#(we don't talk about genetics no no no ;D) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sleepinghypnos · 10 months

Text

ITZY Lia x Male Reader x Red Velvet Wendy ft. Irene

Tags: Smut (EDITED)

Genre: Facefucking, Deepthroat, Anal, Dirty Talk, Female Idol x Male Reader

A/N: Dialogues will be color coded

Black - Reader

Pink - Lia

Red - Wendy

Violet - Irene

Green - Other people

It's been a week since you started working for ITZY. The famous idol group has also been busy because of their recent comeback.

The admiration of people truly is a wonderful source of energy, especially for the artists who just finished their song for the fans.

Being able to withstand such burden makes you adore the group more and more.

You are on your way to the ITZY's waiting room. When suddenly a familiar hand grabbed you and pulled you into the corner of the backstage. There is no one here but sound and light equipment.

"What are you doing?" You said while looking at the girl in front of you. A wide smile greets you as she put her finger on your mouth to shush it.

"Oppa, don't make any noise they might hear us." Said the girl with a blonde hair named Lia. "I can't wait any longer, you said if we want to we can ask you right? Let me suck your cock now please?" Her pleading eyes is what gets you. How can an innocent looking person be this needy for someone's dick? You are here to do bodyguard related work but you always ended up fucking your clients.

You don't dare to say you regret it because many fans would kill just to sleep with their idols and here you are getting what they want for free and the idols are ones asking for it.

You nod your head to answer Lia. She immediately fell to her knees and helped you unbuckle your belt and pull your pants above your knees.

She whipped out your already throbbing cock. "It's bigger than the one in the video! How can you be so big?"

"Genetics i guess? Or maybe i'm blessed by the heavens." You answered while slapping your tip to her tongue.

"Well, if you're blessed then maybe that is the way of the heavens to make people kneel just like what I'm doing now."

You slid your cock in her mouth with very gentle rhythm, carefully testing whether the idol can do what the other can or not. She planted her nails into your legs and she starts throat fucking herself with your cock.

Watching the idol ruin herself because of lust, as you let her be consumed and devoured by her sexual desire. You moaned reflecting the pleasure she gives you, your length isn't even fit in her whole mouth.

A popping sound can be heard when she let your cock out off her mouth, she let it rest on her face as she realize that your member is bigger than the length of her head.

"Your throbbing hard cock really is huge, it's yummy Oppa." she said and continued to suck your rod once more. Lia looks at you with that lustful and needy eyes, you can't resist any further and you take control of everything.

Starting to thrust like no other, you held the back of her head to support your furious plunge making her gagged. Tears had formed in her eyes, the sound she makes and her tiny stature will make someone seriously think that you are doing something inappropriate with her.

"Your mouth is not only good at singing but also sucking dick, you slut!"

She tried to answer your remark but you didn't let her and fucked her mouth even more. Not thinking about the idols image any longer, using her as a mere tool for your own pleasure. She bobbed her head in-sync with your thrusts making the experience more ball draining.

Her pretty face is already ruined because of your vigorous fucking but that didn't make her less attractive it's quite the opposite.

"You're still beautiful even if your mouth is full with my dick." your compliment made her head bob up and down even more and continued to choke herself with your cock. Lia has a high possibility of having a 'Praise Kink'

"Shit! I'm fucking cumming Lia!"

With that, the idol prepared herself to received what the other girls have been addicted to lately, your cum. They all say it's sweet maybe because of your diet.

Your due approached and you grabbed her head, pushed her down to your cock, she didn't reach the base of your rod because of how big it is. You hold her there until you emptied into her mouth, coating her needy throat with your ropes of generous load. Her eyes were rolled back as if she attained enlightenment.

You rest your cock in her mouth for few more seconds till your last drop. She's looking at you while she plays your dick with her tongue. Lia let you see how much cum have been accumulated in her mouth and swallowed it.

"I now know why the two girls are addicted to you, your cum is delicious it is kinda sweet and you don't care if we are idols or not. You'll fuck us until we surrender to our sexual desire. I love it, Oppa!"

You patted her head. "It felt good Lia, your mouth is something else i must say. it's really good." you assured the idol and helped her stand up and gave her a kiss on her forehead, making her blushed and flustered.

"What did I just witnessed?"

Both of you looked at the one who spoked, Lia was shocked to see a Senior idol in front of her and you... well you do not care. She's Wendy a member of already established k-pop girl group called Red Velvet by SM Entertainment.

"He's our bodyguard, Sunbae!" Lia tries to explain to her senior what happened.

"I know who he is Lia-ssi, I've met him multiple times in the past. I just can't believe I'd see you here doing what you're good at again." She looked at me and Lia many times and attempts to leave but the younger idol stopped her.

"Sunbae it is consensual, so please don't report it. He didn't force me to do anything." she said while holding Wendy's wrist.

"Silly girl, of course i know it's consensual. I told you i've met him so many times in the past." Wendy slightly hugged Lia and patted her head.

Wendy left the spot that we're in and only Lia and you remain. you guide her to their waiting room and saw all of the ITZY members are inside. you just greeted them and stayed outside the door for security.

While waiting for the next schedule. You saw Red Velvet's Waiting room few doors away from you and reminded you of Son Seung-wan again, she is the only member of Red Velvet that you didn't have any physical connection with because the time you've spent with them doing bodyguard duties. The job only lasts for two weeks.

But you've been tirelessly messing with her other members almost every hour, especially Joy and Irene. The combination of the two made you a vegetable, it's like Yuna and Chaeryeong but sluttier. Meanwhile Seulgi is much more tamed and obedient. Yeri on the other hand had a boyfriend that time and don't want to cheat on him which is what couples must abide into.

For Wendy she didn't like the idea of you messing around with her co-members and stayed away from you, but you know that she also wanted what others was having.

She might say she don't but her actions betrayed her. Wendy and Seulgi share the same room and it's the same for Irene and Joy while Yeri is like a queen in her room because she's alone there and she can do whatever she wants.

Every time you fuck Seulgi senseless, Wendy will remain in their room while pretending to watch a movie and she really is watching but not the movie but you and Seulgi.

There's that one time when you and Seulgi is being intimate, she didn't even realize that she's been caught cause of how focus she is on how you plowed her roommate until she passed out. You even stood up and went to her side ordering her to suck your dick which she almost did, her tongue is already sticking out but she woke up from the trance and rushed out of the room.

Hours passed by and an SBS staff request all of the idols to go the stadium. ITZY decided to pick the ones in the higher floor and so we did. The managers didn't go with you and stayed at the staff rooms.

Lia invited you to sit beside her and so you did. The area is safe and no one will have the nerve to go on higher floor seats aside from other idols.

The music surrounds the whole place, this is a private party for idols and cameras are not allowed. Even the fans who owns fancafe's can't enter inside the premises.

Everyone is partying to the music when a group of girls came to your spot. it was Red Velvet.

"I told you he is here." Wendy said in a smug face, it looks like the other members didn't believe her. You stand up to greet them and so is ITZY.

"Hello seonbaes!" ITZY greets the senior girlgroup and they greeted them back.

"Oppa! I thought you'll stay abroad, i didn't expect to see you here." A woman suddenly hugged you and almost got out-of-balance because of it. Familiar scent envelops your sense of smell, her perfume is still the same. It was Joy.

You felt her chest rubbing into your own, still the same naughty woman. She let you go to for you to greet the other member, you gave each one of them a hug.

Seulgi is always the one who is quiet and waiting for her turn. Your mouth went for her neck and you marked with a hickey. Which she received well.

Yeri on the other hand became much more assertive on things. The moment you went in for a hug, the idol hugged you and she put her hand on your crotch. It's quick and impressive she whipped out your cock and started stroking it.

As far as you know she is still with her boyfriend but this is what she want so you let her.

She knelt down and put your cock in her mouth. Sucking it so passionately.

All of the girls were shocked and immediately blocked the two of you. Well, because of your height you are still visible.

"Kim Yeri what are you doing?!" Said Irene. Even she was shocked.

"I just want to taste it. All of you are addicted to this big fucking cock unnie. I want to know why, i already got my answer." Yeri continued to suck you off and stopped cause her jaw hurts.

"Seonbae you guys know Oppa too? In that extent?" Ryujin tried to pry why they didn't seem to mind that much what happened.

All of the Red Velvet members nod in unison. After Yeri had her unexpected FUN, you put your erected cock back in your pants which is not easy.

You proceed to greet the remaining people and hug them.

Your hug to Irene is much longer than the others. "Why did you let that brat do that? Pervert!" You just chuckled and act like its not your fault. "Still tall and handsome as ever huh?" Irene spoke.

"And still beautiful as ever huh noona?" as you lean back to see her face.

"I told you don't call me that, You are my Oppa. I belong only to you remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know baby." You gave her a kiss on her lips and proceed to hug Wendy.

She flinch because of the unexpected hug and she also felt your boner that isn't subsided yet but she return it eventually. "Hello Gorgeous!" you said while still hugging her.

"Gorgeous my ass! You are still the same."

"Your ass? I think they are gorgeous too!" your hands travelled from her back to her bottom and the moment you found the treasure you caress it gently, she whimper trying to hide her face on your chest.

"Once a pervert, always a pervert!" her hug tighten and it looks like she won't let go.

"So, you two got very close eventually huh?" Joy's voice interrupted your most awaited physical contact with Wendy.

"Yeah! So what?" You replied and let go of the woman in front of you and lean towards her ear to say something to her. "Should we continue what should've happen that day if you didn't run away from me?"

No words came out of her mouth but she nodded as an answer. Looks like she also looking forward in meeting you one day.

The other girls already finished their own personal greetings and now we are seated here in the higher floor and a less crowded side of the stadium, it's dark but not totally.

Lia is on your right and Wendy to your left. the younger idols are enjoying the party like it's their last day on Earth.

"Wendy, can you suck it for me please?" You are bold to your request. Your boner is already hurting. she look at you for a few seconds and she stand up from her chair to kneel in front you.

"Oooh! Looks like someone is eager to try the huge snake hiding beneath the clothes." Joy got the attention of others because of her remark. they proceed to watch what's going to happen. Even the ITZY members are waiting for it.

"Just make sure not to get caught." Irene added.

Your cock is already out and it's still wet because of Yeri. Wendy is now stroking your cock, her pace is not unbearably slow nor fast. It's perfect! Then she licks your shaft up and down. The girls reacts when Wendy sucked not just your dick but also your balls. You don't know where she learnt any of these but it makes your dick even harder.

"S-shit Wendy! Where did you learn to do that?" you said while moaning because of pleasure. Wendy is not the type of person that sleeps with just anyone.

Wendy sucks your dick with more intensity, she's starting to gain a pace and confidence, her drool is covering your shaft as she vehemently bobbed her head to your cock. You grabbed her head and starts violating the poor idols mouth like giving her a punishment.

"So it begins, hehe!" Joy patiently watching as i fuck her friend's throat like i did to her and the other idols.

"gawk... gawk... gawk" is the only sound that you can hear coming from Wendy. The Stadium's music don't matter to you or any of you.

You let Wendy's hands rest on your thighs while you fuck her face, her eyes are glued to you and her make up slowly getting ruined each time the tip of your cock touches the back of her throat, making both of you moan out of pleasure.

"Baby i'm cumming!" her eyes sparkles the moment you utter those words. She grabbed your thighs tightly as you pushed her head towards your throbbing and raging cock.

She blinked multiple times when your thick cum starts gushing out of your cock into her mouth. You can feel her tongue moving and trying to taste your load but no avail because your liquid is directly flowing to her stomach. All she can do is continue gulping.

You gave her a chance to at least taste your baby batter, the final three spurts landed in her mouth. Just like the rest, she showcase your cum and swallow all of it.

Your still erected cock lies on Wendy's face and the idol is just there letting it rest and looking at you.

"That's was so hot not gonna lie!" Joy and Yeri said in unison.

While the others are busy taking photos in a low light to prevent other people to actually see what transpired in your location. They giggled because of how the photos came to be.

Lustful yet passionate.

"Your mouth felt good, baby!"

"And your dick is so big you perverted bastard. I thought i was going to die. You keep choking me!"

"We are not done, come follow me outside." the other girls reacted wildly because of what you said. holding Wendy on her wrist pulling her. You walk through number of floors and doors ended up in an isolated room with basic furniture such as couch, tables, and other chairs.

You already know the layout of the stadium because this place is your typical work field when you're doing bodyguard duties.

Irene followed you to ensure that no one else in tailing you. "This is a nice spot, Oppa!" Irene said while looking around the room.

You didn't waste any more time and let the two of them kneel down to suck your cock once again. Wendy is kneeling to your right and in the opposite side is Irene.

Both of them were traversing your long shaft with their tongues to the top of your cock, they are moving in unison passionately kissing and licking both of your length and balls.

Wendy is now more daring in her assault. While the oldest choke herself from your big hard cock, the younger one find her way into your back entrance and started licking you there.

"Oooh, you are so daring Wendy! I like it! Irene deliberately stopping her onslaught on your cock just to compliment Wendy for her boldness.

You jolted because Wendy is performing a rimjob. "Now i-aahh, shit! i'm really curious on h-how and where did you l-learn any these." making yourself a bit more horny by the second.

"I didn't do anything with anyone, i just watch porn and learned how to do it. i barely even contain myself earlier when i saw you fucking Lia's face. I learn it for you, pervert!"

You stopped Irene from devouring your hard rod any further and carry Wendy into the couch and put her on a missionary, Irene spit on your cock again and again so that it will slid inside easily.

"I tried using dildos in our room, but i didn't order oversize ones cause i want your dick to destroy me and not those toys." Wendy confesses and it made you happy. "Please use my tight little pussy as you see fit, Daddy!"

You took Wendy's and Irene's clothes off and now of them are naked, flaunting both of their treasure. Irene's tits is much bigger than Wendy and yet both of them are reasonable in size. They are both firm and delicate. They both possess such flawless silky white skin in contrast to your slightly tanned yet firm skin.

"Daddy? I didn't expect that you had it in you Wendy, i'm so proud of you! Should i call you that too? Daddy." Irene said teasing you with her alluring voice and vexing body as she watches you preparing yourself to indulge into something so exquisite. Irene grabbed your head and pushed it against her tits making you suck her nipples.

