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mermaidsirennikita · 2 years

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IAD Hero Power Rankings: 14...?

In the home stretch!!!

I actually read not one, but two books in rapid succession (one was a novella but whatever) and I'm adding threeee heroes because while Sweet Ruin was Rune/Josie, Shadow's Seduction was the first IAD book with a queer love story--Caspion/Mirceo.

And I wasn't sure how to rank them, because they're not like... competing against each other, and their story is obviously intertwined. Ultimately, I'm ranking them because I liked one a little bit more than the other, BUT!!! They'll be close together. As they are in the story. Just railing each other after orgies. Like best friends do.

Also, RUNE. Poor traumatized sweet baby assassin rune.

Lothaire Daciano, the Enemy of Old, vampire, Lothaire

Pros:

–well you can’t say he isn’t goal-oriented

–takes kids trick or treating

–does not support rape or child murder; and he actually likes dogs a lot!

–“ELIZABETH. WITH MY COMPLIMENTS. YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR CLAWS INTO ANOTHER ONE OF MINE. ROT IN HELL. L.” he says as he tries to make a point when sending her his Heart in a Box ™, failing to make that point because it’s clear that he’s just sitting in his murder castle listening to teardrops on my guitar on repeat

–listen between the tittyfucking and the “let me drink my heroine’s virgin’s blood after I very literally pop her cherry” moment, you can’t call him boring

–actually hilarious, basically just a very scary vampire with a to-do list punting decapitated heads around like they’re soccer balls

–just did some shifter beheadings!!! it not like he goes around cockslapping gnomes!!!!

–loves a couch sex moment

Cons:

–does support murdering everyone else if need be, casting out innocent souls to achieve his aims, unleashing untold evil, trench coats, biting unwilling people and being like “look if it gets weird go with it”

–clinically insane

–will forget someone he was talking to like half an hour ago because he’s lost all concept of time and space, will talk to himself during sex to be like “DON’T KILL HER @ me!!!”

–Ellie spends like 30% of this book covered in his semen, to the point that she literally just goes to sleep in it in order to piss the demon inhabiting her body off

–I thought he couldn’t sleep because of his madness but when you get to his POV he’s like “MY DICK IS TOO HARD FOR ME TO SLEEP”

–watches everyone have sex, which, considering this series, is a lot of people. I don’t even think it’s sexual it’s just his shit

–his only friend is a teenage quarterback, but then again, that QB is Thad and Thad is God

–put the Valkyrie queen underwater to drown eternally and forgot where she was lmao (this came out before The Old Guard…..)

–was into “juvenile skullfucking”

–Update: responded to an official royal missive from the vrekener king with a MESSAGE IN BLOOD that was like “oh shit y'all exist?–L”… too Goth to rule….

2. Garreth MacRieve, werewolf, Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Pros:

–invented “werewolf versus demon” basketball because he was SADS

–smells Lucia masturbating and is like WAIT WAIT WAIT I CAN FIX THAT

–gets Lucia off through prison bars…. a determined man

–engages in a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote dynamic with his heroine for a YEAR where he’s just chasing her around the globe while she crushes him with trucks and shit… he sees it as foreplay

–is actually truly the most woke werewolf hero; rightly points out to Lucia that she’s not exaaaactly being chaaaaste when he’s tearing that shit up every night even if there’s no penetration; keeps himself from going full moon crazy with magic in order to keep Lucia from being pressured into sex with him, and even when that magic breaks super holds back until she makes a conscious decision; does not do the Ritual Doggy Style Full Moon thing because he wants to look into her eeeeeeyes and ground her and even puts her on top, a KING

–catches a special new butterfly for her and names it after her leave me alone I’m crying

–“lass, I’m about to make you a widow” …. this shit works every time

–even a GOD can’t make him hurt Lucia

Cons:

–does not believe that women should have jobs after they find their werewolf soulmates, but to be fair, he is completely right, why the hell would I work if I had a rich werewolf soulmate who hunts big game for me and does all the cooking and cleaning and work and shit

–is honestly big stupid about plunging into danger

–is honestly big stupid about a lot of things… plan for keeping his woman from pursuing her immortal mission was “I’ll just fuck her until she passes out and then I’ll go do big mission for her”, admirable but not flaw-free logic

–was gonna help Lachlain steal a baby

–BIG “dumb younger brother” energy

–“we’re werewolves we’re very curious and always have to solve mysteries” lmao okay Scooby Doo

3. Rydstrom Woede, demon (king), Kiss of a Demon King

Pros:

–called Sabine a “good girl” even when she’s actually being a bad girl

–is explicitly a dom

–the first time he smiles is after she flips him off

–is into spanking

–takes Sabine to a bar and everyone leaves the bar because she’s evil and he’s all “awwww baby I don’t understand why they don’t like you :(” when she’s committed, like, war crimes… down ridiculous…

–his big comeback to his enemy is like “lmao well I’m about to make your girl’s eyes roll back in her head SOOOOOOO EAT IT CUCK”

–has two elaborate fantasies in this novel: a) suspending Sabine from the ceiling and edging her until he lets her grind against his face B) watching Sabine cuddle their cute baby. The duality of demon king

Cons:

–I mean I guess he did some pretttttyyyyy dubious shit to Sabine, but only after she did them to him

–met a woman and became her friend and talked to her for days and literally didn’t remember fucking her once until she reminded him…. I thought it was funny

–that time he went at Sabine’s tits for so long that the next day she was all “THEY HURT SO BAD” so I assume he was like a newborn baby or something

–“I don’t have any fetishes!!!!” has every fetish known to man

–was so down ridiculous that he went to try and kill himself to save her… this is a pro… but I’m gonna pretend it’s a con

–is pretty hard on Cade who was just trying!!! his!!! best!!!!!!!!!! but again this is only mildly a con because his disappointed dad thing is hot

4. Conrad Wroth, vampire, Dark Needs at Night’s Edge

Pros:

–exceedingly good at removing obstacles between him and what he wants

–a virgin and SUPER embarrassed about it in a way that is INCREDIBLY precious (when he finally fucked this woman and went “So I was good?” I almost fucking wept)

–murder puppy only wants death and blood (until he discovers………… other things)

–a natural born dirty talker

–BABY BOY…. BABY BOY…./EVIL

Cons:

–has erectile dysfunction for a significant part of his book, he gets better but I was so sad for him

–I mean, is fully insane and wants to murder his entire family, but nobody’s perfect and Nikolai kinda deserves it

–wears sunglasses indoors

–got aroused while buying underwear for her and had to limp home

–made Bowen MacRrieve sad and that makes me really upset because I love Bowen MacRieve

5. Uilleam “Will” MacRieve, “MacRieve”, werewolf, MacRieve

Pros:

–literally called “bucket list” among immortal women because he’s the one you have to fuck in case you might die someday

–incredibly family-oriented and so HYPE to put a baby in there, which could be horrible but with the werewolves it’s always hot

–has the sweetest relationship with his twin ever like please Munro and MacRieve always having each other’s backs and knowing what the other is feeling and being devoted to each other stop

–incredibly dangerous hot hot hot but so gentle with Chloe in those first chapters, literally just left a bag over her head so that she couldn’t see him in beast mode and get scared

–listen… he’s got Issues, but he does the fucking work in the end and ows them and in myyyy opinion the Issues are pretty fucking valid

–LEASHES THE BEAST FOR HERRRRRRRRRRRRR I WEEEEEPT

–the mouth on this dude (in all ways)

Cons:

–is maybe the most traumatized hero I’ve read in these books, which is saying something, and that means that he reacts PRETTY FUCKING BADLY to the Chloe reveal and does treat her badly before it gets better

–has like very little control over his beast for most of this book so he’s just like werewolfin’ out all over the place while Munro goes “I don’t even know why I bother”

–that time he threw up after taking Chloe’s virginity (not his fault but YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES MCGIIIIIKES)

–is called bucket list because he only knows how to fuck and can’t have emotional sex or even sex like a person he only knows how to have beast sex which to be fair sounds like fun sex but is not necessarily like… romantic and shit

–it’s implied that he does the battle shit for running the MacRieve settlement and Munro is the one who actually reads the legal shit, which like I’m glad that works and all but it seems pretty irresponsible lmao

–there is no living villain in this book, the villain is MacRieve’s trauma, which is very good and deep but also TOUGH BRO

6. Bowen MacRieve, werewolf, Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night

Pros:

–is a werewolf general

–was celibate for 1200 years after his lover got so scared of his wolf form that she gored herself on a tree stump (lmao)

–spent those 1200 years trying to bring her back to life

–great at catching and preparing seafood

–breeding kink (wants to put all the bairns in Mariketa)

–kinda into bondage…?

–gets hard at the thought of Mariketa’s carnage, even when he is the carnage

–update pro: gets sent to a party by himself so that Mariketa can run an errand and just sits there confused and miserable at the bar by himself waiting for her to show up even though he knows people there; I imagine this is much like that SNL skit about a dog park for boyfriends, where the shy boyfriend hides under a picnic table

Cons:

–kind of a fuckboy (will say his dead lover’s name when he comes, ONE TIME, but “Mariketa” and “Mariah” begin similarly so)

–doesn’t like it when Mariketa chant incantations into her mirror because it creeps him out

–breeding kink (casually tries to get her to stop taking birth control)

–makes fun of Mariketa’s vibrator, even if I found that actually hilarious

7. Lachlain MacRieve, werewolf, A Hunger Like No Other

Pros:

–chewed his own leg off to get to Emma, pinned her to the ground in broad daylight, and inhaled her neck like a fucking FREAK

–actually pretty good at being the werewolf king (saves Bowen from his own stupidity multiple times, much daddy, very authoritative)

–saw Emma kill her own dad and basically swooned

–is absolutely down to get his blood sucked… through his penis (I believe he says that’s the only way he’ll accept BJs now…?)

–gets by on missing 150 years of progression purely on intimidation, which I personally find deeply sexy

Cons:

–I mean yes Lachlain is one of the rape-iest IAD heroes even if most of that was werewolf instinct and burning alive for 150 years

–doesn’t know how to use an iPod

–but will max out your credit cards

–a werewolf supremacist (is this a bad thing…?)

–says “Kiss me like you want to live” which I guess I should put as a con because it’s non-consensual but whatever I was dow–

8. Murdoch Wroth, vampire, Untouchable

Pros:

—just extremely determined… his heroine can’t bear skin to skin contact? He’s gonna use an icicle as a dildo. He fucked up so bad she fled to an ice kingdom? Well, he’s gonna fucking find her

–probably the closest IaD gets to a himbo… HE WAS MORE THAN A RAKE, DAMMIT!!! HE DIED IN A WAR!!!!!!!

–I don’t think y'all get how impressive it is that he consistently hit the clit through a blanket AND fucked her to orgasm with an icicle for like a year

–is actually a very good brother

–finds out his woman maybe married another guy and goes “she’s going to be a widow” I love mess

Cons:

–I mean does bitch a lot about how sexually frustrated he is but his heroine is an ice princess who can’t stand skin to skin contact without extreme pain so……………………… I do get it blue balls kill

–will masturbate to the thought of you in the shower while you’re unconscious six feet away covered in arrow wounds… if that’s something you’re not into…

–has confidence issues because the Wroth brothers are rattled off like Nikolai: the leader! Sebastian: the brain! Conrad: the mysterious babe! Murdoch: … the slut?

(do love that the Wroth bros are the Charlie’s Angels of this series)

–bit Dani without her consent blah blah blah

9. Cadeon Woede/“Cade the Kingmaker”, demon, Dark Desires After Dusk

Pros:

–extremely loyal to his brother (which I found cute)

–orders ahead to get pre-packaged food for Holly to accommodate her OCD, while helping her Walk on the Wild Side

–was the first guy to 69 with his heroine in this series

–stalked Holly for like a year (stalking is love)

–gets adorably tongue-tied around her, but not in a lame way

Cons:

–lied to Holly for like… that entire book lmao (even though it was fun)

–is called the Womb Raider for a reason, apparently (a little tooooo potent)

–sort of fucks with Holly’s birth control, in the sense that he made sure she was super fertile, but to be fair Holly did not… actually… take birth control

–threw out Holly’s OCD meds, though I chalk this up to the year the book was published

–just sort of drove around giving Holly head for WEEKS while Rydstrom was getting sexually tortured, so like…. maybe doesn’t have GREAT priorities…. maybe has the best priorities… Rydstrom was fine…

10. Nikolai Wroth, vampire, The Warlord Wants Forever

Pros:

–deeply efficient and good at his job (being a bloodthirsty warlord), which turns his mate on as much as it should literally everyone else

–scars all over

–very family-oriented, which means he’s extreeeeemely daddy, and very much uses that in the bedroom

–will try to make nice with your bitchy sisters for you

–is receptive to therapy, even if the therapist was his beaten and bruised brother whose advice was basically “do better”

Cons:

–did steal Myst’s chain and used it to make her come on command; which, while I liked it, was very much non-consensual

–insecure about Myst’s history as the greatest femme fatale of the last couple millennia (though he gets better and decides to be a sex-positive feminist)

–that time that he turned his little brothers into vampires against their will

–was so down bad that he literally started to waste away when Myst didn’t let him get off for five years

–does not properly heat his manor

11. Thronos Talos, vrekener (cough demon with wings cough), Dark Skye

Pros:

–virgin hero!!!

–surprisingly kinda naturally kinky (not surprising, it’s always the God warriors)

–gets hilariously flustered constantly throughout this novel

–was the sweetest little baby boy when he and Lanthe were kids he just wanted to bring her food (dead rabbits) and hold her in his baby wings

–secretly swears a lot for a heavenly angel

–is just trying his best to run a kingdom and getting responses back from Lothaire like “wow your species exists??? wild bro” and “I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF YOUR BODY AND LAUGH IN YOUR FACE” from Rydstrom so honestly? snaps for Thronos

Cons:

–was a bit heavy on the slutshaming what with his God warrior origin story

–is cursed with secondary bonerism what with his wings being…. very sensitive…. tertiary bonerism as he also has the demon horns?

–was going through a demon identity crisis throughout this book which I personally found hilarious but it was rough for him

–insisted on losing his virginity through that Mormon sheet thing

12. Trehan Daciano/Prince of Shadows, vampire, Shadow’s Claim

Pros:

–has MAGICAL INVISIBLE-MAKING MIST

–beats the shit out of everyone in this book, basically…. hot

–is apparently a really good uncle when he’s not trying to kill his relatives

–was actually extremely romantic with Bettina and liked her dumb little weapons designs. Would see her be like “I think I should make a poisoned bracelet” and go “fucking genius”

–goes from being super rational to FULL ON FUCKING INSANE and that’s hot

–says at one point that he’ll figure out what to do with their various relationship issues once he’s inside her, which I certainly was not mad at

–that time he told Bettina to refrain from touching herself until he could do it for her, we love to see it

Cons:

–was the second!!! person in this series to take Lothaire’s romantic advice, which was admittedly correct but suggests his own lack of judgment

–sat in his library and sadly masturbated for weeks (while Lothaire watched)

–watched Bettina sleeping, which I wasn’t personally upset with, but I guess that’s inappropriate

–that time they were like “your challenge is to give the princess what she’d want most” and he gave her a bag of heads and went “…. fuck” when everyone in the room didn’t get it

–held back on biting Bettina for forever, which was dumb and unhorny of him

13. Declan Chase/Aidan the Fierce/Gabriel/Edward/whoever the fuck else he was, berserker, Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Pros:

–I mean you can’t really go wrong with someone who is so determined to have his heroine that he just defies death and keeps coming back throughout the ages

–probably the only employee at Torture Island to get in trouble for workplace sexual harassment…. impressive

–that time he cried after suffocating Regin (it must be truuuuue love truuuuuue love)

–that bathtub scene where he was like “wait no actually I’m taking over this weird sexual interplay thing we have going on”

–his days-long island hike grovel where he was like just sadly walking around and being like *eye emoji* at Regin…. hilarious

Cons:

–I actually totally got why Regin forgave him (true love + dick too bomb) but personally I feel like it’s basically impossible that Lachlain and Rydstrom and Sabine are gonna let the shit he pulled slide forever so suspension of disbelief was rough there

–he did vivisect a MacRieve, and I am nothing if not a MacRieve Stan For Lyfe

–the drug addiction issues are rough

–that time he had to let Lothaire bite his neck whenever he wanted and Lothaire was like “if I call you a girl’s name just go with it” and it DIDN’T turn into sex? Sads

14. Malkolm Slaine, demon/vampire, Demon from the Dark

Pros:

–we love a virgin hero always

–gave Carrow the heads of her enemies As A Treat

–very good at giving sensual baths

–a responsible, loving step-demon to what is admittedly an annoying child

–made Rydstrom, Nikolai, Garreth, and Myst all “YOU WANNA GO BRO???” in what was by far one of the funniest parts of the series

Cons:

–honestly a very sweet guy

–swallows toothpaste TWICE

–comes against Carrow’s leg like thirty seconds after meeting her (actually a pro in terms of hilarity)

–TOO BIG, WON’T FIT (pro)

–could’ve been meaner, I’m not gonna lie

15. Sebastian Wroth, vampire, No Rest for the Wicked

Pros:

–all but a virgin when he meets Kaderin

–Gentleman in the Streets Freak in That Random Nightclub Where He SNAPS

–joined the mile high club remarkably fast

–throws out all his principles for her

–Speaks Like Dracula but in a “I vant to suck your clit” way

Cons:

–borderline beta, or as beta as a murderous centuries old vampire warlord can be

–a little tooooo accommodating of Kaderin’s bullshit

–could have been more demanding, to be honest (Bowen and Lachlain would noooot have been as patient as he was, which some would like but I was a little weary of)

NOV 08 2 notes # romance novel blogging immortals after dark but legit i really enjoyed dark skye a lot it was great even tho my personal favorite part was rydstrom going all the only flag i'll be waving is your decapitated head-- now on to sweet ruin~~~ the one where he's poison to everyone but her

One thing I do love about Immortals After Dark (and why I really do recommend reading it in order if possible) is that there are multiple arcs, an overarching plot (the upcoming apocalypse and Nix’s efforts to control it by making all these immortals super grateful to her for hooking them up with their partners + the inevitable army of hybrid babies down the road lmao), and an HEA nonetheless for every couple?

Like yeah I’m sure Lothaire and Ellie are gonna run into some issues with La Dorada, I know Garreth and Lucia and all them werewolves are gonna be out fighting with the best of ‘em in the Accession, I know Rydstrom and Sabine still owe Lothaire -> now Dorada a big favor that is probably bad, but at the end of the day, they’ll figure it the fuck out and shit will be resolved in a harrowing but ultimately happy climax (haha) if Kresley ever finishes these books because it is romance and I am guaranteed that.

It’s so nice.

NOV 07 7 notes # romance novel blogging immortals after dark i can have all the thrills without the stress and i'm thinking that if she does finish it she's in the final countdown proooobably like there will be a kristoff/furie book presumably (i cannot. wait.) nix's book will likely be last whoever she ends up with i know heath is alive and doing horribly so clearly he's gonna fall for someone probably kosmina so that lothaire is even more directly connected to the werewolves lmao the way nix is just solidifying alliances through marriage is... is deeply funny to me like y'all can't fight because his brother is fucking your niece now be quiet but yeah probably at least three more books are on the docket if she doesn't drag up like... jadian this icy hot guy which i'd appreciate and then there's thad

IAD Hero Power Rankings: It’s A Dozen

Getting to the home stretch with MacRieve (not that MacRieve–that MacRieve–no, not THIS MacRieve the other MacRieve–not the king one or the fuckboy one or the prince one THE MACRIEVE WHOSE TITLE “THE MACRIEVE”) and I just really really really really love him. He’s a top tier romance hero, and probably my second-favorite MacRieve after Garreth (the prince one). But damn, his book, while fantastic, was an emotionally tough one.

Lothaire, the Enemy of Old, vampire, Lothaire

Pros:

–well you can’t say he isn’t goal-oriented

–takes kids trick or treating

–does not support rape or child murder; and he actually likes dogs a lot!

–listen between the tittyfucking and the “let me drink my heroine’s virgin’s blood after I very literally pop her cherry” moment, you can’t call him boring

–actually hilarious, basically just a very scary vampire with a to-do list punting decapitated heads around like they’re soccer balls

–just did some shifter beheadings!!! it not like he goes around cockslapping gnomes!!!!

–loves a couch sex moment

Cons:

–clinically insane

–will forget someone he was talking to like half an hour ago because he’s lost all concept of time and space, will talk to himself during sex to be like “DON’T KILL HER @ me!!!”

–Ellie spends like 30% of this book covered in his semen, to the point that she literally just goes to sleep in it in order to piss the demon inhabiting her body off

–I thought he couldn’t sleep because of his madness but when you get to his POV he’s like “MY DICK IS TOO HARD FOR ME TO SLEEP”

–watches everyone have sex, which, considering this series, is a lot of people. I don’t even think it’s sexual it’s just his shit

–his only friend is a teenage quarterback, but then again, that QB is Thad and Thad is God

–put the Valkyrie queen underwater to drown eternally and forgot where she was lmao (this came out before The Old Guard…..)

