#i couldn't get the shades of gray to be exact

[mariaofdoranelle]

Fake It Till You Make It

Rowaelin Month masterlist

@rowaelinscourt

I got my driver’s license this year, so I wrote this a few weeks ago for today because I’m kinda invested in DMV horror stories loll

Warnings: language

Words: 1,2k

For Rowan, becoming an employee at the Department of Motor Vehicles—also known as DMV—was a fairly easy process. He was unemployed, they had spots open, all the pieces fell right into place.

The hard part was staying in this damn job.

He grabbed the information of the next applicant he was going to examine. A 62-year-old woman who failed her driver’s license exam five times. Rowan tensed. As long as she didn’t kill anyone with that car, it’d be alright.

He crossed the threshold between the restricted area for employees and the waiting room, stepping inside that crowded space that reeked of cheap room deodorizers.

“Evalin Ashryver?” he called over the low chatter.

The woman who approached him was… not what he expected. Apart from the gray roots in her hair and conservative clothing, this woman didn’t look 62 years old at all.

"Ma'am, can I see your ID?"

The charming smile she gave him hit Rowan right between the legs. He looked away, waiting while she searched her purse. Holy rutting Mala, he needed to get a grip. The woman was old enough to be his mother.

She handed him the ID, and Rowan held it right by the woman's side to examine it.

She looked like the same person in the ID, but not quite. In the picture, the nose was a bit different, and it showed more signs of her age. Sagging skin, a few more wrinkles. But is there anything doctors couldn't do these days? It was the exact same shade of blonde hair, the exact same blue eyes with golden hues.

He cleared his throat and handed back the document.

“Ma’am don’t get me wrong, but…” Rowan trailed, carefully selecting his next words. “You should consider replacing your ID.”

Evalin tilted her head, exposing her neck that looked way too smooth and lickable for someone twice his age. “Is something wrong with it?”

“Your fillers.” Rowan gestured to his own face with a swift twirl of his finger. “It could confuse a security agent.”

Her grin was bright, assuring him that she wasn’t embarrassed. "I have a very good doctor, thanks."

Evalin's slow smile built, her eyes studying his biceps and shoulders.

Was this unbelievably hot old lady flirting with him? Rowan took a step back and gestured for her to walk ahead of him. He didn't mind her age, but he also noticed the wedding ring on her finger.

Rowan cleared his throat and led her to the garage. He braced himself when she started the car, his stomach as hard as his muscles felt tight, but the deadly driving he expected never came. It was actually smooth, and the car didn’t stall once.

Weird. That was the kind of conduct he expected from an experienced driver, not someone who failed this test five times.

He narrowed his eyes at Evalin, studying her relaxed posture. "I see you’re not nervous.” Rowan was sure of it, but his tone made it sound like a question. It was strange, seeing a repeater so at ease when most of them reeked of terror and anxiety.

"I had lots of practice with my daughter." Evalin wiggled her eyebrows. "She's single, you know?"

Rowan froze. Something dawned on him, an odd gut feeling, but it made him inspect that woman further.

"Is she?"

"Yep. Her name's Aelin. I can't show you a picture now, but she looks a lot like me." Evalin—was that really her name?—winked. "But with cuter clothes."

Rowan gestured for her to take a turn to the left—not the regular path the DMV used for this exam. Evalin didn't seem to notice this change, which was unusual for someone who was doing this for the sixth time.

"And I'm assuming your daughter was very invested in your exam?"

"Aelin's the most wonderful person who ever existed." She let out an affectionate sigh. "She's clever, fascinating, very, very talented. Not to mention that she's a rare, staggering beauty."

“I’m sure she is,” Rowan sneered with his arms crossed. That woman couldn’t be serious.

He told her to make another atypical turn. Another one she didn't question. Another one she did with too much ease for someone who historically struggled to drive.

She didn’t even pretend to have a hard time. That woman—who wasn’t Evalin, and he suspected it was her daughter—was so confident about this she didn’t even notice Rowan gave her the directions to the nearest police station.

"Can you parallel park in front of this building, please?"

She did it in a matter of seconds, on her first try.

"How did I do?" she asked with a big, smug smile. Aelin had no clue about the route she was supposed to do for this exam, but at least she knew that parallel parking was the last part.

Instead of answering, Rowan swept a finger against her hair.

It came out with gray paint.

He gave her a bored look. "Fake gray roots? Seriously?"

She crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. "It's blonde spray to cover gray roots. You're colorblind."

"And you're under arrest for identity theft."

Her mouth fell open, and it took a second before she yelled, "You're from the DMV, you can't arrest me!"

"That's why we came to the police station." He left the passenger side, rounded the car and opened the driver's door. "Come on, Aelin."

"It's Evalin."

"Aelin."

"E-va-lin," she repeated as if he were mentally disabled.

“Well, E-va-lin, can you please explain your identity issue to a police officer?”

Aelin leaned back on the driver’s seat and crossed her arms. Her head was cocked to the side, her lips pursed as her probing gaze focused on him for a moment.

"If you don't snitch on me, I'll let you take me on a date."

He raised his brows, surprised by this offer. "What makes you think I'll accept that?"

"Because not every man gets to take me out, and you'd rather do that than spend your evening filling all the paperwork it takes to explain why you took an examinee to the police station."

To be honest, she had a point.

Rowan hated this job. He didn't give a fuck about it, especially since most people forgot every driving rule the second they got their license. Aelin committed a crime, but who didn't? As far as he knew, she wasn't a serious threat to society.

"Get off the car."

She sighed, shoulders slumped in resignation, but complied. However, he stopped her as soon as she closed the car door.

"Are you vegan?"

"What?" She blinked. "No, I'm not," Aelin said in an uncertain tone.

"Good. Meet me at Emrys' Steak House at seven." He gripped the door handle to get back to the DMV, but before he left, Rowan looked her up and down and said, "I'm not expecting sex, but please don't wear your mother's clothes."

“Oh.” Aelin perked up, her eyes sparkling this time. “Okay. Did mom pass?"

That bold question made him snort. “I didn't even meet her, so no.”

She smirked. "You wanna meet my parents already? That was fast."

Rowan shook his head in disbelief and got in the car, but not without watching Aelin walk away from him, her hips swaying since she knew he was watching.

There was no way someone could look this good in her mother’s granny clothes. Rowan drove away with a smirk on his face.

If that woman could flip his boring morning routine on the DMV like this, he couldn’t wait to see what she’d pull tonight.

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TAG LIST

I couldn’t tag the people in bold, sorry!

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#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin ashryver galathynius #throne of glass #rowaelin fanfiction #rowan x aelin #aelin x rowan #rowaelin fanfic #throne of glass fanfic #rowaelin month

[hungergamesheadcanons]

You Certainly Took Your Time, My Love

Annie didn't know what had happened.

One minute she was old and frail, laying in bed with her sweet Caspian beside her. She'd died, she'd thought, looking at her son who was the exact picture of Finnick. Caspian's wife, Isla, and their twin daughters Naia and Talassa, were in Annie's kitchen, making a meal for her as she'd long since lost the ability to walk. Caspian had looked worried, his eyes filled with tears as Annie spoke slowly, and dying? Well, it had just felt like falling asleep.

But she woke up. Emerging from some kind of pool, she looked around the landscape. It was dark, thousands of tiny lights glittering in the darkness that Annie soon realised were stars. A gleaming white path stretched out into the distance, and the water around Annie's ankles fitted between colours, shades of pink, blue, green and red dancing beneath her feet.

And in front of her was Finnick.

"You certainly took your time, my love." He grinned, looking every bit as young as he had the day he had left her in 13. His body was flawless, no signs of the injuries inflicted upon him by the mutts Katniss had told her about years after he had passed, green eyes reflecting the lights surrounding them.

"What can I say?" Annie smiled, carefully stepping out of the pond and walking towards him. Her body was also young, probably slightly older than Finnick now - maybe around 25 or 26 - and clothed in a simple white dress that matched Finnick's loose clothing.

"I couldn't leave just yet."

"I'm glad you didn't," Finnick reached out to her, and he two embraced tightly, both shedding quiet tears for a matter of minutes before pulling apart. "I saw everything, Annie. Our son, his marriage, Naia and Talassa... You did so well, Annie. I'm just sorry I wasn't there to see it alongside you."

And Annie reached up to wipe the tear-tracks from his face, reveling in the way he nuzzled into her hand subconsciously. "What do you mean?" She asked, "I felt you beside me every day. Caspian knows you, and so does Isla, Naia, Talassa... They know you, and Mags, and Uncle Haymitch, Uncle Peeta and Auntie Katniss were always telling them stories of you. They knew you were there, watching over them."

Finnick was openly crying now, head still cradled between Annie's hands, and she leant in to kiss him gently. It was a sweet kiss, even filled with salt, and she let him pull himself together a little before asking her questions.

"Where's Mags? Haymitch? Johanna?"

"All down that path." He pointed. "They said it felt right to walk it. Mags waited for me, but she walked down that path after we... beat up, Snow. When he came through that pond we might have battered him a little bit."

"We?" Annie asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah. Me, Prim - she left when her mother arrived -, Mags, Cashmere, Gloss, Wiress, a couple of guys from the squad, and two others. A Lucy Gray Baird from 12 - won just before Mags, they apparently enjoyed talking a lot before Snow showed up -, and a Sejanus Plinth. He didn't get the chance to walk the path - once we were done he took a step and just fell through it."

"I'm glad," Annie grinned, "he deserved it. So the rest of them are up that way?"

"Yep." Finnick nodded, resting his head on her shoulders. "And now it's our turn. Unless you're tied here?"

And Annie looked at the pond, looked at Caspian comforting his family at her funeral. Watched Katniss and Peeta and their children offer their condolences, being each other's support system and holding each other tight. Heard both of the adults from 12 telling him about how in love his parents were, and that they were surely reunited again to be sickeningly in love all over again.

He didn't need her to watch him.

"He'll be fine." She decided, taking Finnick's hand and starting to walk down the path. "I think we need to catch up."

And when Katniss and Peeta finally joined them, within a couple hours of each other, Annie and Finnick had already started their new life. In their own little segment of heaven, that tied on to Johanna's, and Haymitch's, and Prim's, and Lucy Gray's, and Sejanus's, was already inhabited by Mags, who greeted them with warm hugs and hot chocolate ready and waiting.

Annie had never seen Mags so young, with curly brown hair and warm brown eyes that had remained the same throughout the years, and it took her a minute to recognise her. But Mags had already helped create the landscape - a beautiful beach that lead onto a meadow, with a sweet little cottage tucked in. The cottage was perfectly sized for the three of them, full of soft furnishings and sweet decor that had been mimicked from their actual lives. Finnick's shell strings from his sister's were hung up in the living room, Caspian's childhood drawings hung up on a fridge alongside Naia's and Talassa's. Even some that Annie didn't recognise - with a small little F.O in the corner that Mags looked at fondly.

And sat on the golden sand, with Finnick's head in her lap, watching the waves lap lazily at their toes, Annie waited patiently for Caspian to join them.

#the hunger games #the hunger games fanfic #finnick odair #annie cresta #odesta #afterlife #mags flanagan #haymitch abernathy #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #primrose everdeen #sejanus plinth #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #snow got beaten up by everyone in the afterlife im telling you now

[potofstewie]

Confide in Me

The lowdown: An angry and battered boyfriend, a scared yet concerned girlfriend and a $2.58 pack of frozen peas

MEGA HUUUUGE SHOUTOUT TO @auraee FOR HELPING ME WITH THE CONCLUSION CAUSE A CHICK WAS LOST

Word Count: 2.8k

Pairing: Rengoku x Black Reader (other readers are welcomed)

The things to know: VERYYY OOC Kyojuro, Blood, Smoking, Mentions of Child Abuse, Physical Abuse (kyojuro and shinjuro), Angst, yelling, swears, Eating as a coping mechanism (Kyojuro), a pack of frozen sweet peas

A/N: Oh, my, GOOOD. I hate how long this took and I'm sorry for how long it took. I got sick with something and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to end this properly. I was also on the verge of deleting this numerous times to just write a version in the canon setting but I didn't want this to go to waste. I'm so grateful for @auraee for looking at the conclusion and giving me confidence. Big ups my g I think after this, I'm gonna redo my masterlist and then finally move on to another baby daddy of mine (I'm fighting between Haganezuka and Eren.) Also can you tell that I finally figured out how to indent texts? lmao

You sighed for the umpteenth time as you paced anxiously, your purple led lights drenching your room. Picking up your phone, you fiddled with the strings to your oversized black hoodie, a gift from your boyfriend. Your boyfriend, the exact reason why you felt so anxious for the past half hour. You were only relaxing in your room, music playing softly in the background from your T.V when you got the text. You went over the conversation on your phone as you sat on your bed.

KyoKyo: Hey, are you busy? You: Hey hey, naw what's up KyoKyo: Can I come over? You: Like- rn? I aint complainin but what's going on? KyoKyo: Yes, right now. I just can’t be at home rn You: aight just hurry up

You sighed once more as you sat your phone down, mind running through all the endless possibilities over what could make Kyojuro see you at this hour. He's done it before but only when your facetime calls or text messages became too steamy to only be left behind a screen. No, what made this time different and made your hairs stand on end was how formal he was when texting you. No emojis, nothing. A soft knock came to your window as your leg bounced.

