiled to himself. He just caught you staring at him and he wasn't gonna let it up.

Tsireya caught the interaction and prodded her shoulder to yours. "You sneaky sneaky! I saw that!" She laughed. Your ears were pink as you defended yourself, "What! There was nothing to see, 'Reya!"

"Y/N still trying to defend herself while her ears are all pink!" Silwani teased. You buried yourself in your hands laughing with them. It was true. You've had your eyes set on the former Olo'eyktan's first born. You didn't care if people whispered demon blood then when they first asked uturu. He was no different than you or any other Na'vi. He is an absolute gentleman and a great hunter, definitely the best if it was up to you. His warm smiles drove you into puddles. And his eyes! His yellow eyes that shine brighter than the most precious gems.

Nonetheless of dreaming, you replied, "But the last I heard, he isn't interested in looking for a mate this fertility season."

"Y/N! How can you say that? Over a rumor, tsmuke? Don't lose the door yet. It hasn't even been opened!" Unipey said feigning to be hurt of your words. "I'm too busy training under zeykoyu to even think about this, my sisters," You said, "I think I need a breath of fresh air. I'll be back." Standing up from your circle to excuse yourself, you were approached by Maru, eykyu of the recent tarpongu. "Kaltxi, ladies," Maru nodded, "Kaltxi, Y/N." You nodded in reposnse.

"What brings you here, Maru?" Silwani asks. "I would like to ask Y/N for a dance if she wills it."

Neteyam seeing this unfold, stood from the log as well. "'Teyam? Where you goin'?" Tuk asked looking up at her brother, stopping the chatter around them. "I have to do this, guys. I can't lose the chance to ask Y/N to Maru. fuckin' Maru." He swigs the last of his kava before walking towards you.

"Oh no, skxawngs. That's Maru-" Lo'ak says, "and 'Teyam..." Kiri continues knowing how much Neteyam has propped Maru as competition since their iknimaya. "This I'd like to see..." Ao'nung leans his legs on the log comfying himself as they all watch the spectacle of winning over a lady.

"Oh, Maru... I'd love to but I have to decl--" You trailed as you see Neteyam coming up to your presence as well.

He gestures to the other ladies of your circle, pressing all four fingers to the brow of his head and sweeping it down slightly to the bridge of the nose before departing from the face downward. "Glad to see you, 'Teyam." Tsireya returns the gesture and announces the obvious while adding emphasis to his name. He stood there proud with a confident smile on his face. "Y/N.." He gestures oel ngati kameie again, to you this time, making sure to maintain eye contact before revealing his dashing smile. Your nod as your cheeks turn a dark hue while your hands fiddle with a strand of your hair as you reply shyly, "Hi 'Teytey."

Maru clears his throat, "As I was offering, Y/N.. I'd like a dance...with you if you will it." He bows his head as his hand prop up for you to hold in acceptance but to his dismay you decline his offer. "Maru, your offer is flattering but I have to decline. Apologies." You said with a smile.

Neteyam's chest puffed in relief and confidence as if he'd prevailed in "winning you". "What are you here for, Neteyam?" Unipey asks as her tail swishes excitedly. The other girls laugh at your now shy figure trying to hold composure in front of Neteyam.

You took a deep breath and squared you shoulders as you looked up to Neteyam. His frame towering yours as you dashed a soft smile looking up at him. "Yes, Neteyam? How can I help you?"

Your eyes dazzling reflected by the lit fire. Neteyam can feel his heart pounding for such beauty before him. He regains his confidence and says, "I'd like to ask you to dance if that's okay with you? I'm not much of a dancer--" He trailed. "I'd love to 'Teyam." You held his outreached hand, "Just don't step on my toes." You laugh.

"I'll sure try not to." He laughs. Taking you by the hand, he twirls as the elderly began singing about the forbidden love of the sky and seas. Other couples began taking the floor. Even Ronal and Tonowari swayed as the song calmed down the heightened feast.

