#it'll get more interesting the further we get into it i promise

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Meig's Comprehensive Guide to Reptiles, aka: the vast majority of land vertebrates

Welcome! This is another long post by me, one of tumblr's most annoying resident paleontologists. But I promise: it'll be fun, it'll be engaging, and you'll be glad you read it.

What the Everloving Fuck is a Reptile?

Well, back in the day, you probably learned reptiles were land animals, with backbones, that were covered in scales, were cold-blooded, and laid eggs with hard shells.

But, you see, we classified organisms based on traits back when we didn't know about evolution. Or prehistoric life. And turns out, there are a lot of things in the past that do not fit in the categories we made based on living things today. A lot of things.

Soooooooo... now we classify based on evolutionary relationships! Aka, family trees.

So what is a reptile?

A reptile is any animal more closely related to living crocodilians (Crocs, Gators, etc.) than to rodents.

Aka, back around ~330 million years ago, animals that laid land-adapted eggs split into two groups: Proto-Mammals (that would eventually become mammals), and Reptiles.

So, a reptile is, anything closer to the group of "classical reptiles" than to mammals. Simple enough. And it is the entirety of an evolutionary unit - a single clade, consisting of a common ancestor and *all* of that ancestor's descendants.

Turns out, this includes birds, but I'll get to that.

The First Reptile Group to Branch Off: Parareptiles

So now we go through our groups of reptiles based on their evolutionary/familial relationships, and the first group to branch off from other reptiles were the Parareptiles.

(Note: Their evolutionary history is in flux and it's possible they're actually further down on the reptile tree, or not even a natural group. for now, we're going to go with them as the earliest branching group and assume they're a single thing, even though that is probably going to be very wrong in the next few years).

These were weird mfers, living from around 310 million years ago until 200 million years ago. They had robust bodies that were low to the ground, with legs *usually* sprawled out on either side. They also had very robust and broad skulls. Many of them look superficially like lizards, in that they're quadrupedal animals with limbs splayed out to the sides, but they were *nothing* like lizards. While early members of the group had long tails, over time, the bodies of parareptiles became more stout with shorter tails. They also had swollen, thick vertebrae, and stout upper limb bones. They were CHONKY.

The earliest members to branch off were the Mesosaurs, a small group of aquatic reptiles! They were long and slender, and quite small compared to later aquatic reptile groups. The next group to branch off were Millerettids, which were small insectivores with superficially lizard-like apperances. Most Parareptiles were Procolophonomorphs, and included everything from the bipedal Eudibamus to the huge Pareiasaurs that were major megafaunal herbivores during most of the Permian period.

All Parareptiles, as far as we can tell, are extinct today. Unless their evolutionary relationships change. Yay science!

All the rest of reptiles are in Eureptilia, which have smaller bones in the lower back of the skull that no longer connect to the roof of the skull. So, skulls like living reptiles!

Captorhinids

The next group to branch off are the Captorhinids, a group of interesting little reptiles with shorter tails, sprawling limbs, and weirdly boxy heads. Living from 300 to 252 million years ago, they started out as small carnivores, and eventually evolved to be large herbivores!

Protorothyridids

Next to branch off are the Protorothyridids, which lived only in the latest Carboniferous. They were small, superficially lizard-like animals, but their limbs were a lot more slender and long than lizards, as were their bodies and heads. In fact, they seemed to have been adapted for climbing trees, making them among the earliest known animals to do so!

All remaining reptiles are Diapsids, characterized by having two holes (postorbital fenestrae) behind the eye socket. This is where all living reptiles are.

Araeoscelidans

Our first group of Diapsids are the Araeoscelidans, which - again - were SUPERFICIALLY lizard like. I cannot stress enough that nothing so far has been an actual lizard. In fact, they had more slender limbs, longer tails, and less specialized heads than lizards. That said, they probably lived similarly to them, though some members may have been adapted for climbing, and others for swimming.

Unfortunately, we're now at the part of the tree where evolutionary relationships are a mess. Parareptiles may actually go here, or only some of them. Lots of different groups diverged here very quickly. It's a messssss. I will go through each group, but just know all we know is that these groups fall outside the next big chunk - Sauria - but within Diapsids.

Younginidae

Younginids are reptiles from right around the End-Permian extinction, basically only living in the latest Permian and earliest Triassic. They were as big as living monitors, and they had less kinetic (mobile) skulls than living reptiles. They would have been superficially lizard-like - again - but very different, and they had ridiculously long tails and toes, making them powerful movers.

Tangasaurids

Tangasaurids were a weird group of end-Permian to earliest Triassic animals, with some adapted for aquatic life in freshwater and lake environments, and other living life on land like other reptiles. As such, Tangasaurids represent another experiment in secondarily-aquatic life among reptiles. The land dwellers had long toes for efficient land movement, while the aquatic ones had those amazing water adapted traits that we associate more with living species. In fact, some of their tails were flattened, like sea snakes today!

Longisquama

For the sake of my sanity, I'm trying to group things up in as few groups as possible without ignoring anything. But this is a weirdo, and it doesn't have any family members, so I have to talk about it alone. You know that reptile you may have seen in books with the hockey-stick like things coming off of its back? That's Longisquama. The problem is, we don't know much about it. It had a small, slender head, and a typical reptile body, with limbs splayed out to the sides. Those fins on the back were *not* like feathers, but something else entirely - maybe just elongated scales. Or maybe it died on top of a plant (unlikely). Many bad scientists point to this animal and say its the ancestor of birds, but that's been thoroughly debunked at this point. It lived in the Middle Triassic, around 235 million years go.

Thalattosaurs

Thalattosaurs were Triassic reptiles - so living between 252 and 200 million y ears ago - that were semiaquatic! They had long, narrow skulls adapted for grabbing fish, and slender bodies for moving through the water. Their tails were long and paddle-like. Some of them had long necks, while others had shorter necks. Some even had a hook-like end of the snout for trapping slippery fish prey! They ate many different things, with a few species adapted for crunchy marine food, others for slippery, and so on.

Ichthyosauromorphs

Some of the most famous extinct reptiles go in this group - the group of reptiles that essentially evolved to be dolphins before dolphins were even a thing - a classic case of convergent evolution. These marine reptiles were extremely successful, living from the beginning of the Triassic - 252 million years ago, possibly even older - until the middle of the Cretaceous, 90 million years ago. We have early forms that show only partial adaptations to marine life, but they very quickly became fully aquatic, even giving birth to live young under water. Some of the largest marine animals ever fall into this group, including Shonisaurus and Shastasaurus. The earliest members showcase the evolution from typical reptile-shape to the weird reptile-dolphins they would become. Proper Ichthyosaurs had big eyes, round bodies, long narrow heads, and four flippers - one for each limb. Their tails were also long and ended in a fin like living sharks and whales. Some even had a dorsal fin! This group is *huge*, so I recommend digging into their wikipedia pages to learn more! Note that these are their own, huge, distinct group of reptiles - completely separate from lizards *or* dinosaurs!

Claudiosaurus

Claudiosaurus is another unique, who knows where it goes reptile, and it showcases another shift into aquatic life for reptiles during the end-Permian mass extinction. It was 60 centimeters long, and had flippers on its feet. It probably couldn't move very much on land, so it would have lived most of its life in the water. Its tail, torso, and neck were all very long, while its head was on the smaller side. Its limbs were also quite long compared to its body size. So this was a weird animal - and we're not sure where it falls in the story of marine reptiles yet. More research on this critter is needed!

Choristoderes

Choristoderes were semiaquatic, unplaceable reptiles that varied a lot in size over their time and managed to live through to the Miocene - so they existed from sometime in the Triassic to as recently as 11.6 million years ago! Some were as small as 30 centimeters, while others grew up to 5 meters. They were convergently similar to living crocodilians, with bodies built for semiquatic life and long narrow skulls for grabbing fish. In fact, their heads are kind of weird looking - like a heart at the base with a long projection coming off of it, if you look at it from the top. They had very simple teeth, and thin overlapping scales that were probably very soft in life. They also had webbed feet! They were exclusively fresh water animals, and may have had eggs that hatched immediately after being laid. It's wild we missed them being extant by like... a blink of an eye geologically.

Weigeltisaurids

Reptiles have evolved gliding membranes from their ribs multiple times, and this is the first one we're talking about in this article. They lived at the end of the Permian, between 259 and 252 million years ago - only going extinct in the mass extinction, though a possible Triassic fossil is known. They were not close to lizards or dinos, but had a lot of convergently similar traits to lizards. The lower ribs, aka modified gastralia, are pulled out to the side in pairs of long hollow rods, which would have supported a gliding membrane that was controlled by the abdominal muscles. They were big, which made them less efficient gliders than living gliding lizards. Their heads were very triangular, and they had extremely long tails.

Sauropterygia

Okay, so this group is going in "miscellaneous reptiles" because currently their evolutionary origin is in flux. We used to think they were close to the lizard and snake group, which we'll get to at the end of this post (long way to go). Then we thought they were close to turtles, and we didn't know where turtles went, so they were kind of in limbo. Then we figured out turtles were closer to crocodilians and birds than to lizards and snakes, so we dragged Sauropterygians there with them. And now studies are indicating that Sauropterygians and Ichthyosauromorphs are closely related, along with a bunch of other marine reptiles. And sometimes that group comes outside of crown-reptiles (Sauria, in a sec), and sometimes that group comes into the close to crocs and birds group like turtles. I don't know. I don't know where they go. They're going here.

Anyways, Sauropterygians includes a lot of weird marine reptiles. Helveticosaurs may be in this group - they had wide torsos, short limbs and tails, and a small square head, and were early marine reptiles during the middle Triassic. Saurospharigds may also go here - this group were superficially like turtles, but they were actually convergently similar, not related to living turtles closely at all (unless all Sauropterygians are?). They had elongated flat vertebrae on their backs, with matching chest ribs, to form a rib basket. Placodonts are the first definite group of Sauropterygians, which were *also* weirdly turtle-convergent. Some members of this group had huge scutes on their bodies, for part or all of their torsos, to protect them - different anatomically from turtle shells, but similar looking from a distance. They had teeth built for crushing shellfish, and had long tails to aid with swimming. Many members just looked like typical marine reptiles, however, and did not have those shells that later members had. Nothosaurs were Sauropterygians with long necks and tails and limbs that still had toes and were capable of going on land, but were more similar to the famous Plesiosaurs than the Placodonts were. Their feet were webbed, they ate primarily fish and squid. Pachypleurosaurs were similar, but had longer necks and limbs that were unable to go on land. The next group, Pistosaurs, had full flippers on their limbs, and long necks with triangular heads. This includes all Plesiosaurs, aka "Loch Ness Monsters", as well as things like Liopleurodon - many forms had very long necks, while many others had short necks, all across this group. Sauropterygians lived for the whole of the Mesozoic, showing up in the Early Triassic and lasting until the very end of the Cretaceous, and lived worldwide.

Drepanosaurs

In the Triassic, a group of mystery reptiles - possibly in this group of not closely related to anything today weirdos, possibly closer to crocs and birds - that truly showcase the weirdness of the Triassic Period. Living between 230 and 201 million years ago, Drepanosaurs had very long bodies, with flexible limbs and hands adapted for grasping branches, including opposable toes on the foot and giant claws on the hands. Their heads were very small and triangular. They had a hump on their upper backs to allow for strong muscle attachments, giving them the ability to rapidly catch insects in midair. The tails of some species ended in a freaking extra claw. In short, they were generic reptiles - or almost-archosaurs - trying their damnedest to be monkeys. And they got terrifyingly close. Some had heads that were so convergently bird like that they confused bird researchers for years, but it was convergence - in fact, the beaks of Drepanosaurs are completely different anatomically.

SAURIA

If we defined reptiles above as everything closer to living reptiles than to living mammals - ie, the most inclusive group that has crocodiles but does not have mammals - this is the *least* inclusive group that still includes every living reptile. So like, Sauropsida - where we started - is like a huge clan, with only some surviving members, but the most recent grandparent those ancestors shared was not the start of the clan, it was later on in the clan's history. I hope that made sense. Anyways, this is the group we call Crown-Reptiles.

And it, by that definition, has to include birds. Because birds and crocodilians are more closely related to each other than either are to lizards and snakes. Saurians first appeared at the end of the Permian, and diversified like crazy during the Triassic when all the niches opened up after the Great Dying. We can thank the End-Permian extinction for the sheer diversity of reptiles we have in the fossil record *and* today! Because while all those lovely friends from before were great - including the ones that persist to the Jurassic - most reptiles? Are in Sauria. There are so. Many. Reptiles. In fact, today, over 20,000 species of animals are reptiles! Mammals are only 5,513 species, and living amphibians are at 7,302. Among tetrapods, Reptiles are King! Saurians come in two groups: Archelosaurs, and Lepidosauromorphs.

ARCHELOSAURIA

The first division of Saurians is Archelosauria, the group that consists of Turtles, Crocodilians, and Birds, and *all* of their extinct relatives. For a while the position of turtles was uncertain - were they the only surviving Parareptiles? Were they cousins of Lizards? But genetic data has revealed that they go with what we call "Archosaurs" - Ruling Reptiles - the group of crocodilians and birds. How their fossil relatives are or are not a part of that story is where the mess remains. Archelosaurs come in two main flavors: Pantestudines, and Archosauromorphs.