She moaned like a total slut while caressing your head. Meanwhile Wendy is massaging her clit watching the two of you be intimate.

Irene stopped and let you devour the feast in front of you, she knows Wendy is still a virgin for a huge dick like yours.

"I'm going to put it in now, baby. bare with it." as you slowly slid your cock into her virgin cunt, her face starts showing a sign of pain when your cock is already half through.

"So fucking tight!" making sure she won't get hurt that badly.

"F-fuck, it's so big! it's all in finally!" she said.

"Oh not yet, little bitch. It's only half of it." Irene replied while hiding her laughter.

"What? There's more?! Gggh~ ahhh! FUCK!!" she gasped when you thrust suddenly and let her tight little cunt devour your rod completely.

"It hurts? Should i pull out?" you asked.

"No, please! Uh.. Let me adjust and get used to it first. I don't want to ruin this moment, ruin this for the three of us."

You're kissing Wendy and Irene one after the other, you can feel Wendy's passageway to loosen up a bit as you continue to stimulate her.

"I'm okay now D-daddy, please move!" Wendy said and you did what she asked. Few minutes of testing the waters and you started thrusting in more powerful way.

"Fuck Daddy your cock is so huge. such a big fucking cock! you are stretching me out aaah!~" Wendy began cursing and talking such vulgar words. She's getting fucked by a huge dick that even she couldn't imagine of receiving.

You changed position while your dick is still in her. You're plowing her in the back now and you are going deeper because it.

"Daddy you're so deep! Sh-shit! I think you are in my uterus. Fuck! you're going too deep! I can feel you in my stomach!" her moaning still sounds angelic like her singing voice and it's making you to fuck her more.

Her height and stature is small compare to you so it's easy for you to lift her up. You position her into full nelson, your favorite style even your clients in the past up to present still can't get over how you fuck them senseless in that vulgar position.

Irene saw through your intention and brought her phone out and ofcourse to start recording. She already knows that it's a trophy for another conquest, she has multiple videos of your past client getting plowed in that manner.

Wendy is surprise because of how easy for you to lift her, you placed each one of your arm to the back of her knees and your hands are already locked behind her neck.

You started plowing her again with more intensity, her moans become louder and louder. You are fucking her so hard that sound your body colliding as you thrust into her keeps echoing in the room.

Irene finished her little recording and dialed the girls to let them watch.

"Oooh! She's getting fucked real good there Unnie!" Joy has amazement in her voice and the other girls with her seems to be excited too. You can hear their voice cheering you to fuck Wendy more.

"Daddy! Please please please! You are so deep in me. Fuck! Use me! SHIT USE ME DAAADDDYYY!" Wendy squirting so much but you didn't stop pounding her, she's now half awake. the sound of her rich ass colliding with your body filled the room and made it look like a porn studio.

"I'm cumming you squirting slut!" you rammed her yet again waking her up.

"Yes! Breed me daddy. Fill me up! S-shit! i want your seed flowing inside me please please!" With that, your cum gushed out from your cock filling her up. You pulled out your still erected cock from her and you saw how it overflow, it's leaking.

Wendy passed out without realizing that the other girls are watching her getting railed so intensely, she changed into a different person whose instinct in to breed only.

"It's my turn now right Daddy?" Irene can't contain herself anymore. You can see how wet she is, you made her wait for so long.

"Of course come here baby, spread your legs for me in the couch!" and she did what you asked. she immediately position herself in the couch, legs spread and waiting like a total slut.

You didn't bother with the foreplay cause she's so wet and her ass is already lubricated so you straight up rail her in the ass and thrusting your whole length inside of her.

Wendy's moans were replaced by hers and it equally pleasing to the ears. You didn't hold back and showed her how much she deserved to be fuck hard because of her patience.

"Yes daddy! Fuck yes. I missed your huge cock so much! Please keep fucking me like this even if i eventually get married." She moans relentlessly saying such triggering words only makes you go even harder.

"I thought you hate men you slut!?" you're choking her neck with a normal grip of your hands, she seems to like it every time you did this to her.

"Yes i hate men, but not you. You may aaaah~ may be fucking so many women but you didn't do anything bad to us, instead yo- FUCK RIGHT THERE! RIGHT THERE!!! SHIT!! instead you protected u-us and gave us a sense of security. i'll let you fuck me everywhere even we are in public. Fuck! SO PLEASE USE ME MY ASS! DESTROY ME DADDY!" She is taking your huge cock in her ass like a champ. You've been fucking her ass ever since your first day of being their bodyguard. You basically molded her insides to the shape of your dick.

"Spit in my mouth please! Please! Daddy! I want you to violate me please! FUCK!" She kept on begging you to spit in her mouth so you did while here eyes were rolled back and her tongue is sticking out.

"I'm cumming now baby! Where do you want it?!" your hands stopped choking her to let her breathe then you proceed to slap her face to asked her again. "Where? Tell me!"

"Cum in my ass daddy please! It's your personal fleshlight, fill my ass with your thick load aaahh~"

And with that signal, you release a series of generous amount of load into the ass of one of the beautiful or the most beautiful k-pop artist of all time. Bae Joo-hyun

Both of them are were completely ruined and yet they are happy, you saw Irene's phone still in the videocall with the girls they all saw how you fucked the two them. You decided to bid them farewell and end the call.

It's time to clean up this mess before anyone came in here.

"What the fuck is this?!"

You were picking their things when you heard someone yelled in the door, you saw her figure and you were stunned to speak.

"IT'S YOU!?" Both of you shouted in unison

#itzy smut #lia smut #red velvet smut #irene smut #wendy smut #kpop smut #male reader #female idol x male reader #smut #kpop fanfic

799 notes · View notes

bethanythebogwitch · 4 months

Text

Wet Beast Wednesday: giant tube worms

You voted that I would talk about a worm and so I shall discuss the mighty giant tube worms. But first, we need to define what a tube worm is. This is another "no such thing as a fish" situation because there are actually a lot of different things we call tube worms. Turns out the "noodle in a tube" body plan is a pretty successful one. The worms I'm discussing today are members of Siboglinidae, a family of annelids (segmented worms) that was formerly classified as two different phyla until genetic evidence came in. I will primarily be talking about two species: Riftia pachyptila and Lamellibrachia luymesi, who have both adapted to distinct extreme environments in similar ways.

(Image ID: multiple patches of Riftia pachyptila growing from rock at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. The worms are housed in long, white tubes, some stained yellow. Emerging from the tubes are respiratory organs covered in what appears to be red fur. End ID)

All members of Siboglinidae share a basic body plan consisting of a worm body inside of a mineral tube (side not, I think I will be including an orc or ogre named Sibog in my D&D campaign). The tube is composed of chitin and minerals and is secreted through glands along the body of the worm as it grows from larva to adult. The tube provides the worm within with protection from predators and environmental hazards while also providing support, allowing the worm to lift itself up into the water rather than remain on the substrate. The tube either connects to a solid object or is rooted in the sediment with extensions called roots. The roots are composed of the same material as the tube and can be considerably longer than the rest of the worm, though they are so fragile it is hard to study them. Since the worms often live in large congregations, their roots can twist together is massive mats called ropes. The inside of the tube is where you get into the squishy worm parts. The body of the worm is divided into four regions. The first of these regions I found many alternate names for while researching including cephalic lobe and branchial plume. I'm going to simplify and call it the plume because this segment is composed of one to 200 tentacles that are covered with feathery filaments that can make it look like the plume of a quill pen. The feathery portions of the plume are usually red because they are highly vascularized and filled with blood, similar to a fish's gils. The plume is used for respiration, taking in dissolved oxygen and (depending on the species) other dissolved gasses from the water. In most species, the plume is the only part of the body that extends from the tube. When in the presence of threats, the plume can withdraw into the tube, which can then be close with a structure called the obtraculum, similarly to the operculum found in many other invertebrates like snails. The second body region is the vestimentum. It has a winged shape and is composed of multiple bands of muscle. The vestimentum also contains the heart, a simple brain, and genital pores that release gametes. The third body region, which makes up most of the body, is the trunk. The trunk is the wormiest part of the worm and contains the gonads, the coelom (main body cavity), and the trophosome, which I will come back to later. The last body region is the opistosome, which connects the animal to the tube and is used to store and (maybe) excrete waste.

(Image ID: the tubeworm Lamellicrachia satsuma removed from its tube to show its anatomy. It has a plume made up of multiple feathery white tentacles, the vestimentum is a thick white section with flared tips, the trunk is long, brown, and wormlike, and ends with the yellowish opistosome. The body regions are labeled as "op" for opistosome, "tr" for trunk, "ves" for vestimentum, and "ten" for the plume. End ID. Source)

You'll notice that I didn't mention a digestive tract above. That's because these worms don't have one. Instead of a digestive tract, they have a trophosome, an organ composed of highly spongy tissue vascularized by two main blood vessels. Housed within the trophosome is a colony of bacteria that exists in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with the worm. The worm provides the bacteria with a place to live and protection from predators while the bacteria provide the worm with all of its nutrition. The bacteria are all chemoautotrophs, gaining all their nutrition from chemical reactions using chemicals in their environment without needing to intake nutrients. In particular, they use oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide provided to them by the worm. The worm also provides other elements including nitrogen and phosphorus that the bacteria need. I'm going to be honest with you, I tried to comprehend the chemical reactions involved but it's been a long time since I took chemistry and I was never that good anyway so it's over my head. The short version is that the bacteria produces nutrients and chemicals (primarily carbohydrates and ATP) that it shares with the worm. Waste products are also sent into the worm's bloodstream and are sequestered at the opistosome.

(Image ID: a scientific diagram of the internal anatomy of Riftia pachyptila. Of note is the section showing the trophosome, illustrating it as several yellow, spongy cells filled with bacteria and fed by a capillary. End ID. Source)

The most famous of the tube worms is Riftia pachyptila, which you will recognize if you have ever seen a documentary about the deep sea. They're the ones that look like giant tubes of lipstick. These are the most studied of the Siboglinids and live around hydrothermal vents in the deep pacific ocean. Hydrothermal vents are places on the seafloor where water underground is heated by geothermal activity in the Earth's mantle and then released into the water column, often carrying with it chemicals from deeper in the planet. These vents are hotspots of biodiversity in the deep sea and are hypothesized to play a major role in the origin of life. These ecosystems are among the only ones on the planet where the primary source of energy is not sunlight via photosynthesizing organisms. Instead, chemosynthetic bacteria forms the base of the trophic web, generating energy from the heat and chemicals released by the vents. Riftia requires vents which release sulfur into the water and blanket vents with the right conditions all throughout the Pacific. The lifestyle clearly works for them as they have the fastest grown rate of any marine animal. They can go from a larva to a sexually mature adult of 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) long in 2 years. These worms can reach 3 meters in length (9.75 ft) long, but only get to about 4 cm (1.5 in) in diameter within the tube. When reproducing, males will release blobs of stuck-together sperm called spermatozeugmata that collectively swim towards female worms, entering the tube and seeking out the female's oviduct. The female then releases fertilized larvae into the water. These larvae usually spend a few days in the water column before settling down on the substrate and beginning growth into an adult. However, the larvae have been known to reach newly-formed hot vents up to 200 kilometers away from their parent's vents. We don't know how the larvae find new sites to colonize or how long they can remain in the initial, motile state before succumbing to starvation as the larvae do not have digestive tracts and do not develop their internal bacterial colony until they settle down on the substrate. Once the larva does settle down, it develops its internal colony by intaking bacteria from the water using the plume. Riftia are some of the first organisms to colonize a new vent and play a major role in building that vent's ecosystem. Genetic tests show low genetic diversity amongst and between all colonies, which may be a result of how fast they colonize new vents and the fact that if a vent goes dormant or dies, all of the local worms will die with it.

(Image ID: a cluster of Rifita tubeworms, most of whom have their red, feathery plumes exposed. Some tubes do not have exposed plumes, indicating that either the worm has retracted into the tube or the worm has died. Several crabs are crawling on the tubes. End ID)

The other giant tube worm species I'm spotlighting is Lamellibrachia luymesi. These aren't as flamboyant as Riftia, but can get nearly as large (up to 3 meters) and also play a very important role in their ecosystems, though they are less studied. While Riftia likes it hot, Lamellibrachia is more chill. They live at cold seeps, places in the ocean where hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons like methane and oil seep out of the sea floor. Like Riftia, these worms depend entirely on an internal bacterial colony for their nutrition. Oxygen is intaken through the plume, but these worms can't get hydrogen sulfide the same way due to the different conditions. Instead, they absorb the sulfide through their roots. While the hot and cold worms absorb their hydrogen sulfide differently, they both have an adaptation to deal with it: specialized hemoglobin. Most forms of hemoglobin can't carry oxygen in the presence of hydrogen sulfide, which is a problem because that's the whole point of hemoglobin. The tube worms, who need to transport hydrogen sulfide, have specialized hemoglobin that seems to use zinc ions to allow for oxygen to bind to it anyway. The cold seep tube worms also excrete their waste products through the roots, returning it to the sediment. The intake of hydrogen sulfide and sequestering of the wast product in the roots and sediment lets the tube worms play an important role in the cold seep ecosystem. Them intaking the sulfide protects organisms who can't handle it as well and sequestering waste products also keeps it away from organisms who could be harmed by the chemicals in it. Hot vents are inherently unstable places. They are formed primarily in places where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other, exposing the planet's mantle. This exposed spot will eventually cool down and the hot vent will die off. Because of this, hot vent ecosystems grow fast and die young. Cold seeps by contrast are extremely stable and long-lasting. Lamellibrachia luymesi grow very slowly and can live for over 250 years. There's no need to hurry when your food comes out of the ground and won't be going anywhere for a very, very long time.

