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cuubism · 3 months

Text

Rock Paper Scissors

Dreamling | Pre-Slash | 5.7k | AO3

Dream suddenly gripped the lapels of Hob's jacket with a startling fervor, arms stretched across the tabletop. His gaze bore into Hob's. "I beg, allow me to represent you instead." "Now what kind of man would I be if I let others fight my battles?" Hob said, prying his fingers off before his endless grip tore through the fabric. "Hard as it may be to believe, I'm actually not a bad hand at chess. Don't worry about me." "I do not find that hard to believe. However, as I have said, this is not chess. It is an intimate and punishing battle of minds." "Alright, so it's like Go Fish."

Hob gets challenged to a duel. Too bad his opponent has it out for Dream, and has no intention of playing fair.

the first fic I ever started writing for Dreamling a year and a half ago, then forgot about! 😂 then randomly decided to finish.

“ROBERT GADLING,” yelled an individual Hob had never met before in his life, “I hereby challenge you to a duel!”

Hob squinted at him. Said individual was standing across the darkened street, dressed strangely in a white tunic flecked with gold. Then again, Hob’s barometer for strange was a bit different than what was normal, so who was he to say, really.

“What?” he said.

Suddenly this person was much closer to him. Hob flinched back, but couldn’t move much, close as he was to the pub door. “We have business,” hissed his pale-suited challenger. It was a masculine figure, blond hair swished to one side, eyes like fire.

Hob wasn’t impressed. He’d seen worse. Better, too.

“Listen, mate,” he said, “I don’t really have time for this. I’ve already got something on the books tonight. Come back tomorrow.”

He started to walk through the doorway, but the… creature?—he didn’t think it was human—grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “We have business,” it repeated.

Hob tried to shake off its hand, but its grip was like hot iron. It seared through his jacket and burned his skin.

“What business?” he snapped. “I’m certain we’ve never met before, and my memory is actually pretty good, long as it is.”

The creature smiled, more like a baring of teeth. “You have courted those who have harmed me—and my ilk.”

“Not clearing it up at all.”

There was a sound like the swishing of a thousand ghosts, and then Dream was beside him.

Dream. How strange, still, to have a name, a history—well, sort of—to put to the face he’d circled back to over and over again for all these years. The name cut his friend into sharp relief—Hob’s shadow, finally united with the being who cast it.

Where the pale stranger burned white-hot, Dream emanated cold. Hob had always found his friend’s cold aura strangely comforting. It didn’t feel dangerous and biting like the winter wind. Instead, it was the cold of lake water when one dove deep enough, a subtle and quiet draw to the otherworldly.

Well. Usually it didn’t feel dangerous. Right now, it felt positively hypothermic.

Dream’s presence chilled the air until the stranger was forced to yank his hand away from Hob’s arm, shaking it out with a hiss. Hob’s breath fogged the air in front of his face, never mind that it was summer.

“Phaethon,” Dream hissed on one long, cold breath. “You are not wanted here.”

Phaethon pulled himself up haughtily. “I can go as I please. Night, or no night.”

“You may test that theory if you wish.”

Phaethon faltered, just a bit, before recovering himself. “I am here only to deliver a message. I challenge you, Robert Gadling, to a duel.” His blazing eyes flickered over to Hob, then back to Dream. “I did not believe you were one to violate the old rules of challenge, Lord of Dreams.”

He bowed slightly. It felt mocking, which rankled Hob, who’d otherwise been keeping his cool.

“Are you going to explain what this is about?” he said, for the third time. “I don’t appreciate being accused of things I haven’t done.”

Instead of answering, Phaethon said, “I’ve uncovered your history. There’s quite a lot of it, isn’t there? I wager it could make quite a bit of trouble for you, having all of that information turned over to certain parties. Human authorities. Occultists. Vampire hunters, they’ll love you–”

“I’m not a vampire,” Hob snapped.

“Doesn’t matter. Point is, we can do that, or, you can choose to face me directly.”

“What do you seek to gain from the challenge?” demanded Dream. He seemed to know more about what was going on here than Hob, which wasn’t comforting. Hob didn’t particularly want to get drawn into some kind of immortal creature game with obscure rules he’d end up tripping over.

Phaethon’s grin emerged one tooth at a time. “I want… your dreams.”

Hob probably should have been more troubled by this. Instead, he just frowned in confusion. “Not sure that’s in your power, mate. You’re aware who you’re talking to?”

He didn’t need to gesture to Dream looming over his shoulder.

“If you agree to the terms,” said Phaethon, a hiss like lava dripping over stone, “then the magic will bind us.”

Dream didn’t contradict him, but his anger cooled the air until Hob felt like he was standing atop a glacier.

“I think I’ll pass,” Hob told Phaethon. “Feel free to try to reveal me. I’m good at disappearing.”

He turned to go—

“Lord Morpheus.” Phaethon turned the beam of his gaze on him, sunlight ricocheting off ice. “Will you stand in his stead?”

Hob grit his teeth and, against his better judgment, turned back around. “Don’t bring him into this. Look, if I win your challenge, what do I get in return?”

“You may request whatever you like,” said Dream. “Such are the terms of the agreement.”

“Fine. If I win, then I want this: you never speak to or of me again. That means no threatening me, no using me to threaten anyone else, no telling anyone about me—nothing. Got it?” God, Hob just wanted to go inside and have a beer.

Phaethon gave him a little bow. “Fair enough. I accept the terms of this challenge.”

Dream seemed aggravated; a trickle of energy, like black lightning, scurried up the back of his neck and disappeared into his hair. But he didn’t intervene.

Hob and Phaethon shook on it. Then Phaethon retreated into the shadows again, calling, “Tomorrow at midnight, Robert Gadling. I will see you then.” Then his eyes blinked out and he was gone.

Hob shuddered. Good riddance. He rather preferred his eldritch creature to that one, thanks very much.

“What was that?” he said.

Dream’s presence was warming again by small degrees. The atmosphere was now more like an industrial freezer than Antarctica. “A minor demigod.”

“Oh, minor. Alright then.”

“They are occupied by petty troubles,” said Dream.

Hob looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but elected not to comment.

“Come on,” he said instead, leading the way back toward the pub. “We’re supposed to be having an easy night of it, dammit!” He wasn’t about to let some minor demigod ruin his night. He never knew how many of them he would get with his friend.

Dream’s gaze lingered on the spot where Phaethon had disappeared, but eventually, like the sweeping of a long coat tail, he followed.

---

"So, a duel," Hob remarked as they sat down across from each other in the pub booth. "I admit, I haven't dueled anyone in a few centuries, but I can't imagine it'll be—”

"It is not what you are thinking of," Dream interrupted. He had folded himself into the booth seat like a stick insect trying to cram itself in a jar. It was an absurd image, the long black coat, the spindly arms on the tabletop. "It is not a fight of the physical form. It is a battle of the mind and will."

"You're going to have to elaborate."

"In such a challenge—” Dream began, but was interrupted by the arrival of a waitress, there to take their order.

"So, what can I get for you chaps?" she said brightly.

The idea of Dream being a chap was so hilarious Hob had to stifle a laugh. Yeah, maybe he wasn't taking the whole duel thing seriously enough. Oh well.

Hob ordered a beer and a plate of chips. When Dream showed no sign of speaking, he ordered for him, too.

“You can order whatever you like,” Hob told him, when the waitress had gone. “It is my pub and all.”

Dream picked up the laminated menu gingerly. It wobbled in his hands. He looked down at it with a flat expression.

Hob realized belatedly that he probably didn’t know what to order. How much had pub food changed since— God, 1910 or so? And it wasn’t like his friend would have had much time to peruse menus since, what with all he’d been up to.

“Just try the chips,” Hob said, taking the menu away from him. “We’ll see how far that gets you.”

"I have no need of human food," Dream said, folding his hands back on the table.

“Sure, and I technically don’t need my left leg, either, but I do rather like having it.”

“You say strange things,” Dream murmured. “As I was telling you. In such a challenge—”

The waitress returned with their drinks. Dream glowered at her. Hob thanked her brightly.

"So, you were saying?" he said, sipping his beer. "In such a challenge…?"

"In such a challenge—”

The waitress arrived again with their chips. Dream slammed his hands on the table, shaking the chips in their basket and making the waitress jump.

"Sorry," Hob apologized, "we've had a bit of a day." Wasn't it always.

"In such a challenge," Dream continued when she had gone, in a tone that suggested he would not be stopped this time, "one must suggest a mind-form, which one's opponent will attempt to surmount and defeat. Then you attempt to defeat their new form, and so on until one challenger is victorious. It is… a predictive game, of sorts. If one can predict what one's opponent’s moves might be, one can choose forms to foil them. This can easily become complicated."

"So, it's like chess," Hob summarized.

Dream stiffened, lips pressing into an offended line. "It is not so simple as chess."

"Checkers?"

"It will not help you to think of it so." Dream took a chip and bit into it in irritation. "You just— oh." He stared at the chip. "These are quite pleasant."

"Can never go wrong with a good chip," said Hob, then furrowed his brows. "Haven't you had them in dreams before or something?"

"Presumably. It has been at least a century."

Ah, yeah. That. "Well, they're frying them in veg oil instead of lard nowadays anyway. Kind of a different experience."

Dream stared at him as if Hob made no sense whatsoever.

"Anyway," Hob continued, "am I even going to be able to create these mind-forms? I'm not exactly an otherworldly being."

"The power is in you, though it may be more challenging to harness. And easier to let slip from your grasp. It is imagination, after all. Humans are good at imagination, though perhaps not so good at holding onto it."

"Hmm." Hob munched on a chip. "Okay. I'll work on my imagination." After seven hundred years or so of life, it was possibly a tool that needed some sharpening.

"I admit it offends me greatly that Phaethon would presume to ask a human to fight in this way," said Dream. He suddenly gripped the lapels of Hob's jacket with a startling fervor, arms stretched across the tabletop. His gaze bore into Hob's. "I beg, allow me to represent you instead."

"Now what kind of man would I be if I let others fight my battles?" Hob said, prying his fingers off before his endless grip tore through the fabric. "Hard as it may be to believe, I'm actually not a bad hand at chess. Don't worry about me."

"I do not find that hard to believe. However, as I have said, this is not chess. It is an intimate and punishing battle of minds."

"Alright, so it's like Go Fish."

"Do not joke," Dream growled. Actually, he never truly growled. It was more like his voice dropped into a lower register than usual. Which was saying something. Hob interpreted it as a growl, though. "Do not joke when your existence is at stake. Your immortality cannot protect you from this."

"Are you saying I'd be unmade if I lost?" Hob asked. It was a concerning thought, to say the least. It had been a long time since he'd had to concern himself with his own mortality.

Dream’s tongue ran over his lower lip. "Potentially. The terms of the fight do not state so, but I do not know how such a duel will affect a human. The strain of it may simply tear you to shreds. It nearly drained me, the last time I fought."

"Wait, you had a fight like this? Recently?"

Dream tilted his head, gaze paling in confusion. "I told you that I went to Hell to retrieve my helm."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me you had to mind-battle– who'd you mind-battle anyway?"

"The demon chose Lucifer Morningstar as his representative." Dream’s lip curled in distaste. "Hence, the near loss."

Hob looked at him in concern. "Are you alright, though?"

"Of course I am all right." He spoke it as two words, like the phrase had never before graced his tongue. Hob wanted to let out a long-suffering sigh, but managed to restrain himself. "I am Dream of the Endless."

"Mmhmm. Yep. Okay."

"You do not have to worry about me," Dream said stiffly, parroting Hob's words from before.

Hob thought that was evidently untrue, but decided not to mention the century of imprisonment or the multiple near-death experiences— could he die? Maybe it was more like multiple near-misses with eternal agony— since then. To preserve the relative peace of the moment.

"So how'd you beat the devil, then?" he asked.

"I had everything to lose. Lucifer had nothing to lose, and only a paltry amusement to gain."

Was that an answer? Hob wasn't sure.

"Okay," he said. "Well, I do have all of my dreams to lose, apparently. Plenty of incentive to win."

Ice crystallized along the rim of Dream’s glass, spreading from where his fingers pressed. “You speak as if you think I would ever allow this to happen.”

Hob raised an eyebrow. “I thought the magic was binding?”

“Only by honor.”