Pantestudines

All living turtles, and everything closer to them than to any other living thing, go in this group. Turtles are truly bizarre animals, because their shells are unique among animals and not repeated by any other group. During development, ribs grow sidewise into a ridge along the back, entering the skin and supporting the carapace, which is made of dermal plates that form a hard shell, that is then covered in scutes made of keratin. The lower ribs, or gastralia, along with the collar bones, extend to form the Plastron, or lower shell. The lower shell flattens out and extends on the sides to connect with the carapace. Scutes also cover this side of the shell. It's just *weird*. Turtles are just *weird*. They originally evolved from aquatic ancestors, such as Odontochelys; though some forms became secondarily terrestrial again, with many lines of the group going back and forth - making this a rare example of a secondarily aquatic tetrapod returning to the land! Turtles laugh in the face of biome preferences.

Many extinct turtles took on interesting forms, with some having large feet, others having extensive ornamentation - horns and bumps and nodules - on their heads. Some, like Meiolania, grew to extreme sizes. As the turtle group evolved, many returned to the sea, and became the largest ocean-dwelling turtles of all time - animals like the somewhat well known Archelon. Living turtles come in two main groups: side-necked turtles and hidden-necked turtles. They differ exactly how you'd expect - side neck turtles will retract their heads via the side of the body, curling it around the circumference, while hidden-necked turtles curl their neck into the body, pulling the head directly back into the shell. Most turtles - and all tortoises - fall into the hidden-necked group, including sea turtles! Turtles vary in size, limb length, head shape, and tail length, and live on every continent in the world today. In general, turtles are omnivorous, though many species show preferences for plants or meat.

ARCHOSAUROMORPHA

We now dive into the rest of this side of the reptile family tree, everything closer to crocodilians and birds than they are to turtles - the Archosauromorphs. During the Triassic, this group took on many different and weird forms, making the entire group one of the most diverse groups of reptiles in terms of species count and differences in shape. All of these animals have a few things in common in their skeleton, though modern archosaur features took a while to evolve. Animals such as Sharovipteryx, the long-tailed reptile that used its legs for gliding membranes, the end-Permian survivor Protorosaurus, the *ridiculously* long-necked Tanystropheus, and aquatic Dinocephalosaurus were all early branching members of this group. But as we get closer to Archosaurs proper, we see more and more weirdness.

Allokotosaurs

Allokotosaurs were weird large herbivores, with sprawling limbs and long tails, as well as short necks and boxy heads. They lived throughout the Triassic and were just bizarre. Some species even had horny beaks in the front of their jaws to help clip off plant material. One species, Teraterpeton, had a long, downward-pointing mouth. Other species had long, thin necks to reach higher vegetation. And, to just round out the craziness that is this group, Shringasaurus falls in here - a weird reptile with a sprawling body, shorter tail, long neck, small head, and horns on its head. Just for funsies. These herbivorous behemoths were some of the most unique animals of the Triassic Period.

Rhynchosaurs

During the Triassic, there was a group of small, quadrupedal Archosauromorphs that really showcase the fun of convergent evolution. See, these little animals? Were Archosauromorphs doing their best to be rodents, long before rodents would ever appear. These little herbivores had short tails, stout bodies, short limbs, and front teeth that grew long for gnawing on plants - much like living rodents. Some got as long as two meters, and these were a fixture of much of the Triassic, before going extinct during the end-Triassic extinction.

Proterosuchids

Proterosuchids were a group of Archosauriformes - so still Archosauromorphs, but now getting closer to proper Archosaurs - that were a group of predators that really capitalized on the whole End Permian Mass Extinction thing. Found only in the latest Permian and earliest Triassic, these were medium sized reptiles with long tails and stout bodies. Their heads were long and narrow, with a hooked upper jaw interlocking with the lower jaw. They looked superficially like crocodilians, but lacked the scutes that are found in said group.

Erythrosuchids

The next group to branch off, the Triassic Erythrosuchids were the apex predators of the Early and Middle Triassic, before Pseudosuchians really took over later on. They were extremely large, reaching between 2.5 and 5 meters long, with huge heads and robust bodies. When I say huge heads, I *mean* huge heads - they were robust and deep, and the upper jaw has a distinct dip that goes down lower than the lower jaw, giving their heads a very characteristic shape. They also are some of the first animals to have the Archosaur Hip Shape, so they only had a semi-sprawling posture - their limbs were more nimble!

Euparkeria

Many people have heard of Euparkeria. They even think it's a dinosaur ancestor. Well, it's not, not really. Euparkeria goes around here in the Archosaur tree, closer to living Archosaurs than the Erythrosuchids but not as close as the next group. In truth, Euparkeria is very similar to what we'd expect the common ancestor of both crocodilians and dinosaurs to be like, with fairly upright limbs - though recent studies indicate it was only quadrupedal, not capable of bipedalism. It had a long, rectangular skull, similar to early members of proper Archosauria, and osteoderms (scutes) on its back. This little guy from the Early Triassic gives us a hint as to how Archosaurs came about, with the specialized ankles we'd see in the Archosaur group first showing up in Euparkeria.

Proterochampsia

The closest group to living Archosaurs, Proterochampsians were weirdly crocodilian like, to the point of often being found to be in the crocodile line of Archosaurs! These were Triassic reptiles shaped very much like living crocodilians, with long wide bodies and tails, and very long triangular skulls. They had sprawling limbs, and scutes along their backs and bodies. The heavy osteoderms are well documented in a fully aquatic member, Vancleavea. In fact, on that side of the group, the animals had less of a crocodilian like head and more of small, tempered heads, possibly due to different lifestyles.

Phytosaurs

Okay, these guys are either actually in the crocodilian line or just outside of Archosauria, it's a huge question. They were also weirdly crocodile like reptiles that lived during the Triassic, but were distinct from the Proterochampsians. Some had long snouts with conical teeth to eat fish, but others had shorter snouts with differently shaped teeth for eating land animals. They had distinctly serrated teeth, unlike living crocodilians, and didn't have erect or even semi erect gaits like living Archosaurs. Though many specialized for life in the water, this was a very diverse group that was doing a lot of the crocodilian-type jobs of later periods, but weren't crocodilians. They didn't have the secondary palate bone that allows crocodilians to breathe when their mouths are full of water! Weirdly, they were way more heavily armored than crocodilians, with heavy bony scutes and dense abdominal ribs (gastralia) for protection. Finally, they had their nostrils near their eyes, rather than at the end of the snout - allowing for them to breathe while submerged without that secondary bony palate.

ARCHOSAURIA

This is the group of the most recent common ancestor of living crocodilians and birds, and all of that ancestor's descendants. So while everything from Archosauromorpha to this have been closer to Archosaurs to anything else, these are the proper Ruling Reptiles as we currently define them. Archosaurs have teeth set in deep sockets, extra openings in the skull, and a pronounced ridge on their femur. They also only have claws on their first three fingers of the hand - the fourth and fifth, if they have them, lack claws. Archosaurs immediately branched into two groups: Crocodilians and their relatives, versus Birds and their relatives. We will start with the Crocodilians.

Pseudosuchia

A lot of early crocodilian relatives were superficially similar to living members, so they were originally given the name "fake crocodiles" or Pseudosuchia. Then, it turns out, that group was just the ancestors of crocodilians - which underwent many different shifts and turns in their evolution - so that means real crocs are... fake crocs. Remember friends, the names we give these things? Are extremely arbitrary. Do not take them for indicators of what these things are like. Early members had very broad, bulky skulls and even somewhat upright gaits, allowing for active predatory lifestyles. Everything from here until Avemetatarsalia are all Psuedosuchians.

Aetosauriformes

In the Late Triassic, there weren't any armored dinosaurs, but there were Aetosaurs! These animals had extreme armor all over their bodies, with overlapping scutes on their back and often spikes or other armor on their limbs and back. They also had small, triangular heads, built for feasting on a variety of plants! These were extremely common animals, often having weirdly pig-like snouts if you squint, and mostly sprawling limbs. Found worldwide, their armor would have allowed them to be protected from the many varieties of large predator reptile around them, though they still ultimately went extinct during the end-Triassic extinction.

Poposauroids

A group that used to include other animals, this weird hodgepodge of a variety of Triassic Pseudosuchians including sail-backed animals, toothless creatures with beaks, and animals weirdly similar to dinosaurs to the point of being confused with them in the past. All of these crazies had upright limbs, and in the Shuvosaurids, this lead to animals evolving into essentially scaly lithe bipeds, what we used to think dinosaurs looked like! In fact, Effigia and Shuvosaurus both had long necks, beaks in the front of their small mouths, and completely upright postures, making them just straight up look like scaly versions of their dinosaur neighbors like Coelophysis. Alas, the Poposauroids, like many groups, went extinct in the end-Triassic extinction.

Rauisuchians

The top predators of the late Triassic, these were very large terrestrial pseudosuchians, with large boxy heads and upright limbs. This allowed them to move quickly and attack prey efficiently, making them extremely well adapted hypercarnivores. In a lot of ways, Postosuchus and its relatives in this group were convergent with later theropod predatory dinosaurs - even having huge boxy heads like Tyrannosaurs would. This means that what dinosaurs one day perfected, crocodile relatives tried out first! Alas, like most apex predators, they were not immune to mass extinctions, going extinct during the end-Triassic.

Crocodylomorpha

Now, at this point, the line that would lead to living crocodilians - Crocodylomorpha - actually look less like living crocs than the Rauisuchians and Phytosaurs did at the same time! These little reptiles were quadrupedal, thin, and built for running fast - they were lithe creatures built to avoid all of those big scary animals around them. But these were the only Pseudosuchians to survive the end-Triassic! And the first group to branch off here?

Thalattosuchians

During the Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous, a common feature in the oceans were marine crocs - the Thalattosuchians! Still fairly distantly related to modern crocodilians, these reptiles convergently evolved many of the same adaptations for ocean dwelling as the Sauropterygians we met earlier. Some members, like Metriorhynchus, even evolved flippers and a tail fin! They had elongate bodies and very long, thin skulls for catching fish and other animals. They also gave live birth - possibly the only Archosaurs to ever do so!

Many more croc relatives would evolve into a variety of active terrestrial predatory niches, so we're going to jump down to the next major group:

Ziphosuchians

Ziphosuchians were a group of croc relatives that actually lived from the Jurassic until the Miocene, as recently as 11 million years ago. These animals were ridiculously diverse in both diet and lifestyle, with a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some, like Kaprosuchus, straddled the line between aquatic and terrestrial predation; others, like Sebecus, were completely terrestrial and huge predators during the Cenozoic; others had weirdly diverse teeth and thus potentially unique diets; and still others just straight up evolved to eat plants or to be omnivores, even shortening and squishing their skulls to be dubbed by modern researchers as "Pug Crocs". This huge diversity of form and ecology makes Ziphosuchians an intriguing extinct group, one that will benefit from increased research in the future. Some were even built for running around, and others had duck like snouts! This was a very diverse group I recommend learning more about.

Neosuchia

The rest of Pseudosuchia - Neosuchia - are all living crocs and their closest relatives, closer than those Ziphosuchians. Many were very similar to living crocodilians, even filling similar niches, though evolving to do so independently. Some had huge, long jaws, potentially to hold onto a throat pouch for catching large prey during the Cretaceous. Some were slender, marine reptiles, evolving to be aquatic again! The Dyrosaurids were a group of global marine, long-jawed crocs that survived the end-Cretaceous extinction and were some of the only predators in the post-extinction seas other than sharks. They had teeth in deep pits, distinct from other croc relatives. While they never developed flippers like Thalattosuchians, they did adapt their limbs for more efficient marine locomotion.

Crocodylians

Living Crocodylians, a group of Neosuchians, only first appeared at the end of the Cretaceous, and were not the only surviving Pseudosuchians until relatively recently - many other forms, like the Ziphosuchians and Dyrosaurids, lasted until late in the Neogene, within the last 20 million years. Crocodylians have semi-sprawling limbs, lots of scutes all of their bodies, and even hearts like birds, pointing to their close relationship. They are semiaquatic animals, spending time both on land and in the water, and have their nostrils on the ends of their jaws. They have a sturdy second palate that allows them to hold water in their jaws and breathe at the same time! They also have some of the most powerful bite forces of any animal ever. Some extinct forms even did more terrestrial predation. Living species come in two groups - the Alligatorids, which have both caiman and alligators; and Longirostres, which have proper crocodiles and gharials. While most of them look very similar, Gharials have very long narrow snouts, while crocs caimans and alligators all have broader snouts.

That concludes the Pseudosuchia. Now we go back to the base of Archosauria, and look at the other half of their family - the bird line archosaurs!

Avemetatarsalia

All animals closer to birds than to crocodilians fall into this group. But that doesn't mean they were all shaped like living birds, just like so many Pseudosuchians looked very different from living crocodilians! They were originally characterized by having bird like ankles, though now the earliest members of the group lack them. At some point early on, members of this group evolved both warm-blooded metabolism and feathers, and we're not sure where. The earliest members of the group, Aphanosaurs, were semi sprawling long-bodied reptiles, fairly nondescript in appearance. That said, long was just their thing - their vertebrae are weirdly stretched out!

