#it probably goes in descending order

[gawrkin]

PSA: MORDRED IS THE TALLEST

#mordred #orkney brothers #lancelot grail #gawain #arthuriana #arthurian legend #arthurian legends #arthurian mythology #it probably goes in descending order #the oldest is the shortest #the youngest is the tallest

[actually-safer-to-kiss]

Pounding

Summary: Reader has a migraine, and Spencer wants to help.

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader

Category: Hurt/comfort

Content warnings: none

Word count: 1.2k

The transition of seasons is something that has to be endured. It’s the time when you wake up to frost on your windshield in the morning but must remove your coat by the time you leave work. It is a painful time of inconsistency, especially for your sinuses. Not only with the pollen in the air (as well as on your car at all times) but the dryness as well. It causes your headaches to go from sometimes once a month to now twice a week.

And the first one happens this week, today. The migraine descended on you like a storm, brewing from your nasal cavities, its relentless waves of pain crashing against the shores of your temples. With each throb, the world around you seemed to blur and spin.

You shut the door to your apartment and let your bag fall from your shoulder, with no care with where it lands. Light, food, the smell of home is all too much to bear. With a sigh, you shuffle to the sanctuary of your room and bask in the silence while you can still control it. You unleash yourself from your business casual attire and fall into bed, nestling yourself under the covers.

The darkness relieves pressure, only slightly. It will probably be hours before it has settled, so you think it is best to call it a night now at 5:56 in the evening. There was no point in doing anything else as streetlights alone from the windows have proven to be enough to make the back of your eyes ache. You remained still, motionless, unmoved. Minutes could stretch well into hours without your knowledge.

Until the sound of the front door opened, cutting through the quiet. Spencer was home, which means it’s 6:06 now. The creaking floors from his aged apartment tell you he goes to the kitchen first, the sink runs, then his steps only grow closer to you until you can feel his presence at your back. “Migraine?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

It drains all energy and motivation out of you, so you merely nod in response. He’s more than familiar with severe head pain; chronic migraines that were resolved with a vitamin regimen. Fortunately, he has yet to complain about them bothering you in the year you’ve been together. And he never leaves home without them.

Unfortunately, this makes him eager to figure out your head pains. Last spring, he left out an array of vitamins in a pill organizer. They didn’t. It wasn’t an issue at first. It was clear he was trying to help. The downside of your boyfriend being a child prodigy and objective genius is that he will never back down from a challenge, even when you have asked him to. He can’t do it. Later in the month, he came home one day with an array of tea brands, mostly ginger and peppermint. He’s bought humidifiers, massaged the cartilage of your nose, and even consulted Reddit. It’s certainly worn down your patience, especially when you require complete silence.

“I can get you some hot compresses from the pharmacy if you want.” He jumps in completely. The last three words are merely to cushion the obvious; reiterating the point rather than saying something like, “I’ve had headaches before. I know how awful they are, so you should let me help you.” Which he’s also said.

You continue the annoying pattern by shaking your head with an audible moan. Opening your eyes hurts.

“What about nasal spray or decongestant? I can get those at the pharmacy as well.”

“I don’t need anything from the pharmacy. I took ibuprofen. Just need to keep my eyes closed.”

“Well, that can only help so much today. Saline will help encourage drainage and expansion in the vessels. Ibuprofen solves the head pain, not the root problem.”

“Unless the BAU can order planting fruit trees, it’s the best we can do.”

“What I’m trying to say is—”

You groan louder. “This isn’t a time for solutions, Spencer.”

Another unfortunate aspect of your relationship is that you can feel the way Spencer’s face softens from your tone. He then mutters out an apology, a brief sorry, but he doesn’t leave. He touches your shoulder and keeps his hand there until you turn to face him. And because you love him very much, you strain to open your eyes. You can make out a blur of his silhouette in the growing darkness, but still see clearly his glossy eyes and the quirk of his lips. “Can you do something for me first, though? Real quick?”

Before you answer, his hand slides toward your upper back, meaning you have to sit up for this. You were ready to say something along the line that he’s lucky you love him right now and leave it at that because thinking further made the pressure in your temples increase. 

You didn’t have to speak at all, though. Because Spencer is also holding a glass of water in front of you. You look up at Spencer’s puppy-eyed silhouette. “Not a solution,” he says softly. “It’s something you always need.”

Well, if that didn’t make you feel like an asshole. You accepted the glass without a word, feeling the coolness against your palm as you brought it to your lips. Each sip, at the very least, a distraction from the throbbing. Spencer watches you closely. You had no choice but to finish the whole glass. And you did, leaving Spencer satisfied enough as he took the glass and walked out.

You didn’t say a word. The sink ran again, and Spencer returned with another full glass. He doesn’t hand it to you, instead puts it on the nightstand before turning precariously on his heels. It takes you a second through half-closed eyes to realize he’s walking back out. You’re afraid to ask, wondering if you’ve made him too upset to talk. You push yourself and do so anyway, keeping your tone in mind. “Where are you going?”

Spencer turns on his heels once more, looking around momentarily like there were others in the room. He then looks at you. “I figured you wanted to be alone.”

You reach out, moving through the pain quite literally, and you catch the polyester of his cardigan just between your fingers and pull him closer until you can wrap your arms around him. You hold your breath, knowing the intense smell of his laundry detergent would be enough to collapse down to your pillow in further pain. His cardigan is soft against your face. “Do you have other stuff to do?”

He chuckles, his abdomen bounces. So, he’s not too mad. “I do not.”

Encouraged by his response, you tug him gently (and not so gracefully) into bed. He’s delightfully warm. Spencer kicks off his shoes in response before pulling you close. Then you bury your face into his chest, hesitant to breathe in the scent of cedar that clings to the cardigan. You try best to ignore it as you cocoon yourselves beneath the blankets, finding refuge in each other’s company amidst the inner turmoil that comes with spring. You listen to the steady rhythm of Spencer’s heartbeat, and find a fleeting sense of peace in the storm.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid hurt/comfort #spencer reid x you #spencer reid/you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid/reader #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid oneshot #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid fandom #spencer reid blurb #criminalminds #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction

[comfortless]

God könig and his only worshipper who doesn't try to get him more followers cause she wants all of his attention on her

another strange vaguely Greek/Roman au?! ^^ (also to your other message: no worries!! being too nice would make me lazy!) this prompt is like a reversal of this and i am here for it!

content/warnings: suggestive, König may or may not have killed some guy no big deal..!

It isn’t as if he bestows great blessings upon you or grants your deepest, most guarded wishes…

It’s just that he’s lovely in all forms: the very apex of some marbelesque, masculine statue made flesh. Warm to the touch and so very real and alive that it was difficult to focus on worshiping him proper when your very being sang for him.

He’s probably only some great god of war, Ares, but without the long list of lovers and offspring - only you. There was nothing that he could do to benefit you much, just a humble citizen that had no need of taking up a weapon…

Yet he was so heart achingly beautiful with the docile look in his eyes, the contrast to his stature that bore the look of a proper hunter, you could not keep yourself from returning to him.

All of the other men in the city pale in comparison to the god you pray to, nestled up in the foothills where you make your trek day by day to speak… knowing that nightly he comes to you in dreams with little glimpses of futures or pasts: the things you can not comprehend yet those in Olympus could parse together with such ease.

As his only worshiper, you are never apart for long.

He descends that mountain each time to meet with you in green meadows with the gentlest look in his eyes.

He has no temple in which to pray to… but, you’ve made a temple of your own within yourself all for him. He knows it, knows well when you pray at your feet and he sheepishly orders you to stop that, stand, face him, and he would lend you his mighty weapon any day if you would just ask for him to use it.

Your god deserves and army of men to fight and scramble for his favor, a harem of women to tend to his needs… but the thought alone is enough to leave bitterness on your tongue.

You don’t want to share him, only savor the honeyed words and touches between the two of you, never muddy what is sacred with another’s prayers or offerings.

… Are yours not already enough?

You only find out that they most certainly are the day a suitor begins his arrogant courtship and… within that very hour he is no longer. A stray spear from the pit pierced right through him…? What a strange way to go out. You don’t even think to question it until you find yourself meandering through soft grass for your meeting with König.

He’s a warrior, too, he should know the intricacies of how a weapon that heavy might rise up on the wind just to strike some poor, silly man down before he could even take your hand and lie with you.

You tell him of this odd occurrence whilst you whittle away at a tiny carving of him with a paring knife, König sat just adjacent to you.

First, he tells you that a blade meant for herbs and vegetables is no good for wood. The dull blade is pried from your hands with ease and tossed aside into the foliage surrounding you both. No need for little idols when your god willingly comes down to grace you, anyhow…

Then, he tells you that… it isn’t fair for you to have eyes for any other. Is his presence not enough? Is he not stronger and more capable than any of your puny, mortal men? He could protect you, haul you up to Olympus and make you his bride, give you as many children as you want… Wouldn’t you like that more?

Your stare is so telling, hands shaking as you set the unfinished figure aside, and the words do not come, not when the look he gives you goes from adoring and sweet to near deadly in an instant. It’s the first time he’s offered to bless you with anything but bloodshed in your favor… a peculiar promise of love in return for your selfishness and gifts of milk and honey…

“I do not think I am worthy of that…” The words come tumbling, clumsy and weighty on your tongue. Could he detect the yearning there..? Surely he knew with the way he invaded your dreaming, and even now as his hand finds your shoulder to push you back down into the soft bed of the earth.

“You wish to make yourself worthy, little one..?”

You only nod, once, as your heart finds its way into your throat and your robe is torn away to flutter out with the wind.

#this is so short… apologies! #putting König in these scenarios is so fun but my well is running dry someone spare me a bucket… #^^’ #they fuck or whatever do i need to type it this time.. (shaking like milk)

[heli-writes]

A dragon's heart, part 5.

Pairing: Barbarian!Bakugou Katsuki x female!reader

Summary: The dragonblood tribe is known for being cruel, barbarian warriors that slaughter, loot and rape all places they pass through. They are feared among the villagers and even bigger cities. Having lost most of their women to a plague, they're trying to ensure their tribe's survival by kidnapping women from other places. However, they're not the only monsters in human form out there. When y/n experiences this first hand, she has no choice but to ask for help from no other but the barbarian leader Katsuki Bakugou himself.

Disclaimer: mentions of injuries

[Please don't read if you are sensible to or triggered by the topics mentioned above.]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Series Masterlist

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Katsuki holds onto y/n and the reigns of the dragon with all his strength. Y/n notices how his breath comes out heavier with every passing minute.

"Katsuki, I think we should land. You're going to pass out.", y/n tells him knowing he won't understand a thing. Katsuki lets out an indecipherable mutter.

Y/n grips his arm and tries to turn around in order to look at his face. "Katsuki.", y/n says insistently. Katsuki nods into her shoulder and gives the reigns a weak pull. The dragon understands its master and starts descending.

The dragon lands near a small lake. Katsuki has trouble getting out of the saddle. His feet hit the ground heavily and he groans in pain. Unsteadily, he tries to reach for y/n but she refuses his arm. It's probably safer to get off her own than to rely on Katsuki right now.

When she manages to get down from the beast, Katsuki's already sitting on the ground catching his breath. Y/n takes the water bottle and walks over to him. She opens the bottle for him and hands it over. Katsuki drinks in greedy swallows.

Meanwhile, y/n takes in the view of him. The cuts on his cheek and bicep have stopped bleeding but something's wrong with his leg. It's soaked in blood. Y/n gets up and goes looking for the medicine kit Katsuki keeps in one of the bags.

When she's found it, she returns to the man sitting on the ground. "Katsuki", she calls out to him and sits down next to him. Katsuki glances at her but doesn't react and only pours more water down his throat. Y/n starts unpacking the medicine kit looking for the things she might need.

"I need to see your leg.", she tells him and points at his leg. Katsuki shifts and lets y/n see the wound. It's deep. "This won't kill you unless it gets infected.", she tells him. "You will also need stitches.", she mumbles while looking for alcohol and threat and needle.

"Take off your pants.", she tells him when she has gathered all the supplies needed. Katsuki shifts uncomfortably, probably to give her better access to his leg. "Yeah, that won't do it.", y/n deadpans. "The pants. It needs to go off.", she repeats. Katsuki grunts as a response. Y/n rolls her eyes. Even if he doesn't speak her language, he could still respond properly. "Pants. Off.", she repeats and motions at his crotch.

Katsuki is starting to get annoyed. He's in pain and he doesn't understand what this woman wants from him. Y/n lets out an exaggerated sigh. She stares at Katsuki for a moment while figuring out her next move. "Alright, then.", she says and reaches for his pants.

"What the fuck!", Katsuki exclaims and catches y/n's wrist with his hand. "Keep your hands to yourself, woman!", he growls. Y/n stays still for a moment. Clearly, Katsuki is not a fan of what he's supposed to do. "You need to let me go, Katsuki. If you want me to stitch you up, I need to see the whole wound.", she tells him and reaches for the buttons of his pants again.

"What the hell are you doing?", Katsuki yells at her and grips her wrist tighter. He's embarrassed. Not only he got hurt and this weak woman has to take of him, but now he also is supposed to expose himself in front of her. Y/n gets irritated by his loud voice and actions.

"Cut the crap, Katsuki!", y/n yells back at him. "You walk around half-naked all the time and now you get shy?", she barks. Katsuki looks taken aback. "Seriously, I can cut up your pants if you prefer but then you will have no pants to wear at all. Is that better?", she keeps scolding him.

Katsuki lets go of her wrist in surprise. He didn't expect the woman to raise her voice at him. Y/n's brows are furrowed in anger. Her cheeks are blushed and she wrinkles her nose a bit. Katsuki didn't expect her to get angry or to look this cute when she is. Y/n keeps glaring at him but doesn't move. Katsuki grinds his teeth. Eventually, he pulls his hands away completely.

Finally, y/n reaches for his pants button and opens them. She helps Katsuki shimmy out of his pants being particularly careful when they have to pull the fabric over the wound. Katsuki's face is burning red and he avoids y/n's eyes staring at the sky angrily.