You quickly made your way across the room to open it, a chill breeze rushing into your room. You stood to the side as Kyojuro clumsily climbed into your room, landing on his back when he fully entered. "Fuck!" He exclaimed, feeling intense pain shoot up his spine. You looked at him in complete worry as he kicked his sneakers off and closed the window and blinds. "Kyojuro, what on earth happened to you?" You asked in shock, soaking in his appearance.

Kyojuro's trademark mane was in a disheveled bun. His white shirt and gray sweatpants were decorated with blood spots, not too much to cause extreme concern but it was enough for you to assume the worst. His arms had bruises dancing on them, his knuckles dawning a crimson shade. He turned to face you, a disgruntled and annoyed expression taking over his usually cheery demeanor. You covered your mouth in silent shock as the condition of his face was revealed to you.

Dried blood rested at the corner of his mouth, a bloody nose and a black eye present on his visage. "Kyojuro what on earth happened to you?" You asked in shock as he silently walked over to your desk, searching through your designated snack drawers in your desk that he helped fill up a few days ago. "Kyojuro!" You shouted to get his attention.

"Can I borrow your lighter?" He asked gruffly, back still facing you as he dug deeper in the drawers. "That idiot Uzui took mine the other day and he won't give it back. He probably lost it or something." He pulled out your hot pink lighter as well as a couple of honey buns and tossed them on the bed before sitting down.

You sighed in defeat, accepting the fact that you wouldn't get any explanation as of now. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna get some bandages and stuff for you."

"Can you bring back some drinks too? I don't mind what kind." He called out to you as you exited the room.

"Yeah, sure whatever." You said softly as you closed the door behind you. Your brows furrowed as you made your way to the kitchen, wracking your brain on what to do and what happened. You've never had trouble dealing with Kyo's injuries, in fact they were pretty common when it came to them. Being friends with a cocky guy like Uzui would always come with a few fights from other people. However, Uzui would be with him right now so you could treat the both of them. Did..did he and his dad get into a fight? You shook your head as you let the pipe water from the sink fill a bowl with warm water. You felt slightly guilty for that question in your head, it was wrong to assume something so heavy about Kyojuro and his father. Although, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to think about it. Kyojuro informed you once that his dad was a bit of a hardass and that they were usually at odds, but you didn't think it would ever reach a level of violence.

You took out two water bottles from the fridge and placed them in the pockets of your sweatpants for extra hand space. You also took out a frozen bag of peas before shutting off the sink pipe. Taking a roll of bandages from the junk drawer and stuffing them into your hoodie pocket, you rubbed your forehead in thought. Gathering everything, you began to shuffle back to your room in deep thought. Whatever the case may be, Kyojuro would have to tell you. It wouldn't be like him to keep it from you forever.

Gritting your teeth, annoyance slowly started to seep into your veins as you thought back to the very short one-sided conversation you had with your boyfriend. You loved Kyojuro with your whole heart, you did, but you hated the moments when he was too deep in his own aggravation or excitement to pay you any mind or answer any questions you had. It wouldn't kill him to answer a simple question or even acknowledge your existence with a "Hey Babe" without you having to repeatedly call his name or shake him aggressively.

Entering your room, your eyes rested on the fresh pile of honey bun and chips wrappings that resided in your trash can, Kyojuro nowhere to be seen. You sighed softly as you walked in, resting the supplies on your desk and the water bottles on your pillows. The snacks were supposed to last you a month, but you couldn’t be upset over the majority of them falling victim to Kyojuro’s coping mechanism. With a click, your door opened again, revealing a shirtless Kyojuro, his face wet. "I had to wash my face real quick." He announced, -reminding you of a child telling his mother that he "frew" up in the wee hours of the night- as you pointed him to your bed, silently telling him to sit.

"So, can you finally tell me exactly what the hell happened to you?" You asked, handing him a washcloth to dry his face as he tossed his shirt to the side. A tired sigh released from his lips as he dried his face. He looked at you, incandescent eyes swimming with fatigue, anger…and sadness. Kyojuro pursed his lips as he looked around your room, silently indulging in the music that softly played.

"Oh, by the way, where are your parents? I realized that I was too loud climbing in-"

"They're gone for the weekend. Stop avoiding my questions and answer me, Kyojuro." You said bluntly, grabbing the washcloth from him and submerging it into the bowl of water before wringing it out. That was another thing you hated when it came to your boyfriend, despite being one to –albeit unknowingly– initiate awkward conversations with his lack of filter he could never really engage in them well. Kyojuro fished out a small container from his pocket, producing a joint from it. You took one of his hands and began to clean his knuckles as he lit the joint that rested in his mouth.

You watched him intensely as he took his time smoking, taking his other hand and repeating the cleaning process. "I got into a fight with my dad." He said matter-of-factly, eyes watching your hands work. You began to bandage his hands as he rested the joint on a nearby ashtray, your mind swimming with booming thoughts. So you were right, it finally happened. You were told by Kyojuro that things have been bad since his mom died but for it to go this far? Your mind redirected to Kyojuro's innocent little brother. Where the hell was he when this all happened? Did Kyojuro leave him behind?

"Wait, where's Senjuro? Don't tell me you left him behind at the house, Kyojuro." You inquired, quickly regretting it as Kyojuro's dark eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. He grunted and moved his hand away from your grasp harshly causing you to jolt.

"Jesus, y/n! Why the fuck would I do that to him?!" Kyojuro balled his fists but quickly relaxed them with a deep breath once he noticed your body go rigid. "I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell like that. He's spending the weekend at his friend's house. What's his name…uh, Tanjiro. Yeah, him and those two weird kids." He explained, taking another drag from the joint before offering it to you. You shook your hand and head, rejecting the offer. "I'd absolutely lose it if my dad tried fighting with Senjuro in the house, he doesn't deserve to witness it." He said softly as you tossed the pack of peas to him, placing it on his eye as he watched you tie your braids back into a ponytail.

"Sooo, what happened? Why did you guys fight?" You asked, grabbing a bandaid from your desk while internally calming your nerves. It was somewhat rare to see your boyfriend angry, even when it came to fights he was calm, so seeing him this way was a cause for concern. But, the slight fear wouldn’t stop you from listening to his woes and being there for him. Kyojuro laid back on the bed as he started to relax a bit more, eyeing your popcorn ceiling as he organized his thoughts into words. You took the joint from your boyfriend and placed it in the ashtray, watching his chest rise and fall.

"I don't really know how it happened, or rather how I pissed him off." He started, reaching for a stray honey bun on your bed as you climbed on the bed, sitting next to his muscular and bruised body. "All I did was go into his room and tell him that I ordered dinner ‘n that there was no more booze. I guess he got mad ‘cause of the simple fact that I disturbed his peace. God, y/n, it was as if I was fighting the devil himself. The most he's done when he's pissed is chuck his bottles at me, but never full on fight me." He paused his explanation to bite into the sweet treat, a soft “tasty” leaving his lips as his eyes stayed focused on the ceiling. You did your best to cover the scrape on his face with the bandaid, his chewing not stopping for you as you quietly soaked in his tale.

"I didn't know he was that shitty, Kyo.. ’m sorry. " You said softly, lost for words. How come he never told you this aspect of his life in full before? Even though your suspicions from earlier became true, you still couldn’t fully accept it. That would certainly explain why he never offered up his house as a hangout spot for you and his friends or a place for the two of you to have homedates, always opting for your house instead. That would also explain any random cuts and bruises he’d get and how he’d quickly dismiss it as a misadventure with his best friend. Kyojuro scoffed, turning his head to face you as he continued.

"Yeah, well, there's the truth. It was a messy thing, we traveled from his room to the hallway and after like five minutes..I just snapped." He said softly, eyebrows furrowing as he gingerly rubbed his bruised knuckles on your knee. "I fought back for a bit but in the end he had me pinned on the floor. And I just- stayed there and took it. I didn't get up from the floor until I heard him go back into his room and that's when I texted you." He picked up the joint again, bringing it to his lips that dawned a red cut. "And now here we are."

As soon as Kyojuro finished speaking, you felt a lump forming in your throat as tears glossed your eyes. This isn't fair. Not at all. You couldn't deny that Kyojuro was strong and powerful; always a pillar to those around him and certainly to himself. But hearing and seeing the torment your boyfriend went through made you want to hold him tight and cry. Kyojuro sat up quickly, eye wide in worry. "Oh please, y/n, don't cry. You don't have to cry on my behalf. I mean, look! Just a few scrapes and bruises!" He reassured, tossing the frozen peas to the floor as he stood up quickly.

As soon as he stood at his full height, searing pain attacked his spine, causing him to lean on the bed with a sharp inhale. "Kyo!" You said in worry, reaching out to help him sit back down. "Are you alright?!" You watched as he chuckled dryly, turning his back to you.

"My back..it's just a little tender, that's all." He said softly as you noticed the giant bruise on his back. You lightly touched it with your fingertips, eliciting a soft grunt from him as he winced. You sighed, getting up from the bed. "But I'll be fine, honest.."

"I think I have an ointment or cream for that in the bathroom, just lay on your stomach while you wait." You said, Kyojuro nodding and complying with your instructions. As quick as you left the room, you returned with the cream. You walked in on Kyojuro sitting up, drinking from one of the water bottles. He set both his water bottle and yours on the nightstand before lying back on his stomach, arms folded under his head. As you straddled his toned back, you made sure to not rest your hand on the bruise, worried to cause any more discomfort. As you rubbed the cream on your hands you gnawed at your bottom lip, figuring out a way to properly ask this question.

"…Kyo?" You said slowly as you began to rub the cream on his back, massaging it. A deep hum of relaxation and answer rumbled from his throat as you worked.

"Kyo, besides me, does anyone else know about, y'know all this?" You asked, working your fingers down to his lower back. Kyojuro shrugged his shoulders.

"I haven't told anyone but I don't doubt that Uzui has figured it out and just kept it under wraps." He answered softly, his answer ending with a soft groan as you kneaded the cream gently on the bruise.

"…Kyo?" You started up again. Another hum left his throat.

"How do you feel...about your dad? I mean, obviously you're angry at him right now. But how do you usually feel towards him?" You asked cautiously, hoping the question wasn't too sensitive. Kyojuro sighed.

"He stays out of my way and I stay out of his, that's all there is to it." He said gruffly, burying his head into the crook of his elbow.

"No, like, do you still care about him?" You clarified.

"Y/n, stop. You're pushing it."

"I'm just asking, Kyojuro. Do you even see him as a dad anymore? What about Sen-"

"Y/n, Please! Fuck man!" He yelled, voice muffled. You stopped and gently squeezed his shoulders, fear taking the reins of your mind again.

"S-sorry, babe. I just..wanted to know." You apologized with a shaky breath. Kyojuro reached out to your hand and squeezed slightly. You knew he didn’t mean to be so aggressive towards you, it was just the stress of the situation getting to him. But God, can he be one terrifying man.

"It's..fine. I just don't wanna talk about it anymore." He said softly as you positioned yourself next to him, head turned towards the unrest on his face. Fiery eyes stared back at you, indulging in your features from the two-toned lips to the dark lashes that framed your concerned yet loving eyes. “I’ll probably go back in the morning and just stay in my room.”

You nodded at his declaration as his eyes began to close, fatigue finally making its appearance on his battered face. You brushed a few free strands from his face as he sighed, your touch instantly relaxing him further. “Are you gonna use the peas or are you just gonna let them melt on my carpet and make me waste two bucks ’n change?” You asked softly with a giggle. A hum escaped from his throat, arm snaking around your waist pulling you closer.

“Let it melt. Let’s just stay here.”

ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛᴇ, ꜱᴛᴇᴀʟ, ʙɪɴᴅ ᴏʀ ʀᴇᴘᴏꜱᴛ ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱ. ᴀʟʟ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏᴛᴏꜰꜱᴛᴇᴡɪᴇ™ 2022

#rengoku x reader #rengoku x black reader #kyojuro rengoku #kny rengoku #rengoku kyojuro #rengoku angst #demon slayer angst #demon slayer x reader #original stew

[bonefall]

attempted to translate some of my ocs names into clanmew!! any corrections would be appreciated i love doing these :)

Silverglow - Ssoenshayu (Silver-light source) I couldn't find an exact match for 'glow' so I used 'shayu' (light source) as my next closest thing for what I wanted to convey

NIGHTFACE - Oogarbauss (Nighttime-face) I kind of went back and forth on which time of night I wanted to use before settling on 'oogar' (between vesper and twilight) because she rusts in the sun so she's not like midnight black

PALEWISH - Shemshubshaba (Shining-gray-prayer) The closest I could find for 'pale' was a combination of 'shem' and 'shub' to make Shining-gray?? If there's something better I didn't know what to look for

PRICKLEFANG - Nyypki (Harmless thorn-canines) I thought it'd be cute to use 'nyyp' (harmless thorn) instead of 'nak' (thorn) because ol' prickle is more bark than bite :)

LARGEGAZE - Morrwoipo (Large-eye) Closest I could get for gaze was 'ipo' (eye)? I don't know if there's something like 'seek' or 'look/looking' in Clanmew but that's what I could find

LEAPINGCLAW - Luarkach (Jumping-claw) Jumping is basically a synonym of leaping so I went with that

Sometimes names come up and I wish I had a like, "Featured user translations" section in my Clanmew masterpost, because Pricklefang's is absolutely perfect. I love what that says about the character, I recently made a word for prickle which was "small stings" (Beki) but I LOVE "harmless thorn fang," that's A+

But, anyway, onto some new vocab!