Pterosaurs

Also commonly called "pterodactyls" even though that's... wrong; this is the classical group known as Flying Reptiles, and the next group to branch from the Avemetatarsalia tree! Evolving from thin, lithe, agile floofins - things like Scleromochlus and Lagerpetids - these animals extended their fourth finger extremely long, attaching a membrane of skin and muscle to that dramatically lengthened finger and down to the ankles. Early forms had long tails, with later forms shortening the tails to smaller nubbins. These were the FIRST vertebrates to evolve powered flight. Early forms were fairly generic, but over time they diversified extensively - having diamond tail ends, interlocking long thin teeth in their jaws for catching fish; others grew bristle like teeth for filter feeding small invertebrates; some grew huge bodies, with crests and display structures on their heads like Pteranodon. The Azhdarchids, huge forms that had long necks and giant heads, were some of the most successful members of this group, becoming apex predators in many ecosystems - and no wonder, given they were the largest flying animals ever and stood as tall as giraffes. In general, pterosaurs walked on four limbs, folding up their wings at their sides in order to do so. They first appeared in the Triassic, and, alas, went extinct during the end-Cretaceous extinction. This group is so diverse and fascinating that I could go on forever, so I will leave it here - but feel free to dive into their extensive wikipedia pages!

DINOSAURS

We now move on to Dinosaurs and their closest relatives, the rest of the Avemetatarsalians. We define Dinosauria as the group composed of the two branches of the family - Ornithischians and Saurischians - usually phrased as the Most Recent Common Ancestor of Megalosaurus (a Saurischian) and Iguanodon (an Ornithischian) and all of that ancestor's descendants. Everything from here until the end of our trip through Archosaurs is a dinosaur - including every. single. bird. However, *nothing* outside of these paragraphs are dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are a single group of extremely successful reptiles, unique from all these other reptile groups - and all these other reptile groups are unique from dinosaurs. The main feature dinosaurs have in common? A completely open hip socket, allowing for limbs to be placed directly underneath the body, making dinosaurs very different in locomotion and posture than living nonavian reptiles, and very similar to their living members the birds. Early relatives showcase this evolution from semi-sprawling archosaurs to fully upright dinosaurs. Dinosaurs first appeared in the middle Triassic, though they weren't common until the Late. All the early forms were pretty much the same - small, bipedal animals, with long necks and tails, and fluffy bodies.

Ornithischians

The first main group of dinosaurs are the Ornithischians, which are united in having a small beak in the front of the jaws, called a predentary. It is possible that Silesaurids, once thought to be early Dinosaur relatives - quadrupedal lanky herbivores from the Triassic - fall in this group. All Ornithischians were primarily herbivores. Most of them were small, bipedal herbivores, but four main groups showed up over time: Stegosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Marginocephalians, and Ornithopods. Among the miscellaneous dinosaurs outside of those four groups, however, were interesting weirdos - the toothy and small Heterodontosaurs; the burrowing and armored Thescelosaurs; and, of course, the fluffy Kulindadromeus.

Stegosaurs

Stegosaurs were huge, quadrupedal herbivores with plates and spikes on their backs, necks, and tails. The plates were primarily for display and communication, while the spikes were for both display and self defense. They had very small heads, too, giving them a weird appearance. Alas, Stegosaurs lived mainly in the Jurassic, going extinct in the early Cretaceous... probably. Jury's still out based on some fragmentary fossils and tracks.

Ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs, cousins of Stegosaurs, lived through to the end of the Cretaceous. They were heavily armored dinosaurs, with non-overlapping osteoderm scutes all over their backs and necks and heads. Many had spikes on the sides of their bodies, while other forms grew strengthened tails with clubs at the end for fighting each other. Still others grew weird sharp tail ends, formed from scutes creating a flat surface at the end of a stubby tail. They were not just like turtles, with the scutes evolving from scales rather than a shell evolving from the ribs. In fact, often times the scutes formed distinct rows along the body, not even really touching. There were tons of these dinosaurs throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, only going extinct in the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Marginocephalians

Marginocephalians included both Pachycephalosaurs - the dome-headed dinosaurs - and Ceratopsians, the horned and frilled dinosaurs. Pachycephalosaurs were bipedal animals, with huge domed heads and extremely strengthened tails - allowing them to butt heads and fight each other much like rams today. Ceratopsians had frills on the back of their heads - though in early forms it was very small, like Psittacosaurus - that evolved into large crests for display. Many grew horns on the side of these crests, while others grew huge horns on their faces in a variety of patterns. These horns were great for defense, but primarily served for communication and display, because some - like the curved downward horn of Einiosaurus - weren't really built for defense. Pachycephalosaurs were rare, but Ceratopsians were some of the most common dinosaurs around the world, with both groups only going extinct in the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Ornithopods

Finally, Ornithopods! Ornithopods were cousins of Marginocephalians, much as Ankylosaurs and Stegosaurs were more closely related to each other earlier. Some forms from the southern hemisphere (known as Elasmarians) were weirdly diverse, with lots of different forms from stocky and armored to small and lithe. Rhabdodonts had ridiculously complex teeth for efficient foraging, with some forms being more quadrupedal and others more bipedal. Some of the Ornithopods, Dryosaurids, evolved into extremely fast reptiles, adapted for running quickly away from predators with elongate, lean bodies. The second dinosaur ever described, Iguanodon, is from the Ornithopod group, with huge spike claws on their thumbs. Others, like Ouranosaurus, grew huge sails on their backs. While in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous these animals were well adapted for feeding on dry hard plants, as the world grew more wet in the Late Cretaceous, they adapted to be able to chew on soft mushy plants. This huge group of Ornithopods - the Hadrosaurs- were extremely social animals, living in large herds with complex nesting sites. Some forms even grew huge crests on their heads, connected to their nostrils and lungs - allowing them to blow air through the crests, creating different sounds like brass instruments! What's really weird is that to chew that soft plant material, they grew thousands and thousands of teeth, which formed a single serrated surface for chewing. They also had weirdly long heads, superficially similar to horses; and hooves on their front feet! These diverse dinosaurs also only went extinct due to the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Saurischians

The other branch of the dinosaur family tree were the Saurischians - animals with hollow bones and lungs much like living birds, and it is from this group that birds would evolve. They come in two main flavors: Sauropodomorphs, and Theropods.

Sauropodomorphs

This is where all of the "long-necked" dinosaurs go, as well as their early relatives. In the Triassic, most of these animals were "prosauropods" - an artificial group of dinosaurs that were very successful, and from which proper Sauropods would evolve. Originally small bipedal omnivores, over time Sauropodomorphs grew longer necks, quadrupedal stances, and bulky bodies. The earliest Sauropods appeared in the Triassic, with four pillar like legs and huge torsos. Over time, a variety of different Sauropod groups would evolve. The Mamenchisaurs of Asia had the longest necks of any animal ever - reaching enormous sizes. The stocky Turiasaurs of Europe, North America, and Africa had short stocky necks and sturdy bodies. Diplodocoids included classic dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus and Diplodocus, but also weird squished forms like Brachytrachelopan, sailed ones like Rebbachisaurus, super grazers like Nigersaurus, and the weird spine-neck having Bajadasaurus. However, most sauropods fall into the group Macronaria. These were bulky dinosaurs, but evolved into some of the tallest animals ever in Brachiosaurus and Sauroposeidon. And, from this group evolved the Titanosaurs: The Largest Land Animals Ever. These were the dominant sauropods for the Cretaceous period, and were found on every continent around the world. Some grew to enormous sizes, while others were smaller; some grew armor on their backs, while others weirdly curled their tails into a spiral. Some had humps on their backs, others lost all their toe claws for maximum front limb pillar supportive action. While all other Sauropod groups had gone extinct by this point, Titanosaurs were extremely diverse and common right until the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Theropods

All remaining dinosaurs fall into this group, the Theropods. These were all bipedal animals, and where feathers were regularly retained (other dinosaur groups usually lost their feathers as they grew bigger). Early members, like Coelophysis, had long thin necks and small heads, and were efficient fast predators in the Triassic - though not the dominant ones by any means (that went to the Pseudosuchians). Over time they grew bulkier and more powerful, with display crests on their heads like in Dilophosaurus (note: it did not have a neck frill, it did not spit poison).

Ceratosaurs

The first big grouping of Theropods to diverge were the Ceratosaurs, which were bulky predators with huge skulls and progressively smaller arms. Many had horns on their heads and armor on their bodies. Some forms remained small and thin, like Masiakasaurus, and even evolved herbivory, like Limusaurus. Others, the Abelisaurs, evolved very long thick bodies - sosig/sausage bodies - and teeny tiny arms for display purposes. They primarily caught and ate other animals with their huge, sturdy, square shaped jaws.

Megalosaurs & Allosauroids

On the line leading to birds, many different types of large predators evolved. Megalosaurs - of which the first named dinosaur, Megalosaurus, is a member - were lean predators with long arms and long heads, found across Europe and North America. One group, the Spinosaurids, evolved to be huge heron like predators, living at or near the water and scooping up fish and other animals - even creating pouches in their mouths to do so. Some evolved huge sails on their backs, presumably for display. Efficient, flexible jawed hypercarnivores - the Allosauroids - appeared in the Jurassic and were some of the largest predatory dinosaurs to ever live, lasting until the mid Cretaceous.

Coelurosaurs

Coelurosaurs contains all the rest of the Theropods, and these were very birdlike animals with more complex feathers and brains more similar to birds. Here we had Megaraptors, huge predators with giant hand claws. They were also very unique in another way. Outside of mammals, terapods are not able to turn their wrists inward, ie, form "bunny hands", rendering the "T. rex" pose that many people do to mimic dinosaurs extremely inaccurate, and all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park et al have very broken wrists. However, Megaraptors? Could turn their wrists inward. So, I guess everyone was just mimicking Australovenator this whole time, or something.

Tyrannosaurs

Tyrannosaurs were a huge group of Coelurosaurs with a variety of different members - some were small fast bipeds covered in floof with display crests on their heads; while others were bulky predators evolving bigger and bigger heads. The bulkiest known land predator, Tyrannosaurus, was one of the last members of this group. Tyrannosaurs evolved shorter and shorter arms in order to grow stronger, bigger heads - and were some of the most highly adapted carnivores in history. They lived throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and only went extinct thanks to the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Maniraptoriformes

Many different types of small, bipedal floofins evolved in Coelurosaurs - things like Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, and Ornitholestes. These animals progressively evolved more feathers on their arms, until finally in Maniraptoriformes we see the appearance of bird-like wings. The "Ostrich Mimics" - even though they came first - Ornithomimosaurs were dinosaurs that essentially looked like modern ostriches but with long, bony tails. These fluffy dinosaurs had simple wings on their arms for display. Some members grew huge and weird - Deinocheirus, the Demon Duck, was a huge herbivore with giant arms and a hump on its back. Evolution is amazing like that. The Alvarezsaurs remained small, and their front limbs shortened until they had a single claw on each wing - allowing them to dig up bugs and other animals from hard to reach places. Therzinosaurs grew to be upright in posture, with huge hand claws and pot bellies, allowing them to digest huge quantities of plants.

Oviraptorosaurs

The Chickenparrots - Oviraptorosaurs - were herbivorous dinosaurs with near-modern wings. They had shortened tails, and long necks, and squat bodies. They lived throughout the Cretaceous and were extremely common. Some members had huge crests on their heads; most of the later members had huge, parrot-like beaks as well. Honestly, Oviraptorosaurs were very weird and charismatic dinosaurs, and mainly ate an omnivorous to herbivorous diet.

Scansoriopterygids

At this point, one of the weirdest dinosaur groups - the Scansoriopterygids - diverged. They didn't live for very long, only found in the Jurassic of China; but they evolved membraneous wings between their fingers, making them - essentially - actual (small) wyverns.

Dromaeosaurs

Dromaeosaurs - "raptor" dinosaurs - are where we see the first signs of flight in dinosaurs, with Microraptor having wings on its arms and legs allowing for a clumsy version of flight. Most members couldn't fly, but they came in a lot of weird shapes and sizes - with some even being semi aquatic and shaped like geese! They had sickle claws on their feet, which were good for stabbing strategically at certain places in their prey, leading to the prey bleeding out. They would hold their prey steady by rapidly flapping their wings, which they could also do to move quickly up steep surfaces. These predators ranged in size from very small to bear sized, though Velociraptor - the most famous one - was only the size of a coyote. All of them - ALL of them - were feathered like living birds.

Troodontids and early Avialae

Their cousins, the Troodontids - which may or may not be closer to birds, we don't know - were also very bird like, but more slender in proportion and with smaller sickle claws. Interestingly, they had some of the largest brains for their bodies among Mesozoic ("nonavian") dinosaurs. Other forms similar to them - may or may not be in a group with them - called Anchisaurids, still retained the leg wings of Microraptor and co. Many of these animals have been preserved with complex, fluffy feathers, similar to living birds. Still similar yet, Archaeopteryx didn't have four wings, but did have fluffy legs and sickle claws on its feet similar to Troodontids and Anchisaurids. One dinosaur, Jeholornis, evolved to eat seeds; while another, Sapeornis, was one of the first dinosaurs to try out a lifestyle similar to living birds of prey.

