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#i’m actually feeling ancient today
allfrogsmatter · 21 days
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i spent a lot of my weekend playing sims 3 and mannn i forgot how much i loved that game, but it also makes me miss the sims 4 like crazy
rambling thoughts below (also if you played s3 what do you miss or not miss about it???)
sims 4 just does a much better job with relationships and dynamics between sims, which makes it such a good platform for storytelling and i miss that because all my sims 3 sims’ relationships just seem so flat
but there’s something about sims 3 that just makes it so playable. the open world truly was so nice, i love not having loading screens anytime i leave the lot and being able to toggle between sims as they go about their day - i miss it so much in sims 4
also the autonomy in sims 3 just seems so much better, when i leave my sims to their devices they always seem to want to clean up or play with the dog, but in s4 it’s play video games or drink water and leave dirty cups around, plus they spend so much more time actually doing things instead of standing around (maybe this is just because i didn’t excessively mod my game fro s3 but still)
and the wants in s3 are so much better than whims in s4, something about the way they’re displayed just makes me actually want to complete them, and i love that lifetime aspirations show up as wants for kids and teens
other things from s3 i missed:
- pets are more doable- in s4 they’re always running away from neglect because my sims don’t interact with them unless i make them
- separation between worlds- i wish you could travel to other worlds for vacation like you can the ones from world adventures, but i like that your world is contained in s3, everyone at the school lives in your world, everyone at your job lives in your world, you can maintain relationships with people from other worlds but they’re not showing up at your door every day (esp. in the context of a decades challenge, if your sims immigrate from europe to america you won’t be seeing your european auntie walking down the street in your neighborhood)
-color wheel - oh my god, i had almost forgotten, this genuinely was a heartbreaker when s4 came out, there was so much variability in cas and build in s3, even with limited clothing options you could create unique looks for your sims with different patterns and textures and you weren’t restricted to the awful ea options
-clothes- something about the s3 basegame clothing option, it’s just very workable and versatile, maybe i think this because trends have come full circle, but a few years ago when i jumped into s3 again i remember being so tickled with the outfit options
-teens- there’s something about s3 teens that just makes them better, maybe because they made them look like teens by making them shorter instead of just scrawny, but with generations teens just feel more fully fleshed out than in s4 (i don’t have growing together or high school years so ig that’s on me, but also i can’t afford both of those packs)
-packs- something that has really been grinding my gears for the almost TEN YEARS since s4 came out is how much extra content you have to purchase, for s3 if you wanted game content, for the most part you got it through expansion packs, but s4 is just excessive with expansion packs, game packs, stuff packs, kits, etc. there’s just so many features that you want in your game, but it costs a small fortune to get them all because they’re distributed across packs that cost up to $40
-PRICE- i have so many nostalgic memories of saving up my $20 to go to target and buy a new expansion pack for s3, then the joy i felt when it was on sale, every s3 expansion was, and still is, $20 but for s4 they’re twice that, the only time i can ever justify purchasing anymore is when they’re on sale
- rabbitholes- it seems like for s4 they did away with a lot of rabbitholes, just not work and school (except with packs), it was nice being able to send my sims to the movies or the bistro for a date night and not have to be following them the whole time, making them interact
- ownership- maybe it’s just me but i miss physically having the boxes the games came in and putting the disk into the computer and having the little icon for every pack on my desktop, i don’t like how everything’s through origin or the ea app now, esp. because for whatever reason s3 university got uninstalled on my moms pc and ea wanted me to buy it and when i used the code from the box it said it had already been applied (i only have the one account i have no clue why tf they took university from me) and if i didn’t have the disk i wouldn’t have been able to reinstall
- i also miss little things, like ordering pizza and seeing my sims drive around and catching birds in the wild and holiday festivals
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cvctuslesbian · 6 months
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my mom tried to call me an idiot today because i said that i think the united states being built on the blood and subjugation of other people is bad
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ponderingmoonlight · 4 months
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How JJK men react to different insecurities part 3
Pairings: Nanami x overweight fem! reader (requested by @deegausserr) Choso x fem!reader with big breasts (requested by anon)
Yuji/Todo x tall/curvy fem!reader (requested by @sitarawrites, @hitori979, @sophyr05 and anon, I see y'all my tall queens)
Word Count: 3k
Warnings: not 100% proofread, as usual don't read if you feel triggered by those topics, listen I literally have no boobs so I'm beyond sorry if Choso's part is shit, overweight and big breast parts contain insults (please note that this is definetely not the way I feel about it!) but also so much comfort from your favorite characters, you are beautiful just the way you are 🤍
Part 1: Nanami x reader with facial scars; Megumi x reader with small breasts; Sukuna x reader with acne (click here to read)
Part 2: Nanami x reader who doesn't want kids; Gojo x reader who gained weight; Megumi x reader with hooked nose (click here to read)
Nanami with an overweight reader
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(Imaging him grabbing those ass bully girls like this okay)
You cover yourself up the minute he enters the room. He, the man who caught your eye since the beginning. He, who looks so effortlessly good in that suit. He, a well-trained man with a body like the statues in ancient Greek.
“Hey, the same as usual?”
“Thank you, (y/n).”
Just him, Kento Nanami. And you? Well, you have nothing in common with all those things. To be exact, you aren’t even sure if he ever noticed you. Why would he? You are nothing but a worker in a coffee shop, average-looking and…
You swallow. You are overweight. Not that it would bother you this much. After all, you work hard for your money each and every day, you do your best to keep your head above the water. You never really felt the urge to lose weight until reality, or rather other people, hit you.
“Oh, look who’s working again!”
“Did you already eat all those muffins? How is it possible that when you’re working, all the food is gone around this time?”
There they are again. Breathe in, breathe out. Everything is alright. Just suffering a few minutes, just letting their words hit you a little longer and they’ll be gone again. You just have to get through this. It’s not like you haven’t heard those group of actual grown-ups say those nasty things to you over a hundred times already.
But no. Today, it isn’t that easy. Because on the table in front of you sits none other than Kento Nanami who reads his paper and sips on his cup of coffee like he always does. Why do you suddenly feel the urge to defend yourself, to make them stop talking to you like that?
“Can you guys just leave me alone? I’m doing my job here, okay? Would you like to drink or eat something-“
“Fat pig”, one of the blonde girls suddenly spits at you.
This is nothing new. You should be used to it by know, all the countless insults especially that group of four girls always spits at you are too much to even count. Then why…Why do your eyes roam to his perfectly trimmed blonde undercut, why do you ball your fist in an instant?
What a dumb mistake. One of the girls follows the direction of your sight, breaking out in hysterical laughing when realizing that you were looking at Kento Nanami. No, please don’t make a stupid comment, please just grab a coffee and leave this place. Even though it hurts to get reminded of the stinging fact that you are overweight almost every single day, what hurts even most is…
“I can’t believe you! Why would a fatass like you even look in his direction? Can’t you see that he’s out of your league? God, you are so pathetic it makes my wanna cry. I mean, don’t you have a mirror at home, can’t you see that you are nothing but a fat fuck? Nobody will ever want you, (y/n). Especially not a handsome man like him.”
It’s hard for Nanami to contain his temper, hand already trembling threatful. Who do these girls think they are to talk to you in such a nasty way? You are breathtakingly stunning with eyes that radiate nothing but kindness, you work so hard each and every day. You…
You don’t deserve this.
“Leave me alone”, you mumble again.
And for the first time in forever, your throat starts to burn as well as your eyes. At this point you were so used to getting picked on that you didn’t even cry about it anymore after some time. But this…this isn’t about your weight anymore. This hits you right where it hurts.
Kento Nanami.
You don’t even dare to look his direction, eyes pierced to the ground while their venomous laughs fill the room with hatred. The urge to just get out of here, to leave this place and never return becomes almost unbearable. Maybe…maybe you should really lose some weight. Your eyes dart towards the counter in whose glass your figure is reflected.
You feel absolutely horrible and disgusting. A silent sob escapes your lips. Yes, why would someone like Kento Nanami ever want someone like you?
“Awww look at her, now she’s crying!”
You can’t take the shame anymore. Without thinking twice, you storm out of the coffee shop, ignoring your co-worker calling out your name behind. It began to rain in waterfalls, your tears now mixing with the drops from above.
There was probably never a moment in your life where you hated yourself as much as now. What where you even thinking, getting all excited every morning because of that force of a man? Were you really too dumb to realize that Kento Nanami would never fall for a girl like you?
A fat pig, a person so undisciplined that it shows, a girl that could never wear his t-shirts as a dress. You are a nobody, an ugly figure in a world full of skinny models-
“(y/n)!”
That voice makes your guts turn in an instinct, heart pounding against your chest. You pick up your pace immediately, almost running down the rainy streets of Tokyo into an alley. Of course, he followed you. After all, Kento Nanami is a gentleman out of romance books, the perfect man. But you’d rather die that let him comfort you. No, you don’t want to hear that he’s sorry about their cruel words, you don’t want him to look down at you with his pity-filled eyes.
You simply can’t take it.
“Hey, (y/n). Please look at me.”
With a swift motion, he grabs your wrist and turns you around. You feel like dying right here and now, his chocolate brown eyes seem to pierce right through your soul.
But then…
He pushes you against the wall and just kisses you. His lips collapse onto yours with so much passion that it simply takes your breath away, his eyes roaming around your body hungrily. You stare at him in sheer disbelief. Is this really happening? Are you dreaming? Countless lonely night, you imagined what it would feel like to have him this close, to feel his body against yours. And now…And now that gorgeous man pinned you against a wall.
“Don’t you dare to believe a single word they said. I promise you that they’ll never speak to you like this again. I made sure of that.”
It feels so surreal, almost too good to be true. Is he only doing this out of pity, because he doesn’t want you to feel bad? Your heart sinks painfully. Is that what this is about?
“You don’t have to do that so I’m feeling better”, you mumble against his lips.
Instinctively, you cross your arms in front of your chest, hiding you like you always do around him.
“I’m not saying this to make you feel better”, he replies in an instant, hands gently untucking your arms to place his own around your waist.
“I’m saying this because I can’t take my eyes off you since I saw you the first time I stepped into this café. You have to be the most beautiful person I have ever seen, (y/n). I adore your delicate curves, your inviting smile, your unshakable character. I love the way your hair falls and how you prepare my coffee. I adore you just the way you are. Did you really think I’m there because of the coffee? It’s not that good if you’re asking me.”
His comment makes you giggle your tears away and shaking your head at the same time.
“Yeah, the coffee isn’t that great to be honest”, you comment.
“But you are.”
He looks down at you all serious again, his intense gaze making your knees go weak in an instant.
“And I want nothing more than to take you out to a nice restaurant.”
Choso with a reader who has big breasts
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You were never keen to meet new people, especially men. Not because you aren’t talkative or enjoy others company. No, it’s because you never know how they’ll react when seeing you for the first time.
Even though especially other women are jealous of you because of how big your breasts are, you truly hate them. It seems like the second you meet someone, all they have eyes for is your cleavage. No matter if you wear a baggy shirt, your uniform or one of the dresses you normally adore so much, your boobs come first. And you fucking hate it.
“Hey, why are you so nervous, (y/n)? I’m sure you and Choso will get along just fine!”, Yuji tries to cheer you up with a kind smile.
“And probably your-“
“Shut up right now, moron”, Megumi mumbles instinctively.
You sign to yourself. It’s clear that he’s just trying to be nice and funny, but to be honest you want to cry. Since puberty hit you, no one ever saw you like an individual anymore. No, you are either sexualized or body-shamed.
“Would you crush me with your melons for some money? C’mon (y/n).”
“There she is again. Look at her tits!”
“She’s just showing off. What a slut.”
“I bet those would be a good ass pillow.”
You are so damn tired of it. Tired of all the people talking about you behind your back, tired of being nothing but a sex object, tired of having no character. Even though here at Jujutsu High, people seem to finally get that you are indeed a human being all by yourself and would never talk badly about you, you can feel their looks.
“Oh, there he is! Come on, (y/n)!”
No, no, no. Is it too late to just turn around and leave this place? Maybe Maki is still free, you should go and grab a drink with her. Or even better, barricade yourself into your dorm and return when this man is gone.
“You must be (y/n). My little brother told me a lot about you”, a dark voice introduces itself.
Your eyes dart up in panic. Oh, you just know how this goes. First of all, he’ll look down at your breasts. If he’s having at least a spark of decency, his eyes will dart back to your face and roam around when he thinks you’re not paying any attention. And maybe, just maybe, he won’t mention your cleavage for quite some time.
“Nice to meet you”, you mumble annoyed already.
Huh, his eyes rest right on your face, a small smile forming itself on his lips. You tilt your head to the side, squint your eyes in confusion. Well, this is definitely new. He didn’t even look at them, not a single glimpse onto your body.
“Is it true that you have a thing for blood manipulation? Yuji told me you are interested in learning more about that technique.”
“Well, yeah…”
You have to blink a few times. He is so…different from everyone else. Not even Megumi resisted the urge to look down at you, you even heard him talking about it with Yuji someday. But this man…what was his name again? Choso? He seems to be curious about…
You. Nothing but you.
“I am quite skilled when it comes to blood manipulation. If you want, I will gladly show you a few things.”
“Y-yeah…I mean…That would be nice. Like, today?”, you stutter awkwardly, completely caught off guard by this unexpected change of scenery.
“If you have time, of course.”
“Okay, then…I’ll change now.”
“I’ll meet you at the training field.”
“Yeah…”, you mutter.
As soon as you leave the room, Yuji seems to finally regain your voice.
“And? What do you think about her?”
“I think she seems quite nice for a human being.”
“And what else?”
A big pause that makes your heart shatter for a brief moment. Maybe he isn’t as different as you thought. Maybe he’s just thinking about your cleavage like everybody else does, maybe-
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Haven’t you seen her,…y’know…Megumi?”
“He means her breasts”, Megumi clarifies.
“Why would I look at her breasts when she seems to have an interesting character?”
Your heart almost beats out of your chest, ears literally unable to comprehend what you’ve just heard. It really shouldn’t touch you like that. But oh, the second you begin to realize what that stranger just said your eyes get glossy. It might only be a little statement for him, but it surely means the world to you.
In a world that shames on you for something you can’t change, in a world in which men only took you on dates or talked to you because of your breasts and not because of your personality.
Choso seems to be the first person who genuinely doesn’t give a fuck about the way you look. And oh does it feel nice.
“Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought”, you mumble to yourself.
Yuji and Todo with a cury/tall girl
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Just one look at him seems to sweep you off your feet. The way he walks, the way he talks, simply the way he carries himself. It wasn’t hard to fall for Yuji, but it was definitely rough to find out he isn’t interested in you.
“What kind of woman is Yuji actually into?”
Nobara looked at you up and down, visibly bamboozled about what you’ve just asked. There aren’t many things she doesn’t think about, but Yuji Itadori’s type is definitely one of them.
“I don’t know girl…But I guess he’s the type for rather short girls, don’t ya think?”
You hated the way your heart instantly began to ache in your ribcage. Of course he does. Aren’t all boys nowadays into petite girls with a bubbly personality? And to be honest, you are none of that.
Taller than all the other girls and even some boys around Jujutsu High, curvier than anyone else, probably uglier than the rest. You never put much thought into all of these things, but right. Why would Yuji be any different from all the guys you’ve met before?
“Who the hell is this woman, Itadori?”
Todo can’t help but shamelessly stare at you. This is too good to be true, a sight straight out of his dreams. You…You are even better than Takada-chan.
“Huh? Oh, that’s (y/n)”, he replies with a small grin, just one look at you making his heart stumble all over again.
He hasn’t seen you in quite some time now that he thinks of it.
“What kind of woman is your type, Itadori Yuji?”
The pink-haired boy has to blink a few times, eyes still set on your delicious curves and gorgeous long legs.
“I like tall woman with a big ass.”
“Is that your final answer?”, he huge boy next to him urges, grabbing him by his uniform so roughly that his eyes yank away from you.
“Yes!”, he replies immediately.
“Then get going, we need to talk to this beauty over there”, he announces, dragging Yuji behind him before he is even able to reply.
You tilt your head to the side. What the hell is going on over there? Who is that shirtless guy and…is that Yuji he drags behind him as if he’s taking out trash?
“You!”, he shouts into your direction, eyes seem to pierce right through your soul.
What the hell is this about? Should you run away, cry for help? He definitely looks pretty dangerous to you with the way his muscles seem to grow with every step he takes towards you.
“Hey, let me go! I can walk by myself!”, Yuji protests.
“Now talk to her”, Todo hisses, almost pushing him into you.
“Oh, hi (y/n)!”
“Well, hi Yuji…”, you answer rather confused.
You look even better from over here, your body lingering over his own by a few centimetres. Yes, you have to be the biggest woman Yuji has ever seen with a character so badass that no one can hold a candle to you. And those curves, those oh so delicious curves…
“Tell her what kind of woman is your type”, the guy next to him demands harshly.
“Stop being so damn loud, she hears you!”
“Oh, I definitely do. What is all of this bullshit about and what kind of freak are you exactly?”
“Itadori loves tall woman with a big ass.”
Well, that’s rather unexpected. Yuji turns as red as a tomato, not daring to shoot a single glimpse your way. But Nobara said that he likes petite girls and somehow, this always made sense to you. Still, his body doesn’t lie. And the fact that he doesn’t say anything against it tells you…
“You like tall woman with a big ass”, you repeat.
“Well, to be honest, I just like you, (y/n)”, he mutters along with scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
“I like you too. You have to be the hottest girl I’ve ever seen. Let me cherish you for the rest of our lives”, the guy named Todo purrs.
“Hey, I thought you were my wingman and now you’re trying to steal my girl away from me!”, Yuji protests.
“When did I ever say that, moron? We might be brothers, but this right here is my girl-“
“WE ARE NOT BROTHERS AND (Y/N) IS NOT YOUR GIRL!”
“I’ve been crazy about you for so long. I can’t believe you actually find me attractive, Yuji”, you interrupt their little chitchat.
Your heart feels light as a feather, so good that you are almost think about giggling out in sheer joy.
“Are you kidding? You are what dreams are made of, (y/n)! I was just too shy to admit…”
“I’d never be too shy to show my love. Pick me, (y/n)!”
“GET AWAY FROM HERE!”
“I’M NOT LEAVING MY GIRL BEHIND!”
"That's enough, I'm leaving. See you around guys", you announce with a sly grin.
"OUCH, DID YOU JUST SLAP ME TODO!?"
"JUST THE WAY YOU DESERVE IT, ITADORI!"
Tags: @arehzhera @ploylulla @tzubaki @beatrexworld @kenstarsworld @hellkaiserinphoenix  @lauv4chuuya @shadowfoxey @starlightanyaaa @sindela @kayleegomez @sunshine7queen @magalimachete @mokoartpost @gatitam @idontknow1123 @creative1writings @sanicsmut  @mynahx3 @sad-darksoul @chilichopsticks @hellkaiserinphoenix @chuyasthighs0 @ynackerman9499 @keepghostly @wxwieeee @lovelyluna1 @froufrousnowman @hidazinie @tomiokathedepresso @gojosrealwife  @coffeeluvr96 @mahi-tamashi @weebotaku21 @chaoticwinnercupcake @lees-chaotic-brain  @risuola  @sugurulefttesticle @wordskeeper @baku2345 @polarbvnny @ruixrei @bam-bam-bam-bame-blog @lavenderdrxp @localhehecat @alicerhr @kayleegomez @belovedvamp @wifenanami @chilichopsticks @dlwlrmas-world @oikawarz
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ellecdc · 2 months
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i love ur writing sm!! <3 can i request a poly!marauders x reader who has the personality of kat stratford from 10 things i hate about you? reader speaks her (or their!) mind and known as a "bitch" but shes really a softie for the people she cares about. much love♡
Thank you so much, lovie!!! Hope this is what you were looking for 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶
poly!marauders x feisty fem!reader
CW: burn/injury (nothing grave), use of Y/N, jokes at the expense of Hufflepuff House (no hate to the house, I too am a Hufflepuff)
By some brilliant stroke of luck, Professor Slughorn was away at some kind of Potioneer's convention in Sweden which left the Gryffindor and Slytherin's 6th and 7th year potion’s classes hosted by a substitute. That substitute happened to be none other than Professor Binns - the horrifyingly boring History of Magic professor. Normally, the presence of the ancient ghostly professor would be mind-numbing, but seeing as he’d just barely gotten today’s instructions up on the board before promptly falling asleep (and James threw a muffliato spell around him to keep it that way), the class was actually quite lively.