(Image ID: a colony of Lamellibrachia luymesi. Their tubes are more visibly segmented than those of Rifita, with the top of each segment being noticably wider than the base of the next. The tubes are a pale blue, but switch to white at 2 - 9 segments below the top. Many tubes have brown algae growing on them. The exposed plumes are short, red, and feathery. End ID)

#wet beast wednesday #tube worms #giant tube worms #Lamellibrachia luymesi #Riftia pachyptila #worm #wormblr #hydrothermal vents #cold seeps #marine biology #marine life #annelids #chemosynthesis #zoology #ecology #biology #long post #image described

107 notes · View notes

voidscreamintheories · 2 months

Text

Boy and Door: You are NOT the Faeder

As always, spoilers for Hunter: The Parenting

Alright friends, this one I'm kinda shaky on and there's not much here at present, but I want to get my thoughts down.

TL;DR Door is not Boy's biological dad, and this might be a very important plot point.

As is my pattern, let's examine their TTS origins: Door was Rogal Dorn, primarch of the imperial fists, praetorian of terra, and Lord Adorable. Boy was a vox hailer serf with notoriously strong legs, and eventually the respect of some members of the adeptus custodes. Dorn became a father figure for Boy over the course of his appearance, mostly keeping him from being bullied by the custodes or Magnus. Also boy might have had latent psyker powers, we will return to this. As a side note: SuperAnchors and Nostalgia, the voices of Door/Dorn and Boy/Boy respectively are perhaps my favourite performances on TTS and H:TP. They are always a joy when they're on screen and I really appreciate their characters in both series. SuperAnchors gets a special mention for practically reshaping the perception of Rogal Dorn in the fanbase, and Nostalgia should be appreciated for turning a character litterally named "Boy" into one of the best characters in either series. Tts rant time done.

So. Boy. And Door. Look at these silly fellas, are you really going to tell me that Boy shares genetic heritage with Door? And where is his mother? I believe Door is not Boy's biological dad, and instead adopted him and has been raising him as his own. I think this is so easily accepted and never mentioned because I am honestly not convinced that Door and Markus are Big D's biological children either. I think their family is just super open to adopting anyone and everyone who comes along, and so Boy being adopted just means he's the youngest family member, no questions or qualms.

Now, this is where my REAL theory starts, and where my research into WoD kinda halted me a little bit. You see, in folklore a changeling is a child swapped with member of the fae in EARLY life. In the original WoD, changelings are... weirder... than that. I'm not sure. So I'm not a hundred percent on this one. But I think Boy is a folkloric changeling, a fae being in place of a child. I don't think Boy knows this fact, and frankly I don't think he would be able to access anything supernatural until recently. Recently being when he started experiencing "puberty disease" as listed in one cutaway card. That same cutaway card mentions it being "cured with meat". Now the fae have ofttimes been portrayed as dainty and nature loving and very "surface level fantasy" elf like. Reading about WoD fae made my head hurt so I don't know if that applies here, but MAYBE boy was starting to manifest his fae side, and eating a stable meat only (read: anti elf) diet staved it off for a time. I think those powers are now bubbling back up, despite the continued meat consumption.

I think H:TP is building up the awakening of many powers, when I get around to explaining the things we all know about Markus this will be relevant. But for Boy I think he is awakening some future telling fae abilities. I think Boy is keeping some of his hinted at seer powers from TTS, just in a different context. In the first arc we see a couple of hints to this: first episode Boy spots Pyotr while he's invisible (and you can too if you look very closely for his eyes), Boy doesn't know he has cool powers so he doesn't recognize fully his feat. But spotting an obscured vamp who can disappear even on camera is pretty above human. Next there is the final confrontation against Pyotr, some day I may type a long diatribe on why that scene in particular is great but not today. Boy manages to hit a shot on a target moving parallel to his position going LUDICROUS speed. I think he may have done this thanks to a lil bit of precognition. And finally there is the meeting with Horse.

Horse and what he IS will get another post one day, but for now let's talk a little about the vision. I think it's not coincidence that Horse calls Boy "oracle" and speaks of prophecy to him. I also don't think it coincidence that Boy sees shapes in the blood. I think Boy is a seer, and certain forms of divination uses blood and gore to make predictions (see Haruspex). Again, I will cover Horse's prophecy another time, but let's talk about the "Faeder" line. I don't think that word was chosen just cause it sounds olde. I think it's a hint and misdirection. Again, I suspect boy was not born into this family, but instead is a product of the faeries. This would mean he has a faerie father, or a fae father, or a faeder. I think Horse was telling Boy that his TRUE father will die. Buuuuuut WoD changelings are weird and Alfabusa has written important foreshadowing WAY too early before (Hello TTS Ghazkhull!), so I'm not sure. I will say to bolster this idea that it was weird for Horse to mention "milklings", another name for changelings, on the same level as other WoD big players. I think this was also a tip off to us the audience about our beloved family, aside from kindred I believe each group mentioned is represented in that role call.

Door. Door is simple, strong, and the only actual normal human hunter in the family (see my kitten theory, Markus and Big D theories pending). Based on the episode titles, and the show title itself, I think the "hunter" in question is Door, and "the parenting", refers to his relationship with Boy. Boy seems to be the writer of the episode titles (on the actual title cards) in arc 1. I hope we see Boy grow under Door's guidance, because I love these characters. And I really hope I'm right that Boy has a fae dad who will take the bullet of prophecy so we don't have to see Door desiccated on the rocks.

Let me know what you think, til next time

Good evening

#fan theory #h:tp #htp #hunter the parenting #hunter: the parenting #htp boy #htp door

32 notes · View notes

neverchecking · 11 months

Text

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole~

Hello, Darlings~ I know most writers don't do this, but I can understand how frustrating it can be to go to a writer's page, read about a specific AU, but have no way of getting to the beginning to join the fun. So, here we are! Welcome to Cinder's Navigation of my current AU's!

Sweet but Psycho AU:

˚ ✦An AU where the Reader is not only aware of the boys' tendencies, but encourages it.

The start (This is kind of where the idea bubbles up)

How does the Chain feel? (Short version)

The Rewards (Ft. Bozai)

Sage figures it out (I love this sm honestly-)

In what order does the rest of the Chain find out?

Thoughts on the 'Sit on my Face' request with this Reader

Just this. All of this. (If nothing else read this one.)

Dom! Sadistic Reader punishing a Link (Also this one.)

Thoughts on Ganon.

Reader who loves giving affection

A new kind of punishment (Og starter)

Holy Grail AU:

˚ ✦An AU where Reader is not only their God(dess), but an actual god(dess), and now has a soul bond with every Link after saving them.

The Start

Cal gets some attention

Possible reasoning for the Soul bond?

The problem with Hylia

Mostly general Sage and his Zelda tidbit

More Zelda slander and why Reader is good foil against her.

Zelda and Reader meet.

The Chain gets a Baby bit Renamed: THE BABY CHAIN (>:D):

˚ ✦Not an AU, but this took off and I want it accessible. Basically, Poly! Chain with Pregnant! Reader, and the children that come of it.

The post that started it all

Who's getting a baby first?

Baby looks like Reader?

Sage and the Twins that aren't his.

Fierce Daddy-ity

Cursed Link. That's it. That's the Tweet.

The start of the debate.

The boys are dolphins.

TWO DADS

The debate PART 2 INCLUDING REBUTTALS

Let's talk genetics :)

BIG BROTHER WIND and Dad! Four ig

Sky is a baby leash parent

Wind as the best big brother while the others fight over who the bd is

Fierce Deity Baby Daddy

Sky as a dad :)

The chain with kids hghgg READ THIS ONE

Sky is perfect. Thats it. Thats the tweet.

Househusband sky

Dad Warriors

Four's daughter also splits

The colors vs Their Mini-me's. Take one. (Take two)

Dad! Ravio

The Fierce kiddos shenanigans

The triplets fighting over if the kid is theirs. (Me bs-ing why it's all of theirs)

Lightbulb baby.

Four needs to learn to wrap it b4 he taps it bc this is getting out of hand- /j

Universe switch

˚ ✦Keep up with me and @my-insanity-is-an-artform 's ocs and if their universes got switched! Tia belongs to them and Aaliyah belongs to me!

Tia introduction

Tia's first moments in Sage's Hyrule

Tia looks at a feral man and decides he won't bit. (Yes he do)

How're the links handling the switch? (This just in; not well)

Tia is kidnapping someone. Even if they go willingly.

The start of it all (Go read this right now)

The Hateno home and The Sheikah

How's Sage doing?

When does the Switch happen?

The chain makes an appearance.

Merging Hyrules

Sage Vs. Fungus

Sage + Fungus Vs. everything else.

Sweetpea is enough.

Fucked around. Found out.

Wild and Cal make their reappearance.

Fungus is gonna be courted, Saaagge.

Sage and Aaliyah are good with kids (And the consequences)

Aaliyah is Regina George coded.

Found Family

Family and getting your back blown out (Those should never intertwine <3)

There are so many parents going around and yet Sage and Aaliyah still act fatherless </3

The Story:

Part 1: Something

Part 2: Portals

Sage acquires a baby

˚ ✦Sage acquires Baby! Reader and just. Takes them.

The acquisition.

Baby is a crawler

The acceptance

Baby's first Lynel attack <3

Mama Wild

Co-parents Sage and Wild

Reader's real parents?

Custody battle Take one

Wild is trusting with child. More on this at seven.

Papa bear sage

Baby has a triforce?

Emotional support animal wolfie

Soft Sage dad

First steps

Monkey.

Dink makes an appearance

Baby Real mom

Baby goats

Navi

Sage and Wild Vs. Legend

Mastermind child

Menace child.

The Gerudo gain momentary custody

Wind is brother coded

Wild took back his custody

˚ ✦My Rules

˚ ✦My Masterlist

˚ ✦Main Navigation

#cinder rambles #yandere linked universe #linked universe x reader #linked universe #yandere legend of zelda #yandere linked universe x reader #linkeduniverse

126 notes · View notes

ghostflowerhotpotch · 9 months

Text

Comics are brutal man

We don't know how much of this would be canon in the movies, if we ever know; but we know this isn't exactly OUR Peni's case because she was sad talking about her father, while in this version she didn't seem to know him.

That being said, oh G-D YOU POOR BABY.

Like, you are a kid, with who knows which relative was looking after her after this (I mean, she didn't know her father, not this "aunt" or "uncle," with whom and how she was living before this?) and tells you now you need to become a superhero because the deadbeat of your father that you never met died recently, and since this thing apparently needs some genetics in order to work, you are the only who can do it.

While I imagine in Sony's Spider-verse movies she did had a relationship with her father, I don't buy she didn't know these "aunt" and "uncle", I keep putting quotes because I am not convinced they aren't just working with this company and moved some strings to fake being relatives.

I also read what people consider her "canon event" and until we get a response in the movies (if we ever do,) I will hc that:

She decided to stick with the Spider Society for similar reasons to Gwen, if going by the comics; I will say that is the amount of trauma she was put under by her "relatives," and to learn that not only did she lose the aunt, but also the uncle let the thing that killed her father kill a little girl and his wife. In other words, she just couldn't handle the situation anymore and jumped ship as soon as the opportunity was given to her; including not realizing this wasn't the best idea either.

She had a close relationship with her father, and her mom died when she was very young and doesn't remember her. Well, turns out that she learns her dad was the pilot of the hero of the city the day he died; and the reason he hid it, was because getting to close to the super hero's life cost her mom's life.

#peni parker #sp//dr #atsv #across the spiderverse #edge of the spiderverse #headcanon #atsv headcanons

91 notes · View notes

anexperimentallife · 6 months

Text

Alex and the Oracle

This is a humorous short I sold many, many years ago, before I even knew I was autistic, but the rights have reverted to me, so I'm in the middle of a rewrite/update in preparation for re-release as part of an "Alex And" collection. The premise (inspired by some of my own weird impulses) was, "What if things that might LOOK like random impulses or compulsions were actually a form of precognition?"

Alex and the Oracle by D. Robert Hamm

The first thing you need to know about Jimmy Cane is that no matter what anybody says about him, he’s not crazy. And I don’t say that just because he’s my best friend. Sure, he once showed up to a black-tie affair wearing lederhosen and leading a ferret on a leash, but I think that falls under "eccentric." Also, in his defense, I’m pretty sure lederhosen are considered formal wear in some parts of the world, he was wearing a black tie, and the invitation did say, “and guest.”

Okay, so maybe he’s a little bit crazy, but if you had Jimmy’s ‘gift,’ you would be, too.

See, Jimmy’s a precog, but not in the traditional sense. He doesn’t actually know what’s going to happen; he just gets these compulsions that usually seem to work out in the end. That whole thing with the lederhosen and the ferret? Set off a Rube Goldberg-type chain of events that saved a guy’s life. In addition to the general agitation that comes when he tries to resist acting on his compulsions, knowing that something as small as, say, what color socks you’re wearing could be a matter of life and death for someone puts a lot of pressure on a guy.

So when I let myself in over at Jimmy’s place to find him on the floor in a bathrobe surrounded by thirty or so cases of diet soda and blowing up an inflatable kiddie pool, it wasn’t the strangest thing I’d ever caught him doing.

“Hi, Alex,” Jimmy said between breaths, “I know, I know. Don't have all the soda yet; I just couldn't wait to get the pool ready.”

Which made perfect sense, in a Jimmy kind of way. I grabbed a couple of Blue Moons from the fridge and kicked back on the couch until he finished with the pool and plopped down next to me, panting. We clinked our bottles together, and he drained about a third of his in one long drought. He sighed and wiped sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his robe.

“Okay,” I said, “Whatcha got?”

We long ago gave up on serious predictions about the outcome of Jimmy’s compulsions, but we make a game of seeing who can come up with the most outrageous guesses. We play as a team against reality, and give ourselves points every time we out-weird what actually happens. Two-on-one odds may seem a little unfair, but reality’s been doing this a lot longer than we have, and it has the home field advantage. So far, reality is winning, and I don’t even want to talk about the point spread.

“Diet soda, kiddie pool… Gotta be a connection there,” Jimmy said. “I was thinking maybe a pile of aspartame-addicted carp showing up on my doorstep.”

“Nah, not weird enough. Make ‘em talking carp and I think we’ve got something. I got a better one, though; how about the Apocalypse is nigh, and diet soda will be the only currency of value in the aftermath?”

“Makes sense; only mutants would actually drink the stuff. But what about the pool?”

“Like you said—mutants.”

“What does a kiddie pool have to do with mutants?”

“Oh, so now I’m supposed to be an expert on genetic anomalies? Maybe it’s their religion.”