Quickly, tho, on "Shayu"

"Shayu" is light, but specifically, a place where the light comes from. It's the stars, it's the sun, it's fire. Things that produce a glow, implying that something marked with 'shayu' is a light.

So for example, Finchlight's Clanmew name is Wibuchshayu. Goldfinch-Light, a thistle-eating finch that is glowing as if it was a fire.

I want to keep that, so these words are going to be complementary to it;

Glow = Ahai The light that comes off a shayu, reflecting on other objects in the area. Like a cave lit up by a warm flame, or the light of the stars that illuminate your path. It's less targeted than a 'beam' (ane)

Halo = Owosha Take special note of this word; does it sound familiar? "Washa" is the word used for ShadowClan, and it's noted to not be related to the words for darkness or shade. That's because these two words are related! Ancient Lakemew cousins! Washa is better translated as umbra. It's a dark moon, it's the shadow cast behind you. Owosha is the opposite, it's penumbra. This is the glow around the moon, the light that's caught on fur, a shine that creates an outline.

Next, on "pale"

Currently there's "Loerr" for 'dim,' like a dark, desaturated color... but that doesn't quite cover "pale," which like a light, desaturated color. So here,

Pale/Pastel = Olurr

Can be translated interchangeably; this word refers to light, delicate colors. They don't apply this to "pale skin" in medicinal terms, because they are covered in fur!

And, lastly, just as a footnote, I added some words for types of watching;

Pipeni/Pipen/Pipe = Watched/watching/will watch Used in "watching minnows dry," for keeping your extended focus on a thing. Note that Clan cats equate hearing and vision and find them a lot more 'equal' in their importance than humans.

Paohaoha/Paohao/Paoha = Travel, walking with intent to find something, seeking This one's not gaze-related, but it may be closer in vibe to what you're looking for. This is for 'seeking' something, trying to find a thing, questing, so on.

#Clanmew

[chaoslynx]

hi it’s egg anon 👋

what do you think the favourite colours of the bfish characters would be? shorter seems to be a purple lover but i’m not sure what the others favourites would be? i do however think that eiji would say him favourite is the exact green of ash’s eyes to make him blush

hi egg anon 👋 I'm terrible at headcanons so bear with me

Ash -- yeah I'm projecting but gray. Something about finding the in-between of two extremes. Something about seeing the world in grayscale. Something about burning too bright and fading out. You know the drill. I've already gone into it here.

Eiji -- He thought nothing could compare to the blue of the waters near his hometown (a sort of real blue that a lot of people think water only looks like in movies) until he saw the green of Ash's eyes. His favorite color changed in an instant. As soon as he learned the truth behind the jade earring Ash sold so easily, though, Eiji silently vowed to never tell Ash what his favorite color was. It comes up in passing one day, though; just a 'oh, the same color as my eyes' when Eiji picks his display color in a video game. Eiji flushes down to his chest and up to his ears, and Ash smirks. 'Oh,' he says again, playfully this time, 'the same color as my eyes.' Eiji pleads with Ash not to be upset, but says he understands if Ash is. Ash, on the other hand, thinks it's the cutest thing in the world, and makes a point of teasing Eiji about it regularly.

Shorter -- He actually changed his hair color pretty regularly for a long time! His natural hair is black, so he has to bleach it to get it the vibrant shades he wants. He was in the habit of redyeing it every time it became too faded. This all changed the first time Ash helped him dye his hair. Ash was shitty at it compared to Nadia (he'd never done anything with hair dye before; Dino would kill him if he ever touched the stuff), so it got absolutely everywhere. The sink, the shower curtain, Ash's hands: everything was stained with purple for weeks. Ash played off the dark purple staining his skin as bruises when asked, and no one looked into it too hard. He wanted to keep helping Shorter, and he wanted to keep that excuse, so he told Shorter that he liked his hair purple the best, secretly hoping that he'd stick with the color and Ash would keep helping. (He'd never tell Shorter why he needed it to be purple; he'd never tell Shorter that he needed it to be purple.) With time, Shorter couldn't see his hair as any other color. When the roots started to grow out, he feels too much like life before Ash. Like life without Ash. He asks Ash to touch up his roots at least once a month. Purple is his favorite color.

Sing -- Pink. It's a bit of a leftover from his hyperfeminine overcompensation before he came out as a trans man, and he's a little ashamed to admit it. He worries that his guys would doubt his leadership and masculinity if they knew, so he settles for little splashes of pink here and there. The bottom of his shoes is one example. Everyone, of course, knows, and would never think any different of him for it. He's the same boss they've known forever, the scrawny kid they grew up with who took charge when no one else was able to step up to defend Chinatown, and his favorite color is badass as fuck. Anyone who says otherwise can answer to the entirety of the Chinatown gang.

#banana fish #ash lynx #asheiji #eiji okumura #shorter wong #sing soo ling #banana fish headcanons #answers #egg anon #thanks for playing along with the egg anon name btw #it's so funny i love it so much #anyway i hope this is okay #again i'm terrible at headcanons so i kinda just ended up rambling lol

[mingot-studios]

It was her video “Why Does Creepypasta Suck.”

So that was about candle cove?

i havent seen THAT many of her videos so wouldn't know

rn i still cant past her comparing the fnaf movie to FIFITY SHADES Of FUCKING GRAY

like seriously how does ANYONE watch either of those movies and come out saying;

'these movies basically the same in that-'

when one was very clearly a passion project and the other was a cashgrab.

say what you will about the fnaf movie, you tell that the people working on it actually cared about it.

I'm not even saying this because I have a vendetta against 50 Shades or anything I honestly couldn't care less about it I'm just saying what everybody already knows and has always known and has already been said many times about that particular film series;

That it was a cash grab and everyone working on it didn't give a crap about the film beyond getting a paycheck and product placement money the studio made it so they could get (mostly) middle-aged white women to empty their pockets and watch a glorified bdsm porno made by someone who has no knowledge on bdsm for over an hour

and Jenny's done videos on 50 Shades saying these exact things!

And she still compares the fnaf movie to it???

#sorry for the rant #ask #my stuff #fnaf movie #jenny nicholson #fnaf

[egg-emperor]

never thought I'd get this because it was a lot more expensive online but I actually found it in store woo

it's not the life size skateboard that I'll definitely never be able to afford, it's a tech deck version. I got it in the whole set but I couldn't be bothered to take a photo of the rest and Eggman was obviously the focus lol

there were only one set of gray and one of metallic pink tracks left to use to fit wheels to it so I went with the metallic pink and purple wheels. the exact shade of purple and pink are giving Casino AU Eggman outfit palette vibes XD

here he is holding his board with the cool wheels, it's just like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics again :D

the Eggman on purple background also reminds me of the X magnet he's standing on! which is my favorite shade of purple 🥰💜

#dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #sonic merchandise #my post

[saturninemartial]

alright so a question for your fic,

is there an description or better yet a picture of their appearances? i don’t know if it’s just me but; reading it i still imagine their high school appearance, so it’ll be nice to have some visual on what they look like now.

mostly kazuichi and gundham, but having the rest of cast would be great as well!💖💖

hi! thanks for the question!! 🥰🥰

i totally understand where you're coming from. so i've already written in a few parts of it but intend on revealing more pieces as they open up more to each other. i feel like maybe what i've included so far is a little broken up, so i'll put it together here for ya. i don't think they've changed that much, mostly just cosmetic things.

EDIT: this art is heavy inspiration!

kazuichi: i'm not using his shark teeth, sorry!! i just couldn't make that part feel realistic, especially if he'd had them in high school. but my headcanon was that he had pretty crooked teeth in school; and is just now using an invisalign that's helped a lot. he's kept his hair pink af (though i imagine he's experimented with the exact shade of pink), and it goes quite a bit past his shoulders now, i would say definitely over his shoulderblades. he's experimented with styling it in new ways, mostly with different kinds of braids—i detailed the style during nagito's party as half-up, half-down, with the up portion being in a regular 3-strand braid. he bleaches and dyes his eyebrows too, to match, but he also fills them in a bit with makeup. he has an eyebrow piercing, and a septum piercing, both of which he usually just wears a simple barbell in. he wears a larger gauge in his earlobes (nothing massive) and a collection of piercings in each ear. i like the idea of an industrial and a daith in one ear, and a couple helixes and a forward helix on the other. i haven't 100% decided yet on all the exact ear piercings but the industrial and daith will definitely be there. he's pretty tan and he has some freckles, especially across his nose, cheekbones, and forehead—this is a change since he lives next to a beach now and spends a lot of his free time outside, while he was confined to a city for so long before! also, here's a sneak peek: he's pretty fit, because in the time since he's moved down to minamitane, he's taken up surfing!! he's still a little bit of a fashion disaster lowkey, but he's kinda had to tone it down a bit so he wears more boring "grownup" office clothes for work. he has a few tattoos, though they're all pretty much covered by clothing. we'll definitely get to those eventually, though, as well as his other piercings: both his nipples! chiaki is right, he definitely sets off metal detectors.

gundam: biggest change is the hairstyle!!!! as i detailed in the fic, it's no longer up in the ice cream swoop. i believe in floppy hair gundam supremacy, so it's a lot like the dr3 anime tbh. i love the middle part, and i'm keeping the undercut as well. he found something that worked for him and stuck to it. he does have those bigger streaks in the front of his hair, though they're white due to his poliosis; and he has some premature gray hair too. another big change is the eye color! controversial, maybe, but i'm going with the gray and red both having been color contacts, and his natural eye color is closer to a medium-dark brown. he'll sometimes wear gray in both but i feel like his eyes tend to get irritated by contacts now, haha. also: the "facial scar" was just his dramatic-ass makeup during high school!! no more "scar"!!! he does like a tasteful smokey eye though, even if it does make him look more tired. he stopped wearing the scarf a while ago, since it got in the way while he's working; although sometimes you might catch him pulling the collar of his shirt up to cover his face when he's extremely embarrassed, hehe. he's still pale and built as HELL (we stan gundam's giant tiddies here). no bandages either, but i'll give you another sneak peek: he has sleeve tattoos!!! i'll go into more detail in the next chapter but yes. he's also still a goth, but like, more refined and simplified most of the time? so at nagito's bday he was probably wearing something like a black turtleneck and black pants.

sonia: shorter hair, technically, though still around her waist. also love the idea of her being a liiiittle bit chubbier. 🥰

chiaki: no real changes.

nagito: no real changes.

hajime: no real changes. he's never been crazy about styling his hair a specific way. honestly he's not that obsessed with his own appearance.

fuyuhiko: no real changes, possibly incapable of aging? he might not have those lil designs shaved into his head anymore. he may have lost a little baby fat in his cheeks but otherwise this guy is hiding the fountain of youth.

peko: she's graduated from the girlish dual braids and ribbons, to a more refined look. think sleek, high ponytail; or a single dutch braid. occasional dual french braids. smaller glasses frames, though she's stuck with the rectangular shape. also looks fine as hell in a suit.

i'll be having more characters added eventually, and will be writing in any descriptions of changes! i'll just say that i, personally, have changed very little in appearance since i graduated high school 10 years ago—the main differences being that my hair is a different length, i'm better at makeup, and my nose is pierced (i'm also fatter and have a couple tattoos). so generally everybody is pretty recognizable, there's just some style changes!

god, sorry for going on for so long, but i really hope this helped!!!

#bso25 #i'm always so afraid of answering questions lmao i'm afraid of like. my answer not being good enough #soudam

[lilac-5ky]

Can you write something where Takasugi and his s/o have an emotional farewell cause even though they don’t say it, deep down they know this will be the last time they see each other

The memory of that day. (Takasugi x Fem!Reader)

Plot: A long time has passed since the last time you saw Takasugi Shinsuke. Visiting the last place you saw him at, you remember your final moments with him.

Warnings: Angst basically. Grab tissues. A/N: Got a bit creative with this I guess since I also wrote a similar thing a bit back. Therefore, it's more like a flashback, yet the main idea is all the same. Also, since this is the final goodbye, Takasugi is significantly softer. Hopefully it's good enough!

˜”°•.˜”°• ᵀʰᵉ ˢᵏʸ ᶦˢ ᶜᵒˡᵒʳᵉᵈ ᵛᶦᵒˡᵉᵗ ᵀʰᵉ ˡᵒⁿᵉˡʸ ʷᶦⁿᵈ ᶠᵉᵉˡˢ ᶜᵒˡᵈᵉʳ ᵗᵒⁿᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵀʰᵉ ᶠᵃᵐᶦˡᶦᵃʳ ᵐᵉᵐᵒʳᶦᵉˢ ᵉᵗᶜʰᵉᵈ ᶦⁿᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ᴵ’ᵐ ᶠᶦˡˡᵉᵈ ʷᶦᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃᵍᵃᶦⁿ ᵗᵒⁿᶦᵍʰᵗ ᴼⁿˡʸ ᵗʰᵃⁿᵏᶠᵘˡ ᵐᵉᵐᵒʳᶦᵉˢ ʳᵉᵐᵃᶦⁿ •°”˜.•°” -ᵏᶦᵐ ʲᵒⁿᵍ ʷᵃⁿ, ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵉᵐᵒʳʸ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵈᵃʸ.