“How was I supposed to know we were only meant to add a pinch and not the whole jar?!” Barty Crouch Jr asked you incredulously.
“Uhm, perhaps by reading the sodding instructions!? Circe’s tits; is it Evan’s turn with your shared braincell today?” You spat as you vanished your soiled potion. The sound of an explosion, followed by Evan’s laughing, followed by Regulus hissing “Rosier!” proved you wrong.
“Ah, the braincell eluded both of you today; my mistake.” You muttered as you began your potion from scratch.
“Reggie! Y/N’s being mean to me!” He tattled from across the room.
“It’s not mean if it’s true, babe.” Regulus responded without lifting his head from his own worktable.
“How rude.” Barty whined. 
“You’re starting to sound like a Hufflepuff, Junior.” You taunted as you swatted at his hands that were vying for your potions ingredients.
“How dare you. I have never been so insulted.” He seethed from his place on his stool.
You smirked. “You don’t listen much, do you?”
“Now, maybe that was a little harsh, L/N, comparing him to a Hufflepuff.” Dorcas called over to you from her worktable.
“You’re just as soft as he is, Meadows.” 
“Nobody is safe…” Marlene murmured with a smirk.
Sirius and James’ potion station made a startling pop sound before James hissed in pain. “Fuck!” He gritted through his teeth.
You looked over to find James holding his arm against his chest protectively, Sirius grimacing at the sight, and Remus rolling his eyes because he told those sods to be careful. You immediately abandoned your worktable and a petulant Barty and made your way to the Gryffindor side of the room.
“What happened!?” You cooed as you gently encouraged James’ arm away from his body so you could inspect it.
“I added too much billywig sting. The potion overflowed and got Prongs.” Sirius offered guiltily. You cooed again and gently kissed the space beside the angry looking burn on James’ arm. 
“Barty! Grab me the medikit from the supply cupboard!” You called over your shoulder. 
Your request was met with a scoff. “I’m not one of your trained dogs, L/N. You’ll have to show me at least one tit before I’m at your beck and call.”
He barely had time to duck as you hurled a beaker at him.
“Okay, okay. Salazar’s saggy balls, you’re wicked.” He muttered as he made his way to fetch the medikit.
Remus was planning to let those bell-ends clean this up on their own, but he relented at how sweet you looked as you fussed over James; unable to hide his fond smile as he made his way over to his three lovers from his own workbench he shared with Peter.
“What did I say at the beginning of class?” Remus asked impishly. Sirius seemed to gulp a little before he murmured “to read twice, add once”.
“Mhm, and what did you do?” Remus continued.
Sirius, now growing tired of feeling shamefaced, muttered “obviously not that…” which earned him a pat on the arse from the werewolf.
Barty returned with the medikit and leaned his cheek forward as if waiting for you to press a kiss to it for his assistance. You whacked him in the head with said kit before opening it to find the burn paste and poison neutralizer.
All contempt melted away from your face as you turned your sights from your potions partner to one of your three boyfriends. “It might sting, but I’ll try to be gentle.” You murmured to James as you began to work on his wound.
As Remus peered at the burn, it really didn’t look all that bad – but the way you were treating James made it seem like you thought he was going to lose his arm. Suddenly, Remus saw a small wet mark land on James’ arm from where you were hovering over him.
“Dovey, you don’t have to cry! He’s okay.” He cooed at you as he began rubbing soothing circles onto your back, pressing a conciliatory kiss to your temple.
“M’not crying.” You muttered somewhat petulantly. “The smell of flesh burning off of Jamie’s arm is assaulting my sinuses.”
Sirius officially seemed more distraught that he upset you than he did about burning James.
“Oh, my poor, sweet girl.” Sirius murmured at you as he pulled you away from James’ arm.
“I’m not done, Sirius!” You argued, though you never tried to pull away from Sirius’ grasp.
“Remus will finish up angel, give Sirius hell for me.” James winked at you. You flushed at the attention and hid your face in Sirius’ chest.
“Poor lovey, so worried about her boys, hm?” Sirius cooed into the crown of your head where his lips were pressed. You hummed in the affirmative.
“What the actual fuck?” Barty interrupted the moment as you all turned to take in his astounded face. “You’re holding a Chinese Chomping Cabbage that close to your jugular, Black? Do you have a death wish?”
“No need to be jealous, Junior. Your boyfriend is right over there.” James goaded from his place as Remus finished wrapping up his wound.
Not needing to be told twice, Barty all but skipped across the room to Regulus before he threw himself onto the quiet boy’s lap. Regulus, hardly sparing his boyfriend a glance, stood and dumped the boy off his lap before returning to his stool and carrying on with his potion. 
You could no longer see Barty from your place in Sirius’ chest but based on the vibrations from his torso and the chuckles of your other boyfriends, you were sure he was flat on his ass.
“I hate it here.” He cried.
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tomriddleslove · 3 months
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What’s left of me?
✩Mattheo Riddle x Reader
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Summary: The one where your pursuit for excellence leads you down a path of self destruction, and you’re slowly loosing yourself. You didn’t expect a certain boy in your year would be your saving grace. Alternatively: Mattheo makes you realise you’re more than what you think you are.
A/N: I guess this could very easily be like a prequel to the other mattheo one shot ‘i’m here’. This is definitely a bit self indulgent but we all have our things 😻😻
Warnings: Allusions to overdosing (brief), mentions of not eating.
Songs: Nothings New - Rio Romeo
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18 days.
18 days till you would be finished with all of this.
Technically, it would actually be 408 days till you finished school and graduated from this godforsaken place, but 18 more till you finished with exams.
You weren’t sure how many more hours you could spend hunched over indecipherable handwriting, pouring over text till your eyes stung and your back ached. Surrounded by a stack of books and rolls of parchment, you couldn’t even begin to figure out where you ended and the library began. You had taken up a huge table (that could seat at least 4) for the better part of 17 hours, sat on the same chair since 6:00 am.
You stifle a small groan of pain as you roll your wrist, stiff and sore from the hell that was ancient runes.
There are ink splotches all over your skin, and you’re sure the amount of work you were pouring into this stopped being effective nearly 5 hours ago.
Your eyes flicker up and scan over the once-packed library that had slowly dwindled down to a few students, half of whom were in the same boat as you.
To you, being the last person in the library was a huge sign of success. It meant you were more dedicated and more hard-working.
In reality, the truth couldn’t be any further from that, but in your mind, if you weren’t milking yourself over every last piece of work it simply wasn’t being done right.
The hushed murmurs and sounds of parchment being unfurled fade into the background as your quill scratches furiously against the parchment, mind running at a million miles an hour.
You ignore the pang in your stomach as you work; you haven’t eaten today. You didn’t want to get up at any point to get food, for fear of your place being taken.
Now, you didn’t want to get up for another reason. It was well past the library's open hours and Madame Pince was angrily fussing about, bustling around everyone as she got them to leave. A testament to how long you had been there, she didn’t even seem to notice you, and you were worried getting up and walking about would break this sort of invisibility shield you had going on.
Come to think of it, you hadn’t really drunk any water either. You brought your bottle with you but had forgotten to fill it up. It was fine though, the human body could last for 3 days without water - it could wait. Your upcoming exams were far more important.
In Scandinavia, the Elder Futhark remained in use until some time around the eighth century (the time of the Eddas), when drastic changes in the Old Norse language occurred, and corresponding changes in the runic alphabet were made to accommodate the new sounds. However, unlike the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, the Younger Futhark (as it is now called) reduced the number of runes from 24 to 16, and several runes came to represent multiple sounds. The forms of the runes were also changed and simplified.
Gods, you couldn't take this anymore. You felt sick and exhausted. You ignore the hunger that gnaws at your stomach, rubbing a hand over your face as you contemplate finishing off and going to bed.
But every time you think of stopping a horrible feeling emerges in your stomach, consuming you with anxiety. The weight of impending exams and the fear of not doing well gnawing at your determination. You glance at the clock, realizing it's well past midnight, and the library is now completely empty except for you.
Madame Pince, finally noticing your presence, approaches with a disapproving look. "You know, the library does close at a certain hour. I can't have students staying here all night," she scolds, but her tone softens as she sees the exhaustion in your eyes.
“Sorry. I lost track of time” You mumble, haphazardly cramming your stuff into your bag. You get up, and the room spins for a second. You stumble but manage to catch yourself, holding onto the table as Madam Pince reaches out a hand to help you recover.
“You need to take care of yourself. No exam is worth this much stress,” She says, eyeing you with concern. If only she knew how far that was from the truth. You felt as though you had so little to your name. Performing well, overachieing. That was what you were known for. It was the only thing you felt was yours. Everyone else had character, they were distinctly themselves. They had hobbies, interests, and friendships that defined them. But for you, it was always about excelling academically. Without that, you became nobody. You were no more than the number on your papers, and the reminder weighed down on you like an unrelenting burden.
By some miracle you manage to stumble down the empty halls of the castle into the Slytherin common room, which seemed paradoxically warm considering its grandiose stone structure and dark, moody lighting. You carelessly drop your bag onto a table closest to the fireplace, trudging up to your room as you battle the sleep that threatens to consume you.
It's dark, and your roommates have long gone to bed.
“Lumos” You murmur, hiding the blinding light that emerges from the tip of your wand with the lining of your school robes, dimming it slightly. You grope blindly at your bedside drawer, stopping when you feel the familiar smooth glass bottle, that fits perfectly in your palm. You slip it into the pocket of your robes, slowly shutting the drawer as you make your way back down to the common room. You dismiss the light that shines from your wand, tossing it onto the sofa as you take a seat on the floor, in front of the low table. You read the instructions on the back of the small bottle as if you hadn’t been consuming this religiously for the past month.
Wideye potion User Guidance:
Take no more than one teaspoon every 6 hours. Effects will last for up to 8 hours. Excessive use of this potion may lead to adverse effects, and in rare cases, severe bodily harm. Users are advised not to use the maximum dosage for a consecutive 72 hours.
You’ve read it so many times, you were sure you could recite it by heart. Choosing not to heed any warnings, you pop open the cork and down the whole bottle in one go. The rancid taste of the potion burns, eliciting a shudder down your spine as you swallow down the bile that threatens to emerge. Pocketing the empty glass bottle, you stretch your arms before retrieving your books, ready to continue working.
If you were lucky, the potion might give you a boost of energy for about 3 hours or so. You had been taking it so much you had developed a sort of immunity to it, and the effects were not as potent as they used to be. The sacrifice of your well-being for the sake of productivity had become a routine, a desperate attempt to squeeze every ounce of time and focus out of your exhausted mind and body.
You have attempted to brew a stronger concoction, in the misplaced hopes that increasing the potency would counteract the effect of the immunity. However, the violent cramps and palpitations it had given you very quickly told you that wouldn't work.
You knew it was bad. It was causing irreversible damage to your body, killing you at worst. It simply wasn't sustainable. But you couldn't drag yourself out of that mindset.
Failure. Nobody.
You gritted your teeth and carried on working.
You managed to get through another potions essay, and the time on your watch read 1:00 am.
You could carry on for longer, right?
You zone out for a second, staring off at the orange embers that emerged from the fireplace, shining bright for what seemed like a millisecond before falling to the floor, turning into nothing but ash.
The orange embers flicker, and for a moment, you see yourself in them – a fleeting brightness that threatens to be extinguished. The battle between ambition and self-preservation rages on as you grit your teeth and carry on working, oblivious to the embers slowly falling into nothingness, much like your own fading sense of self.
“Why on earth are you up at this hour doing work?” A voice calls from behind you, and the momentary intrusion shocks you, sending a burst of energy through you as you spin around.
Flopping down onto the sofa next to you, leaning back with his legs lazily outstretched, was none other than Mattheo Riddle. Clad in a plain grey sweatshirt and black jeans, he eyes you with curiosity, smelling distinctively of smoke. He had most likely been out, as he so usually was at this hour. You shrug, turning back to your work.
“Exams. Need to revise” You mumble, voice cracking. You swallow, massaging your dry throat as you grimace, trying to get back to your writing.
“Revise? Merlin, you're the smartest person in our year. You don't need to be revising” Matthep leans forward, plucking a piece of parchment from your pile and examining it with a raised eyebrow.
You snatch it back, a protective instinct kicking in despite the fatigue. You hated that sentiment. Despised it, even. People always assumed your performance came naturally. That you were simply born with the ability to do well. No one seemed to consider what you had to do to get to that point, how you wore yourself down, day in and day out, till you either passed out from exhaustion or pain, neglecting your most basic needs.
"I might be the 'smartest' person, but that doesn't mean I can afford to slack off," you reply, a hint of frustration in your voice. The adrenaline from the sudden interruption starts to ebb away, leaving you feeling even more drained.
Mattheo leans back, momentarily caught off guard by your defensiveness. He had never seen you this on edge. He was so accustomed to seeing you as this familiar presence during the school day his partner for the many lessons that he didn’t have his friends in. The two of you would work together and on rare occasions, hang out with one another in the common room as well. It was a rather unlikely duo, the king of Slytherin and the academic prodigy. Yet, More often than not Mattheo found himself seeking out your presence. He never admitted it outright, but he hugely admired you. Your intelligence, your drive, it all captivated him. There were times when he hoped he could be only half the person you were.
How funny it was, for you felt the very same thing when you saw him. He seemed content. Happy. He was loved by nearly everyone. Popular, with a fun social life. He had everything you wanted without putting in any of the work.
You wanted to be like him. But you weren’t. And if you wanted anything like what he had, you had to work damn hard for it. So that's what you did. With a small sigh, you turn back to your work.
“Hey,” He says gently, his voice softening slightly. "I’m sorry. I say stupid things sometimes.” He apologies, brows furrowed as he looks at your back facing him.
“It's fine. I should be saying sorry. You didn't say anything, I just…. I’m just a bit tired, that's all.” You mumble, apologising as you get up. You stretch, a yawn escaping your lips as you wearily rub your eyes.
“I'm gonna run up to my room and grab some more parchment. I’ll be down in a second,” You say, shrugging off your school robe as you turn to walk away. You ascend the stairs leading to your dorm, tossing your robe onto the sofa next to Mattheo as you do so.
Your robe slides off the sofa and hits the floor, a faint clinking sound echoing through the empty room as you disappear.
Curious, Mattheo looks down at your carelessly discarded robe. He reaches down, picking it up. It weighs heavier than it should be, and Mattheo can't help but feel a twinge of curiosity, He eyes the now empty staircase before reaching into your pocket, fingers brushing against a smooth glass vial.
Not just one, but a few.
Frowning, he turns out your pocket, and four identical glass vials tumble into his lap. Picking one up, his frown only deepens as he reads the label.
“Wideye potion?” He mutters to himself, the confusion on his face morphing into something else as the pieces fit in place.
He had admired you for your intelligence and drive, and now he was confronted with the reality of your struggles. The contrast between your achievements and the seemingly carefree moments he sought with you becomes stark. He berates himself for not having noticed early, for having let you fall down such a destructive path.
Jaw clenched, he gazes at the piles of books you had been working through, rolling the empty vials between his fingers as the sound of your approaching footsteps snaps him out of his thoughts.
You pause in confusion, noticing the scrutinising depression plastered on his face as he looks up at you, rolls of parchment bundled in your hands.
"What's the Wideye potion for?" Mattheo questions, his voice cutting through the silence with an uncomfortable heaviness. He holds up the empty vials as evidence, his gaze piercing through the exhaustion in your eyes.
Caught off guard by the confrontation, you glance down at the vials and then meet Mattheo's eyes. A brief moment of silence hangs in the air, the crackling embers of the fireplace filling the empty silence.
“Research. For uh, potions.” You respond, internally berating yourself for coming up with such a weak excuse.
Mattheo's expression remains stern, a mix of frustration and genuine concern etched on his face.
"Don't bullshit me," he says, his tone direct and uncompromising. "I found these in your pocket, and 'potions research' is a shit excuse. I’m going to ask you again. What’s the wideye potion for?"
You shift uncomfortably, feeling small under his scrutinising gaze You clear your throat, speaking.
"It's just to stay awake, you know? To keep going. I only take it in extreme circumstances" you explain, your voice betraying the exhaustion that has settled in.
Mattheos jaw clenches, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek as he looks to the side with a sigh, visibly frustrated.
“Extreme? And what would that be, hmm? Because right now I'm looking at four empty bottles, and God knows how many more you’ve thrown away.” He snaps, his expression softening as he looks at you.
You feel a lump forming in your throat as you struggle to find the right words. Why on earth were you close to tears? Why did you feel like crying?
“I-” You start, trailing off as you stare at the floor.
Mattheo cuts through the silence, his tone still stern but laced with concern. "This isn't okay. You're smart, and you know better. You can't keep doing this to yourself. What if something happens? What if you collapse or get seriously sick? It's not worth it."
After a moment, Mattheo's expression softens, and he exhales deeply. "When was the last time you ate?" he asks, the concern evident in his voice.
Shit.
You pause, hesitating before admitting quietly, "Breakfast...yesterday."
Mattheo's features tighten at your admission, his eyes reflecting a mixture of frustration, anger, and genuine worry. He rises from his seat and strides towards you, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent room.
"Yesterday? Are you serious?" he says sharply, his voice carrying a weight of both concern and disbelief.
You remain silent, unable to meet his eyes, feeling the shame and vulnerability washing over you.
“Seriously? Fuck, what’s wrong with you? Why would you do that to yourself?” He chastises you, and you snap.
“I have to! You don't fucking get it, do you? I don't have anything else to fall back on.” You start, dropping the parchment onto the table in front of you.
Mattheo's expression shifts from concern to confusion as you lash out. "What are you talking about? You have plenty more than just academics. You're talented, you're smart, and people care about you. Why are you reducing yourself to just grades?"
You scoff, a bitter smile playing on your lips. "Talented? Smart? What does that even mean? It's just a facade, a cover-up for the fact that without these achievements, I'm nothing. I don't have friends; I don't have hobbies or interests. What am I without my grades?"
Mattheo tries to interject, "You're a person with-"
But you cut him off, "No, you don't get it! I'm just a number, a ranking, a test score. Everything I am is tied to how well I perform academically. Do you know what it's like to feel like the only thing you're good at is studying, and even that's slipping away?" You snap anger evident in your tone as you spin around to face him, your weary eyes meeting his.
“It’s the same thing every single day. I wake up, bury myself in books, and push myself to the brink just to feel like I matter. I don't eat, I don't sleep, I don't talk to anyone. I’ve spent my whole life isolating myself and neglecting my most basic needs for this! If I stop now, then what's left of me?”
Tears start to well up in your eyes, and you hate yourself for showing such vulnerability. Mattheo's stern demeanour softens as he watches you unravel.
"I can't stop, Mattheo. I can't afford to. Because if I do, what's left of me?" Your voice trembles.
Mattheo's heart drops at your words, guilt and hurt clawing at his insides. He can’t fathom the idea of you suffering so much, and him being blind to it. How could you not notice how incredible of a person you are beyond all of this? He’d give anything in the world for you to see yourself through his eyes. For you to feel the way he feels when he's with you, even for a second. To know that he’d do anything you asked him to because he cared for you. Not the one who gets outstanding on all their tests.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mattheo finally speaks, his voice softer, genuine concern written across his face.
You shake your head, a mix of frustration and desperation in your eyes. “Because you wouldn’t understand. No one does. They just see the grades, the perfect student. They don’t see the mess behind it all. And I can’t let them. I can’t let anyone see me like this.”
Mattheo moves closer, his expression shifting. “You’re wrong. I do understand. Maybe not completely, but I want to. You don’t have to face this alone.”