–was into “juvenile skullfucking”

2. Garreth MacRieve, werewolf, Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Pros:

–invented “werewolf versus demon” basketball because he was SADS

–smells Lucia masturbating and is like WAIT WAIT WAIT I CAN FIX THAT

–gets Lucia off through prison bars…. a determined man

–engages in a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote dynamic with his heroine for a YEAR where he’s just chasing her around the globe while she crushes him with trucks and shit… he sees it as foreplay

–catches a special new butterfly for her and names it after her leave me alone I’m crying

–“lass, I’m about to make you a widow” …. this shit works every time

–even a GOD can’t make him hurt Lucia

Cons:

–is honestly big stupid about plunging into danger

–was gonna help Lachlain steal a baby

–BIG “dumb younger brother” energy

–“we’re werewolves we’re very curious and always have to solve mysteries” lmao okay Scooby Doo

3. Rydstrom Woede, demon (king), Kiss of a Demon King

Pros:

–called Sabine a “good girl” even when she’s actually being a bad girl

–is explicitly a dom

–the first time he smiles is after she flips him off

–is into spanking

–his big comeback to his enemy is like “lmao well I’m about to make your girl’s eyes roll back in her head SOOOOOOO EAT IT CUCK”

Cons:

–I mean I guess he did some pretttttyyyyy dubious shit to Sabine, but only after she did them to him

–met a woman and became her friend and talked to her for days and literally didn’t remember fucking her once until she reminded him…. I thought it was funny

–that time he went at Sabine’s tits for so long that the next day she was all “THEY HURT SO BAD” so I assume he was like a newborn baby or something

–“I don’t have any fetishes!!!!” has every fetish known to man

–was so down ridiculous that he went to try and kill himself to save her… this is a pro… but I’m gonna pretend it’s a con

–is pretty hard on Cade who was just trying!!! his!!! best!!!!!!!!!! but again this is only mildly a con because his disappointed dad thing is hot

4. Conrad Wroth, vampire, Dark Needs at Night’s Edge

Pros:

–exceedingly good at removing obstacles between him and what he wants

–a virgin and SUPER embarrassed about it in a way that is INCREDIBLY precious (when he finally fucked this woman and went “So I was good?” I almost fucking wept)

–murder puppy only wants death and blood (until he discovers………… other things)

–a natural born dirty talker

–BABY BOY…. BABY BOY…./EVIL

Cons:

–has erectile dysfunction for a significant part of his book, he gets better but I was so sad for him

–I mean, is fully insane and wants to murder his entire family, but nobody’s perfect and Nikolai kinda deserves it

–wears sunglasses indoors

–got aroused while buying underwear for her and had to limp home

–made Bowen MacRrieve sad and that makes me really upset because I love Bowen MacRieve

5. Uilleam “Will” MacRieve, “MacRieve”, werewolf, MacRieve

Pros:

–literally called “bucket list” among immortal women because he’s the one you have to fuck in case you might die someday

–incredibly family-oriented and so HYPE to put a baby in there, which could be horrible but with the werewolves it’s always hot

–has the sweetest relationship with his twin ever like please Munro and MacRieve always having each other’s backs and knowing what the other is feeling and being devoted to each other stop

–incredibly dangerous hot hot hot but so gentle with Chloe in those first chapters, literally just left a bag over her head so that she couldn’t see him in beast mode and get scared

–listen… he’s got Issues, but he does the fucking work in the end and ows them and in myyyy opinion the Issues are pretty fucking valid

–LEASHES THE BEAST FOR HERRRRRRRRRRRRR I WEEEEEPT

–the mouth on this dude (in all ways)

Cons:

–has like very little control over his beast for most of this book so he’s just like werewolfin’ out all over the place while Munro goes “I don’t even know why I bother”

–that time he threw up after taking Chloe’s virginity (not his fault but YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES MCGIIIIIKES)

–there is no living villain in this book, the villain is MacRieve’s trauma, which is very good and deep but also TOUGH BRO

6. Rune Darklight/"Rune the Baneblood", dark fey, Sweet Ruin

Pros:

--is such a good lay that he literally trades sex for information, which, considering his past, is actually quite dark, but I just wanna make how good a lay he is clear

--poison to everyone but Josie!!! Killed his evil stepmother by kissing her which is maybe the COOLEST KILL I HAVE EVER READ ABOUT

--but because he can't give anyone bodily fluids without killing them.... is so desperate to eat pussy and do some deep missionary Frenching it is RIDICULOUS LMAO

--is one of those "BABY GIRL IT AIN'T NO THANG WE'RE JUST CASUAL" heroes but as soon as she leaves he's like "oH MY GOOOOOD I'VE MADE A MISTAAAAAKE" which was delightful

--is teaching Josie how to read and literally writes "mine" on her chest in his own blood and I.... that was..... well-played

--is an incredibly talented assassin/archer, which is impressive because Rune is bad at basically everything else

Cons:

--that whole "well Josie you're just gonna have to accept that I have to fuck other people it's my JOB" thing which was like... definitely rooted in his sexual trauma but still uh bad

--is literally so bad at relationships that his other doom apocalypse bringers went from "oh my god Rune just talk to her" to hearing his side of the story and going ".... nah man give her some space she will most definitely not wanna see you for like a month"

--almost got into a fistfight with a teenage boy

--either barely reacts when coming or comes so aggressively loudly that other supernatural creatures show up like "so we heard you across town Rune what's up"

--"I'm going to sexually torture you with edgeplay" *lets her come twice within 10 minutes and also gets himself off* "... that was PART OF IT moving on"

7. Bowen MacRieve, werewolf, Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night

Pros:

–is a werewolf general

–was celibate for 1200 years after his lover got so scared of his wolf form that she gored herself on a tree stump (lmao)

–spent those 1200 years trying to bring her back to life

–great at catching and preparing seafood

–breeding kink (wants to put all the bairns in Mariketa)

–kinda into bondage…?

–gets hard at the thought of Mariketa’s carnage, even when he is the carnage

Cons:

–kind of a fuckboy (will say his dead lover’s name when he comes, ONE TIME, but “Mariketa” and “Mariah” begin similarly so)

–doesn’t like it when Mariketa chant incantations into her mirror because it creeps him out

–breeding kink (casually tries to get her to stop taking birth control)

–makes fun of Mariketa’s vibrator, even if I found that actually hilarious

8. Lachlain MacRieve, werewolf, A Hunger Like No Other

Pros:

–chewed his own leg off to get to Emma, pinned her to the ground in broad daylight, and inhaled her neck like a fucking FREAK

–actually pretty good at being the werewolf king (saves Bowen from his own stupidity multiple times, much daddy, very authoritative)

–saw Emma kill her own dad and basically swooned

–is absolutely down to get his blood sucked… through his penis (I believe he says that’s the only way he’ll accept BJs now…?)

–gets by on missing 150 years of progression purely on intimidation, which I personally find deeply sexy

Cons:

–I mean yes Lachlain is one of the rape-iest IAD heroes even if most of that was werewolf instinct and burning alive for 150 years

–doesn’t know how to use an iPod

–but will max out your credit cards

–a werewolf supremacist (is this a bad thing…?)

–says “Kiss me like you want to live” which I guess I should put as a con because it’s non-consensual but whatever I was dow–

9. Murdoch Wroth, vampire, Untouchable

Pros:

–probably the closest IaD gets to a himbo… HE WAS MORE THAN A RAKE, DAMMIT!!! HE DIED IN A WAR!!!!!!!

–I don’t think y'all get how impressive it is that he consistently hit the clit through a blanket AND fucked her to orgasm with an icicle for like a year

–is actually a very good brother

–finds out his woman maybe married another guy and goes “she’s going to be a widow” I love mess

Cons:

–will masturbate to the thought of you in the shower while you’re unconscious six feet away covered in arrow wounds… if that’s something you’re not into…

–has confidence issues because the Wroth brothers are rattled off like Nikolai: the leader! Sebastian: the brain! Conrad: the mysterious babe! Murdoch: … the slut?

(do love that the Wroth bros are the Charlie’s Angels of this series)

–bit Dani without her consent blah blah blah

10. Cadeon Woede/“Cadeon the Kingmaker”, demon, Dark Desires After Dusk

Pros:

–extremely loyal to his brother (which I found cute)

–orders ahead to get pre-packaged food for Holly to accommodate her OCD, while helping her Walk on the Wild Side

–was the first guy to 69 with his heroine in this series

–stalked Holly for like a year (stalking is love)

–gets adorably tongue-tied around her, but not in a lame way

Cons:

–lied to Holly for like… that entire book lmao (even though it was fun)

–is called the Womb Raider for a reason, apparently (a little tooooo potent)

–sort of fucks with Holly’s birth control, in the sense that he made sure she was super fertile, but to be fair Holly did not… actually… take birth control

–threw out Holly’s OCD meds, though I chalk this up to the year the book was published

11. Nikolai Wroth, vampire, The Warlord Wants Forever

Pros:

–deeply efficient and good at his job (being a bloodthirsty warlord), which turns his mate on as much as it should literally everyone else

–scars all over

–very family-oriented, which means he’s extreeeeemely daddy, and very much uses that in the bedroom

–will try to make nice with your bitchy sisters for you

–is receptive to therapy, even if the therapist was his beaten and bruised brother whose advice was basically “do better”

Cons:

–did steal Myst’s chain and used it to make her come on command; which, while I liked it, was very much non-consensual

–insecure about Myst’s history as the greatest femme fatale of the last couple millennia (though he gets better and decides to be a sex-positive feminist)

–that time that he turned his little brothers into vampires against their will

–was so down bad that he literally started to waste away when Myst didn’t let him get off for five years

–does not properly heat his manor

12. Prince Trehan Daciano/Prince of Shadows, vampire, Shadow’s Claim

Pros:

–has MAGICAL INVISIBLE-MAKING MIST

–beats the shit out of everyone in this book, basically…. hot

–is apparently a really good uncle when he’s not trying to kill his relatives

–was actually extremely romantic with Bettina and liked her dumb little weapons designs. Would see her be like “I think I should make a poisoned bracelet” and go “fucking genius”

–goes from being super rational to FULL ON FUCKING INSANE and that’s hot

–says at one point that he’ll figure out what to do with their various relationship issues once he’s inside her, which I certainly was not mad at

–that time he told Bettina to refrain from touching herself until he could do it for her, we love to see it

Cons:

–was the second!!! person in this series to take Lothaire’s romantic advice, which was admittedly correct but suggests his own lack of judgment

–sat in his library and sadly masturbated for weeks (while Lothaire watched)

–watched Bettina sleeping, which I wasn’t personally upset with, but I guess that’s inappropriate

–that time they were like “your challenge is to give the princess what she’d want most” and he gave her a bag of heads and went “…. fuck” when everyone in the room didn’t get it

–held back on biting Bettina for forever, which was dumb and unhorny of him

13. Declan Chase/Aidan the Fierce/Gabriel/Edward/whoever the fuck else he was, berserker, Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Pros:

–I mean you can’t really go wrong with someone who is so determined to have his heroine that he just defies death and keeps coming back throughout the ages

–probably the only employee at Torture Island to get in trouble for workplace sexual harassment…. impressive

–that time he cried after suffocating Regin (it must be truuuuue love truuuuuue love)

–that bathtub scene where he was like “wait no actually I’m taking over this weird sexual interplay thing we have going on”

–his days-long island hike grovel where he was like just sadly walking around and being like *eye emoji* at Regin…. hilarious

Cons:

–he did vivisect a MacRieve, and I am nothing if not a MacRieve Stan For Lyfe

–the drug addiction issues are rough

–that time he had to let Lothaire bite his neck whenever he wanted and Lothaire was like “if I call you a girl’s name just go with it” and it DIDN’T turn into sex? Sads

14. Prince Mirceo Daciano, vampire, Shadow's Seduction

Pros:

--chaotic bisexual running around trying to fuck as much as possible before his dick stops working (temporarily)

--is excellent at everything he endeavors to do (giving head)

--is actually such a good brother!!! Admittedly was too busy fucking to realize that Lothaire had gone out and MISPLACED HIS SISTER but it's fine

--got so emotionally dumbass about Cas that he let Lothaire beat him up and still refused to drink Kristoff's blood to save Kosmina because he didn't wanna drink anyone but Cas awwwwwwwww awwwwwwwwwww awwwwwwwww I mean honestly kinda stupid but awwwwww

--set Kosmina up as his surrogate SO FAST LMAO

Cons:

--Caspion told him to take a 100 year break to evaluate the meaning of commitment and he showed up four days later with lube (pro)

--I mean lol the whole "let me set up this entire scenario where me and my best friend kiss so he realizes he's actually super into me" was diabolical and bad but also mastermind.mp3

--no thoughts head empty just trying to get Caspion to fuck him this entire book

--non-consensually bit Cas that one time but like, to be fair, blooding and all

--as a sidebar, was one of the Dacians who legit went "seems like Lothaire is the logical choice for king" and I just have questions about that thought process

15. Caspion, demon, Shadow's Seduction

Pros:

--had a huuuuge amount of character development between Shadow's Claim and Shadow's Seduction, mostly from going to a time-warp plane for 500 years, but also because he realized that he also likes dick

--is very.... aggressive... and I was not........ mad at that

--do I love that he'd just be like "I can't handle my feelings I'm gonna go out and bOUNTY HUNT" lmao yes

--very possessive, and look, again, I was not mad at that

--tried to take a mature approach to the relationship before he was like "nah fuck it we're gonna bone"

--that scene where he tucked Mirceo in after he got hammered but then was like "well while I'm here I am going to stare lustfully at his naked body" lmaooooo

Cons:

--internalized homophobia to tha max which was hard to read, but largely seemed based on how backwards the death demon realm is (which was established) and his own insecurities about his background

--lol Mirceo was VAGUELY panicky after they had sex and went "GREAT. AWESOME. WELL I GUESS WE'RE OVER ASSHOLE" which valid abandonment trauma response but still quite funny

--never has a non-werewolf man in this series been more like "UMMMM I WANNA BE IN THE KITCHEN WITH TONS OF BABIES"

--I mean he was a massive loser in Shadow's Claim, it must be said; literally so embarrassing that he went to another dimension to level up

16. Malkolm Slaine, demon/vampire, Demon from the Dark

Pros:

–we love a virgin hero always

–gave Carrow the heads of her enemies As A Treat

–very good at giving sensual baths

–a responsible, loving step-demon to what is admittedly an annoying child

–made Rydstrom, Nikolai, Garreth, and Myst all “YOU WANNA GO BRO???” in what was by far one of the funniest parts of the series

Cons:

–honestly a very sweet guy

–swallows toothpaste TWICE

–comes against Carrow’s leg like thirty seconds after meeting her (actually a pro in terms of hilarity)

–TOO BIG, WON’T FIT (pro)

–could’ve been meaner, I’m not gonna lie

17. Sebastian Wroth, vampire, No Rest for the Wicked

Pros:

–all but a virgin when he meets Kaderin

–Gentleman in the Streets Freak in That Random Nightclub Where He SNAPS

–joined the mile high club remarkably fast

–throws out all his principles for her

–Speaks Like Dracula but in a “I vant to suck your clit” way

Cons:

–borderline beta, or as beta as a murderous centuries old vampire warlord can be

–a little tooooo accommodating of Kaderin’s bullshit

–could have been more demanding, to be honest (Bowen and Lachlain would noooot have been as patient as he was, which some would like but I was a little weary of)

#romance novel blogging #immortals after dark #lol i'm still trying to decide if i like the plot of sweet ruin as much as i love rune/josie #like it's a really good book but is it a full five stars???#i'm still debating #but the romance aspect was 12/10 #and shadow's seduction suffered from being a novella and also having some dated approaches to sexuality #but i loved the romance and i also think it was a preeeeetty bold move in 2016/2017 #for kresley cole to tell her publisher to fuck off and self publishing a m/m romance in her #extremely m/f series full of alpha males #even tho like. 10000%. there are other bi characters in this series lol #like nix for sure has fucked women.... lanthe talks about wanting to fuck nix....#lothaire gets hard drinking declan chase's blood and talks about how many men come in his arms after he bites them lmao #also king of marriage equality lothaire being like 'i don't give a FUUUUCK about cas being a man #but i s2g if one more person in this family marries a poor'#while being married to a poor

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macabre00danse · 1 year

Text

Hunter… I didn’t understand why Diana gave me that name. I didn’t understand anything at the time, really. The state of California was only a few years older than I was and it was the dawn of a new century. All I knew was that the world I was born into was a lie. Diana killed me and dragged me into hell. Hell was a lie too. She took me from the city until she said I was ready. I don’t remember how long we were out there in the Mojave and I didn’t have a name at that time. My only friends were the ravens she’d let me talk to, and damn they liked to talk. Diana was never my friend. She was fierce, terrifying, and lovely all at once. I wanted her, but that was something else she made me wait for until I was ready.

After endless nights of suckling blood from coyotes, talking to ravens, and enduring Diana’s harsh lessons; I’d had enough. Something inside me rumbled, clicked sadistically, and uncoiled. I wanted more. I left Diana’s cactus garden and ran to the hills. I knew what I wanted even before I saw it. Predators can sense each other sometimes, and sometimes I wonder how long the old cat spied on me until he made his move. He sank his claws into me, but he wasn’t planning on a dead rival gripping him and falling deliberately down a cliff. We both broke bones, but I didn’t need mine as much as he did. As I drained him and mended my body, the thing inside congratulated me. I was ready. I took the mountain lion’s shape and bounded back to Diana. When she saw me, she nodded in approval. I returned to my own shape and took Diana in the moonlight.

She said she had two final gifts for me. She bit her lip and I drank from her mouth. Then a talon grew from her finger and she blinded one of my eyes. Before I could think, my hands and legs were tied with a barbed rope and she hanged me face down above the little pond that had filled with rainwater. “A test and a name. Pass, and you may return to the city. Follow me when you are ready. Farewell, Hunter.” Those were the last words I heard her speak. She was gone. Naked, I hanged bleeding into the pond. The rope was imbued with her strange magic magic and I couldn’t break it no matter how I struggled. I could only gaze down at my reflection in the bloody water, knowing the sun would soon rise and end me. I didn’t hate her. I longed for her and her dark secrets even more. I wanted to know the old ways as she did. As I stared at my reflection, the water shifted and she stared back at me in the water. There were figures behind her, but they were faint shadows. I resolved to hunt her to the ends of the earth and into the underworld if I had to. Diana smiled, and the rope dissolved into ash as I plunged into the water. I splashed out of my dark baptism and immediately sank into the earth mere moments before the first sunrays crept over the hills. My raven friends, who had been solemnly silent until now, cawed and cheered for me. They knew I’d return after dusk. When I did, we all made our way back to Los Angelas.

I’ve been here for so long. I tell the mortals my name is Vincent, but the kindred know who I really am. Some call me a sellout, some call me a heretic. It doesn’t matter, really. The Sanctified have a pretty strong grip on LA, so survival is the test for the Coven. Young Acolytes either get smart, make good contacts, beat down the competition, or they die. Well, sometimes they just leave. I’ve seen the turnover marked by the trends over the last century; sometimes everyone is obsessed with Isis and Bast, other times Hecate is in style. It’s all the same to me. I know who I am. I’ve carved out enough goodwill and boons from the Prince himself that the Coven doesn’t even have to attend Mass anymore. We get to have our rites in the hills instead.

They’re chanting my name tonight. Hunter… Hunter… but no matter who says it, it never sounds as sweet as when Diana said it. Even after all this time, that moment is burned into my memory. I leave the city sometimes, but never for very long. One night, I will be ready. Then, the true hunt will begin.

#macabre00danse #fic

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nightingaelic · 3 years

Note

Curious but, perhaps new Vegas Companions reacting to The courier and their “attempts for the blue star treasure” as the courier call it but no it’s obviously an addition to the sodas in the wasteland.

The courier popped the cap off the bottle, flicked it aside with their finger and drank deeply, finishing the swallow off with a theatrical sigh. "So there I am in Primm, and I've just finished breaking Deputy Beagle out of his bind with the convicts in the Bison Steve Hotel, and he insists on throwing a party at the Vikki & Vance to celebrate. Ruby, gem that she is, hands me a bottle of this stuff and plays it coy about the taste, so I crack it open and there's a blue star underneath the cap. Never seen that before, or at least I don't remember seeing it before, but this guy next to us at the bar gets all excited. Says his name is Malcolm, used to collect the caps with stars, something about a secret, pre-war treasure... sounded like a lure for suckers, but then I come across these two dead travelers outside Nipton that look like they died in a scuffle over the damn things."

They gestured at the full crate of Sunset Sarsaparilla on the counter of the 188 Slop & Shop, which they had just shelled out 100 caps for. "Anyways, now I pick it up whenever I run into it. The Sierra Madre might be a myth, but with stuff like this, you never know. Right?"

Arcade Gannon: Arcade rolled his eyes. "Just what we need. Another reason for someone to track us down and try to kill us."

"Would I ever put you in danger?" the courier asked, rather facetiously.

Arcade pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just promise me we aren't going to get shot over collectibles, and I won't say another word."

"I... cannot promise that."

"Okay." Arcade plucked a bottle of sarsaparilla from the crate and scanned its label. "Carbonated water... well, not anymore... pure cane sugar, of course... yadda yadda yadda... oh, and criminal amounts of safrole. You should not be drinking this."

The courier shrugged. "I've had worse."

Arcade shook the bottle at them. "This will give you cancer."

"Arcade, I've been shot in the head."

"Which explains why you're still drinking it." Arcade tried to grab the open sarsaparilla away from the courier, but they pulled back out of his reach and playfully squared up. "Fine!" he said, throwing his hands up and walking away from the bar.

Craig Boone: Boone watched the courier for a minute, observing the way they were drinking the soda with excessive relish. Finally, he eased a bottle out of the crate and held it up to the sunlight. The courier eyed him suspiciously as he examined it, and they made a small noise of reproach when he twisted its top off.

"No star," he said, holding the cap up so they could see.

As he had expected, the courier barely glanced at the bottlecap and instead focused on the soda itself, which was fizzing slightly. Boone tilted the bottle to and fro, watching with amusement as their eyes followed its path.

When he finally took a sip, the courier groaned and went back to their own bottle.

Lily Bowen: "But dearie, that much soda will rot your teeth!" Lily protested. "Grandma hasn't been able to find you a new toothbrush yet. Why not take the soda home and save it for a special occasion?"

The courier held their bottle of sarsaparilla up in a toast. "Lily, with you, every occasion is special."

"Aww, pumpkin." Lily blushed and squeezed herself onto a stool. "That's very sweet of you. But only two bottles before we move on, okay? We take the rest home."