"Shinsuke... hello." A name you hadn't dared to say since that day. The sound of his name on your lips was a familar sound, a sorrowful melody that had stayed deep within your heart even after all this time. The last time you had called him out, the last time you had been able to receive a response was back then, on that final day, in this exact same place.

The petals of the cherry tree cascaded around you, enveloping you in what seemed to be a pink shaded rain. Even after all these years, the cherry tree had stayed in the exact same spot, withstanding time and loss as it repeated the same old cycle of shedding and blooming, not knowing how to do anything else, not knowing how to give up. Standing closer to the cherry tree, you allowed yourself to feel its trunk with your fingertips, tracing every crack, every line, every scar that time had engraved upon it. You smiled faintly, relieved even. Nothing had changed.

Leaning back against the tree, you fell onto the ground, closing your eyes as you felt the wind grazing your skin. It was quiet. Just like that day, it was quiet. Not a day had gone by when you hadn't thought about that day, about him. It had been years, everyone had moved on, everyone had forgotten yet you couldn't. No matter what, you had to remember, you had to keep the memory of him alive, the memory of that day alive.

"Shinsuke... I wonder... are you doing well? Are you happy now?" Your hands were now on the ground, capturing the fallen petals, clenching them tight inside your fists, unwilling to let them go. Nothing had changed, you reminded yourself. Just like that day, even now, you could never let go. He couldn't have, there was no way he could have. You refused to believe, refused to embrace the thought, refused to give up on him. No matter how much time passed you'd wait for him, you had to wait, you had to believe, no matter how foolish it sounded, you had to do that one thing.

And so you had chosen to hope. A silly little thing that made you live each day, that helped you get out of bed in the morning, that helped you sleep at night. Even if others knew the truth, even if deep inside your heart you also knew the truth, you had to keep on going, for you but mostly for him. You wouldn't cry, you would never let yourself cry for him. You had promised him and you weren't the one to go against a promise to him.

"Don't cry. I can't stand to look at your tears..."

Opening your eyes, you looked around you. No one, as expected. It was his voice, there was no denying that, however it wasn't him, rather a reverberation of the past. You smiled again. You closed your eyes again. You opened them again. Only difference now was that you weren't alone, he was actually here, his back leaning against the other side of the tree, his kiseru wrapped around his fingers.

"You should never cry, not in front of me and especially when I'm not around. Don't cry on your own, don't cry alone." A gray fog spilled from his lips as he spoke to you. How could he say that? How could he say such a thing, how could he make you promise such a thing to him when you both knew that he'd never get to see you cry again, that this was the last time he'd be seeing you, the last time you'd be seeing him? How could he be so cruel?

"Mhm. I am not crying, you just brought us here and my allergies are killing me." Faking a sneeze, you jolted forwards, one hand gripping your nose as you sniffled your tears away. He was looking at you, his lips curling into a smirk at your lousy acting. "I promise. No crying."

His eye was keenly examining your expression. You could feel the knot in your throat tightening, threatening to expose you but you held back. No tears would come out, you had decided. Instead, you flashed him a smile, a crooked one that wasn't genuine in the slightest. He could tell you were pretending, you were a terrible liar. Each time you tried to lie to him, he scolded you. Shinsuke was the only person who could read you, the only person who could read past every expression of yours.

"Good." He said, following it up with a lighthearted chuckle.

Liar, you thought to yourself. Although Shinsuke really did know you inside out, the same thing could be said about you. There had never been a time in the past when he'd let you lie to him so blatantly. As much as he wanted to claim that he couldn't be read, during your time together you had learned everything there was to know about him. It was because of this fact that you knew how this innocent stroll through the mountain wasn't a romantic getaway. It was a goodbye, the final of all the goodbyes the two of you had exchanged in the past and that was the reason why neither of you could admit it. And so, you both choose to be hypocrites, dousing your final moments together in forged happiness, doing your best to deceive one another.

"I gotta say though, this place is rather nice. Thank you for bringing me here today, Shinsuke." Moving closer to him until your body came to contact with his, you allowed yourself to lay down on top of him. He allowed it. Another evidence that this would be the final time between the two of you. Laying your head on top of his lap, you looked up at him, taking in his features. Even after all these years of being with him, he still looked as beautiful and enticing as he did the day you met him. The cherry tree was the perfect backdrop for him, encapturing his beauty in such an elegant and delicate way. You felt your heart ache. "Let's return to this place one day."

He kept on smoking, puffing clouds of smoke onto the air away from your face as he brought his hand onto your head. The kiseru was loosely hanging from his lips as his fingers grazed your skin. The way he touched you was almost reluctant, as he caressed your temple, tracing your entire face with his finger tips as he made his way towards your lips. Brushing his thumb over them, he allowed himself to smile softly. He wasn't as cold hearted as everyone made him out to be, yet he had never been this gentle before. If only things weren't like that, if only you hadn't met under such conditions. Your heart ached once again, the knot in your stomach tightening. Smile, just smile, don't let him see you cry.

Shinsuke noticed your struggle, his gentle smile turning into a rather sorrowful one. He was way more composed than you were, yet he couldn't hide his own sadness at the time. You watched him nod , an answer to your suggestion. Neither of you could speak, say the things you longed to say to one another. What was the point anyways? Nothing you'd say would be enough to convince him to stay, you had always known that it would end like this. Even if you had once managed to convince him to be with you, you always knew that there was no happy ending in the papers written for you. Yet you had still chosen this, you had still chosen your own misery, it was all on you.

You closed your eyes. As much as you loved to look at him, if you kept your eyes on his any longer, you wouldn't be able to hold back. Instead, you let yourself savor the moment. Cherry petals kept falling all over you, tingling your skin while he carefully picked them off each time they did. I love you so much it hurts, you wanted to say it. You wanted to let him know yet you couldn't bring yourself to speak. Keeping up your smile was taxing enough. And so the two of you stayed like this for a while, you pretending to be resting, him softly brushing his fingers through your hair, pretending that this was just a regular day.

The light begun to fade behind your lids. Although you couldn't see it, you could tell that it was getting dark, the sun setting in the far distance. Your time was running out. Hesitantly, you opened your eyes. He was still there, his hand burried between your hair, his eye still fixated on yours. Extending your hand, you reached his face. He leaned forwards, allowing you to touch him. Shinsuke was never one for such public displays of affection yet this time was different. He basked in the feeling of your caresses, even when your fingers were freezing cold, even when your hand was slightly trembling. Even then, he didn't stop smiling at you.

Another anomaly, you noted. Everyone knew of Takasugi's eerie smile. Everyone knew that having the honor of seeing his signature smile could mean one thing and one thing only, their own demise. Yet what no one knew was the way he smiled at you, the way his lips curled upwards, painting the most loving expression on his face. No one knew this side of him, a side of him that would disappear from this world, a side of him that only you could keep alive through your memory. Soon enough, Takasugi Shinsuke and everything he stood for would be nothing but memories, faint recollections in the hearts of the people who had the honor of meeting him.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked you, breaking the silence for the first time in hours.

"Oh, you know. Being here with you, I couldn't have chosen a better way to spend my day. Plus, pink is your color." Lifting your body slightly, you reached further, picking up a petal that was stuck between his hair. Bringing it down for him to see, you noticed that he was no longer smoking through his kiseru. Shinsuke looked at the petal and then at you, his hand reaching yours, pullng you up as you still held onto that petal.

With his fingers tight around your wrist, you were sitting up directly in front of him now, your knees bumping against one another lightly. The way he handled your body like that, even if it was such a simple thing as a wrist grab, always made your heart flutter. Words couldn't even begin to describe how strongly you felt for him, a flame fervently burning through your heart, igniting your entire body. For a second the sorrow, the despair, all those feelings that were weighing you down disappeared, as his lips captured yours.

Leaning forward, he tackled you onto the ground, his one hand entangled in your hair while his other hand was wrapped around your waist, pulling you firmly onto him. His lips felt familiar, yet the kiss was one you had never shared before. There was a certain despair, a certain longing, a thirst that couldn't be quenched no matter what. He pushed his tongue past your lips, letting it roam through the depths of your mouth in an attempt to relish it one final time. Even when he had barely said a thing to you on that day, the way he kissed you was enough to convey all of his feelings to you, words not to be spoken aloud. He loved you. He loved you more than he would ever dare to admit, even if he hadn't said so once, you knew it, he made sure you knew it.

That's right, you thought amidst your kiss. Even if you would be the one to carry the burden of his absence, even if you were the one who'd have to go on without him, he was also grieving for you, your times together, your past, your present, the future you'd never get to have. And so you let him kiss you, let him be the one to take the lead while all you could do was welcome him. He needed this as much as you did and you wouldn't be the one to take this away from him.

His grip on your waist kept getting tighter, contrasting the soft movements of his fingers through your hair, contrasting the way his lips so passionately kissed you. Hastily, you fluttered your eyes open just for a brief moment. Despite his actions, his face was as calm as it had ever been, as peaceful as you had ever seen him. The sight of him was enough to bring tears to your eyes, tears that fell onto his lips as he broke off the kiss, mouth hovering near yours while the faint scent of tobacco tingled your nose.

"I-" You were about to say, remembering your previous promise to him but he cut you off, bringing his lips onto your face once again, as if he meant to wipe your tears off. Gently kissing your cheek, he brought the hand that was previously in your hair onto the other side of your face, cusping it ever so lightly.

"Do you regret it?" Shinsuke eventually asked, uncertainty in his tone perhaps for the first time ever. Regret... Looking back at the past you knew you could have avoided all this. You could have kept your feelings to yourself, you could have stayed away from him, you could have chosen a different path. He had given you many chances to do so. Had you listened to him, perhaps you wouldn't be laying down here, full of sorrow and guilt, sitting idly as you could see him fade away right before your eyes. You could have saved yourself of all the heartbreak, had you just listened to his warnings. Yet, you couldn't bring yourself to regret any of it. Even if you got a redo, even if you could do everything again, you'd still choose him, you'd still choose this moment right there with him, you'd still choose to make this moment your final one, your forever.

"I could never regret meeting you, not then, not now, not ever. Given the chance, I'd do everything all over again just so that I could meet you. How could I regret you when you are the most precious thing to me? How could I regret you when I love you so much?" Forcing yet another fake smile, you arched your back, your lips searching for his underneath the moonlight. "My heart, my body, my soul, they are all yours, I've been yours since the moment I met you. I love you. Now and forever, you are the only one for me. I love you, Shinsuke."

You couldn't tell if he was pleased by the answer you gave him, yet you could tell that you had stirred something up within him. Even if it was for a mere moment, you could see the soft moon glow flickering his green hue, his ever intense gaze wavering. Even so, you wouldn't allow to get your hopes up. His ambitions mattered to him the most, his cause, his goal, his dream. Even when they were the ones to take him away from you, there was no way you could try to change his convinction. That was who he was, that was the man you loved, his ideals were the very thing that attracted you to him in the first place, his essence.

Shaking away his moment of weakness, Shinsuke smirked down at you, petting your head softly yet again.

"You talk too much."

"Yet you always listen."

Instead of replying to your comeback, he just shrugged as he sat up, looking away into the night sky. Rolling back onto his lap, your eyes wandered between the clouds and the stars, until they stopped at the sight of the moon. It was a full moon, just like the moon from that story, the story of princess Kaguya. Extending your hand into the air, you acted as if you were about to touch the moon while Shinsuke's attention shifted back to you.

"Say... If I set this place on fire, would you see it from up there?" You inquired while pointing at the moon.

"Are you suggesting that you are the emperor and I'm princess Kaguya?" The way he said it did sound more ridiculous than it did in your head. Entertained by your suggestion, Shinsuke couldn't help it but laugh, especially considering how your eyes looked dead serious once you turned to face him. "Well, I suppose so. A forest burns brighter than a letter." Content with his answer, you shifted your weight onto his lap, turning your back on him. "You'd better drink that elixir though, or else I'll force it down your throat." Now that was more like the Takasugi Shinsuke you knew.

The two of you stayed like that for a while. Occasionally bringing his kiseru to his lips, you could only tell he was smoking because of the faint smell of it. You had nagged him so many times in the past, protesting about how bad it was for his health and every single time he'd just blow more smoke onto your face, filling you with annoyance. Even when you yelled at him, he'd simply smirk, entertained by your reaction. Suddenly, the scent of the tobacco felt rather pleasant, sweet even. Perhaps you shouldn't have scolded him so much about his habit. The thought flew through your brain as you inhaled the smoke, the realization hitting you. You would miss this.

When he wasn't smoking, Takasugi would lazily caress your body, his hand traveling from the top of your head onto your shoulder over and over again, repeating the same gesture, as if taunting you to sleep. It was so peaceful, so quiet, so warm. Every last bit of intimacy you shared with him had always been filled with fear. There wasn't a moment that went by when you weren't scared that one of you would die, yet now that you knew exactly what was going to happen, you felt completely calm, an eerie serenity taking you over.