Enantiornithines

At this point, dinosaurs lost their bony tails and grew shortened, fused tails - the tails of modern birds. They tried out lots of different forms with this - dinosaurs with ribbon tail feathers like Confuciusornis, and then the Opposite Birds, or Enantiornithines. See, living birds have a concave joint location on the coracoid (shoulder bone) and a convex joint on the scapula to link to it; in Enantiornithines, the concave joint is the scapula, and the convex is the coracoid. Enantiornithines were extremely common, with countless forms across the Cretaceous period - some were waders, others were like birds of prey, some even adapted to look like toucans with teeth. Still, all of them went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

Euornithes

The line to true birds, with the correct wing articulation, wasn't quite as diverse, but had many members. Many of these animals were adapted for water based life, while others evolved to be large flightless animals. Others were simple tree dwelling birds, living alongside the similar looking Enantiornithines. The closer you get to living birds, the more teeth were lost - and the modern bird beak began to evolve. Still, teeth are found in the closest relatives to modern birds, Ichthyornis and the Hesperornithes. Hesperornithes were a group of Cretaceous dinosaurs that evolved for aquatic life, spending all their time in the water hunting fish - kind of looking like a toothy penguin or loon.

NEORNITHES

All remaining dinosaurs fall into Neornithes, the least inclusive group that still has all living birds, a derived clade of the Theropods. These were the only dinosaurs to survive the end-Cretaceous extinction. You can literally divide dinosaurs based on that extinction - everyting above this, from the Mesozoic; everything below this, from the Cenozoic. Today, half of all reptiles - over 10,000 species, possibly up to 20,000 - are birds. There is no way for me to go over all birds without losing my mind, so I'm going to summarize them as simply as I can. But these dinosaurs are, as you can see, firmly nested in the dinosaur family tree - there is no way to separate them out. What follows is the world's most efficient description of bird diversity ever.

Palaeognaths

The first major division is between Palaeognaths and Neognaths. Palaeognaths include ratites like Ostriches, Cassowaries, and Emu, but also the flighted Tinamou. It seems that this group evolved flightlessness multiple times, and did not all stem from a flighted ancestor - an extinct group, the Lithornithids, were fully flighted, tree dwelling dinosaurs of the Paleocene and Eocene (right after the end-Cretaceous extinction). Neognaths contains all other birds.

Galloanserans

Neognaths contains Fowl - chickens, ducks, and relatives - and all other birds. The fowl group, Galloanserae, has some of the only Neornithines we have fossils of from the Cretaceous. These animals come in a wide variety of forms - including the extinct, large, flightless Gastornis and Mihirungs. Ducks, Geese, Swans, Screamers, and Magpie-Geese all fall into the Waterfowl side of Galloanserae; while Chickens, Pheasants, Megapodes, Partridges, Grouse, Curassow, Guineafowl, Quail, Guans, and Chachalacas are on the Landfowl side.

One group of birds, the extinct pseudotoothed Pelagornithids, resist classification - it's unclear where they go, but they might actually be closely related to the fowl. These were some of the largest flying birds ever, and had eldritch horror mouths. Birds can't reevolve teeth - they lost the genes for enamel - so instead, some make their tongues sharp, while Pelagornithids just decided to eff up their jaws.

Neoaves

Now, the rest of birds are in Neoaves, which seems to have arisen at the very end of the Cretaceous and diversified extremely rapidly at the start of the Paleocene. This means their evolutionary relationships are a MESS and we don't really know what goes where between here and Telluraves. Different groups of these miscellaneous Neoavians include Mirandornithes (flamingos, grebes, and the extinct giant swimming flamingos), Columbimorphs (pigeons, mesites, and sandgrouse), Otidimorphs (bustards, cuckoos, and maybe turacos), Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, potoo, frogmouth, nightbirds - the flying specialist clade), Gruiformes (cranes and rails), Charadriiformes (waders, gulls, and auks), Eurypygimorphs (Sunbittern, Kagu, and Tropicbirds), and Aequornithes (water birds). Aequornithes is an extremely diverse group, including loons, penguins, albatross, petrels, storks, boobies, cormorants, herons, ibises, shoebill, hamerkop, and pelicans - as well as an extinct group, the Plotopterids, which were boobies doing their best penguin impression! There's also the Hoatzin, which is a mysterious bird among these mysteriously related birds, that doesn't really go with anything - but man, does it smell.

Telluraves

The rest of birds fall into Telluraves, known as the tree dwelling birds, which evolved from a predatory common ancestor. These include the Accipitrimorphs, which fall into Cathartiformes - Western Hemisphere Vultures, including the Teratorns that went extinct recently - and Accipitriformes, which includes all hawks, eagles, buzzards, Eastern Hemisphere vultures, the Secretarybird, kites, and other diurnal birds of prey that aren't falcons or seriemas. Owls, aka nocturnal birds of prey, form another group in this clade, with many weird extinct forms - including the stilt-owls. Coraciimorphs are a major group of Telluraves, which includes mouse birds, cuckoo roller, trogons, quetzals, hornbills, kingfishers, hoopoe, and woodpeckers - this extremely diverse group of tree dwellers is found worldwide and includes so many weird animals (have y'all seen how the tongue works in woodpeckers? Yeah).

Australaves

Australaves is the last remaining clade, still within Telluraves, and its a group of birds that arose in Australasia. The first group to diverge were the Seriemas and their relatives, which includes all the Terror Birds - one of the most successful predator bird lineages ever, with tons of species that carried on the theropod legacy excellently in South America and then North America, only going extinct due to the ice age. Next to diverge are the falcons and caracacaras, which are very different and separated from the other diurnal birds of prey we discussed above - and also, very cute. Next up? Parrots! Finally! Parrots includes everything from the Kakapo to the Macaw, and had a lot of huge varieties over their evolution.

Passeriformes

Sister to Parrots, our last bird group, within Australaves, and including HALF of all bird species, are the Passerines - Perching Birds. Literally, there are more species of Passerines - just one group of birds - than there are of all mammals. I'm going to list them now as simply as I can, but just know, there are so many of these, and they are very diverse and very colorful and very weird and they include the second smartest animal on earth after people, the members of the genus Corvus. So, Perching Birds include New Zealand Wrens, Asities, Broadbills, Sapayoa, Pittas, Crescentchests, Gnateaters and Gnatpittas, Antbirds, Antpittas, Tapaculos, Antthrushes, Ovenbirds, Woodcreepers, Manakins, Cotingas (including the Cock of the Rock), Tityras, Tyrant Flycatchers, Scrub-Birds, Lyrebirds, Australian treecreepers, Bowerbirds, Fairywrens, Emu-wrens, Grasswrens, Bristlebirds, Pardalotes, Scrubwrens, Thornbills, Gerygones, Honeyeaters, Pseudo-babblers, Logrunners, Jewel-Babblers, Quail-Thrushes, Cuckooshrikes, Trillers, Whiteheads, Sittellas, Whipbirds, Wattled Ploughbill, Shirketits, Australo-Papuan Bellbirds, Painted Berrypeckers, Vireos, Whistlers, Oriols, Figbirds, Boatbills, Woodswallows, Butcherbirds, Currawongs, Australian Magpie, Berryhunters, Shrikes, Boubous, Tchagras, Bristleheads, Ioras, Wattle-eyes, Batises, Vangas, Fantails, Drongos, Flycatchers, Ifrits, Birds of Paradise, Choughs, Apostlebirds, Melampittas, Jayshrikes, Crows, Ravens, Jays, Satinbirds, Berrypeckers, New Zealand Wattlebirds, Longbills, Stitchbirds, Australian Robins, Rail Babblers, Rockfowl, Rock jumpers, Hyliotas, Fairy Flycatchers, Tits, chickadees, Titmice, Reedlings, Larks, Nicators, Warblers, Crombecs, Cisticolas, Reed Warblers, Grassbirds, Donacobius, Malagasy Warblers, Wren-Babblers, Swallows, Martins, Bulbuls, Babblers, Parrotbills, White-eyes, Laughinthrushes, Fulvettas, Leaf-warblers, Hylias, Bushtits, Scrub Warblers, Bush Warblers, Yellow FLycatchers, Palmchats, Waxwings, Silky Flycatchers, Hylocitrea, Hypocolius, Hawaiian Honeyeaters, Elachura, Dippers, Chats, Thrushes, Oxpeckers, Starlings, Rhabdorns, Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Goldcrests, Kinglets, Wallcreeper, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Gnatcatchers, Wrens, Sugarbirds, Dapple-Throat, Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Leafbirds, Fairy-Bluebirds, Olive Warbler, Przewalski's Finch, Weavers, Indigobirds, Whydahs, Waxbills, Munias, Accentors, Sparrows, Snowfinches, Wagtails, Pipits, Finches, Euphonias, Thrush-Tanagers, Longspurs, Buntings, Cardinals, Mitrospingid Tanagers, regular Tanagers, Yellow Breasted Chat, Grackles, Blackbirds, Orioles, Wrentthrush, a bunch of weird warblers, spindalises, and Hispaniolan Tanagers.

Why the fuck are passerines so diverse, you ask? Apparently their genetic makeup leads to speciation at the drop of a hat. It's wild.

And that, my friends, is all dinosaurs. Everything from the Dinosaur header to now.

Let's go back to the base of Sauria! Take it back now y'all!

LEPIDOSAUROMORPHA

Finally, the other half of the Saurian tree! Lepidosauromorphs, unlike Archosaurs, kept a fully sprawling gait, but had a sliding joint in the shoulder blade chest area to allow for longer strides while moving, and pleurodont teeth - teeth fused to the inner surface of the jaw bone. They also retain the Parietal Eye - a small "third eye" on the top of the head found in earlier reptiles and amphibians - which is not found in Archosaurs or Turtles. Thus, these are extremely unique reptiles - though they superficially look similar to many of the reptile groups we've covered, they have adaptations for more efficient feeding and locomotion. In addition, many Lepidosaurs - including Tuatara and many forms of lizard - have tail autonomy, meaning, they can shed their tail and regrow it in order to elude predators, a feature not found in Archosaurs. This group is the group of Lizards, Snakes, and Tuatara, and all of their extinct relatives - things closer to them than to the Archosaur side of the tree.

Kuehneosaurids

Unlike Archosaurs, Lepidosaurs don't have a lot of varied and diverse extinct relatives - while Archosauromorpha is filled to the brim with weirdos, Lepidosauromorphs only have a few isolated forms showing the evolution to Lepidosaurs, and possibly the Kuehneosaurids. Kuehneosaurids were another experiment in reptilian gliding via rib extinctions, living entirely in the Triassic and completley separate from the Weigeltisaurids from earlier. They were insectivores, with pin like teeth, and very small heads. Some members were capable of gliding, while others were only really good at leaping from branch to branch.

Crown Lepidosaurs are made up of two groups: Rhynchocephalians (Tuatara) and Squamates (lizards and snakes).

Rhynchocephalia

Today, there is only one: the Tuatara. In the past, they were everywhere, extremely common reptiles found around the world, especially in the Triassic and Jurassic. Compeletely separate from lizards, these reptiles had fused skull bones into a bar across the top of each side of the head, and unique teeth for digesting a wide variety of food. While the only living member looks superficially like lizards, extinct species took many forms - including one that had very small legs and a very elongate body for simming through the water (Pleurosaurus). Sapheosaurids had huge broad tooth plates, allowing them to eat hard shelled organisms. Today, the living Tuatara doesn't replace its teeth during its life, leading to a changing diet from childhoood to adulthood, switching from hard prey to softer prey as they age. Today, they are only found in Aotearoa.

Squamates

All remaining reptiles - including just as many species as birds - are the Squamates, otherwise known as lizards and snakes. Squamates aren't just generic reptiles, but highly specialized animals with very unique adaptations. They have horny scales all over their body that have to be shed via moulting, and are very differently formed than the scales found in Archelosaurs. They have movable bones in the quadrate, allowing the upper jaw to move independently. In addition, viviparity - giving birth to live young rather than eggs - evolved multiple times in Squamates, across a variety of members. And they varied extensively in size, with extremely small members less than an inch long, to huge marine members that are long extinct.

The first group to diverge are the Dibamids, or Blind Skinks, which are small insectivorous lizards that burrow into the soil. They also lack limbs, but will not be the last lizards to lose their limbs.

Gekkotans

Next up are the Gekkos - small, mainly carnivorous lizards found everywhere but Antarctica. They have a variety of clicking and chirping sounds, unique among lizards, and have loud mating calls. They are usually nocturnal, and many have specialized toe pads, allowing them to grab and climb on smooth and vertical surfaces. There are over a thousand species of Gekkos alone.