In response, the courier pulled another bottle out of the crate and slid it over to the super mutant. "Make it three, and you can have this one."

"Dearie, you know I'm watching my figure!"

The courier laughed. "I know, I know. We'll work it off. Go on, all yours."

"Hmmph." Lily picked up the bottle and turned it around, examining the label. "Like nightkin and Stealth Boys, you are."

She twisted the top off, and the two made noises of pleasant surprise at the discovery of a blue star on the bottom of the cap.

Raul Alfonso Tejada: "You've got to be careful with that stuff, boss," Raul opined, sliding onto an empty stool and eyeing the crate suspiciously.

"What, because of the treasure hunters?"

"Ay, no." The ghoul shook his head. "El refresco. Don't know what they put in it, but half the continent used to drink it. That stuff spread faster than Nuka-Cola, and Nuka-Cola knew it. Tried to buy Sunset, then when that didn't work, they tried to make their own version."

The courier perked up at that. "Nuka-Cola made sarsaparilla? I've never seen it."

"Me neither, but I've heard tell it's out there." Raul sighed and leaned over the counter, arms crossed. "Nuka-Buzz, or something? No, no, it'll come to me... Wild. Nuka-Cola Wild."

"Huh." The courier took another swig of the soda, clearly trying to cover up their sudden interest. "Know where I might get some?"

"Nah." Raul looked at them sideways. "But you're not gonna find any star caps on them anyway, right?"

"Oh yeah. Right."

"Híjole, Six. You've got a problem."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Uh, no? No, I know exactly what's up with stuff like this." Cass put her hands on her hips and glared at the courier. "Sam and Michelle just took you for a ride on those things, that's what's up. How many're in there, 24 bottles? Fewer at the rate you're suckin' 'em down, but 100 caps for 24 bottles is downright criminal. Over four caps per head, and you're not even getting a decent return of 24 caps if you're saving the ones with little blue stars on them! But let's be honest here, Six."

The courier threw a hand out in defensive exasperation. "I am being honest, Cass! It's for a-"

"Mmm, uh-uh." Cass shook her head violently and crossed her arms. "You're not that stupid, you have decent enough business sense from what I've seen. What you've got going is the same song and dance I do when the bartender's pouring generous rounds. Just own it, Six."

"Oh come on, that's not the same-"

"I don't wanna hear it." Cass hopped onto a stool and shoved the crate of soda as far away from her as she could get it. "Sam, get back here and bring me a glass of something that'll put me in a more forgiving mood. On their tab."

Veronica Santangelo: "Wrong." Veronica sighed and sat down next to the courier. "You know how far we are from the Strip?"

"Not really?"

"Give or take a few, 26 miles." The Scribe frowned. "Meaning, if you want to drag that crate home with you, we have to carry it 26 miles through the desert, protecting it from cazadores, coyotes, Fiends, and if your story's at all true, rabid treasure hunters. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to risk my life for a box of flat sarsaparilla."

"But it's not flat." The courier handed her their drink to inspect. "Not completely. I don't know where Michelle dug it up, but she found a good batch."

"I don't know," Veronica replied, peering down the bottle's neck. "Can't really tell without getting a better look. What if I..."

She made as if to pour the soda out onto the ground, and the courier squeaked and tried to grab it back. Veronica held it out of their reach and smirked. "So it's not really about the caps, is it? Because if it was, we could just empty these all and save ourselves the trouble of hauling it."

"Veronica, please."

"Fine." Veronica handed the drink back. "But I want three bottles for myself. You can keep the caps."

ED-E: ED-E beeped in general agreement with the courier's story and accepted the new load, lowering itself slightly so they could pack up the bottles. By the time the courier was done, the bottle they had been drinking was empty. With a shrug, the courier pocketed the cap- starless, ED-E noted- and plucked another from the crate, causing the eyebot to bob and adjust.

Rex: The cyberdog sniffed the bottle the courier offered them and sneezed, narrowly missing the contents. They snatched it back with a chuckle and went on drinking. Rex curled up at the base of their stool, yawned, and went to sleep. By the time he woke up again, the crate was down to 20 full bottles, and the courier was giggly from the pre-war sugar.

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thelowlysatsuma · 4 years

Text

alright dipsticks, hear me out

taz balance au where everything is the same except that lucretia and barry have each others’ farspeech frequencies

it all starts about a year after lucretia voidfishes the plane. she’s poking around goldcliff, hoping to find some way to con some rich shit into paying for her gigantic moon base, when she runs — literally runs headfirst — into some bespectacled nerd in denim

barry, for his part, doesn’t know why this complete stranger is offering to buy him lunch as an apology for spilling his Fantasy Starbucks all over his oldass shirt, but he sure as shit isn’t complaining. especially when something, something about this kid feels so... familiar

in a spur of the moment decision, lucretia gives him her farspeech number. barry doesn’t think anything of it at the time

...anything, that is, until he’s rising, spectral and flickering, over his battered corpse, and he begins laughing hysterically, tears glimmering in long-gone eye sockets. he may not have lup back, but he’s got his little sister.

so they start texting. is barry furious at lucretia for what she’s done? sure, a bit. but he understands her logic, and his temper is soothed when she point-blank tells him that she’s going to help him find lup. they may be working against each other as far as the relics are concerned, but if lucretia can locate at least one more shred of her former family, then by god is she going to. barry understands, he thinks, and so they help keep each other a little less lonely over a long ten years

lucretia keeps barry updated on how the other birds are doing, as best she can. they rejoice together as magnus and julia take back raven’s roost, and when glamour springs is shadowed by a mass poisoning barry has to do everything up to physically restraining lucretia from beating the ass of whichever motherfucker did that to taako. wait, he tells her. physical pain is temporary. a lich, on the other hand, is in a prime position to make some douche’s life a living hell. lucretia grins and offers to fund his plots in any way she can.

barry, for his part, keeps lucretia up-to-date on the search for lup. they have matching little cork boards in their respective offices, each filled with maps and theories and half-baked what-ifs. they aren’t any closer to finding out what happened to her, but they will. they have to.

speaking of things happening, barry is the first one to find lucretia after wonderland. he hadn’t been able to reach her for a month, and so when he feels the enormous surge of pure magical despair explode outwards from the felicity wilds, he transports himself there as quickly as he can. he finds his baby sister at the centre of a mile-wide crater, twenty years older and countless sacrifices poorer, and he holds her as gently as he can without physical hands, and makes her promise to never deal with wonderland again. fuck, he’ll get the animus bell for her, he doesn’t care. he just can’t see lucretia in that state ever again. (never again, that’s what they told themselves, in a group huddle late one night the dawn of cycle 66. he’d failed her once. he couldn’t do it again.)

as she builds up the bureau, lucretia starts getting questions about her best friend on the stone. lucas asks her point blank who it is one day early in their acquaintance, and she answers “b- uh, b-j” “that tells me basically nothing. what does that even stand for?” lucas demands. “uh,” lucretia says, “🅱️amazing jrace”

thus begins a fine tradition of bureau employees trying to get any info they can on the mysterious “bj”, including his actual name. so far some of the top answers they’ve gotten from madame director include “bitchin jackass” “burger joint” “beetlejuice” and “banjo jimboree”. once, robbie asks her if he’s her secret lover, and lucretia has to summon a bucket before retching in disgust, which puts paid to that particular theory fairly succinctly

barry, for his part, adores these rumours. he keeps asking if lucretia will lift the lich barrier, just for a day, so he can come and stir up even more shit. lucretia, while admittedly very tempted, denies.

when he finds out that lucretia has been telling bureau employees that the red robes are evil, barry is understandably insulted. the next group of regulators that touch the ground are covered in fantasy cheez whiz for the duration of their mission.

lucretia gets him back by replacing all the denim in the jeans at his base with silly string. barry moves bases, and the prank war escalates

(no one has the courage to tell madame director that her hair has been turned rainbow at the last candlenights party. privately, lucretia thinks she looks bitchin)

every now and again, lucretia will text barry in a panic. these texts tend to look like this:

“barry.” “barold aid me” “barry I fucked shit up real good this time” “barry” “barry” “barry I was at the fantasy Olive Garden and the waiter said ‘enjoy your meal’ and I said ‘you too’ barry kill me n o w “

barry can and will mock lucretia mercilessly for this. he also insists for weekly video updates on fisher and junior.

he also has biweekly fantasy skype sessions with davenport

booyah: I saw a woman so beautiful I started crying???

bear-old: oh mood

booyah: and then I hired her and her son (who’s a little bitch) to work on my secret moon base and I think I’ve made a terrible mistake???????

bear-old: oh my fucking god this is why I don’t trust you to stop the apocalypse

when the thb start working as reclaimers, barry demands weekly updates on them, as well. it goes about as well as you’d expect

booyah: magnus ate the philosopher’s stone

bear-old: he fucking w h a t ?

booyah: he used the glutton’s fork, and he ATE the philosopher’s stone. taako and merle used stone skin and stone shape to get the damn thing out. happy fucking candlenights.

when barry finds out that taako’s DATING the fool who’s been chasing after him wile e coyote style for over a decade, he loses his s h i t. he and lucretia have a girls’ night where they bitch about taako and eat shitty chocolate to cope

bear-old: you HIRED a BABY???

booyah: he’s ten! that’s plenty old. and he’s certainly competent, seeing as he found my organization when even you couldn’t.

bear-old: creesh please. please do not Irreparably Fuck Up A Small Child

booyah: hey, at least I’m not the one who threw him off a moving train!

bear-old: I never threw anyone off a

bear-old: lucretia

bear-old: who

bear-old: who in your employ threw ANGUS MCDONALD, a LITERAL CHILD, off of a MOVING. VEHICLE?

booyah:

booyah: taako

bear-old: fucking fantasy CHRIST

(they have quite a few girls’ nights eating shitty chocolate and razzing on taako, actually)

team sweet flips goes to the director’s office one day to give a status report and find her red-eyed and coughing. she says she has allergies. the cute cat video barry just texted her on her stone, however, begs to differ

lucretia preps the boys for refuge, yes, but her mind is filled with texts and tomes and the letters “l u p” carved into a bureau wall. she passes countless sleepless nights with barry on the line, trying to decipher what it all means

but they emerge from the woven gulch unscathed, and that can only mean one thing: wonderland

she doesn’t tell barry where she’s sending them. she can’t let him interfere out of some misguided attempt to save her from the place. her texts grow few and far between

she doesn’t have to tell barry. he knows

the day they get sent out, as lucretia breaks down in her office, surrounded by a dizzying vastness that could envelop her very being if she would just let it, her stone buzzes.

four words: I’ll keep them safe

and then?

well, then it’s the end of the world

(but when lup emerges from her decade-long cage, phantasmal and resplendent, lucretia and barry share a look)

(and when the hunger is consuming the only home she knows and she’s flying out in one last attempt to face is, barry is on her stone)

(and when the dust settles and they’re finally, finally free, when the world hears a story and a song and former and current bureau employees alike learn just how important the mysterious “bj” really is, when lucretia looks at the wreckage of her life’s work and home and family — when all that happens, barry is the one to beckon to her with open arms.)

(they’ve been beside the other for a hundred and ten years, after all. that’s not gonna fucking change now.)

anyways yeah folks barry and lucretia texting au play with me in this space

@littlemisscritical @thatcoldfeeling and you know what? @herbgerblin what the hell

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chaoticevilbean · 3 years

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Voltron Humans Are Weird 1/?

"C'mon Keith! Just follow the instructions! When I say Vol, you say Tron! VOL-"

"Voltron?" Lance facepalmed for what felt like the millionth time, a headache already forming once again. He'd been trying for a week to get his teammate to understand the chant, but he just couldn't get it! It was frustrating beyond belief.

"PALADINS! THE GALRA ARE APPROACHING! TO YOUR LIONS!" Allura's voice rang out from the speakers in the hallways, and both Paladins wasted no time rushing to their hangars. Shiro was already out and racing towards their enemies, and Lance and Keith followed soon after. Hunk was the last one out, once more complaining about the stupid zipline not supporting his weight.

There were three cruisers advancing on the group, and fighter jets rushed towards the humans in droves. The team began blasting immediately, explosions lighting up the nearby space more than the stars and the Castle's light. They fought hard, but it was obvious they couldn't do much individually.

"We need Voltron!" Shiro called out, and the group went into formation. As they did, an idea struck Lance.

"WHAT TEAM?" he screamed as they merged.

"WILDCATS!" four voices screamed back. The Paladins felt the rush of confidence that came from the simple call and response, and it was enough to let them finish off the Galran ships in only a few minutes.

The humans boarded the Castle laughing, meeting in the lounge with grins firmly in place.

"Lance, that was perfect," Hunk told his friend, pulling the other into a side-hug. "I can't believe none of us have done that sooner."

"Well, I thought it was better than the Voltron chant," the Blue Paladin responded, eyeing Keith.

"That one actually makes sense," the boy said defensively, arms crossed.

"That's why I think it's better. The Voltron one makes sense to most of us, this one makes sense to all of us."

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted. The Paladins turned towards Allura, only now noticing she had entered the room. Both her and Coran seemed rather confused. "But, who are the Wildcats? They are a team? Of what?" Pidge smirked at the princess, glasses glinting in the artificial lighting.

"Schools on Earth sometimes have names that they call their students in a general sense, and their sports teams are named after that. There's a school with kids called Wildcats, so their basketball team is called the Wildcats. However, actual wildcats are just what the name says. Cats that are wild, as in known to be vicious and not meant to be around humans much if at all."

"And what are cats?"

"Small feline predators with sharp claws and teeth, impeccable balance, night vision, and a strong hunting instinct. Their tongues have small hooks on them to help rip the meat from their prey's bones, and they can jump really high or far when they pounce. Humans domesticated some, creating smaller variants called housecats. We also took lions and tigers, two incredibly dangerous and very big cats, and bred them together to make an animal that can't even reproduce. Some big cats are kept as pets or in captivity in zoos and stuff, and they could kill us in seconds. But they're fluffy and occasionally very sweet, so we keep attempting to befriend or domesticate them more than we already have."

Allura and Coran were silent. And horrified. Very very very horrified.

"You keep these creatures in your homes?" Allura finally asked, eyes wide and seeming to be unable to comprehend what had been said. To be fair, Pidge had made it sound rather terrifying, or at least caused unease to her fellow humans. Lance was the only one unaffected. He blamed Tumblr.

"Yeah, of course we do," Lance commented, joining the fun. "Same with dogs. Those are canine predators that rely more on strength than agility when hunting. They're used for hunting, pest control, disability management, companionship, and pretty much anything else we could think of. They travel in packs more often than felines, and the wilder canines are wolves and coyotes. Unlike housecats, dogs can get really big. I mean, English Mastiffs are absolutely huge, and that's just one breed. Dogs are more likely to be kept as pets because they're generally considered friendlier, though nowadays it's a 50-50 chance. And that's just dogs and cats that's being counted. If you put in all of the other types of animals, snakes - reptiles that don't have legs and some are venomous, and some just literally squeeze the life out of you - and lizards - basically snakes with legs that don't use constriction but instead sometimes use their tongues or claws and just latch on - and frogs - the poison dart frog is tiny but deadly - and all sorts of birds, from eagles that dive at high speeds and snatch prey off the ground to parrots that can mimic sounds so well people have mistaken them for sirens or babies crying. Humans like taking the animals that could kill us and making them pets so that we can enjoy how cute they look. Or just feel kickbutt when our boa constrictor hisses at bullies but no one can get rid of it because it's a certified service animal."

"Princey was terrifying."

"Hunk, you only thought that because he tried to hug you before I explained that he does things like that."

"HE WAS TRYING TO MURDER ME!"

"HE WAS SAD WHEN YOU STARTED SCREAMING AND HE JUSTED WANTED TO SHOW THAT HE ACCEPTED YOU AS MY FRIEND! HE WAS GIVING YOU HIS BLESSING! HE SULKED FOR THREE DAYS AFTER YOU REJECTED HIM, HUNK! IT WASN'T MURDER!"

"ATTEMPTED MURDER!"

The argument escalated, with questions tossed in by the other humans about why Lance needed a service animal and why a boa constrictor and why Princey and more. Most questions were ignored in favor of the shouting match between the two bros. Shiro put a stop to it when Pidge and Keith looked at him for guidance. After all, the Yellow and Blue Paladins never fought. Ever. And now they were fighting about something obscure and personal.

The Alteans left the moment the teens raised their voices, heading directly for the control room.

"Coran, pull up a new log, and please make sure none of the Paladins can access it. A secure file for just you and I, at least at the moment."

"Of course, princess! And what should I label it?"

"A Guide To Humans." The log was created and pulled up, and both aliens stood at the computer. Together, they inputted their newly learned facts, agreeing that they would never understand their Terran companions, but they may as well try. Especially if they somehow found living with other predators to be normal and beneficial, and yet could make it sound absolutely horrifying.

Humans live with many different predators from their home world that are domesticated for different uses. These uses are listed below as they are discovered. Fauna that are considered 'normal' or 'okay' to be kept within a home, as 'pets', will also be listed and described. Beware, as the human's normalcy for having these creatures may cause their analysis of other 'alien' creatures' danger level to be incorrect or considerably lower than the official assessment.

If in a battle and struggling, verbalizing the question, "What team?" (preferably in a raised and/or enthusiastic voice) will result in any Terrans to respond with the word "wildcats" (at an extremely increased volume) and an aura of confidence within the humans. This most likely can be used every battle with continual effects, and will leave the humans with increased success and higher dopamine levels. It will also unify any Terrans, so there is a possible use in causing multiple groups of the beings to join together, despite any previous disputes or separations.

On all accounts, proceed with caution until new data can be collected to verify the information and theories presented here.

#humans are weird #humans are space orcs #earth is space australia #voltron #vld #voltron humans are weird #oneshots #voltron oneshots #humans are weird oneshots

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 11 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Goodness)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Okay! This episode is a real slice of healthy family dynamics, not triggering in any way. [Uh if this is your first Restless Rewatch: that is sarcasm, dear readers]

Goodbye to You, Goodbye to Everything We Knew

Nie Huaisang asks why Meng Yao has to leave and Meng Yao says "I killed a guy without permission, so your brother fired me."

Ha ha ha ha no he doesn't. But he does give Nie Huaisang a sweet, sad smile; he seems touched by NHS's distress.

Meng Yao carefully removes Nie Huaisang's hands from his shoulders and bows to him, wordlessly signaling the change in their relationship from intimate friends to formal strangers, while Nie Huaisang looks crushed.

They will return to intimate friendship in the future, but falsely. Meng Yao believes that truly loving a person can include destroying their family and using them as an instrument in your murder plots as long as you don't directly harm them. Nie Huaisang eventually learns to use people just as brutally, but he doesn't lie to himself about what he's doing. This farewell may be the last harmless moment between these friends.

Jiang Cheng is distressed by what's going on, while Wei Wuxian crosses his arms and watches, fully in Sherlock Holmes mode, instead of his more usual concerned-for-my-friend mode. This may signal mistrust of Meng Yao, who refused his initial attempt at friendship, and not in a sexy, slice-your-face-off way. Or it may mean that he's reserving judgement on a complicated family situation. He maintains his uncharacteristic reserve through the entire encounter.

(more behind the cut!)

Nie Huaisang runs in and asks his brother WTF happened. Nie Mingjue says "he killed my subordinate without permission, when he knows perfectly well power must flow from the ruler; it's like he didn't even read that Foucault book I gave him."

Ha ha ha actually he just yells at his brother, as if NHS doesn’t have his own relationship with Meng Yao after being wonder twink powers with him for probably a couple of years now. NHS has to sit and process his loss and confusion in silence.

As a younger sibling who would make friends with my older siblings' girlfriends and then lose those friends if they broke up, for reasons having nothing to do with why I liked their girlfriends, I super feel Nie Huaisang's pain here.

OTOH, older siblings are entitled to have break ups and not explain themselves to anyone besides their lover because that's the nature of intimacy. The moral is, uhh...don't have a family curse that makes you unreasonably angry.

Jiang Cheng steps up to advocate for Meng Yao, because Meng Yao is injured, and because Jiang Cheng is actually a born leader who knows better than to throw away a useful subordinate. For example, even when Wei Wuxian is at his drunkest and most defiant, Jiang Cheng tries to reform him, not kick him out, only drawing the line at having unpopular zombie friends.

Wei Wuxian continues to keep his mouth shut, waiting for Nie Mingjue to calm down, and speaking only about the tactical situation. He clearly knows there's more to this story but he's pretty good at keeping his head down in a family ruckus, and we're about to learn why.

Yunmeng Town

The Yunmeng bros go home to Lotus Pier, where they are greeted in town with bows, smiles, and free stuff.

We've mostly been seeing them in their roles within the cultivation community, where Jiang Cheng is grumpy and anxious, and Wei Wuxian is sassy and iconoclastic. Here among common people, they are both charming, friendly, and polite, like the imaginary good kind of gentry.

They hear the news from a local lotus seller that the small clans are coming to the Jiang Clan for shelter, but that otherwise everything's ok, which doesn't sound like everything is ok at all. He gives Wei Wuxian a giant bag of lotuses for his sister to make soup from.

Home to Lotus Pier

All the disciples practicing in the courtyard at Lotus Pier are excited to see them, and one girl goes running to tell Jiang Yanli. Thanks to the admittedly beautiful design of Lotus Pier, she is running for a long time.

A long, long time. Getting around on all these insane walkways must be a real drag if you're not the flying sort of cultivator.

Discipline and Punish

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian immediately go and kneel while they wait for their official punishment. Jiang Cheng is kinda worried about the punishment and Wei Wuxian is like, I'm good at being punished, just let me do it.

Much later, and for a really long fucking time

He also tries to get Jiang Cheng to stop being mad, even giving him skritches while he says they should be brothers after they die.

Which they will, as it happens, although Jiang Cheng after the Wen torture is only mostly golden-core dead, while WWX dies for real.