He twirled you around. You danced perfect as if Eywa had blessed your body to flow in dance. "Stunning." Neteyam thought. His hands resting on the small of your back as your rest your head on his chest and your hands found their way to the nape of his neck. "You look beautiful tonight, Y/N..." He paused as if thinking he said the wrong thing, "I mean you're always beautiful, not just tonight. I hope you got what I meant. I didn't mean to--"

You laughed and it was music to his ears. "It's okay, 'Teyam! I understood you. Thank you." You blushed nearing to lean on his chest. You can feel him warm and his heartbeat pounding. You chuckle, "You okay, 'Teyam?"

"Huh? Yeah--yes, I'm good." Snapping him out of his daydream. This dance feels like a dream to him. "Would you like to get some air? Let's take a walk?" You offered. "That would be pleasant." You held his hand through a sea of lovers dancing when you reached the jungle.

"So... what made you come out tonight?" You asked, mentally hitting yourself for such a stupid question just to break the silence. Neteyam lead you up to a large tree trunk top where the ocean and skies came to view. Gathering up his courage fueled by his smug win and the potent liquor, he replied, "I wanted to see you...", he trailed, "Ma'sa'nok didn't want me to just stay in my hammock considering it's a rest day. I decided to join ma'pxetsmuk in the celebration. How about you? I know you're very busy with training." He answered sighing as he pulled it off.

Hearing the waves calmed Neteyam down a little. He noticed you're still holding his hand. His nose picked up a scent, it was you. You smelt of dapophet and healing rose nectar, but its as if your phermones were screaming to him.

"I wanted to see you as well... I also hoped to dance with you..." You replied smiling shyly, blushing still. "Well, it looks like we've accompished something today, Y/N" He leaned to you. Your stiff gait nestled to his as you both took in the beauty of Pandora around. Neteyam looked at you. You are so beautiful in the midnight sun. Your ocean blue eyes glimmered as if it was from the stars. Your hair blew with the breeze as you smiled eyes closed.

"Wow. This view of Awa'atlu is stunning, I must say 'Teyam. How did you find this peak amongst it all?" You replied in amazement. Opening your eyes as you turned to see Neteyam smiling at you in adornment.

Neteyam felt butterflies fluttering in him seeing you. His fingertips lingered on your chin before cupping your cheeks. His eyes bore into yours as you find yourself leaning to his touch. "I know a view way more stunning." He replied before crashing his lips to yours.

His soft lips on yours felt like an absolute dream. Bliss washed over the two of you as your lips parted, immediately missing the feeling.

"Oh my Eywa." Neteyam mumbled while looking at you and holding both your hands on your lap. "'Teyam..." You laughed lightly as you touched you lips and seeing his ears turned a pinkish hue.

He welcomed the beautiful view by just looking at you. He tucked a loose hair strand behind your ears. Noticing how pink they've become. Blushing nonstop, his yellow orbs stared into yours. Making your heart jump. You couldn't help but kiss him again. Making him fall and lay down the moss whilst still enthralled by you.

You straddled his hips while his hands snaked your waist holding you down. You separated for a while, panting while looking into each other's eyes. "Oel ngati kameie, Y/N. I see you." Neteyam said smiling lovingly at you.

"Oel ngati kameie, Ma'Teyam. Oel ngati kameie." You replied as yur hands cupped his cheeks, kissing him with more hunger and want now. His tongue licking your bottom lip asking for entrance. You opened your mouth a moan as his hand gripped your hair inching the distance between you two. "Oh so you like that, yawne?" He teased breathlessly.

"'Teyaaaam--" You whined and wiggled. The more you moved on his lap, he felt himself getting harder and strained with his loincloth. "Syulang, please stop wriggling," He chuckled lightly, "there's gonna be a big problem if you don't stop."

"Oh yeah? What big problem am I gonna have to deal with if I don't stop?" You moved slowly on top of him, teasingly. Your antics led you to being flipped. Now, Neteyam hovered your breathless figure. He still gripped your hips so you won't move. He smiled suggestively as you looked down to see his loincloth restricting his bulge.