Y/n shakes her head in dismissal. "Seriously, didn't think for you to be the shy type.", she tells him as she takes the bottle of alcohol. Katsuki doesn't answer her and keeps staring at the sky. Truth is, Katsuki's not shy. He's proud of his body, dick included. If a woman wanted to see it, Katsuki would be cocky and eager to show. However, this is different. Right now, he's in a weak position and y/n holds a certain power considering he needs to entrust his wounds to her. It doesn't sit right with him submitting further to her by taking off his pants.

"Alright, this is going to sting.", she warns him as she pours the alcohol over the wound. Katsuki doesn't even flinch. His muscles tighten however indicating that he does feel the pain. Y/n lets the needle and threat soak in the alcohol for a moment. Meanwhile, she takes a cloth and the alcohol and starts cleaning the wound on Katsuki's bicep.

When she's done with that, she moves to the cut on his face. She's met with Katsuki's angry stare. She holds his stare. No way she's going to yield when she's the one helping him. She reaches for his face and carefully cleans the wound on his face. The alcohol must sting otherwise Katsuki wouldn't break eye contact with y/n all of a sudden.

Y/n sighs. She feels bad for Katsuki. He fought bravely. It's unfair he got hurt in the first place. Carefully, she raises her hand to his other cheek and lets her thumb run over his cheek. Now, Katsuki avoids eye contact on purpose. He's not used to a tender touch like this and it makes him feel uncomfortable. Y/n has to snicker at his stiffness.

Katsuki finds y/n's eyes again when he hears her soft giggle. He's surprised to find her looking at him softly. It makes his stomach feel all tingly and mushy. Meanwhile, y/n enjoys seeing the mighty Katsuki Bakugou all flushed and embarrassed. She decides to push it a little bit further by reaching for his face again planting a soft kiss on his cheek. When Katsuki instantly turns his face away. Y/n has to laugh at his beet-red face.

"You're a bitch, you know that?", Katsuki mumbles. Y/n continues to chuckle to herself but continues to clean the wound. When she's done, she picks up thread and needle. "Alright, this is really going to hurt now.", she tells him and points at his leg. Katsuki nods and prepares himself for the pain. It's not the first time, he needs stitches.

Y/n works quickly and carefully. It's actually also not the first time, she's stitched someone up. She can hear Katsuki grinding his teeth in pain. If she didn't need to concentrate right now, she would tell him that he was damaging his teeth. When she's done, she puts some rash cream onto the stitches and wraps some bandages around it.

Katsuki's relieved that y/n's done. He has to say, she worked quite expertly on his wounds. Clearly, she has done this before. He relaxes a bit and only grunts at y/n when she pats his head. He lets his back flop onto the ground. He's absolutely spent.

Y/n starts to unload the dragon who watched the two of them intently the whole time. She fetches the bedroll and Katsuki's cape. After she has prepared the bedding, she helps Katsuki to get on it and puts the cape over his leg. His pants need to be cleaned and mended first. Katsuki doesn't even argue with her about it. He's out within minutes.

Y/n watches Katsuki snore and she finds herself worrying over him. She's sure she did a good job treating the wounds but there's always the danger of infection. She tries to get the worry out of her head by setting up camp. She builds a small fireplace and unloads the bags. Then, she sets out to find something to eat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Unfortunately, y/n isn't a great hunter even if she had a bow and arrows. Therefore, she can only stick to gathering wild vegetables, berries and mushrooms. She fries them in a pan with some fat and the spices Katsuki carries with him.

The smell of the food wakes Katsuki up. The sun is just about to set. Y/n is kneeling next to the fireplace cooking food. He groans as he sets up. The adrenaline of the fight kept the pain in moderation. After taking a nap, the pain hits him in full force.

When y/n hears him groan, she swirls around, a worried look on her face. Katsuki tries to wave her off, not wanting to have the woman fretting over him. Y/n hurries over to him nevertheless and checks his forehead. If he got an infection, he wouldn't have a fever already but one can never be too sure. Katsuki slaps her hand away and gives her a sort of growl. Y/n snickers at him which makes Katsuki a bit angry. But not too much. He doesn't want to admit it to himself yet but he likes that y/n is worried about him.

Y/n disappears for a moment and fetches him a plate of food. While Katsuki eats, y/n starts boiling water for tea. Katsuki watches her carefully.

Y/n moves around relaxed and confident. Katsuki thinks back to the frightened woman who arrived at his camp just mere days ago. He prefers this version of y/n to the jumpy, insecure girl he met. He picks at the food she has made. It's quite good for the simple ingredients she had at her disposal. Considering this and the way she treated his wounds, she'd make a good mate, Katsuki decides.

He snickers at the thought how she got angry at him earlier. She sure as fuck has got some fire in her, he thinks. He has to admit he was surprised when she jumped on the bandit's back earlier. He thought the attack would leave her frozen in fear. She also stabbed a man's hand without thinking twice. Considering this, it's surprising that she didn't stand up to the men who hunted her. Then again, they outnumbered her and carried long-distance weapons.

Katsuki is ripped out of his thoughts when y/n stands in front of him handing him a cup of hot tea. He takes the cup from her and y/n sits down with a plate of food for herself. He watches her eat.

"Why are you staring at me like this?", y/n asks growing irritated by how intensely Katsuki is staring at her. She's noticed it earlier when she boiled the water. She puts her fork down and meets Katsuki's gaze. Katsuki holds her gaze, then lifts his hand and brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. This takes y/n by surprise and she feels heat rushing into her cheeks.

So far she's seen Katsuki angry, irritated and more angry. While he wasn't necessarily violent towards her, he's always rough and kind of mean. This tenderness is something that catches y/n off guard. "It's probably the pain and exhaustion that makes him this way.", she thinks to herself.

After dinner, y/n tidies up around camp for a little bit while Katsuki settles back onto the bedroll. When she's done, she sits next to the fire poking the hot embers. Katsuki props his head onto his hand wondering what she's doing. It's time to settle for the night.

Despite that, y/n feels restless. The attack today caught both of them off guard. Y/n can't deny that she wasn't paying attention. She totally relied on Katsuki for the whole trip. She figured that Katsuki would catch something like this before her anyway. And if not him, then the dragon. She decided that she will keep watch tonight. Katsuki's not in the condition to fight, so she will ensure their safety somehow.

"Y/n.", Katsuki calls out to her. His voice sounds low and raspy but not angry. It's surprisingly quiet for a man who always speaks so loudly. Y/n turns around to him in surprise. It's the first time Katsuki ever said her name. "Y/n, come over here.", Katsuki tells her even though he knows y/n doesn't understand him.

To his astonishment, y/n does get up and walks over to him. She lets herself plop onto the ground next to him. Katsuki makes grimace. It's not exactly what he meant but he takes it.

Sitting up, y/n keeps her eyes focused on their surroundings. She doesn't want another surprise attack to happen, especially now that Katsuki is injured.

Katsuki watches y/n's intense stare into the distance with discontent. While he does find it amusing that frail little y/n looks so determined (as if she could actually protect them in case of danger), he also finds himself getting increasingly irritated. Katsuki Bakugou doesn't like to be ignored.

“Oi!“, Katsuki barks. Y/n's eyes are still focused on something far away. “Oi!”, Katsuki repeats louder and nudges her. Y/n is ripped out of her thoughts. “Hm?”, she mumbles and turns her head to him. “It's getting cold. Come here!”, Katsuki demands and pats onto a spot closer to him. Y/n crooks her head. “What do you want?”, she asks and shrugs.

Katsuki is not used to having to ask twice for what he wants. Usually, his people hurry to follow his orders, or, he just takes what he wants.

Katsuki grabs y/n's injured shoulder and pulls her down to his level. The stinging pain in y/n's shoulder keeps her from struggling against Katsuki's action. Before she knows it, she is tucked under Katsuki's armpit. Her head is leaned against his shoulder as he curls his arm around her tucking her closely to his side.

Relaxed, Katsuki leans back. Meanwhile, y/n is frozen stiff in place. She didn't expect Katsuki to make such a move on her. Actually, she didn't expect Katsuki to make any move on her at all. So far, he didn't seem interested in her like that. She assumed she was more like a burden to him... or a pet to take care of.

Y/n doesn't even try to get out of Katsuki's grip. Instead, she tries to relax. Which proves itself kind of hard. Katsuki's too close. He's radiating off warmth and his smell floods y/n's senses. It's hard to tune out his presence and the proximity.

Maybe she shouldn't be embarrassed about this. It's not like she didn't think about Katsuki like this before. It certainly flashed in her mind here and there. Despite his mean demeanor and wild look, he's still an attractive man and y/n is only human. Previously, she felt silly for thinking this way about him. One does think about the barbarian leader like that. One fears him. However, it's hard to fear him in moments like this. He's more human than he leads on and in these moments it shows.

Y/n sighs and twists in Katsuki's arms. Katsuki grunts in response and pulls her closer. Y/n stops moving and lies awake. The light from the fire slowly fades as the fire goes out. Eventually, Katsuki's breath slows down and his grip becomes less tight.

Y/n can't sleep. She feels too anxious. She's not sure whether it's because of what happened today or because Katsuki keeps her so close. When she's sure Katsuki is sound asleep, she slips out of his grip. She walks over to the dragon who seems asleep as well. She plops down next to the beast and leans against it.

With open ears, she stares into the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tag list: @graviewaviee @cosmicbreathe @tsukikoxo @nnubee @witchbishsblog @elajede @bsallergy @frxcless @berryvioo @eyesforbkg @shamelesjaroflaffytaffy @pastelbaby1111 @iamlizardgod @plvt0fvtvre @hello-peanutdoodle-blog @guccirosegold @kookiemyfeelsposts @sweetblueworm @54fangirl @sakurarr1122 @rv19 @leeliyah @king-dynamight @confused-smol-fan @xmaudx @waterstarz @pinkwhiskerglitter @adeline96 @zoom1374 @fingui @giuli-in-earth @colouringfrogssittinginleaves @futuristicallykawaiiturtle @tragedyofabrokensoul @dynakats @rebel-loves-anime @cloudxluv @itsssyagurll @sunshineandwitchery @cloudxluv @hollykanuki @atouchofmidnight @nutellaenjoyer @musicbecky @miacitocco @cassouandco @penguinlovestowrite @sleepykittycx @bakugouswh0r3 @xxjesshuxx @helenamaximoff @ssssssws-world @k1tk4tkatsuki @gh0stgirl333 @anon-mouse223 @bexxs @i-am-ms-rebel-heart @wannabeisekai @spragaraga @faemagic88 @kolakoke @faetoraa @cax-per

[Please comment if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters]

#mha fantasy au #mha bakugou #mha #mha x reader #mha x y/n #barbarian bakugo x reader #barbarian bakugou katsuki #barbarian bakugou imagine #barbarian bakugou x reader #barbarian bakugou #fantasy!au bakugou #bakugou katsuki imagine #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo #bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugo katsuki #bnha fantasy au #bnha bakugou #bnha

[dmitriene]

THOUGHTS ABOUT JOHN PRICE IN A ROBE.

cw: fluff, comfort, flirting, pet names, reader working in delivery, male anatomy, slighty smug price pairing: captain john price x fem reader

 ✎ 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴. 𝘢𝘰3. ˑ༄

delivering is quite difficult in the morning, the point is not in the number of possible traffic jams, but in the fact that from the very morning you have to quickly bake a batch of delicious buns, brew aromatic coffee, pampering your nose with a deep aroma even after a certain amount on the road, and then load all this in a basket on a bicycle so you can sit down and open your morning with the first delivery to the neighborhood closest to your cafe.

the path is not long, but it’s enough to see your immediate surroundings, a scattering of freshly green trees, evenly trimmed bushes and updated fences around the houses that you have come thousands of times already, greeting those who caught your eye, high-fiving the little guys who often ran to the cafe for bread, and now they ran to school, calling you loudly as you passed by, exclaiming in one voice — «lady from the cafe, lady from the cafe!», little devils still can't remember your name.

after a few minutes of listening to the asphalt under the rubber wheels crunching with small pebbles, the bicycle brings you to a rather spacious house, a light facade and a small porch, an evenly trimmed lawn, but a slightly more empty area than when a large family lived here, a sweet woman with her husband and two wonderful children, meek, sweet guys, only they moved away.

the house was put up for sale again quite quickly, and bought again just as quickly, only you didn’t have time to see by who exactly, and didn’t even hear any discussions, but today was a great chance, especially considering that he turned to your cafe for the delivery of delicious baked goods in the morning, it means the person is not just good, but also open to meeting people, and besides, the house is big, probably another big family buyed it.

and you quickly realized that you were mistaken when you left the bike at a small fence, carefully walking inside and climbing the threshold, before knocking a couple of times, for a while you are met with silence, you don’t hear much outside the door, but very soon quite heavy steps are heard and you intuitively straighten up, holding a bag of pastries in one hand, and in the other a stand with two large cups of coffee, slightly moving away from the front door when its handle is lowered and it opens slightly inward, to the side.