When Jiang Fengmian shows up Jiang Cheng starts to explain that they were with Lan Wangji, but Wei Wuxian hushes him; he is still keeping the secret of the Yin Iron. Although he's keeping it in exactly the manner that a teenager keeps their weed stash secret: immediately tell literally every teen friend about it, but keep it extra secret from everybody's parents.

Happy Families Are All Alike

Now we get to meet Yu Ziyuan, who is generally styled Madame Yu but who I'm going to call by her name just as if she was a male character. More on that concept in a minute. She rolls up looking, smelling, feeling like a million yuan, with her two murder bitches in tow.

Her marriage is an unhappy one, and her husband does his best to avoid her and avoid conflict, lying to the kids that she's tired and then sending her away later with the same line about being tired, which is a particularly gendered kind of gaslighting. She is obviously not tired, other than being tired of Jiang Fengmian's shit.

I'm not going to say she's the worst mother ever, because parenthood in a feudal society entails a wide range of skills, many of which she has in abundance. She starts off with a relatively tender greeting to Jiang Cheng, tuning up his always-amazing sartorial style, which is exactly like her own. They are all ready for the mommy & me fashion show.

That said, she dishes out hellacious verbal abuse to everyone in her family. She targets each one in turn, making Wei Wuxian the focus of most of her ire, but without ever directly speaking to him. He is not, in her view, part of her family.

The Stages of Family Dinner

1. Try to fix it and defuse the situation

2. Yeah no

3. Just keep your head down and be glad it’s not your turn in the hot seat

This family meal hammers home how much Wei Wuxian is not, actually, part of the family. Jiang Fengmian adopted him into the clan, and told A-Cheng and A-Yi to treat him as a sibling, but he didn't give him the Jiang name, and he didn't get his wife's approval. He also doesn’t expect him to dress like any other clan member, apparently.

Compare this to how Lan Wangji, actual good parent, fully integrates his own adopted son into his clan and family, starting with giving him the Lan surname.

The hits just keep coming as she goes after Jiang Cheng for being less gifted than Wei Wuxian, Yanli for performing labor for Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Fengmian for possibly begetting Wei Wuxian.

On first watching this scene I took her question "Is this how you raise someone else's son?" to mean that she thought Jiang Fengmian was being too nice to a kid who was actually an outsider, taking resources away from the real kids. But on rewatching, it's pretty clear that she's saying his favoring Wei Wuxian is evidence that Wei Wuxian is NOT someone else's son; that he's Jiang Fengmian's bastard.

Jiang Fengmian doesn't say a thing to this, or to her mentioning WWX’s mother. This shit is why WWX is running around in the world desperate for any crumb of info he can get about his Mom; he hears about her all the goddamn time at home, but only as insults to her character.

A Bitch is Not Wrong

Here's the thing, though; a lot of what Yu Ziyuan says is correct.

Jiang Fengmian should be a lot more concerned about the danger to the children, and should not leave it up to the kids to decide who's going to bear that danger.

Yanli does a lot of food=love, which is ok in the right doses, but causes her to pretty extremely lose face during the whole "soup for Jin Zixuan" debacle. And her doting on Wei Wuxian is...kinda excessive. I mean, yeah, she’s more like a mom than a sister to him, but still. Running out onto an active battlefield to look for him, frex, will be a skosh too much.

I have a dictionary too, mom

Jiang Cheng, as the future clan leader, shouldn't let his attachments affect his decision making, and should let Wei Wuxian, who's the superior cultivator, fend for himself more often. We love Jiang Cheng for those moments where he puts himself in harm's way to protect his loved ones, but it's not a good strategy. He constantly yells at Wei Wuxian for the exact same thing he does all the time himself; he just limits who he does it for.

After she roasts the shit out of everyone for these failings, she leaves, and everyone sits around being miserable and not talking about what just happened.

Not to be gender studies-y on main but: the awful things she says to her children are really not very different from the things that Jiang Cheng says to Jin Ling, although her targeting is more adept. JC also says a lot of mean things to WWX when he’s angry. When a man says cruel or insulting things, it's often presented as real love hidden under a rough exterior. When a woman does it, she's a monster.

If you enjoy this sort of interaction you should definitely have a look at Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and the plays of Eugene O'Neill.

Road Runner

Oh thank god, moving on

Lan Wangji is headed back to Cloud Recesses, and gets ambushed by the roadside with the most ridiculous trap this side of Wile E. Coyote.

Wen Chao thinks the "rug over a hole" trap is a good idea for someone who can literally fly.

Lan Wangji doesn't faff about with sword riding, he just fucking goes up in the air and stays there until he is good goddamn ready to come down. A hole in the sidewalk is really not going to be a problem for him.

Wen Zhuliu does get in one kick before Lan Wanji yeets backwards away from him, in a moment that's scarier on rewatching, now that I know what Wen Zhuliu is capable of.

Wen Chao talks some smack to Lan Wangji, hilariously complaining about "your patronizing tone" to a man who has literally never spoken a word to him, IIRC, and certainly isn't speaking now. Maybe it's a mistranslation and should be "attitude," or maybe Wen Chao is just that dumb.

Apparently Wei Wuxian made a stack of talismans for Lan Wangji to take on the road with him. This talisman is a twin to the one Lan Wangji brings out way, way later in Yunping, when Wei Wuxian says "you even have kept it until now." Missing scene alert! What else did he make for him?

In Yunping this talisman is used to distract some random harmless street bullies. Here it is used against a seven-man murder squad.

This works.

Assault on Cloud Recesses

Forgettable disciple #1, Su She, comes rushing in to tell Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen that Cloud Recesses is under attack.

I'm pretty sure these dudes already know it, because they are meditating extra hard with a buttload of incense, and Lan Qiren is about to cough up some blood. So I think they're trying to hold the ward, rather than just, like, chilling while their disciples get stabbed.

Cloud Recesses is super on fire, you guys; it's going to totally burn to the ground; look at that conflagration, oh the humanity, etc.

Lan Qiren Rises to the Occasion

Ok, I like to rag on Failmaster Qiren and he is definitely an authoritarian dick a whole lot of the time, but in this scene he is fucking amazing.

He starts off worrying about Lan Wangji, not just out of affection but out of strategic planning, probably in equal parts. All three of these Lans take their clan responsibilities extremely seriously.

Then he calmly assesses the situation while imperturbable Lan Xichen freaks the fuck out.

Lan Xichen is right to be alarmed, because he knows his uncle, he knows one of them is likely to die, and he knows that Lan Qiren will choose to take the hit.

I love, love, love Lan Qiren's physicality here; how centered and assured he is, as he holds his nephew steady and explains what is required of both of them.

Lan Xichen knows Lan Qiren is right. He is utterly fucking devastated, and all he can do to show his love...

...is to obey.

This whole scene just. kills me.

Su She and forgettable disciple #2 are in the room for this whole conversation, and they join Lan Xichen in this deep bow. Note: I will be reminding everyone of this fact in Part 2.

Whew. This episode is a LOT. Part 2 Coming Soon!

Writing Prompt: What other goodies did Wei Wuxian put in Lan Wangji's care package before Lan Wangji hit the road without saying goodbye?

Soundtrack: 1. Michelle Branch, Goodbye to You 2. Ludacris, Stand Up

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #wei wuxian #yu ziyuan #lan qiren #restless rewatch the untamed #the untamed spoilers #lan xichen #canary3d-original #my gifs #the untamed meta

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scarletarosa · 4 years

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Set

Egyptian god of chaos, mischief, storms, deserts, battle, danger, virility, and foreign lands

Set (or Sutekh), though often called a “god of evil” was not always viewed that way and actually played quite a benevolent role despite his chaotic nature. He was one of the sons of Nuit and Geb and was thought to have several wives, including the goddesses Nephthys, Neith, Taweret, Anat, and Astarte (with the latter two being taken from Canaan). Set was usually depicted as a man with the head of an unidentified jackal-like animal with square ears. Although there are many theories of what the animal could possibly be, it is also likely that the animal is meant to be unknown, as Set’s domain includes aspects of the strange and terrifying.

Associations: Some of Set’s associated animals include: the hippopotamus, crocodiles, scorpions, snapping turtles, wild pigs, and donkeys – all of which were considered dangerous. In his hands, he holds an ankh (symbol of life) and his scepter. He may also be portrayed as a man with red hair and wearing a red mantle. The colour red is significant due to it representing some of the many qualities of Set. In Ancient Egypt, red was the colour of life, strength, victory, hostility, and chaos. He was said to reside in the Great Bear constellation in the northern sky – an area which symbolized death and darkness. Despite his benevolence, he is a very complex god who can be terrifying, especially to those who anger him. He represents the chaotic sides of nature that brings change, including storms (as well as sandstorms), drought, battle, and the unknown.

Epithets: Set was known to be a fierce protector, especially in battle where he was often invoked as a vanguard. Some of this god’s known epithets include: “Great of Strength”, “The Inebriated One”, “Lord of the Northern Sky”, “The Red Lord”, “He Before Whom the Sky Trembles”, “The Defender”, and “Lord of the Desert”.

Set’s Roles: Among the roles of Set besides protecting his people in battle was an even greater role: the protection of Ra and all of humanity. As the Sun god Ra would sail his course across the sky on his golden ship, Set would accompany him and was the one to fight off Apep, the serpent of evil. Apep was shown as a spirit in the form of a giant red snake and was the embodiment of all corruption. According to myth, Apep would hypnotize Ra and all of his followers, except for Set, who was chaotic and powerful enough to combat him. In order to defend all of creation and ma’at (order), Set would vanquish Apep each day. Set was also known to be a friend of the dead, helping their souls to ascend the ladder to the heavens. He even held the role of preserving the oases in the desert, which were essential for life in Egypt. So not only would Set represent the chaotic forces of the desert, but he would also protect people and their oases from them; holding back the sandstorms and droughts from civilization. From this, we can see that Set was a powerful ally to all, including the gods.

Myths: Despite Set being a protective god, political battles in Ancient Egypt caused him to eventually be portrayed differently. When a war broke out between Upper and Lower Egypt, the two patrons of the lands (Horus and Set) were depicted in a myth which represented the battle. This was the myth of Horus and Set both fighting for the throne. With Lower Egypt being the victor, Set was gradually cast away and held in contempt; many relics of his benevolence were eventually destroyed. Set also plays a role in the well-known myth of tricking and slaying his brother Osiris, in order to usurp his throne. However, Isis managed to resurrect Osiris and conceived a child with him, the god Horus. While in most versions of the myth, the story follows that Horus grows up to be a mighty warrior and defeats Set in battle, after which he banishes him to the desert. But in another version, the majority of the nine gods (the Ennead) decided that Horus was the rightful King due to being the son of Osiris. But Ra believed that Horus was too inexperienced to rule, and claimed that Set would make a more capable King. This trial went on for nearly one hundred years while the people of Egypt suffered under Set's chaotic reign.

Isis was worried for the well-being of Egypt’s people, and so came up with a plan. She took on the guise of a young woman and sat down outside of Set's palace, where she wept terribly. Eventually Set passed by and stopped to ask her what was wrong. The disguised Isis told him of a cruel man, her husband’s own brother, who had murdered him and stolen away her family’s land and cattle, taken away her son’s inheritance, and that now the man sought to kill her son. Not knowing that the man described was himself, Set became deeply moved by the story and was furious. He swore to the young woman that he would seek out the cruel man who had done such things and would kill him, allowing her to regain her land. With this promise, Isis revealed herself to Set before the gods who were secretly listening, and so Set was cast away into the desert, allowing Horus to reign as King.

In a separate myth describing a battle between Horus and Set, the two gods are wrestling naked in a swamp, where Set eventually appears to have a “mighty erection”. This causes Horus to fall face forward into the waters, causing Set to begin having intercourse with him, which they both greatly seem to enjoy. In another attempt to seduce Horus, Set invites him over to his place to eat and sleep together. The two gods get drunk on wine late that night and caress one another, then have sex once again. Horus manages to catch Set’s seed in his hands, which he keeps until he is able to throw it into the Nile. Unaware of this, the drunken Set falls asleep. Horus lets Isis know of what had happened and she is furious, she then has Horus hide his own seed within the lettuce that Set grows so that he will consume it. Due to this, Horus gains the upper-hand over Set.

Personality: Set is a very ancient god who can be called upon for things such as granting strength, courage, protection, vengeance, victory, and confidence. In my experiences with Set, he is very outgoing, flamboyant, generous, protective, and fun-loving. He loves high-energy environments, pranks, and sex (especially sex). Though in times of battle, Set is a very powerful warrior and wields a mace made of meteorites. He is not cruel like how his later myths portrayed him, for in truth, Set is a very strong and loyal ally. Especially when fighting against Apep, the god of evil. Set is also one of the close allies to Lucifer, and fights alongside him to defend others and end corruptions. Though other than battling, Set usually can be found seducing women or just enjoying himself in general. He has a wonderful sense of humour and is a great amount of fun to be around. As he is a ruler of discord, he is able to calm such matters in your life as well and help you to confront them. In my experiences, Set appears as a young man with red hair and green eyes. He also states that the animal he is depicted as in Egypt is indeed an otherworldly creature, as that suits him best.

Every god has a Shadow aspect, which portrays all of their darker natures. For Set, this aspect is named Sutekh, and it is his chaotic destructive side. While Set is normally friendly with others, he as Sutekh is more intimidating and unpredictable. When angered, Set becomes as Sutekh, and is capable of creating great turmoil and madness in the lives of those who offend him.

| Offerings |

Stout beer, whiskey, frothing wine, champagne, sweet red wine, spicy foods, red meats, lettuce wraps, burgers, tacos, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, arrowheads, maces (his favourite weapons), knives and daggers, red rust, spinach, courgetti, cucumbers, coyote pelts, red carnelian, rubies, dried scorpions, star anise, black peppercorns, black silk, bird eggs, red thorns, sour cherries, red grapefruits, red grapes, dark chocolate, sweets, and brightly-coloured sex toys. He also tends to loves shiny and obnoxious sorts of things.

#set #sutekh #egyptian gods #kemetic gods #kemeticism #egyptian polytheism #paganism #deity work

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ongaku-ato-kakikomi · 4 years

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Coyotes in the Dark - Part Four

(A/N): This is part of a series. Please make sure to check the masterlist to see if you haven’t missed any chapters.

Masterlist

“We should paint the protecting symbol on your door.”

You give out a sigh as soon as you hear Andrew’s words, waiting for him to walk into the apartment before you close the door behind you. “I’m not painting any symbols anywhere.”

“What?” He snaps his head at you, droplets of water falling against the floor and disappearing a few seconds later. “If you’re not gonna kick that Veronica out, you should at least protect yourself!”

“If I put a symbol on my door, they're gonna notice that they can’t go in there.” You walk past him towards the kitchen, kicking off your boots on your way there. “And you won’t be able to go in there either.”

“You put a symbol on the bathroom door.” You don’t even react when his head suddenly pops up from the sink’s drain; his eyes looking at you when you reach for a nearby glass on the counter. “You don’t think they’re gonna be suspicious of that? Might as well add more protection-Ah!”

He screams when you suddenly open the faucet, water spreading through his ghostly head and making him scream from the weird sensation it gives him. You wait for him to finally disappear before you give yourself a glass of water, hearing him complain behind you while you take a few sips.

“They already noticed that they can’t access the bathroom. Taking it off will only raise more suspicions, and it’s not like they’ll notice the symbol. It’s hidden under the towel rack inside, remember?” You finish drinking your glass of water, then put it on the counter. “Besides, do you really want one of them to see me in the shower?”

You can hear him give out a squeaky noise, your eyes turning towards him to see a look of pure despair on his face mixed with an embarrassed blush. You give out a small smirk at that, a chuckle escaping your throat right when you flick his forehead.

“Hey!” He screams in frustration as soon as you do that, his hands wiping some water off his forehead. “What was that for?”

“You worry too much about me.” He gives out a pout as he looks down at his feet, the little ghost boy having always been around to protect you ever since he died. “I’ll be fine, Andrew. They don’t know enough about the ghost world to realize how much of a danger they can be to me.”

“But still…” Andrew gives you a worried look, biting onto his bottom lip as memories flash into his head. “… that JD ghost is smarter… what if he realizes your potential?”

“He won’t. I promise.” You know he doesn’t believe you simply by the look he’s giving you, which only seems to increase your smile. “And I have you here with me! The best guardian angel I could ask for!”

He gives out a snort at your words, the little ghost now shaking is head and making more water fall on the floor. “You’re an idiot…”

You don’t have time to think of a reply that a loud groan is suddenly being heard from the hallway; the hair on your arms raising along with the rapidity of your heartbeat. Andrew’s face contorts itself into an expression of pure fear just as you both look towards the sound. A scream escapes your lips as soon as you notice a dripping gray hand slowly moving out from the hallway and grasping the corner of the wall, but it’s the decaying face that follows the hand that makes you take a step back; its black eyes and melting gray skin are enough of a threat to make Andrew step in front of you.

A daemonium got into your house.

And you might not be able to survive it.

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

“Let’s see…” Veronica mumbles under her breath as she walks through a large number of hallways, her eyes looking back and forth between a small piece of paper and all the classrooms’ doors around her. “Only one more class to find…”

“Uuuugh…!” Ram’s the one to let out that word filled with pure frustration, making the live girl tense up. “Why do you even need to find your classes so early? This is boring!”

“I hate agreeing with these idiots,” Heather speaks through her teeth, her arms crossed over her chest as she gives them a side look. “But they’re right. This is way too boring, Ronnie.”

“Maybe not…” The two ghosts give Kurt a surprised look, the not-so naked jock giving out a smirk as he looks towards another direction. “Things could get interesting.”

They turn their head to follow his gaze, Heather already rolling her eyes when she spots a dead girl following some teacher around, though Ram immediately gives out a loud noise of agreement.

“Yo, dude! Great eyes! That girl’s hot!”

“I know, right?”

“You guys are absolute pigs.”

“Will you shut up already?” JD snaps his head at all of them, making them all send back a dark glare. “I can’t concentrate if you keep screaming!”

Veronica shakes her head to try and ignore them, having a hard time continuing to find her classes with them constantly complaining around her. Sadly for her, Heather doesn’t quite like to be boss around, especially not by JD.

“What? Still thinking about that (Y/N) girl?” She gives out a smirk when she notices the anger flash in his eyes, his white one always empty; his emotion only seems to increase when she points her red nailed finger at his face. “Are you scared that scared of losing Ronnie’s attention?”

Veronica feels her cheek warming up at that comment, but she doesn’t quite know why. You were her roommate, possibly a very good friend (she hopes so at least), so why does Heather is making it sound like you might become something more eventually?

And why isn’t she opposed to that idea?

JD looks away from Heather to set his eyes on the live girl, his white eye twitching when he notices the blush on her face. He would lie if he said that he didn’t hate you mostly because of your effect on her… but something about you is also off. Very off. And he doesn’t trust you one bit.

There’s no way you can be so nice and innocent; you must be evil in some way, why else would a ghost follow you around? You may not have killed a kid, but you were surely responsible for that ghost’s death. That’s the only reason why a ghost is bound to someone and not a place.

He’s gonna expose you for who you are no matter what.

“No comment?” He groans when he hears the pride in Heather’s voice, the blond giving out a chuckle. “Would you look at that? JD is jealous!”

“Shut up.”

She only chuckles even more while the two idiots watch and mumble in pure confusion, making the killer boy grind his teeth. He can’t believe that he now has to spend every single second of his afterlife with those three; either until Veronica dies or they start disappearing. He doesn’t really know, but god… he can’t help but wish they would all just go away. That way he can be alone with Ronnie forever.

Doesn’t that sound nice?

“Um, excuse me?” Veronica’s head snaps towards the voice that called out for her, her shoulders relaxing with relief when she notices that it’s another student. “You seem stressed out… are you lost?”

JD squints his eyes at the girl, feeling a sense of some sort of danger from her. She somehow reminds him of Heather; even though her red hair, green eyes, and freckles make her very different from the blond victim.

Still. Ronnie should be careful.

“Ah! Not really.” Veronica gives her a smile. “I’m just looking for my classes in advance, but I can’t seem to find my last one.”

“Oh! Maybe I can help you.” The girl takes the paper from Veronica’s hands without asking, making the live girl’s ghosts narrow their eyes at her. “Ah, I see! It’s not too far from here, I can walk you there if you want.”

“That would be great!” Veronica gives her a smile, making a movement to take her paper back, only for the girl to start walking away.

“She’s a bitch.” Heather squints her eyes at the girl, her arms still crossed over her chest. “I can tell.”

JD knows she’s right. Heather might be annoying, but she’s not an idiot… and her instincts are good enough for him to take them into consideration.

Especially when she makes his own assumptions right.

“Um…” The blue girl shakes her head and follows the red-haired girl, a little nervous now. “My name’s Veronica.”

“I’m Chloe.” The red-haired girl doesn’t even bat her eyes as she says her name, though she seems to realize something and turns a sweet smile towards Veronica. “I saw you earlier with (Y/N).”

“Oh…?” Veronica seems taken aback by that, having not noticed that someone was watching them. “Well-”

“I’m sorry she suddenly abandoned you.” Chloe’s smile suddenly seems pitiful, the girl’s eyes eying Veronica with a sad gleam in them. “It’s kind of her thing. Don’t take it personally if she didn’t want to help you.”

“Oh, it’s not that.” The red-haired girl seems taken aback by Veronica’s words, JD listening to the conversation very closely. “She came with me to help but needed to go home last minute.”

“She came with you?” Chloe frowns, then gives Veronica a weird look. “You didn’t meet her here?”

“No, um…” Veronica doesn’t quite know how to answer, getting weird vibes from the red-haired girl now. “I’m her new roommate.”

Chloe suddenly comes to a stop, almost making Veronica bump into her. It takes a few seconds before the green-eyed girl gives out a dark chuckle,.