“And so… what would happen if you violated that honor?”

The words trickled out of Dream reluctantly. “One’s word would not be trusted again.”

“Right. Exactly. I can’t let you do that, love. There’s a whole eternity of words needing to be trusted after this.” It was tempting, honestly, to let his more powerful friend step in and handle this—especially as Hob still hadn’t gleaned what the hell he’d even done to piss off Phaethon—but ultimately, it wouldn’t be right. He’d never used Dream as a clean-up tool for any of his problems in the past, and he wasn’t about to start just because he now knew he was the Lord of Dreams.

Dream’s expression darkened further. He truly was capable of embodying shadow when he was annoyed; Hob didn’t know how he hadn’t figured out the extent of his supernaturalness sooner, honestly. “You would not let.”

“Hey. Come on. I’ve solved plenty of my own problems, haven’t I? Have a little faith.” Hob kind of wanted to pat his hand, but wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “You don’t think I can win a duel against this Phaethon guy?”

Dream seemed uncertain about it, and Hob couldn’t help but feel a little offended. Sure, he wasn’t a supernatural entity, but Hob had gotten himself out of a fair number of scrapes, and without the help of any Endless, thanks very much!

“His rancor disturbs me,” Dream said at last. “I do not know what you have done to offend him.”

“Nor I. Never met the guy.”

Dream seemed lost in contemplation. Hob let him, and kept eating the chips.

Eventually, Dream said, “Even if this loss did come to pass… you would always have a place in the Dreaming.”

Hob’s breathing stuttered. “With you?” he said, sounding much smaller than he’d expected. It was… an ill-considered response, to say the least.

Dream shifted in his seat. “I am the Dreaming,” he said. “It is part of me, and I it.”

“I see,” said Hob. But the thought kept turning within him.

---

No more was said on the matter until their beers were drunk and their chips polished off and they were strolling out the door of the pub.

As they crossed the threshold, Hob was struck by a realization. He slapped Dream on the breast of his coat, stopping him in his tracks.

"I'm an idiot! Of course it's not like chess. It's metaphysical rock-paper-scissors!"

"Are you intoxicated?" Dream asked wearily.

"Nope. Just happy to have my old friend around again."

Dream’s form, unbreakable as the darkness between stars, stuttered. Behind him, his shadow wavered.

Then he swept away, leaving Hob to catch up.

---

They met again on the field of battle, so to speak.

Phaethon was there before them, melodramatic in his white-and-gold cape. Not as melodramatic as Dream, though, whose eyeliner seemed darker than usual, somehow, and whose cloak swept all the way to the ground, pooling more like liquid than fabric. He was very displeased about these events, Hob could tell.

Hob shook Phaethon’s hand formally. Once again, the touch burned him, but he resisted the urge to shake his hand out in pain. Then they stood across from each other. Hob wished he had a sword, but that was not this game.

"As the challenged party, you commence the duel," Dream told him, standing not far from Hob’s side as Phaethon paced before them, grinning. "You may choose your form and begin."

Hob had thought long and hard about how he would start. He didn't want to go too big, else the fight escalate beyond his control. Obviously, he didn't want to pick something weak either.

What was out there that had tormented mankind, sowing destruction, breeding fear and illness and death, while barely reaching higher than an ankle?

Hob had lived through it. The choice was obvious.

"I am a plague rat," he started, and saw Dream’s eyebrows twitch. Impressed. Ha! "Hiding in shadows. Letting sickness into our food, homes, blood."

He saw the rats in his mind. Scurrying through tunnels, climbing into grain stores, unaware of what they carried. A seething mass of tails and slick fur and beady eyes, churning, churning, churning.

Phaethon curled in on himself, limbs creaking, boils popping on his skin and pus leaking from his eyes. Hob flinched at the reminder of those times. Horrible, horrible times.

Mentally, Hob prepared for the counterattack. Paper beats rock. What beats rat? Dog beats rat. Cat beats rat. Famine, extermination fumes, plague doctors, modern medicine—

"I," Phaethon ground out, through the contortions of his body, "am a flood."

Oof. Good one.

"A swelling, raging river, decimating any town in my path. Washing rats down to their deaths."

A phantom wave smacked Hob in the face and hurled him to the ground. It crashed over him, gallons and gallons of water, surging up his nose, into his eyes, down his throat. He choked on it. He drowned in it. Debris in the floodwaters bruised him till he felt like a branch spinning out in the current, rather than a human.

Then. He managed to take in a breath.

He staggered to his feet.

Dream was standing a step closer, like he'd lurched forward, but he forced himself back into stillness.

"I," Hob said on a gasping breath, pushing wet hair out of his eyes, "am a drought." Phaethon had taken it to another level? Fine. Hob would go scorched earth. "Whisking away all your water. Turning everything into dust."

Phaethon choked, throat suddenly dry. His eyes went bloodshot. His skin flaked and peeled, his lips bled. He clutched at his stomach as it heaved for water.

He could go rain again, Hob thought. Or ice age. Asteroid. Biblical flood—does that count if he already did a regular flood?

"I am famine," said Phaethon, when he'd recovered himself, though he was still rasping. "I wither crops without water. I starve everything that walks."

Hob's stomach caved in on itself. He fell to his knees, retching nothing but bile. His mind flashed back to his decades on the streets, so long without food he'd thought his stomach would start eating itself—and then it had.

His arms shook. His body felt thin and liable to crack.

"I," he croaked, still on all fours, "am an oasis. Rising from the desert, real, not a mirage. Offering reprieve."

Too late, he realized this might restore his opponent.

But instead, Phaethon creased and cracked, like he was the famine, persecuted by salvation. He clasped his stomach as if it was overfull; water poured from his mouth.

Water filled Hob's mouth, too, but it restored him. He climbed back to his feet.

Dream was definitely closer now. He wasn't imagining it. Still, he didn't intervene.

Phaethon was visibly weakened, but still he said, "I am selfishness. Infighting over limited resources. Society destroying its oasis."

Hob's limbs were torn in opposite directions. He yelled, but the invisible hands on him didn't let up, yanking at him like he was the final piece of food before everlasting deprivation. He pulled at them, but it was no use.

One of his shoulders dislocated with a loud pop, and he bit down on his tongue so as not to scream. Blood exploded in his mouth.

"I am generosity!" he yelled, blood dripping over his lips. "I am brother sharing with brother. Stranger sharing with stranger."

Dream was looking at him now like he didn't know what to make of him. Phaethon, too, was staring at him, but with a look of disgust.

"High-minded idealist, are you?" he sneered. "What the hell is generosity going to—”

His expression broke in half. His hands shook; he picked at his nail beds until they peeled and started bleeding. His lip wavered and his eyes beaded with tears.

Hob didn't know what was happening to him.

"Shame," Dream breathed from behind him. "So clever, Hob."

Hob hadn't actually known what generosity would do, but he appreciated the compliment nonetheless.

"I," croaked Phaethon, through tears, "am memory. History and anger curdled to a resentment which no generosity can overcome."

He felt Dream’s eyes on him, as he no doubt feared the anger, the resentment he so believed that Hob held over his absence would surge forth again. But it did not, for Hob had never been angry with Dream. Angry with himself, yes, and that he felt acutely, along with the fear and hurt of Dream walking away, the stewing guilt of it.

Memory held more than anger. Mostly, for Hob, it held grief. Grief for his friend who'd been imprisoned for so long, while Hob went about his life, imagining him lonely, isolated perhaps, but never knowing the truth. Grief for himself, too, for he knew that to always blame himself for Dream’s behavior had also been unfair.

Tears slipped from his eyes. He looked over at Dream, who was still watching him warily.

Memory had far too many facets for Phaethon to use it as an effective weapon.

"I am forgiveness," Hob said, closing his eyes against a fresh welling of tears. He didn't know who he was forgiving. Himself, or Dream, who still seemed to need absolution from Hob, no matter how Hob told him he didn’t.

"I am hatred!" Phaethon snarled. His voice had gone animalistic in a last ditch effort to come out on top. But forgiveness clanged around him, pulling tears from his eyes, undermining his viciousness. "I am division even forgiveness cannot mend."

Just like that, he opened up the path for Hob to take his king. Checkmate. Game over. Rock paper scissors shoot.

"I am love," Hob said quietly, even as a sob caught in his throat as the memory of all the hate he'd witnessed in his life, the hate he'd participated in, and the fear, long-held, that even Dream might hate him, for his wrongs, or for overstepping, pulsed back to the forefront. He could never hate Dream, though. No matter what.

"Love can be easily destroyed," snapped Phaethon, but he was wavering.

"But it always comes back," said Hob. Unwitting, he looked over his shoulder at Dream.

His friend was already looking directly at him. That tinge of red, so terrible and familiar now, was back along his eyes. He didn't speak, not to Hob. Hob followed his gaze as he looked over Hob's shoulder and spoke to Phaethon.

"Do you have a counter?"

"Love?" Phaethon laughed hysterically. "You brought love to a duel?"

"I believe Hob brings love everywhere he goes," said Dream, and Hob whipped back around to look at him, eyes wide. The tiniest smile was dancing on Dream’s lips.

Then a blade erupted from Hob's chest.

Blood sprayed. His heart stopped beating—actually stopped, he felt it. The sword had pierced right through it. He scrabbled for it with clumsy hands, but the blade shiiiinged back out before he could grab it.

Blood spattered Dream’s face. Those pretty lips parted, eyes widened, the lordly bearing wiped from his expression leaving only a person, shocked and wounded. Hob would never forget that look of startled horror for as long as he lived.

Which wasn't looking to be that long.

He fell to his knees, blood pouring from his chest. No use trying to stop it. It would mend itself, in time, but that knowledge did nothing to stop the instinctive rush of fear. He was dying. He was dying.

He fell on his side. Blood soaked his shirt. All told, it took maybe ten seconds after getting speared like a wild hog—

—for the world to completely blink out.

---

Hob's chest ached like a bitch when he woke.

He was still on the ground, bloody mud around him, soaking his clothes. Oh. That was mud made from his blood. How horrifying.

He opened his eyes in time to see Dream lifting Phaethon from the ground by his neck. His hand was a vice grip and Phaethon choked, scrabbling at his fingers for breath.

"TREACHERY," Dream snarled, louder than Hob had ever heard him. His voice boomed across the empty park. "I will unmake you."

"I'm not one of your creatures, you can do nothing to me," said Phaethon, but his assuredness flickered.

Dream’s being was a black hole eating light. "Watch it happen."

Hob coughed, dirt trapped in his throat, and shoved himself up on his forearms. Dream froze, and turned slowly to look at him, Phaethon still clasped in his hand like he weighed nothing. Dream’s attention was like being in the path of a comet.

"Hob," he said. "Are you alright?"

Hob knew, in that moment, that if he asked Dream to spare Phaethon from whatever fate he had in mind for him, he would comply. And what power that was. Hob didn't want to be the one doling out mercy or punishment, like a judge at the gates of Hell. But damn if it wasn't a thrill to have Dream look at him like that.

"Of course I'm all right," he said, with a bloody grin. "I'm Hob Gadling."

Dream smiled too, a ferocious smile, like that of a wolf.

Hob didn't tell him to spare Phaethon.

Apparently, they both had some savagery in them.

---

"So why did he kill me?" Hob asked later, when he'd showered all the blood off—God he loved modern showers—and they were both sitting at the kitchen table in his flat, drinking tea. Well, Hob was drinking tea. Dream was just kind of staring at it. "I mean, the cost of losing wasn't even that high. Not on his end, anyway."

"He was not interested in you at all," said Dream, still not looking at him. "I dragged the truth from him while you were… gone. This was all a ploy to get to me. To hurt me—indirectly, of course. Such a lower being could never hurt me directly."

"Wait." Hob tried to grapple with this. "You— are you saying I was like a kidnapped princess?"

Dream frowned. "If you insist. The point is, he did not plan to let you walk away. By winning, or by killing you, whichever he could accomplish."

"Damn. Maybe I should have let you fight for me."

"No. You represented yourself admirably. More than admirably. You won the challenge, fairly, and did not try to kill your opponent to do it."

Praise from Dream always hit Hob somewhere deep. Possibly because Dream only said such things when he meant them. Possibly just because it was Dream saying them.

“Well, thanks for handling him in the end,” Hob said, instead of voicing that sentiment.