— «good morning! thank you for your order and welcome to our neighbor.. hood..» your babble comes out before john can fully open the door, and to be honest it hits his ears quite hard in the morning, but you quickly fall silent as soon as you capture the rich picture in front of you.

the olive colored robe is casually opened, exposing a muscular, but slightly soft looking chest, covered with thick, moist dark hair, which makes the sight seem even more intimate when your gaze involuntarily descends lower, where a path of even darker hair goes to the navel, following the wet drops, forming a happy trail that disappears where the robe is still tied with a satin, thin strap, hiding more intimate things, while the awkward, but somehow ringing silence drags on for too long.

john is the first to interrupt her, clearing his throat loudly, without even trying to hide his smile, which makes the corners of his lips stretch and raise his mustache, which he touches, looking into your eyes with a slight tilt of his head while he leans his body on the door frame, crossing his strong arms on his chest, the same hairs, somewhere you can see pale, years healed scars, and the muscles that intuitively tense and bulge out his wide biceps, obscuring the view of his chest and forcing your gaze to finally switch to blue, piercing eyes, warming from the inside just like the honey baritone of his voice when he speaks — «well, good morning to you too, miss?»

you finally fully come to your senses, masking your embarrassment with a friendly, bright smile — an incredibly good quality that comes to you after years of work, when you hand him a bag of pastries and his coffee, and he changes his position, stepping through the threshold barefoot a little closer to you, taking the packages carefully, before opening them slightly and sniffing the smell with curiosity, emitting a satisfied, chesty growl, saying — «smells bloody good, not surprised that everyone recommended your pastries»

you light up in response to an unexpected compliment, feeling proud of your own work, rushing to thank him heartily, as if with childish enthusiasm — «thank you, sir!», while he turns around to put the packages on the cabinet near the entrance, taking his wallet from there, hearing your respectful address and grinning under his breath, amused before adding — «john price, darling»

— «thank you, mr.price, then? nice to meet you» you say just as respectfully, tenderly, when he lets out a satisfied grumble, rummaging for a while presumably in his wallet before turning back, beckoning you with two fingers closer while he counted the bills, and you obediently walk in response to the gesture, stopping literally near him as he steals a glance at you, squinting into another warm smile that lifts his facial hair before john holds out a few comfortably rolled bills and you notice that something is wrong.

your fingers briefly touch his casually, shooting something warm and electrical through his body when you take the money, exchange a smile, but before you can leave you notice that he went too far, or rather, overpaid, and the amount is pleasantly large even for a tip, so you awkwardly, slightly meekly notice — «uhm.. you overpaid, mr.price», receiving only a short laugh in response.

john is clearly amused by your misunderstanding, your naive reaction to what he did more than on purpose, causing the wrinkles around his eyes appear endlessly from his smiles, and the corners of his lips to stretch the skin, hiding behind a grayish mustache, when the blue gaze catches yours, slightly confused, and his voice, almost a gentle purr, calms you down by half a beat — «a tip for you, darling»

you gasp, lips parting in an «o» shape as you giggle awkwardly, adding sheepishly — «o-oh! it's just.. the biggest tip i seen, so i thought.. thank you» before getting ready to leave, after all, the working day is just beginning, and there are a lot of orders ahead, despite the fact that you wouldn’t mind talking longer, take a longer look on him, even?

he just waves his hand slightly, brushing the situation off again from the pure amusement, before adding unexpectedly, so much so that the blush on your cheeks cannot be calmed down and it grows over your ears and neck, not avoiding his gaze, but he pretends not to notice, keeping silent about the amount of scarlet paint on your face, burning, exactly like the compliment he said so simply, even as if flirting — «that's for your pretty eyes)»

and you don’t have time to utter a word or an embarrassed squeak before he nods and, with a fleeting wink, goes back into the house, disappearing behind the threshold and the closing wooden door, closing it with a slight click that pulls you out of embarrassment, letting you sigh raggedly and absolutely discouraged, before rubbing your cheeks with the palms, as if trying to disperse the color, and finally unsticking yourself from the place, walking back to your bike, so far that there is only one thought in your head, an immodest desire — to see his playful smile, meet him again, and maybe… invite him for tea?

#.𐙚july's writings #john price x female reader #john price fluff #john price x f!reader #john price comfort #john price x reader #captain john price fluff #captain john price x reader #captain john price smut #captain john price x female reader #john price drabble #captain john price x you #john price cod #john price x you #john price fanfiction #captain john price fanfic #john price fic

[intimacyequalsdeath]

Bubz's Slasher Fictober Day 7: The Lost Boys x Reader (Poly) (Apple Cider)

And with that the first week of Fictober is over with! I hope you've all enjoyed the first 7 fics of this wonderful month and I hope you all stick around to enjoy the rest <3

Notes: Minors DNI, This one still isn't smut but do stay tuned for later in Fictober (wink wink). No pronouns or descriptions of reader used. This is a poly relationship fic so if you aren't into it this isn't the fic for you. (Not my gif but i loved it too much not to use) I used a lot of creative liberties in this so if it doesn't seem 100 percent canon that's why.

Fic specific notes: Star doesn't exist in this neither does Laddie.

Rays of the light from the moon were peaking through the clouds as the coolness of the nighttime descended on Santa Clara. You had been awake for a couple hours and knew once the night came the boys would be ready to proceed with what you had promised them a year ago on the dot.

A year ago to the day was when David first brought it up.

"Become one of us" He rasped at you one night after a night out at the boardwalk.

At first you hadn't thought you heard him correctly, One of them? There was no way he meant a vampire? could he? Marko butted in before you could ask him.

"Yeah c'mon babe, You've been with us almost two years now we want you to be with us forever" You glanced at Paul and Dwayne and they both smirked and nodded.

You told the four that night that you wanted nothing more then to be one of them and be with them forever, but you needed time to process what that would mean for you. You promised them if they waited a full year you would drink the blood and become theirs forever. The past year had flown by and in reality felt like you had only had a week to process.

One by one you could hear the boys wake deeper into the cave and one by one in that order they emerged into the main room where you rested behind the sheer curtains that surrounded the bed.

Marko, Dwayne and Paul as usual entered first but as on any other day they stalled back waiting for David. David entered the main room a few minutes later fully dressed in his normal gloves and trench coat and approached your bed slowly and casually. He used a gloved hand to pull one of the curtains away from the bed and leaned over you with his other hand at the side of your face on the bed.

"Darling, I think you know what time it is" You opened your eyes to look up at one of the men you had promised yourself too a year ago but had been with for 3.

"Doesn't max have to be here?" you asked, you knew the answer was no but you still wanted to stall for as long as possible. David fixed you with an unamused look.

"Of course not doll, But you knew the answer to that, C'mon let's get you up and ready we have all night but we'd like to go to the boardwalk at some point" David said grabbing your hand and helping you sit up.

You noticed the other 3 had disappeared off somewhere probably to get a few things in order for you after you drink the blood. You placed your feet on the side of the bed and stood up pulling the shawl you were sleeping in tighter around you as the chill of Santa Clara night hit you like a truck.

"You're nervous" David stated, You turned to look at him and he chuckled a bit.

"The nerves are rolling off you like waves" He continued "Though I'm not sure why, You aren't second guessing this are you?" He asked you incredulously, You swiftly shook your head.

"Of course not David, that isn't it at all" He still stood next to the bed staring at you, you sighed.

"It's just, I don't know. What if the blood doesn't take or something, what if it goes wrong and makes me sick or something. I want to be with you guys forever but I'm so scared David" His face soften and he brought a gloved hand to your chin to bring your eyes to his.

"My love Max explained to you the worst things that can happen, Even if the blood doesn't take at first me and the boys are prepared for any situation. Even if something goes wrong we aren't going to let you get hurt, you just have to trust us darling" You sniffled with unshed tears in your eyes. David had a soft side but it was rare that he showed it.

Dwayne entered the room and fixed you with a worried look before turning to David.

"Everything is ready if you are David, Is everything ok?" Dwayne asked. You nodded and smiled at him.

"I'm fine hun. Just got a little nervous" You said wrapping your arms around Dwayne's middle, he pressed a quick kiss to your forehead.

"Well I guess that settles it then Dwayne, tell Marko and Paul that we're ready" Paul turned to leave and you grabbed his hand into yours and followed, David coming behind the two of you into the section of the cave where David's makeshift throne sat.

Marko and Paul had matching grins upon seeing you and you knew they were just as excited and anxious as Dwayne and David were even if Dwayne and David were better at their poker faces then the younger two vampires.

David stepped away from the group to walk up to the throne and grab the bottle that held the blood. Marko and Paul came up and wrapped their arms around you seemingly keeping you in place in case. Marko leaned over to your ear while David got the blood ready.

"Once you start drinking don't stop until David tells you, you might faint or pass out but me and Paul got you. If you do you'll wake up in an hour or two and we'll all take care of you till your fully turned" You nodded at him and gave him a small smile to try and show you weren't nervous.

David stepped forward and held out the encrusted wine bottle to you.

"Here Darling, Let's get this show on the road" He uncorked the bottle and handed it to you.

"Like Marko said, Don't stop drinking until I tell you too ok?" You nodded bringing the bottle up to your lips and with a final nod from David you took mouth full of the blood.

The metallic taste was sharp as the cold liquid made it's way over your tongue and down your throat as you swallowed the first mouth full of blood. Without any indication from David you took another drink followed by another. After the fourth mouth full you were feeling lightheaded.

"That's good enough" David said gripping the bottle and gently taking it from your hand. You let him take the bottle as you stumbled lightly. Your head was swimming in a way you had never experienced before, your vision was blurry.

Marko and Paul tried their best to steady you as you stumbled back and forth between the two of them like a ping pong ball.

"Get to the bed Marko" You heard David command before your world went black.

================================================

Two hours and some change later you awoke again. You were having the most weirdest vivid dreams before you woke up in a cold sweat sitting straight up in bed.

You immediately noticed all four of your boys sitting in chairs placed in different areas around your bed. You gather the blankets around yourself to try and fight off both the cold night and the shivers in your own body as your boys start to gather around you.

Paul reached you first and moved the hair from your eyes to place a hand on your forehead before looking to David.

"No fever" He said, David nodded.

"Good, I want us to check every hour or so to make sure" He said to all the boys. Dwayne leaned down and put his hands on your cheeks.

"How are you feeling?" He asked

"I'm ok, Just really cold and my stomach feels gross" You said, Dwayne nodded.

"That's normal angel, You're gonna have to deal with it till it breaks unfortunately" You nodded but inwardly groaned.

"By tomorrow night your probably going to feel some pain in your jaw area accompanied by more cold sweats and possible stomach aches, that's how you know it's time for you to feed" David stated, you looked up at him.

"We don't want you out there hunting yet till your better and we can teach you, so you'll stay here tomorrow night while we bring you food" Marko said from beside him.

"A fledgling" Dwayne said.

"A what?" He laughed at your confusion.

"That's what you are dear, A baby bat"

"Our little baby bat!' Paul exclaimed laughing out loud, you joined him.

Once you were able to conquer the mountain of fear and nerves the other side was much easier to deal with. Sure it didn't feel the greatest but if it meant spending eternity with your boys then it was a sacrifice you were willing to take ever since they had found you all those years ago they had shown you nothing but a level of love and protection you had never experienced before and you wouldn't know what to do if you didn't have that anymore.

You stretched your arms above your head and craned your back into a stretch while yawning.

"When do I get to learn how to fly?" You asked them at once, they all laughed before David answered.

"All in due time my love, All in due time"

#poly lost boys x reader #the lost boys david #david x reader #dwayne the lost boys #the lost boys #paul the lost boys #marko the lost boys #slasher fandom #slasher fic #slasher headcanons #slasher imagines #slasher x reader #the lost boys x reader #Fictober #Halloween

[multifunctionalnitroglycerin]

The Locked Tomb Series- Alecto Theory

Brace yourselves this is 3000 words of me connecting dots that aren't even there.

First things first, this post is an amalgam of various brilliant theories I have seen posted on Tumblr, so if anything feels familiar, that will be the main reason. I am just going to present my own take on this, and hopefully add something new to what we already have.

                The subjects of today’s conspiracy theory are Alecto and Anastasia -and Cassiopeia in part, the vow to Anastasia’s bloodline and what could very possible be, Dios Apate MAJOR.

                So let’s start with what we have from the books, and feel free to correct me or add sth I might have forgotten.

                Anastasia and Samael are the only ones of the original Lyctor batch, that didn’t complete the Lyctorhood process, thanks to - in no small part – John, and/or possibly Alecto. (“I am sorry about Samael”). Which could mean that Alecto was somehow involved in the whole process going wrong, and thus she feels responsible for Samael’s death, or that she was close enough with Anastasia and Samael, that she herself felt Samael’s loss, or she felt for Anastasia’s grief. (I like to believe that they did have a tentative friendship even before the vow thing happened.)

                Anastasia is also the only one of the Lyctors we know, so far, to have had children. Which is an important bit on its own, (Can full Lyctors, have children? If so, are they different from other children, necromantic or not? Is there a reason that in spite of biological capability- if it exists-the other Lyctors have chosen not to have children? Even with Augustine’s and Mercymorn’s plan we see that in the end Gideon is conceived with Wake’s material – John is a whole different story as far as Lyctorhood goes so he doesn’t count.)

Back to our discussion though, Anastasia’s bloodline was so important to the Ninth House that it has been preserved for 10.000 years. We do not really get a clear picture on whether the Reverend Family knows why the continuation of the bloodline is important, Harrow certainly doesn’t, but it was so deeply ingrained to them that Anastasia’s bloodline must remain intact, that they effectively committed genocide, dooming the House’s future, in order to produce one more direct descendant of the Saint that wasn’t.

We do get a hint, a rather big one, on why the preservation of Anastasia’s blood is so important, in Nona’s Epilogue. Alecto states that Harrow is “the blood of the tombkeeper” after kissing her and drawing blood. What did she taste on Harrow’s blood I wonder? And how did she recognize the taste, as the taste of Anastasia’s line? Did the vow she initially made to Anastasia herself involve them drawing blood? Did it bind them to one another, so deeply that they ingrained themselves into each other on a molecular level?

To add to this, young Harrow, young desolate Harrow, who had had enough with her life and was prepared to die, young Harrow who opened the Tomb for that express purpose, loves Alecto from sight. And decides to keep living for her. And there is something exceedingly weird to just how much Harrow loves Alecto. Alecto is probably the most attractive person Harow lay her eyes upon to that day, true, but this instant infatuation, and its persistence throughout the years has something more to it, don’t you think? As Gideon points out, both to herself and to Ianthe, Harrow’s heart belongs to the dead cold body in the Tomb. And said cold dead body in the Tomb, recognizes Harrow from sight when she wakes “Alecto recalled her, for it was a face once dreamed in Alecto’s dream.”