Obeying to his touch, you allowed yourself to close your eyes, savoring the sensation. You wanted to look at him one last time, you wanted to turn around to face him but you knew that if you did that, you wouldn't be able to hold back anymore. As long as you pretended that this wasn't it, as long as you didn't look back, you could pretend that nothing would change. That tomorrow morning you'd wake up in his arms, that he'd be going through the details of yet another complicated plan with you and the rest of the Kiheitai members. That he'd blow smoke to your face again, that he'd scoff at your jokes, that he'd scold you for being immature and a bad liar. That despite all that, he'd still touch you, he'd still kiss you, he'd still love you. As long as you didn't look at him you could really pretend this was nothing more than the romantic getaway he had planned for the two of you, that there was tomorrow for you.

"Sleep already. I'm not going anywhere."

Opening your eyes, a stream of tears begun to fall from your cheeks. Tossing the flower petals away from you, you covered your mouth with your palms, drowning your whimpers in them. He was a liar. He said he wasn't going anywhere, he said he'd stay yet where was he now? The world had changed, there was no need for war anymore. This was what he wanted, what he had envisioned. So why wasn't he there to see it through? Why wasn't he there with you, why hadn't he brought you to this place like he promised? He was a liar, you decided, as you shut your eyes yet again.

The tears wouldn't stop coming, pouring like a violent rain from your eyes. All the tears you had imprisoned through his years of absence, all the tears you hadn't allowed yourself to shed, all these tears that were meant for him. Letting them out, letting it all out you could only hope that you could drown in them, that you could stop harboring this pain in your heart.

"I'm sorry, Shinsuke. I'm afraid I can't honor that promise anymore."

#borderline was in a terrible mood when writing this #smh i make myself cry #cant tell if im a sadist or a masochist #anon request #takasugi shinsuke #takasugi #takasugi gintama #takasugi shinsuke x reader #takasugi x reader #takasugi reader #takasugi angst #takasugi fanfiction #takasugi imagine #takasugi one shot #gintama imagine #gintama fanfiction #gintama oneshot #gintama angst

[mariesdameron]

His Anchor (Poe Dameron x GN!Reader)

CW: Slight angst, mention of Leia's death, reference to sex, mention of dining and wine.

WC: 850ish

AN: This is pure fluff. I watched SFAM last Sunday and the image of Jonathan brushing his beard has been playing in my mind every single day since, but I needed to make it my space lover Poe. So pretend with me for a second that's Poe Dameron on the cover. Thank you to @butyoudidthis4what for helping me run through this idea and just being my go-to person for everything.

Read on Ao3!

You remained quiet as you heard his footsteps in the bathroom connected to your bedroom. You knew his routine perfectly. Just about now, he was removing his overshirt and pants before washing his face.

Looking over at the clock, you saw that it was another late night getting home. 'The duties of being a General.' Poe would say with a wave of his hand. He took the job seriously, but of course, he did. Leia's shadow never left him.

The urgency to touch him possessed you, and you found your feet drifting towards him. Sure enough, Poe stood bent over the sink, washing the pressure from the day off his face.

Smiling to yourself, you carefully slid your hands around his waist, burying your nose in the curve of his back. Poe's muscles relaxed under your touch. Reaching for a towel, you heard him mumble.

"Did I wake you?" Poe turned slowly, encasing you in his arms. His face was drained of its normal shine, his eyes cloudy and tired.

You wished desperately that he would slow down. But Poe wanted to make Leia proud, do the job justice. Even with Finn as Co-General, he insisted on picking up the bulk of the responsibilities.

The work was exacting a price, graying him and weakening his beautiful smile.

"No, no. I was already awake...I just wanted to see you." Pressing a kiss to his chest, you felt him inhale deeply. His embrace tightened. Poe missed you.

He missed the days when he could climb down his X-Wing and dash into your arms. Filling his nights kissing every inch of you, eating breakfast naked, your afternoons spent speaking of your childhoods, your homelands, and the future you wished to have together.

He knew he had changed since Leia died and after the war was won. He ached to get back to that man. Nuzzling his nose in your hair, he breathed you in, letting your scent loosen the tension of the day.

A calm silence befell you as you wordlessly held each other before a tiny chuckle escaped you. Poe drew you back, searching your face for the cause. Shuffling towards the cabinet, you withdrew a wooden brush you obtained the prior week. Poe rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Pouting, you stepped to him, placing a hand to his breast.

"Please, it's relaxing. Admit it." Poe couldn't say no to you standing barefoot in front of him, in only his shirt, with that adorable smile. Turning, Poe dragged you towards your bed. Plopping on the edge, he positioned you between his legs.

"Have at it, sweetheart." He hummed, biting back a laugh. One of the many differences to Poe Dameron was that he gave up shaving. A rush of affection rolled over you as you ran your fingers through his thick beard.

Poe's beautiful fine jawline was now concealed behind a lush beard in handsome shades of gray and dark brown. It matured him but in the best ways. Accompanying, the beard came richer, longer curls. Curls that you couldn't keep your hands out of, often seeking them out in the night for comfort.

Happily, you ran the brush through the dense hair. You discovered this practice from seeing it done by an elderly couple. The tenderness of the scene lingered with you until you acquired a brush of your own and presented it to Poe.

His eyes followed you affectionately as you took great delight in tidying his beard. His response to your purchase was that of amusement, and, ultimately, he agreed to your grooming after a flurry of kisses and giggles.

Poe's hands slid around your hips. His fingers intuitively stroked your fine skin. Closing his eyes, he let you run the boar bristles over his face while your free hand twirled his hair. He would take you away soon, on a trip. He needed it. You both did. These moments were the only thing anchoring him, keeping him together.

Watching Poe's body slacken and close his eyes gripped your chest. You would do anything for the man, unquestionably. Finishing the last stroke, you leaned and grazed a kiss across Poe's cheek.

His eyes fluttered open, and within seconds, he had you pinned to the mattress, the brush still in your hand. Snatching it from you, Poe flung it aside before sinking his face into the curve of your neck.

"I am taking you to Naboo." He hummed into your skin, rolling onto his back, guiding you along.

"Oh, are you?" You murmured, nuzzling into his bare chest as his hands smoothed your back.

"Yes. I am going to wine and dine you properly." Poe sighed. His breathing relaxed as your fingers found their way into his curls. "Make love to you in every field…." A light laugh escaped you as Poe regaled you with all the things he wanted to do to you on your vacation while your hands sought solace from the other's touch.

It wasn't long before you sank into a peaceful slumber.

- - - - - - - -

Lovelies: @huxdameron @poedameronloverx @anetteaneta @letoatreiides @one-hell-of-a-disappointment @dailyreverie @cannedsoupsucks @ellenmunn @sacklerscumrag @caillea @direnightshade @aellynera @mylifeisactuallyamess @leatherboundriot @millenialcatlady @butyoudidthis4what @xxcatrenxx @jynzandtonic @fathersonandhouseofgucci @paper-n-ashes @roanniom @paterson-blue @hopeamarsu @sister-winter73

Thank you for reading!

If you enjoy my stories, let me know! My Inbox is open, and I welcome comments! Please reblog if you fancy sharing this piece.

#Poe Dameron #Poe Dameron x Reader #Oscar Isaac #Poe Dameron x GN!Reader #Star Wars fanfic #Fluff #Star Wars #Fanfic #Marie Sackler Dameron #Beard obsessed

[onceupona-chaos]

Feathers and dawn (part II)

Day 18 of Elriel month/ Teach me how to fly

You can read part I here.

"Spread your wings." 

The moment Elain opened her wings, the cold, impetuous wind hit them, and the full impact made her lose balance, almost falling backwards. Instead, she met Azriel's chest, his hands tightened on her waist, and her body went cold and hot all at once.

This time Elain did stop breathing. 

WC: 4164/ Warnings: Language

(I had so much fun writing this! As usual, sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language. Sorry for any typos as well, but I can't look at it anymore lol)

Elain had held that light inside of her with everything she got, and even so it came close to controlling her rather than the other way around.

She still could feel it, not the light that shone so bright to blind someone's eyes, but more like a gracious flame of a candle in her chest. But that was nothing compared to how the muscles on her back burned.

When her eyes cracked open, she was half expectant that all of it had been a delirious dream or one of those visions that still hunted her from time to time. But then she tried to move to a sit position, and a scream escaped from her throat at the very, very real pain punishing her upper body.

Her entire back was sore, and she could feel a complex extension of muscles - from her neck to the end of her spine - that was now linked to two massive weights coming out of her shoulder blades.

Excruciating, blinding pain.

Elain didn't notice the tears falling down her cheeks, couldn't even hear the sounds coming out of her own mouth.

Strong, calloused hands were pushing her hair away from her sweaty forehead a second later, and then Azriel’s beautiful face was there.

He was like a hiding spot in the middle of a storm, anchoring her from her agony, even though his expression was contorted in worry.

Azriel's eyes were wild, lips forming her name, but she couldn't hear a sound. Pain was all she knew, making her senses numbed.

Black dots started to dance in front of her eyes, her head getting light, and hazel ones full of terror was the last thing she saw before the world bleed into darkness again.

_______________

The next time Elain emerged to consciousness, first she smelled the leafy odor of salvia. Then the feeling of gentle, experienced hands massaged the line of her spine while she was lying on her stomach.

Heavy eyelids opened to the Velaris sunset, shades of pink and purple coloring the blue sky were visible through the familiar floor to ceiling windows, making her recognize her room in the river house.

Elain caught a movement from the corner of her eyes, and she inclined her head slightly to see Azriel, kneeling beside her bed, worry still printed in his face, but his eyes filled with relief now.

His hair was in complete disarray, the dark locks pointed in different directions as if he had run his hands through it repeatedly.

“You’re awake,” he breathed.

Those hands, unfamiliar hands, were still rubbing her exposed back, the gentle touch soothing the pain.

“That’s Majda, she’s almost finishing.” Azriel must have sensed her confusion. “How’s the pain?”

Her mouth was dry and it was an effort just to make words come out of it. “Tolerable” she said, voice raw.

He just nodded and then they fell in a comfortable silence. It was always like this with him - no need for empty words.

Azriel just stayed there in his vigil, shadows curling around his ankles, watching her with those familiar hazel eyes. Not the blazing gold of Cassian's, but rather an embrace shared between warm brown and stark gray, with hues of emerald green that would stand out according to his mood.

Eyes as complex as Azriel's himself, candidly observing her whilst Majda worked, her hands putting the exact amount of pressure to soothe her muscles, the salvia tuning the sharp pain into a dull ache. She didn't touch Elain's wings.

Wings.

Even with their weights on her back, even with the feeling of that warm power in her chest, Elain still was prone to believe it all had been a dream if it wasn't for the pain.

When Majda finished the healing massage, she merely told them she'd come back the next few days to do it again.

The bedroom’s door clicked shut, and Elain was already trying to get up, Azriel immediately protesting, "You should stay in bed.”

"I want to see them" was her only reply. She needed to see, to look at them. To know they were real.

"Your muscles aren't strong enough to support the new weight -"

Indeed, when she tried to stand, her balance wavered and she toppled forward.

Azriel caught her before she could fall on her face, hauling her up. Gently, one of his hands passed behind her knees, the other around her waist, and he scooped her up.

Elain let her head fall against his chest, breathing his scent as he walked through the room. A few moments later, far more than was necessary to reach her mirror, he put her down, but remained close.

She didn't see her pale face or even care about the fact that she was wearing nothing, but a nightgown that reached the middle of her thighs. Not when two massive wings rested on the floor behind her, the soft, white feathers touching the carpet.

Elain turned around to see her back, to see the point where the skin ended and the feathering began.

They were beautiful.

But she never had felt more unworthy of something. She couldn’t even hold them up, couldn't even lift them from the ground. It had been so exhausting spent months trapped in that murky realm, visions blending together with reality, that she hadn’t want find out what else the Cauldron had given her, hadn't want to touch that flame burning in her chest, not when her own body felt foreign and now -

Only when she felt tears dripping onto her chest, Elain realized she was crying, exhaustion falling upon her as a blanket, covering her to the bones.

She stood there for enough time that the next time Azriel spoke, she had almost forgotten he was there.

Almost.

Because she always seemed to sense whenever he was around.

"I will teach you everything."

It didn't sound like an offer at all. His words were a promise.

Slowly she turned from the mirror to face him - and nearly sobbed at how lovely and fiercely his eyes were, almost shining with sheer compassion.

Compassion for her, yes. But also for an Illyrian boy who didn't know how to fly, who found himself all alone in a war camp long ago. "I'll be with you and I'll teach you everything."

She didn’t know what to say, what to make of everything. So Elain only took his hand, interlacing their fingers and squeezing firmly.

But then, a thought struck her. "Truth-Teller," she gasped.

A smile curved his lips. "It's with me," he said. "I went back to the Cave. Turns out, without the Orb, the wards were gone."

Relief washed over her. And guilty.

"I'm sorry. I should - ."

Before she could finish her sentence, Elain was again in his arms. Azriel chuckled, but hadn't missed how heavy her eyelids were getting. "Not your fault. You weren't exactly in position to remember it," he said while gently carrying her back to bed.

But before he could lay down the mattress, he stopped by the side of the bed, and turned to look at her. Every ounce of amusement gone.

"I thought…" his words died and he shook his head.

No trace of that mask he so often used, no sign of his usually neutral expression.

The look on his face was Azriel in his most raw state. And she could see it.

I thought I had lost you.

She wished she wasn't so tired as she buried her face in the crook of his neck and breathed, "I know."

He nodded. He understood.

He murmured as he lay her in the bed, "Sleep. I still owe Nesta an explanation."

Elain smiled sleepily, and mumbled, "Good luck."