Jimmy nodded sagely and stroked the three-day growth of beard on his chin. “Hm…” he said. “Plausible. Hope you’re wrong, though; I think I’m allergic to apocalypses.”

We toasted to our brilliant predictions, and Jimmy went upstairs to get dressed so I could chauffeur him around for the day. He’s got this old VW Microbus, and while it runs great, he hates driving (everyone else hates him driving, too), plus he hadn’t really slept in a couple of days, which meant he’d be a danger to life and limb out on the road alone. (Although, knowing Jimmy, if he actually felt compelled to drive, an angel would get its wings and somebody’s dead dog would come back to life.)

I do a lot of things like that for Jimmy, but it’s not a one-sided deal. He doesn’t really benefit much personally from his gift—in fact, it often screws him over—but it does provide him with just enough resources to take care of basic needs so that he can follow his compulsions full-time with no visible means of support. That seems to include whatever I need in order to get by when I take time off whatever crappy day job I’m working at the time to give him a hand and help clean up his messes.

It’s like some kind of weird temp job where I get to go on wacky adventures with my best friend and still keep up with rent, and even though it’ll never give me financial security, and even though it’s made having any kind of decent career impossible, and even though no girlfriend I’ve found so far has been willing to put up with our little adventures for more than a few months, I challenge you to come up with a better job at any salary.

Because let me tell you, being friends with Jimmy is never boring.

After several years of this kind of thing, Jimmy was showing the strain. Over the past year, I’d seen him almost in tears a few times trying to choose between three identical boxes of cereal, and there was that time he couldn’t sleep unless he wore his shoes on the wrong feet and listened to yodeling records for three days straight. Don’t even get me started on the truckload of frozen mangoes in cold storage.

It was getting to the point where Jimmy wasn’t sure what was a ‘gift’ compulsion, and what was a random impulse, and fewer and fewer of his compulsions were bearing fruit—no mango-related pun intended—or at least none that we could see. But even if he could resist the occasional impulse, he doesn’t dare, just in case doing so might have a disastrous effect on someone else. He’d even started seeing a psychiatrist, but the only thing the doc was able to do for him was prescribe sleeping and anxiety medications.

Even with the meds, or maybe in part because of them, Jimmy was in even worse shape for driving than usual, so it was a damn good thing he’d called me. Once he was ready, I fired up his microbus, and we drove the forty minutes into Kansas City, where we spent the next few hours, stopping at grocery and convenience stores. At each stop, Jimmy pulled case after case of diet soda off the shelves with increasing degrees of agitation. When he found one that “felt right,” he was able to relax for just a few minutes before he started being drawn to the next case. A few places we had to talk them into letting Jimmy go examine the back stock. You’d think they’d refuse, or at least get a little annoyed, but Jimmy has this—I don’t know—this childlike, innocent vulnerability about him that’s hard to say no to. He lives in kind of a different world than most people do, and sort of expects everybody to be as nice and as helpful as he tries to be. It’s hard to say no to Jimmy without feeling like an asshole.

Sometime around ten o’clock that night, Jimmy guided us onto I-35 North, and we waited for the compulsion to tell us where to stop. We finally found the “right” convenience store about halfway to Des Moines, and I hit the men’s room while Jimmy perused the displays. I finished just in time to see Jimmy explode out of the store waving his arms and screaming, “No! Not that one! I need that one!”

He was charging straight at a grizzly bear in denim and plaid flannel. Okay, not an actual bear, but if a real grizzly ever met this guy it’d pee its fur, scream like a twelve-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert, and run crying for its mommy. Man-bear had—you guessed it—a case of diet soda under one arm. Jimmy slammed into him at full speed, and cans flew everywhere.

Man-bear’s face went from surprise to ugly(er). He pulled back a fist the size of my head, and before I could get there Jimmy was flying backwards to land on the blacktop. Man-bear dropped the soda and took a step forward.

“Don’t hurt him,” I hollered. Okay, it was a little late for that.

“You want some, too?” Man-bear said, and I froze. I wasn’t just afraid he was going to beat me up; I was afraid he was going to eat me.

Now, I’m not the world’s bravest guy, but I do think pretty fast when the alternative is getting turned into hamburger. “No, he’s my little brother,” I lied, “I-I take care of him.” It was the best I could come up with. Hey, I said I think fast, not that I do it particularly well.

“Doin’ a pretty crappy job of it.”

“I know,” I didn’t have to fake anguish. Imminent death has that effect on me, especially when it’s mine. “ Look at him, though,” I pointed to where Jimmy was crawling around muttering to himself and gathering up the fallen cans while blood dripped from his nose to the blacktop. “You can see he’s not, y’know, quite all there in the head, can’t you? It’s not his fault.”

The trucker scowled at Jimmy, then at me. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s a little, uh... touched, you know? He gets it in his head that something—like one particular case of soda—is important, and he thinks something bad is going to happen if he doesn’t get it.” Well, that much was true.

I spread out my hands in appeal. “Look, I’ll pay for the soda. Hell, I’ll buy you ten cases.” Man-bear was silent. “C’mon, man, do you have a brother?”

Man-bear looked at Jimmy again and nodded slowly. He sniffed, then in a wilted growl said, “Keep your money. Tell him I ain’t gonna hurt him no more.”

While I stood gaping, Man-bear pulled a grocery bag from the cab of his truck, got down on all fours, and started gathering up the cans along with Jimmy. It took me probably half a minute or so to pick up my jaw enough to pitch in myself. Man-bear even got a cold pack from the cooler behind his seat for Jimmy’s face, and before he got back into his rig, shook Jimmy’s and my hands and said that while he wasn’t going to give any details, we’d changed his life.

Once Bruce’s rig was out of sight and we were back in the Microbus, Jimmy grinned at me, split lip, bloody nose, and all. “Alex, you were brill—”

And for the second time that day, Jimmy got punched in the face. Some things simply have to be done.

“Ow. What was that for?”

I glared at him, trying to ignore the fact that I felt like a total ass for hitting him. “I felt compelled, okay?” I started the car and pointed us back toward Lawrence. “I’m getting worried about you, man.”

“Yes, I could sense the concern in your loving punch.”

“Sorry about that, but are you nuts? That could have gone a lot worse than a punch in the face.”

“Two punches,” he said.

“Okay, two punches. I said I was sorry. But man, that has got to be the craziest thing you’ve ever done, and I’ve seen you do some crazy shit. Did you see the size of that guy? He’d give Mount Everest a Napoleon complex. We could have ended up in the hospital. Or jail. Or both. Hell, maybe even the morgue. Did you even stop to think we could have just politely offered to buy the soda from him instead of trying to tackle him?”

Jimmy’s face went slack. He stared at me for a few seconds, then hung his head. When he spoke, he sounded even more tired and beaten up than he looked. “I was so caught up in...” He looked back up at me. “You really do take care of me, Alex. And I don’t say thank you enough, but you never complain, and then tonight I almost got you… I’m sorry, Alex. It’s just… This is a bad one.”

I very carefully didn’t look at him. “Just think next time, okay?” I threw in some Ramones to cut short the Hallmark moment, and we cruised along to Blitzkrieg Bop.

About halfway through I Wanna Be Sedated, Jimmy turned off the music. “Hey, Alex? If we changed that guy’s life like he said, this diet soda thing is starting to play out, right?”

“Looks like. I just think it could have been handled differently.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I know, but if it’s starting to play out, my ‘gift’ or whatever should stop poking at me, or at least ease off a little, but it’s getting worse. And there are all those other cases.”

“Jimmy, I—”

“This so-called ‘gift’ pretty much runs my life, Alex, and it’s getting worse, and I can’t control it. I never wanted it to begin with. What if it gets one of us killed someday?”

I didn’t have an answer. When we got back to his place I was going to hang around to make sure he was okay, but he said he’d put me in harm’s way enough for one weekend. There wasn’t much I could do except make him promise to call me if he needed me.

My phone woke me a little before three a.m. the next night, which would have been fine if it were a supermodel calling to profess her undying love, but that, I decided, was an unlikely scenario, and stuck my head under the pillow to wait for the ringing to stop.

It didn’t.

“I have a hammer,” I yelled, “and I’m not afraid to use it.” Apparently the phone was unafraid of percussive maintenance. I tracked it to the pile of laundry under which it had made its rebel lair, and flipped it open. “Please state the nature of your emergency.”

“Alex! I’m glad you’re up.” Jimmy sounded like an auctioneer who’d been up all night mainlining double-espressos. “I dialed you like, nine times. Are you busy?”

“No, I was just going through the yellow pages trying to find a re-education camp for wayward cell phones. Look, it’s three AM, and you don’t sound like a buxom supermodel.”

“That has never been my aspiration. You said to call if I needed you. And I do. So I am. It’s the soda thing.”

I squeezed the bridge of my nose and censored myself. I had told him to call. “Okay, what do you need?”

“I know how to make it stop. Gotta get one more case and get to this little spring in the Flint Hills. About a hundred and fifty miles. Don’t trust myself to drive that far.” He giggled and switched to a bad falsetto. “Help us, Obi Wan. You’re our only hope.”

“You can’t play the princess-in-distress card, Jimmy. First, it’s not fair, and second, you know I’m already in.” If he didn’t trust himself to drive, I sure as hell didn’t, especially when he sounded that out of it.

Half an hour later Jimmy lurched in and knocked (in that order) dressed much like “The Dude,” from The Big Liebowski, only Jimmy’s bathrobe was fuchsia. He banged his shin on the coffee table, but barely seemed to notice. His nose and lip were still swollen, and his eyes were spider-webbed with red, but he was practically vibrating with nervous energy.

“You look like crap,” I said. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Can’t sleep. Gotta go. Here.” He dug into the pockets of his robe and handed me a printed-out map along with the keys to his old VW min-bus.

“Okay,” I said, “but shouldn’t you be wearing pants?”

He looked down at himself and frowned. “What’s wrong with swimming trunks?”

“Dude.”

“Okay, okay. But we gotta hurry.” Jimmy’s a little smaller than I am, but I managed to find some clothes that didn’t fit him too badly. (I let the Cthulhu slippers slide. You have to pick your battles.)

Jimmy had a bunch of those big plastic bottles—the kind that go on top of home water coolers— filled with slightly brownish water and strapped together in the kiddie pool in the back of the mini-bus. “What the—”

“No time. I’ll explain on the way.”

By the time I had the mini-bus in gear he was already asleep, slumped against the passenger door. I knew how this worked, though. As soon as I stopped heading toward our destination he’d wake up frantic. Besides, I probably wouldn’t get anything coherent out of him until he’d napped, so I bit down on my curiosity.

He woke up about halfway there. “Take the next exit,” he said. “That’s where the last case is.”

I pulled off the highway. “You wanna fill me in now? And please tell me we’re not going to get our asses handed to us by a human grizzly again?”

He laughed, bouncing up and down on his seat. “No promises on that count, but I don’t think so. As for filling you in... Wait. Turn here.” We pulled into a service station with all its lights out. Jimmy opened his door.

“Dude, they’re closed.”

“Gonna check the hours on the door and see how long we have to wait.”

The station wouldn’t open for three more hours. “All right,” I said, “That’s plenty of time to fill me in, so spill.”

“I’ll warn you, it’s going to sound crazy. I’m going to sound crazy, but hear me out, okay?”

I said I would, and he continued. “You saw how I got earlier. I had to get some sleep before I finished this thing or I was going to fall apart. Or even worse, screw it up. But I couldn’t. I even took a sleeping pill, but all it did was make me spacey. I finally gave in around one and poured the soda into the kiddie pool.”

He paused and stared out the window. “Keep going,” I said, “You poured the soda into the swimming pool, and then what happened?”

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I started pouring, and there was this... face.”

“What, at the window? Somebody was watching you?”

“No, in the pool. A woman’s face, there in the soda.”

Now that topped the weirdometer, even for Jimmy. “Right. You’re sleep-deprived, and like you said, you were on sleeping pills. People see things.”

“Whatever. Anyway, it freaked me out,” he said.

“Understandably.”

He got quieter. “Her lips started moving. She was saying, ‘help me.’”

“Hang on—You know it wasn’t real, right? Unless... Is your ‘gift’ giving you visuals now?”

He didn’t seem to hear me. “What could I do?” he said. “The more I poured, the more of her there was, until there was this… this beautiful woman standing in the middle of the pool. She was real, Alex. She had sort of blue-tinted skin and long green hair, and she reached out of the pool and called me her hero and kissed me, and—Hey, what are you doing?”

“I’m starting the engine. And unless I hear something of the not-crazy variety come out of your mouth in the next five seconds I’m turning around.”

“Wait, Alex. Don’t freak out on me.”

“We’re way past that. Look, it’s probably just sleep deprivation combined with Ambien, but we gotta get you looked at.”

Jimmy grabbed my sleeve. Not like he was trying to pull my hand off the steering wheel, but just to emphasize his words. “Alex,” he said. “Please. I’m not crazy.”

“Maybe not, but something’s wrong. What kind of a friend would I be if I—”

“Okay, okay” he said, “Just for argument’s sake, let’s say I was hallucinating, and that it’s from not sleeping because of this compulsion. What’s the fastest way to fix that? The only way to fix it?”

I sighed. “Seeing it through.”

“So see this through with me, give me a day or two to catch up on sleep, and if you still think I’ve lost it, I’ll go to a doctor or whatever you want. I mean, come on, it’s a few hours of driving is all, and then we’re done with it, I promise. Deal?”

I rolled my eyes and climbed into the back to stretch out by the kiddie pool. “Damn it, Jimmy, there’d better be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.”

It only took a few minutes for me to doze off. I couldn’t have been asleep for long, though, when I woke to shrill ringing. Jimmy jumped into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and started the engine. We threw gravel getting back on the road.

“What the—” I looked back at the service station. The front window was broken out. “Jimmy! What did you do?”

“I couldn’t wait. She can’t hold out much longer.”

I climbed toward the front. “That’s it. You’ve lost it, man. Pull over right now. If you pay for the damages they’ll probably let you off with probation.”

Jimmy’s voice was choked and he was blinking back tears. “You don’t understand. She’s dying. There weren’t any security cameras, and I left money on the counter to pay for the window. If I drive fast we won’t get caught.”