And this line begs the question. Could Alecto dream, in the tomb? If so, how? And what did she dream of? Did she dream of Harrow? Why did she dream of Harrow if that is the case? Or did she dream of Anastasia, and the resemblance is that great? On the other hand, if this refers to Harrow first opening the Tomb, and looking at Alecto, does that mean that she was in some form conscious throughout that stasis? Does this mean that she could have heard and felt Anastasia while they were both locked in the Tomb, for however long the other woman lived?

(The scene where Nona describes the feeling of Anastasia's hands in the water and feeling safe. I am going to cry.)

I do have an interesting theory about Alecto’s “dreams” but we’ll get there in a bit.

Something else that is fishy, is that the Ninth, is the House of the Sewn Tongue. It sounds a bit like too much flesh magic for a bone magic house to specialize in, right? The cure to the Sewn Tongue on the other hand? Removing the mandible and all that? That sounds like a Bone Magic solution to a flesh magic problem. And I wonder if the fact that the Ninth House’s emblem is the Jawless skull, insinuates that the Ninth is not so much a house where many secrets are kept – though this is undoubtedly true, as the Ninth is known as the House of secrets by the other houses – as much that in the Ninth, all secrets are revealed. Where the sewn tongue is healed, and the truth comes to light. And I’d like to point out that it sounds a bit like foreshadowing, and a promise. Anastasia has been betrayed by John and sworn to secrecy, and then locked in the Tomb to die and take his secrets with her. I feel like the jawless skull acts as a constant reminder, that even with the sewn tongue, all curses can be broken, and all secrets will eventually come to light. And it feels like a promise to John, that her House, the house of secrets and unspoken truths, will be the one to rid of the sewn tongue and bring the truth he so fears forward. And this aligns a tad too well with the Sixth’s mantra, Six for the truth, over solace in lies.

And you know what else fits here, in this concordance of the Sixth and Ninth Houses? Cassiopeia and Anastasia’s friendship. Their alliance if you will. We know they both worked closely together trying to figure out the perfect Lyctorhood process, and it is possible that Anastasia made her attempt a bit before Cassiopeia. The exact same attempt, that performed in perfect conditions ended in failure, with John ultimately killing Samael.

 We also know that Cassiopeia left contingency plans in place, should the emperor become a hindrance to the empire. And from what we have seen of Cassiopeia in the books, it is safe to assume that she is driven, determined, exceedingly intelligent, perceptive, logical, and excellent at planning. She is also the one to point out John’s less than favorable qualities pre-Resurrection such as his interest in taking vengeance on those that wronged him being bigger in his interest to save lives.

So, we have, Cassiopeia and her logic driven, truth seeking brilliance, and Anastasia, the thorough, overly methodical researcher. We have them both working on perfect Lyctorhood, and we have them both, in one way or another, being betrayed by John. Chances are, that they were the first post Resurrection to notice John’s flaws, the first to concoct a plan against him. But contrary to Cytherea, Mercy and Augustine, they are more subtle than those cannonball attempts. No, I believe they planned. And they planned long term, and together. Cassiopeia left her House a note, left them instructions, she was preparing them for when John would become a liability. And then an aforementioned amount of time later, Anastasia is asked to design the tomb.

We do not really know anything about Alecto’s relationships with the other lyctors apart from the fact that most found her revolting, a “monster” in Mercy’s words. So here is a thought, perhaps Anastasia, the one of the original Eight to never ascend, perhaps the one whose failure Alecto was involved in – “I am sorry about Samael” – finds kinship in John’s unnerving pet, his undead “cavalier”, the one he betrayed first, the soul of earth. Perhaps they even became friends. Perhaps she and Cassiopeia realize the extend of what John has done and realize that Alecto is the key to undoing it. When John refuses to kill Alecto to appease the others, the plan fully forms.

So, they construct the tomb. And Cassiopeia is well-known for building mechanisms within houses, so maybe her and Anastasia create secret passages, and mechanisms with extra access to the tomb that would be independent of John sneaking in, or whatever he planned to do with that blood-ward.  And hear me out, we know that Cassiopeia stayed 7 minutes in the river before being torn apart by the resurrection beast – at Mercymorn’s account at least, not sure how reliable of a narrator she is. But what happened during those seven minutes? Paul says he thinks he knows how to get to the Locked Tomb via the River. So, the river and the Tomb are connected. What did Cassiopeia do, I wonder? (Here I’d like to say that my other theory is that she did eventually die, or rather was consumed by Varun the eater, much like Judith Deuteros was. The RB burned through her in what, a couple months? How long would a Lyctor last? Perhaps that was the reason that Varun didn’t resurface until 100 years after Cassiopeia’s presumed death. She could have been alive and slowly wasting away, while still making failsafe within failsafe until she lost her sense of self and eventually wasted away)

To recap until now, the first part of my theory is that Anastasia and Cassiopeia dissatisfied with the world John had made and the truth he had served them, probably worked together to find the truth. And they worked together from the shadows, to create a plan, a long-term plan, with which they could bring John down if the need ever arose, and undo what he had done. And Anastasia’s bloodline and their secrets are really bloody important to that plan. (Also, some nice symbolism about the Ninth being about secrets revealed, rather than secrets kept, and that functioning as a bit of foreshadowing.)

Now into the second part of my theory. Anastasia’s bloodline is so important because she has bound her bloodline to Alecto. And I think this happened in the premise of the Vow Alecto has made to her, or they have made to each other. This might be part of the initial vow, of which we know nothing about, apart from the fact that Alecto pledged herself to Anastasia, and that it is important enough that she pledges herself to Harrow, or a failsafe within it. A failsafe to ensure that should Alecto wake after Anastasia has passed, she will not be fooled by any imposters, or anything else John might have planned. Or perhaps, a failsafe to ensure that even if John changes his mind and finds a way to rid of the body within the tomb, to “kill” Alecto, she will not be completely gone, she will keep existing within Anastasia’s line, thus ensuring that the plan for John’s demise can still be enacted and that the soul of the earth will not be dead.

That plays really hard in the Alecto is within Harrow from the beginning theory. And I will explain. I believe I saw something that looked like this in Twitter by lesbian_mothman, but I do not really remember so I apologize if all this has been said before.

In all the dream chapters with John, we relive memories from just before and after the resurrection, and John talks to Harrow as if she is Alecto “You always say that Harrowhark” as a response to “I still love you.” Or when Varun recognizes the Earth’s soul “green thing” within Nona in the car chase scene, or when Judith regaining consciousness asks “Harrowhark?” and Nona replies, “No, and I never was.” So that begs the question of how much of Harrow is Harrow, how much is Alecto and how much are the 200 souls within her? (And there was a crowd of dead children there. They were striving loudly against living children on the far-off shore of the tomb. CHILLS)

In Nona we learn that Palamedes and Camila on the one hand and Pyrrha on the other have two different theories about who Nona is. The Sixth believe that she is an amalgam of Gideon and Harrow, and Pyrrha believes she is Alecto, golden eyes and all. And I am more inclined to believe that it is indeed Alecto, or at least a part of her, that resides within Harrow, and took the wheel when both Harrow and Gideon were gone. Think abt it. Gideon is back in her body, and we have no idea what the hell happened to Harrow, only that she doesn’t have the wheel, and Nona acts nothing like Harrow or Gideon did. It’s like she is learning how to be human for the first time. She learns how to love and be loved for the first time. So with no soul to govern the body, the part of Alecto within Harrow takes the wheel.  

And then there is the candle metaphor in NtN. Alecto’s soul is the candle passed from one necromantic heir of the Ninth to the other.

So long story short, part of the vow, if not all of it, is that part of Alecto will always live within Anastasia’s descendants, so long as they are necromancers. And here comes the part of Alecto’s dreams. Because if indeed she lives within the souls of Anastasia’s necromantic descendants, does she see through their eyes? Does she feel through their hearts? Does she dream of their lives, while locked in the Tomb, while a part of her lives in them? Is she conscious within them? Or does the whole thing act like a cavalier- lyctor sort of connection, where she cannot take the wheel unless the other soul in the body Is gone?

 Part of her soul is bound to Anastasia’s line, and they are bound to her, and over the course of 10.000 years do they spill over? Alecto to Anastasia’s descendants and they to Alecto.  Was this part of the plan to have a failsafe within Anastasia’s line in case something happened to the body in the Tomb? Was it a promise Anastasia made to Alecto, to give her a chance to live, to be human, through the lives of her own descendants?

All in all, I guess I could some it up in a few concise points.

Cassiopeia and Anastasia worked closely together, they were friends and allies and saw in John, the unfulfilled promises he made, and all the faults he tried to cover with rewriting his own version of history.

They decide to make a plan, a long term one, a detailed one, for when John is more a liability than it is worth. And thus, Cassiopeia creates the mechanisms in the Sixth and leaves the protocols for the rest to find. Truth over solace in lies.

Meanwhile Anastasia attempts to ascend, and John kills Samael. Alecto might be consciously or unconsciously involved and harbors guilt over Samael’s death.

Anastasia probably befriends Alecto or finds kinship with this strange being that is the soul of a planet that no longer is.

The planning continues and John after being asked to kill Alecto decides to lock her in the Tomb instead and has Anastasia design it. He later asks her to stay in the tomb and guard Alecto. (Antigone style)

Anastasia designs the tomb, probably with Cassiopeia’s help, probably with a few hidden mechanisms of its own and or a secret pathway through the river, an extra way out.

At some point, Anastasia sires a line, and she makes her vow with Alecto.

The vow probably is in regards of bounding Alecto to Anastasia’s line so long as there are necromantic heirs. A part of Alecto is constantly alive within each descendant of Anastasia’s.

It might work a bit like the lyctoral process, because Alecto only takes the wheel when there is no Harrow and no Gideon in Nona’s body, aka when there doesn’t seem to be another soul guiding it.

Alecto dreams. Whether she dreams of herself within the tomb and that’s how she recognizes Harrow on sight – from the memory of Harrow first unlocking the Tomb – or her dreams are glimpses of the lives Anastasia’s descendants lead I don’t know.

Alecto is thus bound to Anastasia’s line by blood. She recognizes Harrow by her blood, tasting either Anastasia, or the part of herself residing within it, when she kisses her. It also ensures that the line is intact the vow is intact and it’s not a pretender trying to fool her.

Anastasia and Cassiopeia planned to bring John down by opening the tomb when the time was right and leaving her to Alecto’s (and the RB’S???) mercy. There is still a lot left to be explored.

The tomb is to remain closed until the time has come God has to die. We can all see how that can be misinterpreted to > if the tomb opens God will die. And instead of a promise to be fulfilled it becomes a terrible terrible thing, that will spell everyone’s doom.

The freaking skull of the ninth is a threat, a foreshadow and a promise. The Ninth was a house that should have died with Anastasia in the tomb. But it didn’t. It continued existing its bloodline unbroken for 10.000 years. Nine for the tomb and all that was lost. The Ninth is predominantly I feel a house of mourning – the whole nuns, all black, and skull makeup thing. But it is also a house of secrets. It is a house represented by the cure to even the tightest secret held. So the Ninth, the house that should never have been the house that should have died with its secrets in the tomb of its inception, is the one that will break the sewn tongue, and reveal all the secrets, bringing the truth to light.

#the locked tomb #tlt series #tlt spoilers #alecto the ninth #alecto tlt #john gaius #tlt #alecto the first #anastasia the first #nona the ninth spoilers #cassiopeia the first #anastasia the ninth #harrow the ninth #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrow nonagesimus #lyctorhood #tlt fandom #fan theory #nona the ninth #You know what I cannot unsee the skull thing #It is a bloody symbol #And its bloody brilliant #alecto theory #my girls planned Dios Apate MAJOR #love them #it's all going to hell

[xsdjkl]

Let's talk about Somewhat Damaged

If you already felt bad about siding with Reed, I'm here to make it worse 🥰Digging more into Songbird's character and also - the true weight of V's actions in this path. (@yuri-bullets is the mastermind who pointed this out🫡)

Enjoy.

Before Firestarter mission even begins, V already got a taste of Songbird's desperation - either in a scene where we visit "place that remids her of home" or through quite alarming message Song sends.

When V sides with Reed and activates the ICEBreaker, Songbird is being attacked by person who was supposed to come to her rescue. She placed her trust in V, who in return tried to knock her out and hand her back into FIA's hands. In this situation Songbird is being cornered like an animal and she has to bite back in order to survive - this is probably the most important thing we need to know about her character overall. She is a survivalist. She was pushed to her limits and now is ready to do anything in order to preserve the only thing she has left - her own self. (I talked about it in post about her sacrifices, so I won't repat myself again😅)

The moment ICEBreaker manages to slip through So Mi's defenses, she panics. She reaches out to the Blackwall in a desperate attempt to fight back, and loses control. This happens even when we side with her, but in that scenario she manages to pull herself back together. Here, on the other hand Song's on her own, betrayed by her allies and someone in whom she saw a reflection of herself, and she goes a little bit feral 👉👈

Something I have to point out - Songbird could've easily killed V in this scene, yet she chose to spare them. Hell, she even saves their life from Barghest soldiers, despite the betrayal. She doesn't want any kind of vengence. She focuses primarly on her escape and survival.

Songbird attempts to flee the stadium on her own while simultaneously fighting for control against the Blackwall. Once outside, she's classified as a cyberpsycho and is being captured by MaxTac (who is famous for killing most 'psychos) only because she collapses out of sheer exhaustion.

When V follows Songbird into the old Militech bunker, Song makes one thing very clear - she doesn't want to be followed. She doesn't want any more 'help' from V, Reed or Myers. Her original plan of getting to the black clinic was shattered and she has to improvise during quite dramatic circumstances. At this point, re-activating Project Cynosure is the only available option she has to save herself.

We can only guess that losing control and 'grip on herself' in Firestarter had greater consequences than we realise. Songbird descends into madness and V can't be sure if Song's talking to them or to herself.