Just when darkness came to claim her once again, Elain felt the ghost touch of a light kiss in her temple and the smell of mist and cedar. ___________

The next day, Elain was sitting at her usual spot by the window of the living room in the river house, the Orb laying on a desk right in the center of the room. What was unusual, however, was the many pairs of eyes glued to her.

Cassian's jaw was still on the floor by the time Amren, the last one to arrive, entered the room. Even her face went a bit slack when she took in the wings and some emotion sparkled in her silver eyes.

Elain tried not to blush, but all that attention wasn't helping.

Although Feyre had helped her before to retract and summon her wings, which she was grateful for, Elain didn't want to summon them in front of everyone, so she decided to just get straight to the point.

She didn’t know how Azriel explained what had happened to the others, especially to Nesta. But given the look on her face fixed on Rhysand and on the spymaster, a perfect I Will Slay My Enemies look, according to Cassian, Elain wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But as for now Azriel just held her sister's gaze, his face neutral.

"So…" Cassian began, waving a hand towards her wings. "What the hell?"

"I think what he's trying to ask you is," Nesta gave a look at her mate. "Where did those come from?"

Elain took a deep breath. "Well..." She bit her lip, trying to choose her words in order to make sense. "After I found out what I was, I've never accessed the full extension of my powers. I knew the Cauldron had given me something else,something more, but I didn't want to find out what it was."

Rhysand asked, "Why."

"Because I was too scared," She replied honestly. That was all she could say. She didn't want to, didn't know if she could relive those days when she couldn't tell reality and dreams apart.

She glimpsed at Azriel, who was at the corner of the room, sorrow shining on his face while he gave her a reassurance nod.

"So when I grabbed the Orb, it… whatever powers I have just grumbled in answer, as if they were the same… they came to the surface. It tried to stop them, push them back, to let go of the Orb, but I couldn't… it trapped me"

"That's because they are the same," Amren said. As soon as the words left her mouth, Elain understood what lay on her eyes: recognition.

"What wicked sort of plans the Cauldron may have for the three of you," Amren went on, nodding to Elain and her sisters.

"Amren," Rhysand said, the voice of the High Lord. "If you know something, just tell us."

The petite female gave him a hard look, before turning to Elain. "The Cauldron didn't make you any Seer." Amren tilted her head, studied Elain. "He also happened to make you an Oracle." Her eyes were practically two blazing stars, and Elain had to fight a shiver, before asking "An Oracle?"

"That 's right, girl."

"What's the difference?" Nesta demanded.

"A different group of Seers… powerful ones", Rhysand murmured, running a hand through his hair. "I thought they were just a myth."

"They were as real as you and me, Rhysand," Amren said, shaking her head.

It was Feyre's time to demand, "Someone please explain."

"Before the High Lords, there was a time where this world lived in complete, unshakable peace," Amren began. "The Oracles were the great responsibles for this time of harmony, a group of Seers who used to celebrate life and pulled the threads of Fate. They travel through words just like we travel between courts, using their Seer powers to See and manipulate the future to their will… to prevent any cause of conflict before it even became a conflict. Subtle, swift creatures those females"

Elain wasn't sure if anyone in the room was breathing.

Azriel asked quietly, "How did they disappear?"

"No one truly knows." Rhysand answered. "The legends don't go that far."

"Common Seers have the gift of sight, but it's limited in its own way," Amren explained. "Oracles, however, have other sort powers as well and they can see further in the future, no matter how distant."

There was one question in Elain's mind, essencial and terrifying. "What is my power?"

Amren's smile was a thing of pure wickedness. "I guess you'll have to find out."

"But why the wings?" Nesta asked, brows furrowed.

Amren eyes softened a little. "Some claimed some of them heritaged from an unknown race of warriors. But not every one of them had wings. If you were blessed with them, they would call you the Leader. The others would fly on their winged horses by her side, travelling through the world and maintaining their balance."

Elain's head was spinning. "But what about the Orb?"

"I might have an idea, but I'll need to do some research in the Helion's libraries first." Rhysand shot his mate a look, his lips curving. "Care to join?"

Feyre only rolled her eyes.

Cassian let out a long breath. "So you're telling me Elain could see if a war is truly coming and stop it before it even begins."

A sick feeling gathered on her stomach, and she blurted, "No."

Silence.

"No what?" Amren asked thighly.

"No, I won't use my powers to play with Fate." She couldn't help the edge of rage in her words. "Espeacilly not when Fate itself had been playing with me all along."

Silence fell.

"You're right," Feyre offered at last, her voice soft. "It's your choice."

Gratitude washed over Elain.

"I want to learn how to fly, though" she blurted, glancing at Azriel, who was already smiling.

Feyre looked between them. "You'll find Azriel has… harsh methods, but they are quite efficient."

Rhysand, who had been just observing, suggested, "Maybe you, Feyre darling, can teach Elain, too."

"I will train her." Azriel's words were practically a snarl, challenge filling every one of them.

Elain looked at the shadows gathering around him as he stared at Rhysand, who just narrowed his eyes back. Strange.

"I'm sure Azriel is the better option to teach Elain, he was the one who taught me after all." Feyre was looking pointly at her mate. "But I can participate in a few lessons when they get tired of training alone." She said looking at Elain, eyes shining bright with an edge of mischief.

Elain ignored that.

"You'll have to build some muscles, you know that, right?" Cassian asked.

Muscles. It wasn't that Elain was opposed to that, but… she couldn't see herself as a warrior like her sisters. Surely, she wouldn't mind learning one thing or two, but...

"I'll help you."

Elain turned to her older sister, with raised brows. "I don't…"

"You don't have to learn how to use a sword, but I can help with your core muscles," Nesta offered.

Then, Elain couldn't stop the warmth in her chest - not from that source of power, but from pure gratitude. "Thank you."

Amren shocked her head and huffled a breath, edged with amusement, making Elain's brows furrow at that.

"A Made, reborn Fae and a Valkyrie training a new Oracle." Her lips curved in a feral smile. "Three Cauldron-blessed sisters, indeed."

Elain didn't have to use the Orb to know Fate had listened to Amren's words.

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

"Shit."

Azriel's curse hit Elain's ears, before her arm hit the rock as she fell on her face right into the lake.

They had been training for weeks now. At first, it was more about how to summon her wings and keep them up instead of resting on the ground.

Sometimes Feyre would join them, or even Nuala and Cerridwen made an appearance for what Cerridwen called "emotional support".

Which means they watched as Elain jumped just to fall right into that gods-damned lake and tried not to laugh. Cerridwen often failed spectacularly at that.

But after one particularly hard training lesson that ended up with more bruises Elain would care to admit, especially to her pride, Cerridwen had come to her room with a gift: a brand new and very pink apron with a winged fawn carefully embroidered at the front, the chain stitches meticulous done.

It was the most ridiculous apron Elain had ever seen - and she wore every chance she got with a stupid smile on her face.

But most of the time it was only Azriel and her. First they would stick to training, and she was able to focus only on the lessons. Until one day they had sat side by side at the shore, talking about everything and nothing, and, gods, she had missed him.

But then she felt that ravenous pull towards him and had to look away, before she could do something stupid again - and just like that she remembered why they had kept their distance in the first place.

She knew he desired her just as she desired him. She had seen the longing in his face, and had smelled his scent that night, darker than usual. Had read the hunger shining in his eyes as he looked at her.

But she had crossed a line he didn't want to cross.

Good thing now she had other things to worry about. Like ignoring the pain in her left arm, finding her way to the surface to get the hell out of that chilling lake.

But before she could do any of those things, Elain found herself looking at the sky and then the ground was beneath her.

And a very, very shirtless Azriel was by her side. "Are you alright?" he asked, wrapping his tunic around her shoulders, scanning for injuries.

Even with her teeth almost chattering off her mouth from the cold, Elain couldn't help but take one good look at his muscled chest, those intricate tattoos on display and she felt her face heating. Not from embarrassment, but from pure desire that was pounding in her blood, traveling through her body. All she wanted in that moment, and so many before that, was to touch him, taste him. Be with him, by his side.

She imagined what would be like to have that powerful body hovering over hers.

Then she blushed a bit at those thoughts, too.

"I"m fine," she blurted after a considerable time, enough to make Azriel blush as well. And make her consider throwing herself at the lake again.

To distract herself, Elain closed her eyes and accessed that flame in her chest, letting it shine bright inside her, waves of heat running through her veins and bones until she was no longer cold.

When she looked at Azriel, he was already watching her. He cleaned his throat. "You kept yourself on the air longer this time."

Elain raised an eyebrow, "I fell on the only rock in this entire river."

A gleam shone in his eyes.

Elain narrowed hers at him.

"Are you trying not to laugh?"

"No," he said, clapping his lips together.

Every pound of desire in her blood died. "You said it wasn't funny anymore after the first four times!"

At that, Azriel tipped his head back and busted out such a rich laugh, that even Elain couldn't stop the small smile on her own lips. "You are a terrible teacher."

Except that he wasn't. Azriel was patient and thoughtful. He had refused to let her practice anywhere but the lake, and when she said she didn't need to be coddled and could practice on land, he had scanned her face, so many emotions passing across his, and told her he wouldn't see her getting hurt.

So they practice on the lake. Every day.

That was weeks ago and Elain was starting to think she would never take to the skies. She still couldn't sustain herself on the air for more than a few seconds.

"What is it like? To fly, I mean." she asked, eyes fixing on the lake before her.

She felt Azriel's eyes on her. "It 's freedom." Truth echoed in his words.

Elain nodded to herself. "I can hear the wind calling me." Her wing ruffled as if in emphasis."I can feel every muscle in my body begging me to jump out of the windows and it just… it's getting harder to ignore."

Elain tried to stop the burning in her eyes, her voice was broken when she breathed, "Why me, if I can't even get close to being airborne for more than five seconds?"

Azriel kept silent for so long, she didn't know if he heard her, but she was too much of a coward to look at him. Didn't want to look at him, not like this, not again.

But then gentle fingers found her chin and slowly turned her head to meet hazel eyes shining bright as the sun above them.

"Come with me."

Next thing she knew she was taking his extended hand and he shot to the skies, his tunic flying from her shoulders while she was being cradled against his bare chest.

Even though he was made of muscles hard as rock, his skin was warm and soft as the finest velvet.

Azriel landed right on the top of one of the highest mountains surrounding Velaris, the city bursting with life so far below that it seemed one of Nyx's toys.

And Elain almost stopped breathing. "Are you going to push me?"

Azriel chuckled, but didn't answer. "Turn around and close your eyes."

"So you definitely are going to push me," she murmured, but did as she was told.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't Azriel's large hands on her waist or the warmth of his body behind her.

"Spread your wings."

The moment Elain opened her wings, the cold, impetuous wind hit them, and the full impact made her lose balance, almost falling backwards. Instead, she met Azriel's chest and his hands tightened on her.

This time Elain did stop breathing.

Especially when Azriel's breath caressed the

shell of her ear. "Focus on the wind passing through your wings, how each feather answers to it. Try to understand its direction, its temperature."

So she did. And she could feel it. She could feel the most external layer of feathers absorbing the temperature impact of the icy wind. Could feel the most little plumes, so sensitive they could perceive the slight change in any air current direction.

She became aware of everything around her. But mostly of the heat emanating from Azriel's body on her back, of his thumbs now drawing small circles on her sides.

"When I was a boy, I used to think the same thing as you do now," he whispered. "I was locked away and had to suppress so many instincts…" He let out a breath. "These wings are yours and only yours, you command them. It might take some time, but you will fly and control your powers. Be patient. You can do whatever you want, Elain."

It was his words, the meaning. He believed in her, had always believed in her.It was that certainty that had her leaning into his touch.

She folded in her wings and tilted her head, slowly opening her eyes to find his beautiful face inches from hers, close enough for her to see the hues of green in his eyes.

"Thank you," she breathed.

Azriel said nothing. No, he just let every word shine in his gaze as he leaned down and brushed his nose against hers while his thumbs were still caressing her sides leisurely.

She sucked in a breath, eyes falling close as she lost herself at the pure intimacy of that touch. Elain's whole body went molten and she wanted nothing more than to melt against his chest.

But she couldn't cross that line again.

So she pulled back, just enough to look at his face and made herself say, "I think Nesta is waiting for me."

Shadows darkened his hazel eyes. "Right."

On their way to the House of Wind, she thought Azriel would keep silent but he surprised her when he said quietly, "Nuala and Cerridwen never told me you were training with them."

Despite everything, a faint smile curved Elain's lips. "You can't expect to know everyone secrets."

He lifted an eyebrow. "That's my job."

And Nuala and Cerridwen's, too.

"I don't want to be a warrior," Elain blurted. "But… maybe I can use my gifts - my sight gifts, I mean - to..."

A whisper of those shadows still filled his gaze, but Azriel gave her a small smile. "Like spying?"

Elain blushed. "Perhaps."

"You'd make a good spy, but you have to be patient."

Elain looked at him. At that male who had intrigued her and made her feel comfortable and safe from the very beginning. At that male who found her when no one else would, who had seen her. Had truly seen her.

No, she wouldn't cross that line now, but...

"I can be patient, Azriel," she breathed. Promised.

This time, hope shone so brightly in his hazel eyes that no room was left for shadows.