Dream nodded solemnly. “I would not allow such harm to befall you without interfering,” he said.

Hob took a sip of his tea to avoid showing how he felt about that quite so obviously on his face.

“Why did he want to hurt you, then?” he asked instead.

“He is the child of a sun deity,” said Dream.

“And… that… means…?”

“Sunlight chases away dreams. We are natural enemies.”

Hob frowned. “What about daydreams?”

“Daydreams may take place during the daytime, but they exist in the darkness of the inner mind,” said Dream.

“Ahhhh.” Hob nodded sagely. Yeah, sure, that made sense. One hundred percent. Absolutely. “I don’t know, I feel like some dreams can survive in the daylight. Thrive, even.”

“Perhaps next time I have an altercation with a sun deity, I will call upon you,” Dream said, a bite of sarcasm in it. “To see if you can banish them with this mindset.”

“Don’t give me that cheek,” Hob admonished. Dream’s mouth popped open in offense, but Hob plowed on, “Just have an open mind about it, that’s all I’m saying. Who knows, maybe you guys are in a symbiotic relationship or something, instead of enemies. You help people see what could be possible, and they balance it with reality.”

Dream was silent for a moment, thinking. “Perhaps,” he said at last. “But I do not think approaching them in this manner will serve me well, at the moment.”

“Maybe not if they’re going around attacking you,” Hob conceded, and Dream cracked a small smile.

Sun deities, Hob thought. Really, life was full of such strange and interesting things.

“So when you went to Hell,” Hob started. Dream tilted his head, but didn’t seem thrown by the change in subject. “What did you wager in exchange for your helm? The game makes you wager something, right?”

“It was the demon who chose the other side of the wager,” said Dream. “He demanded I remain in Hell and serve him for eternity, if I lost.”

Hob was glad he’d put down his tea, as he’d probably have dropped it. “What? Was the helm really worth that risk?”

Dream leaned back in his chair, lips pressed tight in offense. Or maybe hurt. “I am nothing without my tools of office,” he said.

“That is not true,” said Hob, surprised by his own vehemence. Nothing? He thought he was nothing?

“I could not have restored the Dreaming without them,” Dream insisted.

“Okay, fine. They’re important for your job. But that doesn’t mean you’re nothing without them.” Hob went to lay his hand over Dream’s on the table, hesitated, then decided, fuck it. Dream started when their skin touched, but didn’t move away. Hob repeated his words, with even more emphasis this time. “You’re not nothing.”

Dream met his gaze, challenging. Hob didn’t back down.

“As you wish,” Dream finally said. Which wasn’t actually an agreement. “I can concede that the ruby breaking was ultimately beneficial to my power. But the helm is my symbol of office. To leave it in the possession of a demon is a continual humiliation to my realm and station.”

“Okay, I’m hearing you,” Hob said. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Dream should be able to get his helm back. But he didn’t want Dream to risk horrible punishment for the sake of his pride. Better to slink away alive to try again another day, or so Hob felt. That wasn’t Dream, though.

“Just be careful, okay?” he said. “Even if you lost your helm and everything, and everyone in Hell thought you were pathetic—which, by the way, not sure Hell’s opinion is worth much anyway? but that aside—I’d still rather have you here than the alternative.” He threw Dream a smile, hoping he didn’t take offense to the idea that he could possibly be pathetic. “It wasn’t ‘The King of Dreams and Nightmares, et cetera’ that I missed for all those years, you know?”

“You did not know who I was, then,” Dream pointed out, but he seemed contemplative.

“I liked who I did know,” Hob said. “My friend.”

“Your friend,” repeated Dream slowly. Finally, he did pick up his tea, and took a sip. “A powerful title indeed, if you would have me when it is the only one I carry.”

“If you say so,” Hob said, which brought a small smile to Dream’s lips. If Dream wanted to think of it as a title akin to his kingship and endlessness and whatnot, then Hob would bestow it on him with gladness, and with a warm sense of honor that nestled right in his heart.

“It is…” Dream added, at length, “a meaningful title. To me.”

Rare, those expressions of feeling from Dream. Hob couldn’t help but to bask in them like a cat in a sunbeam. He remembered how Dream had looked at him during the duel. Love always comes back. Worth it, all the strife, to see Dream look at him like that, he thought.

“You defended me,” Dream said. “To prevent me taking the duel in your place. To protect me when it was not warranted.”

Wasn’t warranted. Hob really wished Dream would just learn to let Hob care for him.

"Would have even if I'd known it was you he truly wanted," he said. “I missed my friend for long enough. Wasn’t going to let something happen again when I could get in the way of it.”

“Your friend,” Dream said again. As if savoring the words. His lips tipped up again in a small smile. One just for himself.

Hob squeezed his hand on the table. A grounding touch, a reminder. “And don’t forget it.”

Dream turned his hand over on the table, and squeezed back.

#rip hob lol #dreamling #hob gadling #dream of the endless #my writing #temporary character death #such a hilariously different tone than the last thing i posted

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thewinterpillarhashira · 15 days

Text

i owe everyone a smol collection and commentary to wips/scraps i did before, during and after the fime i went into ur average cliche hollywood cringe emo phase

^^ THIS. oh my god, where do i even start about this.

MY GOSH this was like, the last thing i did b4 i fully succumbed to burn out as a whole LMAO

i made this becoz i got inspired by marc brunet doing yoneyama mai’s style vid that passed by my feed as i scrolled through hoards wanting even a single dose of motivation to prevent what i knew was an upcoming artblock.

and y’know me, i HEART yoneyama sm. so seeing that was my absolutely yumyum cup of tea—temporarily 😭

u see, EVERYTHING WAS GOING SO WELL⁉️ until i reached my limit at (unsurprisingly) hair shading.

needless to say, this was scrapped becaz—sure, the idea was overall wonderful—but the way i did the blue moon weed flower and the lighting was just NOT it for me at all. nuh uh (i essentially went through a major sob story era after this BUT i convinced myself it was just a phase—and guess what? IT WAS!! showed myself i own me n i do me 🗣️ WHOS THE ALPHA⁉️😈)

(..i aint ever physically, mentally, emotionally nor spiritually recovering from typing that.^)

^basically, after struggling to find myself for a while, i soon fortunately managed to get back to it in the slightest!;) andddd so, recently, i alas decided to do something just for me.

no more frieren fridays(+apothecary dairies) were honestly hella extra upsetting when it happened during an existential crisis moment. but hey, i got to finally draw some characs i rlly love!

these are some 30 min warmups to both challenge and to have fun myself considering its been quite some time since ive picked up my pencil and done smth worth my while.

personally content with this. moreover, it genuinely helped a lot for me to start drawing stuff again;)

^now a quick sketch i did with a palette that was somewhat out of my comfort zone.

if you’d notice, i usually use pastel colors when i do things—which i realized as i reminisced my journey and the friends we made along the wa-

in short this was a lil tryout i didto NOT do’at 💪

nothing much to say here other than that this is my forgotten genshin oc whom is now practically a test dummy for me to use whenever i have to experiment colors bcuz she doesn’t have an official one (yet…jk thats never happening sux to be her 😂🤣)

^notbing much I've got to complain about here

it's literally just a mulihaohao art style study

with ri as stelle lmao

i merely got too lazy to get it done

will prob finish....ext year-

..last but DEFO the least, a hu tao with miku fit sketch i ditched

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fandomnsfw · 1 year

Text

I Can Be Your Biggest Fan - Ivar the Boneless x Reader

(Ignore that unfaithful little witch who deserved the death she got! But his face is just so cute right here...At least the gods approve of sexual desires) 😂🤣

Pairing: Ivar the Boneless x Reader

Promt: My obsession with Ivar and his poor underloved self. Poor baby just need love and someone who could actually get his dick hard 🥺

You are a slave and have been most of your life but because of this you got the chance to meet the most handsome man you’d ever seen...cripple or not.

Warning: SMUT! Dirty Ivar loving smut! Foul language because I swear more than a sailor.

ENJOY!!!

********

“Her.” You felt your body freeze as the queen stopped in front of you. You had no idea how this queen would be with you but once she had picked you had to follow her either way. You kept quiet as you looked around the village. They hadn’t told you what your work would be but you hopes it wasn’t sex. You’d managed to save yourself so far.

The queen took her place on the throne before assessing you thoroughly. She smiled softly at you and for some reason you felt a sense of peace. Hopefully she was a fair mistress.

“What is your name girl?” She asked curiously her face keeping its smile.

“My name is Y/N, my Queen.” You spoke clearly if there was something you had learnt over the years is that people with respect you more if you speak confidently even if you’re a slave.

“You will be my personal help. You will serve my family dinner, help me bathe, help with grandchildren once I have some.” She informed confidently her wise smile still on her face.

“It would be my honour my Queen.” You gave her a grin letting her know you were more than happy with the job choice.

“Okay, well the cook has food ready so if you could get everything ready that would be good.” She chuckled before shooing you away to set the table.

You were fast getting it done so the queen gave you a happy grin as she sat at the table and waited for her sons. Eventually 3 boys walked into the hall, laughing at something. You stood next to the queen with your hands behind your back.

Then he came in. The most beautiful man you’d ever seen dragging himself around on his hands. That must’ve taken a lot of muscle to do that everyday. Yet he looked like he could take on his brothers with ease.

“This is Ubbe my first born.” The queen pointed to her elder son. He was handsome he had similar eyes to his cripple brother but for some reason they weren’t as captivating.

“This is Hvitserk my second son.” She pointed to the son next to Ubbe and he gave you a cheeky grin.

“That is my third son Sigurd.” She pointed to the opposite side of the table at the strawberry blonde man who looked you up and down with a smirk and it made your stomach churn.

“And my youngest son Ivar.” She cupped her youngest face with affection before looking up to you. He looked up at you with a curious gaze but didn’t say anything.

“This is Y/N my new slave. You are not to touch her without her permission.” The queen glared at all her sons except Ivar.

“You know maybe you should worry about Ivar not us.” Sigurd snickered as Ivar shot him a glare.

“The only one who made me feel uncomfortable with their eyes was you master Sigurd.” You mumbled your anger surfacing. Why did you say that? You should’ve kept your mouth closed but before you could apologise the queen started laughing a long with Ubbe and Hvitserk.

“I like her mother.” Ivar chuckled as he stared up at you in wonder. You met his ocean blue eyes with a sweet smile and he shot you a charming smile that made your heart melt. You felt your cheeks flush so you tried to avoid his eyes, yet you couldn’t stop from looking up only to see he’d yet to remove his eyes from you.

Unlike when Sigurd did this it felt exciting when Ivar did it. It was flattering you thought to yourself. The queen seemed to notice the flirting eyes you were sending each other but chose not to say a word until later on in the night.

………

“What do you think of my sons Y/N?” The queen asked mischievously as the rest her arms on the side of the tub, watching you closely.

“They are good reliable men.” You responded awkwardly as you got her night clothes ready.

“What about Ivar?” She asked quietly trying to his her smirk behind the tubs edge.

“I-Ivar is just as reliable as his brothers if not more.” You muttered quietly as you held out a wash cloth for her.

“Who is the most handsome of my sons?” She teased as she began washing herself.

“Ivar.” You wish you’d at least paused before answering but you blurted out his name so fast it actually visibly shocked the queen.

“Why not ask to lay with him?” She giggled playfully it made you giggle too despite being a queen she was quite playful when she wanted to be.

“Because I am a slave and I have no right to ask a prince and son of Ragnar to lay with someone like me.” You laughed bitterly before giving her a small smile silently asking to move on from that topic.

…….

You were pouring the queen a drink when Ivar appeared at the door, dragging himself straight to the seat near the fire. You finished pouring the queen a drink before walking over to Ivar with a cup. You passed the cup to him with a smile before filling it up in silence.

He tried to keep a straight face but you could see he was trying to not smile. He suddenly patted the spot next to him signalling for you to sit with him. You sat down with no hesitation, placing your hands on your lap as you waited for him to ask or request whatever he was going to.

“I have never been with a woman. I don’t even know if I can.” He said so quiet you thought you’d misheard but you knew you hadn’t. This handsome and desirable Viking is a virgin.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I am thankfully still a virgin. I’ve been lucky in having mostly female mistresses.” You giggled softly as you moved a little closer to him.