You scoff, wiping away a tear. “Why? What do you care? You have everything, popularity, friends, a life. I’m just the study partner, the smart one. I can’t burden you with this.”
Mattheo remains silent for a second, before he speaks.
“Every other Sunday, you go down to Hogsmesde and buy a hamper of sweets form Honeydukes. You take it to the children’s school and volunteer there for an hour. Everytime you visit, you make their day.” He starts.
"You're not just grades," he says, his voice gentle. "You have quirks that make you who you are. Like the way you absentmindedly tap your foot when you're deep in thought. Or how you always carry a small notebook, and I bet it's filled with more than just class notes. I've seen you doodle in the margins."
He continues, "You have a wicked sense of humor, even if you don't show it to everyone. I've heard you snort-laugh during our study sessions. And don't even get me started on your taste in music.How you call that dastardly jazz music, i’ll never understand, but you can’t resist humming along to the tunes of the Wizarding Wireless Network when you're studying. Your fondness for Chocolate Frogs and your inexplicable aversion to pumpkin juice.”
Mattheo's eyes light up, a small smile tugging at his lips as he recalls more details. "Remember that time in Charms class when you made your quill dance across the room just to see if you could do it? Or when you brewed a prank potion that turned the water in the Prefects' bathroom blue for a week? You have a mischievous side that not many people get to see." He continues, looking down at you sincerely. He remains silent for a second, eyes scanning over your face before he steps back, sighing.
“I don’t know how to do this emotional, sappy bullshit. I don’t do it. But with you, I do. I want to. Other people want to. That’s what you do.” He says, voice quiet.
You remain rooted to your spot, somewhere between disbelief and gratitude as you stare up at Mattheo. How did he know all that? Why did he know all that?
“You noticed?” You speak up, voice alarmingly quiet.
He looks at you as though you’ve just asked him whether the sky is blue.
“Of course i’ve noticed. It’s impossible not to.” He murmurs, and you know he’s being honest.
Tears prick in your eyes again, and it’s as though all that exhaustion and neglect has come crashing back down on you tenfold after Mattheo had called you out. You try blink them away but alas, you simply couldn’t. Before you can even say anything, Mattheo steps forward, pulling you into his chest as he wraps his arms around you in a tight embrace. He holds you tightly, not even entertaining the thought of letting go as your tears soak his sweatshirt, tentatively accepting his embrace. His heart clenches at every tear that falls from your eyes, and he can’t tell if he’s horrified or accepting of the fact that he’d give up everything to relieve you of your burdens, even if only for a day.
He rubs your back soothingly, and you can’t help but let it all out.
It’s rather cathartic, really, because you've held onto this weight for so long, and now, in Mattheo's arms, it feels like a moment of release.
As your tears eventually subside, you pull back, both embarrassed and utterly shattered. You look down, sniffling as you wipe away your tear stained eyes when Mattheo hooks a finger under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him.
People often said that the eyes were a window to the soul. You never really understood that, but in this moment, you felt as though you were gazing into the very depths of Mattheos being.
With a tenderness that betrays the boundaries of ‘just friends’ , he wipes away your tears with his thumb, looking down at you.
“Come on. Let’s get you up to rest, yeah?” He hums, quietly. You nod, having to tear yourself away from his touch.
He leans down to pack away your stuff, not letting you handle a thing as he throws your stuff over his shoulder.
“You can stay in my room, if you’d like. Theodore’s out for the night so I can take his bed.” Mattheo says.
You consider it for a second. You didn’t particularly fancy heading up to your room with Mattheo, for fear of your roommate awakening to see you in such a state. You nod, speaking.
“Yes please.” You say, voice embarrassingly hoarse from having cried so much. You pray Mattheo didn’t notice.
Of course he did. But, he chose not to draw attention to it, instead resolving to run down to the kitchen to get you a cup of tea.
You follow Mattheo into his room, which you were no stranger to. Having projects together meant endless hours of collaborating, and opting to avoid being pestered by your roommate and her friends (who had a rather amusing infatuation with Mattheo), you worked in his room instead.
“Help yourself to some clothes if you’d like. They’re on the right.” He says, carefully draping your school bag and robe onto one of the desks. You thank him, smiling softly as he cleans the mess he had left.
“Go lie down. I’ll be back in a second” He says, turning away as he exits his room. Swiftly walking down to the kitchen, his head is reeling with thoughts of you.
He chose not to confront the feeling gnawing at him in light of your breakdown. He didn’t want to deal with that just yet. In no less than 10 minutes he’s carefully treading up the stairs to the dorms once more, a cup of chamomile tea in one hand and some small crackers in the other.
You hadn’t been eating, nor drinking, and the idea of you neglecting yourself so much sent Mattheo into an uncomfortable state where he found himself riddled with anxiety.
Just friends, right?
He clicks open the door to his room with his elbow, precariously walking over with the tea and crackers in hand as he goes to set them down on his bedside table. His eyes flicker over to you, and a small smile tugs at his lips as he sees you already fast asleep, curled up under the covers. The sight of your slumber brings a warmth to Mattheo's heart. He watches you for a moment, taking in the soft rise and fall of your breath, the delicate features that are usually tense with stress now softened in sleep.
The sight brings him more peace than he wishes to admit, and the looming reality that he had to eventually confront only pressed down on him further.
But for now, he didn’t care.
Because in your peace, he found happiness. And he’s sure he’d never find anything else more beautiful.
Possessed by a wave of sentiment that betrays his usual self, he can’t resist reaching out to tuck a stand of misplaced hair behind your ear. Before he can even comprehend what he’s doing, he leans down and presses a soft , brief kiss to your forehead.
He pulls back and finds himself slightly taken aback by his own actions. The quiet room, filled only with the soft sounds of your sleep, almost seems to amplify the beating of his heart.
Mattheo stands there for a moment, looking at you with a mix of tenderness and confusion. Then, shaking off the unexpected surge of emotions, he retreats to Theodores bed , slipping out of his clothes as he goes to lay down. He had to resist the urge to turn around and catch a glimpse of you once again, and lets out a small sigh as he shuts his eyes.
Mattheo Riddle was not a man of sentiment. He was not soft, and he most certainly did not go out of his way for others.
You had changed that. And he couldn’t figure out whether the prospect was one he was ready to welcome.
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froggibus · 7 months
Text
Corruption - Kol Mikaelson
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Genre: smut/nsfw
Pairing: Kol Mikaelson x f! reader (reader uses f! pronouns & has a pussy)
Word Count: 3.2k
Summary: when you meet an original vampire at the Grill, the last thing you expect is to come home with him
CW: corruption, coercion, dubcon, blood drinking, seduction, use of good girl, praise, degradation, dry humping, nipple play, dom! kol, sub! reader, semi-innocent reader, riding, size diff if you squint (he's a big boy ong), creampie, unprotected sex (pls be smart lol)
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omg day one of kinktober, I’m so excited!! this is a bit of a curveball given I’ve never wrote about TVD on here but me and my bf were watching it and I’ve had absolute Kol brain rot lol.
also ow grand finals today!! ante up 💚
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Kinktober Masterlist
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The usual hustle and bustle of the Grill fills your ears as soon as you push past the door. You have your apron thrown over your shoulder, attempting to tie up your hair and run to the back at the same time. 
You manage to make your way through the maze of tables without bumping into anyone, thankfully. You wrap the straps of your apron around your waist and clock in just as the clock strikes 4:30. 
“Close one.” Matt Donovan nudges your shoulder teasingly. 
You shrug him off, slinging a cloth over your shoulder. “Hey, some of us actually need to study.”
The blond rolls his eyes and heads to the sink. You clip a pen onto your waist and drop a pad of paper into your pocket, smoothing over your hair before heading onto the floor. The Mystic Grill opens at noon, but since you and Matt are in school, more often than not you find yourselves working later in the afternoon.
And with working late comes the drunken idiots and vampires. 
You’re on your way to clean tables when a rowdy group of men burst through the doors. Usually, you’d just roll your eyes and wait for them to settle before coming over. But something about this group just seems…different. Your mind practically screams vampire.
Aside from the fact that they’re so hot you would have noticed them before, their accents make it clear that they’re not from around here. A mix of a classic English accent with a hint of something else behind it, a hint of something more ancient. Another red flag.
You come to their table almost as soon as they’re settled, not wanting to keep them waiting too long. “Hi, welcome to The Grill. My name is y/n and I’ll be serving you today. Anything I can get you guys started with?”
The one in the suit speaks first. “A gin and tonic, please.”
You nod and scribble it down on your notepad, turning to the blond one in the center. “And for you?”
“Martini, love.”
On any other day, the pet name would make you roll your eyes, but you find yourself fighting the urge. There’s something electric in the air, something dangerous, and you don’t want to aggravate them.
The younger one on the end smirks at you, dark eyes raking over your figure. He’s by far the tallest and broadest of the group, muscled shoulders hidden underneath his brown jacket. You shiver beneath his gaze. 
“A negroni, darling.” He says casually, but there’s a hint of patronizing beneath. 
Unlike the blond man, the name doesn’t make you roll your eyes. There’s no bitter taste in your mouth—just the chill of something new.
“Right away.”
You overhear them laughing as you practically sprint to the back, your heart racing in your chest. You can feel eyes on you but you don’t dare turn around. By the time you’re out of sight, their laughter has faded to hushed whispers around the table.
Kol can’t help but glance at the swinging door that leads to the kitchen, waiting for his cute little waitress to emerge. The innocent air around you is intoxicating in itself, and he finds himself wondering how your blood would taste, and how pretty and wet you would look opened up in front of him.
He pushes the thoughts away once he feels his pants tightening.
You come back a few minutes later, their drinks piled on the tray in your hand. You place them on the table one at a time, starting with the man in the suit. He thanks you, and it’s clear he has the best manners of the three.
When you get to the last man, you have to lean in slightly to place the drink in front of him. As you get close, you can smell his cologne, like a combination of sandalwood and iron. The scent draws you in, and you have to force yourself away from him. 
Your body heats up and your heart pounds, voice shaking as you ask: “C-can I get you guys anything else?”
“No, love, I think we’re—”
He interrupts the blond one with a smirk, “hang on a minute, Niklaus. Maybe there’s something else I want from our pretty waitress.”
You swallow hard at the compliment. You don’t trust yourself to properly form words right now, so you simply nod at him and wait for him to speak.
“Hmm,” Kol picks up the menu and pretends to examine it. 
He knows he’s being cruel, but he can’t help it. He loves the sound of your racing heart, of the blood rushing through your veins. God, he’s so tempted to compel you to come and sit on his knee and offer him a drink. But compulsion is just too easy, and where’s the fun in that?
He looks up at you through his lashes. “What would you recommend, love?”
“Um,” you shift your weight from foot to foot, “I-I’m not too sure, what are you in the mood f-for?” 
You curse yourself for stuttering so much, but you’ve never felt like this before. It’s like all your senses are in overdrive, your body turning into an inferno. Just him looking at you is enough to turn you into a weak kneed mess.
Dark eyes look you up and down, that fucking smirk coming through again. “Something…sweet.”
“I-I can go get you the dessert menu.”
You don’t even wait for an answer before you’re practically running to the kitchen and gulping down half of your water bottle. You can hear them laughing once more, laughing at you, probably.
“You’re so cruel, brother,” Elijah scolds him.
Kol just shrugs and sips his martini. 
“You can’t exactly blame him, can you? She smells delectable.”
He freezes up at that. He’d almost forgotten for a second that his brothers could smell you too, and that if it came down to it, he would be last in line for a taste. No, he shakes his head. That simply won’t do. You’re his. 
“Ah, don’t worry little brother,” Klaus nudges his shoulder. “She’s all yours.”
Their conversation is interrupted when you come back, tail between your legs, with the dessert menu. You practically toss it on the table in front of them, refusing to make eye contact.
Kol resists the urge to laugh at your bashfulness. Your shy demeanor only makes him want you more, the alcohol just barely sating his need to lay you across the bar and fuck you then and there.
“On second thought,” Kol says after examining the menu, “I think I’ll wait til later.”
You nod and take the menu from him, your hand brushing his larger one. The contact sends sparks through your nerves, goosebumps forming on your arm. You make a blissful second of eye contact with him before scurrying off. 
Hours pass, and your shift is coming to an end. You managed to avoid that group for the rest of the night—Matt insisting on taking your shift so you don’t have to deal with what he calls the “Original” vampires. 
Of course, just as you’ve walked out of the back with your hair loose and your apron stuffed away in your bag, a familiar voice calls to you.
“Leaving so soon darling?”
You stop dead in your tracks. You’ve always ignored customers as soon as you got off the clock, only focused on getting out of the door and back to your house. But that electric feeling in the pit of your stomach is so strong that it compels you to turn around and face him.
He’s so much taller than you, so much broader than you. He’s standing so close that you can smell him and that you have to look up to meet his eyes.
“Well, my shift’s over and I-I should really go study, so…”
“What a shame,” he offers you a dazzling smile, eyes practically ignited while looking at you. “I was hoping I could entice you into a drink.”
“A drink?” You swallow hard, “with you?”
“Of course, unless there’s someone else?”
Something about the darkness that falls over his face when he says that tells you to tread lightly. That dangerous electricity is back, and it's holding you in place. You know you should go home, you should study and go to sleep and never speak to him again. But you can’t.
“No! There’s, uh, there’s nobody else.”
He offers you his hand. “So, a drink then? My place?”
You reach hesitantly to grab it, knowing those sparks are going to consume your body like kindle the minute you do. The palm of your hand touches his and you know there’s no going back.
Twenty minutes later and you’re sitting on his couch, sipping a vodka cranberry. Kol sits next to you, just close enough that he can feel the heat radiating off of you. Anytime he shifts or speaks, that sandalwood scent floods your nostrils and stirs something in the pit of your stomach. 
He gently sets a hand on your thigh, not missing how your blood pressure spikes. He inhales that sweet scent of your blood, now mixed with something else. Something that smells suspiciously like arousal.
“So, love,” he leans in closer, “how about a taste, hm?”
“A-a taste?” You can’t tell if he means a taste of your blood, or a taste of something else.
“Just a little, I promise it will be quick. It might even,” he lowers his voice, moving his lips closer to your soft neck, “feel good.”
His words have you clenching your legs, your pussy starting to ache from need. You’re sure he can smell it, with his super sense and all. His hot breath on the side of your neck already feels so good, you’re so tempted to let him drink from you. 
“O-okay.”
Kol almost moans at that alone. He lets his fangs pierce through his gums, dragging the sharp teeth across the most sensitive part of your neck. One of his big hands wraps around the base of your throat, holding you still.
The graze of his teeth against your skin has you softly whimpering, biting your lip to not make too much noise. Just the thought of him sinking his fangs into your skin and sucking the blood straight from your vein has you gushing, panties beyond ruined.
There’s a slight burn and then a sharp pain as his fangs sink into you. You whine and squeeze your eyes shut, trying to stay still. You can feel the vibrations of him groaning at the taste, feel his fingers tapping against your throat. It’s almost overwhelming, the pain and pleasure combined.
“You’re being so good,” he mumbles into your skin, “such a good girl for me.”
You moan from his words. You are being a good girl, and god, it feels so good. He pulls away, keeping his hand on your neck. You shiver from the cold air on your warm skin, missing his touch.
He rubs his hand up and down your thigh. “That was very good, darling.” He gently squeezes your inner thigh, “do you want to keep being good for me?”
The offer is enticing, and despite having class tomorrow, you find yourself wanting to stay. Wanting to please him in any way he asks. 
“I-I have class tomorrow, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” You start to get off the couch, but just as you make it to your feet, he’s pressing himself against your back.
His hand squeezes the base of your throat, the other one rubbing your pussy through your jeans. “But didn’t it feel so good? I know you want more, love, I can smell it.”
You swallow, biting your lip to keep from moaning. His hands on you feel so good in themselves, and you wonder how other parts of him would feel. 
“Just a few more minutes, hm? Then you can go home, snug as a bug.”
“I-I’m not sure…”
“But doesn’t it feel so good, being my good girl?” He digs his hand into your clit as if to prove his point. He knows he’s won you over when he feels you start to soak through your pants. 
You sigh weakly, “okay, just a few more minutes.”
He guides you back to the couch, leaning over top of you. Your blood outlines his lips, his breath tasting like copper and liquor. He leans in, smashing his lips against yours. 
One of his hands moves down to dig into your waist, fingers gripping you so hard you’ll bruise. He forces his tongue into your mouth, running it across the backside of your teeth. 
You melt into his touch, letting him do whatever he wants.
His other hand snakes under your shirt, going to massage your chest. His cold fingers meet your overheating skin, pinching your nipple between them. You whine into his mouth, only granting him easier access to you. 
“You’re being such a good girl,” he moves his lips down your neck, “such a good slut for me.”
“‘m not a slut,” you whine, your back arching into him against your will. 
He pushes his knee between your legs, grinding it into you. The contact is all too much, and you’re hardly aware of the noises you’re making. Hardly aware of your own actions. 
“Not a slut,” he says breathlessly. “But you’re fucking yourself against my leg.” 
“I-I’m…” you trail off as you realize he hasn’t been moving his leg this whole time—you’ve just been grinding against him. 
There’s a wet spot forming on his jeans from where you were rubbing yourself, and hot shame floods your body. 
“I-I think it’s been more than a few minutes,” you go to stand but he tugs you into his lap. 
“Aren’t you enjoying yourself? Enjoying being my little slut?”
You only get wetter with his words, and sitting on his lap like this, you can feel the imprint of his hard cock through his jeans. You can’t help but rock against him, desperate for friction, desperate for anything. Maybe being his slut isn’t such a bad thing…
He tugs your shirt over your head while you move, giving himself easier access to your chest. He sucks dark marks into your neck, fingers playing with your nipples while you grind your pussy into his bulge. 
“Such a good little girl.” He groans, gripping your hips so he can grind against you. 
You whine, trying to grind harder against him. You need more friction, you need more pressure. 
“Tell me what you want, darling.”
“I-I—” you’re cut off by him pinching your nipples hard. 
“Use your words.” He teases, biting into your neck.
You try to tell him you need more, but your words are failing you. All you can do is close your eyes and bite your lip and rock back and forth on his lap. 
“Do you want me to fuck you? Fuck you hard and cum inside you, hm? Is that what my slut wants?”
You nod furiously, “yes, please.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“I-I want you to fuck me, please fuck me, Kol. I-I need you so bad.”
Kol throws you over his shoulder faster than you can register, carrying you up to his bedroom. He tosses you on the bed, tugging his shirt off before hovering over you.
He strokes your jaw with his thick fingers, “if you want me to fuck you, you’re gonna prove how badly you want it.”
“P-prove it?”
He flips the two of you over so that he’s laying under you, his bulge grinding perfectly against your throbbing core. He bounces you up and down slightly, his hands gripping your hips. 
“Prove how badly you want it, fuck yourself on my cock and then if you’re a good girl, I’ll give you what you want.”
You look down at his hard cock straining through his jeans. You’ve had sex before, sure, but you’ve never been on top. You’re not even quite sure how to ride. 
You straddle his waist, tugging down your pants and panties. Your panties are absolutely soaked, ruined with your own slick. You gasp once the cold air hits your aching pussy. 
Kol helps you to take off his own pants, his thick cock hitting his stomach. The pink tip is practically dripping with precum, coating his hard base in his own juices. 
You can’t help but lick your lips at the sight. He’s so big, and you can practically taste the precum from here. 
“What are you waiting for? Get on with it then.”
You slowly stroke the shaft, your hand barely wrapping around his girth. “I just,” you sigh, avoiding eye contact, “I’ve never really—”
“Been on top?”
“Yeah,” you squeeze his cock. 
“Lucky me,” he smirks and grabs your hips, “don’t worry, love. I’ll guide you.”
You climb on top of him, lining up his cock with your dripping entrance. Just the feeling of his length hovering below you. You lean forward and slowly drive your hips back, Kol holding up your hips so you can push down onto him. 