“We? I didn’t do anything except ride along with a crazy man!” I reached for the steering wheel, but we were already going fast enough that I’d probably flip us if I grabbed it. I got out my phone. “Pull over now or I’m calling the police.”

I wasn’t really going to. As far gone as he was, he might try to outrun them, and things would only get worse.

He called my bluff. “Go ahead. If you’re still my friend, though, wait until it’s over.”

There wasn’t much of an alternative. About an hour later Jimmy turned onto a dirt road. When we got to the end of it and bounced to a stop I grabbed the keys from the ignition.

“Help me with the bottles,” Jimmy said, “The spring is just a little ways off.” He unbuckled himself and moved toward the back. I grabbed his arm, and he looked me square in the face. I have never seen him so determined. “What are you going to do, Alex? Hit me again?”

Ouch. I let go, and Jimmy’s expression softened. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I can prove I’m not.”

He started pulling stoppers out of the water bottles. “I hope she’s up to this. She’s in pretty bad shape, or I’d have tried it earlier.”

I had to clench my jaw to keep from responding. Jimmy un-stoppered the last bottle and leaned over it murmuring. “I know,” he said, “But we have to prove to my friend that you’re real before he’ll help us get you home.” He turned to me. “She wants you to know that not all of this is her. Some of it’s just regular water and soda.”

“Great,” I said, “Tell her those bottles don’t make her butt look big. Honest.”

Jimmy scowled at me, and I was about to say something more when the water moved. Trickles from each bottle snaked up and joined to form a translucent face like in, what was that movie... The Abyss or something. It—correction, she—stuck out her tongue at me before turning to Jimmy with an expression of such adoration that it broke my heart. The sun was rising, and it glinted off of her in reds and golds. Jimmy touched her lips with his fingers and she kissed them, then lost cohesion and flowed back into her bottles.

All I could do was stare.

“Well,” Jimmy said, “Am I crazy?”

Either she was real, or Jimmy’s insanity was contagious. I preferred to believe the former. I had to work my mouth a bit before anything came out. There isn’t much to say when you witness the impossible. “What are we waiting for,” I growled, “Let’s get her home.”

We used the deflated kiddie pool as a sled where we could, and carried the bottles one by one over the rough spots until we reached the spring.

Jimmy finished filling me in on the way. The woman’s name was D’lahna, and she was a naiad, a water nymph. She’d been exploring “Overhill,” as she called it, when she somehow got stuck in a soda bottling plant. She wouldn’t have lasted much longer if not for Jimmy and his gift.

We poured first the bottles, then the final case of soda, into the spring, and D’lahna rose up out of it more beautiful than you can imagine. And very, very naked. I stood staring until Jimmy punched me in the arm. “Hey. Mine.”

“Sorry.” I averted my eyes. Kind of. Hey, she might have been my best friend’s girl, but she was gorgeous. I tried not to gape at her, and searched desperately for a way to cover the awkwardness. How do you make small talk with a mythological creature?

“So, uh...” I said, “Sorry about the whole thinking you were imaginary thing. Nice place you’ve got here. Love what you’ve done with it. Seems like a quiet neighborhood.”

D’lahna laughed. If you’ve never heard a nymph’s voice, I can’t really describe it to you except to say it sort of... sparkles. “Your friend is funny,” she said to Jimmy, then looked at me. “This isn’t where I live, Alex, but it will get us there.”

It took me a moment to process that. “Us?”

I turned to Jimmy, who had just stripped naked. (Now there’s a sight I hope to never see again.) He grinned at me. “I’m going with her,” he said.

“But you... She... You can’t...”

“It’s okay,” Jimmy put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll be in touch.”

They offered to take me with them, but instead I watched as Jimmy took D’lahna’s hand and waded into the middle of the spring with her. They turned translucent and flowed into the water.

It was a long drive home, and I thought about the two of them all the way.

Two weeks later I turned on the kitchen faucet, and out came an invitation to Jimmy and D’lahna’s engagement party. They’ve already set me up with a date—a wood nymph friend of D’lahna’s who, Jimmy thinks, just might break my losing streak. He mentioned a possible job offer, too.

And guess what D'lahna's family's favorite fruit is? Yeah, at least now I know what to do with all those frozen mangoes.

#writing #urban fantasy #rob writes #my writing

63 notes · View notes

unicorncornflakes · 8 months

Text

Dark Desire - Modern AU! | Chapter 15

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Paring: Aemond Targaryen x Niece!Reader

Summary: Aemond doesn't know how he feels every time he sees you. Neither do you when you look at him. Your father Aegon has always been absent from your upbringing ever since he divorced your mother. That role has been filled by Aemond until last summer, when everything changed.

Tags: Alternate Universe – Modern/ Setting Emotional Hurt/ Comfort/ Drama & Romance/ Eventual Smut.

Warnings: This fic includes manipulation, violence, death, and inc3st, at some points. Reader has purple eyes and her mother is from Dayne House, the rest is complete free :D

Tag-List (If you wanna be tagged in thi series or all of my work, let me know): @afro-hispwriter @chainsawsangel @thetrueblackheart @atherverybest @itsabby15 @boundlessfantasy @partypoison00 @glame @tempo-rary-fix @tssf-imagines @aaaaaamond @imaloserbby @youngcomputerpuppy @aemondsfavouritebastard @cloudroomblog @queenofshinigamis @wooya1224 @serving-targaryen-realness @darkenchantress @padfooteyes @mariannnavao @moonlightfoxx @jennifer0305 @ammo23 @iloveallmyboys @bellameshipper @okfashionista @shelbyteller @dahlias-and-marigolds @the-knights-of-ne @bellaisasleep

General Tag-List (If you wanna be tagged in thi series or all of my work, let me know): @thedamewithabook @bluevxnus @hiddencurator @tempt-ress @watercolorskyy

Acknowledgment: To @ammo23 Thank you for everything, as always :D

Author´s note: Pls, enjoy! Feedback, shares and comments are always welcome!

Word Count: 5.3K

"It was a matter of blood purity," Daemon commented as he leaned back in the lawn chair. He took a sip of an alcoholic drink that Aemond couldn't decipher and continued with his speech. “We did it because we are supposed to be closer to the gods than to mortals. Don't you think we still are?" his uncle asked with a mischievous smile on his lips. A way if you doubt to check to what extent Aemond was a Targaryen. Undoubtedly, that teenager who only had one eye wanted to be the most Targaryen of all. He better if possible. The smartest, the strongest, the most skillful... the most ambitious.

Aemond had not forgotten his uncle's words when he had lost his eye. Daemon had always said he deserved it, but this fourteen-year-old boy wanted to be the best Targaryen he could be, and he could only learn from what had always seemed the closest to what he aspired to be: his uncle Daemon. It was normal to see them together talking about philosophy or history. Aemond was a clever boy, and he himself had found that his uncle was a much better example than his father. Aemond hated to see how his father devoted more time to that model of the old Valirya than to him, he hated how his father was always thinking of his name and how he preferred Rhaenyra over him. His father hadn't said anything when Lucerys had gouged out his eye like an animal…he always lost, and although Daemon preferred Rhaenyra, his uncle didn't make him feel like a loser with his conversations every time he came to visit the family home. . Rather, it made him feel like an opponent, and that was something Aemond could come to enjoy.

Both uncle and nephew were under the shade of one of the trees in the garden, near the pool, in the same place where Alicent had placed everything to have breakfast together every summer. But, at that moment, it had become the ideal place for Daemon and his nephew to discuss the last birthday present he had given him: a book on family history, specifically on the multiple consanguineous and incestuous marriages that had led to them until that moment.

"It's something that hasn't been done in 500 years... for the sake of our genetics," Aemond commented, just that year he had taken the genetics elective at school. He had learned to make those variable trees that he had enjoyed so much during the last academic year, so he knew that his eyes and hair were recessive genes. Having them was almost miraculous considering his mother's genes... but, perhaps his uncle was right, perhaps they were closer to the gods than to men. He liked that thought. It made him feel even better for it. Many gods had given an eye for wisdom, he had studied it in High Valyrian class. He had exchanged it for a precocious maturity that undoubtedly made him the wisest of all his family, at least of his brothers. While they were wasting time in the pool, he continued with his uncle, commenting on that wonderful book. "In class, we have studied..." he tried to continue his scientific and correct discourse with society, but Daemon interrupted him in a whisper.

“Our ancestors are supposed to have conquered the west and flew on dragons. We are not like the others, Aemond.” He took another drink again, making the ice in the glass tinkle. "Even you, being half Hightower, are not like the others" declared his uncle, making him see the importance of what he really was to that boy.

"In the book... they say that we are doomed to find pleasure only in our own blood" Aemond commented in a whisper, just at that moment when he observed the sly smile that Daemon gave him his older sister, that lascivious look while Rhaenyra played with their children in the pool. Daemon turned a cold gaze on his nephew, as if he had hit him where it hurt most without knowing it.

“Pleasure is found in the most unexpected places, Aemond. But, we, those of us who descend from Ancient Valyria, don't find it like the others” he declared again, almost like a dark confession that Aemond began to become aware of from that moment on. “Perhaps we are doomed to it, but we are not like the others. We are better" he whispered again.

That entire conversation with Daemon could simply be summed up as a man's obsession with lineage and power, because Daemon Targaryen came down to those two words at the end of the day. With those words, he confessed to his nephew all his obsession with the purity of his family's blood, which had been threatened by his mother's meddling in the same family line. He and his brothers were from Ancient Valyria. They... had the obligation to safeguard what Daemon's eyes lit up when he spoke. That young boy absorbed like a sponge everything that his revered uncle spoke, his example to follow.

They were an elite, and although that young Aemond wanted to believe that those words never affected him, they did. In an unconscious way, they affected a boy who had little to do with the world around him. Daemon had inoculated him with the same malady from which he suffered. Not only had he succeeded in turning Aemond into a vengeful and ambitious boy. With that speech that lasted almost hours, he managed to convince him of his ideals regarding his family. Aemond scorned each and every one of Helaena's boyfriends until Jace came along, who didn't seem good enough either, but his sister stood up. He had to endure and swallow as his brother impregnated a girl from the south…as Daeron presented himself with a girl each less like what they needed. Incest was off the table, especially since that scandal between Daemon and Rhaenyra had come to light, but not assembling with people from High Valyria. Maintain himself as he had to, as Daemon had taught him... He was a Targaryen, and Targaryens should always join other Targaryens... That idea always hovered over his head. He tried to lock her up deep, and everything had worked fine until you came of age. Much to the misfortune of both.

"What a beautiful girl" Daemon looked at that photo that had just come out of the developing liquid in that dark room. He stared at it. He tried to find something in your image that would remind him of his beautiful Rhaenyra, but it was not the case. The red and black contrasts in that room showed him that your features were far from those of a Targaryen, or at least from what was considered a Targaryen for Daemon. "She looks like her mother" he commented while closely following the work of that photographer. That young boy worked methodically, revealing his work for that week, that work that his boss, Little Finger, had ordered him to keep secret from Whispers magazine. "She doesn't even look like a Targaryen..." the old dragon began, but that boy, who had barely exchanged two words with him beyond the greeting, interrupted him.

"She has purple eyes, it's just that you can't see it in the photos" Lucious Tyrell was a young man who aspired to be a photographer for one of the Westeros gossip magazines. His father said that he should find a real job, not that hobby that barely came to pay for the relief materials. He was a young man educated in the old school of photography. He never used digital cameras. Never a computer. He made magic with his developing liquids, with those photographs that showed the grain of the film he used to capture them. He made art, although he knew that his art was paid with frivolity. He did not care. He had never cared. He felt Daemon's eyes on his work as he developed a photo of you getting out of the family car at a Hightower hotel.

“I love black and white photographs. They make me feel like I'm in a spy movie” the old man who had been the owner of all Westeros smiled weakly. Now it was his nephew. Lucious knew that story well, after all he worked in that world. And yes, that passion that Daemon showed for analog work had been what had gotten him that job. The first great job of his life. The highest paid so far. Lucious didn't know why but the Daemon Targaryen had only hired him to photograph you. Solely and exclusively, for that, and keep silent about all that photo that could take of you. At the moment, Lucious didn't understand anything.

He moved on to the next photograph, under Daemon's watchful eye. He didn't understand why that man was so interested in following you. Lucious had simply drawn one conclusion from those three days in which he had followed you: you were a girl who spent most of her day alone. You rarely left the mansion and tended to go to the same store to buy drawing supplies, only to return before your uncle came home. That was the only thing that was always fulfilled in your routine, you returned before Aemond entered with his car through the door of the family home. Lucious didn't think your profile was important, and yet he was facing the biggest job of his life without knowing it. He was not a journalist, but an artist who took good photos with an undeniable eye for curiosity. The liquid in that tray revealed a rather nice photo of you on the photographic paper. You looked sideways at the target without knowing it, only your face and part of your hair blowing in the wind. You were… a real beauty. Lucious wouldn't have minded being photographed under other circumstances, because you certainly didn't possess typical Targaryen beauty, but you were a mix between dragons and a gorgeous Dornish woman. You were so much better than a Targaryen, at least in the eyes of this boy, who had always praised himself for having a talent for finding beauty.

"Do you think she has a boyfriend, boy?" Daemon asked just as he saw the almost sweet and peaceful way in which that young man wrung out the photographic paper to take it to the tray with the fixer. Lucious looked confused at that old man, who had now sat next to him while he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief on which his initials were embroidered. The young Tyrell was able to notice something: Daemon Targaryen was dying or at least he was not in optimal health. His hands trembled and his eyes were almost bloody, with the entire area that should have been white furrowed by numerous blood vessels, each more intricate. Lucious looked at your photo one more time before answering.

"Is it some kind of test?" he said, scrutinizing Daemon with his eyes, who smiled pleased at that answer. Undoubtedly, this was some kind of test on the part of the old dragon. Lucious looked at your photograph one more time before answering, trying to analyze it with what little journalistic nose he had. He wasn't a spy, although it seemed that Daemon Targaryen wanted to play that very thing. "I imagine she has, but he doesn't show up much with her or at least I haven't seen him these days" he said with a shrug. Lucious knew that there was something in you that told him that his assumption was true.