“So you’re the freak’s roommate?”

JD quirks an eyebrow at that. ‘Freak’, huh? Either he was right about you or that girl is as horrible as Heather was when they were in high school.

“What did you say?”

Chloe jumps up at Veronica’s words, then gives her a smile. “Ah! Sorry… your class is right there.”

She points towards a door next to the blue girl just as she gives the paper back, Veronica unconsciously grasping it as she looks at the number. She gives out a smile of relief when she notices that it’s the right class, then turns towards the red-haired girl.

“Thank you-”

She stops when she notices that she’s no longer there, confusion spreading inside her mind.

“Don’t make that dumb face, Ronnie.” She tenses up when she hears Heather’s voice, the ghosts all looking towards an exit where Chloe disappeared. “You know that girl was using you.”

“Why would she use me?”

“To get information about (Y/N).” JD’s the one to speak up, his head tilted as he looks at the door. “The question is… ‘why’?”

“Who cares?” Ram starts to whine again, shaking his head with a pout. “Let’s go home already! I’m bored!”

“Me too.” Kurt gives out a sigh of disappointment. “The hot ghost is gone.”

“Are you guys really stupid enough that you did not notice anything that just happened?!”

Veronica just gives out a sigh as everyone starts to argue once again, her fingers tightening their grip on her paper.

What’s your history with that Chloe girl? Why is there a ghost child following you?

She shakes her head. No. She has no right to judge you for anything that you might have done. She’s sure that her secrets are darker than yours.

There’s no way someone like you could be horrible… right?

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

You give out a loud sigh as soon as you manage to close shut the recipient you used to conceal the daemonium inside, remembering earlier the bit you’ve read in a book about sealing them away just in time. Andrew barely managed to fight it off while you were preparing the recipient, the kitchen chairs and the table now thrown aside around the room. Luckily, nothing else was thrown or broke down. All you have to do is replace everything to its place before Veronica comes back, and you also need to find a place to hide this little daemonium so that it doesn’t accidentally get freed.

“My god! What happened?”

You turn around to see Veronica standing at the entrance of the apartment, the four ghosts always following her now looking behind her shoulder with curiosity. You can’t help but hide the recipient behind your back upon seeing her, a blush of embarrassment and fear appearing on your face.

“Um… well…” You look at Andrew from the corner of your eyes, the little ghost now looking at his new roommates with pure panic. “I… um… tripped.”

“You tripped?” Veronica continues to stare at the table and the chairs all tipped over, then looks at you standing beside them without a scratch. “Really?”

“Multiple times.” You give out an awkward chuckle, one of your hands letting go of the recipient so you can point at yourself. “I’m clumsy!”

Andrew looks at you, his words coming out through his teeth. “You seriously think she’s gonna believe that?”

Judging by the weird look she’s giving you… no. No, she’s not gonna believe you.

But you have to hide the recipient before she sees it.

“Why are you not hurt?”

“You know what? My back does hurt a little…” You take a step back towards the hallway, thinking that your only option is to run to your room. “I’m gonna go lay down. Can we talk later?”

Veronica blinks a few times. “Um… sure-”

She doesn’t have time to say anything else that you’re already gone into the hallway, her confusion only increasing with each second. It doesn’t take long for her to close the entrance door a few seconds later, Kurt and Ram already giggling amongst themselves.

“Bro, you know what we should do?”

“Go watch her sleep?”

“Hell yeah! Definitely!”

Andrew gives them a hard glare, already positioning himself in front of the hallway to block them. “I don’t think so.”

“Aw, dude, not fair!”

Heather gives out a scoff, the girl already walking towards the kitchen alongside with Veronica. She kicks one of the chairs, watching her feet go through the material without any care in the world.

“Are we gonna talk about that obvious lie?”

“I’m sure she had her reasons.” Veronica simply starts to put the table at its rightful place with difficulty, giving out a sigh when she’s done. “Maybe she did trip or something.”

“Multiple times? I doubt it.” Heather rolls her eyes, then lets them on Andrew still blocking the way for Kurt and Ram. “Hey, kid! Why did she lie?”

Veronica looks around the empty with confusion, her eyes soon lightening up when she realizes that they must be talking to the kid that’s been following you. Andrew simply snaps his head towards Heater, certain darkness lingering in his eyes.

“Trust me.” He shakes his head, almost shivering at the thought of the daemonium. “You don’t want to know.”

“I do.” JD’s voice makes Kurt and Ram squeal, the two boys stepping away as soon as the killer ghost arrives in front of Andrew. “So how about you just tell me?”

Your ghost friend stares at him for a long while, thoughts running through his head faster than the light. That much JD can tell by all the emotions passing through the kid’s eyes.

“Sorry.” Andrew gives him a smirk, then slowly steps back into the hallway. “I don’t help newbies.”

It’s the last thing he says before he melts down into the floor, leaving JD with a frustrated feeling swirling inside his stomach.

Looks like he’ll have to force the information out of him.

And it’s not gonna be pleasant for anyone.

168 notes · View notes

fandom-sheep · 3 years

Text

MCC 18 SEP 21

Yellow Yacks and Cyan Coyotes with a little Aqua Axolotls. Part 1/1

The only reason I didn’t forget MCC was because I got the notification for Eret.

I have Wilbur on my TV. I’m going to watch Eret on my phone. And I’ll have Tommy on my iPad probably.

Wilbur throwing a tantrum and saying he won’t play.

I feel like a true Gen Z member with my multiple screens of minecraft.

I’m only just getting the Wilbur notification.

I love watching everyone run around before MCC and scale things.

Griefing the thumbnail. 😂

Wilbur just causes problems on purpose when it comes to group photos doesn’t he.

He just loves finding ways to cause problems.

Wilbur got a coconut!?!

I didn’t mean to type the question mark originally. But I am a bit confused.

Wilbur just stocking up on coconuts

True friendship is a quote book. I have several.

Baby banana boo.

Wait. I heard the word tumblr

Scott what did you do with tumblr?

I’m scared. Only Eret permitted on tumblr.

I remember watching hole in the wall as a tv show as a kid.

Wilbur’s glasses that don’t do anything.

There are September discounts for subbing?

Neato.

The conversations in my work discord are something else.

Not surprised that Wilbur is going for top swearer of MCC

But my residents are going to walk by my door and judge me.

Alright I apparently wasn’t signed in to twitch on my iPad and it took me entirely too long to learn to remember it.

Tommy looks like he’s really concentrating. Oh wait never mind.

Wow the yaks are in first currently. I might be cheering for a winning team for once.

Alright I have my iPad split screen between Tommy and the MCC website.

Everyone break the elevator!

In the game, not in the building I work. I don’t want that paperwork.

Stick together and place many block.

I’ve been in Wilburs position. “I’ll be captain” “yeah let’s let Wilbur be captain”

Not a single POV I have up is synced. But that’s life.

Oh not starting out strong.

Just keep going. Ignore the falling people just like ranboo last time.

We are at the absolute bottom for this game.

Where’s a bag of popcorn or something?

“Stay down there. That’s how I won that one time” -Ranboo

Down they go.

They didn’t have anywhere to run.

Second round!

Oh that wasn’t their best idea. It was fun seeing Erets POV of that.

Go Teams.

Turning down the volume on yellow yacks to listen to aqua axolotls.

Aqua please. You have so much potential.

Nope.

Switching audio again.

Yellow back at the bottom.

Ranboo ranboo ranboo ranboo

Down he goes. 😂 the timing of that was funny.

Please. Don’t die

Wilbur. Scott. Please.

Scott uncovering the creeper.

Their plan is literally just sit and be.

To be fair that’s my plan for everything I do.

Oh cobwebs are smart.

I’m eating very salty Chick-fil-A chips and need water.

We are still doing ok. Wow.

Cobwebs man. The real MVP.

They are still in 10th

COBWEBS!!! And Wilbur standing on the edge of a block.

THEY WON THAT?!?!!!!

It moved them from last to eight. But still. Wow.

Holy cow. How did that happen.

I always forget what the acronym game is.

Oh yeah. Wilbur snuck and found this. I remember.

Go team!

Oh the website updates faster than the game. But we’re starting off decent.

I’m going to have to take back that statement aren’t I?

Go go go go

Fly fly fly fly

Build build build build

Go Wilbur!

Rafter strat.

Wilbur found the rafters and everyone else loved it.

Blocking his own jump. 😂

I really should do the inside joke chair emoji thing for laughing. But I don’t care.

Tiktok is nice. Depends on the side you are on, but it’s nice.

We are doing halfway decent. I’m proud of us.

Wilbur is struggling and I think he might cry.

Not bad. I don’t think.

Power sweater.

This game in MCC has rainbow road vibes

I’ll have to make that it’s own post since I feel that’ll be popular ish.

Holy cow we hit first on the website!! How?

Ranboo sweet one.

They said no peaking to Wilbur.

Wilbur making them block stuff off and the like is so funny.

Run yaks run!

I missed the moment Wilbur just mentioned. Oh well I’m sure I’ll see the clip.

First last first.

Hey 4th overall. Look at em.

Wilbur switching to full screen to show us his M&Ms.

Let me balance my water bottle on the bedpost above my head. No way this could possibly go wrong in multiple ways.

Double coins. Gorgeous.

Chickens are being sniped.

What’s going to work? TEAM WORK!

I don’t think I have ever watched a game of grid runners in my life?

Alright game should start any second because it started on the website.

Alright stream is delayed about 13 seconds.

Go teams go!

Wilbur just sniping targets.

We’re doing ok.

All this dirt.

Go go go

We’re completing things first.

Cake!

Wilbur got in!

Now they eat

Oh but they are falling.

Oh wow the painting is complicated. My friends and I would fail to communicate so fast.

Is this lever thing just find the button but complicated?

Go you got the levers!

Items grab!

My friends and I would seriously struggle unless I was allowed the lead. But I would lead us off a cliff.

Everyone get ready to go in as soon as the cake is done.

Exit! You guys are so close! Please!

Woohoo!

Go Ranboo! Go Scott!

Come on guys. Come on. Good communication.

I think I like watching Wilbur with MCC because he had a similar strategy to what I would do.

Wilbur why did you try to act cool!!!

They keep saying they are miles ahead but not according to that scoreboard.

You placed 3rd. Good job y’all.

I’m excited for bonuses.

They have another minute until the others run out of time.

Good soup.

Oh wow. Ranboo and Wilbur really are always totgehe.

We are doing well. I see the board changing on the website so much.

Where will they land.

Looks like 2nd or 3rd

Fourth overall. Not bad.

Lap time is logical.

Audience vote?

Look at me redownloading twitter.

Can you not see how others have voted on twitter?

Oh there it is. It only showed mine for a sec there.

Battle box looks close. I voted ace race.

Oh it all looks close right now.

Long break my beloved.

I don’t have time to start my laundry but still. My beloved.

Game 5/8 so MCC won’t be too much longer.

I look up and Wilbur is shaking his ass at George. I’m not surprised.

Phil and Sneeg judging Wilbur.

Wilbur twerking on Phil and Sneeg joining.

Poor Phil.

Wilbur just having visited so many random places with so many random words just gathered.

Oh wow parkour tag is low. But so is sands.

Oh wow it was a tie. Between Sands and Parkour

“Wilbur is Sand Daddy” -Scott and then all the agreement noises.

Sands of Time is my favorite practical game

Maybe because Wilbur is really good at it. And Ranboo had been trained by him.

This is just good.

I swear Sand daddy is going to kill me during this.

I am just going to pass away.

My stream delay though.

Wilbur who says he stays very quiet as he makes circus music noises.

Minecraft Rhinos. Because I can’t spell their real name.

I don’t quite understand sand of time. But I like watching. It’s like college football.

I am missing the only college football game I care about for MCC.

Go Team.

No blue yet.

All the mobs.

“You better not die” sung to the tune of Santa clause is coming yo town. -Wilbur

Keep it up guys.

Oh no. They lost the key.

Oh good they found the key.

You can tell Wilbur had a musicians brain. He just hears something vaguely lyrical and starts singing a song.

Gotta promote your band whenever you can I guess.

I listened to the last Ep for like an hour and a half yesterday while I went about my day.

I wonder how we’re doing?

Only a few seconds.

I could warm a heating pad in the amount fo time they have left.

Ranboo doing these puzzles so amazingly.

Quit caring about what others think. Just do your thing.

I swear the sand daddy thing.

I love the cage of shame for not tracking your sand.

I zoned out. Red cyan orange?

We’re almost 15 minutes into sands.

I want to play Minecraft on my iPad right now.

Wait the website updated. We were 6th?

Yikes. I thought they did better.

3rd overall though!

Wait what was that about most influential improv thingy? Good for them.

Build mart!

Oh Ace Race. Wilbur calling Ace Race his girlfriend now.

I want to see the enemies to lovers fan fictions of Ace race and Wilbur.

Oh wait I can do that. I can verbally tell one like I have others in the past.

I’m excited to watch this.

Wilbur flirt with the race.

I’m not mentally prepared for this.

Everyone just joined because they don’t want to miss Wilbur x Ace Race.

Oh no. He’s not doing so well.

Oh Wilbur is giving us more.

Complicated history…

Whispering to Ace Race and Solidarity.

You’ve got it Wilbur.

Keep on talking. Keep your brain busy while you play.

Mommmm Wilbur is flirting with Ace Race again!

He’s whispering though so I can’t quite hear it and will have to find a clip channel that added subtitles.

Oh teams are changing on the website.

“What are you doing in my women Philza?” -Wilbur

“I will end your bloodline which is canonically also me.” -Wilbur

I can not track all the quotes from this. That’s beyond my abilities.

Wilbur did halfway decent, but it still uncomfortable.

Ace Race is a person now. Also the fact that Wilbur compliments Ace Race so much.

Sally v. Ace Race.

I want to find that fanart now.

Scott honey. Confirmed cannon is everyone fancies the fish.

4th. Not bad.

We’re still talking Ace Race x Wilbur

Build mart! My dearest buildmart!

I miss them sliding around in the sleds.

Grab da flowers!

We’re in 1st at the minute.

Come on yaks!

No coyotes!

Hurry hurry hurry.

Work discord going it’s thing again.

Oh we’re dropping fast.

Move the redstone! Thank you

Alright back on top. Keep it up.

Nevermind.

I love the way the build spaces for the different teams work.

Who is the person on the build?

Oh first again? Nevermind.

Oh we popped up to second. We’re so behind. Come on.

Duck!

Good soup energy. Now all I can think is the bi wide energy song.

Time is running out.

Yeah we aren’t catching up to first. Just hold second.

Where is granite?

Game over.

Third overall now. Not bad. Last game time they can possibly pull it into dodge bolt.

I need to go get a picture with the President of the university for a game with my work.

Good Soup.

I’m sitting here making popcat noises while waiting.

Game time! Go team! Survive!

Wait where did the steamer go? I wasn’t paying attention.

He’s back.

He’s swearing for his points on the swearing list.

Is pee a soup? No. I don’t think it’s think enough under normal circumstances.

Karl is apparently swearing according to Twitter. Good for him. He deserves to swear some as a treat.

Everyone running and leaving shubble.

Oh good they are all together.

Just keep running.

4th so far.

Cars. Beep beep.

Ranboo breath child.

Calling Wilbur like some kind of golden retriever.

Bow boy

Scott is leader now. Because otherwise they are arguing.

We are playing the don’t die strategy.

Come on team.

Did I put my cut in this post? I did.

Ranboo having stolen the airdrop. And he has a thing!

Oh the boarder is right behind them.

They are fighting Dream?

Nice Will.

We’re in fourth.

Boarder is right there.

Sapnap? Nope.

Pink attack and they book it.

Oh no. There goes Wilbur.

Is it just Scott?

Scott vs the world.

Just Organe and pink. They came third.

GO ORANGE!

Please. Please let us do it.

Overall third. Pink overtook yellow.

Sadness.

Ranboo has achieved: Found Hated Game

Ranboo has been hit by Survival games so many times now.

If they had just lasted a tiny bit longer they would have come second.

Cheering Orange I suppose.

I have no skill at picking winner POVs.

I have 3 teams I was at least kinda watching. And none of them are in dodgebolt.

Gosh can hear Ranboo tweaking.

Wow. Yellow yaks just as a team twerking.

What is Wilbur chewing on? Wilbur don’t chew on things that probably aren’t meant to be chewed on.

I can hear the band outside of my window. I think my campuses football game is starting.

The drum line practiced outside my window all the beginning of the semester so it’s fun seeing them march to the stadium.

Oh and there are the cheerleaders.

Oh right I was watching MCC! Who’s winning?

Come on Orange. So close.

Wait I looked out my window. Why is the band walking back to where they were?

Along the sidewalk?

I thought it was game time for a minute.

Oh dodgebolt could go either way.

Distracted by Jesus.

Grian! You got this!

Nice Grian.

Oh Grian has a chance!

Oh!

It’s so close!

Ooo ooo!

I’m so invested.

I SEE THE CONFETTI IN THE SITE! But I don’t want to miss the shot.

Come on Grian.

I know you do it. But you’ve got this

YESSSSS

Woo hoo!!

That was a good MCC. Now to do the chores and homework I originally planned to do today.

That was a nice stream.

Scott is separating Ranboo and Wilbur?

Please. Scott.

Don’t separate the beings.

You know. Twitter needs to politely bully Scott into keeping Ranboo and Will together.

Oop and that’s Wilbur done. That was fun.

See y’all next time!

#mcc #wilbur soot #ranboo #Scott #dangthatsalongname #shubble #yellow yaks #delayed liveblogging

10 notes · View notes

goddesswritings · 4 years

Text

home with you - Stiles Stilinksi | everything i wanted

Title: home with you – Part One

Pairing: Stiles x Reader

Summary: Lydia Martin has a cousin. She’s Y/n. She moved in with Lydia and her mother two years ago after tragedy struck in her life. She met Stiles and Scott, and the two boys basically saved her. She developed a crush on Stiles through this, despite him having a crush on her beautiful cousin. People start going missing in Beacon Hills, and Y/n is forced to face her feelings and her ability to save the people she loves.

Word Count: 6.8k

Notes: Finding a title that fit this story was a bit of a task, but I think ‘home with you’ by FKA twigs is pretty fitting in a way for the feelings I have for this story.

This story is based on season 6A of Teen Wolf. It took me three years to finally finish Teen Wolf and season 6A was definitely a favorite of mine. The character development of everyone was just wow. So here we have a Stiles and Reader fic, because this idea hit me. Enjoy. More Stiles fics to come!

Masterlist

********

“Lydia, don’t say that.” You said to your cousin as she picked at her nails.

“What, I thought Stiles would have moved on by now. It’s been what, 4 years?” She popped her gum as she lounged back on her bed. “Aiden and I have been together for a while now, he does know I’m not breaking up with him, right?”

“I’m sure he does, Lyds. Just don’t antagonize him. He can’t help who he likes.” You would much rather not be talking about Stiles’ crush on your cousin with her, but she brought it up when Aiden mentioned that he thought Stiles was still into her.

You sighed and laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. This whole thing was not fun to talk about. You hated the way she treated Stiles, yet he still loved her. Two years ago, you moved in with Lydia and her mom after your parents were killed in a freak accident. You and Lydia had always gotten along, but she was definitely not the nicest person. But she’s been getting better.

“Oh I know, why don’t I set him up with someone? That will help him move on, right?” She raised her eyebrows as she grabbed her phone from the table. She started browsing it.

Your heart perked up, hoping she would realize you were the perfect person to set him up with. But she ignored you.

“Stella is a good choice. Wait no, she’s into James. Oh maybe Ellie, oh she’s perfect! Her hair is identical to mine.”

“Except for the fact that Ellie plays for the other team.” You mumbled.

“Wait, she does? I never knew that.”

“Yeah, at that party at Derek’s last year, she was all over that chick from Econ. Hailey I think.”

Lydia sighed and put her phone down. “Well then I don’t know what to do. He needs to move on, like now. I can’t have him stuck on me like this. We’re seniors and I don’t want him following Aiden and I around in school.”

Rolling your eyes, you moved from her bed. “I will talk to him, Lydia. You don’t have to worry.”

Her eyes lit up, “Perfect Y/n! Now I’m meeting Aiden for a late-night talk. Can you cover for me, with my mom?”

“Of course.” You left her room and headed down the hall to yours. It was nice that Natalie Martin took you in, but sometimes Lydia took advantage of you.

A message came through your phone. It was Scott.

Stiles and I have a kid at the station. He’s terrified and we have no clue who his parents are, we need you and Lydia.

Of course she was already gone.

I can help, but Lydia just left with Aiden. I’m the best you got.

Scott and Stiles became good friends with you when you moved to Beacon Hills. Almost immediately you fell for the quirky boy who had way too much energy. He was funny and sweet to you. When you moved, you’d fallen into a depression but somehow him and Scott got you out of it. Especially since they vowed to find out what happened to your parents.

With the help of Sheriff Stilinski, you did find out what happened to your parents. Not that you wanted to remember it right now.

Stiles will be there in 5.

Okay!

You rushed around your room, pulling off the sweatpants you had been wearing and pulling on some jeans. You got one leg in and lost your balance and fell to the ground. Chuckling, you pulled the pants on and searched for shoes to wear. Finally you had finished dressing when you saw Roscoe pull into the driveway. Shoving your phone into your pocket, you were off. Natalie was nowhere to be found, so you didn’t have to convince her to let you go.

Stiles smiled when you hopped into the jeep. “Well hello, little Martin.” He stated with his signature smile.

“I’m the same age as Lydia and you know this.” You quipped as you clicked the seatbelt in.

“Of course, I know this. I’m just joking with you. I only say it because you’re shorter than me and Scott.” He patted your thigh. “We love you regardless.”

Shaking your head, Stiles backed out of the driveway and headed towards the station.

“Damn, I wish I had a growth spurt.” You mumble making Stiles laugh.

“No Y/n, you’re perfect the way you are. Trust me. You don’t need to be taller or anything like that.”