You sink onto his cock. It stretches you out as you push farther down on him, his cock perfectly filling you up. You whine, pressing yourself against his chest and driving your hips all the way down. Kol groans, digging his fingertips into your sides. 
“Such a good whore,” he mumbles, letting you do all the work. 
You desperately fuck yourself up and down his length, trying to get him all the way. He’s so big inside of you, all you want is to stuff yourself full of him. Your pussy gushes with every thrust, your juices leaking out and coating his groin. 
“I-I need more,” you whine, pressing your face into his shoulder. 
“Hm? You need more?”
“I need to cum, I’m so close, please…”
Kol grips your hips and flips over so that he’s laying on top of you. He drives his hips forwards, slamming his cock all the way inside of you. He grabs your ankles and throws your legs over his shoulder, giving himself a better angle. 
He pistons into you, balls smacking against your ass with every thrust. “God, you’re so fucking tight. My little whore, spreading herself open for me.”
“I—Kol—”
He leans in to kiss on your neck, his teeth grazing where he’d bit you earlier. His tongue reaches out to lap up the dried blood, moans filling your ears. 
“Kol, I-I’m so close!”
“Be a good girl and cum around my cock, huh darling?”
The pet name has those shivers traveling up your spine again, the pleasure reaching a point where it’s overwhelming. You dig your nails into his back, desperately whining for him to fuck you harder. 
One more thrust and you’re coming undone, that knot in your stomach exploding. Your pussy gushes around him, that ache that’s been plaguing you all day finally fading. 
Kol props himself up, shoulders straining to keep himself steady as he drives his cock inside you. Every thrust is a challenge, as if he’s trying to completely lose himself in your pussy. He’s gasping and grunting, and as soon as you feel his cock twitching, you know he’s close. 
A few more sloppy thrusts and suddenly he’s cumming inside of you, hot streaks filling your pussy. He’s left gasping, lazily pumping inside of you. He flips you over so that you’re laying on his chest. 
“Did that feel good, darling?” He strokes your hair, keeping you close to him. 
“Mm, so good,” you mumble, eyes starting to close. 
“You did so good for me, love. I can’t wait to see what that pretty little mouth can do, too.”
You feel yourself heating up at his words, but for now, all you can focus on is his hot cum running out of your pussy and coating your thighs. Kol rubs your back, letting you rest. 
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Interview With A Ghost
Red Robin, (aka Tim Drake) decides to host a YouTube series called "Teenage Hero Burnout'' after he makes a video by the same name talking about his own experiences.
He interviews current and past heroes who started their careers as teens and discuss how it shaped their outlook on heroing & life in general. His primary focus is on current teen heroes. Once he runs through his whole team roster and all willing (and unwilling) BatFam members he branches out to look for more obscure teen heroes. (Inadvertently he ends up building a support network for young heroes but that's for another time.)
Ficlet under the cut vvv (Ao3 Link)
Today the "studio" is decorated with little ghosts and miscellaneous Halloween decorations to match his guest's theme. Clearly a homemade set, but RR has a high-quality camera and sound equipment. Today's episode is titled "Teenage Hero Burnout #56: Interview With A Ghost.”
Phantom is sitting in his chair invisibly with a cup of coffee (the coffee mug has his DP logo on it), which of course makes it look like RR is interviewing a floating cup of coffee. But every now and then the camera picks up a blurry shadow in the shape of a person. Super creepy. (And in case you were wondering, yes, this is 100% the Halloween special.)
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"Let's get this over with already," Phantom mumbles into his mug, taking a sip. Red Robin ignores his guest's comment and continues his little intro. 
"Welcome back everyone! I hope all you Birdies have been taking care of yourselves since the last episode. Today's guest is Amity Park's Phantom. A lesser known small-town hero, but no less of a powerhouse who has helped the Justice League themselves on several occasions. Say ‘hi’ Phantom.”
The floating coffee mug rises and bobs in the air like someone making a salute with it.
"Thanks man, I totally feel like I’m not talking to myself,” Red Robin mutters.
“Calm your shorts bird boy, do you have any idea how crazy ghosts get around this time of year?”
“No, but it sounds like I should put an underage drinking disclaimer on this video.”
“It’s not underage when you’re in a different dimension.”
“And jumping off of THAT robust rebuttal, since we're using this series to focus on the experience of teen heroes here, let's start with how old you are, Phantom?"
"What are you, a cop?”
Red Robin glares intently at the seemingly vacant chair beside him.
“Kidding, kidding. Do you want my ghost age or my human age?"
"Can you elaborate on that?"
"Well, the whole phantom thing isn't just a gimmick. I am an actual, bonafide member of the afterlife. Age isn't as straightforward for us. It could be my assumed age based on my appearance, how old I was when I became a ghost, how old I'd be if I were still alive, or how long I've been dead. Which is only three years, by the way. Shocker, I know. Despite what some people think, I'm not an ancient trickster ghost with the face of a child."
"Don't worry Phantom, we'll give you a century or two to work on it first. How about you tell us how old you were when you first started acting as a hero?"
"Same as when I died, fourteen."
"So that makes you roughly seventeen now."
"In human terms, yeah."
"And what are your pronouns?"
"He/him"
"Nice, same. Any fun facts about yourself before we get into the real meat of things?
"Uuuuuuuuh, do I have any facts about me that are fun? I really like flying? Yeah. Flying is probably my favourite power. I love being up in the air. It's the best."
"We know you started heroing about three years ago, but can you tell uus why you started heroing? Were there any inciting incidents?"
"Ah, origin-story time. Amity Park has always been a thin spot between this world and the next with lots of natural ghost activity. Mostly just small stuff. There are thin spots all over the world. Sometimes they get thinner, sometimes they move or close up entirely. It's just another weird part of nature. But when ghosts in Amity started coming through the veil at a more rapid rate and clashing with the living residents I just felt like it was my...duty? I guess? To protect the town. I wanted to protect my family and friends from other ghosts."
"You still have living relatives and friends?"
"Yeah, it's complicated but we make it work."
"I'm glad you've got a diverse support system, especially since you haven't been a ghost for very long. Also mini PSA to the audience:" RR gestures to Phantom to pick up where he left off.
"Never ask a ghost about their death unless you'd like an express ticket to your own funeral. Red Robin cleared these questions with me ahead of time."
"Are you still an active hero?"
"Yes."
"What kind of villains do you normally face?
"Ghosts." 
"What about ghost hunters? In fact, do you consider yourself a ghost hunter?" 
"I used to think of myself as a ghost hunter in the early days but now I think ghost fighter is a better label for what I do."
"And human ghost hunters?"
"Uuuuugh, yeah. Sometimes I have to deal with humans hunting me. The Fentons and Red Huntress have chilled out and I have truces with them but the GIW fucking sucks. If you ever have a ghost problem, never call the Gits In White. They will make your problems worse and the anti-ecto acts that let them get away with it are inhumane and discriminatory." 
"Yikes. Human troubles aside, do you have a traditional rogues gallery of ghostly enemies?" 
"I guess? To be honest I've become frenemies with a lot of the ghosts that used to give me a hard time. There's a lot more diplomacy and negotiating in fighting ghosts than you'd think." 
"Any examples you're willing to share?" 
"Hmmm, I'll use Ember as an example because she'll appreciate the free press. So Ember loves making music and she's really good at it. Like, good enough to literally hypnotize people. Obviously, mind control and enslaving the living are no-nos in my haunt. But because most ghosts can't stray too far from a steady source of Ectoplasm without an alternate energy source Ember didn't have many options. We got stuck in this cycle of her controlling people to get enough energy to leave Amity and me not letting her control people while in Amity. Eventually, we talked it out and found some non-mind control methods to help her get out and establish her music career in a safe and healthy way. That's Ember McClain by the way, check out her new album 'Domino Effect'." 
"Shameless." 
"I owe her a favour or two. Nowadays we only fight to blow off steam and hang out."
"Sounds like we have another tally for rehabilitation being the most effective method for dealing with villains."
"Wow, you really have a board for that?"
"The power of friendship is not to be underestimated."
"Sort of related to that; earlier I was planning to say that I've made more friends after dying than I ever did alive for my fun fact but I figured that was kind of depressing to start off with." 
"I mean when you say it like that, yes. How about we re-frame it? You didn't get the opportunities to make more friends during your life, but as a ghost, you've been given a second chance to make as many friends as you can! And it sounds like you've been pretty successful in the new friend department so far."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is a better way to look at it. Sure wish I didn't have to get my ass kicked so often before I figured it out, though." 
"Eh, sometimes the learning process sucks. But you know what doesn't suck? Bingo time!" Red Robin hits a buzzer and little ghost confetti rains down on them. The outline of Phantom is more visible because of the little clumps that land on him.
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Hero BINGO cards:
Free Space (Hero Complex) "I refuse to use the free space." "I mean, it's a free space, it counts whether you want to use it or not." ":/"
Gone to Space "Yup, another fun fact, ghosts can do just fine in space."
Been to Another Dimension "I actively live in another dimension."
Visited an Alternate Timeline "Unfortunately."
Saved the world "Technically."
Have you ever been cloned Sigh, “Yes” "Dude, really? How does that even work?"
Kidnapped "Yep." "Who hasn't?"
Imprisoned "Isn't this the same as being kidnapped?" "Nah this one's more formal, like detained by a government body or authority." "Ah, okay. I got that one too."
Impersonated "Oh yeah."
Mind-controlled "Glad to know I'm not the only one."
Died and Resurrected "..." "..." “How alive do you have to be for it to count as a resurrection? Like, percentage-wise. 50%?”
Fought an Evil Version of Yourself "This highly specific and traumatic thing is a common enough problem to be a BINGO card?" “Yeup.” “Yeeesh. But again, glad to know I’m not the only one.”
Have an Arch Nemesis "That's like, a prerequisite. This should be the free space."
An Adult Mentor "Kind of? I honestly don't know if I can say yes to this one." "Have you ever had an adult train you or help you with being a hero and/or your abilities?" "I'm going to pass this one and just say no. My head hurts thinking about the adults in my life." “That’s fair.”
Dead Parents "Isn't this one a little dark?" "Sometimes the best way to start addressing your trauma is by laughing at it. And yes, it is also a highly specific and traumatic thing common enough among teen heroes to be on the bingo cards." "Jesus."
Government-funded Experimentation "Oh come ooooon! This whole thing has to have been tailored for me." "Dude… I take it back, Hero Bingo hates you. What even is your afterlife?" "Endless suffering."
A Social Life "Surprisingly, yes." 
Last of Your Species "Unfortunately, no."
Poisoned "Ye- wait. Wait no, I've never been poisoned. How is that even possible with my luck?" "Knock on wood right now dude."
Homemade Costume “Weellll….” “I feel like that should be a yes or no answer…” “Does it count as homemade if I died in it?” RR face-palms.
School Dance Interrupted “Weirdly enough, yes.” “It happens way more often than you’d think and we have no clue why.”
Evil Ancestor “Does a witch hunter count as evil? In modern context, yes, but in a historical context...?” “I’d go with evil. Burning or drowning people usually puts you solidly in the evil category. Regardless of whether or not they cursed your dick to look like a toad or whatever.”
Framed for a Crime “YES, AND I WILL NEVER GET MY RECORD EXPUNGED BECAUSE ‘A CRAZY CLOWN MADE ME DO IT’ IS ONLY AN ACCEPTABLE DEFENSE IN GOTHAM.”
Your Crush/SO is Evil “Thankfully no. I mean she used to shoot me a lot, but she also thought I was the evil one.”
"I have like, six BINGO's. Is this supposed to be difficult?" “Not really, but man, your luck...”
"Well… BINGO was… interesting. How about we finish up the last few questions?" 
"Have at it."
"Like a lot of supers, your relationship with the media hasn't been the best. Are there any common rumours or misconceptions about you that you'd like to clear up?"
"YES. For the last time, ghosts are NOT INHERENTLY EVIL. The vast majority of ghosts stay in the ghost zone and mind their own business. The ghosts that cause trouble for the living are like 1% of the population and even then, the ones who actively go out of their way to hurt people are an extreme minority. Ghosts in the mortal world are most likely there because they're lost or completing unfinished business. We are not mindless or emotionless, and YES, we can still feel pain. If you have had a negative interaction with a ghost, chances are you probably did something to piss them off first. That's not to say that all ghosts are safe to be around. Treat ghosts like people. Don't bother them unnecessarily, don't ask invasive and overly personal questions, and be polite."
"We should do a whole Ghost Safety PSA Mythbusters style one of these days."
"Honestly, I would be so down for that."
"Sweet. Do you feel being a teen hero has negatively impacted your mental health, why or why not?
"Yuuuuup. The saving people part is nice. The dying and being dead part is less nice. Also, being hated for my species while still trying to protect the people who hate me has been hell for my self-esteem. I somehow have a social life but it's about half as dead as I am. 
"Getting the shit beat out of me is more my physical than mental health but I've been told that constantly being on edge and expecting to get attacked at any moment isn't good for your mental health. I guess I don't have to deal with receiving or inflicting lasting injuries and facing mortality the same way heroes like you do since ghosts are pretty much indestructible. 
"But seeing what comes out on the other side of death, and hearing the horrific things some ghosts went through to manifest is its own can of worms. You haven't had real mental scars until you've been trapped in a room with someone reliving their own death over and over and over with no way to help them." 
"Shit." 
"Yeah. Don't die. Or if you do, don't become a ghost. The afterlife is fucked up."
"If you're still active, will you continue heroing into your adult life, or in this case, for the rest of your afterlife? 
"Yes. I'm pretty sure I'm locked in for the rest of my existence." 
"How so?" 
"My… purpose, I guess you could call it, is helping and protecting people. As long as there are people getting themselves into danger I'll have a reason to be around. Never-ending unfinished business." 
"That's… wow. I can't imagine doing what I do for the rest of eternity." 
"Yeah, me neither." 
"Hm?" 
"Sorry, I know this is supposed to be about positive mental health and stuff but… I'm going to keep doing this until it ends me. I don't really have any other options. But I don't see myself doing this for eternity either. Somewhere along the way, hopefully a couple lifetimes from now, the hero life will take me out for good and that'll be that."
"I do try to put an emphasis on thinking positive but you're more than welcome to share the dark parts too. We can't grow if we focus on only the palatable thoughts and feelings. I can't begin to understand what it feels like to be in your situation. Do you think that you're fatalistic or realistic?"
"I like to think I'm being realistic. Maybe I'll change my mind when I've been dead for a couple of centuries, maybe I won't." 
"Maybe you'll see humanity making their way into space en masse? We know there are hundreds of other species and planets out there. If life on Earth ever gets boring you can always head for the stars."
"I- thank you, Rob, you have no idea how much that means to me."
"Anytime."
Closing comments.
"That's all for today everyone, don't forget to brush your teeth, take your medication, and get some fresh air! As usual, links to mental health resources and our Hero Health forum will be in the description below. And remember my Birdies, knowing when to ask for help is a sign of strength. Whether you're a Kryptonian, an Amazon warrior, the embodiment of fear itself dressed as a bat, or just some dude, never battle your demons without backup! Red Robin, out!"
Blooper scene/skit while the end credits roll:
"Dude, you promised you'd make an appearance."
"Trust me, this is more for your sake than mine."
"Sure it is. What, did you forget to wear your suit?"
"...."
"Shut up, are you serious?"
"Well I didn't expect to be summoned in the middle of the night so someone could cash in a favour."
"You agreed to do this months ago! Besides, it's YouTube, casual is fine, preferred even. No one is going to care if you're in your pj's- wait you are wearing clothes right?"
"Uuuuuuugghhhhh, yes. I am wearing clothes."
"Well now I'm curious."
"I'm not showing your fans what I sleep in."
"Will you show me if I edit this section out?"
"..." deep sigh, "fiiiiiine."
Phantom drops his invisibility but the only thing the camera picks up is a horrific, vaguely human-shaped blob of distorted static with two neon green points for eyes. When Phantom speaks his voice is extra crunchy and echoing.
"͔̐̿͗͑̒T̃̑̿͂h̻̠̬͍e̖͔̥͚ͣ̾͋͑̚ͅr̙̈̏̔e̊̽̈ͬ̑͂̂,̤̖̖͍̖̞̪̋ͩ ̝̳̖̺͖̲͉̇͐̇̏̾h͉͙͈͓̙̞ͬͅa͓̤̐ͥ̋̇̃̍ͥp̘̺̬̞̬̮̹̈́̈́ͧ͐̅p̥̦̺̹ͭͧ̌y̭̟͉̅̚?̭̤̻̑͋̈ͥ"͙͔͔̱̅͂
"Oh my god, that's adorable."
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Highlights from the comments section:
People calling Phantom an Eldritch Horror.
Calling Red Robin a monster fucker.
Asking what Phantom could have possibly been wearing??? (Answer: His NASA themed footie pajamas)
Telling Phantom to get more sleep.
Telling Phantom encouragements. 
Thanking Phantom for protecting his town. 
Thanking RR for introducing them to a cool new teen hero they'd never heard of before.
There are the occasional comments claiming that Phantom couldn't do the interview in person and 'invisibility' is a creative work around for his absence that still ties into the Halloween special. 
Philosophical debates on the pros and cons of immortality and listing off other (allegedly) immortal heroes that Phantom should get in touch with.
[A/N: Congrats if you made it this far! This ficlet is a bit rough around the edges but I hope you enjoyed it! Any readers feel the desire to do so, they are welcome to take this, in part or wholesale verbatim, and use the idea for their own fic.]
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exactlycleverpirate · 3 months
Text
What happened to Lemuria and Rafayel?
A mix of facts and theory. I try to quote where I got stuff from in the game, but let me know if something is unclear.
This is a monster. For TLDR, jump down to the bold words, as this sums up the general idea of this post.
SPOILERS for Main Story, Anecdote 3, and some Memories.
(MS stands for Main Story)
What we know:
Rafayel is Lemurian (Ebb and Flow and MS Chapter 7)
As a child, a long long time ago*, he lived in a Lemurian community in the ocean, specifically in the Deep Sea. He would sneak away from his home to explore the ocean and the surface world. (Nightly Stroll, Whalefall Lament,  Ocean At Night).
*(What is a long, long time ago? 10-15 years? 800 years? He says his age is “24…probably” (promotional video). What does that mean? Has he forgotten exactly when he was born or is he alluding to the fact that he is much older? He made his vow to MC when they were both children (MS Chapter 7.11). Was that current MC or a previous reincarnation of her? If current, then he must be actually around 24. If a previous life of MC, then he could easily be 800 or more.)
Lemuria was believed to be mythical, and/or to have disappeared thousands of years ago. It was confirmed to really exist when, on December 31st, 2034 (the same year the Deepspace Tunnel appeared and the Chronorift Catastrophe occured), a tsunami and earthquake southeast of Linkon opened a rift in the ocean, revealing an ancient Lemurian city (MS, in-game article, and promotional video). When asked how he can be alive today if Lemuria disappeared thousands of years ago, Rafayel says to think of him as “a lost pearl that washed up on the beach”.
Other Lemurians are still alive. Rafayel’s Aunt Talia appears to be a Lemurian herself (his only remaining family) as she has known him a long time, knows about Lemurian ceremonies and other Lemurians, etc. In 2047, a Lemurian named K died. Rafayel attended his Seamoon Ceremony (essentially a funeral of sorts, returning him to the ocean to pass on and return to the water from whence he came), as did other remaining Lemurians (Anecdote 3). 
Now that we have that foundation to work with, let’s start with Louis’ Tale in Anecdote 3. 
For the sake of argument, I am going to assume that Louis got most of the story right, since Rafayel doesn’t contradict him on most points, aside from dismissing him in general, which I feel was to downplay how close Louis was to the truth.
They are discussing the opera Rafayel just performed in, particularly, the Siren’s Ballad. In the opera, the siren is a woman and the human is the man (played by Rafayel). Louis says they got this wrong. The Siren was “a charming, handsome merman”. Presumably this Siren is Rafayel.
Simple enough so far, but now it gets confusing.