Scincomorphs

Next are the Skinks and their close relatives, the Scincomorphs. This has a lot of different forms, including many extinct ones. These lizards have cone shaped heads with very large and symmetrical scales, forming kind of a shield over their bodies. These scales are smooth and glossy. They have dermal armor, as well, and long tapering tails. There are over a thousand species, and many are found in the desertws of Australia and temperate areas of North America. Girdled Lizards, Spinytail Lizards, and Night Lizards all fall into this group along with Skinks.

Lacertoidea

Up next are the Lacertoids, a big group of diverse lizards united by having tile-like scales on their bodies, which form characteristic rings in Amphisbaenians. Members include the Amphisbaenians - aka worm lizards, yet another lizard group that lost their legs - as well as the Wall Lizards (Lacertids), Largescale Lizards (Alopoglossids), Spectacled Lizards (Gymnophthalmids), Whiptails, Racerunners, and Tegus (Teiids). This group also has over a thousand species with a variety of ecologies - and some members even are capable of parthenogenesis! Most Lacertoids are small or medium sized, though Tegus get quite big. They are slender lizards, with long tails, and a wide vareity of colors.

Toxicofera

All remaining squamates - literally all - fall into a single group, the Toxicoferans. As the name suggests, these reptiles have in common the presence of venemous members - species that produce venom and are able to deliver it to prey via biting. In fact, venom seems to have only evolved the once in reptiles: in th ancestor of this group, Toxicofera (see why a venomous Dilophosaurus, a dinosaur very far removed from this group, was ridiculous?). Containing half to sixty percent of all Squamates, Toxicoferans are to Squamates as Passerines are to Birds. There's just SO many of them. We used to not know about this group, because they don't have morphological similarities other than the venom - but thanks to genetic studies, we have been able to recover it with genomic phylogenetics. Evolution sure is fun! They first appeared in the Late Triassic, meaning all these other lizard groups diverged rapidly during that period. Toxicoferans have two main groups: Iguanians with Anguimorphs, and Snakes.

Anguimorphs

Anguimorphs include a lot of different varied lizards, such as beaded lizards, Gila Monster, Knob-Scaled Lizards, Galliwasps, American Legless Lizards, Glass Lizards, Alligator Lizards, Crocodile Lizards, and Monitor Lizards. As such, it includes the largest living lizard species, the Komodo Dragon! These reptiles can have limbs or be limbless, can have long tails or short tails, can give birth to live young, feed on insects, be hypercarnivores, be semiaquatic, or even have well developed limbs for climbing. There were also many extinct forms of this group, which were venomous and often very dangerous predators in their Mesozoic environments.

Polyglyphanodontians

A completely extinct group of lizards, these reptiles were relatives of Iguanians and were the dominant type of lizard across North America and Asia during the Cretaceous and earliest Paleogene. Many had large, blunt teeth for crushing food; others were specialized herbivores with iguana like teeth; and yet others had blade like teeth for shearing plants. Most went extinct at the end-Cretaceous, with only one form surviving into the Cenozoic and going extinct in the Eocene.

Iguanians

Iguanians, the remainder of the non-snake lizards, includes two thousand species of Iguanas, Chameleons, Anoles, Phrynosomatids, Agamids, and more - such as Collared Lizards, Leopard Lizards, Helmet Lizards, Curly-Tailed Lizards, Spiny Lizards, Swift Lizards, and Tree Lizards. Most are arboreal, but many are terrestrial. They have non-prehensile tongues, which are extremely unique and modified in Chameleons. Most are found in the Western Hemisphere, though many are found on islands around the world.

Mosasaurs

A group of large marine lizards, closely related to snakes (which we will visit next), these huge predators were a fixture of the Late Cretaceous seas, before going extinct during the end-Cretaceous extinction. These reptiles over time turned their legs into flippers, and developed fins on their tails, completely adapting for aquatic life. They had bodies similar to living monitor lizards, but elongated and streamlined for swimming. They would swim through the water with strong tail propulsions, similar to sharks and ichthyosaurs. They probably would rapidly pounce on prey, swimming extremely fast to catch them by surprise. Many were adapted for eating on shelly hard prey, while others were more adapted for feeding on fish and other vertebrates (such as other marine reptiles). They had double hinged jaws and flexible skulls allowing them to swallow huge prey whole. They gave birth to live young, and had a lot of similar adaptations for marine life to living cetaceans - kind of making them the lizard version of whales, especially given they were warm blooded. They had diamond shaped scales over their body, similar to their living relatives, the snakes.

Ophidians

Snakes and their relatives, Ophidians, are our last group of Squamates. Firmly nested in the group, more closely related to some lizards (Iguanians and Anguimorphs) than to others, this makes snakes - by every definition - a kind of lizard. This bothers a lot of people, but there's no way around it: Snakes are highly adapted lizards. They had many extinct relatives, where all living snakes are in the group Serpentes. Early relatives, such as Lapparentophiids and Simoliophiids, show the evolution of snakes from their lizard ancestors. Some indicators show that snakes may have originally been marine - which explains the whole "Mosasaurs are closest to snakes" thing, at least somewhat. Some early fossils even showcase the reduction of the limbs, which would be lost entirely in proper snakes. However, most researchers think snakes certainly started out as burrowers, with an early relative Najash in the Cretaceous being a terrestrial burrowing animal and the even earlier Tetrapodophis also showing adpatations for burrowing life. Snakes first arose in the Cretaceous, and exploded in diversity during the Cenozoic. The puzzle of snake and mosasaur evolution is one that many scientists are actively working to solve - did snakes start as burrowers, or swimmers?

Madtsoiids

One group of snakes, the Madtsoiids, evolved in the Late Cretaceous and persisted up until the Pleistocene - so very recently - in Australia. Including some of the longest snakes known, they were either just outside the group of living snakes or the first group of them to split out (or maybe they aren't a natural group, but this post is already too long so I'll leave that there). They didn't have the highly mobile jaws of living snakes, so they couldn't swallow large prey, but they did have strong trunks to allow them to squeeze their prey like living boids. If this is a natural group, they only went extinct probably due to the climate change of the Pleistocene, or maybe due to human activity.

Scolecophidians

The nexzt group to diverge are blind and thread snakes, which definitely bolsters the burrowing idea, as many of these snakes have extremely reduced eyes and spend their lives burrowing in the ground. These snakes only use one lung and one oviduct, presumably to make themselves more streamlined and efficient for burrowing life. They do sometimes come up after rain, which is usually the only time you can see them - they do this to escape flooding in their burrows. These are small snakes, found across the world.

Amerophidians

Amerophidians, which is a very small group of unique snakes, includes the American Pipe Snake, Dwarf Boas, and Thunder Snakes. Most members of this group aren't venemous. They have very striking color patterns and are found in South and Central America. Some species are arboreal, while others mainly spend their time burrowing underground. The American Pipe Snake especially eats a very wide variety of other animals, including Caecilians, Amphisbaenids, other snakes, fish, and frogs.

Uropeltoids

This next group of snakes includes shield tailed snakes, earth snakes, pipe and cylinder snakes, and dwarf pipe snakes. These snakes are also burrowers, ranging across South and Southeast Asia. They are nonvenemous, and have distinctive patterns on their bodies. These are some of the most enigmatic snakes, with many poorly understood by researchers. They eat a variety of food, including small invertebrates as well as other snakes and vertebrates.

Pythonoids

Pythons and snakes closer to pythons than to Boas or Caenophidians are what we find in this group, though it's unclear how they're related to those two other groups (the three of them together make up most snakes). Pythons are nonvenomous snakes, suffocating their prey to kill it, and are found across Africa Asia and Australia (with invasive forms in Florida thanks to pet release and one species just native to Mexico). They are ambush predators, hiding to strike prey by surprise. Many forms have very iridescent scales, and some species do burrow and spend most of their time underground before coming up to hunt for frogs and small mammals. They reproduce with eggs.

Booids

Boas, anacondas, tree boas, and their relatives fall into this group, which are extremely common snakes in the Americas and also found in other continents around thew orld. They also, interestingly, have vestigial hindlimbs, that are spurs near the vent region. They, like pythons, kill their prey with Constriction, but can eat prey up to the size of tapirs - even swallowing prey whole, taking weeks to fully digest. They don't crush their prey to death, but rather kill them with suffocation. Unlike pythons, most booids give birth to live young.

Caenophidians

This is our last reptile group, and it includes 80% of all living snake species - basically every snake not previously mentioned. As such, this includes file snakes, racer snakes, odd-scaled snakes, snail-eaters, vipers, water snakes, mudsnakes, cobras, coral snakes, sea snakes, mole snakes, sand snakes, shovel-snouts, burrowing asps, stiletto snakes, hognose snakes, ratsnakes, and so many more. Venemous snakes - like vipers and cobras, including rattlesnakes - are in this group, but not all members are venemous. These snakes are found all around the world, and feed on a wide variety of prey items, including other snakes and lizards.

And those are the reptiles. So many weird extinct forms, so many diverse living ones, the age of reptiles did not end with the Mesozoic - instead, it adapted into the wonderful forms we see today.

I hope you enjoyed this, as long as it was, and thanks for reading!

#reptiles #lizards #dinosaurs #birds #turtles #snakes #crocodilians #tuatara #pterosaurs #plesiosaurs #ichthyosaurs #parareptiles #prehistoric life #repblr #sciblr #palaeoblr #birblr

[usedtobecooler]

hehe can you write an eddie x reader where he wants to have sex and the reader says they just wanna cuddle and eddie gives up and just accepts his faith as little spoon…

BUT THEN

the reader takes pity on him and jerks him off as they whisper dirty stuff in his ear (he is still little spoon tho) 👉👈

I JUST SAW A TIK TOK ABOUT THIS AND WAS LIKE YES EDDIE

wait no because i love this!!!

Pairing | Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Warnings | sexual content (18+ minors dni), handjobs, dirty talk, dacryphilia, somnophilia, coercion and guilt tripping? (idk if it could be counted as that but i'm putting a warning anyway), sub!eddie, fluff, aftercare.

Word Count | 1.7k

A/N | i got carried away with this i truly apologise

Eddie loved to be looked after. He loved that your own love language was acts of service, you always aimed to care for him in any way he needed. Which, at this moment in time, was in the form of him being huddled in as the little spoon whilst you laid behind him, petting his side soothingly and attempting to lull you both to sleep.

He was making himself obvious, shifting his hips back and forth in a feeble attempt to shake your hand lower, have it brush on the waistband of his underwear. You'd had a long day, you were worn out, tired and in desperate need of a nap before dinner. Eddie's antics were bothering you, and you huffed out particularly loud in his ear in annoyance.

You move your hand back up to rest in the dip of his waist, squeezing a little, "Eds, please don't do this. I just wanna cuddle and have a nap, I really don't want to be touching your dick right now."

"Please?" Eddie's voice is quiet, barely more than a whisper and it's so child-like, pathetic almost, "Promise it'll be quick then we can go sleep."

"Eddie," Your voice is firm, snappier than before, enough to have him freezing under your touch, "I said no. If you don't want to have a nap, get the fuck out of bed and go jack off in the bathroom so I can sleep in peace."

The way Eddie whines like a wounded puppy makes your heart ache a little, your heavy eyes suddenly snapping open and a sad feeling sitting deep in your chest. You didn't like having to tell him no, you rarely ever did tell him no. Anything Eddie ever wanted or needed you were always willing to do, so for him to be rejected by you so harshly must've stung.

It's quiet for a moment and you can hear Eddie's breathing slowing and evening out, clearly giving up on the idea of you helping relieve him and succumbing to a sleep he so obviously needed.

For being so tired before, suddenly you're wide awake with a pang of guilt in your gut and the urge to help him. To give him what he wanted - what he needed. Your hand makes its way subconsciously down to the front of his boxers, the obvious tent still there from the semi he had before he fell asleep.

You gingerly brush your fingertips along the outline of his clothed dick, feeling it kick up a little in interest at the mere touch. You smirk a little bit, unable to contain it - Eddie was always so easy for you. Sometimes all you had to do was look at him and that was enough to have his cock hard.

You press yourself flusher against his back so you can reach around him further, dip your hand into his underwear to get a good feel of his bare cock. Even when it was mostly soft it was still big, thick enough that your hand struggled to wrap around it properly. Your cunt fluttered, thinking about how good he felt when he was inside of you.

Eddie grows hard without you really having to do much, a quick little half-hearted tug and a sweep across his balls having him fully erect. His breathing isn't so even now, somewhat shaky and lighter, your movements clearly rousing him from his sleep.

You're torturously slow with it, deliberately avoiding the mushroom head of his cock in favour of moving up and down the shaft. Not enough pressure to be really working him out, but just enough to leave him keening into your touch in a silent beg for more.

He moans quietly, hips shifting into your hand to try and get you to inch further up. You remove your hand from his underwear in an instant, pinching his side, "Hey, if I'm doing this I'm doing it my way, handsome. Be a good boy and spit in my hand for me."

Eddie whines, grabbing a hold of your wrist to bring your palm up to his mouth, a glob of spit leaving his open lips and sliding wetly into your hand. He shuffles his boxers down below his ass without having to be asked or told, letting his bare cock slap up against his tummy.

You glide your spit-soaked hand back down to his dick, deftly swiping your palm around the head to get it nice and wet, making the drag of your hand sweet against Eddie's flushed skin.