The words warmed your heart. This is why you had a massive crush on him. He was the sweetest man alive.

“Well that was as sweet as pie, Stiles. Now tell me what to expect with this kid?”

Stiles was now in detective mode. You loved how passionate he was about all of this. He had amazing skills that made him valuable to Scott’s pack, despite being human. You on the other hand, felt very useless to the pack. Your cousin was a Banshee, Scott was a werewolf, Malia was a Coyote, and well Stiles was gifted with his detective skills as well as being smart as hell. You were just a human with no special skills to help them. You always did your best when these things happened, but you just weren’t all that useful to them.

“Liam and Hayden found this kid in a car alone. He was mumbling about needing to find his parents, but my dad has no record of them or the kid. We are all simply confused. He was also mumbling about these men who came out of nowhere on horses and stole his parents.” Stiles explained as he stopped at a red light.

“Interesting. What does your dad think?” You asked when you watched the light turn green.

“He thinks he just ran away from home and found an abandoned car to hot wire.” Stiles was not happy with that answer.

“How old is the kid?”

“12 apparently.”

“Okay, what twelve-year-old can hotwire a car? Who’s the car belong to?” Everything was not adding up.

“The car wasn’t registered to anyone. It had no plates. But the windshield was smashed off. The kid said the men on horses shot the car.”

“That doesn’t sound like a runaway kid to me.”

“Same. Scott is not sure what he thinks.”

You put your hand on Stiles’. “What do you think happened?”

He sighed. “I think it was supernatural of course. I’m not sure what, but I feel it in my bones that he didn’t just run away from home. They don’t even have record of this kid.”

“Well then we will find out what it is, won’t we?”

“You want to help?”

“Of course I do, Stiles. You’re my best friend and I believe you when you have a feeling about these things.” Also your feelings for him, made you believe him even more.

The two of you pulled into the station and he led you from the car. Sheriff Stilinski was in his office with Scott and a kid who looked scared and confused.

“I just want to find my parents.” He cried as Sheriff Stilinski looked on in helplessness.

“How do we find his parents if he’s not even in the database?” He asked Scott in a whisper.

Scott looked pensive before a thought hit him. “Well I could use my claws?”

You shook your head. “Scott no, that’s a horrible idea. That will hurt him!”

The kid spoke up. “I will do anything. I just want to find my parents.” You all exchanged looks, unsure of how to precede. Did Scott really want to use his claws on this kid to get answers?

“It’s going to hurt. Are you sure?” He asked him.

“I am. I need to know where my parents are.” He whined, tears clouding his eyes.

“Okay, we have to do this.” Scott looked to Sheriff Stilinski, Stiles, and I.

Stiles’ dad sighed and shut the door, locking it. Then he lowered all the curtains to his office. You stepped back, knowing it would hurt him. Stiles stepped up beside you and took your hand in his. You turned and buried your head into his chest as Scott buried his claws into the neck of this kid. He screamed in agony as Scott delved into his memories. Stiles wrapped his arms around you, blocking out some of the sound.

It all stopped, and Scott fell away from the boy. Stiles loosened his grip and you turned to see a highly confused Scott. The kid was passed out now.

“What did you see?” Stiles asked.

“Nothing. There are no memories of his parents at all. Just him. His name is Alex.” He mumbled, walking away from him.

“How is there no memories of his parents?” Sheriff Stilinski was so confused.

“That’s what I want to know.” You were all left in a state of confusion. Sheriff talked about how he would be keeping Alex at the station until they could locate his parents. Stiles, Scott, and you exited the station.

“We should go look at his house. You did see his house, right?” Stiles said as you three stopped by the jeep.

“I did. I know where it’s at.” Scott stated.

“Then why don’t we go check it out?” He suggested with hope in his eyes.

“Tomorrow we will go. It’s getting late and we have school in the morning.” Scott told him.

“Okay, that’s fine. Let me know if you remember anything else?”

Scott smiled and put on his motorcycle helmet. “Will do. Good luck!” He told him before riding off.

You were confused. “Good luck with what?” You asked as Stiles led you to the car. You hopped in.

“Oh it’s nothing. Can we, uh, go somewhere to talk?” He was suddenly nervous.

“Sure. I’m positive Lydia isn’t home yet and well I didn’t see her mom, so she’s also probably on a date.”

“Good, let’s go.” He started up the jeep and drove off without another word. He was silent as you both drove along with quiet streets of Beacon Hills. Your mind went to what Lydia asked you to do, and your chest tightened with nerves.

Stiles parked the jeep on the edge of the Beacon Hills Preserve. He shut the car off.

“So I actually needed to talk to you about something.” You said knowing you had to do it now or never.

“Sure, go ahead. I have something to say too.” He said with his cute little smile.

You smiled back but felt like bolting from the jeep. You couldn’t believe Lydia was making you do this. “So I was talking to Lydia and she mentioned that she still thinks you have a crush on her. Do you?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” He answered while watching you closely.

“Okay, she said her, and Aiden were talking, and she didn’t like that you still crushed on her. She was rambling on about how she didn’t want you to spend Senior year following her around, especially now that you and Malia are over.”

“That’s good because I have a crush on someone else.”

You barely registered what he said as you continued on. “And I know it sounds mean when she says this. I even told her she couldn’t say that because you are so sweet and don’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

“Of course.”

“I’m so sorry Stiles, I didn’t want to be the one to say it. But she wants to set you up with someone else, and I said it was a horrible idea because I hate when people set you up with others.”

“Mmm hmmm.” He mumbled as he watched you ramble. He loved when you got like this. You were just so dang cute when you rambled without really understanding what the other person was saying.

“Because I think we should be able to choose who we date on our own without being set up.” You stopped when you realized something he’d said. “Wait, did you say you have a crush on someone else?”

Stiles started laughing. “I was wondering when you would catch that. Yes I did, and yes I do have a crush on someone else. Someone who’s beautiful and loyal and just downright adorable all the time. Someone I should have seen ages ago.”

Inside, your heart ached. “Who is she?”

He shook his head. “Well I think you know her, she’s in all my classes.”

Your brain went into overdrive, thinking about all the girls you and Stiles shared class with. There was only a handful that were in all your classes. “Melanie?”

Once again he was laughing. “No. Y/n, it’s you.”

The world stopped. You looked up at the dark-haired boy in front of you. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he watched you with curiosity.

You point to him. “You like me?” Then you pointed at yourself.

“I do. Ever since the Chimera stuff, as well as me and Malia drifting apart. I realized I had the perfect girl in front of me. Who is more perfect than she realized.”

“But I’m not Lydia. At all.”

“I don’t want you to be Lydia. My crush on Lydia was infatuation for someone I thought I knew. But she’s been pretty keen on ignoring me for years, despite us now being in the same friend group. After the Nogitsune, I started thinking about why I liked her and realized all my reasons for liking her, didn’t make sense. I think I just wanted her because I couldn’t have her. Does that make sense?”

“It does. But you really like me?”

“I do, a lot.”

Smiling, you leaned forward and kissed him. “I like you too, Stiles. A lot. I have since I moved here.”

He smiled and pulled you into another kiss. Stiles was happy he finally admitted his feelings to you. He’d known you had some sort of feelings for him but because of Lydia, you never said a thing. He knew he was truly over Lydia.

“Then will you let me take you on a date?” Stiles asked with hope in his beautiful amber colored eyes.

“Yes, oh my god, I would love that!” You wrapped your arms around his lean body, and he reciprocated the movement. His arms pulled you close as you leaned over the console of his car, where he kept his police scanner.

He kissed your forehead, then your cheek, and finally your lips. His lips were hot against yours. You leaned into the kiss until the console got to be too much. Stiles pulled away and motioned to the back of the car. You nodded before hopping over the console with Stiles hot on your heels.

His arms wrapped around you as he pulled you close once again. His lips found yours in another searing kiss. You’d wanted this for so long, that you simply melted into his kiss. Stiles licked your lips to get you to open up, and you did. His tongue was quick to find yours. Your mouths meshed together in the most perfect way.

Stiles’ hands wondered your body over your clothes, increasing your excitement. The way your bodies fit together, was truly a magical feeling. The kisses had your head swimming while he caressed you in the sweetest way.

You took a hold of the situation and rolled the two of you, until you were on top of Stiles. Your lips left his and started sucking on his neck. Stiles moaned when you found the spot on his neck that had his body feeling alive. He pushed up against you, allowing you to feel the forming bulge in his jeans.

Smiling, you pulled him into another kiss and this time, your hands were the ones exploring his body. You felt every muscle in his body as your hands trailed it like he’d done with you. Stiles’ hands were gripping your waist, holding you in place so he could still have some sort of control over you. But you had your own plans up your sleeve, and you pressed yourself into the bulge that was pushing up into you.

“Oh shit.” He moaned as you did that. He was not expecting that at all. “My dirty girl is taking control, huh?” He groaned as you rubbed yourself on him. Your pussy was soaked at this point and the friction of you rubbing against him, was sending you on a trip.

“I am.” You whispered as you ground down again.

“Fuck, you’re making it hard to take this slow.” Stiles’ grip had tightened on your waist. He was trying to stop you from grinding yourself down on him again.

“What if I don’t want to go slow?” You’d pulled away to study his face. You counted the moles on his face, dying to kiss him again, so you pushed forward to do just that.

He lightly pulled away. “As much as I love that, I would hate myself if we did that. I want to do this right. I want to take you out and show you the world.”

You bit your lip as you thrust your hips down again. A steady pressure was building in your core, and you were so ready for it to burst.

“Y/n, gosh you’re so fucking sexy.” He let go of his inhibitions and pulled your lips back to his. His hands were now exploring your body again, while yours wrapped around the back of his neck. He pushed himself up against your needy core, causing the sexiest moans to fall from your mouth.

“Please Stiles, I need you.” You moaned when one of his hands grabbed a breast and palmed it.

His lips were hot against your skin. “I need you too, shit.” His head fell back as your core connected with his hard cock. He was so ready to release it and plunge into your needy little pussy.

“Then have me, Stiles, I don’t want to wait. I have wanted this for so long and I want this now.” Despite everything, you wanted to feel him, and you wanted him to fuck you right here and now.

“Yes, I would love that.” He flipped you over, so you were beneath him. Then he leaned over the seats to grab a condom from the glove compartment. He pulled you into another erotic kiss when a cellphone went off. Your cellphone.

“Awe fuck.” You mumbled as you leaned over the seats to grab your phone. It was Natalie.

“Hello.” You asked into the phone.

“Where are you, Y/n. Lydia said you were in your room but you’re not. It’s nearly 12:30.” She kept her voice level as she asked. She was never too strict with you. Not after what happened with your parents.

You mouthed that it was Natalie to Stiles.

“Scott and Stiles needed me for some research for school. We lost track of time.” You said quickly as Stiles frowned.

“Okay, well you need to come home. You have school in the morning.” She stated, not sounding mad.

“I will be right there. Thank you Aunt Natalie.” You hung up the phone.

Stiles dropped the condom in defeat. “No sex, huh?”

“I’m sorry Stiles. I think we really lost track of time.” You kissed his cheek and jumped back into the passenger seat. Stiles followed behind and started the car.

“Well it’s probably for the best. I meant what I said when I told you I wanted to take my time with you. You just distracted me with your charms.” His eyes traveled the length of your body. Your face heated up when he did this.

“Alright, I agree. We did move a little fast. I just lost myself when I was kissing you.”

“I know the feeling. Now, let’s get you home. I don’t need Natalie on my case for keeping her niece out all hours of the night.”

“That ship has sailed. But she likes you anyway. Especially after what you and Scott did for me when I moved here.” You smiled in his direction.

He smiled back and put a hand on your thigh as he drove through Beacon Hills towards the house you lived in with the Martin’s. He didn’t move his hand at all, not until he pulled into the driveway.

“I had fun, Stiles. I can’t believe you like me.” Never in the world would you have expected the night to turn out this way.

“Well believe it, babe. I’m all yours. Now I will see you at school tomorrow.” He leaned over to kiss you sweetly. Not letting this kiss grow out of control.

“Yes, I will see you tomorrow.” You left the jeep and waved bye to him. He stayed in the driveway until you were safely in the house. You stood at the door and watched him leave. A huge smile was planted on your face as you did this.

“Damn, what has you so smiley?” A voice cut through your thoughts. Shutting the door, you found Lydia sitting on the couch watching you.

“I had fun with Scott and Stiles.” You stated, trying to not let her know you had just been making out with Stiles Stilinski in the back of his jeep.

“Sure, that’s totally why you’re smiling. I know you better than that. Who’s the lucky guy?” She stood from the couch and crossed the room to stop in front of you.

“Guy? There’s no guy.” You mumbled, looking away from her.

“Y/n sweetie. Your neck is red like some guy was just sucking on it. Cut the bullshit and tell me who it is. I think I have an idea. But please, do spill.” She smirked as she watched you.

“Uh, it was a friend.” Why couldn’t you just say who it was? It was not like she’d be upset.

She shook her head. “It was Stiles wasn’t it?”

“Um, maybe.”

“It was. He was the one who just dropped you off. Besides, I know you’ve had a crush on him.”

Wait, she knew? “How?”

“Y/n, we’ve been close since birth. I saw all the signs. Why do you think I told you to talk to Stiles tonight?”

“You said you wanted to set him up with someone.”

She laughed. “You, I wanted to set him up with you. I knew if I just nudged you towards him, you would admit your feelings for him. I’m happy he feels the same way.”

“Me too. So you aren’t mad?”

“Why would I be? I wanted him to move on from me and you know I want you to be happy.”

“Thank you, Lydia. I really do like him. I never expected him to like me back though.” Not in the least. Not when your cousin was Lydia.

“How could he not? You’re beautiful Y/n.”

“Because he’s liked you forever.”

“Well it looks like he’s over it. Okay, time for bed. You can tell me all about it tomorrow.” You nodded and the two of you went off to your rooms. A huge smile stayed on your face as you drifted to sleep.

You drove with Lydia to school, but you woke up to a ridiculously cute text from Stiles. It was still very unreal that he likes you the way he does. But you knew it was real. The proof was the hickey you had to cover when you woke up. Part of you wanted to leave it there, so people knew, but that was stupid to do.

I hope you slept well, my sweet girl. I was sorta up late when a theory hit me. I did some research; you know how it goes. I can’t wait to see your beautiful face at school. See you soon, gorgeous.

The text had you smiling the whole morning, which freaked Lydia out a little. You texted Stiles back, telling him you couldn’t wait to see him at school. Now that you had expressed your feelings, all you wanted, was to be in his presence.

You pulled up at school and spotted Roscoe in the parking lot, with Stiles leaning against it, with Scott not too far from him. Liam was there too, while Malia had just pulled up to school. Trying to hold in the excitement, you and Lydia joined the group.

Stiles didn’t even hesitate before taking your hand in his. Your group of friends eyed you curiously, but the two of you didn’t really notice at all.

“What’s going on with them?” Scott questioned as he watched the way you both looked at each other.

Lydia chuckled. “Somebody came home extremely late, after being out with Stiles last night. It’s safe to say, the two of them admitted their feelings to each other.” She told them.

“Finally!” Scott shouted, throwing a fist into the air. “It was becoming way too much to keep Stiles’ feelings from Y/n.”

Malia rolled her eyes and smacked Scott on the shoulder. “Knock it off. Stiles was just being Stiles. I knew he would do it eventually.”

You looked to your friends. “You knew he liked me?”

They all nodded, even Liam.

“Shit, he even showed me his feelings for you when we were dating. Stiles isn’t particularly good at hiding his feelings.” Malia stated, wrapping an arm around Scott. The two of them were becoming particularly close since Scott and Kira officially ended things a few months back.

“We also knew Y/n had a crush on Stiles. I mean, I’ve known since it started.” Scott laughed as your face heated up.

“I can’t say I knew about it until Scott told me recently.” Malia admitted.

Liam laughed. “I’ve known since I met you all.”

“Well that’s my cue to go find Aiden. He said he was here early to study.” Lydia waved goodbye before leaving the group.

The fact that all your friends knew that you and Stiles had something for each other but said nothing, was frustrating. “Now that I know my friends have been keeping things from me. Is there anything else you want to tell me?” You said, trying to look serious.

They knew you better than that. “You love us, Y/n. Don’t lie.”

“Perhaps. But I am a little mad at you.”

Stiles chuckled. “No you’re not. You can never stay mad at them for long. They just wanted us to figure it out on our own.” Stiles stated while kissing your cheek.

“I know.” With that, the bell went off and you all headed into the school to go to first period, making plans to meet for lunch in the quad.

Lunch rolled around and the group met up in the quad like they said they would. Scott, Malia, Lydia, Aiden, Stiles, and you all sat around the tables. Lydia was particularly invested in Aiden as always.

Stiles was talking about going over to Alex’s house on his break, because the investigator in him couldn’t wait to get more evidence. Luckily, Scott convinced him to wait until after school, where he would be able to go. You were grateful because it would be safer to have Scott with you both.

They were going around taking pictures for the yearbook when they stopped at your table. You all huddled in for the picture. Stiles wrapped an arm around you and held you close as the picture was snapped. Everyone was happy to get a picture of the friend group.

Stiles was practically bouncing off the walls when school ended. You followed him and Scott to Roscoe, you jumped into the back and were all headed to Alex’s house. The closer you got, the more a deep feeling of dread built up in you. Something was up and you kind of didn’t want to know but you had to. Alex needed help.

The jeep pulled up in front of a dark blue house, the same one that Scott had seen when he delved into Alex’s memories. The three of you exited the jeep and headed up to the house. There was something up with it.

Scott led you and Stiles into the home and immediately the three of you were massively confused. It looked like a completely abandoned house. There was hardly any furniture, but the minimal furniture that was there, was dusty as hell.

“Are we sure this is the place you saw?” Stiles asked as he looked around the home.

“Yes, this is the right place.” Scott said as he touched a dining table that had a lone plate setting.

You were silent as you wandered the house. The three of you wandered up the stairs where you found Alex’s room. It was fully furnished, and looked clean and lived in, unlike the rest of the house.

“Oh what the hell is this?” Stiles sighed as we looked at the room.

“This doesn’t make sense. How the hell is the rest of the house empty, but his room is not?”

Scott was silent as he looked at Alex’s belongings. “I’m not sure. This is weird. Let’s see if we can find anything else.” He started to leave the room.

You were looking at the bulletin board when you noticed something odd. There was a picture of Alex, but he was alone, but it was clear there were other people that were supposed to be in the picture with him.

“Stiles, look at this.” He stepped up beside you and took the picture from you.

“Huh, that’s weird. It’s like the others in this picture were completely erased from it.”

“Right, this is not any normal disappearance. Especially since we don’t even know Alex’s parents names.” You flipped the photo, to see if he’d written anything on it, but it was blank.

Stiles stopped short. “Did you hear that?” He muttered as he looked towards the hallway.

Hearing nothing, you shook your head.

He was focused on the door though. “I heard a horse.”

Clearly, he wasn’t joking. You knew when Stiles was joking and right now he was completely silent.

“A horse? Stiles, we’re in a house. There can’t be a horse inside it.”

“Yeah well I hear one and it’s getting louder. Stay here.” He said as he headed for the door. The dread you felt earlier was back and more intense. You looked at the ground and spotted something peculiar. A dirty white bandana laid on the ground. Reaching for it, you saw a flash of a vision. It was some sort of creature on a horse, pointing a gun. You jerked from your thoughts when you heard Scott in the hallway. You rushed to the door.

“Are you okay, Stiles? What happened?” Scott asked as you saw Stiles on the ground. He looked absolutely terrified.

“I saw this ghost rider on a horse. He was coming at me. He was about to shoot me.” He rambled, clearly terrified by the ordeal. Your stomach dropped.

“Stiles, was the ghost rider wearing a handkerchief?” You questioned as Stiles finally pulled himself from the floor.

“No, he didn’t have one on. Why?”

“Because I just found this in Alex’s bedroom.” Holding up the dirty piece of fabric, the two guys studied it. Stiles grabbed it and examined it.

“Shit, let’s see if there is anything else in there.” Scott was quick to go back to the bedroom but stopped when he opened the door. There was no furniture in the room anymore.

“What the hell.” You mumbled, grabbing Stiles’ hand. For the moment, you forgot the vision you had when you touched the fabric Stiles was holding.

The guys were silent as they looked into the room. “We need to get out of here. We need to check on Alex.” All three of you left the house to head to the station. Stiles had handed you the handkerchief again and you studied it while he drove the three of you to the station.

Entering the building, something was very wrong. The cell where Alex had locked himself was empty. No one in the station had any recollection of the boy either. It was like he vanished into thin air, just like the furniture from his room.

“He was taken by the ghost riders.” Stiles said to you and Scott. You had headed back to Beacon Hills High for the Lacrosse scrimmage. Stiles and Scott were late, but coach didn’t really seem to notice.

“Hey, why are you wearing my jersey?” Stiles asked a random kid when he walked by in Stiles’ 24 jersey.

“Coach gave it to me at practice yesterday.” He said with a shrug before walking off.

“Huh, what the hell. Why would coach do that? Did he forget to tell me something?”

Scott shrugged. “Not sure man. Let’s head in to change for the scrimmage.” Scott left you and Stiles for the school. Stiles was looking after the guy who wore his jersey.

“Are you okay, Stiles?” You asked, jerking him from his thoughts.

“Yeah, this is just weird.” You agreed and followed him into the school.

“Hey, I forgot some of my homework in my locker. I need to go grab that. I will meet you in a few.” You told Stiles as you both entered the school. His hand was locked in yours. He was on edge and you could feel it just by the way he held your hand. “Hey Stiles, take a deep breath. You’re going to give yourself a panic attack.” You whispered while putting a hand on his cheek.

He looked to you. “I’m okay.” He assured, kissing you before telling you to get your homework.