In his view, your sprawled hair, blushing cheeks, and swollen lips was all he needed to send him over the edge. "Oh my Eywa, you're so beautiful." "And so are you, my love." His braids fell down the sides of his face. Lips swollen from kissing you a bit harder than you both thought.

"'Teyam, I want you." You said getting red again. "Are you sure, yawne? It's a bit early for timuntxa. I do not want to rush making love to you... I want to do it properly, syulang," That he meant with all his heart. He wanted to make love to you properly just as you only deserve the best underneath Eywa's sky where your love is blessed on the peak of Fertility Season. He imagined you laid beneath him comfortable by a warm fire. To him, making love is a sacred bond of two souls. If he is to mate with you, it should have the approval of your sa'sem, “Is that okay with you, Ma'Y/N?"

"Yes, yawne," you giggled as his dreamy eyes gazed upon yours, "but that doesn't mean I can’t pleasure you." You caressed his bulge, earning a hiss from Neteyam's lips. Palming him through his loincloth, Neteyam was weak to your touch. “Now, I don’t know what you did, when you did, what you did to me,” His breath hitched as your thumb caressed over his clothed tip,” but you got me, baby.”

He slowly sat himself up with you following suit sitting down on your knees as you fondled with the strings of his garment. Neteaym spoke breathlessly, “You see, I don’t normally stutter…” His eyes trailed to you learned over to his body. Your warm hands electric, caressing his shoulders, down to his chest until you stopped at his V-line, “but it’s y-y-you! It’s like you’ve got a spell on me.”

With his breathing getting troubled, you pulled his strings that made hit loincloth fall. His hardened manhood slapping his abdomen with a bit of pre seeping on the tip. Your eyes ogling his size, “‘Teyam! It’s so big.” Your fingertips touching its tip and Neteyam hissing, “Yawne! I’m so sensitive,” He whined as he propped himself near your mouth. Tapping his hard on one side of your cheeks before slapping it lightly on your lips.

“Open up, princess.” Your eyes grew darker at his smirk. Your lips parted sucking the tip lightly. Neteyam groaned at the warm feeling enveloping his manhood. He holds your hair, gripping the underside as you moaned against his cock. The vibrations sending him frenzy. “You’re so good to me, princess. Makin’ me feel so good.”

You held his cock pumping it before fully sucking it down and up. Licking the head, cleaning his pre with your tongue, Neteyam’s head is thrown back, “Oh Eywa, you’ve blessed with such a woman.” Deepthroating him for a good second almost choking. “Y-Y/N! Shit! Just like that, syulang… just like that.” He used his grip on your hair to bob up and down on his cock.

You slid his cock on your tongue out. Leaving a trail of saliva from your mouth to the tip, looking up to his eyes. He felt himself struggling with that look you gave him, “You will be the end of me, yawne.” Your swollen lips with tears edging your eyes, Neteyam swipes his thumb on your eyes. “You gonna take me in your mouth like a good girl?”

You nodded, “Yes, sir,” as you sucked his cock again. His grip on your hair tightened, throwing his head back nearing ecstasy. Seeing this response, you sucked harder bobbing your head on his big manhood. “I’m so c-c-close..hhhnnggg…tiyaawnn!”

You pulled it out from your mouth for a brief moment to kiss the reddened tip before sucking just the head ever so yearningly. Neteyam groaned doing his best to look at you nearing his finish. “Just like that, princess. Take me like the cumslut you are.”

“I’m gonna c-cum. Sh-shit! Where do you want me, yawne! Ugh!” He slid his cock off of your mouth, pumping it with his hand. You sat and looked up to him with your big ocean eyes, sticking your tongue out. “Right here, sir. Aaaah!” You playfully responded.

He leaned down to kiss you sloppily before throwing his head back, “I’m c-cumming! Uughh! Fucking having me so good, princess!” spilling his seed on your mouth, dripping down the sides of your mouth to your chest. You swallowed his seed before smiling proudly. “So beautiful, ma’tiyawn.” He said caressing the side of your face as he leveled himself with you sitting down.