The Siren (Rafayel) “met a woman on the beach, but she took his tail and cut off his scales”. This sounds similar in some ways to MC, but opposite in others. MC was a child, not a grown woman. And Rafayel got stranded on the beach (No way out, no hope, and waiting to die) and MC rescued him from death, rather than taking his tail and scales. 
However, if we assume Fragrant Dream was a memory and not just a dream (Rafayel acts as though this dream is significant somehow), Rafayel gave a scale, his blood, and his voice to save MC, and ultimately sacrificed his life for her, in some past life. The perfume (bitter like fermented aquatic plants, the same description as the potion in the dream) that brings the possible memory to MC’s mind is from Your Fragrance. Rafayel has some very strange lines in Your Fragrance when he is under the apparently intoxicating effect this perfume has on him. He says the perfume smells familiar, then goes on to say:
“It must be an allergic reaction. This isn’t perfume. How dare they use such underhanded methods to trap me…”
“Who gave you the perfume?”
“Are you trying to run away again?”
“I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna lock me up again… You’re with them, I just know it. Don’t think I’m unaware of what you’re about to do. (MC name), I won’t fall for it again. Not this time.”
This all implies that Rafayel was trapped and locked up in the past. And that on at least some level, he feels like MC played a role in him getting tricked. (Which might explains why he considers abandoning her when she is drowning in MS Chapter 7.11. See an alternate theory for this here.)
Back to Louis’ story, he describes the fate of the woman. The Siren is on the verge of death, and he sings the Siren’s Ballad. (Later, we learn this portrayal of the Siren’s Ballad is inaccurate: ““Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria”.) According to Louis, “Ultimately, the woman on the shore passed away with a smile as he sang.” Obviously, MC is currently alive. Did Louis get this wrong? Was this a past life? A different woman?
Louis then describes what he believes those who die by the Siren’s song experience. 
“People lured by the siren's ballad don't die peacefully. Their smiles are just a mask bestowed by the Siren. Instead, as they near death, they witness bizarre visions as they're plunged into endless torment.” 
The man, Mr. Fallon, who died during the opera is described as having died of no obvious cause with a smile on his face. After singing during the opera that Mr. Fallon died watching, Rafayel goes backstage. 
“A searing pain throbs in his throat, pulsating in tandem with his heartbeat, rapidly stimulating his nerves. As he touches his Adam’s apple, he pulls out a new tie from his leather briefcase, a smooth satin entwined between his fingers. The cool texture gradually envelops his neck. It’s like sheathing a blade.”
This strongly implies that Rafayel used his voice for something more than singing, hinting at it being a weapon. I think it is safe to assume Rafayel somehow killed Mr. Fallon man with his song, presumably in the way Louis describes.
Another interesting thing of note in this part of Louis’ description is: “A blue pattern, representing the Siren, appears on their chests. It's a constant reminder of the sins they committed against the sea.” At first, I thought this may be the pattern we see on Rafayel’s chest in Chapter 7.11, implying he sinned against the sea, but on rewatching it, I realized that the mark is red, not blue. So I am inclined to go with my first impression that Rafayel’s mark is related to his bond with MC (since it responds to her calling out to him).
So, now that we are thoroughly confused about what has taken place between Rafayel and MC, let’s move on to the next part of the story. This is when everything takes an even more heartbreaking turn.
“The Siren returns to the sea, believing everything has ended. But he discovers his underwater kingdom has turned to ruins, soaked in blood. His people have either vanished, turned into bloody foam, or were kidnapped. His homeland has turned into a silent, deserted city overnight. Oh, and as for the name of this underwater kingdom - Lemuria.”
(Interesting side note: After this part of Louis’ story, Rafayel’s meal is served: “a fish laying amidst white rosemary”. Rosemary symbolizes fidelity and remembrance.)
Later, in his memories, Rafayel adds to this scene for us.
“The young boy sits alone in the middle of the coral reef, softly humming “Siren's Ballad.” Waves lap the shores, staining it dark red. The color blends almost seamlessly with the bloody setting sun in the distance. Those who deceived him have long since sailed away on their massive ships, laughing all the while. “Siren's Ballad” isn't a song of revenge. It's an elegy sung for Lemuria.”
He also remembers:
“The dying cries of his people echo in his ears, fizzing and crackling like a broken record that's been ground into pieces.”
“In the darkness, the shadows of those he personally laid to rest emerge and drag him down, lower and lower into the depths.”
Now, let’s talk about the painting Raymond bought from Rafayel. 
But first, let’s talk about Raymond. He is a former patient of Zayne’s with a congenital heart disease. In his mansion, he has a giant fish tank with no water in it. Instead, it has a dull and pale skeleton. (MS Chapter 2.2-2.3)
“Fin-like bones protrude from its pelvis. This skeleton lacks legs, its spine extending like a long string. Its pose is ominously beautiful, resembling a girl sitting cross-legged.”
I think it is pretty safe to say this is a real Lemurian skeleton. 
Additionally, Zayne notes that “According to the Akso remote monitor, your vital sign data has improved. The equipment also determined your age to be far younger than what it actually is.” In other words, Raymond’s health has improved, and he is unnaturally youthful for his age. Raymond even suggests he should be dead by now and asks Zayne if he is curious as to why he is not dead. Zayne admits to initial curiosity, but then moves on.
Before K died, he said “They took away my scales and drew my blood. Over and over again. I’m no longer Lemurian.” The doctor told Rafayel that K had endured “such agony”. This appears to be something many of the Lemurians on land are facing or trying to hide from.
In Rafayel’s Myth (Chapter 3), it says that the humans of that time believed:
"Every Lemurian was blessed with beauty. Their tears turn into glimmering pearls, their voices brought dreams of wonder, their blood made one live forever or could even resurrect the dead. Once you tamed a Lemurian, they were the most loyal, powerful servant. They listened to every command, even if it cost them their life."
Even if only parts of this are true, it shows that Lemurians are considered highly desirable as slaves or for parts. And the part about the blood seems to have at least an element of truth, given Raymond's health.
It seems reasonable to conclude that Raymond has been harvesting something (scales, blood, etc) from Lemurians to unnaturally lengthen his life and make him younger.
Now enter Rafayel’s painting. 
He used blood red coral, infused with Metaflux, from the ruins of Lemuria for this painting.
When MC resonated with the painting in Raymond’s house, this is what she experiences:
“A stunning oil painting hangs on the wall opposite of the sofa. It depicts a brilliantly blue sea with cascading white waves. Each brush stroke feels alive as if countless fairies are jumping out of the water.
At the edge of the sea, the water is gradually stained crimson like something is being torn apart, swallowed, and coalescing into a blood clot.
The gloomy weather, the sound of the ocean - a salty humidity slowly creeps into my hair.
A girl by the shore, the lower half of her body submerged in the water. Strange. It's almost like she’s crying and laughing at the same time.
The swirling fog carries a faint, ethereal melody on the sea breeze. It sounds like a song, yet is also a lament.”
Mermaid Song plays in the background while MC is resonating with the painting. The translation of it is: 
“A fish in your hand. Please burn with passion. Nets of moonlight. With coral, a prison. When waves kiss the morning sun. The scent of roses pierce. With a fish in your hand. Blood. Blood. Blood covers the sea.”
When MC visits Rafayel’s art gallery, we learn a bit more about this painting.
“When I was a kid, I had dreamed I turned into a fish.
I swam and swam and swam from the deep sea, seeking a place beyond the water's surface. Only to end up in blood-red seawater.
It was the first time I ever saw such a color. Who knows how many years I've spent trying to recreate it. But I never really could get that same shade of red.
It was always a slightly different hue, you know...”
All of this put together paints a scene along these lines for us:
A young Rafayel returns from an encounter with a human woman on the beach (MC?). He finds that Lemuria is in ruins and empty. He swims to the surface. It is nighttime on a coral reef. There is a smell of roses in the air. As the sun rises, he sees that the water is filled with blood. Perhaps there is a Lemurian girl there singing mournfully, or the girl in the painting is representative of Rafayel’s experience and the experience of other survivors. (Perhaps it is even her skeleton in Raymond's home). Some Lemurians are dead or dying in the water or on the beach. Rafayel hears their dying cries and returns those dead on land to the sea to become one with the water. He then sits alone on a coral reef, surrounded by bloody water, singing an elegy for Lemuria as the sun sets. He knows he was deceived and that his deceivers have already sailed away. Some of the Lemurians have been kidnapped and taken away with the deceivers.
("A fish in your hand" from the Mermaid Song seems to refer to the Ocean Emissaries (little blue fish) that come from making a Lemurian vow (though Rafayel also seems to be able to summon these on command). Is this a reference to the promise between Rafayel and MC? How does that play into the rest of this scene?)
Given how vulnerable Lemurians are on Ebb Day, I think it very likely that this occurred on Ebb Day. (Perhaps this vulnerability was revealed to those who killed the Lemurians by MC or Rafayel himself. Did one or both of them trust the wrong people with this information? This also might be why Rafayel was stranded on a beach in the first place when he met MC.)
So now we have some kind of a picture about what happened to Lemuria. Is this ancient or recent history?
Either way, Lemurians still live and are still being harvested for parts.
Louis concludes his story by asking Rafayel, “When the Siren returns to the beach…How does he exact his revenge on those responsible for Lemuria's destruction?”
To which Rafayel responds, “I think he’d first learn from them. He's gotta study their wits and cruelty, you know.”
Which brings us back to Mr. Fallon dead with a smile on his face at the opera. And also Raymond drowned in his bathtub after carving fish scales into his body. The painting has vanished from his home. (MS Chapter 7.3)
I think this is why Rafayel has a bounty on him, since those participating in harvesting Lemurians are being killed by him, but can't exactly go to the authorities about it.
I also think Rafayel is not solely motivated by revenge. He tells Aunt Talia “Not every Lemurian survivor can wait.” Somehow, what he is doing is supposed to prevent other Lemurians from ending up like K.
Talia notes that Rafayel has changed "After that incident in Lemuria." He seems unrecognizable. Past Rafayel was like a blazing flame, whereas he "now resembled a reef battered by relentless waves - outwardly cold and hard, yet riddled with cracks, vulnerable to crumbling from the next wave." Talia is helping Rafayel gather information for his goal, but she isn't convinced that they are doing the right thing.
What are your thoughts? Was this helpful? More confusing? Is Rafayel ancient or young? What the heck happened between Rafayel and MC? Let me know your thoughts!
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gojos-thot-patrol · 9 months
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Now Presenting...
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Starring: A Love-Sick Nanami Kento
Synopsis:You and Nanami have been friends for benefits for quite a while now, with no issue! At least, no issue as far as you knew. Kento's caught feelings for you though, and even though he knows he should stay away and get over this crush, he simply can't ignore your 1:45 am "You Up?" text.
Warning: This fic is a drabble containing angst (if ya squint), fluff, and is really just smut with some plot thrown in. Rating NC17, Reader Discretion is advised ;)
Oh, and if you'd like, why not check out my Masterlist?
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Nanami was awake again. It was 1:45 in the morning, and he was awake. Fuck. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He wondered if he should just give up the fight; accept that he was just going to be tired in the morning and indulge his Netflix binging demons. He sighed in defeat, grabbing the remote. Before he could turn anything on though, his phone vibrated next to him. He grabbed it before his brain could fully register what he was doing.
It was 1:45 in the morning. Only one person in the world was going to text him at 1:45 in the morning. He checked his messages and yep. Just as he was expecting. 
One New Message from Darling: hey, you awake?
Nanami was pretty sure he was worth more than a generic “You Up” text. In fact, He knew he was. And he knew that responding to that text was the worst possible thing he could do at that moment. He wanted far more out of this than she ever would. Catching feelings was probably the second stupidest thing a person could do, preceded only by continuing to sleep with the person you have one sided feelings for. He wouldn’t do that to himself.
Yeah, I’m up. Why are you awake?
God damn it Kento. He cursed himself silently for doing this to himself again. One day one day he would grow a spine strong enough to put his phone down when she messaged, or at least put it on silent. But apparently that day was clearly not today. He groaned softly as he propelled himself out of bed, grabbing a shirt to throw on. The first top he touched was an ancient Tool shirt from when he was still in college. He thought about grabbing something nicer, but ultimately threw it on. Not like he’d be wearing it for long anyway. He did manage to put on jeans to look at least a little more put together.
Darling: I’m thinking about you ;) I got a bottle of Blue Label that’s been begging me to open it. Wanna come help me drink it?
Not really. Nanami wasn’t a huge fan of blended scotch. He knew this, he knew you knew this. But, it wasn’t about the scotch, was it?
Johnnie Walker? I’m already on my way.
He hoped the sarcasm read through the text. He hoped the sarcasm didn’t read through the text. He didn’t really know what he hoped for honestly. What he did know was that he wanted to be with you. He was also pretty sure you didn’t want to be with him in the same way, and that he should at least try to get some distance. He wanted to get over this crush. He didn’t want to get over this crush. He grabbed his keys, deciding he’d sort out his tangled emotions some other time. 
🥀🥀🥀
He always felt silly trying to get his nerves together long enough to knock on your door. He was a fully grown man getting butterflies at the thought of being with a girl, it was silly! But, at the same time, it wasn’t just a girl. It was Y/n. It was a girl who had always been there with him, and supported him though some of the darker times in his life. The girl he thought he was going to marry back when he was in highschool. The girl he wouldn’t mind wifing up now if she gave him the chance. But, why would she? He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
You were all smiles when you opened the door, wearing a sleep set Nanami knew you didn’t actually sleep in. It was small, and clung to you perfectly, only a few steps away from being basically lingerie. It made him proud to know you wore it for him. 
“Well hello Gorgeous,” He smiled, placing a hand on your hip and leaning in to kiss your cheek, “Do you always get dressed up so pretty to go to sleep?” He teased.
“Nope, only when I’m expecting company.” You giggled, moving out of the door to let him in. 
“You get company in the middle of the night often?” He asked as he sat on your couch, trying to hide his absolutely unfounded jealousy. 
“Check your phone if you really want the answer.” you said as you closed the door and joined him on the sofa. He chuckled softly, happy to know he was your only late night visitor. You smiled as you curled into his side, taking in his familiar warmth. He wrapped his arm around you to pull you closer. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” You asked.
“No, not at all,” He assured you, “You know I don’t sleep anyway.” He joked. He’d struggled with insomnia and night terrors for years. If anything, the distraction alone was welcome.
“You really should work on that,” you joked, “Sleep is important you know.”
“You're one to talk,” he laughed, “You’re up too you know.”
“Hey, I tried to go to sleep!” You protested with a giggle, “It’s not my fault I woke up. I had a dream.”
“Is that so?” Nanami asked, tilting his head at you in amusement. “And what were you dreaming about, Beautiful?” you grinned and bit your lip, deciding to use this opportunity to take some initiative. You moved to placed yourself on top of
him, putting one of your legs on either side of his hips and placing your hands on his shoulders for balance.
“I was dreaming about you Kento,” You purred softly to him. He smiled, placing his hands firmly on your hips to keep you stable. God, you always looked gorgeous from this view. It was his favorite way to have you.
“Were you now Princess?” He muttered, “What were we doing in your dream?” 
“This.” You said, leaning down to kiss him. Smooth. He chuckled softly before pulling you in closer, pulling your bottom lip into his teeth. You gasped softly at the gentle pain, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.
There was something undeniably right about kissing Nanami. The way his mouth fit perfectly against yours, the way his soft lips moved, how he always tasted like strong tea and mint. You would kiss Nanami for an eternity if the world would have let you. And he would have happily obliged. 
His left hand glided up from your hip to tangle in your hair. He gave it a quick, sharp tug, lighting a fire in your core and pulling a soft moan from your throat. Nanami chuckled softly.
“You sound so pretty when you do that.” He said, his right hand moving in between your legs, leaving you clinging to his shoulders for balance. “I want to hear more.” Your shorts were small enough you might as well have not bothered with them. It was only when he moved the crotch aside that he realized why you had.
“Commando huh?” He teased, “It’s almost like you were expecting this.”
“Oh shut up-!” You tried to laugh, but Nanami’s thick fingers running up your slit cut your words off. 
“Oh, I’m sorry Princess, were you saying something? I didn’t quite catch that.” He smirked, swirling tight circles into your puffy clit. You could feel the slick gather between your legs, killing any retort you had before it escaped your lips. Nanami knew your body better than anyone else you’d ever been with, and took every opportunity he could to remind you of that fact when the two of you were together. 
Every movement of his digits sent another wave of illicit electricity through you and to your core. Wave after wave, building up into a riptide pleasure threatening to take you underneath it. You moaned out shakily, your nails digging into his shoulders as you gripped him tighter, getting lost in ecstasy.
And Nanami couldn’t get enough of the sight. You always looked breathtaking, but something about watching you come undone on top of him always set his heart into overdrive. “Fuck, you look so pretty.” He muttered to you, “Feel good?” He asked. You nodded to him. You had about one good sentence left in you, and you wanted to use it for this.
“P-please Sir…wanna cum on your cock..” You whimpered to him, looking up at him from under long lashes. Fuck. Kento was honestly lucky he didn’t cum right then and there in his jeans. You always knew exactly what to say to leave him even further wrapped around your finger, a slave to your every beck and call. 
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” He grinned. He took the opportunity to rip the crotch of your shorts in two, giving him much easier access. You didn’t really care about losing the cheap set, much more interested in unbuttoning Kentos jeans and getting his cock into you. You bit your lip as you got him out. You wouldn’t say this about many guys, but Kento genuinely had a pretty dick.
His hands found your hips, and despite his better judgment his eyes met yours as he guided you down onto his length. This was always his favorite part, the part that played on repeat in his head on nights when you didn’t text him. Watching the way your eyes screwed shut, how you bit your lip, the sharp breath you pulled in as you braced for impact. Fuck. He let out a shaky moan as he finally pushed into you, your velvety walls pulling him even further in.
“Kento, fuck” You moaned out, sharp spikes of pleasure rippled out from your core as he graced your g-spot. You could feel yourself quiver around him. You were so close earlier, you knew you weren’t going to last long now. 
“Jesus christ, you belong in a museum.” Kento mumbled as he took in your features. You were a piece of art to be praised and prized, and he fully intended to make you believe that you were. He bucked his hips up, and you saw stars. 
“You feel so good Sir,” You muttered, tangling your fingers into Nanami’s hair and pressing your forehead to his. Every movement of his hips sent another wave of euphoria through you, only intensifying the tsunami building up inside of you and pushing you closer and closer to the edge.
Nanami was lost. He could feel his heart rate picking up, and it wasn’t from the physical activity he was performing. You were so close, too close. Your soft breathy moans filled his ears, your scent filled his lungs. You felt so, so perfect in his arms. He was convinced only you could make such a sinful act look so divine. Against his will, thoughts of your laugh and your smile entered his mind. 
Memories of the two of you working perfectly together, celebrating all the events in your life together, big and small. You may have seen a friend when you looked at him, or worse, a late night hook up. But when he looked at you, he saw the woman he wanted to build a life with.
 “God, you're perfect Y/n,” He whispered to you, “You’re so fucking good for me, so pretty. So fucking sweet and kind, and fuck. I love you Y/n.”
FUCK.
“Wai, wha?” You slurred, trying to look at him. Nanami was quick though, flipping you off of him and onto your hands and knees before you could see his panicked eyes. He did not just fucking say that, motherfucker Kento! What were you thinking?!
“I said, I fucking love your cunt,” He rasped out, ramming into you with enough force to hopefully knock the memory out of your mind. You found your face shoved into one of your decorative pillows while he rammed into you from behind. The new angle left you screaming profanities into the pillow. Every push of his hips set your blood on fire, creating an inferno inside your core that threatened to burn you alive.
“Kento!” You yelled out.
“Yea, that’s right Princess, say it again.” Nanami said, trying to distract himself from his colossal mistake. It wasn’t hard to do when your pussy was gripping him like a vice, pulling him right back in every time he pulled out. He held your hips tight enough to leave bruises you could take fingerprints off of. He wanted you to remember he was there when he was gone. 
“Kento, please, I-I’m close..” You stuttered out, feeling the knot in your stomach get tighter and tighter.
