|| love rival || Akatsuki x reader

They're now realizing what a mistake it was to introduce you to the group, now they have competition with their own teammate.

tags: former ninja!reader, gn! civilian reader, established relationships, threats, violence, protective!akatsuki, slightly suggestive in Sasori's || MDNI

Pain

He knows that Konan is harmless and she's not the sort of disrespectful person to go sniffing about where she doesn't belong, especially where he and his partner are concerned. Pain, however, cannot tolerate the lingering touches Konan gives you as she passes by. Her hand brushing yours, guiding you with an arm around your shoulders, and blushing at you. He feels a warning is warranted.

"You are my dear friend, Konan, I have known you many years, but this simply won't do. You are better than how you are acting. Be respectful and leave them alone, and I won't need to inflict pain upon you."

Konan

Oh, well isn't this troublesome. Konan isn't the type to make idle threats, but Pain is her commander and leader. That would not be a wise decision on her part, but she does trust her long-time friend to be somewhat respectful and not place you in any situation where you would be uncomfortable. She's not above putting her foot down if she really must.

"Sir, with all due respect, my partner isn't interested and we would both appreciate you to mind your manners."

Obito

You are his everything. He would destroy the entire world for you. Level mountains, tame seas, there isn't anything he wouldn't do as long as it's within his power. He's pretty surprised that Zetsu even took a liking to you, as he's not one that's expressed interest in most anything other than his eating habits.

"Surely Zetsu is mistaken. My partner isn't a corpse for you to munch on you, nor are they yours for the taking. Keep your distance and I won't have to bloody you up too much."

Zetsu

As with anything, both sides of him are at a near constant quarrel with each other. His light side trying to reassure his darker side that Tobi is harmless and doesn't mean anything malicious by taking interest in you.

"Tobi is a good boy, he means no harm." "His harm is his unwarranted interest in our beloved partner. Fool! You have no sense, do you?"

Hidan

Honestly he could laugh so hard he may undo the stitches in his neck. That old fucker wants his partner?? Is he actually serious?

"Haha! That's fucking rich! You've gotta be at least one-hundred by now, huh? Fuck off, geezer! They're not yours!"

Kakuzu

Clearly decapitating Hidan over and over doesn't make him talk any less. Neither does stabbing him-- but it sure does take the edge off. Kakuzu would rather not deal with the younger man's insufferable stubbornness. You are his lover, his alone, and Hidan had no chance in whatever the fuck kind of afterlife his mighty lord Jashin provides. None. Fuck off, Hidan.

"As if they'd want someone as lowly as you. You don't even pay for your own shit. Remember your place or I won't hesitate to remove you from this world permanently. One swipe and your head will be freed from your miserable shoulders. I'm sure all sorts of insects would love to burrow inside of that hollow space."

Itachi

For a moment he's reminded of Sasuke's little schoolboy crush on you, except Kisame isn't Sasuke. He is a grown adult capable of getting in the way of Itachi's livelihood. Threatening the sanctity of his relationship. He's unlikely to do much other than step in if he crosses any boundaries or makes you uncomfortable. So until something is said, it's just this weird, heavy atmosphere. Kisame starts to speak but Itachi cuts him off immediately.

"Keep their name out of your mouth, Kisame. I won't warn you again."

Kisame

Oftentimes he wonders how lonely Itachi is. He annihilated his entire clan save for his younger brother in a single night. He took away everything he loved and for what? He can appreciate Itachi's past but Kisame doesn't take too kindly to the eldest Uchiha brother being a bit too welcoming and protective of his partner.

"Itachi, a word of advice. Don't shit where you eat. And keep your nose out of other's relationships. You're a good, respectable man and I appreciate your concern in my partner's well-being. Let me handle it from here."

Sasori

There's still the age-old artistic view difference between the two: eternal art vs shortlived art. One could argue both have their merits, but even after all these years it was a sore subject between the blonde and redhead duo. And now you were thrown into the mix.

"If you truly think you're so superior to me, Deidara, then perhaps you'd be more open to what a waste your art truly is. My partner prefers eternal, long-lasting, but there's nothing long nor lasting about, is there?"

Deidara

This was great. Jusssst great. Sasori had been hanging around his area of the hideout more and for what, Deidara wasn't sure. Until he recalled that you had been given special permission to visit from Pain himself. You'd forsaken your village long ago and clearly had no interest in reporting them, so it was allowed. Sasori had begun skulking about ever since and the blonde could guess why he might be drawn to you.

"If you even think about turning my partner into a fuckin' puppet, I won't hesitate to kill you, Sasori. No matter which way I go about it, you'll end up in splinters. So, I repeat. Stay the fuck away from them, hmm."

|| I DON'T GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORKS TO BE REPOSTED, RESHARED, OR EDITED. TUMBLR IS MY ONLY ACCOUNT AND THE ONLY PLACE WHERE I POST MY WRITING. ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS, THE STORY BELONGS TO ME. || CHERUBFAE © 2024

(Image credit and courtesy of @avidbroswer. See what you did to me. 🥺) Take the last line as you will people (it may be lightly implied nsfw *cough*). Yuuji is a puppy boy, and Megumi is a cat.

╴╴╴╴╴⊹ꮺ˚ ╴╴╴╴╴⊹˚ ╴╴╴╴˚ೃ ╴╴

Kitty Boy!Megumi who is all mean scratches and hisses and teeth and claws. He was abandoned by his previous owner and doesn’t care for anyone coming into his space. His sign at the animal shelter reads, “Please don’t touch, will bi—” with half the page aggressively missing. Clearly some people learn the hard way.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who refuses to wear his collar and glares at you when you even think about trying to put it on him and who grumbles and rolls his eyes when you joke to people that all his fighting is him giving you little love bites.

Kitty Boy!Megumi whose favorite pastime is taking up all the space on your couch while in human form like he owns the place. Then, he struts around in cat form to avoid you.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who only gives you the time of day when he’s hungry and takes all your best blankets as soon as they’re out the dryer and disappears under his blanket fortress for two days because he has the silent motto of “what’s yours is his and what's his is also his” apparently.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who clearly understands what you say and knows how to use his words but chooses not to so he can see you pout.

Kitty Boy!Megumi whose ears are always twitching when he hears your voice, who lets his tail rest across your lap when you feel sad, who scoots just the tiniest bit closer when you fall asleep next to him.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who glares at anyone you bring over to your place especially other men, and especially when they sit in his spot (conveniently next to your spot) on the couch or on his floor or at his kitchen counter or anywhere. In fact, kick them out and sanitize the place. And he swears if they block his sunlight one more time—

Kitty Boy!Megumi who pretends it doesn’t feel amazing when you scratch that perfect spot behind his ear and coo out a sweet "'Gumi~". Who gets red faced when his purrs finally break past the cage where he locked them in his chest and vibrate in his throat like a babbling brook before his eyes roll up and his head conks back.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who is trying his best to convince himself he doesn't like his hooman that much but who is also frantically trying to scent your jacket before you get done dressing in the other room to go to class.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who gets annoyed that you take advantage of his love of catnip to get him to do what you want – who when hyped up on the stuff, finally decides to prove that you belong to him and not the other way around. After all, what’s yours is his, including you.

Kitty Boy!Megumi who you realize is very, very good at pouncing.

“If I die in the process, will you join me?„

Nikolai Gogol x Reader ⟡ Warning : slight yandere behavior (kinda) I suppose??

note: i'm sorry for every Nikolai simps if i made him ooc, i really tried my best (and i think he's okay??). i still hope you can enjoy it!!