"You're quite the hound, boy" Daemon laughed again. "The truth is that I have to be honest with you, because deep down I like you, even if we haven't talked much" that old man smiled at him. And the tall garden boy stopped working. “I don't need just a photographer. I need a spy, an undercover detective. I've always liked cop novels, you know?" he confessed to him, while he got up again from that small chair and walked with his hands behind his back looking at the photos that were now slipping. They were all magnificent, without a doubt that boy had talent. In the end, Daemon even regretted choosing him. He knew that once his plan was finished, that little boy might not come out very well in the face of his beloved nephew's wrath. “This job you have in hand will never be published. But, I'll get you a good position in the magazine you want and I'll pay you even better” Daemon laughed to himself again at those words. Actually, Aemond was the one who was going to pay for it. He would use the account that the one-eyed dragon left him to pay that boy. It was a sweet irony that Dameon was beginning to enjoy.

“What is this all about?” asked the young photographer. That had begun to scale, what was Daemon Targaryen up to? He knew that it couldn't be good due to the secrecy of everything that surrounded him, but he was beginning to not know what to think of that job. His instinct told him not to go through with it. His checking account screamed at him to continue. He ignored the frist. "What do I have to find out?" he asked, curious and scared in equal measure, messing with dragons was always dangerous. He was scared to be photographing you, but he was even more scared to say no to Daemon Targaryen, just like from Aemond, he'd heard all sorts of things that were best ignored for one's own good.

"This is the daughter of Aegon Targaryen, although given your job it's something you should already know" he commented as he picked up a photo of you that hadn't finished drying yet. You certainly had pretty eyes. Very nice. Aemond had to enjoy having you kneel before him. "And if today's journalists did their job, they would know that she harbors a dark secret, a dark desire," he explained in a whisper, turning back to look at Lucious. The boy looked at one of your photos again, how could you hide something shady? It was impossible, you were just a girl a couple of years younger than him. "I want you to photograph that secret and bring it before me" the old Dragon smiled enigmatically.

The boy stood there, considering his answer. However, he spoke and Daemon smiled. Youth and stupidity were something that always went hand in hand. “How will I know what to photograph? It is clear that you know what it is��” he commented.

"Oh, do not worry. You will know what I want you to photograph” he smiled macabrely. “By the way, we hadn't talked about it, but I don't want the photos to be digitized, I don't want you to keep any copies, or the negatives. All these photos are completely mine” he commented more parts of that deal.

"Yes, of course" replied the boy. That must have been something lurid, but that was also part of what he wanted to dedicate himself to, right? No one said it was an easy thing to be a renowned photographer, though Lucious Tyrell's career had ended the moment he first shook hands with Daemon Targaryen.

“This young lady is going on a trip to Sunspear. Tomorrow her flight leaves in a private jet for the capital of Dorne, and you are going to follow her on the commercial flight that leaves at the same time” Daemon informed him. “I want you to get all these photos developed and set up before tonight. I already have plans with them and I need them” He inform him again and Lucious looked again at your image on the developed paper. He would prepare everything, negatives included, to give to Daemon, but he couldn't get it out of his head why a girl like you was so important to someone who had been out of the public eye for so long.

Lucious didn't know it, but on the journey to Dorne he would find out why you were so important to Daemon Targaryen, and he would be the last to know the dark secret you guarded so closely. The last to know. No one else would know, unfortunately for him. He would take that secret to the grave.

Only your grandmother Alicent had wished you a good trip. The others were simply missing. Daeron had some company business to sort out. Helaena was on vacation with her husband and their little ones. She had taken them to see the sea for the first time at dragonstone. Your father had simply disappeared after speaking to Aemond two nights before. You'd never say anything, but you were sure he was drowning in alcohol for a change. You sighed and looked back at your book, only to finally leave it abandoned on the seat next to you. You weren't in the mood to read. You really weren't in the mood at all. This was your last trip with Aemond, also the only one before you returned to Sunspear in two weeks to start the academic year. The idea excited you, at the same time that it scared you. Aemond had said to come see you, but…you knew how busy he really was always.

You stretched out in your seat and looked at him. Sitting across from you, he was going over some company reports in silence. After those months shadowing him, you had realized that he was really just working. He took you to dinner, to exhibitions, you made love in hotel rooms that cost a month's salary for the entire company... and then he patiently and quietly returned to his work. He took you shopping, fulfilled your wishes, and asked for little more than to caress your hand under the tablecloth at the end of the day. He worked for his family and because it was a way to show that he was better than the others. It must be exhausting to be like this all day.

Seeing you stretch, he smiled cockily and amusedly. You knew that smile well and it kind of indicated that he was in a good mood. Without taking my eyes off his reports, he speak to you in that diligent tone that concealed much more than it wanted to show when you were surrounded by people. "Are you tired, niece? Didn't you sleep well last night?" He licked his lips, remembering the salty taste of your crotch from the night before. It had been quite a delicacy that he had devoured with enough spirit.

"I have rested very well, man" you looked at him from under your eyelashes while you crossed your legs, in a reflection of pleasure at remembering the night before. Aemond took a small swallow from his whiskey glass, never taking his one eye off of you. The sexual tension between the two was always more than palpable. You were surprised that no one suspected anything, especially after the audacity that Aemond had had the night before. "Someone helped me rest better than I expected" you whispered flirtatiously and he licked his lips again.

"It was fine?" he asked you in an arrogant manner, knowing the answer in advance. He had come home stressed from work, from preparing the entire congress on that occasion due to the absence of Alys and... he had asked her at the last minute to go with him. He hadn't taken her on the private jet like other years, but he had bought her last-minute commercial flight tickets, almost as if he saw that Alys really didn't deserve to be pushed aside. Stressed and tired from such a long day, Aemond had had no better idea than to head to your room in the middle of the night, when the whole house was asleep.

He wanted to explain to you his last minute decision about taking Alys to the conference, in case that made you jealous, and he had only ended up with a terrible boner when he saw you sleep with only those pink panties that he himself had bought you a couple of weeks ago. The room smelled like you had touched yourself and your uncle stood in front of the bed. He could see the sticky wet spot between your legs and at that moment, without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he knelt in front of you on the bed. The extra weight on the bed and the creaking of the springs made you wake up.

You opened your eyes in fright, but you only saw the sensual image of Aemond in his half-unbuttoned shirt, his dress pants, and a terrible erection that blatantly pressed against the fabric. Between your legs and with his hair loose, his hands calmly and slowly slid your panties. Savoring your every move, while his fingertips sent chills through your body, Aemond never took his eyes off his target. Wet. Soggy. Clingy. He licked his lips in silence again and ended up taking off your panties without any resistance. This was his reward after a long day at work. That was just what he deserved, and you were going to give it to him like the docile girl that you were.

You closed your legs playfully and he growled almost animalistically as he opened them again. That grunt brought you back to the reality of your half-asleep state. You were in the family home, anyone could catch you... you looked at Aemond with concern while he continued with his eyes fixed on that humid cave and that he intended to enjoy. You have never been so daring. All your sexual encounters had taken place outside of that place. Never between those four walls. The stakes were too high to do so.

"I'm so hungry" he whispered as he began to kiss your inner thighs and you stopped him with a wait said in a scared whisper and you could see that he had annoyed him. He had had a bad day. He didn't want you to deny him what he wanted so much.

"They could hear us" you whispered and he smirked again, as if you were a little girl who had to explain everything to. He liked to feel superior, you had verified it in those months and that moment was no different. Also, you could tell that Aemond had begun to feel untouchable, having paid such huge amounts of money to almost every media outlet to remove those images of him rescuing you from the crowd at the charity gala. He almost seemed to have learned that money could buy everything…he was getting more daring to be together. Nobody suspected anything, nobody thought anything about you... and he would buy silence if the case had to come.

"Your father is not here. The servants' quarters are a long way away and my mother has taken her sleeping medication…” he purred suggestively, as if this was the moment he had waited his whole life for, because she really thought she could control everything about your relationship. Weren't those days proof of that? "I'm going to take care of everything, my little dragon" He whispered again, with that paternalistic tone, in a mixture of desire and control, that he knew would turn you on.

You lay back on the bed with a smile painted on your lips. Everything with Aemond seemed easy and that was another step in your relationship. You had never made love at home before and that was normalizing what you felt, what was happening between you. You felt another kiss from your uncle on your mount of Venus and then he slowly licked the slit of your pussy. You laughed and smiled. You moaned his name and almost squealed as he continued to eat your pussy like the great delicacy it was to him.

He ate your pussy until you cum, until you were sensitive enough to beg him to stop. He had risen arrogant from the bed and his chin shiny from your slippery juices and you a babbling mess between your own sheets. Aemond grabbed your hair with a grimace that was stoic again. He tugged at your hair as his other hand undid his belt and pants. “I don't want you to touch yourself again while we're under the same roof,” he growled domineeringly, pulling his cock out of his pants and offering it to you. The bright red tip just for you and in front of you. You licked your lips and he again outlined a half smile. This was what he needed, just this. "Have you understood me?" he whispered, dominant, possessive and jealous of not having shared those previous moments with you.

You nodded silently and began to suck him, fixing your purple eyes on him. "Good girl," he whispered under his breath again, though the playful, slow pace you'd begun to set was short-lived. In need of you, he ended up setting the pace by grabbing your hair. That was heaven, heaven itself and that paradise on earth was just about to end for both of you.

You were going to praise him one more time when one of the stewardesses approached you and asked if you wanted something to drink, since you had turned red in a single moment. You tried to verbalize something out of embarrassment and simply asked for a soda while your uncle asked that girl for another whiskey. "Of course, Mr. Targaryen" you saw her waddle right in front of him and for a moment, jealousy coursed through you. It was a girl a couple of years older than you, with a more than short uniform and exquisite manners. Surely she would speak several languages... and... and...

"I'm going to the bathroom for a moment" you whispered rudely and Aemond raised an eyebrow questioningly, but you didn't see it. You just locked yourself in the little bathroom stall by yourself. You needed to think. Were you prepared to leave Aemond once the studies began? Maybe not, you never would be. You felt like a little girl. What was happening to you? Why had a mere waddle of a woman you didn't even know in front of Aemond make you jealous? You remained for a couple of moments sitting on the bathroom floor, thinking about what was happening to you and trying to put all your thoughts back in order. Finally you went out and found that same girl with a worried face. She asked you if you were okay, and the truth is that you hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks... the nerves of going to Sunspear alone and away from Aemond had turned your stomach and being on the defensive about things that you hardly cared about before . You politely replied that you were fine and returned to your place in front of your uncle. The girl returned shortly with some motion sickness pills for you and juice and whiskey on the rocks for your uncle. You didn't even look at him, embarrassed and still jealous.

“Hmm. I thought that a juice would do you better if you're dizzy” he commented, putting aside the reports and fixing his eye on you. He would always care about you, gods, he always would.

"I'm not dizzy" you declared in a bad way, as if you were to blame for the way that woman acted and you slipped into the seat. First he had decided to take Alys to the conference, which to a certain extent might seem necessary, then… then he had allowed that stewardess to flirt with him. Aemond had always been jealous of almost every man who had come close to you, but now you were insecure where none of that feeling had existed before. What was going on with you?

“I know you're not dizzy,” your uncle declared, reaching out to caress one of your hands, and at that moment, the confession you needed came. “It's always you, it's always going to be you. You know there will be no one else" he told you devotedly. You saw sincerity in his eyes, and you knew at that moment that there was much more to you than that dark desire that you both hid as best you could. You were made for each other and so it would be until the end of your days. Really, you were in love with each other and nothing was going to change that.

Alys grabbed her suitcase, though Robert from accounting ran over to help her. That had been the first year that Alys had traveled with the rest of the employees who attended the conference. She hadn't traveled on the private jet of the Targaryen family, but at least she had finally traveled to the congress. Meg, from human resources, also waited for Robert to take his suitcase and Rickon managed his luggage himself. The secretary was not going to lie: it had been nice to travel with her companions. They were all pretty good people and the best in their respective departments. The least visible faces, but the hardest workers in the company. Aemond hand-picked them each year and paid for their entire trip to the conference, where they would work, of course, but also enjoy whatever the sundown had to offer. As they waited for Meg's last suitcase, a young photographer picked up his last bag. This looked like a telephoto lens, and it caught Alys's eye. Normally, photographers attending the conference from all parts of Westeros just brought their cameras. Not such an extremely large telephoto lens. The boy threw it behind his back, without a doubt he would work as much or more than them, given the number of great personalities that came together in that place. But, Alys didn't give it any more importance after so many hours of flight and when Meg's suitcase finally appeared on the tape, she didn't think of anything other than getting to the hotel with the rest of her colleges and taking a shower. Although this year he would share a room with Meg, who smiled sincerely at him as they took the suitcase from the carousel together once Robert and Rickon had run to catch a taxi to get to the hotel, or at least to try to.

"I'm sorry you're sleeping with me this year, but you can shower first when we get there." Meg had almost read her thoughts. Actually, they all seemed quite afraid of Alys. She was with the boss or at least the boss's last known lover. Everyone at Targaryen Industries respected her, even if she was no longer pictured arm in arm with Aemond or traveled or slept with him anymore.

"For me it's like we showered together, but let's get to the hotel" she joked tiredly and Meg laughed with her. They dragged their suitcases tired and starting to feel the high temperatures of Sunspear. They finally got a taxi and just when Alys was going to enter the last one, she recognized you in the crowd, getting into the limousine that was waiting for Aemond and in which she always she had gone until that year. But, she did not feel jealous. For the first time in her life, Alys wanted to help another woman. She greeted you without saying a single word and you did the same with a sweet smile. Just then Aemond came in right behind you and Alys watched as the limo pulled away. You were too sweet and too well tamed by Aemond. And this new girl was about to pay the price, even if Alys tried to make that never happen.

#aemond x y/n #aemond smut #aemond targaryen smut #aemond targaryen modern au #aemond targaryen x you #aemond modern au #aemond targaryen x y/n #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen imagine #aemond targaryen x fem!reader

93 notes · View notes

married-to-a-redhead · 8 months

Text

What makes a redhead special? Well, if we’re talking genetics, we’re a pretty rare bunch (we’re 2% of the world population). We have a pretty high pain tolerance, we make our own vitamin D, and we’re more sensitive to temperature change. Basically we’re mutants.