“Is that right pretty girl?” He asked, pushing into you with a vengeance. This was probably going to be the last time you called him over, he was going to make the most of it. His right hand slipped down your body, and two of his fingers found your clit. He massaged expert circles into it, pulling a truly embarrassing moan from you. His every move sent your nervous system into overdrive. Your head was filling with fluff and your blood felt explosive.
“Then come on. Cum all over my cock like the dirty girl you are.” Something in his words and everything in his movements sang to your pleasure receptors. A few more swirls from his fingers and a few more thrusts of his hips and you were coming undone. The knot inside your stomach exploded into a thousand waves of pleasure and oxytocin. You swear you saw white as the tsunami overtook you. 
And Nanami wasn’t that far behind. The way you seized around him, your warm walls enveloping him and trying to pull him impossibly further in undid him. He barely managed to pull out, cumming all over your back and ass as he did. It was a pretty fucking sight. He would have taken a picture if he was about 40% more coherent. 
You collapsed face first onto the couch, and Nanami braced himself on the back, still breathing hard. His confession was still ringing in his head. Did you buy his lie? Probably not. You were smarter than that. 
Fuck.
Once his breathing started to regulate, he finally stood up, fixing his pants and going to your bathroom. He returned not long later with a warm, damp washcloth, cleaning up the mess he made on your back. You groaned out softly.
“Sorry about the mess.” He muttered once you were cleaned up. His fingers gently traced the outline of your spine before he patted you gently. “Come on, let's get you to bed.” He muttered. 
He threw the rag in your hamper as he got you into your bed. “Stay with me?” You muttered softly. Oh, good. That probably meant you didn’t hear his confession. Or you did and were completely okay with leading him on forever. But, that wasn’t like you. He nodded and laid down next to you, pulling you into his arms. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew it was only going to make things worse for him in the end. But he couldn't help it. All he ever wanted was to be close to you.
“Hey Kento?” You muttered softly.
“Yea Y/n?” He asked softly.
“I love you too.”
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the-crimson · 7 months
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Aight thoughts on todays bbh lore cuz we got A LOT. Just stay with me through my nerding about trees it’ll be worth it XD
We pretty much got 100% confirmation that he is intentionally hurting Baghera and Forever and that he thinks of himself as expendable. What fascinates me the most is when Bad asked Foolish this
“Is there anything wrong with burning the forest to save the trees?”
At first glance you might think YES if u burn the forest then there won’t be any trees??!! However it is a custom on fire risk zones to create controlled fires that burn up brush and dead trees so that the risk of a natural and far more devastating fire is reduced. Additionally, if a fungus infects a forest, burning the infected trees may be the only way to prevent the spread to the rest of the forest.
On top of that, there is a specific type of tree species that requires fires in order to reproduce. These are often Pine trees that drop pinecones. Pinecones hold seeds inside them that only germinate when immense heat is applied to them: the heat of a forest fire. When they are within these temperatures, the seeds germinate and the pine cones pop, scattering the seeds on the forest floor. These trees adapted to form a symbiotic relationship with fire one of if not the most destructive natural forces on the earth.
Do you know one of the trees that has developed this adaption? Redwoods.
Do you know which tree bbh brought up when giving Jaiden a PINECONE gift for her birthday today? A Redwood.
I’m like actually going insane. This can’t be a coincidence right????? I’m not going crazy right???
The whole reason I noticed this scene is because I live near the redwood forests in California and I know all about the way these trees depend on fires for their survival. It’s something that’s always fascinated me. That’s when I assume Bad was going to ask foolish the above question before Jaiden and Teana cut their conversation short while they were talking on the Titian . He literally had these specific trees on his mind when he was going to ask about burning down the forest.
Let me tell you another thing about Redwood trees. They are ancient. They are massive. They are sturdy. Natural fires are a common phenomenon here and a majority of the redwoods survive with barely a scratch, maybe an inch or two of its outer bark scorched. Nothing it won’t grow past in a year or two when these trees easily live for 500+ years.
(Side note, if there is one place in America you should visit it’s the redwood forests of California. It is literally like entering a portal to another world. These trees are 10-15 ft in diameter easily and you can just feel how ancient the forests are. It’s one of my all time favorite places to go)
So, in the situation Bad is proposing, burning the forest to save the trees, he is actively thinking about Redwoods in this hypothetical. Not only trees that are extremely resistant to fire but trees that depend on fire to survive. That completely changes the way he is approaching this question.
In his hypothetical, the forest will burn. The animals will die. The brush and non redwoods will turn to ash. The land will be scarred and the trees themselves may look dead, branchless and black. But. But. A season will pass and new branches will peel through the charcoal. Seeds deep in the soil will surge forth as the soil is fed nutrients from the ash. Animals will return. Pinecones will shed their fertilized seeds to give birth to a new generation of trees. And by next year, the forest will look just as vibrant as it had before the fire. Trees may bear the scars of the flames but life continues and it continues and it continues always.
I might actually be going crazy bbh makes me crazy cc!bbh makes me crazy I’m losing my mind
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kitspindles · 1 year
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I’m in no way bashing on people who have already finished TSatS and say they hate it, are disappointed, etc., because I myself have not gone past chapter seven. My friend let me read some today, but I won’t have my own copy until Thursday, so maybe my opinions will change. I will say, however, that if you read 400+ pages in less than a day, maybe give yourself some time to process the entire plot first?
In any case, I can’t help but wonder how many people went into this book expecting one version of Nico and Will, only to be hit with something else entirely. And I mean like... expecting the fandom’s versions of these two, rather than what canon has previously shown us up until this book.
It’s my personal opinion that the PJO fandom’s worse enemy is their own mischaracterization of the characters at times. And I don’t mean like little head canons and stuff. Everyone has done those at some point. There’s usually no harm in those. I’m talking about people who created their own versions of Nico and Will and have been running with these visions for years through different fan fictions and what-not online.
For years we’ve known basically nothing about Will aside from the fact that he’s sarcastic, likes Star Wars, his mom is a country singer, he can glow in the dark, and he’s better at healing than fighting. (And he has questionable fashion choice at times). Like, that’s all we’ve had since his initial introduction in The Last Olympian over a decade ago. Everything else? Online and fan speculation. And again, there is nothing wrong with that! I just feel like a lot of people went into this book holding onto their own pre-conceived visions of what Will Solace was and ended up disappointed the authors made him... different? But not really different, because he didn’t have a lot of in-depth personality or backstory before this.
Me personally? Yeah, I’m not that far into the book yet but I’m loving how Will is portrayed so far. He’s still sarcastic, but he’s shown his fair share of level-headedness as well as frustrations just within the first couple chapters. He is in no way the overly-optimistic sunshine-y boy who only exists to help Nico that the fandom has portrayed him to be all these years. His character arc is already headed in a way deeper direction (more on that when I finish the book). The whole bit where Will had coffee spilled on him and spent the next couple paragraphs in the scene trying to be unbothered while actually giving off “This is fine” fire dog energies? I loved that.
As for Nico, can I just say I adore how he’s written in this book? Aside from his PoV in Blood of Olympus, this is the first time he’s had his own narration. And it’s actually about him and more in-depth than previous times. I’ve heard people say that he’s “out of character,” and while I can see a little of what they’re all saying, I just want to know... what version of Nico have you all been reading? Did I miss something?
Up until this book, what exactly did we know about Nico? That he’s displaced in time, his sister and mother are both dead (and he feels alone), he harbored repressed gay feelings from his upbringing as a Catholic guy in 1940s Italy, and he’s been through the ringer more than once (so, trauma, basically). Oh, and he’s a bit of a nerd (Mythomagic and knowing all kinds of ancient creatures). That’s... about it. Everything has been speculation and projection from fans.
In previous books he’s always been portrayed from first- or third-person point of view (usually from people who don’t know him well and just think he’s “creepy”), leading to the idea that he’s distant and low-empathy based on some interactions he’s had with demigods who weren’t thrilled to be around him, during a time of great pressure. But he’s not exactly uncaring. He’s been shown to care a lot, actually (Bianca, Hestia, Bob, everything he’s done for Percy, his friendship with Reyna, Hazel, etc.)
But what about when he was ten? He was an excitable, curious kid who liked to have fun. And what did we see briefly in Trials of Apollo (before Jason died, at least)? We saw some of that energy return, particularly in The Hidden Oracle.
So, yeah, I’m personally thrilled to see him making cringe-y jokes and have some self-deprecating humor. It’s very “#OnBrand” for a traumatized teenager who’s just trying to cope and live life without any godly wars forcing him this way and that. Can we really say it’s “out of character” if we’ve never seen more than one side of Nico? (The under pressure side, from other character’s PoVs, in books not about him where he’s basically been a side character?) I’m just glad to see him cracking jokes, laughing, and acting more like a normal kid.
Now, is this book different from Rick’s other ones? Uh, yeah. I won’t say it’s not. But it’s not bad. It’s supposed to be different. It has slightly different intentions than the other books (re: explicitly working through trauma and relationship bumps). Also, it’s co-written. Co-written books always read slightly off from the original author’s work, but dam if it isn’t hard to meld writing styles and copy another author’s particular voice. But I think Mark did a very good job at imitating Rick’s style (again, from what I’ve read so far).
Will I change my mind on all this the farther I get into the book? Maybe. There’s a lot to read and take in. All I’m saying is don’t let the negative reviews warp your opinion of the book if you haven’t read it yet and are on the fence if you should or not. Wait for the PDF to drop, or for a library copy, and read and see for yourself.
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faeriekit · 17 days
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This is the story of the road that goes to my house, and what ghosts there do remain
Phic Phight Fill for @moipale
“Thermos?”
“Got it.”
“Wrist rays?”
“Got ‘em.” 
“Ray guns?” 
“Nah,” Sam drawls, bare feet on Jazz’s driver seat’s shoulder. Her fingers are on her phone. Her socks and shoes are somewhere below her seat. “Forgot them at home.”
Tucker takes a look at her. Despite her insistence on their absence, there’s three ray gun handles bulging out of the pockets in her black daisy dukes. The purple-green-plaid flannel’s tied around her waist, hiding half of it, but they’re not not there. 
In her black tank and bare feet in the back of Jazz’s jalopy, she looks as overheated as the rest of them. 
Tucker doesn’t feel any better, sweating through his tank and board shorts and all that. At least he had the sense to wear sandals, and not black pleather combat boots. 
“Jazz, she’s lying,” Tucker snitches, groaning when Sam gives him a retaliatory slap to the ribs. He gropes at the spot where a bruise will no doubt be forming. “Ow.”
“Sam,” Jazz offers with the finite patience of older siblings, “Stop hitting Tucker.”
“...M’kay,” Sam mumbles, and slumps down into the hot cloth seats that only soak up more heat the longer they’re in this car. “Can we turn on the AC?”
“It’s already on full blast, Sam.” 
Sam retaliates by kicking a car seat. Thankfully, slumping over allows her to reach Danny’s seat, as opposed to Jazz, who is driving, and Danny is fast asleep with what’s probably early-onset heat exhaustion. He doesn’t even notice.
Tucker needs AC, a nap, and snacks, in that order. “Can we break from the road trip for a gas station?” he begs, not whining, because he’s almost an adult now and begging is far more mature. 
Jazz doesn’t even dignify him with a glare in the mirror. “No stops. If we want to make it to Tracy, tonight, we’re not stopping unless someone has an emergency pee break on the side of the road.”
Great. Just great. 
“Bazooka?” Jazz continues their list, looking just as wilted as everyone else in the car. There’s no head band today; her hair is piled up as high on her head as she can get it, wire sunglasses perched there from their drive to Chelsea this morning. 
“Trunk,” Sam offers listlessly. 
“Map?”
Danny doesn’t answer. Because he’s asleep. 
“Danny’s got it,” Tucker points out, since he was at least paying attention. 
Jazz grumbles something rude and swipes the map of of her brother’s lap. “The next time the three of you upset an Ancient spirit of the Wild, I’m not helping you run.”
“Noted,” Tucker and Sam chorus. Tucker’s pretty sure she’s over exaggerating. 
…Maybe. 
He swipes his hat off and shoves it into a pocket, wiping sweat off of his forehead with the back of a hand. “Okay. We have…one night to get out to Tracy and find the body. The abandoned barge should actually be there this time.”
Jazz taps the brake, flicks on the turn signal, and takes a steep turn across the highway— superseding an additional three lanes of now-irritated traffic. “As opposed to…?”
Sam sighs. 
“As opposed to breaking into his haunted house and getting arrested,” Tucker admits wryly, just as slumped back as the girl herself. “Sam.”
“I paid bail. We’re fine,” Sam grumbles. Her arms cross. 
“We weren’t fine until Danny infected their computer to delete their records. I need to get to college, Sam! I can’t have an arrest on my record!” 
“Record, schmecord.”
“Sam!”
“As long as no one’s got a record,” Jazz intervenes loudly, the only college student in their car, “We’re good! Now, are we hunting the dead guy, or the guy who killed the dead guy?”
Tucker mentally debates whether or not rolling down the car window would give them some air, or just let more hot air into their already sweltering back seat. 
“Ghost who killed a dead guy, but who the dead guy probably summoned,” Sam clarifies with a sigh. 
“Oh, great. One of those.”
“And sending him back probably shot him back to the barge, though, so now…” Tucker leads the problem on, “And there’s a new moon tonight. So.”
Jazz sighs. Loudly. “Of all the months…it’s got to be the dog days of summer, huh?”
Sam tucks her legs in, finally too tired to pout about their circumstances. “More like hellhounds, honestly. Did you see the ghost in the lake last week?”
“Heard about it. There was a poltergeist in the old high school last night— the one before the move to Casper in the fifties. Mom and Dad went out there at midnight before they went to tackle the bog thing in the golf course pond this morning.” 
“So that’s what Dad was whining about,” Sam muses, tired and sweaty. “I’d assumed parks and recreation got mad at them for violating the water conservation order again.”
“Nah.” Jazz signals another turn, cutting around an Amazon delivery truck and zooming into a side road. “Bog monster thing. Enraged by all the golf balls hit at it.” 
“Goootcha.” 
Tucker throws his head back and groans. “Is this going to be all we do all summer break? Hunt ghosts? Get chased around the state by cops?” 
“Yeah/Probably,” Sam and Jazz agree, both exhausted at the prospect. 
Tucker gives in and rolls down the window. If he’s going to be stuck in the car with his two best friends and their adult supervision, he needs some moving air— even if it’s just as hot and twice as humid as inside the car. 
They’ll be in Tracy tomorrow. All they have to do is find an abandoned barge floating in a forgotten waterway. 
Easy. 
…And then all they have to do is fix the problem all over again the next time someone gets it in their head to go treasure-hunting this summer.
Tucker bangs his head against Danny’s headrest, waking the guy up in the process, and wishes he had agreed to go to comp-sci camp after all. 
“I hate July,” Jazz mutters. “All the crazies come out with the heat.”
Everyone agrees with a moan and a groan. 
Jazz clicks on the radio, finds something that isn’t entirely static, and the road continues onwards in front of them…and will for miles and miles of hot pavement more.
*
Complementary song accompaniment/title source for this fic: July, July by the Decemberists. Thanks for reading!
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graychrissy · 4 months
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🌊Digital Detox + Egyptians lucid dreaming method 🌊
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Idk what to put on the title of this post so I wrote digital detox and I have copy pasted the main lines.
In the ancient Egypt the Egyptians use to have lucid dreaming alot and it was extremely easy for for them not just Egyptians but it was also mention ancient Indian scriptures.
You’re probably wondering ‘what’s the secret’? The real problem is often NOT your technique. It’s actually another issue that no amount of techniques, articles, reality checks, supplements or uncomfortable masks is going to fix. It’s your ‘inner game’. Specifically, your subconscious motivation and reward circuits, and ‘dopamine cycle’. Travel in your mind for a second, to ancient Egypt.
There were no smart phones, internet connections, computer animated action movies or virtual reality headsets.
Your brain back then would have produced a healthy amount of dopamine as a reward for pretty basic things like eating, working, exploring, and taking some time to relax or meditate
Now our average attention spans are literally less than 7 SECONDS. It’s probably a lot lower than that, and It’s declining every single year with the rise of new, highly addictive and stimulating social media apps and platforms. When was the last time you meditated for over 90 minutes? Have you ever? I’m not saying you have to do that to lucid dream, but this sort of practice was very common 5000 years ago. In fact, it was weird NOT to do that. And herein lies the main problem.
Your brain is ‘fried’ with an overly stimulated dopamine pathway. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that stimulates the feeling of WANTING to keep doing something. It’s the reason you keep scrolling through Instagram, or keep refreshing your Facebook feed to see if there are any new comments or notifications. But it’s also the SUBCONSCIOUS reason you aren’t able to lucid dream easily. In the last decade especially, there have been billions of dollars spent by big tech to essentially ‘addict you’ to their platforms. Why? Money. The more time and energy you spend on platforms like that, the more money they make. So the task has been given to artificial intelligence. The AIs often just get trained and told a few basic things: 1: Get people to spend more time on the platform 2: Get people to keep coming BACK to the platform as often as possible The ‘AI’ pays almost NO attention to what that would do to your mental health, attention span, motivation, emotions, or really anything else. Much LESS attention is paid to the effect it has on your ability to focus, or do things like, say, lucid dream. Now, the ‘dopamine cycle’ is one part of the problem, but it’s actually pretty easy to fix. There are several little pieces to what I call the ‘modern brain puzzle’. Things that just weren’t a problem 5000 years ago. You can see some of this playing out in children today. On average, children or people under the age of 15, find it MUCH easier to lucid dream than adults do. It’s because at that age, their dopamine system has not been damaged too much. This is of course changing now, as more and more children are having access to smartphones, but it’s an interesting point. In fact not only does the dopamine problem affect your ability to lucid dream, it also affects your ability to WANT to lucid dream (consciously and subconsciously). Specifically I’m talking about your motivation and focus. And you guessed it, there’s your number one cause of problems when trying to meditate, practice techniques like the WILD, or recall your dreams.
After reading this paragraph or stanza whatever,I noticed something,as a kid I had lucid dreams alot with just putting intentions.
My first lucid dream was at around 7-8 years old,and I was sinking when I realised I was dream and I tried controlling my dream and even succeeded,and I was probably there for about 10 minutes playing with underwater creatures and mermaids.
And till 7 grade I use to have alot of lucid dreams but after that I was allowed to use phone and so I was always invested in phone like all the time. By the way lucid dream was pretty normal for me and I pretty much forgot about it and never really paid attention to lucid dreaming. And then I rarely had any lucid dreams, probably 4 times ever since 8 grade and I've noticed every time I lucid dream it's always whenever I don't use any social media.
In 9 grade my phone was taken again because my mother noticed my social media addiction. And after few months I again start to lucid dream for fun easily and effortlessly but during COVID I was again allowed to have my phone and then a new laptop so now my life was revolving around social media again and for the past few year I only lucid dream whenever I don't get to use my phone more then 2 days.
Idk bout y'all but I wasn't allowed to use phones or laptop till 8th grade so the only thing I knew was TV which I only watched after coming home so like my mind was most of the te bored because I didn't had anything to keep it entertain which made it easy for me to observe around looking for things to do.