Official art from the anime.

You were pouting at him when he shoved a candy inside your mouth. It makes you gasp, chewing on it. He laughs at you, clearly mocking. You are about to make a comeback when he stands up to go to the bathroom. You blink a few times.

You don't even remember how you two ended up befriending one another. Wasn't he supposed to piss you off ? Well, he still does. But there was something more perhaps. You are his safe space, one where he can act however the hell his heart tells him to. And he is your home.

Wherever you are, as long as he's with you, then it means you belong there. You could be on the other side of the earth, if he's there, you'd be fine. You aren't properly dating though. You know, that step where no one dares to make a move.

It's so obvious though. The feelings you have for him are pouring out of your heart. Even a blind man could see it. And the way he acts with you is nowhere close to how he can even act toward Sigma. Not even close to how he treats Fyodor.

There is something about you he couldn't explain, yet he wants to comprehend it. No, he needs to. He can't spend a day without thinking a hundred times about your expression, your shy laugh whenever he's around. But he wants to hear you burst in laugh. Why can he only hear it when there's the others ? Can't he be the only one to hear it ?

He needs to know why you can't act entirely like yourself. But he knows. He knows but he doesn't understand. If you love him, can't he be the only one who sees your brightess smile, hears your most sincere laugh?

He'd be a liar to look in your eyes and say he doesn't want to wake up next to you every morning. You are the reason why he's feeling weaker recently. And he loves it. He craves for that sensation, that safety near you. Why are you so special ? He had so much plan with the Decay of Angels, why did you joined and ruined it all ?

But he can't bring himself to push you away. He wants you as much as you do. You're addicted to one another, and there's no way back now. He would kill you if he couldn't be all you need.

... You were supposed to hate each other. You were finding him over the top, and he was thinking you're too simple. But there you both are.

Sitting in his apartment for the last few days before changing place. Picking on each other, just to be annoying. He is the best though, he always manages to piss you off. But do you actually mind ? Probably not.

You sigh, walking up to the small tree. In fact, it was a tiny Christmas tree in a pot. You couldn't do a big one when you need to leave each place so often. You all did it. You managed to all be here to make it and have dinner together. For once you wouldn't be at one another's throat, trying to strangle them. It's hard to get along with them.

Nikolai insisted on placing sweets around the pot, and some candy canes with the garlands. They all let him do so. Why would they say no anyway? It isn't like they'll be the one to be in the apartment a lot.

You stare at the red and white sweet. You can't lie, the colors remind him somehow. He haunts your mind, isn't he ? You reach out to take one in your hand. He's like sugar, addictive and intoxicating. He would definitely be more likely to be the reason of your death. But you don't mind it.

Hearing footsteps coming closer to you, you turn around to see his tall figure hovering over you. He leans closer, to take a candy over the table. At the same time, he skillfully steals the one in your hand. Placing the small candy on his tongue, he inspects the one that caught your attention earlier.

He hums, a faint smirk appearing. “It reminds me of you. You are as sweet as this candy cane. I want to cherish it, and devour it. Just like with you. I bet you'd taste as good. Sugary like, or perhaps more like a cotton candy?„

He approaches, until you become stuck in between him and the wall. His hand creeps to your jaw, gripping tightly on it as the playful light in his eye disappear. “Why can't you laugh the loudest with me ? I'd do anything for you. I'd even die. Wouldn't you do the same ?„

Any sane person would try to escape that situation. Perhaps you aren't as sane as you thought you were, compared to them. You may be as bad as them. Your gaze faltering, your shoulders sagging, you can barely keep looking at him.

“No.. I would. Of course I would... But I may be scared to make you think I am not good enough...„ you admit. After all, who could be enough for a clown?

A deep, low chuckle emits from him. His finger tracing your face, and stops at your nose. “Do you think so ? Have I not been clear enough?„ he gives a gentle pinch, freeing you. He picks a few candies on the table, sitting down on the sofa once again.

He pats the seat beside him, hurrying you to join him. “If I die in the process, will you join me?„ you don't expect such a dark talk around such a joyful period. But he is right. You take place beside him, hesitantly placing your hand over his.

Without even speaking, he already knows your answer. It's so obvious. A playful smile covers his stern look, and he leans to press his head against your shoulder. “That's what I thought. That's why you are the only one who'd suit me.„

Everyone is sure of his feelings for you. If anyone were to deny it, they'd be such fools. But yours, even if pouring out, you would deny it. You know they're real, but you can't trust your feelings. You want to deny them. And he knows it.

He undoes the paper around the candy cane, before tapping it against your lips. “I'll be waiting for you to be sure. Even if it takes years, I'll be waiting. But don't let me die without letting me know I haven't been delusional.„ he half heartedly jokes.

You could guess what was going in his head. And why he left to the bathroom for several minutes earlier. He didn't wanted to snap at you, not when you are so vulnerable. So he had to bring himself back together.

He squeezes your hand, and you squeeze it back. “... I won't. I promise. Let me just a few more days...„ you breath out, and he nods.

“If you can make someone such as I, a clown, be so weak, then you shouldn't be fret about the truth in my words.„ he closes his eyes, sliding the sweet past your lips.

“Thus is the truth about your clown, lovesick for you.„

/ᐠ - ˕ •マ Ⳋ mayuichi's property. do not repost, copy or translate it without permission.

That anon who said they dean being jealous of himself is SO right. I'm LOVING the angsty jealous dynamics you've been feeding us. I'm partial to "young Sam is jealous of old Sam" myself because it's soooo cute and sad. Like yes! Make Sam pout! Make him value himself less! Make him glare daggers at LS!Sam and ES!Dean!!! Make him think he's the odd one out and not wanted! The angst! I'm also dying for ES!Dean to comfort ES!Sam once(if) he realizes that he feels left out. Just UGH. ES!SAM FEELING LIKE THE LAST CHOICE! SO good. I love coming to your blog just to see what you post lol, you just hit every right button for me.

AHHH! THANK YOU!

let's discuss!

SO much of ES!Sam's life up to that point is feeling like the odd one out!

when it's just dean and sam, i think sam doesn't feel like he has to try to fit in as hard. when dean's trying to impress/ingratiate himself with dad? for sure. those awkward few hunts after stanford? 100%

but when it's just dean and sam, they might fight and get snippy, but sam doesn't have to put up a front. he doesn't have to put on airs. in fact, we see a couple times in the show that when sam's trying to be something he's not with dean, it's to protect him/protect his feelings.

so for ES!Sam, to have that safe space (lol pardon the phrase) GONE--sam's only completely authentic space (bc even with jess, he had to hide huge parts of himself)--

it would definitely put him off-balance. to sam, dean is choosing a different, better version of sam. ES!Sam felt safe being his own bitchy self with dean, but to have ES!Dean so clearly prefer a version of sam with all that removed, i wouldn't be surprised if ES!Sam felt the pressure to change to meet ES!Dean's new preferences.

which of course he resents! sam spent so much of his life being told to change: by dad, by dean, by other hunters, by himself.

to find out that your only true safe place to land can, does, and will prefer a seemingly faultless version of yourself?? bro. immediately confusing and devastating.

and even outside of the meta-dynamic of their relationship, ES!Sam is confused! and scared!

because he's also in love with dean. so to be usurped so easily both platonically and romantically?? GRAH! it drives sam crazy!

because he's not even sure which parts he's "allowed" to be mad about. he's not sure if glaring at the space where LS!Sam has his knee pressed against ES!Dean's in the car is an "acceptable" platonic jealousy, or if it's part of his sick-wrong-bad possessiveness that ES!Dean is his.