“Would you have sex with me?” Ivar asked awkwardly looking away with a blush.

“I would really like to, yes.” You blushed but continued watching him. His eyes widened and he looked at you in amazement as if he was shocked by your answer.

“I thought you were most handsome of your brothers before you asked me. I even told your mother yesterday.” You mumbled shyly as you moved your hand closer to his on the seat.

“Really?” He asked with raised brows.

“Yes…c-can I kiss you?” You stutter not sure if casual affection would be okay. You were not his wife or his lover so you really had no right.

He nodded gently before turning towards you a little more. You leant up and placed a soft kiss on his lips your hands still resting on the bench. His right hand came up to cup your cheek softly as he kissed you so sweetly, it made you melt.

“You said no forcing the slave to do intimate shit!” You heard a voice shout behind Ivar. Ivar released you immediately like he’s done something wrong but you stood up angrily and you couldn’t stop your stupid mouth.

“This was completely consensual! I’m the one that asked to kiss him! Oh wait how about proof!” You shouted before straddling Ivar making sure not to hurt his legs in the process before kissing him roughly.

He gripped your waist tightly as he kissed you back, his tongue meeting yours in a battle for dominance. You let out a little moan when he bit your bottom lip softly before finally pulling away.

“Why would you want to when you could’ve had any one of us?” Sigurd asked in utter confusion.

“Do you even understand how much strength he has to drag himself round all day? While his bones break over and over? He is the strongest and the most handsome out of all of you and I would gladly pledge my undying loyalty to him not any of you. Sorry master Sigurd.” You huffed before turning to Ivar with a shy smile as you tried to climb off his lap but he held you there with a grin, his arms wrapping around you tightly.

You giggled and snuggled into him wrapping your legs around his waist so you were more comfortable. The queen was watching the entire situation in humour and relief that someone finally realised how unique and strong her youngest son is.

........

Later that night at dinner you sat in Ivar’s lap while he ate and fed you little bits. He was very sweet to you and it made your heart ache to be more than his slave. If only you could be his wife.

“Will you be joining me in my room tonight my sweet?” Ivar whispered in your ear playfully earning a giggled from you. You gave him a happy nod before he picked a little meat off the bone and holding out to you. You took the meat from his fingers before licking his finger seductively.

He bit his own bottom lip as he watched your tongue like he was hypnotised by you. You gave him a cheeky smile before placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Can you two save it for the bedroom?” Sigurd hissed as he slammed down his cup onto the table.

“Leave them be Sigurd I’m happy to see Ivar happy.” The queen scolded with a glare before she turned to her side to look at you and Ivar with a soft smile.

You roles your eyes to Ivar making him laugh before placing an amused kiss on your lips. You gave him an ecstatic smile at his proud face. You curled up against him shyly, but he happily wrapped his arm around you tightly using his other one to stroke your hair sweetly.

“Why don’t you go to my room and I’ll be in soon, hmm?” He muttered against your hair.

You gave a nod before standing up and making your way to Ivar’s room. You sat on his bed and waited patiently for him to drag himself into the room. It wasn’t much time before Ivar dragged himself into the room with no struggle. He climbed into the bed before turning to you to talk.

“Come here sweetheart.” He groaned as he dragged himself into the middle of the bed, his back against the headboard.

You crawled to him slowly until you were in his lap. He ran his hand from your thighs up to your rib cage so swiftly it made you gasp. You gripped his shirt tugging at it letting him know you wanted it gone. You quickly pulled the shirt off him after he gave you a nod and you were practically drooling.

“See something you like Y/N?” He chuckled deeply as he laid back observing your blush as his hands rested just beneath your breast.

“Touch me please Master.” You begged shamelessly.

“Call me Ivar my sweet.” He whispered as he sat up pressing his bare chest against your clothes one. You sat back enough to rip your entire dress off throwing it across the room leaving you completely naked.

He observed you for a few seconds with hungry eyes before bringing you into a searing kiss. His tongue dominated yours in seconds and you let him because giving him control was the least you could do for this strong man.

“Ivar…” You moaned against his lips as you took a break from kissing. Your hand trailed down his chest and suddenly his hand grabbed your wrist with a worried glance.

“I’m not sure if I can…” He muttered nervously but you gave him a sweet smile.

“You can. I promise you just have to want to fuck me enough.” You whispered seductively into his ear as you grind your wet pussy against his clothed crotch.

“Shit well that should be easy enough.” He groaned against your neck before he lay you down. His muscles bulged as he did making you whimper at the sight.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered against your naked breast before kissing his way to your nipple, catching it in his mouth and nipping on it earning a moan from you.

His hand traveled downwards towards your core and as soon as his fingers touched you, you let out a needy little whimper earning a groan from the man hovering above you with just one arm supporting him. When you hands tracked down his chest he didn’t stop you this time though he did tense up.

When you reached his pants you felt the outline of his very much working dick and letting out a moan at how big he was. Would that even fit? You didn’t care you wanted him. He looked down in pleasure as you rubbed his erection gently.

“You’re so big.” You whispered in pleasure as his finger rubbed circles over your clit so gently it was driving you mad. You pulled at the lace in his pants undoing it and pulling his stuff member out of his trousers. Ivar’s eyes widened slightly before he pulled you in for messy passionate kiss.

As his tongue fought against yours he pushed two fingers into you, curling them slightly. His hands were rough but they felt good either way. You felt yourself getting close as your moans got louder.

“Ivar m’gonna cum.” You arches your back pressed your chest to his as you thrust against his fingers. He gave you a smirk before moving his fingers faster as he used his thumb to put pressure on your clit.

“Cum for me my love.” At the affectionate nickname you came all over his fingers , your body shaking violently as you came down from your orgasm.

“Fuck me…please?” You begged desperately spreading your legs further so he could come closer.

When his tip brushed against your wets folds you both let out groans of want. His eyes were staring straight into yours as he caressed your cheek lovingly. You nuzzled into his hand kissing his palm lightly before looking at him.

“Ready sweetheart?” He asked gently before giving you a chaste kiss. You gave him a nod and he slowly pushed his tip into you with a breathless gasp. He kept pushing into you slowly, your nails digging into his skin on his back as he stretched you in a way your own finger never could.

When he reached your barrier he stopped to give you a slow sensual kiss as he pushed past it with a sudden firm thrust. You cried into his mouth as he stopped kissing away the tears that escaped your eyes.

After a minute or so you thrust your hips up experimentally, to see if it still hurt but instead of pain you just felt pleasure. You thrust you hips up again more forcefully and Ivar took the hint and began thrusting into you at a slow yet deep pace that had you begging for more.

He smirked down at you and he kept up with the agonising pace not saying a word as he watch you writhe underneath him. You were growing angry and before you could rethink you actions you rolled both of you over so you were on top.

Without a word you began lifting up and slamming down on him at the fast pace you wanted. Ivar let out an almost animalistic growl as he clutched you hips as took control. You felt your pussy clench around him as your second orgasm started coiling in your stomach. He must’ve felt it because he started rubbing circles on your clit and you bounced on his cock taking what you want from him.

“Are you going to cum all over my cock, my love?” He growled his nails digging into your naked ass as he helped you bounce up and down. That’s all it took to push you over the edge, his sickly sweet yet sadistic voice whispering dirty things.

“Y-Yes! Oh Ivar!” You screamed riding out your orgasm happy before collapsing on top of him.

He flipped you both over again and started pounding into you mercilessly. He was like an out of control animal and you loved it. You cling to the furs below you try to hold onto anything as you try to ground yourself.

“Oh gods your so big! Feel so full…” You moaned you voice was so desperate like you were addicted to him. His grunts and groans had you getting riled up all over again the feeling was different though it was stronger because you were over sensitive from recently cunning twice.

“Yes! Oh g-gods…Think m’gonna cum again!” You screamed as you felt your entire body start shaking, the pressure building more and more.

“Me too love…fuck.” He groaned as he thrust faster into you as his hand came down to brush across your clit in a fast brushing motion. And sudden your vision went white. You came so hard you felt liquid gushing out of you and Ivar had stopped his thrusting and pulled back to watch as you just kept shaking.

“Shit that was sexy...”he growled as he started thrusting even harder than before.

“M’Gonna fill you up my love.” He grumbled as his thrust became erratic and untimed.

You lay there still twitching as he used your pussy to finish himself off. As you felt the hot spurts hit your walls you moaned it made you feel full and warm. Ivar collapsed on top of you panting, his skin sticking to yours due to the damp skin.

You brought your arms up, wrapping them around him stroking his hair gently as you bother enjoyed your afterglow. He eventually sat up with a type of smile you had never seen on him, but it’s made your heart flutter.

“I’m glad I’m the first man to see you like that.” He mumbled shyly as his eyes flicked around to avoid yours.

“I am also glad, that no woman has had the pleasure of you as well. I came 3 times.” You giggled grinding down on his cock that was still inside you.

“Yes that last one was interesting. Does that normally happen?” Ivar asked with sudden interest his eyes quickly meeting yours.

“No that’s never happened when I’ve touched myself.” You answered honestly though a blush still made it’s way to your cheeks.

“I wanna do it again.” He muttered with a semi evil smirk before he thrust inside you again.

This was going to be a long night, you thought to yourself with a giggle.

……

The next morning you walked into the great hall right next to Ivar as you laughed and teased each other. As you got to the throne you tried to keep you face straight and curtsy politely but Ivar kept looking up at you with a childish grin and it was hard not to laugh.

“I see you two are getting on.” The queen chuckled as she observed you both.

“Master Ivar is treating me with much more respect than I probably deserve my queen.” You answered with a grateful smile to Ivar who just frowned.

“I want her to be a free woman.” Ivar declared with a glare making sure his mother knows he’s serious.

“W-What?! Ivar n-no the queen doesn’t ha-”

“Okay.” The queen interrupted you with a grin.

A smile spread across Ivar’s faces as your eyes just widened. You were free, just like that. You couldn’t believe it. This felt like a dream to you, you looked down at Ivar before your legs decidedly gave out causing you to fall down right next to him. He sat up and pulled you into his arms as tears fell from your eyes. You cuddled into his chest clutching onto him like he was your life line.

“Thank you!” You sobbed over and over again into his chest.

He stroked your hair cradling you in his arms, like you were the most precious jewel in the world. You looked up at him drying your eyes with a shy smile. He matched your smile as he caressed your cheek sweetly.

“I would also like to ask if you would like to be my wife?” He whispered down to you with a soft gaze. Your eyes widened once again, he wanted a boring ex slave to be his wife?

“Me? I am not worthy of you…a-and you barely know me…Why?” You asked so quietly you weren’t sure he even heard you until he spoke up.

“You are more than worthy my love. You have shown me I can be a normal man despite my crippled legs. I know that you would never betray me and I know that I wish for you to be my wife.” He stated gently his eyes shining with affections and in that moment you realised this man was a gift from the gods and you would happily marry him.

“Yes I will marry you.” You giggled happily before pressing a kiss to his lips.

#Ivar #ivar the boneless x you #ivar the boneless x reader #ivar ragnarsson #ivar x you #ivar x reader #ivar imagine #ivar smut #Viking’s #filth #alex hogh andersen #alex hogh #vikings imagine #slave #cute ivar

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ily-fictional-women · 7 months

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I can kinda imagine a part 2 that shows reader and nat starting a relationship and its all very slow and tentative and hesitant because nat’s never done this before and shes soft and shy and awkward or maybe reader and nat maybe in a relationship now and its just super cute and domestic and shows how soft nat is and how wrong the rumours about her are maybe things like she steals hoodies and likes to be the little spoon and stuff like that

I can kinda see this as like its own au with lots of little one shots if you can’t tell 😂

Secrets | Rumors part 2

Summary: Secrets do more damage than good.

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader + platonic!Maria Hill x fem!reader

Warnings: None that I know of but if I should add anything let me know

Word count: 1966

a/n: I’ve been meaning to write this part two. If you haven’t read the first part though it still reads pretty well by itself. (Reblogs are welcome and critiques/advice are heavily encouraged, but please no translating.)

Natasha tosses her bag to the side quickly closing the door behind her, “That was a disaster.” Y/n simply shrugs grinning, “At least you didn’t get stabbed with lab equipment this time.” Letting out a small laugh Natasha rolls her eyes at Y/n as she begins changing out of her mission clothes.