So Mi tries to avoid any further conflict, activating lockdown in the facility. V is still not fully aware of the struggle for control Songbird faces and insists on pursuing her despite the warnings.

When V overwrites lockdown procedures it makes Songbird slip, she loses control again, and our fun with Cerberus Unit begins. It's clear that whatever entity from beyond the Blackwall lives inside So Mi, it is the one in control. Yet, Song doesn't stop resisting. She is very self-aware of hers and V's situation. She actively pushes back against AIs and saves V's life multiple times.

I will dare and say that V's life being in danger is the only anchor Songbird has to reality at this point.

By shutting down another terminals to get to So Mi, V is unknowingly disabeling support systems for the core where Song is connected. We are actively weakening So Mi in her fight against the AIs, making her lose the ongoing battle, and in doing so - her own self.

We can find multiple messages on terminals that are quite disturbing to say the least.

V survives the encounter with Cerberus Unit only because So Mi fought for them. To show you how much it actually means (and also how badass Songbird is) allow me to recall something - from other logs in the bunker we can learn that netrunners used to connect to the core with backup and still couldn't avoid fatal 'accidents'. And here is Song So Mi! - alone and weakened, resisting until the very end, because someone she once trusted was in danger.

This entire time Songbird wanted to protect V.

On a side note - I assume V can see Songbird's memories throught the facility as a side effect of the Relic connection - which, as a little reminder, is a very intimate one. Relic connected to V's brain was able to absorb their memories, senses and feelings. Songbird's connection allowed her to "see and hear" excactly what they do. No surprise then that it somehow worked both ways. Yet, based on what we see in So Mi's memories about her home, I wonder... Are these memories the ones that remain? Or the ones that are being taken away?

After all betrayals, desperation and panic, V finally has a chance to confront So Mi in probably the only place where she ever felt safe - a memory of her home in Brooklyn that is being devoured by the Blackwall in front of our eyes.

V has to face Songbird, as well as their own fate- one's self ceasing to exist. V sees how their own struggle with the Relic can end, and they have to ask themselves - am I truly that desperate for survival?

V's inevitable fate is being reflected in Songbird's story. She's just a step further than them, where she has only to options -either risk it all or give up. If anyone blames So Mi for that, please remember that our protagonist is doing the very same thing.

Despite it all, So Mi still seeks comfort in V - the very same person whom she trusted, who betrayed her, and who she fought so desperately to protect, at the cost of her own life - because what's happening to her is even more terryfing than death.

I'll keep this moment as this memory... [...] Before it all goes dark... for one last second, I'll know I wasn't alone.

When they reach the core, V has to chose Songbird's fate. After everything they saw, after hearing her beg for mercy, they can fulfill her last wish and finish what they started - what they're responsible for. They can allow So Mi to die as herself, aware that she's still, in whatever small part, a person.

Alternatively, for the promise of a cure, V can chose to 'spare' Songbird's life and return her to the FIA like a broken tool she is. She was always too valuable for the NUSA - by being a powerful weapon with too much knowledge, I think it's safe to assume that whatever broken pieces of her remained, they'd still be used for 'the greater good'.

Final thoughts

I stared at this wall of text for so long,I don't even remember what point I was originally trying to make 💀 I'll leave the interpretation of this questline for you. I can only add that I absolutely love (and hate at the same time) Somewhat Damaged - the design, the environmental storytelling, the ambience, voice acting, writing, everything. Fact that Songbird still cares about V in this path breaks my heart and I'll probably never recover from it :')

I could write more about this path - including my thoughts on the new ending - but I want to primarly focus on finishing my fanfiction right now. I'll probably get back to this topic in the future, but until then, I hope you enjoyed whatever this is^^ Ta-ta

#long post #songv #song so mi #songbird #phantom liberty spoilers #phantom liberty #cyberpunk 2077

[ossidae-passeridae]

I'd be fascinated to hear more about gnosticism in tlt if you ever feel like writing about it.

I honestly don't know what's already been written r.e. gnosticism and TLT, so might be reinventing the wheel here, but I'll do a brief description of the overarching themes present throughout the books?

The uh, first layer of the gnosticism onion, as it were.

So to start this off I'm going to give a broad and at least partially incorrect overview of gnosticism:

Gnosticism is a tenth century mess that's loosely based off of Christianity, but then gets Weird. Thanks to some fun political situations in the Gulf, the Christians in the South were isolated from other Christians for decades thus spun off wildly from "mainstream" Christianity. We mostly have fragments left, and a lot of them contradict each other, so working out exactly what they believed/meant is Very Fun and also Somewhat Impossible. (Like the fragments of documents left in Canaan House, you could say...)

That being said, parts of their beliefs we do know better than others. They have the bible, of course, but on top of that they also have this pre-Bible creation myth regarding how God came to be in the first place.

It goes something like: In The Beginning there was a sort of primordial god-soup. This god-soup occasionally emits binary pairs of entities, also known as aeons and (later) twin flames. These binary pairs are two souls made for one another and with one another, and together they are balanced, and perfect, and full of Holy Light(tm). Each binary pair had one grammatically-masculine name, and one grammatically-feminine name. These names do not necessarily relate to perceived gender, and in fact the binary pairs are often referred to as if they are Beyond Gender Altogether. (*stares pointedly at the Lyctors*, *stares even more pointedly at Gideon's name*) [I could probably write a whole thing on this alone, honestly, they're sometimes referred to as like, the fingers on God's hand which, yeah.]

Anyway, in this pure and godly space, there is no matter, only Holy Light. But one of the entities, known as Sophia, goes off on her own and interacts with the shadowy chaos that exists outside of the godly soup. She's half of a whole, unbalanced. And through her meddling she (unintentionally) creates another half that's not pure and holy and full of godly light, but instead a dark reflection of what he Should Be. This is generally referred to as the Demiurge.

Unlike all these other beings, the Demiurge is made of matter. He is the first thing of matter to exist and he looks around the void that he's birthed into, bare aside from him, and concludes that he and he alone is God. (Hi Jod)

Then he makes earth, and heaven, and a bunch of other things besides, the things we know as the universe today. In the immortal words of Douglass Adams — this has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

The problem is — all of these things that the Demiurge has created are made of matter. And being made of matter, they're cut off from the light of Godness (which is incorporeal and made of Pure Energy), thus inherently flawed. What's more, they're never meant to have existed in the first place. The Demiurge is tormented by his failure, but unable to create anything that is not inherently Wrong. (oh look it's the Nine Houses, I'd bet money that there's a link between being cut off from Godly Light and the Nine Houses being the only stable thanergenic planets here)

Sophia, who has watched these unintended consequences unfold and the suffering they've caused, cannot undo what's been done, but she can descend into the material world to share the light of wisdom and try to alleviate what suffering she can. So she does.

The story culminates with Christ being born and teaching all of humanity Gnosis — a special, mystical knowledge that can only come from the Divine, we are not really given specifics here — before he's sacrificed in order to make humanity's ascent beyond their material prison possible.

So that's the broad strokes of gnosticism as a religion, and also first layer of the TLT gnosticism onion. Just the really broad spectrum thematic *waves hands around* Stuff. I've refrained from speculating on the end because until Alecto comes out we really don't know.

If you want anything more specific anon, let me know?? I've been in the gnosticism soup for so long I can't always tell what's common knowledge and what isn't.

#tlt #the locked tomb #tlt meta #good evening I love these books also I am suffering #gnosticism in tlt #I'm not sure where the gnosticism onion came from but apparently I'm running with that metaphor so apologies for that

[olderthannetfic]

I do think a lot of the problem and the reason that more people (like the ones who seem to think that "top/bottom as myers-briggs personality types" jokes are exclusively coming from female-centric fandom spaces rather than gay male offline culture - which, btw, ignores that a whole bunch if not most female fanfic writers are themselves queer and there's a similar set of jokes and stereotypes in the lesbian community, but I digress) don't seem to understand what offline queer culture is like on here is that way too many of the people setting the tone for this in The Discourse on Tumblr are very young people who are newly out. In particular, a huge amount of the gay men on here who are telling people how very Problematic this is (when they're getting it from gay men and not circular discourse among other women in fandom who are claiming to speak on gay men's behalf) is coming from young gay men who don't have much of a community offline, and especially young gay trans men who often aren't yet presenting as male outside of the Internet. It's really hard to talk about, because it so easily risks saying those people's identities aren't valid - and like, we've seen TERFs weaponize that discourse to suggest that gay trans men involved in fandom are just straight women who identified too hard with their blorbos or something, as well as the endless use of "passing privilege" to suggest that bi people in F/M relationships are "basically straight" - but I think one thing people need to understand better is the difference between "your identity is valid, your personal experiences with homophobia/transphobia/etc. are valid" and "your judgments about the larger community that your identity makes you a member of are valid." Like, you do actually have to participate in a community to be able to be able to talk about what the consensus in it is, what the cultural norms are. You have to actually look up the history in order to know that history. If you're going to speak on behalf of All Gay Men you probably should know some beyond yourself - including ones who are not Very Online and/or aren't active in fandom - and that goes for both cis and trans gay men. (And the same is true for every subdivision of LGBTQ+, I've seen similarly bizarre takes about "lesbian culture" from 17-yro lesbians who clearly haven't talked to any outside of Tumblr and insular, dramatic Discords.)

Like, to use an analogy here to another kind of oppression: say you have a black person who was adopted by a white family very young and lived in an exclusively white neighborhood and doesn't know any other black people. Obviously, they are still black, and obviously they still experience racism (probably especially because they're an outlier in that community). Obviously, their own understanding of their identity and their experiences with racism are valid. But they aren't necessarily going to have any better of an understanding of the broader black COMMUNITY - cultural traditions, history, etc. - than a non-black person who was similarly not exposed to that community. They can only speak for themselves. And someone who isn't black but grew up near/in black communities (for instance, perhaps another transracial adoptee who was adopted by a black couple? or even just a non-black person who grew up in a heavily black neighborhood) might actually have a better sense of that broader community/culture than they do.

And this isn't a hypothetical. I've heard stuff like that about feeling like outliers in black American culture from everyone from the aforementioned transracial adoptees; to multiracial black people who were raised primarily by their non-black family; to black people who are recent immigrants from Africa rather than descendants of slaves; to black people from Europe or other parts of the Americas, who have some similarities in their culture but it's not completely 1:1. And especially from people who are some combo of the above. They have an understanding of themselves as black and of their relationship to race and racism, of course, but don't really feel like they have a particularly strong understanding of The Black Community or The Black Experience as we understand it in the USA.

I think what a lot of people don't understand is that newly-out queer people are often like that. A lot of other marginalized identities - like being a cis woman (this applies less to trans women unless they've known from early on) or being a POC - are ones where you grow up with an understanding of what that means and often a connection to a broader community that gives you some kind of consciousness of what it means to be A Woman or Black or Asian or whatever. But with queerness, it's usually not something you fully understand about yourself until adolescence or adulthood, and even when you do, you don't necessarily have access to a "community" around that until that age because you're probably being raised by cis straight people. You have to take time to discover that community and learn about it, and the culture and history that goes with, and when you start out you're going to be just as ignorant as a straight cis person who is similarly isolated from queer communities. (And frankly, a straight person with a lot of gay friends might know better than you do at first! As a lesbian with a lot of gay male friends, most of whom couldn't care less about my slash fanfic hobby if they even know about it, that's precisely why I know that these takes on Tumblr are so bizarre)

(Disability is the interesting one because it sometimes overlaps with this, sometimes doesn't - and one of the big divides in the community IME is around people who have lifelong understandings of themselves as "disabled" vs. came to it more recently, whether because the disability itself is a new thing or just their diagnosis of it. A lot of people in the second group can have very similar experiences and act in similar ways to newly-out queer people, and I know because I've lived both myself, lol.)

I think people have taken the idea of "everyone is the best expert on their own experience with oppression and their own identity" and distorted that into some weird essentialism where being gay or bi or trans or whatever gives you automatic understanding of "queer culture" or "queer history" without having to do the actual work of talking to people, participating in that community, studying history, etc. but that's just not true. Anyone can study that history and get to know those people. And yeah, as a queer or trans person you'll have a better opportunity to really deeply know and be part of that community than straight cis people with queer friends ever will, but you still have to like. Actually put yourself out there! You're not going to find it by just discoursing in a vacuum of ignorance.

--

Sadly, to all the Olds, this is very, very obvious, but there's no way to make it obvious to the people doing it. It's a matter of experience.

[yletylyf]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook timeline

I put this together for my own use while writing my fic, but haven't seen anyone else share one, so here goes!

This is live-drama canon, not novel canon. I don't speak much Chinese; I followed iqiyi's subtitles which are rather awful. Additions/suggestions/comments/corrections more than welcome!

As should be expected for a comprehensive timeline of all pre-canon events, this is not spoiler free. Below the cut, as it's long:

Timeline

130 years ago:

Princess Longxuan is born, in the year of Ren Yin, Wu Shen month, Geng Jia day, at the hour of Geng Chen. [It could be any year of Ren Yin, but since it has to be more than a hundred years ago, this one is the only one that makes sense.]

100 years ago:

The night before Nanyin was overturned, Princess Longxuan marries Crown Prince Fangji, the eldest son of Emperor Xicheng, granduncle of the current emperor. Princess Longxuan becomes Consort Xuan. Consort Xuan secretly initiates the revival of Nanyin and plots to use the Rama Vessel.

Prince Fangji conspires against Emperor Xicheng and fails. He is ordered to commit suicide. Consort Xuan is sentenced to be buried with Prince Fangji.

Princess Longxuan writes a letter to magician Feng A-Lu asking him to save her son at the bamboo forest. She tells him to contact Jin Yu Huang Quan and revive Nanyin.

Nanyin craftsmen build their tomb and Nanyin sorcery hides it for 100 years.

The throne passes to Emperor Guanqing.