he's not sure if wanting to rip off LS!Sam's face for making ES!Dean laugh like that is annoyance that ES!Sam's superpower is communal or fury that ES!Dean is capable of belonging to someone else.

he's afraid of coming out and saying a lot of it, because what if it's too revealing?? what if he missteps and ES!Dean recognizes that ES!Sam's agonized ire is because he wants to suck his cock until he can't see straight?

he's annoyed and he's mad and he's upset, but bottling it up is all ES!Sam really knows how to do unless he wants to bring their house of cards down!

as for comfort, i think ES!Dean at first would not recognize this at all, lmao. for all ES!Dean's attentiveness to the changes in ES!Sam's moods and needs, he thinks he's just being a little bitch about the whole thing (his regrettable choice of words, not mine).

like c'mon, we're both weirded-out by this whole thing. we're in this together! and being rude to LS!Sam&Dean is not going to change our situation. dean does not take slights to sam lightly, even if the person slighting LS!Sam is ES!Sam.

i think it would take something stronger for ES!Dean to realize that ES!Sam's feelings are genuinely hurt--or at least confused--about the whole thing. ES!Sam avoids him like the plague, and these men do not sit down to talk about feelings, lmao.

maybe ES!Dean stumbles in on LS!Dean & ES!Sam talking, and LS!Dean is obviously comforting him, hand on the back of his neck, and ES!Sam's got a pink nose and shiny eyes and ES!Dean kind of blows up, because what the fuck did you say to him? what's going on in here?

LS!Dean rolls his eyes and shoves him off like go talk to your kid. i'm not here to mediate your bitchfits.

maybe it finally comes out later, ES!Sam not really able to look dean in the eyes, that he's sick of dean being so whipped for LS!Sam, and since when did dean need other brothers?

ES!Dean doesn't know how to express the fact that he's so taken with LS!Sam because this is a brother that wants him back! that needs him back! LS!Sam loves the hunt and he loves dean, and he's not shy about either of those things! if LS!Sam has free time, he spends it with dean. if LS!Sam is bored, he goes to look for dean. ES!Dean is thrilled by the promise of that future, of a sam who is gorgeous and strong and sexy as fuck and wants dean!!!

so he fumbles his way through it like "c'mon, sammy. he's you."

"is he, though? he's...i don't know. it's hard to recognize myself in him. he's...different....than i thought he would be. i guess."

ES!Sam doesn't know how to say that out of the four of them, he's the only one that feels Other. he wants to be part of this, but they don't make it easy.

ES!Sam doesn't know how to navigate on the outside of the Sam&Dean dynamic. he is the Sam in the Sam&Dean dynamic--he's realizing how strange and alienating it is to be not Sam or Dean in that, and he hates it.

"you think i'd put up with some guy that wasn't you?" dean scoffs, and they both kind of stare at each other for a second, because that was dangerously close to the truth.

"listen," ES!Dean follows up quickly, because he's not willing to let those words sit in the air too long, for the off-chance that ES!Sam will have time to process them. "you're my sam, okay? my pain in the ass little brother. this guy is sam, but he's that dean's sam. so. y'know. they're not us. or ours, or...whatever. you're still the little shit i'm gonna bug first."

it's tense for a long moment, unsure if that was too honest, too revealing. ES!Sam's still breathing a little fast, and ES!Dean keeps shifting on his feet.

"you're an asshole." ES!Sam finally says, exhaling, looking genuinely un-strung for the first time in weeks, and ES!Dean practically slumps forward in relief.

"aw, sammy. you sure know how to make a girl blush." he coos, and ES!Sam swats him away, all it's sam, you know it's sam.

and ES!Dean is smiling and rolling his eyes and his hands are still shaking under the table like yeah, yeah, whatever you say.

GAH!!!!!!!!!!!! jealous sam! devastated sam!!! isolated sam!!!

YOU GET IT!!!!!!! YOU UNDERSTAND THE VISION!!!!!!!!!

thank you for this ask!!! and for your kind words!!! mwah, mwah, mwah! <3

-lizzy

Headcanon: Shego and Drakken have no separate bedrooms (long post).

Not sure if anyone has thought about or noticed this before but hear me out!!

In the season 2 episode Sick Day, we can get glimpses of Shego and Drakken's 'bedrooms'.

Following the storyline of the episode, Shego is the first one to get sick because of her fight with Kim, she then stays inside her room to ensure Drakken doesn't get sick after which Drakken teams up with Killigan and then gets sick as well.

Looking at this room, we clearly can see that it's Shego's. It's green-themed, has a make-up table, drawers for her clothes, etc. But when I watched this episode (multiple times), I was so freaking confused about Shego's bed. It looks so uncomfortable, too small even for a 1 person bed and nothing indicates that this is one of those beds that you can pull the backside up for back support since it's one big 'piece'. Of course, the backgrounds are stylistic but if you look at the drawers for example, you can see the lines that indicate where the drawer can open.

A-ha! This is not a bed, this is a sofa.

Shego likes to read and lounge about, so she would definitely have a nice cozy spot to sit on to read her magazines. But that leaves the Question: Where in this bedroom is her bed? Answer: There's none because there's not even space for an actual bed.

Just like Drakken's bedroom, Shego's room has a moat surrounding the middle platform. Placing a bed here would end up in having a too cramped space in here. Now take a quick look at Drakken's room.

Something that caught my eye (and surprised me on the first watch after all these years) was how big and RED Drakken's bed is. Both Shego and Drakken have colors that lean towards cool tones rather than warm reds and they (most of the time) stick to their themes. So it's very odd for especially Drakken, who's blue, to have an entire bed that's red. It's not even his opposite color since that would be orange. What else: his entire bedroom is JUST a bed with surround-sound speakers and a TV.

My theory: This is Shego and Drakken's shared bedroom. 1. Shego's bedroom(?) Shego's room in this episode isn't her bedroom but a relaxation room, full of her personal belongings. This is the place where she goes to take a break and be alone. Having her own relaxation room isn't uncommon since in the Christmas episode, it's confirmed that Drakken has a 'mudroom' in the lair but he doesn't even know what it's for. So he either let it be made for Shego not really caring what was in it or doing research or Shego took it upon herself to get one installed. Her mini spa as you will.

So if that's not the room in which she sleeps, what is?

2. Neutral grounds The bedroom we see Drakken in is also Shego's bedroom. Let me explain:

Both characters, like I said before, have 'nothing' to do with red; at least at first glance! If you look at the color wheel, you can see that their specific colors together make for the balanced opposite of red. (I went through multiple colorwheels and posting all of them would make this post even longer so yeah have 1).

So we can say that this area is neutral terrain for both of them. They can go in and out of here as they please, without any hassle or the other saying "This is MY bedroom." because none of their personal belongings are in this room.

3. But then WHERE is Drakken's stuff? His lab. It's probably all in his lab.

SO HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED: 1. Shego got sick after the fight with Kim, but none of them knew that Shego was infected. Getting sick usually takes a day or two (at least for me) and so Shego found out that she was sick a day or two after the infection.

2. She stayed out of their shared bedroom and remained in her relaxation room to quarantine herself in the hopes that Drakken didn't catch her cold and he could focus on his plans. However, since it's been at least 2 days, Drakken also would be infected because of their shared space.

3. After a while, Drakken got sick as well and went into the bedroom because he had no lounge sofa or anything to lay in. He has just the bed.