Y/n glances at her phone, “They’ll be here in about ten hours so we have a lot of time.” Natasha flops onto the hotel bed reaching out a hand to Y/n, “Come to bed then, it’s late.”

“Oh no, it’s okay Nat. I’m not that tired.” Natasha looks at Y/n seriously, “Y/n, we have been up and awake for 48 hours. Come to bed, please.” Y/n rubs her eyes, “Alright fine.” After changing her clothes Y/n climbs into bed holding Natasha by her waist turning the nightstand lamp off.

Feeling the warm light coming through the window Natasha starts to feel herself wake up. Sleepily moving her hand across the bed her hand lands on Y/n’s thigh. Remembering Y/n is usually the one to sleep in Natasha sits up squinting her eyes trying to wake up.

“When did you wake up? And what time is it?” Y/n flips a page in the book she’s reading, “It’s six o’clock so you still have about an hour before extraction gets here.” Natasha sleepily glares at Y/n.

“You’re avoiding the more important question Y/n. When did you wake up?” Not taking her eyes off the book Y/n simply replies, “I didn’t wake. I told you I couldn’t sleep. So I waited for you to fall asleep so I could read.”

Natasha bites the inside of her cheek hesitantly resting a hand on top of Y/n’s motioning for her to close the book. Y/n finally focuses her gaze on Natasha, Natasha kisses Y/n’s forehead quickly, “Just tell me when you can’t sleep next time okay?”

“Okay, I will,” Y/n smiles assuringly.

After finishing the debrief with Fury, Natasha and Y/n walk out of the office. “You want to get lunch?” Y/n glances at the clock on her phone, “I can’t I’m planning on doing the mission report right now. And after that, I planned on meeting Maria in the training center to spar. I’ll meet you up for dinner though, yeah?”

“Yeah that works,” Natasha looks down starting to play with Y/n’s hands nervously. “You’ve been awake for a long time though so just please get some sleep in between.”

Pulling away her hands Y/n quickly snaps at Natasha, “I’m not tired! Alright? Just please leave it be.” Not saying another word Y/n quickly walks off to her bunk. She’s hiding something and it’s obvious to Natasha.

Natasha peeks her head through Fury’s office door, “Do you know where I can find Agent Hill? I need to ask her about something.” Fury looks up from his file, squinting his eye at Natasha. “I’m pretty sure she said she’ll be at the firing range right now. Said she wanted to practice her aim for an upcoming stealth mission.”

“Thank you, sir,” Natasha quickly nods her head closing the office door behind her. The firing range was only about two stories below Fury’s office so it wouldn’t be a far trip. But the fact that Y/n was keeping something from her bothered her.

Did Y/n not trust her? What was keeping her up at night? Or more importantly what was keeping her up at night that Y/n couldn’t tell her about? The thoughts intruding on Natasha had swallowed her enough that she hadn’t realized she had gotten to the firing range so quickly.

As Maria fires off the last bullet she unloads the magazine to the gun almost startled by Natasha leaning against the dividers of the firing lanes. “Hey! Romanoff,” Maria gives the redhead a quick grin, “what’s up?”

Natasha crosses her arms, “It’s about Y/n. I’m worried about her.” Maria finishes loading the gun before putting it to the side raising an eyebrow at Natasha. “What do you mean worried? What’s wrong with her?”

“She refuses to sleep. And she just snapped at me a minute ago because I told her she should get some sleep.” Maria scrunches her brows looking down for a moment trying to rack her brain on why Y/n could be acting like this.

Her eyes quickly shoot back up to Natasha, “Wait. What date is it today?”

“May 21st, why?” Maria runs a hand through her hair letting out a loud sigh, “Shit.” Natasha's posture stiffens at Maria’s reaction, “Shit what? What’s wrong with her.”

“Um,” Maria hesitates, “that’s something I can’t be responsible for telling you. But the most I can say is that she doesn’t sleep well around this time and she hasn’t for years. And when she does she doesn’t like it.”

Natasha’s face gets serious, “Could you talk to her for me then?” Maria holds back a small smile, “I can convince her to talk to you. But you’ve been her girlfriend for about three months now. You’ll need to talk to her about this.”

Rubbing the back of her neck nervously Natasha makes her way toward the exit of the firing range, “That’ll work. Thanks, Hill.” Maria picks up the gun again aiming at the target, “Anytime Romanoff!”

Y/n hears a knock on the door to her bunk but she doesn’t get up to answer it. She was falling in and out of sleep every minute trying to finish her mission report. The creaky opening of the door wakes her up though.

Turning in her seat Y/n tries to blink away her sleepiness inevitably giving Maria a sleepy gaze anyway. Maria sits on the bed near Y/n, “You never met me for sparing Y/n.” Y/n’s eyebrows knit together as she glances at the tiny clock on the corner of her computer.

It was about two hours past the time she was supposed to meet Maria. “I don’t remember giving you a key to my room Maria.”

“It was last year, you were assigned on a mission that was supposed to be a week and ended up being four months. You gave me a key to your room just in case something like that happened again so I could give you a supply drop of more of your stuff.”

Silence fills the room for the moment, Y/n had honestly expected Maria to get on her for changing the subject. “She’s worried about you y’know.” Maria had filled the silence and Y/n had somehow wished for it back.

“The nightmares. Are they coming back?” Y/n can feel a lump grow in her throat at Maria’s question. Pressing her hands against her face Y/n lets out a frustrated groan, “Yeah, they just started a few days ago. She wasn’t there for the first one so I was able to get away with not talking about it.”

“Haven’t you been awake for a few days Y/n?” Y/n’s eyes wander her room not wanting to make eye contact with Maria while talking about something like this. Her jaw tightens, “Yeah. Figured I could try and avoid it this year.”

“Y/n…” Maria’s voice is soft. “Talk to her tonight. You know you can’t just avoid this. You need to sleep at some point.”

“And if I don’t?” Y/n’s voice was quiet but bitter. Maria stands up ruffling Y/n’s hair a bit, “Then I’ll tell Fury to put you on probation until you’re deemed fit to come back to work. So talk to her tonight and get some sleep. She cares about you.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to her tonight. You still up to spar though?” Maria laughs out loud at the question, “No, you can’t fight right now. Plus if we did, I’d kick your ass. Then your girlfriend would kick my ass. And that’s a fight I wouldn’t win.”

As Maria makes her way out of the room Y/n manages to smile a little, “I would still kick your ass.” Maria laughs out loud again, “Whatever you say Y/n/l.”

Managing to power through dinner pretending to feel awake Y/n follows Natasha back to her room. With the tiredness weighing Y/n down even more though the need to talk to Natasha slipped her mind.

Closing the door to the bunk Natasha sweetly kisses Y/n on the lips, “You ready for bed?” Rubbing her eye little Y/n nods, “Yeah, I could go to bed right now.” Slipping under the covers, feeling Natasha’s warm body next to hers, Y/n falls asleep for the first time in days.

But that's the catch. She fell asleep, so the nightmares followed. The old memories came in flashes. First the ringing in the ears. Then that closing-in feeling. Then the screaming. Then the blood. Then the- there’s whispers. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up Y/n.

Immediately Y/n gasps awake sitting up feeling tears start to stream down her face gasping for air trying to breathe. “Hey- hey. Detka, breathe. Slow breaths.” Y/n felt one of Natashas' hands come up and rest on her chest to feel her breath.

The touch itself started to calm Y/n’s nerves, and her breathing started to slow. But the tears didn’t stop, they just kept going no matter how much Y/n kept cocking her head back. Noticing Y/n struggling Natasha quickly pulled her into a long tight hug.

As the tears stopped Natasha pulled her away to look at her brushing away a few stray tears. “Y/n, what was that?” Y/n runs a hand through her hair sniffling, “It was just a nightmare, go back to bed.”

Natasha puts a hand on Y/n’s cheek having Y/n look at her, “It wasn’t just a nightmare. You were crying and thrashing around in your sleep. Just tell me what’s wrong.” Y/n moves Natasha’s hand holding onto it.

“Back when I was a Marine with Maria, uh, I had to go on a mission with some newer people I didn’t know. We were on our way back to base, but we had to camp out for the night. We were ambushed when we were sleeping though. I was the only one to make it out with injuries that didn’t kill me. Today’s the sixth anniversary of this happening.”

Natasha’s grip on Y/n’s hand tightens, “So is that why you don’t like working in teams?” Y/n lets out a dry laugh, “Yeah, you could say that.” Natasha inches closer to Y/n, “So do you get these nightmares a lot?”

Y/n shrugs drying off the last few stray tears with her free hand, “I used to for about the first two years. But now they just usually come back around the day it happened. In fact, the first year when Maria went on leave with me and slept on the floor next to my bed in my apartment at the time to make sure I was okay.”

“Then I’ll stay awake.” Y/n looks up at Natasha tears starting to well up in her eyes again, “What?” Natasha squeezes her hand, “I’ll stay awake. I’ll make sure you get sleep. You can lay your head on my chest. And if the nightmares come back I’ll be right here to wake you up.”

“Okay,” Y/n whispers. As Natasha hears the confirmation she pulls Y/n close, her head on her chest drawing shapes onto her shoulder whispering ‘it’ll be okay’ quietly over and over until Y/n fell asleep. And then the nightmares didn’t come back.

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff fanfic #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x female #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff fluff #black widow #nick fury #maria hill #maria hill x reader #nightmare comfort #angst

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whetstonefires · 1 year

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Do you have any opinions on Scholomance?

I do! I like it a lot. I really enjoyed all three books, blitzed through them easily and was much more excited to see how the plots unfolded than I'm used to these days, as a jaded adult, and I also really appreciated them as works of craft.

Especially the first one, I spent the whole time being all 'wow!' at how simple it was. So easy to read, but no waste. You really need to know what you're doing, to get that kind of pared-down elegance of form to work and still fit so much content in.

Like these are dense, there's a fantastic stylistic minimalism that allows El's character all the space it needs to breathe by making absolutely every other thing and person in the whole novel also do character work for her, which is exactly where the first person voice shines.

Also great use of character perspective to make the pacing feel really natural, so the fact that the first book takes three weeks, the second book takes one year, and the third book is like. Five or so incredibly stressful days spread out over the course of a few weeks? Doesn't feel imbalanced.

I actually got distracted from the story a few times by noticing the strength of Novik's technique. 😂 This is a me problem, in itself it's the opposite of distracting. Very low-profile.

I think the Scholomance is a great example of how far you can go in specfic when you aren't cringing from the label 'derivative,' because the Scholomance books feel very fresh ad clean specifically because nothing in them is concerned with standing out as 'original,' whatever that's supposed to mean, only with being well-executed and suitable to its task.

Hm, maybe that's where Liesel was born, the intersection of the efficient narrative style and the vast proportion of the story that concerns the maximization of utility and the instrumentalization of persons by themselves and others, and the forces that incentivize these behaviors. Or maybe she's just the narrative counterweight to Orion 'Head Empty' Lake lmao. How's that for a principle of balance, Galadriel?

I really did enjoy how beautifully it was laid out, over and over, in dozens of shades of humanity, how no matter where you go in an exploitative system almost everyone is being driven by the same survival instincts.

Because I don't think I've ever seen made so cleanly clear why you just can't expect any person or small group of people, no matter their level of goodwill or status, to unmake one of these systems from the inside; how it's not a matter of people being bad but of every single person being very...small.

And then not retreating into the idea of a person who is Big coming and breaking the cruel system from the outside as some kind of panacea, because 1) that is terrible, even if it's necessary and done in the best way possible and 2) that's not a sustainable answer to anything. Getting a balance between the protagonist being able to effect change and not subscribing to the great man theory of history can be really tricky!

Also did I mention, I love El, and I love most of the cast, even the dreadful ones. How am I going around with this many feelings about Li Shanfeng who doesn't appear until the actual climax?

The romance murdered me a bit, but it took up no more space than it absolutely needed to do its job, and I respect that. Also I appreciated Orion as a love interest; Novik has a slight record at this point of a version of that style of male love interest who's like a caricature of Mr. Darcy but old, which was shaping up to be my least favorite thing about her body of work.

...Orion is kind of like if you took the human king from Spinning Silver and gave him an alignment flip come to think of it, so he's not coming out of nowhere. Lmao.