Feng A-Lu does not meet Princess Longxuan's son. He goes to kill the imperial family and falls in love with Consort Ying instead. They have a son who Consort Ying passes off as the emperor's son. Feng A-Lu is buried in the collapse of the Pagoda of Bliss.

Jin Yu Huang Quan did not revive Nanyin. They used the amassed wealth for themselves and passed the Rama ices onto the next generations.

Unknown time:

Li Xiangyi's parents save Qi Mushan.

Bandits attack the Li family; Li Xiangyi and his older brother are the only survivors.

25 years ago:

Teenage Shan Gudao finds four-year old Li Xiangyi and his older brother on the streets. Older brother dies.

Qi Mushan rescues Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi and brings them to Yunyin mountain.

20 years ago:

The Feng clan, having searched for Princess Longxuan's descendant for over a hundred years, learns that her grandson had a ten-year-old son who is presently studying under Qi Mushan.

[Note Shan Gudao is over twenty and Li Xiangyi is nine or ten at this time, but anyway:]

The Feng clan takes Shan Gudao as the long-lost descendant of Princess Longxuan.

Ostensibly 18 years ago, but probably more like 21 or 20:

[Note there is some debate about how old Fang Duobing is supposed to be. Di Feisheng claims he has a letter showing that Fang Duobing's parents broke up 18 years ago while He Xialan was pregnant, but other sources state he is 20 at the time of the show]

He Xialan was in a relationship with Shan Gudao. They break up while she is pregnant. Fang Duobing is born a few months later, and Tianji Hall announces Xialan has died of illness. Fang Duobing is raised by Xialan's older sister and her husband as their own.

15 years ago:

The Demon of the Blood Realm challenges Li Xiangyi and Qiao Wanmian begs him to give Li Xiangyi one more year.

14 years ago:

Li Xiangyi passes Qi Mushan's test. He receives the Shaoshi sword. He departs the mountain for the first time.

Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi go to rescue the He family of the Changma Blade sect, who was massacred by Dongling Three Gang for the cloud iron. They find one survivor, a child, and take him to Louyang. Shan Gudao ditches Li Xiangyi and kills the kid.

Li Xiangyi defeats the Demon of the Blood Realm.

At an unknown time between 15 and 10 years ago:

Di Feisheng, Wuyan, King Bai of Fire, Four-faced Qingzun, and King Zunming of Yama found the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng makes his first famous kill: the Monk of the Blood Realm, Kuang Jiezi. He removes the Golden Jade hoops from his staff and hangs them on his dao as a trophy.

Li Xiangyi fights with Wuyou and nicks the Shaoshi sword to avoid killing him.

The 12 Guardians join the Jinyuan alliance just before Jiao Liqiao does.

Jiao Liqiao was following Li Xiangyi around. A girl from Fengling Sword Sect provoked Jiao Liqiao and she massacres the Fengling Sword sect. Li Xiangyi stops her and attempts to kill her, but Di Feisheng saves Jiao Liqiao.

13 years ago:

Li Xiangyi establishes the Sigu Sect. Sigu sect makes an agreement with the court dividing the affairs of the people and the affairs of the jianghu. Everyone agrees to follow the legal code of Da Xi.

Scholar Sushou robs the imperial mausoleum in the south of the capital.

Di Feisheng rescues Jiao Liqiao from a gang led by Guishou Fenglie, whose martial arts techniques she tried to steal. Di Feisheng was just there to challenge the gang leader for his spot on the martial arts rankings.

12 or 11 years ago:

Just before Li Xiangyi turns 18, Shan Gudao gives him the Wenjing sword as a birthday present.

At the age of 18, Li Xiangyi acquires Yangzhouman.

11 years ago:

Sigu sect destroys the cult in Mobei and the sect's vitality is damaged. The Jinyuan alliance becomes more powerful. Di Feisheng and Li Xiangyi make a peace treaty: they won't interfere with each other or draw a war in five years.

The royal court agrees to ally with Shan Gudao.

Ten years ago:

[Depending on how old you think Fang Duobing is; he says this happened when he was ten] Madam He introduces Shan Gudao to Fang Duobing as her long-lost brother. Shan Gudao teaches Fang Duobing martial arts in secret before he can walk. Fang Duobing briefly meets Li Xiangyi, who gives him a wooden sword.

Li Xiangyi trespasses into the Royal Palace grounds on Mid-Autumn night to watch the Epiphyllum festival.

Lian Quan, Lord Of The Netherworld, is last seen in Shishou Village.

Shan Gudao tries to break into the Yipin tomb but cannot get past the Bagua (eight trigrams) Formation. The 14 Thieves of the Netherworld break into the tomb and die inside.

Li Xiangyi receives a message that the three kings of the Jinyuan alliance have besieged Shan Gudao in the Yangsha valley, the Jinyuan alliance's secret hideout. Meanwhile, the three kings receive a challenge from Shan Gudao but the letter was not his handwriting. The three kings arrive at the valley to find Shan Gudao already dead. Other members of the Sigu sect claim: they followed Shan Gudao to run some errands but were suddenly attacked by the three kings; Shan Gudao sent someone to go for help; Shan Gudao lured the three kings away to protect his subordinates.

Li Xiangyi cradles his shixiong's body and vows revenge. Shan Gudao's body is stolen in an ambush by the Jinyuan alliance. Li Xiangyi declares war on the Jinyuan alliance.

Li Xiangyi gathers Shan Gudao's belongings into a box in his room at the Sigu sect headquarters.

Yun Biqiu, at Jiao Liqiao's direction, administers Bicha poison to Li Xiangyi.

Jiao Liqiao and Fang Qing are working together. Someone from Nanyin purchases gunpowder from Thunder Hall in Jiangnan with funds from the Wansheng clan.  Ding Yun, Wind and Thunder Emissary and Wan Renshan, Star and Moon Emissary used thundering fire bombs to trap the Sigu Sect and blow up the Jinyuan alliance headquarters. The 12 guardians of the Jinyuan alliance die. 58 heroes of the Sigu sect die.

27th day of the 12th lunar month, year of Xin Chou: Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng battle at the East Sea.

Someone alters a corpse to look like Shan Gudao. He survives, under the influence of wuxin huai. Shan Gudao kills Qi Mushan and takes his inner power.

Li Xiangyi fakes his death and disappears. The Sigu sect disbands. Its surviving arm, Baichuan Court, rounds up the remnants of the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng goes into seclusion for ten years.

Ten or nine years ago:

Xin Lie, Thunder Chaser of Jinyuan alliance, Five Poison Palm, escapes from prison.

28th day of the 5th month, year of Ren Yin: Shi Hun writes a letter to the Sigu sect to thank them for releasing him.

Unknown, between ten years ago and present day:

The Jinyuan Alliance surrounds Lian Quan's mansion for the Rama Heavenly Ice, he escapes with Li Xiao and Li Xiong to Xiaoyuan City to live in hiding.

Li Lianhua finds Scholar Sushou, helps him and lets him stay with him. Scholar Sushou passes away.

Li Lianhua saves Tiexiao, who jumped off a cliff and was buried; Li Lianhua heard him shouting.

Four-faced Qingzun dies in prison and gives the Rama ice shard to his wife, Liangyi Xianzi.

Fang Duobing takes bitter medicine; bathes in cold springs; pierces his 12 major acupoints every day and faints many times but refuses to cry. He can stand up, walk, and learn martial arts.

Five years ago:

The Hall of Wind and Flame took the Shi family's secret book as their own. This includes Qi Mushan's recipes.

Three years ago:

Fang Duobing takes the Baichuan Court entrance examination, but they refuse to accept him.

One year ago:

"Last March": Li Lianhua saved Shi Wenjue, third son of the Shi family (he faked his suicide because he wanted a career in public service and his family didn't approve, Li Lianhua saw it). The Shi family in Weapons Valley were the ones who forged Cloud Iron armor and the wind sword.

Present day:

The show begins sometime after the sixth day of the fourth month of Ren Zi year. [We know this because in episode 2, Wangfu is sixteen and we are given his birthday as April 6th of Bing Shen Year]

Red Mountains (Girls' Mansion episode arc) takes place on month 9 day 9 of Ren Zi Year.

Episode 37/38 is the ten-year anniversary of the dong hai duel, so it takes place on the 27th day of 12th month of Ren Zi Year.

#mysterious lotus casebook #reference guide #timeline

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

(Art for Commander Wake, John Gaius, and Ianthe Tridentarius used courtesy of @midnightcrows. Check her out, her art is fantastic!)

The top two characters will be eligible to proceed into the bracket!

Propaganda under the cut. Be warned, it is extensive - Locked Tomb fans are apparently... verbose.

Commander Awake Remembrance Of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back To Reality Oops There Goes Gravity:

Leader of a terrorist organization devoted to killing God. After she died she hung on as a revenant through sheer self-righteous hatred, tried to kill two different saints, and tried charging God with crimes against humanity. Also she carried her daughter to term solely for the sake of killing her as a ritual sacrifice, and referred to the child only as "the bomb" throughout the series. She's morally ambiguous (instead of just awful) because she's probably right, but it's honestly a close-run thing.

She was the leader of an insurgent force who hate necromancers and want to destroy God, who are descended from filthy fucking capitalists. She was the most successful leader in years. She fucked a guy ordered to kill her and the guy's dead best friend who sometimes inhabited his body. She allied with two of God's saints to unlock the tomb. The saints fucked god and stole his cum. All the eggs the saints gave her died so she impregnated herself with the god cum and gave birth to a baby. She called the baby bomb. Her lover pushes her out of the airlock. Her ghost angrily recants his name and the people who find her baby name her after him. She possesses her daughter's two handed sword. Her daughter jumps on a fence to sacrifice herself for her homoerotic archrival slash best friend, and said best friend becomes one of god's saints. She possesses the body of one of god's dead saints to rekindle her relationship with the girl possessing the body of the guy who killed her. She invades her daughter's rival slash lover slash friend's mind and attacks ghosts contained in her fucked up dream bubble. She starts moving around the space station they're on in the real world while her daughter's consciousness possesses her arch rivals body after her arch rival enters said dream state. she saves her daughter with god's life. She argues with god and tries to charge him for war crimes. her ex kills her. but none of that matters what really matters is that “I KISSED YOU AND LATER I WOULD KISS HIM TOO BEFORE I UNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU WERE, AND ALL THREE OF US LIVED TO REGRET IT—BUT WHEN I AM IN HEAVEN I WILL REMEMBER YOUR MOUTH, AND WHEN YOU ROAST DOWN IN HELL I THINK YOU WILL REMEMBER MINE” this quote. this quote is amazing. “I WILL REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU KISSED ME—YOU APOLOGISED—YOU SAID, I AM SORRY, DESTROY ME AS I AM, BUT I WANT TO KISS YOU BEFORE I AM KILLED, AND I SAID TO YOU WHY, AND YOU SAID, BECAUSE I HAVE ONLY ONCE MET SOMEONE SO UTTERLY WILLING TO BURN FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN, AND I LOVED HIM ON SIGHT, AND THE FIRST TIME I DIED I ASKED OF HIM WHAT I NOW ASK OF YOU” also this one. anyways vote commander wake

Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity is commonly called Commander Wake. Her people are being colonized and oppressed by the Emperor Undying, the immortal emperor of a society of necromancers. Commander Wake is the leader of the resistance against this occupying force. As for her character: Commander Wake is unscrupulous and unyielding, definitely more prone to "the power of incredible violence" than "the power of love". She will use any methods at her disposal to fight back against the necromancers. She is described as proud and unforgiving. She never backs down and her strength of will and determination are unmatched. Some of her girlboss moments (spoilers for the entire The Locked Tomb book series): She is the only one the Emperor and his people consider a worthy foe. She colludes with the Emperor's most trusted soldiers and in fact has sex with two of them (who share a body but that's not important right now). She needs the Emperor's blood to defeat him, so she gets her colluding buddies to get her some of his semen to grow a child. When it doesn't go quite to plan, she simply decides to carry the child herself, fully intending to kill it for its blood when it is born. After she is killed, she haunts a sword (and the narrative) for years and years. Later she possesses a corpse and comes face to face with the Emperor, where she proceeds to argue with him about his warcrimes and never backs down. The woman she slept with is still obsessed with her a full book after her double-death. She had no necromantic powers but with technology and military strategy worked to understand and mitigate how necromancy works and what it can and cant do. She insists that the Emperor Undying use her full name, to his face, even when she is completely at his mercy! Her determination is strong enough to bend the genre of an entire haunted dream to her will! When the necromancers come at her with swords she comes at them with. Gun

John Gaius, His Celestial Kindliness, the First Reborn, and The Necrolord Prime

John Gaius, His Celestial Kindliness, the First Reborn, and The Necrolord Prime is the Emperor and primary deity of The Nine Houses. He is perhaps (major spoilers for The Locked Tomb) not technically a girl, but by god does he - Gaslight (Erasing his friends' memories then telling them lies about their past and imposing his perceptions of their personalities onto them) - Gatekeep (Telling his closest followers they need to kill their life partners in order to become immortal WHICH IS NOT EVEN TRUE. John keeps the method of how HE became immortal a secret from them!) - GIRLBOSS (creates a multi-planetary society that worships him as a God) He is also morally grey: He necromantically resurrected millions of people after a planet-wide cataclysm. He caused said cataclysm by nuking the earth. He only nuked the earth because he wanted to stop the billionaires from escaping the planet, because in doing so they left everyone else to die. He wanted to save everyone. He loves the Earth. Even though he is a man he is SUCH a morally ambiguous girlboss

Prince Ianthe Naberius the First, the Lyctor Prince, the Saint of Awe, previously known as Ianthe Tridentarius, the Princess of Ida, heir to the House of the Third, Mouth of the Emperor, the Procession, House of the Shining Dead:

shes tall pale and has no ass. she has the ability to manipulate her fat distribution so she chooses to look like a wet cat. everybody forgets about her because her sister is so hot, but while everyone else is fucking around and trying to figure out whose been killing people, shes been figuring out the secrets to an ancient necromantic theorem. it turns out her hot sister isnt actually a necromancer and ianthe has been doing the work of two necromancers her whole life. she regularly does cannibalism. she eats the soul of her cavalier, who nobody cares about, and becomes a saint of the king undying. her sister is deeply upset that she did not eat her. she gets her arm ripped off by one of the original states. she performs a lobotomy on one of the main protagonists because she asks her to. they have immensely homoerotic tension but its entirely one sided. she cries every night. her soup recipe amounts to burning onions on the bottom of a pot. the scene in which said main protagonists creates her an arm out of bones is the closest the series has to a sex scene. she meets the other main protagonist and says "but your fist is so large and my ass is so small". she stops god from being killed, which everybody hates. in the space between books, she has a terrible terrible no good friend ship with the main protagonist i mentioned before. i love it. they probably fucked and it involved chussy. they have friendship bracelets. she possesses the body of her dead cavalier who nobody cares about to gallivant around in. shes dangerously obsessed with her sister, who after not being eaten has been radicalised and now is a leader in an insurgent cell. she is the target of "then perish" during the epilogue. apparently in the next book she is going to do something horrible. i love her immensely. she has very few redeeming qualities. she is my best friend

listen. she ate a man's heart to become immortal. she is described as the shadow of her twin sister. she calls the protag a fruitcake. she will betray anyone and anything to get what she wants.