My conclusion: Shego and Drakken share 1 bedroom to sleep in. The bed is big enough for 2 people. Shego probably sleeps more than Drakken does and maybe they take routines with one person sleeping at a time or so, maybe they sleep together with each of them at the furthest end of the bed.

Or my whole color theory and background analysis is off and it's just red because it makes the blue in Drakken's character pop, but there's one more piece of desperate-looked-into 'evidence' that shows that they have a 'relationship' in this bedroom:

there's a FREAKING HEART on the wall that STILL DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME OTHER THAN THAT THIS BEDROOM IS THEIR LOVE NEST.

May it represents them having 1 strong bond or them screwing each other's brains out on a Friday night after karaoke time, idk. It can't really be a random hole because of the lack of depth and there are no small holes anywhere else in the room. It cannot be a shadow since it doesn't line up with anything else in the room, the underlaying line isn't shown and the color is slightly off/darker when color is picked and compared to the shadows of the tunnel in the back of the room.

So yeah it's just a big heart being there. Probably just to fill up the space but idk, I'd like to think that there's ALWAYS thought and meaning behind every detail in whatever art or media there is. So there you have it! My overly in-depth analysis. I probably went way too deep into this theory, but I like to think of it this way (especially since I've been drawing cozy cuddle scenes that I'll be posting here later).

Anyway do what you want with this info and I hope you have a good day<3

So a small one-shot I wanna make. Just for fun. Not even gonna edit before posting. This is just an idea scratching my brain.

Jason Todd had to leave Gotham for a bit. He might only be 14 but both parents were arrested and cps wanted to take him away. He got on a bus and went to a town a state over. It was a small town named Amity. The residents didn't pay much attention to things since it was considered a very haunted place. Things were usually blamed on ghosts.

Jason ended up at house that used to belong to a pair of ghost scientists before they left Amity swearing to never do anything with ghosts again. It was only abandoned in the early 2000s. And no one would say why. But it was still a rather nice house all considered. There was a lab in the basement that Jason decided not to go near.

One night when sleeping in a bedroom looking to belong to a young boy who loved outer space he hears a voice. It's echoey and hollow somehow "Why are you in my room?" Jason sits up and standing at the end of the bed is a young, white haired kid. A few years younger than Jason.

After Jason's eyes adjust he gasps seeing that this kid is glowing a soft green. And is clearly heavily injured. Electricity burns tracing his pale skin and sharpnel sticking out of his chest. Looking more his eyes are black. Not as in his irises or pupils. His irises are a bright green and his pupils are normal. The whites of his eyes are black.

Jason is sitting there in shock looking at this dead child staring at him

The child speaks again "Why are you in my bed?"

Jason finally speaks up "I lost my home. I just need a place to sleep."

The child nods understandingly "Okay. Well scoot over I'm tired too."

The next morning Jason learns that the child's name is Danny and that he died in his parents lab. His parents were devasted by the loss and left town in order to get away from what killed their son. But didn't realize that Danny was still in the home.

Danny wasn't tied to the place and could leave if he chose. But he had no where to go and the only loved ones he had were his immediate family. He was staying and waiting for them to return and realize he was still here.

Jason didn't know how to tell Danny that if they hadn't returned after almost a decade, they likely never were coming back. So instead Jason tells Danny about how he doesn't have any family right now either. And the two form their own family.

As Jason becomes older and is taken in by the bat family eventually becoming the Red Hood. Before he goes to get his vengeance he stops to get his first found family. His partner in crime.

Heritage

@wonderlandwondering here is the ficlet inspired by your prompt! Thank you!

Lan Qiren hadn't expected Wei Wuxian to be the first person visiting him so early in the morning - but then again, he's given up trying to make sense of the man long ago, so he receives him without further comment. He looks a lot more like himself now, and a lot less like Mo Xuanyu - which makes him, in turn, more similar to his mother.

Lan Qiren doesn't like thinking about her.

"Teacher Lan, I have a request for you." Wei Wuxian begins, and Lan Qiren is once again surprised by the serious tone in Wei Wuxian's voice.

"What is it?"

"Do you have any of my mother's belongings? Even just homework or essays she's written..."

Lan Qiren closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in. "What brought this on?"

"I've been... thinking about her recently..." His hands wring together slightly in his lap. "Lan Zhan and I want to adopt a little one to raise together and that's been making me think a lot about my parents... I don't even know my mother's actual name..."

Lan Qiren closes the notebook he has been writing in, and places his brush down before standing up to go to the furthest side of his office, opening a drawer.

"Your mother's name was Ren Xinyi." He takes out a thick stack of papers and returns to hand them to Wei Wuxian. He gazes upon them, upon his mother's delicate, elegant calligraphy, and skims through what appears to be an exam paper. Her writing is articulate and her points are well-argued, betraying a vast knowledge of cultivation practices.

Reading her paper feels a lot like her speaking to him across time and space and death. His hands tremble holding the papers.

"You used to be a lot like her. You are a lot like her."

"No wonder you never liked me." Wei Wuxian chuckles, with a slight edge of bitterness. Lan Qiren refuses to acknowledge how unfair he has been to do that - openly, at least. Though he cannot lie to others, the rules do not forbid him lying to himself.

"Your mother was a very bright student and a powerful cultivator. She was highly sought after, but her affections had clearly fallen on your father from the first day they met." A lot like you and Wangji, he doesn't say, but Wei Wuxian hears it anyway.

"She wrote the rules twice as much as you did, I personally saw to that. She would talk a lot, so I'd try to silence her, but she figured out a way to break the spell..." an embarrassed sigh, "...and would cast it on me instead."

Wei Wuxian laughs again, the image in his mind hilarious. While he can picture his mom as a young person somewhat, he can't imagine Lan Qiren young, and so his mind conjures the current Lan Qiren struggling to break the silencing spell, scandalized and frustrated.

"She also traded pornography in the Cloud Recesses. This is how she and your father met, actually. I personally caught him purchasing a picture book from her, an original work of all things!"

Wei Wuxian finds this both amusing and embarrassing. To think of his parents reading such things...! But then again, at least he knows who he got it from!

"She brought a duck to the Cloud Recesses once and tied a forehead ribbon around it. Called it Lan Quackren. All because she believed me unfair for punishing her for sneaking off with your father in the library."

Like you and Wangji do, he again doesn't say, but Wei Wuxian knows that's what he meant.

Wei Wuxian looks through the papers, and his eyes catch onto - "A portrait?"

Lan Qiren sighs, this time neither embarrassed, nor angry. Rather, it's more akin to sorrowful.

"Your mother could befriend anybody, no matter how closed off they were. I don't know how, but she also befriended Madam Lan. One day, when your mother and your father decided to leave the Cloud Recesses, Madam Lan had me bring her this portrait as a gift. She left before I could catch her, so I kept the portrait to give her if she ever returned. This is what your mother looked like."

Wei Wuxian takes in the details of the picture with tearful eyes. A woman smiles sweetly at him, long, dark hair cascading down her back and shoulders, a small headpiece holding some of it away from her youthful face.

She has simple robes on, and eyes that look just like Wei Wuxian's own, so kind as she smiles that it's unmistakable it's her. Wei Wuxian faintly remembers that, the warmth in her eyes when she would look at him.

His eyes catch onto some faint writing that appears on the back of the portrait and turns the paper around.

Please receive this gift to immortalize the day you found out you'll be bringing a little one into the world. I wish you an easy pregnancy and a healthy baby!