You nodded and walked away, feeling like something bad was about to happen. The vision popped back into your head as you walked towards your locker. Why and how did you get a vision? That shouldn’t be possible. At all.

Rummaging through your locker, you looked through your belongings to find the book you need for your homework. You stopped short when you felt someone behind you. You glanced back and saw no one at all. Shaking off the feeling, you found the book you needed and slipped it into your bag.

As you were headed back to Stiles, you saw him looking extremely distraught. You rushed back to him and took his hand in yours.

“What’s wrong?” You whispered making him look down at you.

“They don’t remember me.” He said with a frown.

“Who doesn’t remember you?”

“Your Aunt. Liam, Hayden, and Mason. My dad.” None of them remember me.” His voice was low. You felt the panic building.

“Shit, what’s happening?”

Stiles looked behind him. “They are here.” He gripped your hand tighter and pulled you out of the school.

“Who’s here?” You stopped when you heard the distinct sound of horses.

“The ghost riders. They are back.” He raced around. You could hear them, but you didn’t see them and that scared you.

“Where are they. I can hear them?” You jumped when you heard it from your left. Stiles led you away from them.

“You hear them?”

“Yes.”

“Come on, we have to get out of here.” The two of you ran to his jeep and jumped in. He tried to start it, looking up every other second. When the jeep wouldn’t start. He gave up.

“Y/n listen to me. They are going to take me. This is what they do. They take people and make everyone forget they ever existed. I need you to help me. I need you to remember me.” He said, the panic increasing.

“What, no they can’t take you!”

“They are. Listen baby. I love you; I need you to remember me and help them find me. You have to do this for me.” He was now holding your hands in his.

“Please no, you can’t go. I just got you. I need you.” You whined, feeling tears dripping from your eyes. The sounds of the horses were loud, and you knew you were completely surrounded by them.

“I know, baby. I don’t want this. I need you to stay strong.” He wiped away some of the tears that streamed from your eyes.

“Don’t leave me Stiles. I love you. Please.” He was now crying too.

“I’m sorry baby. I don’t have a choice.” He grabbed your head and pulled you into one last passionate kiss before the door flung open and he was pulled from the jeep. “Remember me, Y/n!” Those were the last words you heard from Stiles before he was completely gone.

“Please no!” You yelled as he disappeared from existence. The tears flowed heavier down your cheeks as the weight of the situation hit you. Stiles was gone and you weren’t sure if he would come back.

Everything hurt. Your heart ached in your chest as you cried for Stiles. It was unreal that he had been taken from you. The two of you only just realized how much you liked each other and now he was gone. The biggest fear was that you would forget him. You didn’t want that.

Holding your hands to your chest, you cried for the boy you now knew you loved. He’d been a huge reason why you were still alive after losing your parents. He pulled you from the dark depression that threatened to claim you.

The two of you had danced around your feelings for way too long, but now it had been ripped out from under you.

“Stiles please, come back! I need you.” You mumbled as the tears never ceased falling.

You glanced in the backseat to see a jacket. Stiles’ jacket. You grabbed it and as you touched it, another vision popped into your head. It was Stiles, being thrown off the horse by one of the ghost riders. The vision was so quick that you couldn’t see where he was at. But it gave you a small sense of hope that you could see him again.

The tears still fell as you grappled with the weight of the heartbreak you felt. It was like losing your parents all over again. The world felt incomplete and you weren’t sure what to do.

The fear of forgetting Stiles, made you stay right in his car. Curled up in the back seats as you mourned his disappearance and prayed he would return to you.

At some point, you managed to drift to sleep but you were plagued by nightmares of the ghost riders, taking the ones you loved. Taking Stiles from you over and over again. It was about 3 am when you were awakened with a start.

There was a loud ringing in your ears, that scared you. You noticed you were in Stiles’ car alone. The disorientation from sleep, made you forget where Stiles was. But the weight of the loss hit you like a freight train.

The ringing was coming from outside the car. You pulled yourself up and jumped the seats to get out. The ringing was loud outside the door. A flash of gold caught your eye.

Bending down, you studied the gold object. It was an old-style pocket watch. You reached down to grab it. The ringing stopped once you held the strange object.

Opening the watch, you noted that the time was stopped at 8:43. The time Stiles had been cruelly ripped from the jeep by the invisible ghost riders.

You closed the watch and turned it over. There were initials on the back. ‘GD’.

“I think that belongs to me.” A voice startled you. You turned to find an unfamiliar man behind you.

“Who are you? What are you doing here so late?” You asked, taking a step back from him.

“I’m a teacher here, and I lost track of time because well it looks like I dropped my watch out here.” There was something unsettling about him. “I’m Mr. Douglas, one of the new teachers here.” He added.

“Okay.” You watched him closely.

“Can I have my watch back?” He eyed the gold piece in your hands.

“Oh yes, here.” You handed him the watch, hoping he would leave you alone.

“Thank you, darling.” He placed the watch in his pocket. “What are you doing out here so late anyway? Alone I might add.”

“I’m not alone, I’m here with my boyfriend.” Your heart constricted when you said that.

“Where is he?” A sick smirk entered his face. “I don’t see him around here, Y/n.”

Chills went through your body. You had never met this guy, so how the hell did he know your name.

“Uh, I have to go.” You quickly hopped back into the jeep and locked the doors. Mr. Douglas stood outside and watched you. The keys were still in the ignition, so you turned them and hoped the jeep would start. It did.

As quickly as you could, you raced away from the school in Stiles’ jeep Roscoe.

PART TWO >>

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bemybstar · 4 years

Note

Legoshi x reader? Whatever species you want. a transfer student who Legosi's curious about, always wearing a scarf around her neck & covering her mouth, he thinks he's bothering her since she doesn't reply back to him, until saving her one night from a carnivore, strangely she showed no fear, wanting her scarf back, which he gives to her, as he then sees bite marks around her neck... she's a mute, survived a attack from childhood, and she breaks down, first time someone's been kind to her...

A/N: Thanks so much for requesting! Inbox is still open for requests and feedback is highly appreciated! Gif doesn’t belong to me.

It’s been over a month since you first made your new life here at Cherryton Academy. You had just transferred from your old school ever since your parents moved to the city because of their new job promotions. You weren’t all that pleased with the overall decision since leaving the country side in exchange for city life wasn’t something you had in mind, but because they were your parents you had no where else to turn to.

The school had its pros and cons like anything you were faced with but you still managed to make the most of it starting with your first new friend, Haru. She spotted you sitting alone during lunch and asked if she could join you which you happily agreed to by nodding your head. The conversation if you could call it that was mostly one sided since Haru did all of the talking. You would agree by giving a small “mhmm” as an answer to any of her questions, you weren’t much a talker to begin with but Haru wasn’t one to pry about your past. That’s what you admired most about her and that’s why you trusted her as your very best friend.

“What class do you have now?” Haru asked as you followed her down the hall. You pointed to the class on your schedule and stopped once you made it to the door. “Seaspeak huh? That’s interesting I have history but I’ll meet you back at the dorm. Bye Y/N!” Haru said as you waved back and entered the crowded classroom filled with animals already in their seats.

You walked up the aisle to take yours, placing your bag down and opening your notes to the chapter that was highlighted on the board. “In the sea communication is done by using sounds and bubbles rather than words,” your professor started off with as you began to jot everything down.

Grabbing your interest on the topic you were suddenly distracted by a male voice who asked for your attention. “Hey Uhh. Do you happen to have an eraser I can borrow?” You knew who that voice belonged to, a male grey wolf by the name of Legosi, this is the first time he’s spoken to you since you joined the class.

“Mhmm,” you replied handing him your spare eraser you keep hidden in the front pocket of your backpack. “Oh thanks,” he says taking it from you. The bell then starts to ring as your professor yaps on about a paper that’s due next week when the smell of egg salad sandwiches invades your concentration. You lift up your nose to catch a whiff but Legosi notices and offers you a piece.

“Here, take it. It’s the least I could do since you shared your eraser with me. Egg salad sandwiches are my favorite especially on Wednesday’s,” He informs as you take the other half giving him a soft nod in return to his kindness. You quietly gather up your things, push your chair in, and wave goodbye before you head back down to leave in time for your next class.

“You sure love those egg salad sandwiches,” Jack approaches Legosi right after adding, “Hey! What happened to the other one?”

“Oh! I gave it to Y/N since she let me use her eraser,” Legosi tells him. “I never knew she liked them,” Jacks says. “Neither did I...,” Legosi adds.

“Hmm,” Jack hums. “Isn’t this the first time you’ve talked to her?”

“Well... yes and no,” Legosi answers shyly. “I did say hi to her that one time in drama club when she dropped something off for Louis but before I could ask her anything... she was gone.”

“Maybe she had somewhere else to be,” Jack encourages him. “Or maybe... she doesn’t like me,” Legosi says with his head hanging low in guilt. “What! Come on, no way! Maybe she’s just as shy as you are when it comes to making the first move. Try to get to know her and see.” Legosi took his friends advice to heart, one way or another he was gonna keep trying and get this right.

The night was drawing in as you headed back to the girls dorm after a long and tiring lecture from your final class of the day. The lamp lights paved the way as your guide to the dorms main entrance where you would be greeted by Haru and get a chance at some well needed rest. But your peaceful state would soon come to a hault when you stopped dead in your tracks and perked your ears up in defense. Someone was following you...

You started to pick up your pace but your feet weren’t fast enough for the large carnivores chasing after you. You quickly turned around ready to incounter them only to be tripped by an overgrown tree root causing you to fall back onto the dirt road. Fear clouded your eyes as the mysterious figures stepped into the light baring smirks of succeeding in getting a kick out of you.

“You should have seen the look on your face!” The first guy said as his friend began to laugh maliciously, both of them carnivores and ironically both of the same species; Western Coyotes.

“She probably thought we were gonna bite her face off,” the second one said as you glared furiously at them. “You wolves are dumber than ya look.” That’s what got you the most so you decided to do something about it. By the time he turned the other way you managed to kick him in the face so hard he went flying. And by the looks of it his friend didn’t appreciate your temper.

“You little bitch,” he growled coming straight into contact with your now exposed face and gripped you by the collar of your school uniform. “Your gonna pay for that,” he snarled as he lifted his arm up to reveal his sharp claws. You closed your eyes and were ready to accept your fate once again when suddenly a familiar voice broke through the air.

“Enough!” It was Legosi. “Leave her alone. Now!,” the coyote turned to look at him suspiciously. “I SAID NOW!”

“Oh yeah?” Who are you her boyfriend or something... What are you gonna do? Make me?” He was toying with Legosi and he knew it. The coyote let go of his grip on you and took a fighting stance next to Legosi waiting for the perfect moment of attack. “He-he’s not worth it. That’s the same wolf who nearly killed Bill on stage,” his friend who managed to dust himself off finally spoke up. “Just forget it,” he added.

The coyote began to growl heavily when his friend snapped him out of it by the tug of his arm. “Come on, let’s go!” He said as the other obeyed following in pursuit as they both took off in a hurry.

Legosi stared them down until they were long gone from his sight, he quickly turned to check on you and what he saw was enough to shatter his heart into a million little pieces. You were crying... and this time weren’t trying to hide it. He approached you carefully and sat down leaning his back against the cold concret wall. He spotted your silk scarf across from him and held it out for you to take as you started to calm down little by little.

“H-here,” he says nervously. “I think this belongs to you,” Legosi says as he catches a glimpse of your face for the first time. “T-thanks,” you sniffle and take the scarf from his hand but don’t decide to put it on just yet. “I-I’m sorry you have to see me like t-this.” The secret you intended to keep hiding was finally revealed... the scars of your past.

A bite mark roamed the left side of your neck, little traces of fangs can be seen leaving their print on your fur... forever. The incident happened a long time ago and it isn’t a day you like to remember. The bite mark came from a coyote during your childhood days, you saw him picking on a rabbit and decided to step in. One thing led to another and all you have now is this scar to remember it by. The incident shook you so badly that you decided to go silent ever since and only speak when spoken to.

“You have no reason to apologize,” Legosi said wipping a tear from your eye. “Your scars don’t define you. You being the best version of yourself you can be, does. Your beautiful inside and out and if anyone bothers to tell you differently then... they aren’t worth your time.”

“That’s the first time anyone’s ever stood up for me like that.” You say shyly trying your best not to shed another tear. He gets up from his spot and offers his hand to help you up from off the ground. He stares at you and you stare back before going in for a hug, you can hear his heartbeat grow faster by the sudden show of affection.

“Thanks Legosi,” is all you can say. He gives in and holds you in his arms finally opening his mouth to complete, “Your welcome.”

You stay like that for what feels like forever. But why do you feel so safe in his arms and why don’t you want him to stop? You guess time will only tell but until then all you can do is enjoy this sweet moment with the boy who saved your life.

———

Tag list - (just ask to be added)

@starr60

Hope y’all enjoyed! Let me know if y’all want a follow up!

#legoshi #legosi x reader #beastars #beastars x reader #beastars imagines #legosi imagine #legosi imagines #bemybstar

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brilliant-poses · 3 years

Text

Night of the Coyotes

When Dutch Van Der Linde first began to expand his gang, a group of bounty hunters rose to stop a lot of gangs from becoming too big and powerful. The bounty hunters were a successful group, but the Van Der Linde’s and the O’Driscoll’s kept avoiding the rope. You are apart of the bounty hunting group, the Coyotes. You and your older sister, Pride, have been in the group since you were children. Now, you’re faced with the challenges of hunting down each member. When things get out of hand, do you stay loyal or decide a different life?

Chapter 2 - The Town of Blackwater

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“We should ask everyone, not just one person, Pride.” You reminded, beginning to kick the dirt at your feet and move towards the grass, where the others were camping. There was a lot of talk around the camp, mostly because everyone had heard the Van der Linde gang were near. Every bounty hunter in the family wanted to catch them. For some, it was a personal reason, while the thrill of the hunt persuaded them to go after the gang. There were a few different women who worked in the gang, some being close friends of Vivian’s while others joined later on. Pride sighed and walked towards the cooking tent. A chubby woman hummed loudly, beginning to cut meat into bits and preparing it with seasonings.

“Alina! You need anythin’ from Blackwater?” Pride called, causing the woman to yell in surprise.

“Oh, you scared me, Pride! You silly girly! Yes, I do! Give me a moment!” She said with her heavy accent, wiping her hands off and going towards a journal to write down a list. Alina Kruger was basically the one who kept women alive. She was a German immigrant, traveling here when she was about twenty and managing to keep herself afloat, thanks to a bakery business she worked for. She joined the family when Vivian had suggest she come with them, tell her it would be adventure and cooking, two things Alina said she wanted in life. Alina had platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, her eyes were round with joy and she looked so innocent. Her cheeks were always pink and her smile was absolutely wonderful. Her hair was normally tied back in two braids, her saying it was a normal German style.

“Here you go!” She said and handed the list to you.

“Thanks, Alina.” You smiled as she giggled lightly.

“Thank you! I did not want to go into town today, I have much to do!” She said and patted your head before shooing you two out so she could continue to cook. Pride as about to go towards her horse before you grabbed her braid.

“That’s not everyone, Pride.” You reminded, tugging her over towards some more tents, causing her to cuss and hiss in pain. You let her go once you’re sure she’s not going run towards her horse. You glanced around and saw a few of your sisters. Virginia Ross, Mary Mantle, and Yolanda Romero. As you stepped closer, you can see the details of what they’re doing get better.

Virginia was from New York, she was from a rather rich family, but she gave that up when her daddy tried to make her marry someone. She told him she wanted to do whatever she wanted, saying she didn’t need money. Virginia had only been with you for a few months, but she was a good member. She had dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes, she was a rather cute individual. Mary, on the other hand, was a cold blooded individual. Her parents were murdered by robbers and now hunts for the hell of it. She’s a little younger than you, most of the hunters were, but she did what she needed to. She had pale skin and dark blonde hair, her eyes a dark brown. She had a large scar that ran across her cheek and a few others over her body. She was a force to be reckoned with. Yolanda was a mystery. She was fun and always had stories of Mexico, but never spoke about why she wanted to be a bounty hunter. You all enjoyed her, with her dark skin and dark, black hair. Her eyes were actually a lighter brown, which made her emotions show. She was probably the best hunter you had, besides Pride.

“Hey girls, you need anything?” You asked with a smile, looking towards them. The girls glanced up, stopping their weapon cleaning to think for a moment.

“Gun oil.” Mary said after a moment, going back to cleaning. You quickly wrote this down on the paper that Alina gave you.

“Get us some more ammo too! My shotgun is getting low.” Virginia said, her northern accent punctuating every word. You glanced towards Yolanda after you wrote ‘ammo’ down, noticing her grin.

“What do you want, Yola?” You asked, the Hispanic woman letting out a loud sigh as she thought.

“Oh! If you find a tambourine, get that. I love tambourines.” She smiled again, making Pride roll her eyes.

“Is that essential for your hunts?”

“Well, we make noises like coyotes, so yeah. It’s to make noises!”

“You’re the reason I go solo.” Pride said and flicked her nose, causing Virginia to giggle.

“A tambourine… We’ll see if we can find one.” You said, causing Yolanda to let out a yell of excitement. You and Pride nodded them goodbye and went towards the tent closest to the entrance of the camp.

“Zotova! Liu! The fuck y’all want from Blackwater?” Pride yelled, forcing you to hit her and shush her. Zotova didn’t even look up from her writing.

“Four journals, three pencils, and hand these out.” The Russian said in her broken English, handing you a few papers with their bounty hunting on it.

“Put them in stores and sheriff’s office.” She said, leaning back to take off her small glasses. Zotova Stanislavovna was the person who helped bring in the money. She was in charge of receiving bounties and giving them to Vivian. She did her job well, but being a Russian immigrant, she couldn’t speak the best English. Some of you had to be there to help her explain herself. She had only been in America for about a year, but everything was falling into place for her. She had blonde hair and brown eyes, who wears glasses a lot of the time.

“I don’t want anything.” Liu said, smiling towards you two. Liu Shun was another hunter, an expert animal hunter, as well. She was the best at long distance shots and tracking. She was a Chinese immigrant, who’s parents worked tirelessly on the railroad. When her parents were killed in an accident, due to the horrible conditions they faced, Liu found your family and requested to help make things right for people like her. She had a good mission, but you were concerned on how people would view her. She had short, her black hair and brown eyes.

“Isabella doesn’t need anything, does she?” Pride asked, referring to the woman who took care of the horses.

“No, she’s fine. She hasn’t mentioned anything.” Zotova said, waving them off. You and Pride nodded, walking towards your horses to see the red head taking care of the animals. Isabella was the kindest soul you had, orphaned at a young age, she’s been in the gang with you and Pride for a long time. She and Brigit was close, the Irish woman who was close to Vivian. The two red heads bonded over their love for horses. You and Pride mounted your horses, not noticing Isabella walking away to grab more hay. She was quiet, so it wasn’t the most surprising thing that she did. She was sweet, but very to herself.

“You ready, Peppercorn?” You asked, patting the Gypsy Cob. He was the best horse you had, the black and white painted horse was the most loyal horse you could ever have. Pride’s horse was a large, white and brown Shire named Sunshine. She named her that since she’s the most hot tempered horse in the entire camp. You mounted Peppercorn, listening to him pant lightly in excitement. Your spurs jabbed into his side and you began to ride off next to Pride. Blackwater wasn’t too far away.

══════════════════

“I can’t believe we’re having to be maids and get shit.” Pride said as she let Sunshine trot in the street. You were sighing lightly, rubbing your face when she complained.

“Come on, Pride. Let’s just get the stuff. Let’s go to the general store.” You offered, listening to her grumble lightly. You and Pride hitched your horses outside the general store, heading inside after you got off the horses. You opened the door, hearing the bell ring and the store clerk greeting you.

“Welcome, ladies!” He greeted, causing you to nod in a greeting. You began to gather the few things that Zotova wanted.

“Pride, go get what Alina wanted from the butcher. I’m going to go get the ammo and gun oil.” You said as you paid for the items, handing him the paper for your bounty hunter family.

“Hang this up.” You said softly and left with Pride. When you were putting the items in your saddle bag, Pride whistled towards you. You looked towards her and saw them. Arthur Morgan and Hosea Matthews.

“Good morning, ladies.” Hosea greeted, knowing exactly who you two are.

“It was.” Pride hissed, glaring towards Morgan, who scoffed.

“We heard you boys were here. We were trying to find you.” You offered Hosea, who chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, we figured. You ladies are very good at what you do.” He said, causing you to nod.

“Y’all are too, for criminals.” You said as Hosea laughed.

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” He said, gently hitting Arthur to make him stop glaring at Pride.

“We’re just here to gather supplies. You gonna try to get us?” He asked, causing you to shake your head. You hit Pride after a moment, seeing her reaching towards her gun.

“We’re here for supplies too. It would be stupid to start shit in the middle of the street. We’ll come for y’all soon.” You explained, causing him to nod.

“Thank ya, ladies. You have a good day now.” He offered and waved slightly. When they trotted past you, you heard Arthur and Pride exchange words.

“Heartless bitch.”

“Tiny dick Morgan.” With that, Pride took the list and stomped towards the butcher while you went towards the gunsmith. You were going to have to tell Vivian about this, but you weren’t going to pursue them. Not yet. It would be dumb to. Pride was hot headed and wanted to kill Arthur Morgan so bad that it consumed her. You were her calm, her reason. You had to show her that the time would come. As you entered the gunsmith’s shop, you knew it was going to be a long day.

#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 oc #red dead redemption 2 x reader #red dead redemption 2 oc #reader insert

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yourdeepestfathoms · 3 years

Text

chasing pegasus (part two)

part one

[horse racing au]

tw: there’s some discussions of unhealthy dieting in this one, so watch out!

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a lap around the yard

The Trainer

Four days later, the sound of hoofsteps came crunching up the driveway of the Netherworld. It was a wet, early morning, the sun not even up yet. Animals were still asleep, as were Barbara and Adam- not even Lydia had showed up for work.