Wet Rat who sucks commits cannibalism for won her way through the lyctor olympics of the first books ate her cavalier to go to gods party swinger yatch. She has no fucking idea of what she's doing but she's slaying all day everyday, literally and figuratively. Made everyone believe that her twin sister was a super good necromancer while her sister has no powers by necromancing for her in secret. Idk she's just. She's just so.

The uglier of the supposed pair of the genius necromantic princess twins. Jk, she’s the only necromantic one she's just so good she seems like two geniuses combined, she flies under the radar, doesn't take part in gruesome lessons on powerful necromancy but just figures everything out by thinking alone, kills a dude she known her whole life the moment she learns it will give her more political and magic power, does a truly villainous monolouge when caught for that murder cause who cares about a male dying why are you so mad. Then later murders her much stronger beloved mentor the minute she's asked to gain even more power and prestige and from a princess of one planet becomes a saint and prince and military powerhouse of a divine empire, loyal only as long as her hotter twin sister is safe, truly an inspiration for all feminists everywhere

Harrowhark Nonagesimus was submitted without propaganda.

#poll #tournament poll #qualifiers #the locked tomb #commander wake #john gaius #ianthe tridentarius #harrowhark nonagesimus

[pandorascrush]

PAINT

This was an original ask from @neytirishottie that goes "Can you do a smut with yandere loak stalking the reader just to get a good nut in and when he sees her family left he uses it to his advantage"

PAINT

ALL WORK IS MY ORIGINAL WORK! I DON’T OWN ANY CHARACTER!

PAIRING: LO’AK X OMITIKAYA READER

WARNINGS: nsfw(18+), smut, minors dni, clit play, fingering, fem!bodied reader, omitikaya!reader, dry humping, aged up Lo’ak, degradation kink, squirting,creampie, unprotected sex, breeding kink, dry humping, pet names 

NOTES: In this fic, and probably in any with Lo’ak, he will be aged up. I don’t feel comfortable writing smut for Lo’ak at his current age even if he is considered an adult at 15 in na’vi terms. This goes for any other character as well if I feel like they are too young. So he is aged up and so is the reader. So 18-19 age range for him. My song recommendation for this is  Daddy by Ramsey <3 

➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵

Lo’ak didn't want to admit it, but he had been waiting for this moment. Ever since you completed your iknimaya, you had been avoiding the ceremony to present yourself as a reborn na’vi woman. You had been what can be considered, a late bloomer. But you had done that on purpose, after all you didn’t want your family to try and pair you off with a mate. Because you knew exactly who they had chosen to be your mate. You walked in on the conversation between your parents when you first heard it. You felt yourself freeze in shock as they whispered amongst themselves that Lo’ak had been considered. The second son of the Olo’eyktan, and the most immature who didn’t seem to take anything seriously. How could they possibly think that that son, with the wandering eyes and rebellious nature could ever be a responsible mate. Little did you know he had been the one bringing up the subject to your parents, telling them he would wait for you until you finished your iknimaya, in order to fully come forward as your suitor.

Lo’ak had found the perfect hiding spot to watch you from, perched on a tree that was tall enough to watch you from above through a small opening as you got ready. He was watching you like a predator, waiting for the right moment to catch his prey. You had been inside your home, which was at the edge of where the Omitikaya had made their new home. Your mother trying to rush you as you prepared everything you needed for your ceremony. She was fussing around you trying to get your hair perfect making sure you looked presentable for tonight. You lightly hissed at her swatting her hands away and you decided to shoo her and the rest of your family out. You grabbed the white paint and began to finish up on the last step. You lightly dipped your hands in the paint, making sure your fingers were well coated as they began dragging lines down your face.

Lo’ak wanted to see you at a closer angle, so he decided to descend the tree and sneak around your home, finding a small opening to spy on your form. He could see as you dipped your fingers gently in the white paint, and as you began tracing them down your face and neck, the light fire in the middle of your home illuminating your form creating beautiful shadows of your silhouette. As you lightly traced your chest with your fingers, he couldn’t help but feel as his cock began to strain against his loincloth. He couldn’t help it, his eyes would always wander to your form, using his eyes to trace your body since he couldn’t actually use his hands. As your fingers began cascading down your arms he couldn’t help but let his hand wander down to his cock, lightly squeezing his cock trying to find some relief. Every bend and twist of your body to reach the places you needed, provoked him as he needed more, letting his hand reach under to grab his cock as he began pumping it, throwing his head back as he could feel his need increase. That’s when he decided that he needed more. He needed to feel you, to taste you, after all you were going to be his mate. After tonight everything would be official, you would be his and nobody could change that. He decided to walk in, not caring if what he was about to do was deemed too bold.

“Let me help you.” You body froze as you felt his body up close to your back. You hadn’t realized he had even been there, or even in your home for that matter. As he pushed his body close to yours, leaving no gap in between your back and his chest you could feel his breath down your neck.

“Lo’ak what are you doing here.” You whisper in confusion as you try to look back but his sudden hold on you prevents you from turning as he stops you in his tracks. He pulls you back closer against him, you feel his hot skin against yours and you become acutely aware of his cock straining against your back. You feel your ears pin flat against your head as you feel his tail slap your leg excitedly, and you feel your own twitch in between the two of you, causing his cock to stir even more.

“I’m just here to help you finish your paint.” He whispers in your ear as he reaches over you dipping his own fingers in the white paint. He steps back just enough to begin tracing his own fingers down your back, reveling in the feeling of finally feeling his skin on yours. He traces down your back, making sure to let his fingers linger at the dip in your back, imaging what it would feel like to let his hand rest there as he fucks you from behind. He lets his hand wander and lets it wrap around the base of your tail, causing you to jump as you begin to feel your nipples harden and your heart beat faster as you feel a fire begin in your belly. You couldn't help but lean back out of surprise, he uses this to his advantage as he grabs onto your hips and pulls them flush against his own, now you really feel the outline of his cock. You couldn’t help but let out a moan as he gives a small thrust into you, not fighting it, something in your mind lets you give into him. You can feel as he tugs on his loincloth moving it to the side, you look down behind you just in time to see him pull out his cock with his left hand. It’s hard and you can see the tip begin to leak as he lighty starts pumping his cock as he uses his right arm to wrap around your chest, using his hand to grip onto your chin as he makes you look forward.

All you could feel is him laying his cock against your lower back, as he pulls you back in not letting his strong hold on you waver. As he grips onto your hip with his left hand, he lets his right hand wander down to your own loincloth. He begins to rut slowly into your back, as his hand searches underneath your loincloth, and he begins to slowly trace the lips of your pussy with his finger tips. You couldn’t help but let out a moan, never having had anyone else's fingers touch you besides your own. As you let out a moan you could feel his hot breath in your ear as he began to speed up his thrusts against your bacK. You could feel as his hard cock slides over your back, you begin to feel a dampness on your back because of his leaking cock. As his thrusts speed up, his fingers continue to explore you searching for your sensitive nub, feeling as your slick starts coating his fingers. When he finally finds it, begins rubbing slow tight circles and you let out a choked cry, feeling your heart racing against your chest. Your breaths puff out in small bursts as you throw your head back, feelings as a new wave of wetness coats his fingers. He begins lining up the time of his thrusts to the tight circles on your clit. He uses your head being thrown back to his advantage as he drops his head, his lips finding your own. His tongue wasting no time, slipping into your mouth and you let it in, you let all of him in. You slip your own tongue into his mouth, and your kiss becomes sloppy, same as his thrusts against your back. You can’t help but cling onto him as his hard thrusts begin to throw you off balance. You’re lost in a trance as you begin to feel your pussy clench around nothing, your legs shaking slightly. You lean back on him as you feel his hot cock twitch behind you. You can’t help but reach your left arm behind you, in between the both of you, grasping his cock into your own hand. The feeling of your hand wrapped around his cock making him lose control, as he began drawing faster circles on your clit, feeling as you began twitching against him. You feel the air around you become hot, making you lose all sense of control and time, feeling yourself close to cumming. He began leaving sloppy kisses down your throat, wetting your skin along the way and you began to feel delirious as you bit down on your lip. His burning skin against yours, his fingers rubbing tight circles on your clit, and his heavy cock leaking against your back all make you lose control as you cum with a cry. You feel yourself twitching as he continues to rub circles on your sensitive clit, rutting like an animal in heat against your back. He suddenly pulls his fingers from your pussy, wrapping them around his cock using your cum to lube himself as he begins pumping his cock. You can’t help but hold onto his hip as you feel him jerk himself off behind you. You lean your head back to look at him in his eyes as you shift slightly to take his cock in your right hand, pumping him fast, feeling as his cock twitches in your hand. He takes his right hand and starts giving his balls small tugs as you pump him. His left hand finds itself under your top as he starts cupping and kneading your breasts. The feeling of your hand pumping him, your breasts in his hand, your hot breath fanning his face, all make his balls tighten. He cums with a groan as he throws his head back, his hot cum spurting out in thick streams all over your back, dripping down your leg. He can’t help pull you in closer, taking in your scent as he rubs his body on yours, feeling his cum rub between the two. He shifts your body so that you're facing him, and he grabs your face and pulls you in for a heated kiss. You feel his hands wander your body, and you feel him grab onto your braid as he lightly pulls on it. He looks down and notices your paint is ruined, smudged by the both of you with his cum. He smirks as he looks over your body, with a look you can’t seem to decipher.

“Looks like I ruined your paint.” Is all he says as he kisses you one last time, pulling your bottom lip in between his teeth as he lightly bites down.

“You’re mine.” He says possessively as he begins to walk away. Leaving you dazed with your body paint ruined. You can’t help but watch him walk away, leaving your mind reeling with what just happened.

➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵➵

Per request, here ya go my toodies!!!! Also for some reason I had to break up this fic, into two "blocks" when i've never had to do that before. I'm assuming they put a character limit per block...strange. They will never stop my greatness.Let me know what ya’ll think and ENJOY!

TOODLES <3

#lo'ak x oc #lo'ak x reader #lo'ak x you #lo'ak x y/n #lo'ak x tsireya #neteyam x reader #neteyam x you #neteyam x na'vi!reader #neteyam x oc #neteyam #jake sully x you #jake sully x reader #jake sully x y/n #jake sully x oc #jake x reader #jake x neytiri #neytiri x jake #neytiri x reader #jake sully x neytiri #avatar 2009 #james cameron avatar #avatar way of water #avatar the way of water #avatar #avatar smut

[formula-fun]

Pacific rim au snippet?? for us to live a little happier in coming days ksjadjshs? 👀

i am pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead

The day Sebastian Vettel descends on the Faenza Academy, four things happen.

First, a series of rumors fly across the entirety of base. Charles is ninety percent sure they’re George’s doing, but the way they telephone between the cadets is truly a modern marvel. In the morning the word is that Vettel is visiting to scope out the cadets to select his new copilot, never mind that none of them have ever even drifted in their lives. By noon the story has been transformed into a harrowing tale involving Vettel, a recent Kaiju attack in Cabo, and a torrid affair with Director Binotto’s wife.

“Did you hear about Binotto’s wife?” George asks during lunch, eyes wide.

“That was your rumor, idiot,” Alex tells him. “Obviously it’s not true. Binotto doesn’t even have a wife.”

By that afternoon, it’s rumored that Binotto lost his wife in a Kaiju attack in Cabo, where she bravely fought in a top-secret test jaeger as Vettel’s copilot.

The second thing that happens is training is suspended for a full day. Truthfully, Charles thinks this should be the real source of rumors, but they’re all so burned out none of the cadets want to question having a day off. It doesn’t mean they actually take the day off—they’re too bored for that, and they’ve forgotten how to do anything else than train relentlessly and occasionally study the odd K-Science journal.

Still, the Director, his assistants, half the training staff and Vettel all spend the morning locked in a conference room doing god knows what.

“They ordered pizza about an hour ago,” Alex tells him. He’s been pretending to read Jaeger Daily for two hours, sprawled out on a towel stolen from the bathroom while he pretends not to watch the Operations building from behind his sunglasses. “I heard you can predict a war based on how often the militaries order pizza. It means they’re planning something.”

“This is Italy,” Pierre says, unbothered, stripped shirtless and sprawled out in the sun a few paces away. “They order pizza literally every day.”

Alex hums. “And they got affogatos.”

“Affogatos?! Mon Dieu. Call the press.”

It probably means nothing, but it’s certainly strange—the conference, not the pizza. Vettel is a well-known face not just in the Jaeger program, but in the world. He was confirmed into the program just a handful of months earlier after having matched with some kid in Australia, and once their Jaeger goes into service he’ll be the first European ranger ever. It’s not a great statistic, seeing as there have only been six rangers in active combat in the history of the planet, but it’s still something.