So how can you reverse the ‘dopamine problem’ and several of the other issues modern life has created? By the way: This is NOT about destroying your phone and going back to live in a cave. There are actually several powerful habits you can install, that will let you KEEP using your phone, laptop etc, but without these harmful effects. Here’s the simple solution to more lucid dreams: 1. Reverse engineer your life and remove distractions, manipulation, ‘dopamine hijacking’ and harmful blue light exposure from your daily routine (along with some other ‘problem patterns’) 2. Get inside your subconscious brain and rewire yourself to WANT to practice lucid dreaming, and to effortlessly do reality checks at the right time, without even trying 3. Learn powerful ‘all day awareness’ and ‘lucid living’ techniques that give your brain superpowers in the fight 4. On top of THAT foundation, learn the most effective techniques and concepts, use our tools to stay motivated, and experience lucid mastery within 14 days. Let’s dive a little bit deeper: First, you have to ‘reverse engineer’ the problem. This can be complicated if you don’t know what you’re doing, but we’ve laid everything out step by step for you. If dopamine addiction is part of the problem, we have to break that addiction first. Then comes your mindset, and your motivation pathways. You need to actually feel GOOD when you practice these things. I see so many people saying they’re struggling to remember to do reality checks, or they just don’t want to wake up at ‘weird times’ to practice. Don’t worry, you won’t have to. It will feel good, and you’ll ENJOY practicing these things. Next, your subconscious mind. It’s SO important to fix your internal beliefs about lucid dreaming, because the chances are you have ‘internal blocks’ about becoming lucid. They’re easy to pick up, but a bit harder to ‘unlearn’. The system shows you how to ‘unlearn’ them, and install new, powerful and self affirming beliefs into your mind. This gives your brain lots more motivation to keep trying. Now, one of the most common things I hear people say is that they can’t REMEMBER to keep doing reality checks. It’s linked to the dopamine problem we mentioned earlier, but it’s also connected to a few other psychological principles that we’ll get onto. We’ll give you a new framework to ENJOY reality checks, remember them without any annoying reminders, and actually get them to SHOW UP in your dreams, 9 out of 10 times. And then finally, we’ll build the most effective techniques, methods and concepts on top of that new, strong foundation. Of course, I’m simplifying this here, but that’s the outline.
Here are some videos that may help.
youtube
youtube
If you want to know more about it or get the steps to lucid dream you can buy the book or go through a long step to get it for free but the procedure is very long and probably only for Iphone user.
You find some good articles ways to do the 'reverse dopamine' thingy.(I donot trust my research on this topic cuz I got confuse)
You may use Adambja's tape to reprogram your subconscious and this hacking the matrix tape the comments under the video was so good and I found this tape on someone's success story. You can use this two tapes to reprogram your subconscious and of course psych-k.
This is pretty much all you need digital detox,observing your surroundings and subconscious reprogramming to change your belief or assumptions.
And this will make you even more motivated that you are working on your goals as many of us have the access of devices it's hard for us to keep up with all this method and it's not like we are always busy if we are we wouldn't be scrolling through Tumblr and Pinterest all the time. If you read the the copy pasted part you'll see what I mean.
Edit: I forgot to mention it 🥲 if we follow do this we CAN HAVE lucid dream everyday.
Egyptians lucid dreaming tea
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This will be quick,so I went to my aunt's place with my mother and my aunt's ran out of tea powder/leaves so she used her daughter's blue lotus tea and after getting home I took a nap and I HAD A FOKING LUCID DREAM,so basically I didn't knew that it was the tea until I was doing some research on LD and found out that in ancient Egypt they use Blue Lotus tea and I found some review about it on YouTube and people had very vivid dreams aswell. This tea basically put you in REM which y'all probably know about.
But I don't like tea😐,so if anyone have interest you can try I honestly want to but my hate for tea is on top on the list of top 5 things I hate,you can find them online people even use Blue Lotus in vape😐not encourageling y'all to smoke but if anyone does you can.
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the-authoress-writes · 9 months
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Dangerous Games
Tom “Iceman” Kazansky x Navy Nurse Wife!reader
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Synopsis: The saying goes “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes”.
Well, Mrs. Thomas Kazansky is about to learn another version of this saying; “Play dangerous games, win dangerous prizes”.
But she doesn’t exactly mind.
Warnings: Mrs. Kazansky gets a little frisky in public, but nothing explicit, some cursing, and a little bit of steaminess, but again, nothing explicit.
Author’s Note: “I don’t write reader fic”, she said.
“I really don’t”, she said.
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But here we are.
And I entirely blame both @valmare and Val himself.
I wrote this as a writing exercise, actually, because @valmare and I have slightly different approaches to Tom Kazansky; she has a more dominant take on him, while mine is more romantic and soppy, but no less passionate (I think).
I wrote this just to see if I could somehow combine both traits/takes in one story.
And… hoo, boy, I like to think I was successful.
That, combined with reading one of my grandmother’s ancient Silhouette Romance novels, I thought it was about time that the turns were tabled on the men.
Let’s be the ones to snap them like twigs, and not the other way around.
Without further ado, here we are!
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“So what’s on the agenda today,” she asked her husband, as he sat at the kitchen counter eating his breakfast, while she stood on the other side, finishing her cup of yogurt, before she had to head to work for the shift she was called to fill in at the last minute yesterday.
“Well,” Tom began, after swallowing, “not much, just a meeting which apparently couldn’t wait until Monday, in the afternoon—other than that, nothing else really.
And uh, Mav and the guys are coming back home tonight; like I said last week, Sli and I were going to greet them, and they’re going out for drinks at the O Club later, but I can tell them I can’t go—”
“No, you go, enjoy yourself, I know it’s been a while since you last saw Mav and the flyboys,” she smiled.
In a rare occurrence, Mav and Tom’s deployments didn’t match up, leaving him and Slider on shore, while Mav and Merlin, Wood and Wolf were at sea.
She could hear the calls Tom would make in the evenings to the Vinson, to the various officers who owed him, already rather influential at the recently-received rank of Lieutenant Commander, for updates on Mav in particular.
She’d heard the stories both from the man himself, and from Tom, how the Mitchell name hung like an albatross around the diminutive pilot’s neck, how his basic medical needs were overlooked by dint of his “traitorous” surname.
As a nurse, especially a Navy nurse, it was beyond unconscionable.
She was glad that Mav had Tom as a friend, and it touched her to see the care he extended to his whole TOPGUN class.
“Such a Mother Goose,” Mav and Slider would say, both with sadness, but the former with a soul-deep sadness.
“Are you sure, milaya?” Tom’s voice brought her back to the present, as he came around the counter to step into her personal space, his hands on her waist, infusing her whole being with the warmth that only he could give her. “Because I’m really feeling bad that I have basically a whole day off, and you have to work.
We could have a movie night with some popcorn and ice cream, and you can talk about how people like me are the craziest sons of bitches around,” he grinned, referring to how they met a little over three years ago, after a little training mishap. “I’ll gladly keep your misery company.”
She smiled, resting her hand on the chiseled plane of his bare chest, as her index finger idly played with the chain of his dog tags, “No, like I said, even last week, you go and enjoy yourself with the boys.” Her smile took on a more devilish quirk, “Besides, you can make it up to me later.”
Tom raised an eyebrow, “Oh, I can, can I?”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll manage,” she teasingly replied.
“Uh-huh,” he breathed, stepping impossibly closer, “and how exactly do you want me to make it up to you?”
“You’ll think of something.”
“How about a little down payment, then?”
He didn’t even bother waiting for her positive, always positive, response before one hand was buried in her hair, and his lips were on hers.
It was a kiss full of the easy confidence of a man who knew he was given what he took, and the passion and devotion of one who knew what a gift that was.
She could have gotten lost in her husband’s embrace and kiss for eternity, but the rude realization that she had a shift to prepare for, made her reluctantly, oh-so-reluctantly, push him away.
“As much as I’d really love to continue this, I can’t.
I have to go.”
He pouted like a child, the effect amusing to see on his already-full, kiss-swollen lips, and she gently carded her hand through his hair, soft and slightly curling without the gel, pushing it away from where it flopped onto his forehead. “I know most of this day didn’t pan out how we wanted it to, but we’ll make the best of it—we always do.”
“I know.
You’re sure it’s okay with you if I go out with the boys tonight?”
“Yes, Tom, how many times do I have to tell you?
Go have fun—but not too much fun,” she smiled.
He leaned forward, tucking his head into her neck, inhaling deeply, “You’re the only one I want to have fun with.”
“I would hope so, Thomas Vasilyevich,” she replied, lightly poking him in the side, “seeing as I’m your wife.”
“Oof,” he mock-winced, drawing back to look her in the eyes, “Russian naming me, huh?
Well, Mrs. Kazanskaya, two can play at that game,” he rejoined, leaning in to kiss her again.
However, she pushed him away, laughing, “You are a menace, Thomas Jacob Kazansky!
I have to go!”
“Worth a shot,” he laughed, letting her go.
She gathered her lunch into her bag, along with her paperwork, and shouldered the tote, before turning back to face Tom, who was leaning against the counter, long, sweatpants-clad legs crossed at the ankles, mirroring his arms, a knowing smirk on his lips. “Not going to kiss me goodbye?”
With a sigh, she asked, “If I kiss you goodbye, will you keep your hands to yourself?”
He clicked his tongue, “You drive a hard bargain, lyubimaya moya, but I’ll try.”
“Don’t try, just do,” she replied, amending one of Mav’s favorite sayings, stepping closer to peck him on the lips.
True to his word, he didn’t move an inch, but the regret on his face made her have to resist the temptation to kiss him and say to hell with her shift today. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
And here, a sudden idea struck her. “Hey, wait a minute, you said that you guys were going to the O Club, right?”
“Yes,” he replied, drawing out the syllable. “Why?”
“Because I was thinking that if I can, maybe I can meet you guys there, join you flyboys.”
Tom’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great!”
“You guys won’t mind?”
“I won’t mind,” he shook his head.
She good-naturedly rolled her eyes, “I know you won’t mind, what about the guys?”
“I’m sure the guys won’t mind, but they can take it up with me if they don’t like it.
Try to make it?”
“I will—hopefully, I’ll see you later.
And you’re sure you don’t need your other girl today?” she asked, double checking that he didn’t need his Chevelle, since her car was in the shop that week.
“No,” he shook his head, “Slider’s picking me up, you take her.
I love you, milaya.”
“I love you too.”
With that farewell, she dashed out the door, fleeing her own house like Lot, because she knew she’d never leave if she looked back at Tom.
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Chaos.
That was what her shift at NMCSD was like.
Some unlucky or hapless person somewhere had probably said “It sure is quiet around here,” or some other variation of that phrase, and brought the wrath of the medical gods down upon them.
She’d had no less than ten emergencies to deal with, and at the end of her shift, she felt—no—knew—she deserved a drink.
A quick glance at her watch showed that it was just before 1800–from her experience, the carriers usually docked at 1500 or 1600, which meant they should all be at the O Club already.
Not wanting to give the charge nurse an opportunity to call her for something else, she practically ripped off her uniform, changing into the nicer spare clothes she kept in her locker just in case she had somewhere to be that wasn’t the grocery or straight home.
It was a worn, but well-fitting pair of jeans, sensible shoes, a tank top, and finally, a white buttondown with vertical blue stripes which she pilfered from Tom’s closet, that she never saw him wear.
After throwing on the shirt, leaving it unbuttoned, and tucking in her tank, she hastily walked (okay, ran) out of NMCSD, and headed to her parking spot.
God had mercy on her, as the traffic was light all the way to the O Club, the Almighty surely knowing that she’d reached her limits of bullshittery, that all she wanted after this day was a stiff drink, and her husband’s company, despite the fact that there would be others around, friends as they were to her.
It was a Saturday night, and the parking lot was full, but she managed to find a spot on the far end of the lot, a slight sheen of sweat breaking on her skin despite the AC, as she maneuvered in, not wanting to scratch her husband’s beloved car.
The flaring, insistent ache in her feet was testament to the long walk to the entrance, exposing just how many people had to be here, and true enough, once she pushed the doors open, the bar was hopping.
She moved through the crowded bar, searching for Merlin, Slider, or Tom—there’d be little hope of finding Wood or Wolf, and no hope of finding Mav, in this press of people.
She was heading through the crowd towards the bar when she smacked straight into someone.
An apology was on her lips, when the person turned, and she heard, “Hey, Mrs. Ice, how are you!”
And she looked up, up, up into the smiling face of Sam “Merlin” Wells.
“Hey, Merls, how are you, how was deployment?” she said, hugging the ludicrously tall RIO.
“Ehh, hot, as usual, but otherwise, uneventful; just running our CAPs, and buzzing the tower every now and then.”
She guffawed, “That’s Mav for you—I don’t know who’s crazier; Mav, or you, for willingly sitting in the same jet as him.”
Merlin leaned down, “Tell you a secret?”
“Sure.”
“Probably me, because I actually enjoy it,” he murmured.
She chuckled, “Oh, Samuel, never change.”
“Hey, what am I doing, let me get you to the guys’ table!
Come on!!”
He put his hand on her shoulder to make sure she didn’t get lost in the crowd, and led her to a table in the back. “Guys, look who I found!”
“Well, hey, if it isn’t my favorite Ice Queen!” Mav cried, leaping to his feet and pulling her into a hug.
“Hey, Mav, how are you?” she beamed, glad to see her husband’s best friend and wingman.
“Better, after seeing your pretty face,” the black-haired pilot grinned a grin which would probably make quite a few people here swoon, if its full force were turned on them.
She smacked his shoulder, though she was unable to stop her smile, “Stop it, you incorrigible flirt, you’re not my type, and even if you were, I’m very happily taken.”
“Ah, you wound me, my fair Ice Queen,” Mav dramatically clutched his chest.
“You’ll live,” she teasingly rolled her eyes.
“Mind getting your hands off my wife, so I can say hello to her, Mav?”
A glance behind Mav showed Tom standing there, a sight in his summer whites, an arch expression on his face, but those who knew him would be able to see the glowing humor in his eyes—but over all, the joy and love.
Mav moved aside, gesturing grandly at her. “All yours.”
“You bet your ass, Mitchell,” Tom nodded.
“Excuse me, I have a very nice ass, I have that on good authority,” the other pilot affrontedly stated as he walked backwards to his seat.
The voice of Charles “Chipper” Piper called, “Ugh, come on, Mav, no one wants to hear about your pasty ass.”
“You’re one to talk, Chip,” Marcus “Sundown” Williams chuckled.
Tom shook his head and stepped closer, making everything else fade into the background, his beautiful smile on his face. “You came.”
“I needed to,” she sighed, “I need a drink.
And the whole you being here is a nice bonus.”
He blushed slightly, ducking his head. “Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Well, come on, let’s get you that drink,” he replied, leading her to the table, around which sat Mav, Merlin, Slider, Wolf, Chipper, and Sundown.
“Hey guys,” she waved, taking the seat beside Tom.
They all greeted her as Tom called over one of the waitresses, ordering his usual vodka on the rocks along with her usual Old Fashioned.
When it arrived, she shocked them all by drinking more than half of it in one sitting, heavily setting the glass down on the table.
“That kind of day, huh, sweetheart?” Tom asked, his voice full of sympathy, warmth, and the slightest hint of laughter.
She turned a baleful look on him. “What do you think?”
He blinked, obviously weighing his words, the rest of the flyboys holding their breath. “I think maybe I should get you another one when you’re done with that.”
“God, I love you, Tom Kazansky,” she breathed.
The table collectively exhaled, as Tom grinned. “Aren’t I lucky?”
The night wore on, dinner eventually being ordered from the bar’s kitchen for everyone, and Merlin was the first to leave, saying that his wife was coming home late that night from taking care of a medical emergency with her mother, who lived on the other side of the States, and he wanted to be there to greet her.
The flyboys tossed peanuts teasingly at Merlin, Chipper and Mav whooping, Merlin flipping them the bird with both hands as he laughed, and said goodnight.
The remaining group continued on, and the vodkas Tom had drunk had loosened him up—he wasn’t drunk by any means, but his laughter was a bit louder, his eyes a bit brighter.
He was telling a story about one of the instructors from the TOPGUN session he’d been asked to help out with, since he wasn’t deployed this rotation.
It was a story she’d already heard, and so she allowed his words to fade slightly, just watching him as he spoke, fiddling with the straw of the second Old Fashioned Tom had ordered for her.
She smiled as he gestured animatedly, making the light glint off the gold ring on his left hand, which matched the one on hers.
Seeing it did funny things to her stomach, seeing the tangible proof that that man was hers.
Add to that the fact that Tom was in his summer whites… it was a cocktail more intoxicating than anything the bar behind her could ever offer.
She exhaled evenly, taking a sip of the water she’d switched to after her second Old Fashioned, admiring the figure he cut, an exemplar of US Naval excellence.
If you asked her later, she wouldn’t be able to tell you why she did it.
But the devilish thought of wanting to see if she could tilt him off-kilter entered her mind regardless, and she hid a smile behind the rim of her water glass.
She nonchalantly shifted her chair closer to Tom and innocently placed a hand above his knee, making him glance at her, and offer her a fleeting smile, while continuing the story.
Ever so carefully, she inched her way towards the inseam of his trousers, rubbing small circles as she went, which got her a minuscule narrowing of his eyes and a barely-there glance as he spoke.
She smiled back, stilling her hand, and he continued.
Once he had relaxed into his chair again, she began moving again, shifting her hand higher and higher, letting her fingernails catch repeatedly on the seam.
He cleared his throat and soldiered on, shifting in his seat, but the slightest tone of strain was beginning to creep into his voice now, and she mustered all the stoicism she’d learned from her husband to keep her face straight.
As her hand moved further up his inseam, she was treated to the sight of his jaw tensing, the sheen of sweat gathering at his temples, the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed thickly, the sound of the strain in his voice, and the hitch in his breath.
She knew that if she continued this, she was playing a very dangerous game, but she couldn’t bring herself to care at that moment.
So she inched further up, letting her fingernails dig into the seam, flicking it almost audibly, which elicited a cough from her husband.
Slider whacked Tom on the back, saying, “You okay, Ice?”
“Yeah,” he rasped, “just—just swallowed the wrong way.”
At this point, she was mere inches away from being so obscenely high on his thigh that the other flyboys would probably see, but just to see what Tom’s reaction would be, she made as though she were going to go there.
Smoothly, he placed his hand atop hers, somehow managing to conceal the fact that he had plucked her hand from basically his lap, bringing it up to his lips as he finished the story, his eyes stormy as he cut his gaze to her.
Maybe, she realized, as she looked into his tempestuous eyes, maybe she had made a very, very big mistake.
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After another hour, they began to wrap up, hugging and slapping each other on the back, and for the first time since she’d met Tom Kazansky, she was not looking forward to being alone with him.
When the final farewells had been spoken, Tom wrapped an arm around her shoulder, walking them towards the distinct shape of his Chevelle, visible now that they were some of the last people at the bar.
“I can drive us, if you want,” she offered, testing the waters.
“No, I’ll be the one.
Keys.”
His tone was unreadable, and she fished the keys out of her pocket, handing them to him.
He led her to the passenger’s side, but just before she reached for the handle to open the shotgun door, she found herself pressed against the back passenger door, looking up into her husband’s face.
She refused to buckle at his impassive stare, looking evenly into his eyes; depthless blue, the color of the sea at twilight, in the dim illumination afforded by the streetlamps.
His hand shifted, and her breath hitched, but he only moved his hand past her, the familiar click of the Chevelle’s door release echoing in the thick San Diego night air.
Tom pulled the door further open, inclining his head and stepping back.
She swallowed, but moved to sit in the passenger’s seat, the sound of the shutting door feeling like some sort of passage of sentence.
Moments later, he opened the driver’s side door, sliding in and shutting it, however, he didn’t start the engine.
She held her breath, waiting to see what he would do next, but he only started the car, the purr of the Chevelle doing nothing to ease her tension, serving only to ratchet it up, the familiar streets leading home passing by.
The silence in the car was almost a living entity, made worse by the fact that Tom kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road before them, and she would be lying if she said that her heart wasn’t racing.
She was beginning to see the reasoning behind her husband’s callsign, between his nonchalant attitude and his unerring patience to wait her out, wait for her to slip.
Well.
She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
She hoped so, at any rate.
She’d always been weak for him, honestly, and she suspected she always would be.
Much too soon, they pulled into their driveway, and Tom cut the engine, leaving her in silence, literally and figuratively, as he stepped out without a word.
She briefly debated whether or not to stay in the car, but knew deep down that that was not an option, so she got out of the Chevelle, also making her way inside.
After locking up the doors and checking the rest of the house, she exhaled and looked warily up at the stairs. “‘Screw your courage to the sticking place,’ woman,” she murmured, striding determinedly up the stairs.
The lights were on in the bedroom, and she saw Tom at the dresser, keeping his submariner in its box, his face somehow still impassive.