Wei Wuxian bursts into tears before he can stop it.

I have read through your entire Foster This Love tag and my only regret is that I stumbled upon it just before bedtime

Here's a thing I'd like to see:

The first time Tara sees Sam get mad (like really, truly, teeth bared white knuckled someones about to get it mad) it's not at her but it is for her

i.e. someone upset Tara and Sam goes 100% Mama Hyena on them

I am so sorry for your pain lmao.

That is such a difficult request because there are so many possibilities. How do I choose? Argh. It's gotta be a bad experience with a social worker, right? Here's how Tara learns that Sam loves her.

Tara's been with Sam a year when they have a 'review'. This is someone new, someone Tara doesn't know. It immediately sets her on edge. They talk about her progress... or well, lack of it. How she still can't read or write, how she's not in school, about the meltdowns she's had at the therapist's office. The time she had to be hospitalised because she had a severe anxiety attack that set off her asthma.

He doesn't sound happy, and he sits there with a frown on his face. It makes Tara want to hide. But something tells her that would be bad. And the soshul worker doesn't want bad, they want to see good. Sam tries to object, to tell him about the progress Tara has made, about Sidney and what she thinks, but he won't let her speak, he keeps interrupting her.

Tara sits there quietly, fidgeting beside Sam on the couch. She wants to crawl into Sam's lap and hide there, but the man had taken one look at Tara clinging to Sam's leg when he arrived and said "isn't she a little too old to be hiding behind you like a child?" Sam had said Tara is a child and put an arm around her shoulder, but Tara's stomach had begun to twist, and the touch suddenly became too much. She'd needed space.

Then he says he wants to talk to Tara alone, and that's when she begins to shake her head, overwhelmed. She doesn't want to talk to this man, she doesn't like him, he's mean and she wants Sam to stay. Sam tells him no, and he doesn't like that.

He stands suddenly, and it makes Tara jump, slipping from the couch herself and taking a few steps back.

"Well Ms Carpenter, to be quite honest, I'm not very impressed by what I've seen here today." There's something in his voice that makes Tara think he's enjoying what he's saying, even if there's a frown on his face. "The girl was-" "Her name is Tara," Sam interrupts, standing herself.

"Tara, was placed with you because you were her sister, and it was determined that perhaps that would be what's best for her... despite the obvious... concerns. Clearly, it was a mistake to overlook them."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Sam demands, raising her voice.

"It means," he says, sighing, "that Tara will clearly be better off elsewhere. You're not equipped to take care of her in the way she needs. I see no evidence of-"

"NO!" Tara finally finds her voice, the words he's saying registering in her brain. "No no no." Her hands begin to shake and she bolts forward to push at his legs. "GO AWAY," she cries, sobs choking in her throat. He has to go away, to leave them alone. Tara belongs with Sam and now he wants to take her away.

Sam pulls Tara back with hands on her shoulders, telling her it's ok and breathe, sweet girl. The social worker is less than impressed.

"Is this the kind of unacceptable behaviour you've been encouraging?!" he rants, "I will be-"

"You will be leaving," Sam demands, pushing Tara behind her. The girl buries her face in Sam's side. "The only unacceptable behaviour here is yours!"

He begins to argue back, insulting her, insulting Tara. Sam's hands form into knuckles, skin tight from the force of her grip. Sam almost takes a step forward to push him back herself, stopped only by Tara's grip on her leg. She reaches a hand back as she feels Tara begin to hiccup through her cries.

"You came in here with your mind already made up," Sam states, voice unsteady. She's trying to calm herself down. "I love Tara and I am the best damn thing for her, and if you think I'm just going to let you try and take her away when all it will do is hurt her, if you think I'm going to just let you stand there and try to say that none of this is good enough, you've got another thing coming!"

Sam turns, jaw tight with anger, and picks Tara up in her arms. "It's time for you to leave, and your office will certainly be hearing from me. You know where the door is."

s2e2 here we goooooo. i have not found a better way to do this, so i'm doing it the same way.

once again, spoilers and uncharitable opinions and unfunny jokes.

So anyway, to do my minimal diligence in telling you what's going on, Kwan Ha shows up again at the end of episode 1 (she's the one Soren's kid has been sneaking off to and talking about monsters with).

Anyway.

Episode 2 already off to a bad start.

Halsey is somewhere talking to a girl named Julia, asking her about what she sees when she leaves this place (Julia doesn't say much) and about a man in charge.

Chips on the table: this is a Spartan-III and the man is Ackerson. I'm putting my bet down here.

Also, she gets a nose bleed and passes out so that's normal.

Then we have Kai talking to Riz and about her injury, and Riz insisting she's fine. Kai even suggests Riz put her pellet back to reduce the pain and Riz says:

Kai and John talk about how they kinda miss Halsey because at least she trusted them vs Ackerson.

I've mostly been distracted by this frame, though, because it has some Spartan names we haven't seen in it:

So we know there are at least 5 teams and they're using some old canon Spartan-II names.

Also, we've had it stated directly that it's been 6 months since the end of season 1. Which is a very short amount of time to have had multiple planets glassed, those campaigns each generally took months to fight out in the main canon.

What's important here, though, is that Cobalt team (mean jocks from earlier) are being put on standby while Chief knows they are still out on a mission and haven't come back yet, so he's getting upset.

We don't get any conclusion to this yet because it's time to jump.

Kwan is back, like I said.

I'm glad Kwan is back tbh because -- let's be clear, the show's bad and I felt like Kwan's subplot went fucking nowhere and didn't contribute much, which seems to have been a pretty common opinion. But if the show ejected the asian woman character just because that subplot was received poorly, it would've been much worse than having a weak subplot in the first place.

Kwan, as a survivor of Madrigal, is supposed to be in indentured servitude on the Rubble but she's gone on the run and is being tracked down by a guy with a scanner reacting to this fucking spike they put in her ear.

There's a chase scene, and she manages to rip out her ear tag and ditch her tail for a bit down in this trash compactor type zone, then she manages to space one of them and kills the other by stabbing him in the fucking head with her tag???

I think the implication we're supposed to pick up from the dialogue is that Kwan was accepted onto the station by Soren, but now that Soren's gone her indenture belongs to other (worse) pirates.

Meanwhile, this man (Louis) is suggesting that Riz take it easy and Riz, who has been beating a table with a sledge hammer, is taking that super well.

And there's physiotherapy.

Louis is a Spartan washout. He talks to Riz about how there can be more to life than being a Spartan, but Riz struggles with that and is clearly worried about being perceived as weak from the injury she got at the end of S1. She says some hard shit that she immediately walks back because Louis is an old friend and you can tell they care about each other. It's a million times better than the shit they did with Chief and Soren back in S1 and thank god.

Meanwhile, back at the hall of justice...

Chief is having a conflict with Ackerson about not clearing Silver team to go do missions because he thinks Chief's account of events at Sanctuary (the Covenant were already there before the glassing began, and they retreated from the fight with him) is suspect.

Ackerson tells him that the marine (Perez) doesn't corroborate his story and TV Chief shows character growth from last season by not manscreaming about it. Very proud of him.

I am kind of starting to enjoy Ackerson's nefarious shitweasel bit, it's more entertaining than a lot of what Halo TV makes me watch.

Laera (Soren's wife, I should use her name) confronts the crew of the ship that left when Soren got bagged. (I just don't care about Soren's subplot so I didn't bother to cap it, sorry.)

Meanwhile Kwan has an argument with Kessler (Soren's son) in the hidey hole they've been using as a hangout spot about the reality of the situation.