#elriel #elriel fanfic #elriel fic #elriel month #azriel x elain #elain x azriel #elrielmonth

[akdjrbeuwisusehebr]

Jayfeather could finally understand how Leafpool felt and why she broke the medicine cat code. After all, he was here doing the same exact thing with Brairlight, being her mate secretly. At first he was unsure, thought there was something wrong with him. How could betray his Clanmates like that? How could he betray Half Moon? But he thought about it and realized he had loved Half Moon as Jay's Wing and now as Jayfeather he could love Briarlight. He would always love Half Moon and he still did (a little more than he loved Briarlight) but he also had a life ahead of him and had spent his time with her. Now he could just be happy with her as her mate as long as no one knew (besides the four cats he trusted and told: Squirrelflight, Leafpool, Alderheart and Lionblaze). He had also decided that rule of the medicine cat code stating Medicine cats could not have kits was a stupid rule.

_______________________________________________

He was panicked. Brairlight was expectant. She couldn't carry kits, she would die. She was paralyzed in her hindquarters. How would she push the kits out, they could get stuck she would definitely die and the kits would probably die too. And she was due in a half a moon. And he was sick. "Are you okay Jayfeather??? Need anything" the annoying ginger kittypet Fuzzball asked worriedly. "I'm fine" Jayfeather sighed grumpily wondering what Bramblestar was thinking when he took the kittypets in after the fire. "Are you sure because you don't look so good and you have been starring at the wall of the den for a while now and you-" "I said I'm fine!!!" Jayfeather snapped interrupting him. "Oh, okay" Fuzzball meowed looking down sadly. Jayfeather felt a tiny tinge of guilt for hissing at the kittypet like that but he wasn't in the mood for listening to him ramble on and on about which plant he thought was the prettiest or what Marigold was for because he forgot again for the sixth time.

_______________________________________________

Alderheart had told him that he did something risky, he had sliced open Briarlight's stomach to retrieve the kits, a tiny brown tom-kit and a tabby gray she-kit then cleaned it and put cobwebs on it and luckily his experiment worked and both the kits and Briarlight were alive and healthy.

_______________________________________________

The kits were a quarter moon old and had opened their eyes and started to explore around camp. The tiny tom-kit who Briarlight had named Stickkit had as he was told had a weird and colorful shade of blue eyes and the she-kit who Briarlight had named Crystalkit (later Stickfall and Crystallight respectively) and supposedly looked exactly like him had yellow eyes. He just took Alderheart's word since he had no reason to lie and he himself was blind since the day he was born.

_______________________________________________

He was still sick and Alderheart was at the gathering while Leafpool was helping SkyClan currently and he had Cinderheart stir him from his sleep frantically from his sleep. He knew it was Cinderheart because even though he couldn't see her each and every cat in the Clan had a certain scent and spoke differently. "Jayfeather, you have to come quick! Ivypool's kits are coming!!!" She mewed in distress. He sprang to his feet and rushed past her into the nursery. "Blossomfall, take The kits and put them in the elder and apprentice's dens, they'll be sleeping there tonight. Cinderheart help her" He ordered. He could hear Blossomfall start to heard her and Cinderheart's kits out of the nursery and Cinderheart hearded his kits, now a half moon old out of the nursery behind her. He then went to help Ivypool. He stopped near a startled Briarlight and asked for a few plants from the medicine den since she had watched him do his daily things. "Will do" she meowed dragging herself to the entrance of the den as fast as she could.

_______________________________________________

It was all his fault. Brairlight was dead because of him. He was in denial. He was numb. He blamed himself. He should have never been in the nursery when he knew he was sick. "It's not your fault" Alderheart meowed quietly. But it was. It was all his fault. Fuzzball crept up and sat down next to him. Grateful for the comfort Jayfeather rested his tail on the small ginger tom's back. But deep down inside he knew he didn't deserve it. Not after he had caused Briarlight's death.

Crystallight and Stickfall belong to me, don't steal and ask before using. I'm new so I hope it was good. Also here are some pictures, they don't belong to me they belong to angstywildcats and uneasywolf on Tumblr someone told me:

#timetoruinyouremotions #Jaylight #Warrior cats #Jayfeather x Briarlight #Jaymoon #Jayfeather x Half Moon #Jayfeather #Brairlight

[kiyoomiee]

Submit To Me || Jeon Jungkook

Submit to Me ⟶ [ 2/ ? ]

⟶ genre: wolf au / enemies-to-lovers / fluff / slow burn

⟶ pairing: jungkook x reader

⟶ words: 2k

��� sypnosis: Being an omega isn’t easy, you're surrounded by judging eyes and a lot of streotypes. Being an omega isn't easy, especially when your rival is a pure breed alpha named Jeon Jungkook.

⟶ warnings: alpha!JK, omega!Reader, language, consumption of alchohol and weed, a lot of fighting, mutual pining, communication problems, degrading words

⟶ disclaimer: this is a product of my imagination. this is my first post so please bear with the mistakes and grammatical errors, English is not my first language

PART 1 // PART 2

Jungkook’s lips felt soft against yours. Though it tasted like alcohol, it didn’t stop you from wrapping your arms around his nape just to deepen the kiss. The way his tongue explored your mouth was nothing compared to what you experienced from your past relationship. You surrendered yourself completely and kissed him back, hoping that it would take all the pain and frustration that you felt.

“You’re such a tease Y/N. You’re torturing the shit out of me right now.” He was sucking and biting harshly on one part of your neck that you were sure it would totally leave a mark. His irises were in a deep shade of red, a sign that his wolf was taking over.

His hands slid down all the way from your back until it reached your ass. You yelped when Jungkook grabbed your bottoms only to pull you up. Your phone made a sound when it fell on the floor but you didn't care. You and your hands were too focused on roaming Jungkook's shoulders and pulling the strands of his soft curly hair.

You almost whined when Jungkook broke the kiss only to lick and attack your neck. His sudden action caused you to moan and your nails scratched his tattooed arm involuntarily, causing him to hiss. He returned the favor by putting a hand to your waist only to grip it tightly.

“A-Ah shit. Fuck you, Jungkook.”

He chuckled dangerously. Jungkook continued his work on your neck. He ran his fangs on your clavicle causing you to jolt against him as your eyes almost reached the back of your head.

You couldn't think straight anymore and neither could he. Your wolf chanted Jungkook's name over and over, you were starting to give in.

But something felt wrong. Yes, there was something far worse than having Jungkook's tongue down your throat right now. Your body felt hot and your vision started to blur.

"Jungkook wait. Stop." You weakly pushed his chest and gripped his arms tightly to get him back to his senses. He was breathing heavily against your skin when his red eyes slowly turned back into it’s natural brown color.

"Y/N what's-- Fuck!" Jungkook cursed loudly when you passed out against his chest. It took him awhile to get back to his senses but when he finally did he carried you and put you down on his bed.

He stared at you for a moment, realizing what you two just did. His wolf was taking over him when he saw you at the dancefloor. The way you looked and smelled was the last straw. The amount of alcohol he consumed was partly to blame. Jungkook wanted you to submit to him when he pinned you against the wall. He wanted to dominate every part of you so bad that he lost control.

A part of him felt guilty. He knew you were drugged judging by how dilated your pupils were when he looked into your eyes. His plan was to keep you safe yet he took advantage of your current state. He clenched his teeth and kept in mind to punish Taehyung for giving you that cookie.

Jungkook looked away and sighed. He walked straight into his bathroom and turned the water on.

After all that has happened he needed a cold bath to calm him down and help him think straight.

The heat of the sun on your skin is what got you groaning in the early morning. The sudden pain that you felt on your abdomen made you breathe erratically. The beads of sweat on your body irritated you even more. Your lashes slowly fluttered when you finally opened your eyes.

The memories of what happened last night were faint in your head. If the headache that you felt right now wasn’t enough to make you remember then the alpha beside you probably will.

The view made it harder for you to breathe. Beside you was Jeon Jungkook who’s upper body was on full display, gray sweatpants were the only thing that was covering the lower part of his body.

So many thoughts filled your mind, the thought of you two having sex was no exception cause you couldn’t find the clothes you wore last night and your undergarments were only covered by a large white shirt that reached your knees. Surely I would remember if we had sex right? I’m sure Jungkook isn’t the type to make a woman forget. Should I wake him up and ask him to do it again--

And that exact thought was the part that got you running to his bathroom and locking yourself in. Your whole body felt hot. You were thinking about Jungkook, you were ready to pounce at him even. Your abdomen hurts like hell.

You were in heat.

A female’s heat comes every month and lasts for about a week. The heat of males lasts the same but it only comes once a month during winter, which is mating season. You despised it. It's so unfair and it tortures every part of your being. You knew your heat was coming but you never expected it to happen today, especially with an alpha close by. You took every bit of restraint and self respect that you had just to keep yourself locked up and not throw yourself at Jungkook.

Oh Goddess. You called out, hoping that she would prevent you from losing your mind.

Meanwhile, Jungkook's eyes opened quickly when the strong scent of vanilla and lavender filled his lungs. He didn't even bother to stretch his limbs just to find where the sweet smell was coming from.

His lips parted when his brown orbs were slowly turning red, his wolf wanted to take over and he knew exactly why. Any wolf nearby could tell that you were in heat, alpha's most likely. Since alphas and omegas are "destined for each other" they are the ones that are most likely affected when sensing heat.

Jungkook was frustrated that you weren't in his pack, the mind link would surely help to check if you were okay. Atleast she had the decency to lock the door, he thought. Because if you didn't, you two would probably end up in a situation you'll both regret.

For the first time in his life Jungkook didn't know what to do. He just stood in front of his bathroom door as thoughts filled his mind. He badly wanted to help you through your heat yet one wrong move, the everything will be even more complicated than before. It's the heat that's making me like this. The heat. Yes, it's the heat.

Maybe fate was playing with the two of you. You despised one another yet you can't help but to attract each other.

You on the other hand, gathered all the might and courage that you had. Jungkook was startled and took a few steps back when you suddenly opened the door. You didn't even bother to look at him and just focused on finding your things and go. You were panicking inside your head, the clothes that you wore last night were neatly folded on the table beside his king sized bed yet it immediately crumpled when you gathered it without any care. Your main priority was to get out of there immediately yet you couldn't stop yourself from asking Jungkook what happened.

"Jungkook, about last night--" You tried to speak but he immediately cut you off.

"Last night was a mistake Y/N."

Your eyes met his brown orbs that held the same emotion the first time you interacted with him. It was cold, so cold.

"Of course it was. But.. did something happen? Between us?" You asked cautiously.

Jungkook let out the fakest laugh you ever heard as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Really Y/N? Did you really think that something will ever happen between us?"

"What's with the attitude? How the fuck am I supposed to know? You tell me Jeon, why else would I be wearing your fucking shirt right now?" Your blood was starting to boil because of anger.

"Because you made a fucking mess on your clothes! You really shouldn't be drinking Y/N you know why? Cause your weak ass can't handle simple alcohol. I did you a fucking favor and you're not even a part of my pack." He growled, emphasizing his last statement.

"So that's what this is about? You being a little bitch cause I won't bow down to you? Well guess what? I never will cause submitting to an alpha like you would only prove that I'm weak. I'm glad that I'm not a part of your pack. Anyone would be unlucky to have someone like you as their alpha." You attempted to leave but he caught your wrist before you even made a move.

"Oh yeah? Is that why you had your tongue down on my throat last night? Tell me Y/N, if you hate me so much then why the fuck did you kiss me back?" Jungkook smirked when you were caught off guard by his question.

"It was a mistake Jungkook. We were both drunk." You looked away and refused to look at his eyes. Restraining yourself was already difficult but he made it even harder the moment he touched your wrist.

"I'm pretty sure that you enjoyed it though." You were sure that he knows you're on your heat yet he's pushing both of your patience and limits.

Both of you turned your head's when you heard the sound of Jimin's voice behind Jungkook's door.

"Kook? Who do you have in there? You do know it's dangerous to have an unmarked female that's in heat in a house that has 3 alpha's with no mates right?" Jimin's concerned voice was very clear.

It's a good thing that Jimin's a beta. He could sense the different scents around him yet unlike alpha's, he doesn't go crazy when he smells a female wolf in heat.

Jimin didn't expect to see the two of you when he opened the door. Heck, he knew that you two couldn't stay in the same room without fighting. The sight in front of him made his jaw drop almost instantly. Your cheeks were in a shade of bright red and Jungkook was clearly restraining his wolf. Both of you showed too much skin and the smell of sexual tension was very clear in the air.

When the door was wide open now, you took it as an opportunity to finally leave. But Jungkook’s voice made you stop your tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going somewhere where you’re not around.”

“Really? Wearing that? Do you need me to remind you that I’m not the only alpha in house and in this city?” He mocked.

“Oh god! Jimin? A little help here?!” You cried in frustration and you raised your brows at your best friend.

“Okay I’m confused as fuck but I have to side with Jungkook for this one. He’s right Y/N. It’s dangerous for you to go out in that state. How about you go to my room and I’ll go run for some heat suppressants?” 

You parted your lips, trying to make up words to say something but nothing came out of your mouth.

"Don't argue with me on this one Y/N."

You sighed and nodded your head in defeat. His idea was the best one to be used so that you could avoid problems.

But deep down inside you knew you couldn’t stay still and just wait for Jimin to come back, especially with Jungkook around You wanted to get out, the sooner the better.