Which reminds me (re: romance character typing) I've heard Novik didn't want it to be known she was astolat, which this series has renewed my sympathies if so. Because if I were a published novelist I wouldn't want people going 'you know, that resolution was really emotionally satisfying! reminds me of that fic she wrote where optimus prime and megatron get stuck in a hole underground and hatefuck about it.'

I don't even like Transformers. That fic almost made me cry. Actually I suspect it reads better if you don't like Transformers because I'm sure it does not give a shit about canon.

Anyway, whoever pointed out that one of the things El has going on is she's Enoby (and we're going to sit down and explore what the true reason to put your middle finger up at preps is, and what are some constructive ways to channel that socioeconomic wrath, and what it means that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism) was right and I'm not entirely over that either.

Fucking love El's mom as a character. Spectacular level of parent relevance and usefulness. A+.

Aadhya and Liu are also characters who fucking delivered.

Re: minimalism though, I laughed at the start of The Golden Enclaves when I realized that none of the enclaver characters who'd gotten development in the the first two books were from London, the enclave El was theoretically shooting for when we met her.

#ask #hoc est meum #Anonymous #scholomance #my sister's biphobia made an appearance when i was reading the second book and tried to tell her about this thing i was enjoying #still mad at her about it #anyway though #good!#wish i could ask novik what she was thinking by making a single-cell abortion work as human sacrifice #like is it just because magic works on intent so if you think the newly fertilized egg #that you couldn't know about without magic #is 'your baby which you are killing'#then it is?#for purposes of hole in reality making?#or does this story have a spot where its politics sharply reverse and human life begins at conception #spoilers #scholomance spoilers #especially in the reblog #lakjfaldkfs seanan mcguire has granted this rambled Circulation oh dear

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aquaquadrant · 23 days

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I was wondering if you had an estimated date of when you will post the next HTP chapter?

Like, leaving us on such a cliffhanger must be a crime! It cant be legal!

Anyways, while I wait for it, Ive decided to copy paste every chapter into a doc and mark it up color code style for all my over analyzing needs. It took me an hour but it was worth it.

Have a good week and take care :)

(This is meant to be genuine, not mean or passive aggressive, just so you know. While I indeed am anxiously awaiting Chapter 10 by highlighting the chapters on a doc like that one photo of a bible page that’s highlighted with different colors. This isn’t meant to be mean or pressuring, take your time and take care of yourself)

⬆️(Ah poo, Im an over thinker

hey there, no worries y’all- i love seeing my reader’s enthusiasm and it’s reassuring to see continued interest in the series. i’d been hoping to have BOTH of the final ‘from eden’ chapters done before summer. but i have to admit, progress on the next chapter hasn’t been as forthcoming as i’d expected, for a couple reasons.

the first is health-related. not to be too TMI, but i recently got diagnosed with crohn’s disease. my symptoms started ages ago but have really ramped up in the last couple months, and the diagnosis was a lengthy and involved process (started the hunt back in november, presumptively diagnosed after a colonoscopy in feb, definitively diagnosed when biopsies came back over spring break) and even when i was simply waiting for results, it occupied a lot of my mental capacity. and ofc it happened to line up with me turning 26 and needing new insurance, which has caused lots of delays. anyone dealing with the american health care system while chronically ill will tell you it’s a frustrating, exhausting process. as of right now, i’m still waiting to start treatment 🫠

but honestly, even more than that, the biggest thing stopping me from writing is… me? 😂 so there’s this thing that happens after i post a chapter that’s like… decision paralysis? except it’s just that sometimes, i literally can’t bring myself to start the next chapter. it’s like, i have this unfounded fear that all my writing up until this point has been some magical fluke out of my control, and i’m not capable of ‘pulling it off’ again. i guess you could call it a form of imposter syndrome (which i already encounter enough in my vet school life). it gets worse after posting something that was a particularly massive undertaking or was insanely well-received bc i’m scared i won’t be able to top it- even though the impact of storytelling is supposed to be cohesive, and it’s unrealistic for every chapter to be ‘bigger and better’ (what does that even mean?) than the last one because they serve different purposes at different points in the story. i know this, rationally, but that doesn’t stop the irrational fear of failure from making me avoid writing.

i’m not sharing this to make excuses or garner sympathy, or fish for compliments, and certainly not to make anyone feel guilty for asking about updates. i just feel like maybe this will resonate with anyone who has the same experience. and also to share hope, because despite how often this feeling rears its ugly head, i’ve still been able to push through and get back to writing- and i’m always very happy with the result. sometimes it just takes longer than i’d like (pro tip: writing on ur phone is less intimidating, tho it’s more of a pain). but in any case, the next chapter of ‘from eden’ is well underway and i still hope to have the series done before summer’s end^^

#hels to pay au #HTP ask #wow that’s WAY more rambling abt my personal life than i typically do #but NEVER FEAR i wouldn’t leave y’all on that cliffhanger forEVER i’m not THAT cruel <3

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allastoredeer · 2 months

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The last chapter was pure gold!!!

I love how Alastor just ignores Vox existence, or at least he tries lol

And I got the feeling Al mistunderatood the “What the hell does Lucifer have that I don’t!?” With ‘what does the hotel have that they don’t’, which it’s not any better agahah Vox is so delusional

It’s such a shame he didn’t say that in front of the other overlords, it would have been such a good laugh and maybe the end of the vees?!

Also I love how u write Alastor, beside his pain he hasn’t stop smiling even a second, and let’s be honest his was such a comeback. He definitely knows how to entertain, also I got the feeling that when he attacked velvette he was trying to repay Carmille a little, cause she tried to protect his privacy more than one time during the meeting and yeah Al, Charlie is definitely rubbing off on you.

“Well, these meetings sure are getting shorter and shorter,” Totally sent me rolling laughing. He is so right tho

I wonder how Luci is gonna take this plan of his, cause I don’t think he will accept it with open arms. And I honestly don’t know if Al has something to offer the king of hell to make such a deal …but it’s undeniable that he has a soft denial spot for Al, so who know he might actually go with it👀

I just have a question, are they gonna get together in the end? Or is it just gonna be a long slow burn. Either way I am enjoying this a lot. Can’t wait for more

Hahaha, Alastor was trying SO hard to ignore the petty little TV man. He wants to talk about Charlie's hotel and go home, please and thank you.

And LOL yeah I'm glad you picked up on that. Alastor still thinks Vox is referencing working together, not the insinuation that Vox wants something more between them. To Alastor, it sounds like Vox is trying to imply that he can do "so much better" with his alliances; whereas Vox thinks Alastor knows--a least a LITTLE--about Vox's crush, but is playing it off like its nothing, which makes him even more furious.

Hahah I was so excited to write his clapback to the Vee's. He knew that if they showed up, they were going to bring up the fight with Adam, and he needed to be prepared. People start beef with him, but you better damn well believe he'll end it. Carmilla definitely enjoyed the clapback too. For a sinner she certainly has the patience of a saint.

But I also don't think she actually respects the Vee's. They're just entitled, spoiled little children in her eyes. They're a group she doesn't feel the need to expend her energy on, because, well, what's the point? She doesn't have a high enough opinion of them to do so.

Alastor and Lucifer's conversation in the next chapter was very fun to write. These two can't be left unsupervised because it's just going to end in a fistfight. They're constantly ready to throw hands and I love it.

I am writing this with the end goal being them getting together! It will be a slow-burn though 😂 I'm really gonna go into Alastor exploring his ace/aro'ness, what being in a relationship means for him. and what he wants out of a relationship. On the flipside, I'm gonna explore Lucifer's thoughts and feelings about slowly falling for a sinner (who HAS done terrible things) and what he thinks that says about himself--he has had a very negative view about sinners for thousands and thousands of years, and a mindset like that isn't going to change overnight.

So, they're both definitely going to be exploring different parts about themselves that this relationship forces them to address. And I'm very excited to get into it!

I think the tag "Lucifer Fell First But Alastor Fell Harder" is going to be very apt for this fic series.

#I seriously think about this fic series every day #I have so many things planned #I just need to figure out how to connect them LOL #hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #the radio demon #lucifer morningstar #appleradio #lucifer magne #asks #twosouls77

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kosmokhaos · 4 months

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Hi love! Your sims are GAWJUSSS. Literally breath taking. I’ve recently got back into playing ts3 and am loving it. I was wondering if you can recall the skin and/or makeup&accessories you used in Nyanaath’s makeover update here: https://www.tumblr.com/kosmokhaos/733942789751078912/i-feel-successful-now-cause-damn-ignore-the

I’ve been struggling so bad to find skins of high quality and detail that are darker hues, or eye/nose masks that don’t lose detail the deeper the shade gets. I saw that you gave a resource list of skins a few years back when Nyanaath looked a lil different, so i wasn’t sure if there was anything relatively new that you used or not. I see the pores and details in Nyanaath’s skin and am just dying to know how to get like you lmaoo

First of all, Hiii and thank you! 😁💕Happy new year! Prepare for a bit of rambling but I link to some stuff in the end.

I want to start off saying that most of my sim pics are edited to some degree, especially previous pics from the past. I'm trying to rely less on editing to make my sims looks nice, but of course there is only so much you can do in a sims game.

This is an example of what Nyanaath's skin looks like unedited. EA lighting sucks ass and looks patchy in Sims 3 on dark colored objects in general and unfortunately, sims are not excluded. I end up smoothing the discoloration and patchiness with editing 😭

Before vs After

Skins as dark as Nena's have to be made dark from the start because using a pale/light based skin and trying to use an in-game slider to darken it never turns out good in any game. Dark skin reflects light and shadows differently than light skin and needs its own already-dark base.

I will seriously consider trying to throw together a skinblend for male and female skins that are dark like this because I truly think there are none. BUUUUT LOL rambling aside I do have new recommendations for makeup and skin details since that post:

1. First up is @sourlemonsimblr for makeup. Especially for eyebrows and lipsticks! A lot of their lipsticks are insanely detailed and recolorable enough that they can fit most darker tones. Their skins are lovely too and they've even recently made a dark skin which I will💗Link Here💗. I haven't gotten a chance to play with it yet but they always have quality stuff. Take a stroll through their Downloads page because it's definitely worth it. 2. Next up for skin detail makeups is @smallsimmer. They have so many good nose makes and eye/lip details that can be recolored to use on your darker skinned sims! If you ever had a skin you really liked and wanted to switch up the nose, eyes or lips, their skin detail makeup will absolutely come in clutch. They even have a few converted for child and toddler sims (something ts3 is lacking in)💗Link Here💗 3. If you want some AF skins for darker sims that are readily available and detailed, I'd suggest @annoyinglydarkblaze I learned a lot about making skins from watching their journey into skin making a few years ago. Since they aren't as active anymore and their posts are a bit scattered I will link the skins I like best: 💗Here💗 💗Here💗 and 💗Here💗 4. My next pick for more masculine/male-centered CAS makeup and CC is @nectar-cellar Their cc has been helpful as I slowly update my male OCs. The Beards/detail makeup torso muscled-torso meshes and clothing are some of the best. 5. I also suggest @simtanico for sliders and their detail makeup. I have just about every slider they've created 😂They also make really well done maxis-match kinda styled clothes for male sims too.

I'm sure there are tons of other people I'm missing but its been a minute since I've been around simblr myself so I'll try to update this list as I go.

I'll also leave you with a little tip: Do NOT be afraid to use the opacity slider and layering with makeup on darker sims. Layering and opacity is your friend!

Happy Simming! 💗✨

#sisisimss #ask kosmo #ask #sims resource list #sims 3 #resource list

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uchihaharlot · 3 months

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I didn't mean to break their hearts, I was just curious, srry!😭😭 (but Itachi's one was kinda funny-)

But anyway, now I'm wondering about how they would react if they found out that you can draw really cool and beautiful.

(I'm an artist, so😎)

Nonny 🥹🥹

That put me in an really good mood; lol. That was way too fun to write; maybe I can one day write a super angsty break up (but I love them too much!!!).

I love all artists 😭😭😭 Painters, writers — digital or paper. Anything that expresses the inner workings of someone’s mind and the fact that they can manifest it to reality is so so so beautiful. I hope I’ve secretly seen your art, I’d probably simp over it. Always simp over art. 😂😂🥹🥹

N/SFW; very cute Uchiha men adoring your artwork! 🥹🥹🥹 (ooc Madara??); Simpy Obito; …Scandalous Shisui; abnormally observant Itachi 😂 suggestive themes rolled out the further I got. For some reason, I just had to. (P.s. I should not be allowed to write when tired??? Half of this was done while my eyes rolled shut in bed).