Did I mention Kwan has better hair this season? She does.

Anyway, then Silver Team is doing a training exercise. Riz is struggling. Also, they have her running SO FAST so you know that she's supposed to be the show's version of Kelly.

Also, we actually get some endearing Spartan interactions which are the only thing on this show that I truly like. (Vannak teases Riz about losing and brags about how he never loses, Kai and Riz are like ugh at him.)

Anyway, I'm out of images again. See you soon.

Today's chapters of the Beetle remind me that I still don't have much of a handle on when unmarried men and women were allowed to spend time together in the 1890s and when they weren't.

Dora and Marjorie both show up to Sydney's house in the daytime, unchaperoned, and that seems to be fine. No one mentions it, and you'd think Marjorie's dad would if it was improper.

(the rest under a cut because long)

In earlier chapters, he does object to her waiting in the House of Commons, but it's also clear that he doesn't know where she is or who she's been with a lot of the time, even at night:

‘I thought that you were at the Duchess’?’ ‘So I have been, papa; and now I’m here.’ ‘Here!’ Old Lindon began to stutter and stammer, and to grow red in the face, as is his wont when at all excited. ‘W—what do you mean by here?—wh—where’s the carriage?’ ‘Where should it be, except waiting for me outside,—unless the horses have run away.’ ‘I—I—I’ll take you down to it. I—I don’t approve of y—your w—w—waiting in a place like this.’ ‘Thank you, papa, but Mr Lessingham is going to take me down.—I shall see you afterwards.—Good-bye.’

It seems like Marjorie basically does what she wants and goes where she wants to, even if her father doesn't always approve. And the very conservative Mr Lindon doesn't seem to be much bothered by this. That is, he's very annoyed that Marjorie doesn't do what he tells her, and describes her acquaintance with Paul Lessingham as "compromising", but the impression I get is that this is much more about an objection to Paul than it is to Marjorie's general behaviour.

I'm trying to square this with other reading about the period. For instance, from an American etiquette book in 1892:

In Europe, where social lines are distinctly drawn, a young woman either belongs "in society" or else she does not. In the former case she is constantly attended by a chaperone.

Dora and Marjorie are clearly both young women "in society" but there's no sign of either of them being chaperoned, including at a ball.

Or there's this, about women in public space:

... suffragist Margery Corbett Ashby (1882-1981) maintained that the ABC (Aerated Bread Company) Teashops in London were 'an enormous move to freedom', providing cheap meals with female staff enabling 'respectable' women to use them.

... which implies that this is a culture that would frown on women going to a café with male waiting staff, even during the day, in a public place.

I don't know quite what to conclude from this. A couple of possibilities:

These etiquette rules were less strictly followed than I thought. Maybe what Dora and Marjorie are doing is the social equivalent of driving at 75mph on the motorway, and taking that etiquette book literally is a bit like reading the Highway Code and assume that that's how everyone drives all the time.

Richard Marsh is implying more radical behaviour by his female characters than was immediately obvious to me as a modern reader. Marjorie is written as a rebellious, independent New Woman, after all, and it might go further than I realised.

Is the protagonist of Love & Deepspace, the character the gamers play as, is she actually the god Astra?!

Question?! Is the MC fully Astra with memory loss? Or is she just a part of Astra?! I am unclear which, however I am convinced that she is Astra in some way!

So, in the end only she has the ability to forgive Zayne, help Rafayel's people and restore Xavier's world and position!

Truly only with the power to control destiny itself, can you make three powerful men forget everything, duty, family, friends and loyalties to do the most irresponsible things.

I like how it's all working out as well, that all 3 storylines converge at the exact same place and time, yet separated just enough to help her to fulfill that one last thing she needs to do restore her memories. I suspect this is clearing 4 trails. A normal, an ice, fire and light, aka Orbits! She could do everything across three different timelines from the exact same place.

Yet, I am so curious as to what she is going to look like when she merges into or takes the form as Astra. Will we then be able to use our own created looks and pick our hair colors?! (We know now that the game supports that) I wonder how many creatio cores we need to get to unlock her new skills!

The fact that Zayne doesn't recognize her as Astra also lends to the fact that she could be able to change or manipulate her form or that she's in a completely different form from the true Astra at the moment.

We are told we would get new abilities right at the start of the game but I haven't seen any!

Why do I think this?! 1)MC has the power of Astra! One of the creatio protocore was placed inside her and she just absorbed it because it belonged to her. And Zayne clearly said that she could use that power to destroy Astra's plans, but then she just didn't do anything as he disappeared.

2) When she almost drowned with Rafayel she didn't question anything about that, she just carried on as if nothing had happened. She was supposed to think that Rafayel was weak, that he needed her protection, but she didn't really even question how he protected her when she was the one who was supposed to be protecting him.

In his back story, Rafayel didn't give a reason for giving up everything for a princess he hardly knew, he just starts sacrificing! She has the heart, or is this really the creatio protocore?

3) I don't think I even have to explain Xavier. Just all of the whole of Xavier's back story. You don't just abdicate because 'don't feel like it', then simply piece out off to another time and place in space leaving everyone and everything you've known forever behind. The whole thing doesn't flow naturally!

Anywhoo... theory! Astra is manipulating these three guys for some reason and using love (or rather obsession) to do it!

Can't wait to find out what she is up to.

Dean's grief couldn't be contained, as he looked down at the face of the angel, his angel, he sank down to his knees, feeling the full weight of the loss. His protector, best friend, the love of his life, even if he won't ever tell him that last one. Won't have the chance now.

He places his hand over the wound, the speck of blood where the angel blade he wields everyday in battle has betrayed him.

He presses against the fabric of Cas' shirt, his rough callused hands getting caught. Dean looks up as if to pray, pray for the power to heal. But it's useless, the only person he prays to is Cas, and he doesn't think he can hear him anymore.

Through the wet tears welling and spilling down his face, he sees darkness behind him feels and the ruffle of sand moving in the nighttime wind. His eyes are drawn to that darkness and he sees the black outline of Cas' burnt wings. All hope that he will get Cas back fades. Angels don't come back from this.

He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against Cas' forehead before willing his arms to cradle Cas' body and pull him against him. It feels weird, all of his limbs are shaky, his legs are numb, asleep from who knows how long kneeling at his angel's body.

Cas looks so pale on the table. The life drained out of him, correction, the light burned out of his vessel, which has been Cas' body for years now. The literal light in Dean's life faded, but only the darkness of the night invaded those once bright spaces.

He works on autopilot, wrapping the body and building the pyre.

"Are you ready to go?"

He feels a hand on his shoulder, but it doesn't feel right, that's where Cas' hand belongs. Where it's seared into his skin forever. He turns to see his brother there, brows creased in concern, puppy dog eyes full of their own tears. He looks around and sees he's still standing by the now-burnt pyre. How long has he been here?

He's lost time again. Just like when Sam went to Stanford and dad left him for his own hunts. The words echo through his mind: Everybody leaves you, Dean.

Dean clears his throat, willing his voice to work, and hands the keys of Baby over to Sam. "Yeah, why don't you get the car started?" His voice comes out horse, like he's been screaming, or dying of thirst.

The hand squeezes his shoulder before letting go and he feels Sam leave.

Dean turns and sees the spot in the beach where Cas died, the dark pool of dried blood and the shadowed expanse of wings. It isn't right, he's seen Cas' wings before, when they were in full glory, large, looming, showing the power of Cas. And he's seen them broken and burnt, the result of someone betraying Cas and tricking him to fall. But that was bound to happen right? After Cas fell for him, would this have happened any other way? He caused Cas' broken wings, the burned wings in the sand now.