#moonsunlights #madygswich #jungkook #bts #omega #alpha #bts ff #fanfiction #wolf #au #enemies to lovers #wolf au #fluff

[sakurosiee]

so i had a plot for ushijima cuz i watched a scene in hwarang and wanted to develop a story from it and i just had to write it🤩🤩

Hands pt.1 ; Ushijima Wakatoshi x singer!y/n

Warnings: none really.

Wordcount: don't know, didn't check.

Plot : You, a famous singer, grabs the wrong ass in public.

Your cousin just came back home after finishing a semester of college in US. You of all the people in your family was tasked with picking up your cousin in the airport. You really didn't want to but you belonged in a family of doctors and the lives of their patients will be their first priority. Your cousin's family on the other hand lived far away. If anyone could spare time, it was you.

A very famous singer in and out of your homeland.

It took you quite some time to disguise your self, but covering up avengers-style is not the most effective. Your hair was currently dyed a silver balayage with lightning blue streaks and anyone would've recognized you from afar. Even if you had your hair tied up, people already began to look at you even before you could step inside the airport. Cameras already began to flash and not long after photographers were already there.

You could've asked someone else to pick your cousin up in your stead, but you loved your family even if there were a lot of shortcomings. You missed him badly that you wanted to smack the back of their head even if he was taller than you are. You checked the screens that displayed the flight arrivals and it turns out that he's already here. You immediately took your phone out to check if you had a message from the said cousin but you were called by one of your fans.

They tapped your shoulder and you turned around to see three men. They greeted you first before asking you for a picture but you politely declined, instead you gave them your signature. You smiled at them then proceeded to texting.

_hjmiwa : hey i've been waiting for 30 mins already :< are you here already?

You read his message before responding.

y/n : i'm looking for you! but how tall are you again? What are you wearing and stuff?

_hjmiwa: i'm 1.78m dummy. i'm wearing a gray hoodie too. oh and i have a suitcase and a gym bag.

You irked at his answer. A lot of people wore hoodies of different shades of the colour. You needed more details.

y/n : be more specific please :(

_hjmiwa : i'm wearing red volleyball shoes rn. and unlike other people i'll probably be on my phone the entire time trying to catch up with Japan news. I'm by the clocks too.

Okay that was better. You began to roam around and people looked at you as if you were some lost puppy. Others asked you to take a selfie with them but you couldn't be seen in any social networking sites right now, not when you being in the airport was already causing quite the ruckus. You were lucky though, as everyone in the airport had to move since it was a very busy place but people recognizing you wouldn't miss out. You were thankful that majority of the people inside either smiled or waved at you, in which you returned the favor.

He's 5'10, you thought. The thing is you can't really tell much about height. You stood at 5 foot 7 and heights that went beyond yours was considered tall. So anyone taller than you, you assumed to be 5'10. You did poorly in visualizing sizes and that's one of the reasons why you never bought clothes and furniture online.

You kept looking around for anyone who was a head taller than you that was wearing a gray hoodie, had two bags with them, and most importantly wearing red volleyball shoes. No one would wear volleyball shoes in the airport. You watched the news earlier this evening and there weren't even any announcements about sports and all.

You spot the exact man there. You ticked everything in your checklist when you were able to assure yourself that it is indeed your cousin. Your cousin had a sexy back and that was no lie. You ran up quickly from behind to give them a hug and you did it tightly, planting the sade of your face against his back. You snuggled him and your hands on his stomach felt the hard rock abs underneathe.

You knew that your cousin wasn't this ripped as you recalled the last time you saw the guy.

But it was him anyway.

You told him, "I missed you so much Hajime!"

Even if a lot of people saw this, you really didn't mind the upcoming articles of you hugging a man in public being posted and shared online. You can always say that the person was your cousin and have many others confirm your statement. You pulled away from the back hug you gave this person and grabbed his ass. You pulled your hands away from his ass and said, "That's for always smacking the back of my head you ass!". No one looked your way and you were thankful because you were able to do it freely.

Everything stopped when the person you thought was your cousin slowly turned their heads and stared at you wide-eyed.

You just grabbed the wrong ass.

There was no commotion at all until you made one. You gasped loudly unintentionally. The guy in front of you didn't even recognize who you were. To him, you were just a stranger. You were so embarrassed of what you have just down so you slapped(not really that hard) him across his left cheek.

"Eh, y/n?" The familiar voice says.

That was the voice of your cousin.

You turned around to meet the face of Iwaizumi Hajime. This guy recognized the guy you slapped. He waved at him too but crowds already began to form encircling the two of you. You quickly left strutting in your rubber shoes. You looked behind you to hiss at Iwaizumi, "Come here!". He patted the famous left-handed athlete on the shoulder and said, "It was nice to see you again man. I don't know what's going on between the two of you and what just happened but I-" He gets cut off when you glared through your pink tinted shades. "Sorry got to go!" he said before he rushed to your side, finally leaving the airport left in a mess.

#ushijima x reader #hq #haikyuu #haikyuu!! #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima #ushijima x y/n #hq ushijima #ushijima scenarios #haikyuu fanfiction #hq x reader #haikyuu ushijima #ushiwaka #iwaizumi

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

I'm watching the entire series of Game of Thrones for the first time. I've made my way to season 3, making sure to watch as many commentaries as I can. Last night I listened  to the Set Design / Costume Design commentary for S3 Ep 4: "And Now His Watch is Ended".

I know most historical costume Enthusiasts / Critics either don't touch, or make exceptions for Fantasy productions and on the whole I agree with that. But something about the Game of Thrones costumes (and how the show's popularity has impacted costume design on productions actually set in the medieval / Renaissance time period) has just really been bothering me.

(Perhaps you see what I mean here with Contessina De Bardi in Medici: Master's of Florence and her sneaky mini structured neckline)

It may be a couple of things, but lots of the ... insights from Michele Clapton shed some light on this for me. I have a few questions.

First: North of the Wall, we spend some time in this episode with The Night's Watch at Craster's Keep. Of Craster's wives, Clapton said [Disclaimer this is not an *exact* quote because I couldn't find a transcript anywhere and my sister sent back the Netflix DVD and I do not have an idetic memory - but the important parts of the comment are, in my own estimation, accurate] : "With Craster's wives I got this idea of them just having bits of rabbit, whatever they can get, woven with grass..." this raises in my mind, SO many questions.

Firstly - we ARE north of the Wall, yes? Where,  as we have seen, the ground is just about ALWAYS covered in snow, or 90% mud. So where is the grass coming from? And also what they are wearing is so clearly not grass?

This also provides a segue into my second question.

Do sheep exist in Westeros?

Why is it that this show has such an aversion to wool? Every man wearing protective clothing is wearing Leather (or rather I should perhaps say "vegan leather"). Every Hearty Weave (TM) appears to be an attempt at Linen; and every Fine Lady is wearing Silk satin, or if you're Olenna, silk brocade (in obviously hot weather, because naturally elderly ladies benefit from heat stroke).

I've not seen one woollen cloak. Not. One wool... anything really. I ask myself "Why?"

100% natural wool is wondeful. It's naturally flame retardant; it keeps you warm; it breathes well; it's soft in a light weave; it's strong in a heavy one; its water repellent. So what is with this endemic erasure of wool? Even productions like 2018's Mary Queen of Scots have had costume designers like Alexandra Byrne who, when searching for a durable fabric for cold and rainy Scotland, came out with a wardrobe comprised entirely of DENIM. Which,  as we all know is the WARMEST AND MOST COMFORTABLE of fabrics when damp. Now we all know Byrne's real reason for using denim is because it's cheap. The problem is Byrne tried to justify it by saying all of that guff about wanting a fabric that wears well in rain (Which,  I cannot stress this enough- denim does not) and, of course because denim would be "ReLaTaBLe". But I digress.

All that aside, perhaps the things that bother me most are components and composition. Which is where we get into the wooly (heh) area of me being a person with interest in HISTORICAL costume, critiquing a FANTASY series.

So let's just get this out of the way: I'm not saying that anything that the costume Department did with this series was "Wrong" [with one exception, but we'll get to that when we get to it]. I'm just going to say that I don't like the way it was approached, and my reasons on WHY. 

I think I have a modicum of justification for my opinions here because, fantasy is fantasy, yes but the concepts of "Fantasy" and "Medieval" have become so strongly connected that the line between them has become so blurred in the modern mind as to be almost non-existent anymore. We're in a strange cycle here. "Fantasy" was directly inspired by Medieval and over the years took more and more creative wiggle room because, the great thing about fantasy is, you can make it whatever you want it to be aesthetically. But as Fantasy and Medieval have become so intertwined, more and more creative license has been taken with the latter, so that the original inspiration has become beholden to imitate the art it inspired.

But I'll save my pontification on the modern eye and Medieval fashion for another post, and try to keep on track only as far as this affects my feelings on Game of Thrones.

My justification is that GoT is not just inspired by Medieval England/Europe in the broad sense that most Fantasy of the Sword and Sorcery variety is; it was SPECIFICALLY inspired by ONE ERA of English History, The Wars of the Roses [15th century] (with character inspiration from other eras, as recent as the 16th century).

The thing about being interested in Historical Fashion is, once you know it, you can't UN-KNOW it. For example, my understanding of the medieval approach to clothing composition is "Cut as little as you need to because sewing is tedious". You don't want to have to sew more than you have to because what's the point of that? Practically no clothing in the medieval period was tailored because why bother doing that when you can just sinch it with a belt, or lace it up the sides? Is any of that applied here? Nah. Because when we look at Sansa's dresses, look at those obviously machine stitched, perfectly pristine seams. ~whistles~.

I'll never throw shade at a costume department for using sewing machines, but I will shade them for not bothering at all to make clothing for a universe that has no sewing machines look like it was made in a universe that has no sewing machines.

  I can agree with not holding Fantasy series to historical standards - to a point. To wit: as long as it's believable IN-UNIVERSE.

AS FAR AS WE KNOW, the GoT universe doesn't yet have Mechanized looms. Now I know that they make some pretty unreal lace in Myr, but I just can't think of any in-universe justification for the texture of Danny's blue number in season 3.

Another thing that bothers me is the proliferation of corsets and how those corsets are approached.

Here are some historical corset facts.

• the term 'corset' wasn't widely used to refer to structured undergarments outside of France until the late 18th century (1700's). Before tart they were called "stays" (16th-17th century) or "a pair of bodies" (15th-16th century)

• structured undergarments first appeared in the 15th century, as the bodice of under-dresses(kirtles) were lined with reed or Buckram to provide back and breast support and provide a smooth surface for the gown worn over it. It also provided a foundation for multiple layers of petticoats, so the waistbands wouldn't dig into your sides.

• Structured undergarments that existed independent of a kirtle or petticoat aren't in evidence until the 16th century (Elizabethan/Renaissance) and aren't widely used by all classes until the late 17th century.

• Most 16th-17th century boned foundation garments had straps, since they didn't reach down much farther than the natural waist,  unless they were designed with a high back.

• Corsets, stays and other structured undergarments were never worn without a shift/chemise/slip underneath because...

• Corsets chafe.

• Corsets are difficult to clean, but shifts are easy to launder. Shifts protect your skin from chafing and protect your very expensive corset from the oils produced by your skin

(Reproduction example of 15th century style kirtle, from Prior Attire. Source video here)

(Sansa's... corset here has this bizarre low back and 18th century style tabs on the bottom? It also seems to lace only down to her navel. Not quite sure what's going on here, it really doesn't seem to be supporting her at all.)

The reason I hate, hate, hate the way Sansa is costumed under her...  very suit-like gowns is  because she never ever is shown (so far) wearing anything under her corset; her gowns are all long-lined, flowing and loose fitting; and show only wears (usually) one petticoat under them. So in short, I dislike that Sansa wears a corset because Sansa has NO REASON to be wearing one.

◇◇◇◇Another Thing◇◇◇◇

I want to spotlight on a little thing from the commentary that really hits on one of my larger problems with the aesthetic interpretation of this show in general.

During one of the scenes with Stannis and Melisandre, Clapton mentions that they made Melisandre's hair a darker shade of red in season 3 than it was previously. She says the phrase "sort of makes her more earthy".

Yes. Let's make the FIRE priestess more EARTHY. LET'S JUST DO THAT. AS OF THIS SHOW ISN'T "EARTHY" enough.

There's this fantastic quote I read somewhere by GRRM about how he loves fantasy because it's colorful, where real life is gray and brown and olive and dull. Melisandre is arguably the most colourful character in the show/series. In the books, EVERYTHING about her is Red. And not just red. She's scarlet and crimson. When she's introduced there's this fantastic description of her wearing flowing robes of scarlet silk with slashes in it revealing a darker, blood red fabric underneath.

That was passed up for a monotone, very simply cut red gown and I can't stop asking myself why a designer would scrap something like that without even trying to pay homage to it.

This show just sort of takes everything colourful in Martin's world and MAKES it gray and dark for the sake of Gritty Realism (TM). I suppose that's part of trying to appeal to a wider audience, but I just find it increadibly visually uninteresting.

◇◇◇◇ONE MORE LITTLE THING◇◇◇◇

Is this the sofa from the Study in Clue?

???

#historical costuming #game of thrones #corset #sophie turner #sansa stark #a song of ice and fire #emilia clarke #danaerys targaryen #danaerys stormborn #melisandre #15th century