Madara:

It’s not everyday that Madara is blown like a leaf in the wind. When you mentioned being a patron of the arts, he thought maybe the art of battle?? Didn’t expect your weapon to be a paint brush with some acrylic paint. Thought it was some weird jutsu infused shit.

And then you just had to go above and beyond and do a portrait of him for his birthday!!!!! It’s hung on the living room center wall so that it’s the first thing anyone sees! Honestly, this man is a brute, but your art envokes his softer side! A side that he hasn’t been in touch with for…well, a long time.

Makes sure that everyone and I mean, everyone, is aware of your talent! Still, he tries to find the side hussle in it, soliciting customers for you and all. 😭😭 Will trash talk the chalk art children make on the sidewalk, which ‘…that’s not nice, they’re children..’ you say. He shrugs, nobody is as good as you.

Obito:

Finds out and tries to ‘secretly’ commission you lmao. Makes it totally obvious too, his handwriting is shit and eveeeerrryyyyone knows who Tobi really is…. Plus how can you even begin without discussing what he wants done!! Duh, Obito! Unfortunately for him, you are more interested in drawing matters of the flesh. He’ll only show his chest, nothing more.

‘That’s fine.’ You shrug, and get to work. Obito, however, does not have the resolve to sit still! It’s frustrating to no end, but alas, after what seems an eternity— its done. Sort of. Still much to add, but the basics are there and you’ll work better when he’s not asking how does it look every twenty minutes.

Eventually you do finish this beautiful piece of him, and Obito cries. You made his scars tolerable and beautiful with your mind’s creativity, he feels less self conscious about them, only a little.

Shisui:

Is the least normal about it when he discovered your sketchbook — more like snatched and played keep away. Had to fight him for it, literally. Will ask you to paint/draw him naked…many times lol and you respectfully say no... Not that he likes people to see him naked (ok maybe a little?) but he secretly hopes it might happen one day. It would be a private thing for the two of you, cause he wants that ass.

And when you do cave to his whim, just to satiate him. He’s nervous lmao. Had this oh so macho man idea of rocking a hard on but Shisui simply maintains his usual semi. It’s nice though, you make sure it’s extremely detailed..as he asked for.

But, ‘(y/n)… this is chibbi!!!’ Lol, jokes on Shisui!! He didn’t say how to draw his pp.

Itachi:

Is the most normal about it. Though he still will praise you every time you finish a piece and show him, he is still massively impressed. How does your wrist not get tired? …maybe this is why your hand jobs are so good. 😈 Just watching you try a new technique (pointillism, which is my favorite style) makes his wrist hurt. Enjoys when you ask him for ideas! He has lots of them! Mostly…obscure and derelict landscapes though.

Would not be opposed to having his portrait done, but it’s really not his style. He is disciplined enough to sit still but doesn’t see the value in it. Not until the final product is revealed, does he truly understand how important this piece was. You’ve captured his personality in a new light.

#madara headcanons #obito headcanons #shisui headcanons #itachi headcanons #madara x reader #obito x reader #shisui x reader #itachi x reader #madara uchiha #obito uchiha #shisui uchiha #itachi uchiha #uchiha clan #uchiha family #uchiha headcanons

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flowersandbigteeth · 1 year

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Hi Flower! I hope you had a great new years! Wish you nothing but the best this year! I wanted to ask real quick if you took requests. Like

With a minotaur? Like I don’t see a lot of them on tumblr - or I can’t find them - but like it can me sfw or nsfw, whatever you want. I low key think that Minotaurs are so cute. Doesn’t have to be like super extravagant or anything, like something a little cutesy fluffy. I don’t know does that make sense? But like only if you want to 😂❤️

ANYWAYS I love your work and I hope you have a great day!

Thank you! I do take requests and I've actually been working on a couple of minotaur stories but I wasn't quite happy with any of them until I decided on this one. It's a little different with a reader with yandere qualities as well. I hope you have a wonderful new year with many delights <3

'Minotaur demigod (Solomon) x water nymph reader

Word Count: 2k

🌶️ NSFW MASTERPOST 🌶️

W: nsfw monster smut, some violence and minor character death, yandere vibes

You watched the golden bull warily as he lapped water from your spring. Next to him he’d arranged some fruits he’d found and nudged them to you.

“T-thanks,” you murmured, accepting the fruit, taking a bite and picking at it with your small claws.

Normally, you only ate the fish you caught in the nearby river, but fruit was a nice treat. As a water nymph you ate your meat raw as your ancestors had done for thousands of years.

Trapped in your spring, your territory ranged a few miles in any direction on the mountain where you lived, as far as you could walk in a day. When you were small, your mother had removed your still beating heart from your chest and nestled it at the base of this spring.

Now your magic made the water sweet and endless. The forest thrived around you and creatures big and small came to drink, but your heart bound you to the spot. You could never leave. When you died another nymph would plant her daughter and the process would start all over again.

This golden bull had been coming for a few days, bringing you fruit and sleeping next to your spring. You’d thought he’d take advantage of the water and then move on, but he seemed to be settling in, spending hours lounging in the sun next to you and bringing you gifts.

“You seem to be getting quite comfortable,” you commented as he grazed on the grass around your spring. He paused for a moment and winked at you before resuming his grazing.

Suddenly he was on high alert, his ears perked and his head lowered to charge.

You followed his eyes through the woods until you too saw a handful of elf rogues tromping through the underbrush.

“A spring! Finally!” one of them sighed.

Two of them were hauling a large chest, while the others carried packs with supplies. They looked like a rough bunch, some without teeth, one missing an eye and all of them in need of a bath.

“Well look what we have here!” their leader said, spitting and examining you, “a pretty spring nymph all alone out here.”

He crouched down close to the water, apparently not noticing the massive bull pacing in the shadows.

“Come here little girl,” he said, crooking his finger at you, “we just wanna have a bit of fun. If you're good we won't hurt you.”

You drifted to the center of your pond on the lilypad on which you were sitting and the foolish rogue followed you in thinking the water was shallow and he could overpower you. It was up to a point, but nymphs didn’t live successfully in the wild for thousands of years because you were helpless.

Focusing your magic you willed the water to tug his feet from under him, leaving him sputtering even in the shallows. Every time he tried to get up you sent a new wave to hold him down as his friends watched in horror. If you kept this up you would slowly drown him.

An arrow flew past you, nicking your shoulder and bringing your game to an end. An angry snort echoed through the clearing, distracting you from the trickle of blood making its way down your arm.

The bull barreled through the archer, impaling him on his horns and when you looked, he wasn’t exactly a bull anymore, but more human…a minotaur!

The other two elves, who weren’t being drowned or gored, turned to try to help their friend, pulling out swords, but you weren’t going to let the minotaur be taken unaware from behind.

You willed a large wave of water over the two poor elves, dragging them, choking into the frigid depths at the center of your spring. You held the three of them under until they stopped moving, letting their bodies drift to a dark corner where the eels would pick them apart.

They weren’t the only bones of hapless travelers who had thought to molest you that had collected at the base of your pool.

You squirted a more gentle stream of water at the minotaur, rinsing him of the blood dripping down his neck as he dragged the body over to your pool. Sweeping it up, you maneuvered it with the others to be eaten.

He laughed and shook his head, like a dog whisking the water away. He had fluffy blondish hair that fell in his eyes and long horns you quite liked. His nose was pierced with a gold ring as were his nipples. Around his waist was wrapped a cotton wrap secured with a gold belt that did nothing to hide his bulge.

“You do not need my protection, fair water nymph,” he chuckled, rifling through the odd weeds at the edge of the pond, “yet, I still wish to assist you.”

When he found a leaf he was happy with he chewed it up and spit it into his hand.

“Come here,” he said, crooking his fingers at you.

You drifted on your lilypad over to him, curious. You jumped as he leaned down to touch your arm, but his calloused, warm fingers on your damp skin was actually quite comforting.

“It’s okay,” he purred, “it’s just for the cut.”

He patted the leaf mush onto the wound on your arm and you realized it had stopped hurting, instead the sensation replaced by a cool tingle.

“You’ve been here for days,” you commented, “what is your name and why have you not spoken to me?”

He blushed.

“Solomon,” he said, “and as for why I did not reveal myself to you, I saw what you did with the last males who disturbed you and did not wish to end up at the bottom of your spring.”

You returned his blush with your own. It was true you did have a habit of drowning males who frightened you or got on your nerves or overstayed their welcome. You were all alone in the forest, there was no one to help you. It was best to be cautious and drown first, ask questions later.

“You are no normal minotaur,” you pointed out, “you have two forms.”

He smiled at you.

“I’m a demigod, the son of a minotaur and the goddess of spring.”

Around you flowers bloomed in the underbrush filling the air with a heady fragrance.

“Then I could never have harmed you,” you added.

He chuckled.

“I did not wish to be drowned endlessly while you figured that out,” he laughed, “I can still feel pain and fear. I’m strong but your water can easily overpower me.”

You preened at his compliments and smiled.

“Why are you hanging around here?” you probed, “don’t you have someplace better to be? We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a village for fifty miles.”

He grinned and peered at you from under his fluffy hair.

“I was hoping that would be obvious, water lily,” he said, plucking a flower that had bloomed beside the pond and handing it to you.

Your water churned around you, your spring flashing pink and purple as your heart fluttered with happiness, clutching the blossom to your chest. Without thinking your water scooped up the demigod and enveloped him in a bubble to draw him closer to your heart.

He was frightened at first, as you followed him down, swimming alongside the bubble. He soon realized you weren’t going to hurt him and relaxed, sitting down and putting his arms behind his head and his feet up.

“It’s pretty down here,” he said looking up at the sun filtering through the green pads of the lotuses floating on the surface. Colorful fish swam by and your happy heart made the water glow pleasing colors.

“Is that your heart?” he asked, examining the small sapphire crystal tucked in a clamshell near the bubble.

“Yes, I think it wanted you nearby,” you admitted, “I’m not sure I have complete control over it. I hope you don’t want me to let you go, I’m not confident that I can.”

He looked at you and reached through the bubble pulling you into his lap.

“I don’t mind as long as you plan on making an honest minotaur out of me, little water lily,” he chuckled, “promise not to break my heart.”

You blinked at him and turned pink.

“I-I p-promise,” you stuttered quietly, overwhelmed by his scent. He had a pleasant musk mixed with the smell of grass. Leaning down he brushed his lips against yours, nuzzling you with his broad nose. You twisted around until you were straddling his lap, pushing his hair out of his eyes and looking at him gently. He’d been an attractive bull, but he was much more handsome as a minotaur with rippling abs, that hard chest, and soulful brown eyes brushed by golden hair.

He kissed you softly, sure of what he wanted. He moaned and held you close to him, winding his thick fingers through your damp hair. Brushing your lips with his tongue he coaxed your mouth open, tasting you. Underneath you, you felt his cock hardening and to your embarrassment automatically ground your hips against it.

He didn’t seem at all put out by your needy display, pushing your hair off of your bare breast so he could knead it with his big hand. Kissing you deeper, he thrust up to show you what he had to offer. As a nymph you never wore clothes, so there was nothing between you and him but the cotton wrap around his waist. That gave you a very good idea of what he was working with as it pressed into your pussy.

His hot hands traveled over your breasts and your ass, getting to know your body.

“You are so lovely, my lily,” he cooed, dragging his kisses down your neck, “you smell like sweet water and lotus blossoms.”

His tongue found your pebbled nipples and he licked and nibbled them until you were whimpering in his arms, lustily rubbing yourself against him. Pushing you onto your back on the oddly squishy floor of the bubble, he dropped his kisses lower, sucking your clit past his lips.

You moaned his name as he licked and kissed your little nub, gasping when he split your pussy with two thick fingers.

“Solomon please!” you whined, trying to fuck yourself on his hand.

He held you steady with the other one.

“It’s like honey when you say my name,” he moaned into your pussy, so you screamed it as you came on his fingers.