He nears your lips smiling, “So so beautiful, Y/N.” Closing the space between you both, he laid you down as the kiss turned hungry. Neteyam panted as he broke the contact.

“Maybe you’d like to rest, Ma’Teyam?” You asked concerned. His hands trailed to wipe his aftermath from your cheeks. “You think I’m done, yawne? No, no, no, my love.” His hands trailed your clothed slit. “You’re so soaked, baby.” His amused tone teased you.

“Neteeee’ don’t teaseee!” You said closing you thighs with his hand in between.

His hands held your knees as he forced them apart, spreading them, “Who said you can close them?” He said smirking before snaking down to your bottom hem. “Hhnggg Ma’Teyam, please!” you begged as his hot breath fanned a tease.

“May I, princess?” He asked tugging on your bottoms. “Yes, please.” You wriggled them down, throwing them over yonder to be found later.

As your legs spread, your fingers prodded your lips down there open revealing the glistening pink flesh. Neteyam licked his lips before having his tongue swipe your clit in a slick motion. “Ah shit!” You gasped as he swirled his tongue on your heat. Neteyam playfully blew raspberries on your clit earning an approving giggle from you. “‘Teyaaaam.. quit playing!” You giggled.

His hands slowly held yours removing it from the grip on his hair and your thigh. He looked back up to you smiling a toothy grin. “My sweet, sticky,” grazing his nose on your thighs, “pillow princess. Aren’t you, Y/N?” He kissed your inner thighs, butterfly kisses intensifying your satisfaction.

Butterflies were replaced by a knot on your stomach as Neteyam filled his desire of your pleasure. Paying attention to your sensitive bud as he licked. "O-oh!" You yelped as he slid a finger while savoring you, "Just like that, Ne'te!" Neteyam obliged then curling his finger in you as it motioned in and out glistening of your come. Your head thrown back as you gripped his hair ever so needful. "N-Ne'te! Oh my.. Ah!" Your words fail as floods of exhilaration and euphoric moans voiced agape of his feeling. Legs tingling as your breath hitched. He halted with a soft kiss on your labia, abdomen slightly shaky of the high.

He fondled with your folds, all wet and slick from fornication. "Oh Eywa... you've come undone before me, my love." You try to sit up bellowing the end of your arousal. You wiped Neteyam's forehead as you both smiled, smug and sweaty.

Neteyam redressed and sat by you as you heave yourself calm, redressed beside him. You leaned your head towards Neteyam's shoulder. "You know Y/N, if I hadn't caught you staring earlier, we wouldn't be here right now. I don't know where I'd get the courage to ask you." He broke the calm silence of your breathing. "Must be all the hava you chugged, Ne'te." Your words implying a jest at his nervous state by the bonfire earlier. Just as you find your hands cupping his cheeks, wanting to kiss him yet again. Your soft kiss caught him off guard. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach you broke apart giggling.

"I'll never get tired of you kisses, syulang." He said.

"Oh, you better not, mister!" You replied at his ostentatious flirting, "and for the record, I wasn't staring!"

"Oh yeah, you were! Kiri and Tuk saw you!" Neteyam chuckled, "and I got teased because it. They're never gonna let this down now."

"Well, you have me as proof that all of your hopeless romantic courting signals are effective. You no longer have to pretend you have herb deliveries for the Tsahik." You said bursting out laughing as his hand ran through your hair. "You think I wouldn't notice, you skxawng?"

"But in my defense, you've been eyeing me! I just know it!" He laughed in jest as your laughter rang music to his ears.

Sea breeze blew as your laughter died down. As you feel lulled by the waves to rest, you nuzzled more into his warmth atop Awa'atlu in all of Eywa's grace. Neteyam felt himself cherishing this moment. A light snore he heard from your already resting form made a smile creep to his face. Your weight he beared as you both laid underneath the stars. Wrapping his arms on your waist, you snuggled to him sound asleep.

Neteyam kissed your forehead, wishing this moment to last more than just a eupneic chance.

fin.

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