Dean can't leave them, but they are the only thing left. Just more ash.

He goes back inside the house. A house that Cas found and was going to raise the child in, his brain supplies him with.

Rummaging through the cabinets, Dean finds both a small and large jar. He finds a shovel on the side of the house and goes to the funeral pyre.

Sam is already there, clearly either not going to Baby or coming back to look for Dean. He reaches out and takes the jar and shovel from Dean, who grunts in reply as Sam starts to fill the jar. He will thank him later when he is able to speak again.

Instead, he trudges back to the spot and kneels down collecting some of the charred sand into the tiny jar. The last remnants of his fallen angel. He tucks that into his jacket pocket. That is just for him.

He can't let others see the wings. They aren't for them. They aren't for anyone.

He kicks the sand, harder and harder, tears starting to fall again. His toes tingle through his boots as he takes out all his grief in the action. He is good at this, at destroying. He gets rid of the physical evidence of Cas' death, but he can't rid the ache in his chest.

When all evidence of Cas' demise is gone, he wipes his eyes. He won't let Sammy see he's been crying again.

Walking to Baby, Sam is leaning against the door, holding the jar against his chest, his head bowed. He walks up and hugs Sam. Cas was his friend too.

Sam nods curtly and climbs into the passenger seat. Dean takes his angel's ashes, buckling it into the backseat. In Cas' seat. Steeling himself, he climbs into his familiar seat, in his home. Their home.

Turning the engine, he avoided looking into the rearview mirror. There's no use. Those warm blue eyes and soft smile won't greet him.

He dips one hand in his pocket and holds onto the jar containing the ashy sand.

The last semblance of his angel

Some Lines!!

I've been tagged by EVERYONE for last lines, first lines, and heads up 7-up, so here, have a chunk! :D

cw: suicide mention, bullying, abuse mention, mild violence

In another timeline, Dexter Canning, in another place, in another world, you pass Kaede Taneka straight by. You ignore the wham! of the trio of bullies slamming him into the lockers, because your car is out of commission, and you can’t afford a cab if you miss your bus. In this timeline, though, you double back. You slam your hand against the lockers beside their heads and growl, “Do we have a fucking problem?” They flinch and one takes a step back. You lean into their space and slowly make eye contact with each one. Say slowly, clearly, “This. One’s. Mine.” They scamper off and Taneka punches you in the arm, a little too hard to be friendly, “Thanks, I guess. But I don’t belong to anyone. Remember that.” In this timeline, Taneka is you bisexual awakening. The fire in his eyes and the dagger sharpness of his voice does something to your stomach you don’t know how to explain. In this timeline, you pursue it, and you fall into each other, and he ends up your boyfriend. In this timeline, you nickname him Bunny due to his vegan rabbit food diet, and he calls you babe, a nickname you never thought you’d approve of. In the other timeline, you and Taneka never cross paths again. He commits suicide because of the stress of abuse at school and worse at home. You vaguely remember his name floating around at school sometimes, and you think, “Wow, that sucks.” And you move on with your boring, empty life, and you get a boring, empty job, and you die boring, empty, and alone. But at least you get a life. Some people aren’t that lucky. But this timeline is the good timeline, although it doesn't seem that way at first. Because in the good timeline, Bunny gets kicked out of his house because his mom finds incriminating texts from you on his phone. You’re living in your car. You’re both homeless for a number of weeks, but it’s where you and Bunny are together. It’s where you and Bunny are alive and breathing, even when it’s hard, even when it’s miserable. In this timeline, because of Bunny’s finger on the pulse of the underground queer scene in the city, you find Markie and Carolyn’s Home for Displaced Queer Youth. It’s not official. It’s not a charity. It’s just two trans women in a house too big for them who have soft hearts and a savior complex. In this timeline, that’s how you become a witch.

TAGGING @winterandwords @drippingmoon @kaiusvnoir @oh-no-another-idea @magic-is-something-we-create @andromedaexists

and EVERYONE ELSE to share your lines with me! you can take this as any of the three games I was tagged in. just share!

I probably won't be writing much in the next couple months, but please keep tagging me so I can see your things!

on the "i was born into this, but i was never supposed to belong here" train of thought, everytime i think allaros would make a pretty decent qunari while having him dating the iron bull, it irreversibly alters my brain chemistry.

bull had to leave because he tried to fit in so much to the best of his abilities, but even with his endless loyalty something was always off. bull sees allaros, and there's this devotion to the role and to people that goes before anything personal, the strict order of things and restraint in smallest details. it's about bas like him, and cassandra, and madame de fer, they've achieved that outside the qun even though the qun promised it's impossible.

bull says, hey, vivienne, hey, cassandra, you would make a pretty decent qunari, hey, are you sure you're not, maybe, just a little bit tamassran, ma'am? bull sees allaros and thinks, hey, maybe the south isn't going just straight to crap with that hole in the sky as fast as i thought. he thinks, maybe i can respect that, exactly because allaros can be judged by the qun's standards.

the iron bull sees allaros, and they're different.

allaros is the reminder of what bull let himself overlook in himself to create a convincing mask. bull starts to respect him, but this is why allaros is the reminder of that if bull doesn't clearly separate what his role is and who he actually is, it would show how far away he's strayed. so bull has to remember that pleasures he found in the south aren't his to enjoy, that he isn't the iron bull.

allaros is the reminder that he is hissrad.

and if bas could be like that without the qun, what does it say about the qun. and if bas could be like that without the qun, what did bull fail to do.

and if bas like the inquisitor or madame de fer have ended up under the qun, he knows the simple truth about the invasion he learned years ago. that the qun is the good idea, but it would shed blood of so many he doesn't want to see that. they would be great qunari, but they would have to show it by taking stitches and serving their arvaad. there's no real place for them under the qun, and in this conclusion bull strayed so, so far away.

and then this very person gives an order a good qunari would disobey, and bull simply does not, and he's declared tal-vashoth. this very reminder in a form of an elf thinks it was a good decision, even though he has no reason to, because these men aren't even his to care about. his reminder puts a few before the duty and alliances, and so does bull.

his reminder of what the good qunari leader looks like is suddenly very bas. it's always been that way, lavellan has never stopped being bas in bas society.

bull is a qunari in the alien land of bas, and it's always has been that way. suddenly, it's much more lonely because in a similarity lies an understanding, but that bas would ever be able to understand him is just another illusion he let himself be amused by.

earlier that would serve to get him in line, now it gnaws on the empty space in his chest.

allaros now is a reminder of an unmeasurable gap between bull and home that understands him, but the one he will never be able to reach again.

then, bull finds out that allaros also always was doomed to not belong. neither to his clan, as much as they care for each other, there's nothing but damage and guilt, nor to his homeland because he loathes orlais. and he would never be a good qunari.

for both of them, their home had no place for them to fit in.

and then, there's understanding.

When Sevyn started to follow @desireedumont around town this morning, he didn't expect it to go like this. Upon his daily check-in on Desiree's security cameras, he quickly noticed the lack of her usual safe and stable transportation, and grew uneasy watching her take to the subway solo. Doesn't she know she's not some common nobody? That she doesn't belong there? Where anyone and everyone is sure to have their undeserving eyes all over her?

Naturally, he needed to intervene.

Des proves to him time and time again that she's one of a kind. No one has ever caught him in the middle of tailing them, yet she did, and had the guts to approach him about it on top of it. To take it a step above everyone and everything, like she always does, she flirtatiously invited him back to the office with her after her errands.