The Faenza school is small, and often forgotten; most of the European academies are the same way. That’s why it’s even stranger that Vettel is here, of all places.

The third thing that happens that day is Charles kicks Max’s ass in the Kwoon. It’s not related to Vettel in any way, but it’s still funny.

Charles’ first impression of Max when they met eight months ago was that he’s too serious. His eyes are shaped like half-moons, clearly designed for laughing, but he frowns all the time. His lower lip juts out a little, petulant. Charles’ dad used to scold Charles for pouting like that when he was little, warning him his face would get stuck like that, and if Charles was too old for it at seven then Max is much too old for it at sixteen. It’s possible that his face is stuck like that, in fact, since the months that Charles has known him he hasn’t relaxed once. 

He doesn’t relax while training. He doesn’t relax in the rec room. He doesn’t relax while eating—if anything he’s the least relaxed doing that, shoveling food into his mouth like he’s about to be called to attention at any second. His frown lingers as they run laps of the dusty base in Faenza, the sun beating down hot and unrelenting, and while he’s training on the sim: thirteen drops and eleven kills, a record that’s second best only to Charles’ own.

“Beginner’s luck, huh?” Max had said when Charles had stepped out of the sim for the first time, exactly one kill to his name. He doesn’t say that the second time, or the third, or the fourth.

Like Charles said. No sense of humor.

Max is good at Muay Thai, which pisses Charles off to no end. It’s not that Charles is bad at it, he’s just been a little shorter than Max and a lot more wiry for the entire time they’ve known each other. Max is gangly too, but his legs are stronger, a fact that Charles has learned on more than one occasion by catching a knee straight to the solar plexus—a blow which Max barely has to strain to deliver. They’ve sparred—fought, really—enough times now for Charles to know that no matter how quick he can be, Max still has a serious physical advantage.

“Teach me Judo,” he told his trainer the fifth time Max pressed him out of the ring during a training session—a fight—with a heavy offense and pointy elbows, the director’s assistant watching from the corner and taking notes on a clipboard.

“We don’t usually teach that,” Andrea told him. “You’ll never beat a kaiju by throwing it.”

“I want to beat him.” At Andrea’s hesitation he added, “I’ll train extra. I don’t care.”

So Andrea started teaching him Judo; and on the day that Vettel arrives at the academy Charles steps into the ring with Max, letting him get two swings in before grabbing his wrist, using his momentum against him and flipping him square over his shoulder.

Max hits the mat hard enough that the sound echoes through the empty kwoon.

“Judo isn’t on the training list,” Max gripes, pushing himself up and rolling over to clutch at his nose. “Fuck.”

“I’m just adapting to the style of my opponent,” Charles says flatly. “As any good ranger would do.”

“I hate you,” Max tells him, dabbing at his nose—entirely for dramatic effect, since there isn’t a drop of blood in sight and Charles is pretty sure he didn’t even hit him there—and then spins on the mat to kick Charles’ feet out from under him.

Charles goes toppling, landing with a grunt, which is the moment Max decides to try to wrestle him. A horrible decision, really. Max is shit at wrestling. It takes all of thirty seconds for Charles to pin him, catching his left arm in an ude-garami, which is the exact moment that the door swings open.

“Ah,” Director Binotto says. “Leclerc and Verstappen, some of the brightest in our youth program.”

“Let me up,” Max hisses through his teeth, his breath hot against his ear, but Charles just tightens his grip.

“You haven’t tapped out,” Charles replies, holding Max down with his own chest as he twists Max’s elbow. Max lets out a string of noises that sound very Dutch and very rude.

“They do look it,” someone says blandly, and when he looks up Charles is greeted by the sight of Sebastian Vettel standing over him.

He springs to his feet, snapping to attention. Max follows suit, albeit a little slower.

“Relax,” Vettel says. “We don’t stand on rank in the kwoon. I thought that was the first rule of training,” he adds, raising his voice a little.

Binotto shrugs. “We do things differently here.”

Vettel’s eyebrows flash up, then back down again. He ignores the director, giving them both an easy smile, and Charles and Max’s hands fall away at the same time. “I’ve never visited any of the youth programs, but I’ve heard great things,” he says. “How long have you been training?”

“Eight months, sir,” Charles says.

“Please, it’s Sebastian. You’ve been here since the opening of the academy, then,” Sebastian says, his mouth forming into a C shape. “And you’ve been training to be copilots?”

Charles looks at Max, who’s already looking back. His mouth is pouty again, his eyebrows furrowed. Too serious.

“Our cadets did not begin the matching process until last week,” Binotto says, stepping forward to take his place at Sebastian’s side. “We have been training them as a group in the hopes that compatibility would be demonstrated organically, and for the most part that has proved to be successful.”

“How so?”

Binotto lets out a little hum. “Some pairs we brought in together proved to be compatible—siblings, best friends. Other times this proved to be the opposite. And then of course, some compatible pairs just find each other. We had our suspicions, but neural aptitude tests only confirmed it.”

Charles frowns, a protest poised behind his teeth.

“And you two train on the sim together?” Sebastian asks them, his face open.

“No,” Max says. “We only train solo.”

“What are your scores?”

“Thirteen drops, eleven kills.”

“Thirteen, twelve,” Charles adds, and can’t bite down the smug smile when Max shoots a glare his way.

Sebastian raises his eyebrows, blowing out a breath. He looks to Binotto, who raises his eyebrows with a small smile.

“That’s impressive,” Sebastian says. “You both want to be rangers one day?”

“Yes, sir,” they say, and it unfortunately comes out in perfect unison.

Sebastian looks at them for a long beat, a serene smile on his face. “I’m not here at an official capacity. I’m just here to scope out the copilot matches in our youth program. You probably already had some idea that you’re drift compatible,” he says, which Charles was not aware of at all, and then while he’s still reeling from that piece of information, “but the tests last week identified you at somewhere between ninety nine point seven and ninety nine point nine percent.”

“That’s not right,” Max blurts out. “We’re not compatible.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows raise. “Neural tests prove otherwise. So do fighting styles and sim scores, from the looks of it.”

“But we don’t get along.”

“That doesn’t always mean something.” He tilts his head. “If this comes as a surprise, it might be helpful to know that compatibility is about balance as much as it’s about similarities. You might see differences in each other, but in a Jaeger those things will become complementary parts.”

Charles can’t hold back a tiny scoff. What’s supposed to be complementary about Max? His bullheadedness? His ability to eat food faster than the mess hall can produce it?

“Gentlemen,” Binotto says, which is another first—Binotto has never called them that in their lives. “The Jaeger Program needs cadets. Not just rangers, but mechanics, strategists, engineers, support coordinators, biologists, neuroscientists—we need personnel, and now that the academy is on its feet and more jaegers are going into service, it’s time to identify who is part of a viable drift pairing, and who would be better suited to a different division.”

At his side, Max sucks in a short breath, barely audible. Charles himself straightens. He knows a threat when he hears one.

“We’d like to start a project to test drift compatibility through a rudimentary neural handshake,” Binotto says, “and we’re going to be testing that project on you.”

And that’s how the fourth thing happens.

#dont @ me i know nothing abt judo #or muay thai for that matter #other than it seems to involve a lot of kneeing and elbowing and looks very scary #lestappen #pac rim au #writing tag #oh i need a title for this fic btw im open to suggestions

[souredfigs]

A lot of people are fascinated by Harrenhal and its ghosts and I get that but bro WINTERFELL AND THE EGGS IN THE CRYPTS??

Winterfell and how it was constructed in general is so fascinating , like its always described in chapters as a living organism , that deep hot springs run through the castle like blood through a person's body , then there is the weirwood tree and the immense magical power it itself holds as a sort of root of the castle and the point upon which Bran can see through the past , the present and the future .

Then the crypts , the freaking crypts which are larger than Winterfell itself and as you descend into the lower levels they become increasingly dark and old and a giant portion of it which hasn't seen the light of the day in thousands of years is collapsed and totally inaccessible , there are swords of the Kings of Winter which are there in order to keep something contained like the souls of the deceased ,not to mention the fact that Bran and his clique actually took some of them on their way ? The giant spiders and rats the size of dogs old nan talked about and how the crypts go from bottom up , with the recent burials at top and the oldest at the bottom which has kind of never been explained ?

But perhaps the most exciting thing about the crypts is Mushroom's account about Jacaerys Targaryen's Vermax laying a clutch of eggs in the crypts near the supposed hot springs , and the immense significance that has to the story of ice and fire itself

Like the Starks and Targaryens give us many of our main characters in the books , they are the two oldest families in Westeros , so old that their origins are intertwined with legends and myths, and magic is heavily involved in their families . We saw in Hotd the state secret info Viserys gives to Rhaenyra about the Song of ice and fire and Aegons dream about the long night and theres this implication that Torrhen Stark bent the knee becuase Aegon told him about this dream , that to defend the living there must always be a Stark in Winterfell and a Targaryen in the South, becuase winter is coming and without these two houses Westeros and probably the rest of the world are cooked? Then during the reign of Jaehaerys I Queen Alysanne goes to Winterfell and gives support to the nights watch and befriends Alaric Stark .

And then decades later her descendant Jace goes to Winterfell (and as the hotd trailer shows , also goes to the Wall!!!) and he forms such a great bond with Cregan Stark that they make a pact of ice and fire sealed in blood , likely before the weirwood tree in mix of both Valyrian and Northern tradition , with Jace agreeing to marry his firstborn daughter to Cregan's heir , then Jace later dies in the gullet but Cregan honours their pact by carrying out Justice in the hour of the wolf and making sure Jace's little brother ascends the throne .

AND THEN A CENTURY AND A HALF LATER RHAEGAR AND LYANNA GET TOGETHER AND KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY FULFILL THAT PACT , AND NED KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY HONOURS THIS PACT BY TAKING IN THEIR SON JON SNOW, THE LITERAL EMBODIMENT OF ICE AND FIRE , AND MOST LIKELY THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED TO LEAD THE BATTLE FOR THE DAWN .

AND HOW JON CONSISTENTLY DREAMS ABOUT THE CRYPTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER STARK CHILD? AND HIS MOST LIKELY RESURRECTION IN TWOW WILL HAPPEN IN THE WALL , WHICH, APART FROM THE CRYPTS IS THE MOST MAGICAL PLACE IN THE NORTH IN A WESTEROS WHERE MAGIC HAS AWAKENED WITH WITH A FORCE NOT SEEN SINCE THE DAYS OF OLD VALYRIA ? RIGHT AT THE TIME WHERE THE OTHERS ARE AT THE DOOR ?

DO YOU SEE HOW DEEP THIS SHIT GOES?!

#this is literally the tip of the iceberg theres soooo much #LIKE WTH DAWG #LOSINGD THE MINF #Im so ready to see jace and cregan and brokeback winterfell #and winds of winter and how the crypts will come into play becuase they have a tON of importance in the books #brans pov chapters are going to be so good i just know it #im so ready #house of the dragon #cregan stark #jacaerys targaryen #winterfell crypts #the long night #winds of winter #I fucking love the starks if you couldnt tell #when winds of winter comes out you best believe I will sleep with it under my pillow #like Alexander the Great with his favourite copy of the Iliad #jacegan #hotd season 2 pls do not be bad #im literally yapping im sorry lol

[demonicseries]

Lokius fic recs

I was requested to make a list of my lokius fic recs, so here are ten some that have lived in my brain rent free since i read them (in order of descending wordcount)

Rising from the Ashes by Insert_Witty_User_Name_Here (119k)

written after s1, this is basically a whole novel of what s2 could've been like. And it's phenomenal. There's 27 chapters, but i was reading it as each one was released over the course of 4 months, and it was a whole rollercoaster. You'll find yourself siding with some characters at some times and then the others the other times. You read it and even you are unsure of which side you're on. If you have the time, definitely read this.

Fit the Profile by WaterHorseyBlues (77k)

A detective AU. Someone is trying to assassinate Loki for his inheritance, and Mobius is the private detective on the case. I won't say much, but this is a must read, and probably one of the classic fics in this fandom

Another Prince by drunkbedelia (14k)

canon divergence from s1e3. I don't know how to explain this one except it straight up vibes. Loki and Sylvie are chaotic siblings. Sylvie is scheming around (and def ships loki and mobius). This is one of those fics that would also be considered a classic here.

As You Find the String by athousandteeth (12k)

a s2 fix it (but don't think there isn't suffering before it pays off). The characters are incredibly written and one line in this literally changed how i view life itself

Six Feet Closer by lonelyhourglass47 (11k)

AU where Loki and Mobius are rivals at an office, but circumstances force them to quarantine in an apartment together for 2 weeks. (And to make matters worse, Loki keeps falling asleep in Mobius' bed). Very fun, and this is one I love to come back to time to time.

Show, Don't Tell by pinkpeachtea (6k)

OB writes an 800 page sci-fi romance novel about Loki and Mobius (but changes the name) and insists that all his friends form a book club for it. The titular two get heavily invested (yet still are oblivious it's based on them).

Pen-demonium by dinosuns (6k)

Loki steals a pen, creating 6k words of pure banter. When I think of classic lokius fics, i think anything by dinosuns. This is one of their more banter-focused ones, but they also write amazing 10k long fics that read like prose. This isn't just a dinosuns fic rec as it is a rec for the author themselves

The Best Gift of All by frommyhearttoyours (6k)

AU where Loki is a teacher at the elementary school Mobius' kids attend. Takes place during the school's christmas concert reception. Very cute, very Hallmark.

Stray by RarePairFairy (5k)

Mobius goes back to his timeline to raise his kids and brings Loki along with him. Told through the perspective of his kids Sean and Kevin

I don't want to dance if i'm not dancing with you by Anonymous (2k)

Loki and Mobius find themselves at an 18th century masquerade ball. Very cheesy but I find it a lot of fun

#lokius #ao3 #fanfic #fic rec #loki #mobius #Mobius m Mobius #fic rec list