People think we’re witches. That we steal souls (but seriously, you better watch out). That redheads are highly sexual (you have to find that one out for yourself). Mostly though, we’re a fucking tough bunch, probably because people have been making smart ass comments about our hair since kindergarten. We do have a fiery temperament, and we don’t take any shit. Mark Twain said we were descended from cats instead of apes, and I can kind of see that.

But honestly, redhead is a state of mind and soul. I know a lot of women who are redheaded at heart. And every women should try going red at least once in life. You’ll be amazed at the shit you can get away with 😉.

In the words of LM Montgomery’s redheaded Anne Shirley:

You'd find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair," said Anne reproachfully. "People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is. Mrs. Thomas told me that God made my hair red on purpose, and I've never cared about Him since.

Thank you for this wonderful submission @honeybee8914!!!

#submission #redhead appreciation day 2023

71 notes · View notes

perplexingluciddreams · 1 month

Text

Today was orthotics appointment. It is at hospital I don't like, Dad not like too because bad parking. When we get there, it was very full loud waiting room. So we wait outside the room in the corridor.

The orthotist Kirsty is very nice! With nice accent. It was loud bad place at first with other patients talking loud - even with noise cancelling headphones I struggle and get very anxious but also feel stuck could not stim like I need. I could not hear what Kirsty or Dad said because the other voices noises were louder even with noise cancelling headphones ☹️.

They could see I didn't cope, so she very kindly, look in other quiet room to see if it is empty. (Usually I go to that room). Yes, it is! So we go in there.

Then talk a lot about old AFOs. And Dad show my list of what is not-good about them. She look at my walking with shoes AND without shoes, and examine look at my legs and feet and move about and feel how hypermobile I am. And where my calf muscles is a bit tight.

She agree that my current AFOs don't work. So we try something different new. Dad showed my pictures of what I think might be better for me. So, she say they can do a similar style of rigid plastic AFO on the outside, with an inner "anklet" that is thinner more flexible plastic going around my ankle and over the top of my foot. Then that part will go inside the bigger rigid AFOs. And, I can have better straps that isn't so bulky and too tough to undo by myself. (They will just go once over, instead of through a ring and double back).

Then, she do a SCAN!! Instead of casts this time :D. I have to hold very very still it takes a LOT of concentration and effort. But I did very well. Dad said the shape of my leg showed up slowly on the screen when she did the light scanner in stripes. I didn't see that because I had to concentrate very much to stay still.

They had to stick a wire to the front of my leg for the scanner. And the tape stuck to my leg hair! And ripped some off when I took it off, ouch! But it was okay, not too sore, just mostly funny. Dad joked about is his genetics for the leg hair.

Overall, very successful appointment and it went much better than I expected! I am still very anxious about it all, because we have several attempts already that didn't work. But, Dad says we will keep on trying until we get exactly what works for me.

I always feel overwhelmed and exhausted after appointment. And always feel like I didn't communicate everything I want to - even with prepare with other people and they say things for me, even if I try try try so hard to do words, it just doesn't happen at the time. And I have automatic response to just nod head "yes" at almost everything, even if I didn't process or understand. So I worry that I seem to say "yes" or agree to things that I don't mean. Especially when I know that there was a lot of talking at the appointment that I didn't process at all. I feel so utterly lost all the time - and there is no way to really express how that affects me my whole entire life.

I hate my inability to communicate ☹️☹️. It goes WAY beyond just not able to speak. Even with all the tools and aids and help from other people... majority of the time it is simply near-impossible for me to interact with another person. It is everything about how I interact with everyone, my whole life long. And then I feel like anything that goes wrong or doesn't work is my fault for not able to communicate or explain something.

Anyway. I am knackered now, so time for rest and Celtic Woman DVD 😄. I try not to think about it anymore, just distract. And try to keep hope, but not too much, so I don't get too disappointed.

I have lemonade (Dad quickly go to shop and buy so I can have my usual fizzy drink treat after appointment 😄, thanks Dad!). And I have snack. And DVD. 😊

#words from my head #afos #ankle foot orthotics #leg braces #autism #autistic #medical appointments #hospital #nonverbal #nonspeaking

41 notes · View notes

pine-needle-shuffle · 1 month

Note

HIIII i have a question about the riptide au<3 when did the firsts get all harpy? was it like a similar timeline to the wing stuff we get in cc or something else? same question for zack and cloud too :3 (if it's spoilers you don't have to get into it, i just wanna draw something lol<3)

*cracks knuckles* Hell yeah, I can absolutely answer this

So it's not like what happened in Crisis Core, the Firsts and all Harpies that came after them* were born that way. Genetically engineered with monster DNA to yield enhanced, flighted soldiers.

*with the exception of Zack and Cloud, I'll get to them in a minute

What I would compare to CC is "degradation". It doesn't work quite the same, but it's the monster DNA coming into a more prominent role in Harpy's make up, which can manifest in several ways. In Genesis's case, he was near mortally wounded, survived, and became a monster. his mind is still intact, but his visual humanness is almost completely gone. For others, it comes with time, they might start growing more feathers or taking on other small changes.

R&D needed(wanted) to find a faster way to make Harpies; raising them for years before they could be utilized was expensive and hurt ShinRa's bottom line. It did not help that roughly a year prior to this universe's equivalent to the Nibelheim incident was a mass desertion in the wake of the Specimen G catastrophe, which was Genesis getting injured and turning.

This is where Zack and Cloud come in. Nibelheim gets attacked and burned to the ground(under different circumstances from canon, but that is spoilers so I can't talk about that just yet.), and they get captured. R&D used them for their experiment, which is similar to the ones Hojo was already performing in the Nibel Reactor(Think the human that had been suspended in mako for so long they were turning into a monster, the one Sephiroth removed from the pod).

Over the course of 4-5 years, they were pulled in and out of mako, tested on until R&D decided that they were developed enough to show to ShinRa's higher-ups. It was after one last "check-up" that Zack had gained enough strength and consciousness to fight back and escape with Cloud. Chapter 1 takes place about 2 months after their escape :]

also I will literally never say no to infodumping about my au ask all the questions you'd like

#asks #riptide au #hopefully that all makes sense #but seriously thank you for asking i'm glad you're interested :']#pine.log #ffvii

9 notes · View notes

littlekiara96 · 3 months

Text

Okay, so, Sampo is not Sam and that theory of mine has sunk to the depths of the sea (unless...?)

BUT

considering this post I made so long ago (and ignoring the Sam = Sampo part)

and

[Spoilers for 2.0 content undercut DO NOT COME COMPLAINING]

considering what happens at the very end of 2.0... yes, I'm talking about that conversation...

Hum... quick question...

How does he know?

Seriously, how can he know something will happen "there"?

Yeah, my point is that Elio told him, BECAUSE HE'S PART OF THE HUNTERS.

THAT'S WHY HE WANTS TO GET HIS MASK BACK, BECAUSE HE HAD STOPPED USING IT (and being a Masked Fool) WHEN HE STARTED WORKING FOR ELIO.

And before someone says "but that happens before the events on Jarilo-IV" (I saw that twice already)

WRONG. (Sorry. I'm not trying to be mean, just logical.)

You HAVE to do the quest "Whodunit" of the main story in order to do the companion mission and see all that it entails.

And that would just make no sense. If the conversation at the Reverie happened before the events we participated in on Jarilo-VI, then... Where was his mask?

And yes, he likes being backstage, and he was backstage on Belobog.

But he clearly means he will be front-stage this time around. And thus...

Stuff is about to go down in Belobog.

Also, back to Sampo, the Stellaron Hunter. Think about how Firefly describes him.

Does he look like just some little guy?

No. She describes him like a man of strong build, who walks pretty much silently, and knows how to use daggers. A "skilled fighter, the covert kind".

Yeah, she makes him sound like an assassin.

Which is pretty important, because...

Isn't he meant to be a joke of a guy? We never see him fight in any way while we're on Belobog, do we?? He's only good at scamming people, right???

Yes, he does that weird thing of leaving no footprints in snow and he uses smokebombs to get us to the Underworld, but otherwise...

He's just a lil' guy, riiight?

TL;DR (what are you doing here...):

Sampo has no way of knowing what he knows without being a Stellaron Hunter or at least working for Elio.

Between how much he actually helped in Belobog, how he knew we were on the Luofu (neutron bomb), how he knew we were going to Penacony, and how he knows something will happen to Jarilo-VI, and the fact that Stellaron Hunters are WHEREVER WE GO, except in Belobog??

If not thanks to Elio... then How. Does. He. Know.

Bonus Heehee~:

As long as we don't see Sam and Sampo together, they could still be the same person! :D

Sam is a genetically modified man wearing a mecha suit, after all. :3c

#honkai star rail #hsr sampo #sampo koski #hsr sam #hsr theory #masked fools #stellaron hunters #hsr 2.0

14 notes · View notes

honey-minded-hivemind · 2 months

Note

Beast Anon back again xP I apologize for the late reply and I'm sorry to hear you were stressed. As always I would encourage you to take it easy where you can, friend :) I'm doing well, thank you for asking, and to answer your question, the reason I like those kinds of AUs and relationships isn't anything that complicated, I just...find them really wholesome ^^ With them, you're always guaranteed a certain level of fluff and slice-of-life goodness that's easy to imagine and can help get you through your day when you need that extra little bit of warmth in your day, ya'know? :D As for why I prefer it with some X-Men characters, well, I have two reasons. Firstly, with the multiverse being an extremely canon thing in Marvel, especially X-Men in this case, it makes the idea of these relationships and stories a kind of canon in themselves, and it's always so fun to explore that ^^ To explain that a little more and get into the second reason, when you're dealing with the X-Men, some of the most exciting and complex Marvel characters of all time, you know these situations are going to be more than just a daily routine, there's always going to be some twist/emotional adventure to explore along the way, and it adds a whole new depth to the situation. True, you could argue that to be the case with just about any fictional character but...c'mon, it's the X-Men! xD As for your soon-to-be recent viewing of the first two episodes of X-Men '97, I promise you a real treat, but, I am obligated to not spoil a thing ^^ Except this: OMG HANK FINALLY SAID THE THING!!! :DDDD

No worries, Beast Anon! I am glad to hear from you again, and there is no set time or need to respond immediately. What happens happens. And I finally started watching the first episode of X-Men 97 and so far, my thoughts are as follows:

• Roberto you sweet, poor child... You don't know the half of it-

• Who the f*ck is hiding Sentinel parts?! They're fr*cking HUGE, how does someone just move that around?! Someone knows something, how can you not when a single Sentinel arm is bigger than a car-!

• Go Morph! Mighty Morph-ling Power Ranger! (Well, X-Man)

• Wolverine, dude, please get over the love triangle; you and Scott were friends once, can you two get some team or friend therapy and try to talk about it for once?

• Where is the official team therapist? Nor the therapist friend, the actual certified therapist-

• Let the kids have fun!

• Roberto, they viewer-insert/new guy who is how everyone would react to the crazy shenanigans of the X-Men and Marvel

• Mr. Xavier, I am starting to believe you and Magneto really WERE more than friends, or were some form of QPR at the least

• And Magento is back! And more... oddly looking well for someone who is in their... 70s, I think? Wow. He's doing good (if you aren't counting losing his best bud and possible boyfriend, not to mention inheriting aforementioned friend's family, school, and property)

Aaaaand that is about how far I've gotten. I need to play a little catch-up😅😊

And now I really want to see Beast and Carla get together/have a secret date, watch Wolverine and Morph or Wolverine and Storm become a couple, get more Sabretooth and the Brotherhood in this show (please please please let them be brothers) (sorry fandom members who ship them, I view them platoncially!), hopefully they introduce Laura/X-23 at some point, someone let Rogue and Gambit get together, we know that is likely endgame, and yes yes yes Roberto can be Jubilee's friend (and maybe sibling?) (Whatcha wanna bet she's wanted one since the first year?)

And woo! Yes, platonic yandere genre! I get the points you've made: Platonic yandere could be canon in some way, and it's Marvel, so canon is a bag of 40+ flavor jellybeans and a 45+ flavor milkshake stand... Also, yes, X-Men add a certain flair to the platonic yandere trope. Surprise, super-poweree genetically enhanced people, and this random teen/young adult/child who they somehow procured. Que a normal Tuesday of crazy villains, more insane humans, some weird relationship issues and the break-up then make-up, and (gasp) surprise! You have been blessed with this new character to love! They're called Reader, they can be sweet at times, they are willing to use a metal bat as a weapon, and oh, and they are as addictive to y'all as catnip is to cats!

May I ask your top three favorite X-Men characters? Top three favorite heroes, and favorite villain, so four favorite characters? Do you enjoy how I write them (if I have written for them) as platonic yanderes? Do you want an older teen/adult cartoon or anime where the X-Men are platonic yandere over someone? I myself do, and I would have so manh ideas on it! Are there any duo platonic yanderes you like, where two team up over Reader or are both interested in the same one? (Ex. Rogue and Gambit, Kurt and Rogue, Wolverine and Sabretooth, etc.)

I hope you have a good night/day! I will hopefully get to the second episode of X-Men 97 tomorrow, and once the first season is finished for the series, I can add X-Men 97 to the X-Men media I will write for😊 (And if you want to discuss any if this more, I am all ears!)

#honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere marvel #platonic yandere xmen #yandere x-men #platonic yandere #xmen 97 #go beast anon go!

8 notes · View notes

vergess · 2 years

Note

Hello there! I apologize for the late hour, but I was just wondering if you have any headcanons or speculations about Besk, the twins' deceased mother from I Was A Teenage Exocolonist. I already heard back from @exocolonistfeelings and @arionwind , but I thought a third opinion would be good for my curious brain 😅

Oh, you never need to apologize for sending me asks about my Favourite Subjects, don't worry! Unfortunately, I had already gone to bed by the time this arrived D:

So, before we begin, this post will have spoilers for:

MAJOR: Robotics job storyline.

MAJOR: Dys and Tang friendships (duh)

MAJOR: Delusions run/achievement

MAJOR: Barista job storyline.