Every swipe of your hand down the length of his cock is slow, languid like you're doing it for fun and not to help him chase his orgasm. You liked to watch Eddie squirm, leave him a whining, panting mess under your fingers. He's quiet, clearly trying to hold it together and stop himself from speaking or moving. It's cute how good he wants to be for you.

"Poor baby, wanting attention so bad he had to beg for it," Your voice is condescending in the way you know Eddie likes, his cock confirms it when it kicks up in your hand, "you're my little slut, always so easy for me."

Eddie whimpers, feeling overwhelmed by the slow drag of your hand sliding up and down his cock so good, the occasional thumb over his head making his legs shake, "Y-you're so good to me," his voice is broken, wet and coarse, "make me feel so, ahh, g-good."

The way Eddie speaks has you clenching your thighs, wanting to give into him and give him what he wants, jerk him off fast and hot until he’s coming all over your hand.

Your fist speeds up a bit on his cock, twisting a little, thumb running over the head just to hear him moan, “That’s it, open your mouth and make those pretty noises for me. Love when you whine like a little bitch, Eds. It’s like music to my ears.”

Eddie grips onto your hip, fingertips pressing harsh little indents into your soft skin, enough to have your cunt fluttering. He’s crying, you can tell by the soft little hiccups he’s making and the way he sniffles. Your tummy flips, something so beautiful about having him totally submissive and at your mercy like this.

“What is it handsome? Hmm?” Your voice is soft yet harsh in the air, breaking up the noises of your slick fist working Eddie’s cock and his choked off sobs, “Y’need to come?”

Eddie nods his head, mass of curls running across your face at the movement. You take mercy on him, fist working him faster, grip tightening just a little in the way you knew he liked. Eddie’s moans fill the room, his hips jerking ever so slightly as he fights to lie still like you’d told him to.

“Bet you’ve been thinking about this all day,” You continue, hand coming down to run over his balls and squeeze ever so slightly before wrapping them back around his cock, “probably even got hard behind the counter at work over it. Fuck, that’s so hot. Are you that easy for me?”

“Yes, baby. Baby, you’re so amazing, fuck,” Eddie’s babbling nonsense, his whiney voice sounding almost pathetic, “please, don’t stop.”

“Really? I’m amazing?” You coo in his ear, teeth grazing the shell lightly, enough to elicit another beautiful moan from his lips, “Do you think you really deserve to come, handsome? After guilting me into this?”

Eddie bites out a wet sob, nodding his head, “Please, sweetheart. M’begging here, please.” His voice is absolutely wrecked, has you moaning in his ear in return, loving the fact that you made him like this only from your hand.

The slick sounds of your hand on his cock are filthy, the precum running from his head dripping all down his shaft and over your fingers. He’s weak for you, always has been.

“Come for me, pretty boy. Make a mess of my hand and the sheets.” You barely get the words out and Eddie is hunching in on himself, coming fast and hard with a wet cry of your name.

You gasp in shock as you feel his release running all down your tight fist, working him through it until he’s shaking a little in your arms. It feels like a lot, leaves your fingers soaked and dripping.

When you eventually release his cock he whimpers at the loss of friction, blindly searching for you. You sit up, slipping your shirt over your head to use it to clean up the mess. It was gross, but it was the closest thing to you and you really didn’t want to get out of bed.

Eddie flips over onto his back as you’re wiping down your hand, grimacing as he watches you, “You’re disgusting, that’s my good Zeppelin shirt.”

“It’s your jizz,” You quip in return, leaning over to clean up the mess he’d made of himself on his belly, thighs and cock. You don’t miss the way he hisses in pleasure at the movement, big doe eyes watching your nimble hands clean him up then throw the shirt away.

You discard the shirt by throwing it haphazardly off the end of the bed, flopping down next to Eddie and snuggling into his side with your head on his chest. Your fingers dance over the smooth expanse of his tummy, down his happy trail and back up. He keens into your touch, almost purring like a cat.

"Y'okay after that?" You ask quietly, worried you'd maybe taken it a bit far and crossed a boundary. You could be mean when you wanted to be, and you didn't want him to think you'd overstepped.

"I'm totally fine, sweetheart. Try and rest." Eddie's hand runs up and down your back, shoulder blade to shoulder blade, and suddenly your eyes are slipping shut, the feeling of tiredness overwhelming your whole body.

You’re not sure how long you’re asleep for but when you wake up it’s dark out, and Eddie’s got his head nestled in between your thighs, tongue licking at your wet cunt like it’s his first meal in weeks.

He gazes up at you with his big brown eyes, nose nestled into your mound and a smile spreading across his face “My turn to make you cry, princess.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson fic #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine #my fanfic #mine #smut #x reader #fem reader #female reader #joseph quinn x you #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn smut #joseph quinn fic

[adventuringblind]

She's My Princess

Daniel Ricciardo x Reader

Genre: Smut

Summary: Daniel Spoils his girl... That's it. That's the plot.

Warnings: Soft dom Daniel, Daddy kink, BDSM, Voyeurism (if you squint), bondage, age-play (again, if you really look hard enough), choking

Notes: This is my happy place, right here. Mildly self-indulgent but all fanfiction is so I don't care. I hope the requester likes it!!

Masterlist // Request Form // My Website // buy me a Ko-Fi

This side of Daniel is something she sees often. He's a soft person and treats her as such. Dotes on her like she's a porcelain doll.

He zips the back of her dress and ties her shoes. He carries her bag to the car and buckles her in. It makes her feel small, entirely to warm inside.

"I'm sorry we have to go out tonight." His plan had been to ravish her until she couldn't think. Until they got a surprise call from Max saying he's in town for a couple days and wants to get dinner.

It had been over a month since they saw Max last, and Daniel had only said yes after he talked with her about it.

Daniel, still very intent on keeping his promise, has been not letting her do anything for herself all day long. She's been spoiled far more than necessary, but every ounce of insecurity only made Daniel more intent.

"It'll be nice to see everyone!" She assures. "I could care less about what we do as long as you're there."

"How did I get so lucky?" She blushes under his gaze and tries to look away, but Daniel's fingers foil her. "If you're good for dinner, I'll make this whole thing up to you later. Sound good?"

"Yes daddy."

He pats her cheek. "That's my girl."

He holds her hand as they walk inside. He pulls her chair out for her at the table of drivers.

Daniel makes small talk with the guys and the WAGS that had come with. She tries, but her mind is focused on Daniels hand sneaking up her thigh.

She tries to ignore when he rubs a finger over the thin lace of her panties. She's mid-sentence and ends up stuttering, but she manages to pull herself together. Daniel teases her about the blush on her face.

He keeps up his antics until dessert when he slips a finger into her, obnoxiously wet cunt. She, not so gracefully, chokes on her water. She makes not a sound after. It's not like they've never done this before. Daniel's just not making this any easier with the way he keeps calling her a good girl in her ear.

It feels like an eternity until they can leave. When Daniel finally helps her out of her chair and guides her to the car.

The drive home takes an interesting turn when Daniel has her sucking him off while he's driving. He's skilled in multitasking. Specifically in the art of fucking her throat and keeping his eyes on the road.

Daniel paints her mouth white during a particularly long light. She gets satisfaction in knowing this is what she does to him. That he's desperate enough to fuck her mouth while he drives because he can't wait.

The Aussie hauls her into the house and throws her onto the bed like she weighs nothing. Which is quite the compliment in her eyes. Her body, in her opinion, should not be that easy to carry.

"You did so good tonight, Princess." He kisses her, open mouthed and dirty. He sucks on her tongue and makes a whimpering mess out of her.

Her literally rips her dress off. A whispered promise to buy her a new one is said against her chest. Right before he swirls his tongue around her nipple, alternating between each side. His hands press into her upper back, pulling her further into him.

"Daddy, please - need you."

Daniel moves lower and settles between her thighs. He makes a point to blow on her on her before flattening his tongue and licking upwards.

Her hands find his hair. An attempt to ground her thrashing body. It makes no difference. Daniel still has to pin her hard enough to leave bruises.

His teeth graze over her clit. He sucks on her in the way that drivers her insane. Until the only word she knows is his name.

"Daddy - need to - pleassseee-" Her eyes roll back into her head as Daniel double down on his efforts. The permission is non-verbal in the way he taps her thigh a few times, allowing no break.

She releases onto his tongue. It's wet and it's everywhere and Daniel cleans every bit of it with his mouth.

He launches upwards to kiss her. She can taste herself on his shiny lips. He doesn't give her a break. Three fingers are jammed into her and she wails.

"You're doing so good baby girl. Taking everything I give you." The sounds he's making with her pussy are obscene. His fingers curl upward, sending her body spiraling.

A hand puts pressure around her throat. She sucks in as much air as she can, but inevitable her vision starts to go dark. Daniel opens and closes his hand in perfectly timed intervals, keeping her right on the edge of coherency.

"Cum for me princess, you can do it. We've gone for more rounds than this before."

Daniel has to pin her with effort this time around. He doesn't stop talking, the roughness of his voice rings through her ears. "Such a good girl for me. Just gorgeous like this, a right fucking messy slut, aren't you."

Daniel moves off the bed to get the rest of his clothes off. She cries real tears at the loss. Still to disoriented to know where he is. "Oh baby, I'm still here. You feeling fuzzy? Needy for my cock?" Embarrassment and shame are nothing to her as her tongue rolls out of her mouth and her head nods yes.

Daniel ties a rope around her wrists and secures it to the headboard. He chuckles as she watches him with glassy eyes and no resistance, just dead weight as he tries to adjust her position.

It takes entirely to long for Daniel to get inside of her. For her to feel his body pressed against her. His hips rutting into her, desperate and dominating. She couldn't fight him if she tried.

The pace he sets is relentless. The free hand not holding him up is rubbing at her clit. His mouth close enough to to brush up against hers, but he's still talking to her. Keenly aware of what his voice does to her. She's not sure what he's even saying, aside from that she's a good girl; his princess.

His teeth latch onto her throat, biting and sucking away at it until she thinks she might actually be bleeding onto his tongue. "Mine, all mine. My perfect little girl."

His thrusts are getting sloppy. She's been pushed past the point of overstimulated and isn't sure she can come again. "Let go for me baby, I know you can. I wanna feel you tighten around me. Can you do that for daddy?"

She's crying again. She cums so hard that it hurts her muscles. The line between pain and pleasure is blurred once again as Daniel wraps his hand around her throat again, completely cutting off her air.

She's choking on her scream. Barely aware that Daniel is painting her insides for the second time tonight. There are no thoughts aside from him.

Calming down is harder than expected. She's still twitching when Daniel is untying her. His hands caress her sides and praise her until she's able to breathe again.

Daniel carries her to the bathroom and gets them cleaned up. She's entirely to out of it, still partially crying and refusing to let go of his hand.

"Feeling good still, princess?" She hums happily as Daniel tucks them into bed. "Go to sleep baby, I'll be here when you wake up."

She curls up on top of his chest. Daniels arms wrapped around her to keep her from falling off him. "I love you, my perfect princess."

#x reader #f1 fic #formula 1 #fanficion #f1 fanfic #racing #daniel ricciardo 3 #daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x y/n #daniel ricciardo x female reader #daniel ricciardo x you #danny ricc #dr3 imagine #dr3 #dr3 x reader #dr3 smut #redbull daniel #redbull racing #redbull f1 #daniel ricciardo smut #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 #redbull #max verstappen f1 #daniel ricciardo fanfic #daniel ricciardo f1

[kasagia]

Familiar flame

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/General Kirigan/The Darkling x fem!Grisha! reader Summary: Aleksander lost his Y/N the day he created the fold. The king's soldiers killed his one true love in front of his eyes. His despair and anger led to the creation of a dark fold. After centuries, Aleksander meets a girl identical to his beloved… her reincarnation. Will he be able to restore your memories? Could he get you back after centuries of mourning you? Or maybe Aleksander finally lost his mind... Nonsense from me: This is request from @morrigan-crowmwell I hope that you like it! ♡♡ And I'm veeeery excited to write your next request! (and to publish it soon ♡♡) P.S. I'm sorry it took me ages again, luckily I'll have a lot more free time now, so I promise it'll get better. 😅 Warning(s): references to reincarnation; Aleksander misses the reader and can't resist her (even if she doesn't remember him); the reader is a bit hysterical; the reader behaves like a little child spoiled by Aleksander; the reader has Aleksander wrapped around her little finger, but he doesn't care; the reader has a panic attack and hyperventilation; de@th mentions; NOT CHECKED grammatically and so on - I wanted to publish it as soon as possible Word count: 9,4k Taglist: @aoi-targaryen @morrigan-crowmwell

"So many centuries on this earth, and you're still a naive, hopeless romantic. Tell me how do you do it, boy?"

Baghra taunted him without even looking up from her dinner. Aleksander growled, irritated by her lack of interest. He slammed his fist on the table, drawing the unfazed woman's attention to him.

"It's true, I saw her! It was her!"

"Aleksander... you must move on." Darkling snorted, jumping up as if burned from his chair. Baghra followed her son as he ran out of her hut, not giving up. If they both had something in common, it was their great stubbornness. "How many times have you seen this girl? You have to realize that she's not coming back. Y/N is dead, Aleksander. For hundreds of years."