She moved to the bed, picking up the pile of night clothes she’d laid out that morning, muttering, “I’m going to the bathroom,” and darted towards the en suite.
However, before she could make it there, a hand wrapped around her upper arm, and once again, she got the breath knocked out of her, finding her body pressed against the wall behind her by the solid mass of her husband before her, his hands on either side of her head.
“What was that about tonight, hmm, milaya?” he spoke lowly, making a shiver run down her spine.
“What was what?” she replied, affecting a light tone.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he replied, implacable.
“Oh, that,” she shrugged, caving slightly.
“Yes, that.
And just what were you thinking?”
“Ehhh—nothing much, really.” Well, she mentally admitted, that much was true.
“Uh-huh.
See, I think you were trying to get me to lose it,” he declared.
She somehow managed to muster up an innocent expression. “Uh, nope, not at all.”
“Sure.
So your hand at my inseam was just complete coincidence, was it?”
“Has to be.”
He stared her down just like he had in the O Club parking lot, attempting to keep his expression stoic, but this close, she could see his eyes—how there was only a thin ring of midnight gray, his pupils blown wide from the desire he was trying to keep down.
She inhaled sharply, her lips parting, and his gaze immediately locked onto the sight.
When he spoke next, his voice was low and trembling. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
“I think I have some kind of idea,” she breathlessly murmured.
“Fuck—” he whispered brokenly before kissing her like he was at 38,000 feet and she was the oxygen he needed to breathe.
Caught in his riptide, she was helpless but to hold onto him.
Air surged back into her lungs as his kisses moved down to her neck, only to be stolen from them moments later, a cry halfway between pain and pleasure carried on her breath, when his ardor seared into the delicate skin there.
“That hand of yours—and you wearing my shirt—you drive me crazy,” he spoke into the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
“I think you like it, though,” she whimpered, hitching her legs around his unfairly narrow waist, as he adjusted his arms to hold her up.
“Damn it, I fucking do,” he groaned, moving them towards the bed.
They had just collapsed onto the comforter, kissing like teenagers, when he broke away to breathe, “You’re still going to pay for what you did, though, you’re not getting out of that.”
“Oh, am I, because it seems to me like your mouth is writing checks your body can’t cash… Commander,” she cocked her eyebrow.
His jaw dropped slightly, followed by a shaky inhalation. “…I shouldn’t have told you about my rank thing.”
Her smirk was halfway to a grin by now. “What are you going to do about it?”
He tilted his head. “You’re asking for it, at this point.”
“Well, then, do what you’re going to do, flyboy; that’s an order.”
A wicked smirk quirked the corner of his lips, full of promise. “Yes, Ma’am.”
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NMCSD: Naval Medical Center San Diego
The USS Carl Vinson is a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier commissioned in 1982, and she is still on active duty.
I stole @valmare’s headcanon that Tom drives a Chevelle, because if it’s good enough for Mir, it’s good enough for me!
I’m so sorry Mir!
According to a production photo, Tom’s full name is Thomas Jacob Kazansky, but since I headcanon him as Russian, his patronymic is missing.
So thusly, you have Thomas Jacob Vasilyevich Kazansky.
When Mrs. Kazansky refers to Tom as Thomas Vasilyevich, that is considered a casual, informal, yet somehow in its own way, formal, method of referring to someone.
There’s cultural rules about that.
Tom calls Mrs. Kazansky “Mrs. Kazanskaya”, which follows the Russian and Slavic convention of gendered surnames.
CAPs: Combat Air Patrols
Summer whites are the white version of the khaki uniforms, and you can see them in The O Club bar scene in Top Gun ‘86.
“Screw your courage to the sticking place” is a quote from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”.
Did I basically steal a line from Top Gun, and completely change the context of it?
Yes.
Yes, I did.
Mrs. Kazansky calls Tom simply “Commander” instead of Lieutenant Commander, because of the convention regarding “double-barreled” ranks.
Russian Glossary
Disclaimer: endearments and translations taken from Google—please don’t hesitate to correct me if I’m wrong, which, odds are, I am.
Milaya: dear, darling (there are other translations of this word, however)
Lyubimaya moya: my darling/my one and only sweetheart
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Taglist
@valmare
If you’d like to join my taglist, just send me an ask!
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ghouljams · 8 months
Note
Okay okay I saw your post about wanting the witch to do some really crazy magic that proves she’s tough and I raise you an additional idea. European magic and myths with fae and cryptids is more positive and nice, especially with modern retelling of fairy tails (I know this isn’t necessarily true there are some really dark aspects of European folk). I myself am from the Appalachian Mountains, and that region is very very old. I don’t know what you know about the region but the mountains themselves are older than the rings of Saturn, and bones. With how old they are the region has a lot of folk lore and cryptids and dark legends surrounding it, most of which coming from the indigenous communities that were there before us. Haints, wendigo/skin walker, and a slew of rules everyone follows. You don’t whistle at night, keep a broom above every door, cover the mirrors and open the windows when someone dies, if you hear screaming or someone calling for you in the dark or woods- NO YOU DIDNT!!! Dark shit like that is a big deal where I’m from. Now my actual thought was what if witch is from a old magic type of place, and when someone (another fae not price) comes to challenge her or test her saying she ain’t powerful or she doesn’t know real magic and fae, she shows them where she’s from (I was thinking with her cool door) they step thru into the middle of the woods of her ancestral/family home and they immediately are terrified. Like the fae!141 are old and ancient fae but the region is older than even then and it scares the fuck outta them, like they immediately forfeit! Maybe they saw something in the woods or just the overall feeling of the place is overwhelming. This would also match up with the witch being so scared of the mimic, cause wendigos/skin walkers are fucking terrifying in a place like Appalachia so her moving and thinking that’s what she’s being terrorized by is horrifying!!! I know this is really long and probably makes no sense and whatever you write is and will be amazing but I just had this thought today cause your writing lives rent free in my mind 24/7!!! Whatever witch x price you make will make me feral no matter what!!!!
Witch's magic is actually loosely based around American folk magic, specifically Hoodoo and some Appalachian folk magic. And all I can say is: Don't bring those names into my ask box they are so very scary and I'm scared(joking)(I actually am terrified of .... I don't even like typing their name). Although I don't think Witch is from the US, she is definitely very, very, old magic. I have various thoughts on where her magic comes from, but it's old. (I think Konig stops to look at her because her magic is familiar to him, an ancient understanding ingrained in him of what she is)
Anyway I have a few little pieces about Witch interacting with other witches, what's one more challenge to her abilities?
It's always interesting when fae visit you. When they come to you as customers, you mean. No you're fairly used to visitors at this point. It's the ones that come to you for a service that you don't get often. You smile at the fae across from you as you shuffle your cards. They came in through the front, you know they want something. Annoying that they've managed to stay silent as you ushered them in.
18, 19, you switch between the cards to try and get a feel for what will work best for your silent customer. The man, you suppose, laying the card down on the table. Not for their appearance, but for the role they seem intent on playing. Domineering, or trying to be. You lay cards around it, humming to yourself. Snake, birds, mice, the coffin, the clouds, the home. You know all this. They're sitting right in front of me practically salivating, you try to silently tell your deck.
"So," You squint your eyes to really try and sell your smile as friendly, you feel like you're doing little more than bearing your teeth, "What are you looking for today?"
"Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about," They tell you calmly. You snap down three cards for yourself in quick succession, though you hardly need to read them to get the message.
"Boot this rude motherfucker" the cards tell you. You scoop up your draws with your fingers and shuffle them back into the deck.
"I see," You try to keep your voice bright. They scoff, their expression amused. You don't see what's so funny.
"Hardly, I expected a seer at least, you're-" They wave their hand at you, "-just feeling it out, right?" You raise your brows, continue your shuffle. "I expected Price to be chasing someone a little more," They sigh, you don't expect them to finish the sentence, you're sure it's insulting. Rules dictate politeness, they sure are skirting that line.
"You know Price," You don't ask, but the question hangs between you. How? and Does he even like you? You can't imagine he does.
"Mm, we're on the court together," The fae rests their elbow on the arm of your couch, sets their chin against their palm, fingers curling against their cheek. "Strange he'd be so protective of such a novice, but I suppose you're pretty. He likes pretty."
You let your head tip side to side as you think. Novice. That's one you're not used to hearing. You wonder why they'd think that. Can't they feel your magic? A card jumps out of your shuffling. The home. Ah. You feel your smile grow more genuine as you press the card back into the middle of your deck.
Of course they can't feel you. This whole place is you. It would be like looking at an ocean and deciding it's harmless because you can't pick out a single drop of water. That doesn't stop the waves from dragging you out to drown any more than it stops your magic from surrounding this fae. You wonder if they can feel it, the way your magic hones in on them, eyes watching their every move with silent focus.
"Why don't I show you out?" You set your deck on the table and stand without waiting for an answer, leading them to your back door. You're sure they'll find your garden more than impressive now that you've rescinded their welcome.
"Why not," They follow, "I should be going anyway, you're hardly worth the trouble the others are sending after you."
It's crossing the threshold a second time that hurts, that spins and swims in the fae's vision. The heat of a familiar season ripping through them like an oven. Summer bound by heavy chains and iron spikes. You smile at them peacefully, spidering ties arcing off of you towards the sun itself. You burn. Your magic lashes against the confines of the garden, the walls and wards worked into the land, into summer itself.
The fae looks back into your home, the consumptive darkness of a doorway once broken and twice repaired, of a space that shouldn't be a space. A house that's wrong. They look back to you, to the soft tilt of your head, the faux patience as you wait for them to remember what they're here for.
The ground beneath their feet is unfamiliar, and pitches their stomach. They stumble a little, the pressure of the magic keeping a whole season in place settling on their shoulders. It takes everything in them not to buckle under the weight.
"This is fun," You smile at them, raising a hagstone to your eye, "I was wondering why my wards were acting up."
They do their best to collect enough air to respond. Everything feels thick and humid, the heat only raising as they stay close to you. They blink against the blinding sun, their vision swinging violently as they try to keep their focus on moving. Are they moving? You aren't. You're the only fixed point as the world pitches on its axis and spins.
You and your terrible smile, staring down at their suffering. They're on the court for fucks sake, some little human pet shouldn't stand half a chance against them. They make to swing for you, try to grab you with their claws. There's only air, their depth perception wavering between distances. You crouch, following them as the weight of magic forces them to their knees.
"Now I will admit," You hum, reaching to pluck a few stray hairs from their head, "I don't particularly care for killing, so I'll leave you for Price to take care of."
You snap your fingers and the fae straightens and stands from their misery. They walk themselves to the gate and open it. They look back at you, and you wiggle your fingers in goodbye as the hairs in your grip spark with the same fire that engulfs them as they step out into Winter.
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piratekane · 1 year
Note
Roommates au dealer's choice
If you ask Ava, things are going really well. Like, really well. Her apartment is a little far from campus but the walk is good for her. It stretches her morning-tight muscles out so well that by the time she gets to her first class, she's able to cram into the world's most uncomfortable stadium seats ever built and learn about things she wants to learn about.
She has all the things she thought she'd have in college: a regular seat in her Intro to Philosophy class where she can hide her iced coffee from the eagle eyes of her professor; a table in the library that seems to be reserved for her where she can hide her iced coffee from the glare of the world's most ancient librarian; a running study date at the campus coffee shop with a group of people from her Biology 1 lab where the barista knows her by name and always has her iced coffee on the counter.
And the world's coolest roommate.
“Honey, I’m hooome,” she sings as she throws open the apartment door hard enough that nearly hit the wall behind it. She barely stops it.
Beatrice, to her credit, doesn’t flinch. She’s used to it by now, to the way Ava seems to explode into a room. But Ava likes trying, likes seeing how much she can throw Bea off balance. She makes a certain face when something catches her off guard. A slight widening of her eyes and lips parting in surprise. Ava not-so-secretly loves it. 
There’s a lot about Bea that she not-so-secretly loves. And there��s a lot she secretly loves too.
“How did your exam go?”
Ava clicks her tongue. “What about ‘wassup, Ava’? Or ‘Ava, I missed you terribly in the hour you were gone from my side’. What kind of greeting is how did your exam go?”
Bea regards her for a moment before letting out a nearly imperceptible sigh. Ava knows that one, the way it sounds so poorly annoyed but is really just an exhale of fondness. “Hello, Ava. How did your exam go?”
There’s a lot about her that Bea not-so-secretly loves. She hopes there’s a lot Bea secretly loves too.
Ava throws her backpack onto the couch, clocking the way that Bea’s eyes follow it as it lands and bounces onto the floor. She picks it up and puts it down gently, pretending like that’s what she was going to do the whole time. Bea does her the favor of pretending the same.
“Aced it.” She crosses the room to the table where Bea is, what seems like a hundred books spread out in front of her. She frowns. If this is what junior year is going to look like, she wants no part of that. “How is saving the world?”
“It’s Religious Studies. Hardly saving the world.” But Bea’s cheeks redden still. Ava almost taps her on the nose, just to see how far down it’ll go. “But it’s going fine. I’ve nearly worked out quite the thesis for this paper.”
Ava leans over, one hand resting on Bea’s shoulder. She feels the sharp bone under her palm, the way the muscles tense and coil. She actively stops herself from running her fingers down over the cliff of Bea’s collarbone or down the curve of her shoulder to her bicep. It’s unfortunately hidden under a long sleeve shirt today, depriving Ava of one of her favorite views.
She thinks - she hopes - she hears a sharp whistle of an inhale as she leans forward even more, chest at Bea’s eye-level. It takes considerable effort to hide the smirk on her face. She deserves some kind of reward for it and she’ll take her prize in the form of a kiss.
It’s not a prize she’ll actually get. But it doesn’t stop her from dreaming about it.
“Proud of you,” she finally says, turning and pressing a fleeting kiss to Bea’s forehead. Her skin is warm and dry and Ava lets herself linger for just a second before she pulls away.
Maybe Beatrice exhales when she does. Maybe it’s just a trick of the light coming in through their living room window.
“Thank you,” Bea says softly. She arranges an already-perfect stack of papers. “I was thinking we might get Thai for dinner tonight.”
Ava pops up from the refrigerator, a bag of shredded cheese in her hand. “Take out? What’s the occasion?.”
Bea’s face twists in mild disgust. “I’m not sure if I can stomach another night of you eating… shredded cheese. From the bag.” She stands up, caps her pen, and sets it down carefully alongside the two highlighters and the pen she uses only to correct something. Ava watches in fascination, easily caught up in the way Bea’s fingers work effortlessly over them, arranging everything perfectly. “And I have a favor to ask.”
She abandons the shredded cheese. “A favor?” She bumps the refrigerator closed with her hip and leans back across the counter. “From me?”
“It has been known to happen from time to time.” Bea takes a few steps forward until she’s reached the small peninsula that extends from the side of the kitchen out into a breakfast bar where they usually eat unless Ava can convince Bea to sit on the couch. She leans against it, mirroring Ava. “But this is more of a… personal favor.”
“Yes, I’ll fight your parents. You don’t even have to ask.”
Some of the seriousness that was building on Bea’s face, the slight wrinkle in her forehead, breaks. Her mouth turns up in a slight smile, the way it always does when Ava threatens to commit bodily harm in Bea’s honor. Ava grins in return.
“I’ll remember that for the next time one of their letters arrives in the mail.” She looks thoughtful again. “No, I was wondering if…” Bea’s hands flutter in front of her for a moment before they settle into a tight knot. “Well, if you might tell me what makes me appealing to other people.”
Ava almost wishes she had a mouthful of the wine in the back of the refrigerator she’s saving for when she finds out how she did on her Poetry and Politics paper. Just so that she could spit it out and illustrate how ridiculous of a question Beatrice is asking right now. But she settles for twisting her face in confusion and staring at Bea.
Bea takes her silence as a no. “I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “That was a silly question. Forget I asked.” The walls are closing quickly. Ava is watching boards going up in the windows and two by fours going across the doors. “Of course, we can still get Thai food. Mary recommended their-”
“Bea.” Bea’s mouth snaps closed. “I wasn’t saying no. I was just… Do you really need someone to tell you?”
But the look on Bea’s face says that, yes. She does need someone to tell her. Ava considers herself a master in many subjects but she’s an expert at the ways in which Beatrice is appealing. So she carefully regards Bea and purses her lips and nods.
“I’ll do it.”
She thinks maybe there’s a flicker of relief on Bea’s face, but it passes quickly. She doesn’t linger on it. Ava crosses her arms over her chest, chin in the air as she studies Bea and resists the urge to cross the room. “Well, first of all, you always leave a light on for the last person coming home.”
Bea’s lips purse in a frown.
“And you never make me do the dishes by myself, even if you’re just sitting here with me. You don’t mind getting mushrooms on your pizza, even if I know you think they’re slimy.” Ava uncrosses her arms, starts counting on her fingers. “You keep soda in the apartment even though you think it rots my teeth. You always vacuum when I’m not home because you know how much the sound freaks me out.”
Bea’s frown deepens. “I think that makes me… a good roommate. For you.”
“The best,” Ava agrees. “No one else I’d rather be roommates with.” Bea is still frowning and Ava feels herself melt a little. She gives in this time, crossing the room to press her thumb gently to the space between Bea’s forehead, feeling the skin smooth out under her touch. “But you’re also incredibly kind. People can trust you with their lives. You’re humble, considerate. Insanely intelligent. Hilarious. And… my best friend.”
Bea smiles softly, eyes cutting down with slight embarrassment. 
“Plus.” Ava’s hand drifts without her permission, dancing across Bea’s cheek to curl around her neck to hold her gaze. “You’re hot.”
This close, she can see Bea swallow and hear the near-silent inhale of air. This close, she can feel how the words land and how they alter Bea. Ava smooths her thumb against Bea’s neck, feeling her pulse pound under thin skin. She feels herself swaying in a little, the tips of her bare feet touching Bea’s slippered toes. Her eyes drop to Bea’s lips.
She could throw caution to the wind. She could cut through the last threads of her reasonable thoughts and kiss Bea right here in their kitchen. But Bea deserves a big romance with a kiss and a side of fireworks. And Ava still has pieces of cheese stuck to her other hand. So she settles for brushing her thumb against Bea’s neck one last time and breaking the moment with a wink.
“I can write you a recommendation, if you want,” she offers as she takes a small step backwards, smiling as charmingly as she can. “Unless you’re collecting this information so that you can sell yourself to some other idiot with a better apartment.”
Bea blinks once, then twice. Her face clouds for a moment before it clears and Ava is looking back at the Bea she’s used to, albeit a little pinker in the cheeks. “Don’t be silly,” she says, voice thinner than usual. “I’d simply make you move out.”
Ava’s mouth drops open. “Me? I’d have to move out? No way. I’m basically built into the woodwork at this point.” She jabs a finger at Bea. “You jump, I jump. What’s that one line you like, from Ruby?”
“Ruth,” Bea corrects quietly. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you,” she quotes. “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.”
Ava nods with an air of finality. “You’re my forever-roomate, Beatrice. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.”
Bea smiles, eyes on the floor for a moment before they meet Ava’s. “Okay. I suppose I can live with that.”
“Good.” Ava takes a deep breath, holding it in her cheeks, and blowing it out loudly. “You said Thai, right? Does that mean we get to eat in the living room? I pinky promise not to drop any satay sauce on the carpet.” She bounces on the tips of her toes hopefully and cheers a little when Bea sighs out a yes. Ava beams as Bea picks through the menus in the drawer that Beatrice swears the can opener is, if only Ava would truly look for it.
“You’re my forever-roommate too, Ava,” Bea says quietly as she passes Ava the take out menu. “In case you didn’t know it.”
“I did,” she lies. “But it’s nice to hear you say it every once in a while.”
Bea’s hand brushes across the back of hers and then she’s drifting away, back to the table and her homework like leaving Ava with all this knowledge - that Bea wants to be with her forever - isn’t a truth that Ava will think about for the rest of the night. Bea must know. She has to. It's the only thing that makes sense.
So, yeah. Things are going well. They’re going really well. 
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