Marz friendship (minor)

Doctor job (minor)

Prolific parenting ending (minor)

Life on Earth achievement (minor)

It will discuss the following stressful subjects:

Suicide

PTSD

Depression

Psychiatric abuse

Child abuse

Substance abuse (alcohol, psychiatric medication)

Cult indoctrination and abuse

Human extinction

And finally, Besq has a character profile in the game data, but it's never used. The profile informs us that she:

Was named Arabesque;

Was female;

Died at age 32;

Was born in Early Quiet;

Was ~12 years younger than Instance, ~7 years younger than your parents, and the same age as Anne, Tirah, Al and Bernie.

Combined with details from the Twins, Marz and Instance, we can develop a very complete timeline of her life.

And it's nasty.

But let's start a little lighter.

Like Ari, I am a definite "Arabesque And Instance Truther." For a while, I honestly considered that Instance might have been the other genetic donor for the twins. Tangent's resemblance to her is particularly noticeable.

So, I figured they were besties, and maybe exes, but in that way you get with queers where no one is sure if they dated or not even though they definitely both lived together for a while and had sex.

Until I started plowing through all the endings, I was under the impression that when Tangent talked about bonding during her transition it was because Instance is also trans. That seems not to be the case (if you become a geneticist or a doctor or something, you develop a more perfected transition technology and it's used specifically for Utopia and Tangent, but not Instance or Vace).

So I was honestly under the matching impression that when Arabesque needed a genetic donor for her Depression Baby, she went to her "Friend" rather than going to the genetic banks, possibly because she knew she would not pass any meaningful examinations. Medicins aren't good at it, but they are trained to look specifically for depression in mothers. With the entire colony hinging on reproduction as aggressively as it does, I truly thought she would have been caught by even the most basic screening.

Of course, as a psych herself, she could easily just lie about everything and get a donor sample.

And that seems to have been the case because of 2 things.

1) Tangent implies she checked her genome against Instance's at one point around year 14 and found no significant commonalities suggesting relationship.

2) If you do Prolific Parent after picking menstruation/breast growth in adolescence (and maybe also null?) and have a female partner, you help the colony develop XX-to-XX fertilization so you can go around knocking up other people too. (Again: 40 children!!! You must be stopped!! Literally! The colony has to stop you from having more children!!).

So, if Instance is indeed cis, the tech wouldn't have existed yet for her to be the other donor.

At this point, I now believe Tangent looks like Instance because she was going to come out looking in some way undesirable to Besq. Was Tangent going to look like her genetic dad? Like Besq's ex? Like Besq herself? (I suspect it may be the latter)

Whatever the case, it seems Besq went full Designer Baby on that shit, and used her Bestie 'Tans as a model.

Bestie, exes, singular point of psychological support in perhaps the most horrific possible torture chamber.

~*~Just Girly Things~*~

As Ari mentioned, it was wildly irresponsible for the cult to designate one singular person as the entire emotional support system for hundreds of people living in a heretofore unknown and unknowable stressor, knowing that they might kill their entire families in the process, thereby rendering their entire movement extinct, and possibly the entire human race if the Earth ending is to be believed.

Really sit on that. Think about the horror that the adults, capable of understanding what they are and what they're doing, are going through every single day.

And every single one of them relied exclusively on a single woman to process that trauma, even as she had to process her own trauma without anyone to trust.

And even then, even then, she lives years on the strato. She survives over a decade of a kind of psychological torture that I cannot even begin to understand.

Now brace yourself, because it's time to payoff on that timeline comment.

Arabesque was 16 when she boarded the Strato as their designated trauma therapist.

She spent her entire adult life in hell.

The twins are 1 year younger than Sol. Besq is mentioned in Marz's high friendship event as being alive, but already heavily drinking, when the twins are turning 5. She dies shortly afterwards.

For the twins to be turning 5, the ship has to have been traveling for just under 16 years. She dies on or around her 32nd birthday. Only four years out from the wormhole.

Unironically and without reserve, Arabesque's inconceivable resilience is responsible for the survival of the human race. Without her there to soak trauma up like a sponge for 16 years of isolation, there is 0 chance that everyone else on the Strato would have had the emotional competence and resilience themselves to make it to Vertumna, let alone establish a colony.

And I don't give the cult any benefit of the doubt in this one, by the way. Modern therapy is great, but it's not the only system for developing emotionally resilient groups. It's specifically terrible for small groups that live together.

This is something that anyone trying to create a planned community of any kind should know on day one. It's unbelievably irresponsible to do what they did.

They didn't need a therapist; they needed social hobbies. They needed a knitting circle, a sewing circle, a banjo band, a bonsai club, three mutually exclusive tabletop rpg groups, a teach-what-you-know art class, a choir, a peer-support therapy and study group, and a dozen other small-group hobbies to foster strongly interconnected emotional group bonds.

That or they needed a religious system. Those are basically the two options. But honestly the cult is alarming enough as it is, so hobbies!!

They did NOT need to make a child bear that burden, and certainly not by herself.

What the Strato needed, and the cult should have provided, is what their children got. A wide variety of small activities that contribute to the overall longevity of the colony while building friendships.

And we only got it because Besq lived long enough for everyone else to survive, and then died spectacularly.

Because of her death.

The severe shock of finding that she hung hung herself in her office, between appointments, completely breaks the "therapeutic" strategy the cult imposed on the colony. Unlike every other job with a possible death in the game, Besq is never replaced.

It takes 20 years and a complete restructuring of the social system of the colony before it's even possible for another therapist to emerge, and only rarely!

Meanwhile, even Congruence struggles under the weight of managing the automated therapy protocols when Besq dies. It's mentioned frequently in certain playstyles that Congruence's therapy is fine for what it is, but it doesn't work nearly as well as a real, trained therapist. Vace describes it as confusing and monotonous. Sol simply describes it as "not as good."

It's a mostly automated system. The handful of excerpts we get from it suggest a very basic CBT regimen. That makes sense, since CBT's non-holistic approach makes it especially easy to self administer. However, it also severely limits the kinds of problem CBT can treat.

And even still, Congruence almost dies the same way Besq did. Only, if Congruence goes, so does the rest of the colony.

That's the end of the Robotics storyline.

After a shockingly similar ~16 years, the strain of mental health for the entire colony, combined with constant trauma, breaks Congruence. An AI many hundreds of thousands of times faster than a human, who regulates everything in the colony, who was designed to self-repair for millennia.

Congruence is the human equivalent of the Overseer, and she lasted exactly as long as Besq did under that strain, while doing significantly worse than Besq did.

Speaking of CBT's inherent limitations: Tangent seems to favour the Psychodynamic approach if she becomes a therapist.

However, Tangent's psychodynamism stands out specifically because of her willingness to use medical and technological intervention alongside it. This is relatively uncommon in our world, if only because psychology (therapy) and psychiatry (medication) are two different fields with totally different demands and licensures.

But even in cases when a psychologist and a psychiatrist share a practice and work together, the ease and readiness with which Tangent approaches those additional interventions is fascinating.

It suggests to me that Besq was likely also a psychodynamist, but a non-medical one.

This is also fun, because it plays well with the theme of reuniting the twins. Instance says outright that Tangent takes after her, while Dys takes after Besq. (Instance saying this is a large part of why I think they were exes rather than unresolved, because it seems like a sort of 'history repeats itself' statement, since it's specifically in the context of 'why Dys and Tangent can't love each other.')

TI is only when Tangent combines the dynamic, holistic approach of Dys (and psychotherapy) and with the the rigid, numerical approach of Instance (and psychiatry), that Tangent overcomes the hurdles her mother failed.

Tangent's happiest lives come from reuniting with emotionality, trauma, and soft skills through Dys, and through the echo of their mother Besq.

Her happiest lives come when she surpasses the horror she inherited when her mother's all-too-human strength finally failed.

And I think that's part of why Tangent is often so... accepting of her early death (she never lives past 60). And why even in the best endings, she doesn't have children of her own, though she donates genetics to a few.

She achieves her goals simply by surviving her trauma instead of being consumed by it. Her legacy is the health and happiness of humanity as a species, not herself or her bloodline. She's very much the mirror image of Dys and the Gardeners, in that way.

There is one other kind of mental health intervention in the colony without Tangent, though. If Congruence's workbook therapy doesn't help, then there's Instance's meds.

When Arabesque dies, Instance devotes herself wholeheartedly to creating self-regulating psychiatric drug implants. In the Barista job ending, Tangent talks about how she and Instance have perfected the technology and Tangent uses it herself to manage her depression, anxiety and paranoid delusions.

If you do a Delusions run, you get a few more tantalizing hints about that.

After Besq's death, the entire colony develops a SEVERE stigma around mental illness.

When Sol presents with delusions (which CBT is especially bad at handling), no modern therapies are attempted. What happens instead is a horrific combination of futuristic medicine and medieval psychology.

Instance begins with bed rest.

That doesn't work. It wouldn't work even on bog standard psychosis. In the fashion of "The Yellow Wallpaper", being put on bedrest runs the risk of making Sol worse.

If Sol continues to express delusions, Instance moves on to heavy antipsychotics. Because the implant is not yet ready, Sol can fake taking these meds.

But it doesn't matter if you do. You'll eventually be caught, and forcibly medicated in a way you "can't avoid." This is never specified, but is specifically not an invasive procedure.

The antipsychotics cause a horrible reaction, whther voluntary or forced. You become almost catatonic, and are trapped in a permanent hallucinatory dream state with your various lives overlapping in your hearing and sight.

So, Instance, your parents (if alive), and the colony council decide to perform an experimental cyberpunk lobotomy on you. This is suggested to be either a prototype or early version of the implant, as it involves invasive surgery, a long recovery time, the suppression of neurochemicals, and massive personality changes.

When I say there's stigma, I am not fucking around. That's their response to nonviolent, nonthreatening delusions in a child.

And as a natural consequence of this absurd behaviour around modern psychology, the colonists avoid anything and everything that looks even vaguely like modern therapy, with the exception of Congruence's AI CBT.

However, because of Besq's tireless work, the colonists are also generally psychologically healthy enough the "inferior" AI therapy is sufficient.

That means the colonists are healthy enough to more or less self-regulate. Combined with the close quarters and heavy labour demands, a system naturally emerges that prioritizes social-bonding through shared hobbies and work.

I don't think Besq killed herself with that in mind. I can't imagine she planned it that way. I think by the time she got pregnant, it was already much too late for her to have any hope of survival.

But the fact remains: Besq set the colony up to survive, in the most horrific way possible. Tangent's obsession with killing herself so that the colony can survive is very much inherited.

Oh also! I'm pretty sure she named Dys that because he (as the "planned" pregnancy) was her Depression Baby.

There's this thing people do, sometimes, when they're extremely depressed, where they have a kid and obsess over it, because as long as the kid is alive and loves them, then they have a reason to live, etc etc. It's really a horrific pattern, because if the parent(s) don't get help for their psychological issues, it almost always leads to all kinds of child abuse.

It can overlap with post-partum depression, too, which just makes it worse, feeding in to the sense that the only value in your life is your children, or vice versa.

As a psychiatrist and psychologist herself, Besq would have been aware of that. I think on some level she knew she was setting herself and her children up for torment. But it was that or just give up and die already.

I very much believe she had Dys specifically as a way to manage her own dysthymia (major depression) long enough to eke out a bit more survival.

I think her peculiar behaviour towards her children also reflects that. The few times we hear about her aside from Instance, Besq is consistently both drunk and doting. If you've ever read Homestuck, Besq has a very Mom Lalonde energy of desperately trying while utterly failing in no small part due to her substance abuse.

And given that the only other people her age she meets for the rest of her entire life are:

Aunt Anne, the All-Mother

Tirah et al, the most distressingly well adjusted polycule on or off earth

Al and Bernie, the literal fucking dictionary definition of picket fence monogamy

All of whom have kids aready or are just starting to have children (remember, Dys and Tang are the youngest in the group). All of whom are happier and better adjusted than you. In spite of the fact that you were the one doing the adjustments.

With all that, a depression baby starts to sound like a very appealing last ditch effort. After all, as long as she's careful not to hurt the kid herself, then when she does give up and die, at least she knows the creche will keep them safe. And Anne is so happy, so loving.

All Besq needs to do is stay drunk enough not to hurt herself, sober enough not to hurt them, until she's finally done. From the perspective of someone who went through what she did, it must have seemed like a kindness.

Given them a bunch of happy memories of her when they're too young to understand why she reeks of illicit alcohol and doesn't spend time with any adults. Then, when she's too tired to continue, just off herself so she can't hurt them with her self destruction, and let Anne and the creche clean up the mess.

When you're far enough down in the depression, that logic checks out. The idea that your absence could be worse than your presence is unfathomable.

Also, since Besk's birthday is immediately after Dys and Tang's, I have to assume the reason Dys is so weird about birthdays is that Besk made sure to live just long enough for their 5th birthday (the photo Marz has), and then killed herself on or immediately before her own.

That, uh... that would for sure give your kids a weird complex about birthdays, to the degree that your son hates people more if they give him cake, and your daughter refuses to eat any sweets at all.

So yeah, that's about that.

I suppose I should mention her Ex from Earth, the one that comes up in her suicide note. But honestly? She was 16 when she left. I'm not exactly shocked that she idealizes some boy she left back home. Even without the trauma of everything else that happened in her life immediately after leaving him and which never ever ended which would necessarily conflate his existence with the last time she felt joy?

It's not that weird for a 16 year old to have a strong crush, and then wax nostalgic about it as an adult. I mean, most people are willing to make a bit of fun at themselves for how silly and obsessed they were as a teen riding high on that first rush of "oh my god I have sex/romance/whatever feelings now."

It's just that, unlike most people?

When Arabesque says 16 was the best her life ever got, she's right.

#asks #ask answers #va1iant-viridity #Fuck wait shit #Is it besk or besq #It's short for arabesque so...#So besq right?#Dys #Tangent #Exocolonist #I was a teenage Exocolonist #iwatex #Doctor Besk #Dr Besk #Doctor Besq #Dr Besq #vees writes meta #Ahahah ooops I didn't mean it to be that long

123 notes · View notes