That made him feral, ripping the wrap off of his waist and looming over you, his huge cock bobbing against his stomach. He had gold barbell piercings down the shaft making your eyes widen curiously. He didn’t have to ask as you tipped your hips up and spread your legs for him, spearing you with it as he kissed you passionately.

You cried into his mouth as he stretched you, tears slipping down your cheeks. You felt the piercings rubbing your G-spot making the invasion that much more intense as they pressed into it. He didn’t rush, pushing into you slowly, but firmly until he bottomed out inside you with a grunt.

He pushed your legs back behind your ears, enjoying the view of his cock splitting your tiny cunt. You loved the way he snorted and huffed as he held himself back from losing it on you, but you wanted his passion, begging for more. You could hardly move as he bent you in half, rocking his heavy body in and out of you. Memorizing his face, tense with concentration, you whined as his calloused finger circled your clit.

“Your pussy is heaven,” he groaned, the pace increasing as he slowly lost control of himself.

His hands moved from your clit to gripping one thigh and one ankle so hard he would probably leave bruises as he slammed into you, holding your ankles over your head a pounding down into you. The soft membrane of the bubble cushioned your back as he railed you.

“Mine,” he growled.

His voice was no longer gentle but gruff and animal. He grunted and growled as he took you, ruining you for any other male and you came to the sound of his feral noises. The water around you flashed colors as you orgasmed, squeezing his cock inside of you.

He roared, filling you with his load, mixing with your fluids and squirting out of your pussy. After a moment of panting next to your head and flattening you back out, he pulled you into his chest as the little spoon.

“I never asked you your name, water lily,” he murmured into your hair as you curled up safe and sound at the bottom of your spring with your new mate bent around you.

“(Y/N),” you whispered and you thought you heard him repeat it as you drifted to sleep.

#minotaur #monster smut #monster x reader #water nymph #x reader #yandere x reader #minotaur x reader #yandere smut #exophelia

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metalphoenix · 1 month

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Hazbin Hotel Season 2 predictions

Ok so my friend forced me to watch Hazbin Hotel and now i'm hooked. This is what I think/hope(?) happens in season two!

my theory is that because of his deal with Alastor, Husker just straight up can't loose when gambling. So my thought for season two is he gambles Val for Angel's Soul. He wins it but no he's not done yet. He turns around and immediately gambles it for the rest of the souls that Val owns. He wins again. He's still not done. Val is /desperate/ now. Husk uses this to his advantage. He gambles all the souls he just won in exchange for Val's own soul. He wins (This all takes place over the course of a song). Now when Husker was an overlord he dealt in souls so I think it would be poetic if his big redemption moment was setting free all the souls he'd just gambled for, except for Val's. Vals soul he trades Alastor in exchange for being free from their agreement. Alastor, knowing that if he as Val he has power over Vox, takes the deal.

Lilith will come back to hell. At first she will gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss the others, especially Charlie. Charlie eventually realizes that Lilith was actually an abuser and not only the reason she and Lucifer were never close but also why the exterminations happened in the first place. Charlie is feels very betrayed (this is another song).

We know that Alastor sold is soul, I think he made a deal with Lilith. He will then use his deal with Charlie to get out of his Deal with Lilith somehow.

There is another meeting with heaven. It doesn't go well. There is a big verbal fight between Sara/Angel army and Charlie/Vaggie/Lucifer/all the others. In a big defining moment Emily has to make a choice to side with Heaven and stay and angel or side with Hell and fall. Sara is trying to convince her to stay and angle and Lucifer (being The Fallen Angel) is begging her not to fall. He knows what its like please don't do it. Emily makes her choice and Falls (her demon form is badass). This is the turning point that makes a lot of other angles question Heaven. Even better if God is there (I will look God in the eye and walk backwards into hell 😂). All of this takes place during the best song of the season. (bonus: Lucifer sees Emily willingly fall and goes "NEW DAUGHTER!!!" and immediately takes Emily under his wing)

We know that souls that have redeemed themselves go to heaven. I think that also means that Souls that have tainted themselves in heaven end up in Hell. Namely Adam. Fuck that guy.

Cherri Bomb, Carmella and her Daughters will join the hotel. They feel like good candidates for redemption.

While the Vee's are trying to take over Hell, Velvette is playing an even bigger game. After season 1 she knows Alastor can beat Vox and looses faith in them. Vox and Val seem to be keeping their relationship on the down low and we see Velvette taking pictures of them at the end. She blackmails them and takes over their whole empire for herself.

At the end of the season Charlie is given the option to go to heaven (my thought is since Lucifer and Lilith both started out as angels, Charlie is actually also an angel not a demon). She refuses. Her place is in Hell with her people. She takes over as Queen of Hell and Lucifer gets to retire and play with his rubber ducks.

The very teary is end is most of the main characters have redeemed themselves and can go to heaven now. Its bittersweet because they are free and have succeeded but they won't be able to see Charlie either as much or at all once they go. This is the saddest song of the season.

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moumouton4 · 10 months

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What A Lovely Coincidence || Sasuke Uchiha x reader

A/n : Totally forgot about this wip I finished a while ago. I retook it and I think it's perfect lmao. I hope y'all will like it 🎁 I've gt the idea while walking in the street on my way to the bakery to buy a baguette 🥖 if you wanna know 😂

Warnings : Fluff, heavy make out session

Summary : As you return from your mission, you realize that someone is following you. Little do you know that your boyfriend had missed you quite a lot. But it's Sasuke y'all don't expect much from him… unless… 👀

Masterlist ⚜

I don’t give permission to repost my work, if you want to share it just reblogue it

Words count : 1485

You leapt from branch to branch across the forest at breakneck speed, splitting the distance to Konohagakure with each passing second. You'd just finished a mission that had lasted about a week, and you were slowly making your way back home.

You were looking forward to seeing everyone again, as well as your boyfriend Sasuke, who had left a few days before your departure and should have returned about 2 days ago.

As you moved forward, however, you felt chakra about 10 meters from you, but your speed made it impossible to determine its source. You felt the source getting closer, so you decided to accelerate so you could hide in case someone tried to ambush you.

Once you're safely tucked away in your hiding place, you wait patiently, imagining that the source would go away, but despite your precautions you felt it getting closer. So you draw the kunai from your boot and held it tight in your hand in anticipation of what's about to happen.

The chakra you felt was familiar, but no matter how much you racked your brains, you couldn't answer why this person you knew outwardly wouldn't have come straight to you and been playing hide-and-seek in the trees.

You had to admit that this person wasn't making any noise, but you could still hear them behind you. In a split second you stood up, kunai still in your hand. Out of habit, you brandished it at the other person's throat, grabbing their arm. The other person, however, had managed to dodge your blow and grab the arm of the hand that held in a split second.

It's when you refocused on the situation that you realized your mistake. At the time, you felt foolish not to have recognized your boyfriend's chakra. You wasted no time in putting the kunai back into the holster on your boot before taking him in an embrace.

It's only a matter of a quarter of a second before he's back in the habit of wrapping his arms around you, patting you gently on the back. When you pulled away, you saw his gaze sweep over your body, searching for any wound.

"Hi, handsome, do you often hang around here ?" you said playfully.

Pink started to creep up his cheeks as he turned his head to the side. You had a gift for breaking his facade, that was undeniable. Nevertheless, he managed to respond to your greeting.

His gaze was so intense you could tell he was dying to tell you all sorts of things. So you try to make conversation as you started walking towards Konohagakure, this time on the hard floor.

"I'm surprised to see you here. Wasn't your mission over a while ago ? How long have you been back in Konohagakure ?"

"I'm not back yet" he replied in a calm tone, looking straight ahead.

"What do you mean ? Did your mission last longer than expected ? Nothing too bad I hope" you turned to him, inspecting him briefly as he had done to you, but with his cloak on him was difficult to see anything.

"No, don't worry, everything went fine" he replied, as calm as ever.

But your curiosity was still piqued "But then what are you doing here ? Don't get me wrong it pleases me a lot that you're the first person I see on my return but I don't understand"

He tried to remain calm and composed but couldn't stop the 2nd wave of red rising in his cheeks. He tried to speak. To tell you that yes, he'd come home more slowly than planned, so that you'd pass each other on the way home. So he could spend time with you. Without Naruto and Neji, your respective best friends.

And without having to "make a fool" of himself inviting you to a date, as he thinks he does. He's lucky it's you, because he's right, it borders on the ridiculous. For example, the last time he came out of a training session and asked you "Do you want to experience something different ?" yes, that was his way of asking you to go on a date with him. Good thing you have the built-in Sasuke-translator.

You snapped him out of his thoughts by taking his hand. His head snapped immediately towards you and from there you could observe his rose-tinted cheeks.

"You know you can tell me if the mission went poorly" you said, your gaze softening.

Damn it, he wanted everything except for you to start worrying about him. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Everything went fine, don't worry. I... I just wanted to get in more slowly to... coincide with our arrivals...." he said his gaze fixing on a tree behind you.

On your side your brain was firing like a Turing machine ( a computer ), we could almost see the cog of the load in your eyes. And then suddenly they sparkled as a smirk appeared on your lips "Ooooh I see then" you said before standing on tiptoe to catch his gaze "And are you satisfied that we've coincided ?"

"The weather's been pretty good so-" you didn't give him time to finish his evasive answer and grabbed his shoulders before lowering him to your level and kissing him. His arms froze at his sides and his eyes widened. But as you pulled back, his hands shot to your waist and he pulled you firmly against him. His lips pressed fiercely against yours, causing you to pull your head back slightly. This way he could express all the longing and love he had for you without making a fool of himself with his evasive, enigmatic wording.

As you tilted your head to deepen the kiss, you felt his hands on your hips tighten. He delicately opened his mouth and swiped his tongue on your bottom lip, asking for entrance, which you immediately gave in to. You spent a moment like this, your tongues caressing each other in a gentle battle of dominance.

Finally when you parted his eyes were wide at his own actions. A few moments before, he'd never have thought of doing that - not that it was an unfamiliar thing for you both, but for someone as far-sighted as he was, he'd never seen it coming. You always found a way to keep him on his toes after all.

As he held your body tightly against his, you asked again, "And now, are you happy to have coincided with me ?"

"Yes very much so" he said now completely flushed, his face nestled against your neck.

"Then it's perfect !" you said cheerfully. Then he pulled away, immediately looking the other way as his hand took yours in a firm grip that evoked both his love for you and his devotion.

As you made your way back to the village, you spoke again "If you like, later we could coincide at Ichiraku's and then go to my place to watch a movie"

You felt his hand squeeze yours tighter, a little chuckle passing from his lips at the way you'd just proposed a date. He had the impression of hearing himself... except he could never have finished the sentence that way "That would be very pleasant" he replied, trying to suppress the hint of entousiam and excitement in his voice.

As Konohagakure entered your line of sight, you couldn't help the flutter in your heart at the thought of your evening tonight. The quiet meal that awaited you, where you could talk about your respective missions. The undoubtedly short walk in the night that Sasuke would ask for as per usual. And how he'd make room for you under his cloak, pulling you in by the shoulder and pushing you flush against him to discuss more personal matters, knowing he was protected by the veil of night. And then finally the warmth of his body behind yours as you watched the movie. His hand holding yours while his arm is wrapped protectively around your waist, and his legs are entangled with yours.

It's one of those intimate moments when he feels safe and allows himself to be vulnerable. Where he'd allow himself to place little kisses on your neck while his cold feet sought warmth against yours.

Sasuke, too, was extremely eager to get back into a more intimate setting with you so he could catch up and just show you the love he has for you in complete freedom. You heard him take a slight breath before whispering "I can't wait"

You smiled from ear to ear as you turned your head towards his "Me too, Sasuke. Me too" you said, rubbing your thumb over the back of his hand. A small smile appeared on his face as your eyes met again. This evening was sure to be eagerly awaited and thoroughly enjoyed.

A/n : I hope you guys liked it ! 🍣🍜 Again my requests are open 🍯🍮

Taglist : @foxxymunson, @cl0vr, @ilovemanypeople, @glossy1pearl, @jane57sstuff

#naruto #naruto imagine #naruto shippuden #naruto shippuden imagine #sasuke uchiha imagine #sasuke uchiha #sasuke uchiha fluff #sasuke uchiha x reader #sasuke uchiha x reader fluff #sasuke x reader #fluff #miri-writes

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