"She is here! I danced with her month ago at the ball, you can't tell me I didn't because I remember her face perfectly. It is etched in my mind more permanently than any other memory."

"You wanted an answer to your question. Here it is. There is no such thing as reincarnation, the reappearance of someone on this world. We die once, Aleksander. Once and successfully. So whoever you met yesterday, even with a face that looks like her, is not Y/N. So you'd better leave the innocent girl alone."

The Darkling laughed bitterly, shaking his head. His mother would never see him as more than a small, quick-tempered, silly boy. He should get used to it after all these years.

"You think I'd come to you with this if she was just one of the faces like her? Me and my people have been watching her for a month now, ever since some snobbish nobleman's daughter came back to the palace and turned out to be the only woman I ever cared about in this saint-damn world. It must be her. I don't know how, why, and honestly, I don't care as long as it's really her. Neither should you - as far as I remember you cared for her more than for me."

"Aleksander. I know you loved her, but you have to let her go. People just don't rise from the grave." she tried to reason with him. But he knew better.

It must be you. Somehow the Saints took pity on his tortured soul and returned you to him, and he wasn't going to stay further away from you than necessary.

He will have you again in his life, arms, and bed.

No matter what he has to sacrifice to restore your memories.

"Just as they don't live forever, and yet we do." he growled as he mounted his horse and galloped back towards the Little Palace. He was in for a long night spent in his library, poring over books. If Baghra didn't want to help him, he would find the answer himself.

"You stupid boy..." Baghra snorted, shaking her head in disappointment.

Your death was both the worst and best thing for her son. You would never live as long as they did - your death would have come anyway, just in a less bloody way. Ordinary people were fragile, and their lives were shorter—one breath of Baghra or Aleksander equaled thousands of them. She had no idea why her son was so stubborn about getting you back, even though you were truly reborn. Aleksander would lose you again. Even he couldn't fight death itself and go against nature in such a matter... or so Baghra hoped.

The boundaries that Aleksander wouldn't cross in your name were practically nonexistent.

And she would be afraid of him more with you by his side - the most powerful Etherealki woman this earth has ever seen… a tribrid with the powers of Squaller, Inferni and Tidemaker.

~•♤♤♤•~

It all started a month ago.

Aleksander was at another of the king's balls, circulating among the generals of the First Army, trying to win their favor and consent to a slight modification of their plans. For his and Grishas' benefit, of course.

He would never have guessed that a conversation with General Petrova, the king's irritating, faithful soldier, would bring him more than a headache. It was usually with him that the Darkling had his greatest disputes during war councils.

However, while the general caused him the most trouble of all in the king's court, he was one of the few who respected the Darkling not for his powers, which instilled fear among other soldiers, but for the sake of his tactical, sound thinking.

Never in his life would Aleksander have thought that General Petrova's daughter would be a faithful doppelgänger of his long-dead beloved.

He was stunned as soon as he saw you enter the room.

Anywhere, even on his deathbed, he would have recognised that mischievous twinkle in your eyes whenever you were given full attention. You were a vision. Apparition. A fairy tale that was etched forever in his memory.

And he may have lived many lives, met millions of ordinary people and thousands of Grishas, but this face, the face of his loved one, whom he only met in his sweet dreams and darkest nightmares, had never ever flashed a second of his hundreds-year life. There were no humans even close to your beauty...

And then, after hundreds of years of sorrow, pain, and grief, he saw you again. He was again enchanted by your mesmerising eyes, your sweet, mischievous smile, your tempting lips... He let himself be lost for a while in the view of his beloved before questions started to cross his mind.

How? When? Who is she? From where? Could it really be you? Hundreds of years in pain, only for you to walk casually one day to one of the balls of a king whose ancestor killed you?

Aleksander didn't even notice when you approached him and General Petrova. But YOUR voice, his Y/N's voice, definitely brought him back into the world. Like a strong, vicious slap.

"Father. It was definitely too long." Aleksander almost broke down there. Being so close to someone who looked like you, hearing your voice again in REALITY, smelling the perfume so damn well know to him - the same one which made him lose his mind ages ago for you...

"General Kirigan. My daughter, Y/N. Y/N. General Kirigan, commander of the Second Army." your careful gaze finally met his. And Aleksander was gone.

Saints save him… even those bloody, fucking eyes he would die for were the same….

"It's a pleasure to meet you, General Kirigan." Aleksander couldn't do anything else but reach for your hand and kiss it—something he'd also dreamed of a thousand times, but in his dreams you only used his true, real name. "Your fame extends to the farthest reaches of Ravka. I am glad to see the legendary Darkling with my own eyes." Aleksander shivered as his title spilled out of your mouth. Not with mockery or insult or fear, but flatteringly, strongly… He had to control himself. It wasn't his Y/N… unless…

"I think these aren't very… flattering stories."

"You'd be surprised, General…" Aleksander could feel himself melting under her attentive gaze. The number of long-buried emotions overwhelmed him. And he himself felt his long-forgotten, dead, cold heart come to life again under each of your charming smiles, warm tone of voice, and enticing looks.

Now that he had had the opportunity to look at her more closely, he noticed all the (perfectly familiar) small details.

The way your hair was styled—so that a few strands stand out from your perfectly styled hairstyle, no long earrings, only small pearls that your hair would be harder to get into, delicate jewellery, not flashy like most women's, jewellery that instead of testifying to your wealth emphasised your beauty.

You seemed so familiar to him…

"Do you dance, General?" your question snapped him out of his mind about HIS Y/N.

He didn't dance on such occasions. Never. But he would be damned if he didn't try to find out how far your resemblance to his Y/N goes.

"If you wish, Lady Petrova." he replied with a charming smile, reverting to his image of a confident general of the Second Army.

"Please..." she grabbed his hand. The touch of her delicate skin against his rough made him shiver uncontrollably. He was putty in your hands... but he would be cursed if he let go, if he loses again the one thing that holds him firmly in this world. "Call me Y/N."

"Y/N." he mumbled, leading her to the dance floor. He gripped her securely around the waist, pulling her close enough to be considered appropriate. "I'm dying to see how this one's ends."

"Not only you… general." you peeked at him over those beautifully painted eyelids, biting your lips lightly. Reincarnation, doppelgänger, or real you, you always had to tease him, you always challenged him. And he was more than willing to play that game with you again… even if he wasn't holding his Y/N in his arms.

"Please..." he turned you around to pull you back to his chest. He smiled, remembering how those Y/E/C irises were the only thing that mattered to him hundreds of years ago… he marveled at how they still enchanted him. And having you in his arms again, so close he could smell your scent again… it made him dizzy. "Call me Aleksander." he whispered into your ear, getting close enough not to touch you but to feel the warmth of your cheek against his.

Was it wise to tell you his name? Absolutely not. Did he regret giving himself up to this moment? The answer came to him after a few seconds.

"Aleksander..." your soft whisper made him shiver. The old memories, the ones he tried to bury in his mind, the ones that were both sweetly blissful and devastating, came back to him. Foolish hope rose in him the moment your brow furrowed as if you, too, recognized the significance of what had just happened.

If he'd had any doubts before, he definitely knew now... he was cursed. And he didn't care enough to break this spell you put on him.

~•♤♤♤•~

"Y/N! Rise and shine, you lazy ass!" you groaned, covering your head with a pillow.

"Go away demon. It's too early for anything." you mumbled, snuggling into my comfy bed. You snorted in surprise when suddenly your friend threw herself on your bed and brutally tore the pillow off your head, laughing like a madwoman. "Y/F/N!"

"What have you been dreaming about?" she asked with a sly smile.

"About nothing." you muttered as you got out of bed and walked over to your closet to pick out your outfit for today.

"Yes? Is that why I found you grinning like a psychopath in love and mumbling someone's name? Is there some poor guy you finally like? Who could it be? A soldier? Maybe a nobleman?" you huffed in amusement as you walked out from the wardrobe.

"I haven't gone crazy yet. The world will burn before I voluntarily muzzle myself with marriage."

"Doesn't change the fact that someone caught your eye, does it?" she inquired with a curious smirk.

"Let's go, you hopeless romantic. I believe you dragged me out of bed over that very exciting tea time with the queen." you sighed, knowing full well that this meeting would give you a terrible headache.

"We're going to suffer together, sweetie. But cheer up. Genya will be there. You've liked her company lately, haven't you?"

"She's too good for these royal assholes." you replied, taking her arm and walking out of your room towards the palace gardens.

During that month, you quickly fit into the role you had to play at court. And thanks to your numerous travels, you managed to win enough favour with the queen to become a permanent member of her "group of snobbish noblewomen". You also met Genya, Grisha, an angel among the palace demons who was rather unpopular at court… well, at least not when the queen didn't need her Grisha's skills.

The meeting with the queen dragged on as usual, you couldn't help but wander your mind to your today's dream interrupted by Y/F/N.

"Aleksander!" you laughed, punching him lightly in the chest. "Stop teasing me."

"I don't do anything, milaya." he replied smiling innocently which made you snort. You crossed your arms and gave him a meaningful look.

You were in the little library at his house. (By the way, it's a miracle that he and Baghra found a place for their books in such a tiny hut.) You tried to get to one of the books on the upper shelves, but Aleks had other plans. He stood in front of you, and every time you stood on tiptoe to reach the book, he took the opportunity to grab your waist and pull you into a kiss.

"You do not?" you asked, trying to get to the book, but Aleksander caught your lips in a kiss again. "Aleksander!" you huffed, punching him in the chest with a laugh. "Your mother will kill me if I don't at least start reading this book." you complained, laughing at the smug man. He was so childish sometimes... You squealed as Aleksander suddenly grabbed your waist and pulled you close, burying his nose in your hair.

"I am more than strong enough to protect moya milaya from my bloodthirsty mother." he whispered, placing a tender kiss on your temple.

"Aleksander." you moaned as he moved his lips to your neck. You ran your hand through his hair, giving in to the feeling for a moment, until you remembered what you were supposed to do today. "How about a compromise?"you asked, taking his attention away from your neck for a moment.

"A compromise? And how do you want to negotiate your freedom, lapushka?"

"I'm not blind. I see you're clingier than usual today. Of course you won't let me out of your arms, which I can't really say I'm complaining about… But since I'm about to spend the rest of the day on your lap or in your arms, then you could at least read me the book Baghra told me to learn by heart." he was thinking, rubbing his nose against yours.

"I think I can accept it." you squealed in surprise as he picked you up bridal style, lifting you up so you could reach the book you needed. "But I reserve the right to give you some breaks. As your beloved I've got to make sure my little tribrid doesn't overwork herself." you giggled, making his smile of satisfaction only grow wider.

"What a good and caring lover you are, Aleksander." you teased, knowing full well what the study breaks were for… or rather, for whom.

"Have you ever doubted it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, the sparkle of amusement in his dark eyes only made your mood more up. You loved seeing him so happy, carefree.

"No. Never." you whispered, kissing him with all your love and tenderness…

Such nonsense dreams have plagued you almost every time since you met the general. Visions of his younger self and yours, as if the two of you lived together hundreds of years ago. It also didn't help your plan that, for some strange reason, you felt this... attraction, this desire to be close to him.

You didn't know where your sudden fondness for the Darkling came from, but one thing was certain. You had to get rid of it. And that's before your father presents the king with plans to permanently disband the Second Army and return all the Grishas to the slave system. You couldn't give in to some stupid feeling towards their general... not when everything you and your father had worked for was coming to an end.

"Lady Petrova. You're surprisingly quiet today." the queen has distracted you from the thoughts that have plagued you for weeks. You put on your learned, polite smile.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty. I'm not feeling well today. I think I have a slight migraine, but it should pass soon, Your Highness."

"You look paler than usual… Genya, lady Y/F/N. Take lady Y/N to the healers." you had to do your best to keep the frown from appearing on your face. This old witch…

"Your Grace." instead, you bowed to the queen and walked away with the two women at your side. You didn't speak to Genya until you were sure you were out of earshot of anyone other than the three of you. "I'm fine, Genya. I just had to get out of there."

"Then I should thank you for saving me from there too." she replied with a smile as tired as yours. "But the queen was right. You looked a little pale earlier. Are you sure everything's okay? I can improve your appearance and cover up those little dark circles under your eyes if you want."

"No need, sweetheart. But if you somehow have power over dreams, it would be really helpful." you joked, knowing full well that Grisha are incapable of entering other people's dreams… though you doubted it after the general's face haunted you at night in those strange dreams.

"It would be great to be able to do that."

"Anyway, thank you, Genya. You can hide somewhere in the palace. You deserve some time off." the woman nodded to you and headed towards the Grand Palace, leaving you and Y/F/N alone in the gardens.

"Okay, what's the matter? What are you dreaming about that you can't sleep? And why are you hanging around Grishas and Darkling lately? You want to settle him down or something?" your friend asked annoyed. You looked around, making sure you two were still alone.

"I'm not going to settle him down. My father wanted me to take care of our strong, dark general. After all, what's the best way to steer a man who doesn't care about anyone but his people, than an affair with a pretty, nobel woman?" you asked with a cunning smile.