And yet, there were hoofsteps coming from the street.

It had taken little persuasion to convince Presley Lind’s parents into allowing Beetlejuice to be her new trainer once they found out he was associated with the Maitland’s. Their bored expressions lit up instantly, and Beetlejuice easily saw the greed shining inside of their eyes. He had managed to bite back a laugh in the moment, not wanting to ruin this opportunity.

As a child, horses were Beetlejuice’s entire world. Despite his mother working in politics, he lived on a farm, where the plains rolled out to him every morning like green carpets and the air was fresh and clean. There was so much space, and absolutely nothing to fill it.

Lawrence “Beetlejuice” Shoggoth longed for a pony of his own more than anything. Almost every day, he would watch the neighbors ride around on their horses, practically radiating smugness like, “Hahaha! Look at us! We got horses and you don’t! Hahaha!”

He tried to get a horse. Every single Christmas, every single birthday, he would ask his mother for a pony of his own. And every single time he was shot down. She would say that his wonder towards the animals was just a “phase,” that he would lose interest in the beast and leave her to take care of it, but Beetlejuice knew the real reason she said no was because she didn’t like when he got anything he wanted.

It wasn’t until he was seventeen that he finally got the horse he had been dreaming about.

She was a little black-and-white thoroughbred filly that Beetlejuice nursed himself after her mother was killed by a pack of hungry coyotes. His mother had been furious when he carried the foal into the house that dark evening, but he managed to convince her into letting him keep the animal, as long as he paid for everything and didn’t come running to her when he needed help. He was ecstatic.

That little black-and-white thoroughbred filly was the same large black-and-white thoroughbred mare standing beside him at five-thirty in the morning before the sun had even risen, waiting for their pupils.

Sandy, aka It’s Showtime, was the highlight of Beetlejuice’s life. She was fast, full of energy, and had more of a personality than most people Beetlejuice had met. She was everything he dreamed about and more. He didn’t know what he would do without her.

“Good morning, student!” Beetlejuice greeted Presley animatedly when she finally finished her walk down the driveway. Strangely enough, she wasn’t riding her horse, instead guiding him by a halter. She didn’t seem to have been on his back at all that morning, deciding to make the whole trip on foot.

“Good morning, Mr. Shoggoth,” Presley greeted back. In the faint glow from the light attached to the wall of the nearby barn, he saw that she was dressed in a soft-looking flannel, a tank top underneath that, leggings, and boots. Her helmet and goggles were hanging from the side of her saddle. She had her crop with her and she kept fidgeting with it as some sort of nervous tic.

Beetlejuice couldn’t help but laugh at her insistence in formality. She truly was the epitome of a Southern Belle, even up in Connecticut.

“You can call me Beetlejuice, kiddo, it’s okay.”

Presley wrinkled her nose, but nodded anyway. Beetlejuice was sure that was going to last for maybe an hour, and then she would be back to referring to him like he was the president of the United States or something.

“So, are you ready for our first day of training?” Beetlejuice asked, hoping he didn’t sound too much like an excited child on Christmas. He had been waiting for the perfect protégé for what felt like forever and he finally found someone who showed real promise. He couldn’t wait to teach her about everything he knew.

“Yes, sir!” Presley answered. She matched his energy, so Beetlejuice decided to ignore the fact that she replied to him like he was a drill sergeant and she was a wannabe soldier preparing for war.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Beetlejuice clapped her on the back. “Let’s get out to the track.”

--- --- ---

The first hour and a half, they didn’t even touch the horses.

Sandy and Presley’s stallion, a scraggly grey thoroughbred stallion named Peril, were put into the carousel to get their muscles warmed up for later riding--

--except Peril attempted to physically fight the equipment the moment it turned on and tried to guide him around the circle, which he did not like at all. Beetlejuice and Presley both had to rush to calm him down before he could break something or hurt himself or worse: wake up Barbara. After a few moments of resistance, he finally gave into the tug of the machine and relented to following its pull.

By the time the sun had finally come up, Presley was soaked in a fine layer of sweat. They spent those first few hours exercising; or, rather, Presley was exercising. Beetlejuice watched over her with a hose at the ready if he caught her slacking off.

Being a jockey was a lot harder than anyone initially thought. Despite being small in stature, easily half the size of any NFL player most of the time, they were required to guide twelve hundred pounds of pure flesh and muscle at speeds of up to forty miles per hour. Strength was needed to stay on the backs of the sprinting beasts, hence why the training regimen for jockeys were so intense.

After the initial stretches, Beetlejuice had Presley do a myriad of exercises- squats, lunges, jumping lunges, flutter kicks, bear crawls, burpees, and one-leg deadlifts, and even after finishing all of that she still wasn’t done. He told her to run a mile around the track, and she went without complaining.

“Lawrence, you better not be killing our jockey. We just got her.”

A voice like a songbird’s sweet chirping broke through the silence of the morning. Beetlejuice turned to see Barbara and Adam walking over, both of them smiling. He perked up.

By then, the sun had come up, bathing the Netherworld in soft golden rays. Horses emerged from the stables, moseying out into the pasture to graze, though some of them stopped to peer curiously at Peril. He and Sandy were mulling in a nearby holding pen after they finished their own exercise on the carousel. When Peril caught the stares he was getting from the other horses, he lifted his head, grass hanging from his mouth, and flicked his ears at them in some kind of silent, equine gesture, then went back to eating.

“I’m not!” Beetlejuice said, laughing. “She’s fine. Doing great, actually!”

With impeccable comedic timing, Presley skidded to a halt at the fencing in front of them, kicking up a plume of dirt, which only furthered to dirty her even more than she already was: head-to-toe, she was completely covered in silt from the track, turning her pale skin a faint orangey color. It effectively stuck to the sweat already coating her body, making her look like she had tried to test the dust baths the horses sometimes took.

She raised her head, face red from exertion and orange-brown from dirt, and squinted through the morning sun at Barbara and Adam.

“Good morning, Mrs. Maitland. Good morning, Mr. Maitland,” She greeted the couple with her trademarked politeness, even as she was doubled over and heaving her breaths.

“Morning, Presley,” Adam said.

“Good morning, dear. How are you?” Barbara asked.

“Good,” Presley answered. “You?”

“I’m doing very well.”

Presley nodded. She shook herself out, though it did little to remove the dirt clinging to her frame, then stood up straight, hands pressed against her lower back like she was trying to pop her spine.

“BJ isn’t working you too hard, is he?” Adam asked, looking at her, then squinting at Beetlejuice in playful suspiciousness.

“No, sir,” Presley answered. “I’m okay.” She dragged her feet through the dirt, brewing up another storm around her, as she walked over to the fence and braced herself against the wood.

“Rude,” Beetlejuice poked Adam in the ribs. “You’re acting like I’m gonna torture her or something! I’m a great teacher! Right, kid?”

“I got sand in my boots,” Presley said distractedly, kicking the heel of one of her musty boots against a small rock.

“See!” Beetlejuice said, and Adam and Barbara laughed.

“Before you continue your teachings, I want you both to eat breakfast,” Barbara said, for all the world sounding like a mother to a soccer team. She looked at Presley. “Do you like danishes?”

“Oh, uhh,” Presley shuffled her feet awkwardly, then scrunched her face up like a disturbed bunny when the sand must have scratched around in her boots. “I don’t eat breakfast.”

Barbara and Adam stared at her. She blinked back at them, then glanced up at Beetlejuice with a worried expression that said, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Ever?” Adam asked.

“No,” Presley shook her head. “Sometimes I’ll have a shake. Maybe an apple. That’s usually it, though.”

“Honey, you have to eat,” Barbara said, sounding concerned.

“I’m on a diet,” Presley said back, as if that justified her skipping meals all the time. “It’s kinda strict, so…” She kicked at a pebble, avoiding their gazes.

“Diet for what?” Adam probed. “You’re already so thin!”

“We have to be thin,” Presley reprimanded. “Jockeys, I mean. There’s a weight restriction for a reason. And if I slack off one day, then I’ll snowball, and you know how easy it is to regain weight?”

“How much do you weigh right now?” Beetlejuice joined in on the questioning. He hoped nobody could hear the curl of concerned sickness edging his voice.

“Uhhh,” Presley had the audacity to count on her fingers, which made Adam’s eyes practically bulge out of his skull, as if he were expecting her to say some absurd number like seven or ten. Though, in his defense, what she actually ended up saying was equally as concerning.

“If I remember correctly from the last time I checked… I think ninety-nine pounds?”

“Ninety--” Adam sputtered, cutting himself off. “NINETY-NINE?!”

Presley scrunched her face up at him again. “Yeah…” She said slowly. “Usually I’m ninety-four, though.”

“NINETY-FOUR?!”

Presley blinked at him. She seemed innocently oblivious to how worrying what she said was…or maybe she did know how worrying it was and was just acting like she didn’t in a way to convince herself that what she was doing was okay and perfectly healthy.

She didn’t look emaciated. To be honest, Beetlejuice used to think that anyone under a hundred pounds were like those people in the sad pictures of Africa, the ones that stated that everyone on the continent were starving to death and tried to convince you to do some twenty-four hour fasting thing to “see how they lived” or something like that instead of doing something useful like asking for donations to help those people. You know- drum-tight skin, ribs showing, stomachs sunken into empty caverns, every detail of the hip bone being perfectly highlighted, limbs like matchsticks, more skeleton than human.

But Presley looked like the exact opposite of that. Her skin wasn’t pulled tight over her bones, her bones weren’t showing at all, even, and she definitely was not a skeleton.

But Beetlejuice also knew firsthand that the effects of “jockey dieting” weren’t always physical. Sometimes it all on the inside- throat eroded from constant purging, muscles weak with no energy, stomach cannibalizing itself in a desperate attempt to get nutrients.

He knew because he, too, had slaved himself over the jockey diet before eventually accepting that he would never meet the weight restriction and get to race in a real derby.

Seeing his new pupil torture herself with such a hellish thing did not make him happy.

“Presley, you have to eat,” Barbara said gently before Beetlejuice could blow his top and scold his new student.

“I do,” Presley tried to assure her. “I eat dinner. One meal per day; that’s what the regimen says. I have to follow it if I want to be a jockey. Those are, like, the rules.”

“Well, I don’t see any rule book around here,” Adam said.

“It’s an unspoken one.”

“Presley, Barbara is right,” Beetlejuice spoke up. “You have to eat. I get the whole ‘staying in shape to stay in the weight requirement’ thing, I do, but you’ll be no use in a race if you’re too weak to ride.”

Presley seemed to be getting flustered. She opened her mouth, then closed it and ducked her head. Her boot scuffed at the grass.

“Danishes sound nice. Thank you, Mrs. Maitland.”

--- --- ---

After a breakfast of danishes, scrambled eggs, grilled ham, and orange juice, Beetlejuice and his student were back outside. Now that it was light out, he decided to let her muscles rest a little longer and give her a tour. Lydia, who had been dropped off by her father, joined them.

Most of the horses were out in the pasture, as were the other farm animals the Maitland’s kept, but most of the broodmares spent their time inside the stables, a breezy building that smelled like hay and dirt. The pregnant horses rumbled and huffed to each other, and Beetlejuice recognized the low-level threat in those sounds. Foaling mares were often aggressive. They were kept separately from each other, in large stalls with heavy wooden walls and thick layers of rushes on the floor.

Six mothers filled the stables. Barbara and Adam were encouraging more breeding to replace the three mares they had recently lost, and to fill the orders they had gotten from richer racers that were seeking out a good horse. Lydia pointed out all the foaling horses as they went by, and Presley listened with great interest.

The first was Bullseye aka Target’s Grand Splash, a solid black Arabian with a single white spot around her left eye and pure white socks. She was fierce and standoffish.

The next was Sky aka Up, Up, and Away, a pure white standardbred with hints of pink around her dark eyes. She was the restless type, constantly resetting her bedding because it wasn’t good enough for her liking.

Then there was Flicker aka Light The Night, a buckskin paint horse with white splotches all across her body and a constant need for playing. As they passed by, she was throwing her hay up into the air with her teeth.

After her was Pisces aka The Zodiac Killer, a dark chestnut thoroughbred with even darker socks around her hooves. Her ears were pinned back and she glared as they walked by her pen.

Fifth was Magi aka Blaze of Enchantment, a blonde quarter horse with a silky brown mane and tail. Her gentle nature made her easy to care for.

Finally, there was Sneeze-Breeze aka It’s A Long Story, a second thoroughbred, this one with a coat of red roan. Upon hearing her name, Presley gave Lydia a confused look, to which Lydia replied with, “It’s a long story.”

Presley laughed.

“And then that’s my horse!” Lydia said, pointing to a black abyss that was a Tennessee walker gelding. Its dark coat really fit Lydia’s aesthetic. “Well, he’s my favorite horse, but I still like to call him my horse. His name is Gloom!”

Gloom lifted his head from his stall and blinked big blue eyes at Lydia. She patted his large cheek.

“His show name is The Moon Man,” Lydia further informed.

“He’s so handsome,” Presley said in awe, staring up at the void.

Beetlejuice allowed the two teenagers to chat a little longer before pulling Presley back out to begin training. It was good that Lydia talked to girls her age. She usually just made conversation with the horses ever since the recent passing of her mother. Maybe a human friend would be good for her.

“Alright, kiddo,” Beetlejuice said once they were all back outside. Presley had Peril by his halter for an inspection. “Let’s see what you got.”

Beetlejuice, for one, knew a pretty horse when he saw one, and Peril was the epitome of thoroughbred beauty. His coat was a glossy steel grey, rippling rays of light when the sun hit the fur, and his mane and tail were the color of storm clouds. He had four black stockings up each of his legs as if he had crawled out from the shadows. There was a freckling of grey on his snout and his eyes were a bright flame blue. Beetlejuice could see why Presley liked him so much.

Unfortunately, outward looks were just about the only thing Peril had going for him.

Although he was huge, easily twice, maybe three times the size of his tiny jockey, he was gangly and awkward. His legs were stalky, knees knobby, and his tail was bushy. His ears were moving constantly, like spirits were whispering in them, telling him secrets, and his eyes were always looking around.

Peril twitched when Beetlejuice laid hands on him. He lifted one of his back legs, scraping the dirt with the edge of his hoof, but seemed to decide against kicking for the moment, though he still leered at Beetlejuice out from the corner of his eyes, silently warning him.

Beetlejuice went on.

Peril quickly proved to be the exact opposite of the phrase “gentle giant.” He was a stubborn thing, bearing enough tenaciousness to fill all of Connecticut. Even Adam’s mule wasn’t as hard headed as this beast.

The stallion refused to lift his hooves for Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice had to wrestle with his leg just to be able to check his feet, though he decided to let the attitude slide because it made Lydia and Presley giggle.

Peril had thoroughbred-typical shitty feet. Thin soles. Too flat. Underrun heels. Typical racer. Best to get the farrier down to the farm to start drawing the toe back into something that would at least be considered a little healthy.

He dropped the foot. The joints flexed cleanly. Peril had muscle, Beetlejuice could see, but it was hidden beneath his bulk and awkward girth. At least his ribs weren’t showing.

Beetlejuice stole a glance at Presley, who was holding Peril steady by his halter and chatting avidly with Lydia. Her horse ate better than she did.

Dropping the subject from his mind for now, Beetlejuice began to check Peril’s withers and back. Peril humored his touch, keeping his hindquarters cocked for the moment, not ready to kick just yet. Beetlejuice eyed them wryly. As lanky as his legs were, he could knock someone’s brains out with those hooves.

Beetlejuice ran his hands over Peril’s soft hide. Peril shifted beneath his palms, letting out an impatient huff. He looked at Presley, who looked back with a nervous expression.

“How often do you train with him?” Beetlejuice asked.

“Six days a week,” Presley answered, and Beetlejuice caught the anxious tremors in her voice. “Sundays are our off days.”

Beetlejuice nodded. “It’s good that you both have time to relax.” He stroked Peril’s broad neck, and the muscles bunched and released beneath his fingers. “What is his diet like?”

“I give him two to three meals a day of grain and hay,” Presley told him. She was whiteknuckling the halter leash nervously, as if she fed Peril baby heads or something and didn’t want to reveal her bloody secret. “He gets carrot and apple slices in the evenings. Sometimes other fruits and vegetables I have at home. And if he’s good I give him peppermints.”

At the sound of the treat, Peril’s ears flicked to alertness and he began to lip at Presley’s hand. Presley laughed and fished out a mint she had in her pocket. Peril devoured it instantly.

Beetlejuice began to rattle off several questions, and Presley answered them with little hesitation, though her anxiety remained.

“Does he receive yearly vaccinations?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When was he last seen by a vet?”

“Two months ago, I believe.”

“Who grooms him?”

“I do.”

“Has he ever had colic?”

“No, sir.”

“What kind of bit do you use?”

“Usually a D-ring snaffle, but sometimes I use an eggbutt snaffle. They’re both easiest on his mouth and he gets cranky if it isn’t comfortable.”

“Where did you get him?”

“My neighbor gave him to me.”

“For how much?”

“For free.”

Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at Presley. “Really?”

“Yes, sir,” Presley said, and Beetlejuice was sure he had been called ‘sir’ more times in one day than he had in his entire life. “He really didn’t want him anymore and just gave him to me.”

“Huh,” Beetlejuice looked up at Peril. “Well, let’s see how he rides, shall we?”

The four of them walked to the hooded paddock. Presley looked supremely uneasy. She wouldn’t stop fidgeting for some reason.

“Be safe,” Presley whispered.

Beetlejuice couldn’t help but give her a weird look as he climbed onto Peril’s back.

Oh, Beetlejuice thought as he was being bucked off mere moments after sitting down. THAT’S why he was given away for free.

--- --- ---

“He’s certainly an…opinionated horse.”

Several hours later, Beetlejuice and Presley were sitting on white picket fence together: Beetlejuice nursing a half-empty bottle of bitter apple cider, Presley sipping lukewarm water. In the enclosed field they were balanced before, Peril trotted the length of his pasture, tail flagged, head snaking in front of him.

“He’s not bad.”

“Never said he was, kid.”

Presley ducked her head. She looked guilty. Beetlejuice hadn’t realized someone could say sorry so much in one breath, and yet Presley had. Even though he only had a minor bruise on his side from being bucked off, she still wasn’t over what happened.

“Doesn’t like doors very much,” Beetlejuice observed.

Presley winced. He was referring to when Peril had viciously fought the door to a small pen she had tried to put him into earlier that afternoon.

“He’s not-- I mean, he doesn’t usually--” Presley was fumbling. She was pale, hands clenched in her flannel. She looked like she was about to spiral into a full blown anxiety attack.

Beetlejuice put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” He said. “Horses have their quirks. Sandy used to snort sand all the time.”

Presley blinked big doe eyes at him. “Really?”

“You didn’t think she was named because of her colors, did you?” Beetlejuice tipped his head at her, looking amused.

“There’s black sand! That exists!” Presley tried to argue in an attempt to save face.

Beetlejuice laughed. “When she was a filly, she used to stick her nose in EVERYTHING. Always these big mounds of dirt, and then she would sneeze, knock herself backwards, and look at me indignantly, to which I would say, ‘Then stop sticking sand up your nose!’ She never listened.”

Presley giggled.

They both watched Peril for a minute. His head was still in the air, neck arched, ears pointed at some unknown distant object he deemed worthy of his attention. Then, he caught them staring and took off in a dead sprint around the corner of the yard, ripping up chunks of turf with his hooves. He stopped abruptly, glanced to make sure they were still looking at him, and then trotted away regally.

“I like this horse,” Beetlejuice said, breaking the silence. “I want him to win.”

“Everyone wants their horse to win, Mr. Shoggoth,” Presley mumbled, shoulders slumped like they were being weighed down by some unruly sin.

Guilt, Beetlejuice rationalized.

He gave Presley a look.

“Beetlejuice,” She corrected herself. “Mr. Beetlejuice.”

“That’s Mr. Juice to you,” Beetlejuice said, poking her in the side, and she nearly squirmed right off of the fencepost. She giggled again. It didn’t last long.

“I want him to win, too,” Presley whispered.

As awkward and ill-tempered as Peril was, he could.

Beetlejuice had met a lot of horses. He had run his eyes and his hands over champions. Hundreds from afar, and dozens up close. A.P. Indy, The Strawman, Stay Thirsty. Even Ocean Liner, though he’d been long retired by that time. There had been Sweet Devil, getting roses draped around his mud-spattered neck; Slipstream, bounding around the winners circle; Permafrost, head held up in haughty pride as he passed by other horses.

Beside The Dying Fire could outrun them all.

“I just don’t know if I’m enough for him.”

The comment caught Beetlejuice off guard. He looked down at Presley, and he could see it now: the self-doubt, the worry, the fear, the painful anxiety raking up and down her insides like jagged horse hooves.

Presley “Jeopardy” Lind wasn’t just timid, she was fragile, too. Much too fragile for the awful things spiraling in her head.

Beetlejuice set a hand on her shoulder. “We chose you for a reason. You rode that beast and got third. You have skill, Presley. You’re exactly what he needs.”

Presley’s eyes were sparkling up at him. Beetlejuice smiled.

“You’re our jockey.”

Presley looked out at Peril. He looked back at her. A thousand plus pounds of muscle, and even heavier than that, the weight of all the dreams each one of these beasts carried. A dark, sharp look in his eye that was either intelligence or haughty pride, or maybe just the hope of his human creators reflecting back at them.

She looked up at Beetlejuice again and, buried beneath the fear and anxiety and doubt, there was confidence.

“I’m your jockey.”

#horse racing au #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice the broadway musical #beetlejuice au #beetlejuice fanfiction #beetlejuice fic #beetlejuice fanfic #beetlejuice #lawrence beetlejuice shoggoth #barbara maitland #adam maitland #lydia deetz #the jockey #beetlelands #tw: eating problems

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