He accepted immediately.

Apologies to her staff were clearly an afterthought, as she showed no regards for the way she was blatantly ignoring her assistant's slew of questions while she eagerly dragged Sevyn along by his shirt. The way she barged in like she owned the place – well she does but that's not the point – turned him on and he hoped she couldn't tell how rock hard he already was from merely being in her presence. Letting the door to her office fall shut with a slam, she didn't seem bothered enough to lock the door. He noted the fact, deciding to investigate later whether that was because she knew no one would dare barge in, or if she almost wanted them to.

"Lovely office, really," he compliments with a smirk as she pulls him into her, kissing him fervently.

"Quit pretending you haven't seen it," she calls him out on his bullshit again, not missing a beat. The exchange goes right to the blood rapidly gathering in his steady hardening cock.

Sevyn takes Desiree's face in his hands as he deepens the kiss and backs her up against her desk. The office is decorated with plenty of opportune spots to wreck her on. He wants to devour her and each one again and again, especially her too expensive looking suede couch. That will have to wait until another time, or later today if he's lucky, because he can't wait long enough to make it away from this desk.

Within seconds her skirt is hiked up, the both of them quickly making space for her to adorn the top of her desk. A few more seconds and Des has his pants undone and falling down, desperately grabbing at his cock while he scrambles to do the same to her tits. He might be impatient but he dreams of her tits day in and day out, so he can make time to take them in his mouth, rolling the soft buds to hard while she pumps him in her hand. The pair moans out from the buildup at the same time and both know they just want to be connected... now.

Sevyn leans back and pushes her panties to the side. They're wet and a little sticky, matching the way he can already feel pre-cum building up on his tip. Maintaining eye contact, he spits on her folds and stiffens a reaction at how cute she looks when she feels it make contact with her skin. A little blush creeps up on her face and he swears its the cutest thing he has ever seen, next to the way her back arches and her jaw drops when he starts to push in. She's soaking and he bottoms out with ease. Heavenly sounds fill his ears when she feels him start to move, legs subconsciously moving to lock him further into her. One elbow rests next to her, the other hand squeezing at her neck in all the right places while he rolls in and out. His pace is relentless, but steady, and it doesnt take Des long to come to her first orgasm. Even less time to come her second. By the third, her legs are shaking uncontrollably and he can feel the vibrations from her moans in his chest. His hands are now white from how hard they're gripping her desk and he's truly surprised he hasn't cracked the wood somewhere on it yet. It's taking everything in him to not cum already. The feeling of her wrapped tight around him is truly divine and he wants nothing more than to praise her for it for the rest of his life. A few moments later and she's clawing at his now bare back, his clothes were discarded somewhere amongst the chaos and unnoticed by either of them. Wincing through the pain, he still has a smile permanently etched across his face from the pleasure of knowing he's with her. Sevyn adjusts his angle and Des buries her face in his neck, biting down in attempt at relief from the brutal attack on her g-spot. His eyes squeeze tight when she begins to cum for the fourth time and he can't hold it anymore. She cries out around his cocks and he grunts in her ear as he fills her up. In hindsight, he should have asked her if she was ok with that, maybe offered to pull out and cum all over her goddess-like body, but he would be lying if he pretended to be sorry. If anything, he wants to do it again and again, high off of the knowledge that she is walking around with his cum seeping out of her, reminding her of him and their time together. "Uh, Des?" an unknown female calls out through her door, and the two scramble to sit up and gather what little of themselves they can. "What do you need?" Des calls out, desperately trying to shove her tits back into her dress and make sure its zipped. "Just reminding you of your zoom meeting with the head of the next scheduled runway show," the woman follows up and walks away without waiting for an answer. "So what I'm hearing is I can hide under your desk while you get down to business?" Sevyn offers out. He is answered with laughter from her exhausted chest and he swears this is the happiest he may have ever been.

@lunaetis whispered: “All we do is think about the feelings that we hide.” [ abyss lumine to war ! ] STAYING THE NIGHT PROMPTS | ACCEPTING

               He looked up from the shattered casing of The Dalek. For the last few moments, they'd been sitting in silence while The War Doctor had been calculating what The Daleks might've wanted with an alternative abyss, and why they were going out of their way to mount a full-scale invasion against an army and a place of this scope. These Daleks seemed smaller, skinnier, their designs more compact- they seemed to harken back to the earliest design of Dalek this man had ever seen. "Invasion models? But for what purpose?" He looked at the inner casing. A Khaenri'ah guard had destroyed it but was shot by The Dalek during its death. Always taking something with it, even in death. The Doctor let out a sigh as he continued looking inside The Dalek's casing.

               Then this alternate Lumine spoke. She dressed, spoke, and seemed a lot like the Aether he'd met in his Lumine's timeline. 'Prince of The Abyss' he'd been called, so he only assumed Lumine had gone down a similar road, or at least a more tragic one. They'd exchanged words, previously- as this man had gone through a bit of an experience. The Time War was eating away at the gate of this universe, but it hadn't experienced the worst of it, yet- so The Doctor had found himself hopping around different points of this universe's timeline- chasing the invading Dalek army. In the process, he'd accidentally watched this Lumine's life pass in a flash of a moment. "Yes... I suppose." He wasn't really sure how to talk to her, and what to talk about. She seemed eager to convince him of something. "I have nothing to hide, though, I'm afraid. I know what kind of man, I am." He said.

               He had NEVER introduced himself to her, he'd NEVER given her his name. He'd ALWAYS been this figure that seemingly hopped through her life, never aging- never changing. He had muddy brown hair, almost grey-like- tied in an awful bun, but the hairband was a soft white (aged, unfortunately) but it CLEARLY belonged to someone else. So did The Bandaid across his nose. He kept MOMENTOS. The rest of his outfit was a contrast. A brown leather U-Boat jacket, a grey waistcoat, a bandolier, and a faded red scarf. His pants were dark orange and his boots were covered in mud, but hidden by some World War-style Gaiters. In the bandolier, rested only one thing- a cylindrical silver device with a red endcap and a red light on the end.

               "Now why are they attacking, I wonder? They took over the abyss in my timeline fairly recently." He stopped to ponder something. He pulled the Kaled Mutant out from the Dalek casing, throwing the mutated squid aside and looking inside the circuitry. He realized something quickly when he examined it all. He gave each wire a scan with The Sonic Screwdriver from his bandolier. "Oh OF course!! It's The Abyss!! The Howling!! The Void!!" He looked toward Lumine, distracted by the information he'd realized- talking to her as if they were exactly the same as the one he'd met.

               "You see, the Void is OUTSIDE of Time & Space, so it doesn't have any doppelgangers!! It just has one void. It's the space between spaces." He moved to wiggle his hand, "Your abyss kingdoms- they just occupy different spaces, far out from each other! So you think there's only one!! But miles away!! In an abyss nobody can navigate on their own- You have other palaces, the same palaces!! Occupied by DOPPLEGANGERS!!" He pounded The Dalek's casing, letting out a long sigh, "I understand, now." He stood up and looked outside the windows of the throne room. Her Abyss Kingdom was burning, "And we should do the same... navigate the abyss... because I'm sorry, your soldiers are no match for The Daleks." He knew the Abyss could fall to The Daleks before, they'd taken it once in the past- his past- before, and those were primitive models- only a fraction as strong as The Daleks he was facing in The Time War.

                                                                           "Order them to withdrawal."