You preferred to keep your strange dreams to yourself… at least until you were sure it was just a stupid figment of your imagination and growing teenage crush on a dark general.

"I don't quite understand… so what exactly are you doing with him?" she asked, growing suspicious as you headed towards the Little Palace.

"It's just a game. I charm him with my beauty, spend time with him, and so on, which makes him less interested in the war, and I don't have to put up with my father's complaining about me finally getting married. I serve both Ravka and my own interests. Isn't it wonderful?"

"You'll get burned. Be careful with him. He's a Darkling. If he finds out…" she warned you, slightly scared. You snorted, shaking your head. You looked around one more time before whispering conspiratorially to her.

"Then what will he do to me? It's in his interest to keep our little affair as a secret, the dignity of a man and all that crap won't let him seek revenge openly - he'll only embarrass himself even more. I'm perfectly safe." you replied confidently as you left the gardens. You smiled. According to your plan, the general should leave his palace right now to meet the council. It was your job to make sure he didn't get there… well, at least not for the most part.

"If you say so… But you have to admit, even you, that he's hot."

"That's true... which only makes it more interesting..." you saw Kirigan coming out of the Little Palace with one of his loyal dogs by his side... Ivan or the other, you couldn't remember. You smiled slyly, sensing a good opportunity. "Excuse me."

You didn't waste any time. You immediately approached the general, inwardly triumphant with the smile he sent you as soon as he saw you… the grimace on his companion's face was also the reason for your good mood.

"Lady Petrova."

"General Kirigan. So you do occasionally leave the Little Palace."

"Indeed it happens sometimes." he smiles back at your teasing, keeping his distracting dark eyes on you.

"Then I can't pass up this opportunity to take you anywhere other than the path leading to the Grand Palace or the gardens. It's a beautiful day for a ride, don't you think? Perhaps you could accompany me?"

"Actually…"

"It's a wonderful idea. Ivan, could you get our horses ready?" the general interrupted his Girsha. You lowered your head, biting the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling victoriously. As Ivan passed you, you stepped closer to the general and turned your careful gaze back to him.

"He doesn't like me very much, does he?" you asked, catching the arm he offered you as you two walked to the stables together. "Your gruff companion." you added seeing his confused look.

The general snorted, placing his hand over yours, which made you shiver uncontrollably. You internally chastised yourself for such a… pathetic reaction to his little touch.

"Ivan is… specific." he finally replied making you chuckle.

"I saw the look he gave me when I took you away from him, like I was stealing his favorite cuddly toy." Kirigan snorted, which made you smile. You felt how your cheeks redden involuntarily at the sound of his laughter. "You don't have to always defend your people at all costs, General. Well, at least not in such a case." you replied with a smirk.

"Ivan is a good soldier and comrade… he can be funny once you get to know him."

"Then I guess you find volcra hilarious too."

"And maybe one or two of the queen's nobles." you gave him an offended look, placing your hand over your heart in a hurt gesture.

"Ouch. That's good that my company at least gives you some fun. It must be really hard to always be that grave, grumpy, dark general."

"Surely it can be lonely sometimes." his thoughtful, sombre statement ruined the fun atmosphere between you two.

For a brief moment, you could see the familiar twinkle of grief in his eyes before he hid it behind his mask of indifference. You knew that feeling. Especially after being transferred to different courts so many times. You had to master your emotions to perfection… especially the feeling of loneliness that was getting worse every day.

"Well, that's good that I have enough time to play a foolish, wayward, snobbish noble around you… maybe you won't feel so lonely, anymore." you joked, not knowing if you were saying it out of a duty to get close to him or from the depths of your completely lost and confused heart, which always acted like that near him.

"You're not the worst noblewoman I've ever met." the amused note returned to his voice, as did the twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Maybe you just didn't know me good enough?" you asked, stopping by the stables and letting go of his arm.

"Maybe..." he replied thoughtfully, not letting go of your hand.

You turned back to him. Your gaze lingered on your joined hands for a moment, until you shifted your confused gaze to him.

The moment your eyes met his, any questions you wanted to ask him escaped your mind. You could only stare blankly into his eyes. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you flashed an image of the younger Aleksander you dreamed of... the exact same one who was giving you an affectionate look like the general was doing now.

"Aleksander." you whispered, not even realising when the idea of saying his name popped into your head.

You were besotted, too mesmerised by the dark irises that stared at you like some saint, like you were all he ever wanted to look at for the rest of his life, to think of anything other than getting closer to him.

And the worst of it all was that you had no idea how you knew the smell of his cologne and why it reminded you of home, of safety. Or why he seemed so familiar to you…

"Yes, milaya?" you trembled. You knew he felt it; you knew he saw how you reacted to the nickname his younger version gives you every night in your dreams… and although it reminded you of something only a close person could say to their beloved, for the hell you didn't know what it meant or how he knew about it. But before you could answer something (or take the one little step that lasted between you and him to feel his lips on yours), Ivan arrived with your horses. "Thank you, Ivan." the general cleared his throat. You could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn't happy about being interrupted either.

"General. Let me remind you that in two hours…"

"Postpone all my appointments. I'll be unavailable." you couldn't help but send Ivan a victorious smile from behind Kirigan's shoulder, which made heartrender wince. Aleksander turned to glance at you, and you gave him a nice, polite smile, making sure the flash of malice disappeared from your eyes. The man shifted his confused looks to Ivan. "I'll be back tonight. Lady Petrova needs an escort."

"Of course, General, have a nice trip."

"Thank you, Ivan."

You gave Grisha a fleeting glance and malicious smile before you and Aleksander left the palace grounds. Ivan has tried to stop the general from joining you more than once this month... he has failed miserably each time. Seeing Grisha grumpier than usual was another advantage of your quest... besides being with Aleksander.

"Wanna race?!" you shouted, not giving him time to answer as you galloped your horse along, laughing as the general chased after you.

~•♤♤♤•~

"Forgotten fountain in the middle of the forest? I didn't think you knew such romantic places, general." you said with a teasing smile as you dismounted from your horses.

"You find it romantic?" he asked, throwing an amused glance over his shoulder as he tossed out the branches in the fountain. You smiled, internally laughing at how the great general commanding the entire Second Army was preparing the atmosphere for your pseudo date.

"Oh, don't tease me. You know what I meant. It's amazing that with your work schedule you have time to wander around and find places like this."

"You do realize I have free time sometimes, right?"

"Rearranging figures on a war table is no leisure time, General." Kirigan snorted, shaking his head in amusement. You smiled as you walked over to the fountain to stand next to him. Only then did you see what was so amazing about her that the general brought you here. It was dedicated to the Black Heretic. "Wait… that's your ancestor's story, isn't it?"

"You know it just from those old pictures?" he asked, apparently impressed with your knowledge, to which you snorted indignantly.

"Of course. Every child in Ravka know his story... well, or at least they should. To be honest, I'm not sure how ignorant the other nobles are, but I hope they're not that bad after all. But I'm guessing you didn't bring me here for a history lesson, did you?"

"When I was a boy, I used to run away and hide here once I realised I was the descendant of the most hated Grisha in Ravka. I've come here to throw a coin and make a wish in the fountain that I could be anyone else."

"A dangerous wish." I murmured as I looked at the pictures on the fountain to avoid his scrutinising gaze. "You never know what fate may befall you. It may turn out that things weren't so bad after all." I replied, remembering all the stories of noblewomen I had the opportunity to know... not all of them lived wonderful, fairy-tale lives. At least not the ones with powdered bruises.

"I devoted my life to undoing the greatest sin of my forbear. But I never seen this as a solution. Only as a reminder of the problem. They always need someone to blame."

"Every story needs a villain." you replied, sitting on the edge of the fountain, facing the general. "Sometimes it happens that there are several of them in one, if we look at the matter from the perspective of someone else. So forgive me if I say that I don't consider your ancestor to be evil incarnate."

"Why wouldn't you?" he asked curiously, walking over to you and sitting across from you.

"Every coin has two sides. Maybe he created a fold; maybe he wanted more power, but no one ever told it from his side. Maybe he wasn't the only villain in this story. Also, I don't believe in a golden hero and a vicious villain fighting doggedly against each other. There are no pure black or white people; we are all grey in our own way." you said, dipping your hand in the water, playing with it, and making small waves with your hand movements.

You glanced at the general, noticing that he was closely watching as you played with the water. You furrowed your brow, not knowing what so interesting he sees in this childish behaviour.

"And how gray are you?" his question snapped you out of your thoughts. You shrugged, still running your fingers through the water.

"I think I still have a long way to go to find out."

"What if I already know?" you frowned as you looked at him, which turned out to be your worst mistake. His dark eyes were to be your undoing…

You felt it again. This need to be close to him, this bond between you and him that was formed from the moment your eyes met in the ballroom a month ago. You were supposed to be his undoing, the downfall of the great, black general... so far, he's been the one who's been messing with your mind effectively, making you doubt everything your father ever taught you about your superiority over the Grishas. And you played the role Kirigan expected of you, like a foolish, naive girl.

"And how would you know that?" you whispered, cursing yourself for the obvious weakness in your voice.

Kirigan placed his hand on yours, the one you used to lean on at the fountain. His touch sent that weird feeling into your chest and made you shiver uncontrollably again. You were losing control… and the worst part was that you didn't mind at all.

"I feel like I've known you and waited for you my whole life. As if you were long lost part of me, which finally came back." you couldn't get rid of that terrible feeling of déjà vu that came over you after his words.

Somewhere in the back of your mind and deep in your heart, you had the feeling—no, you were SURE—that you had been in this situation before. That he once held your hand, telling you that you were destined to be together and that the stars, fate, destiny, saints, gods, or whoever was watching over you were responsible for bringing your souls together.

But it was impossible. You didn't know him before, you couldn't. You've never been to the king's palace until now…

However, everything ceased to matter the moment he leaned in, crossing the short distance between you and catching your lips in a kiss.

You gasped in surprise, your only warning being his tighter grip on your hand, which you only noticed after his soft lips gently pressed against yours. However, you had the sense to return his kiss, deepening it just as you felt Aleksander about to pull away from you.

He grabbed your waist tightly with one arm, pulling you to him, but he never let go of his firm grip on your hand.

You groaned, sinking into the so damn familiar closeness of his body against yours, taking in every ounce of his warmth and scent. But it was his gentle biting on your bottom lip that made you forget anything other than his lips on yours and let yourself get completely lost in the moment. You took your hand out of the water, grabbing the back of his head to get as close to him as possible, when suddenly a huge wave of cold, chilly water splashed you.

You gasped, breaking away from Kirigan. You sighed as cool water dripped from your hair onto your already-soaked dress that was sticking to your skin. You shifted your confused gaze to the equally wet man in front of you, who stared at you with an incomprehensible, fascinated twinkle in his eye.

"What have just happened?" you gasped, glancing at the now empty fountain.

"Are you asking about our kiss or the fact that you just demonstrated tidemaker's abilities?"

"What? No. I can't be Grisha. I…"

"Have you ever been tested, milaya?" he asked softly, so calmly he almost managed to calm your frantically beating heart. But you couldn't shake the feeling of panic rising within you. All plans would go to hell if you turned out to be… one of THEM.

"You know perfectly well what it is like among the nobles. They would rather kill or throw away a child with such powers." you replied, marvelling at how you managed to sound cold and emotionless despite your growing fear.

Kirigan frowned, obviously dissatisfied with your ability to cover up your emotions. What you didn't know was that your eyes betrayed all your emotions to him. He'd stared at them for so long that it would be impossible for him now not to be able to read your emotions.

"Well… it's always better to know, isn't it?" you stared at him for a moment before you nodded uncertainly, swallowing nervously. You couldn't be Grisha. That… whatever happened, it couldn't be it. "May I?" he made sure, pointing to the sleeve of your dress. You nodded silently.

For a moment, the world stops. It's just you and the general, who, with unusual delicacy for him, rolls up the sleeve of your wet dress and uses his sharp-pointed ring to cut your skin.

You're both shocked and oddly excited to see the water gushing out and the hot fire coming from where he cut your skin. Suddenly, a wind rises around you, drying you both and blowing some of the leaves off the trees into the empty fountain. You freeze, feeling the dormant power coursing through your veins, which the general's touch awakens with incredible ease.

It's like he's bringing to life a version of yourself you don't know...

"You are a Grisha. Etherealki Tribrid to be precise." he says, breaking the silence between you. You raise your confused gaze back to him, noticing that he's still studying your face. Weighing, evaluating, expecting something, and having hope so clearly written in his dark eyes that for a moment you are at a loss for words.

"You… you don't seem surprised." you manage to get out of you. You are terrified of your weakness right now. But with the general staring at you with such... tenderness and longing, you're not sure which of you has put your heart in more danger. You just don't know what caused this sudden, overt display of affection for you.

"I felt your power. Only someone special could carry such a huge amount of energy. You and I are going to change the world, Y/N."

"But… I can't… no one can know about this. Please, Aleksander." you pleaded in a panic, gripping his hand tightly. "Promise me that this will stay between us. If my father finds out about this… if the court finds out… Please, Aleksander." the man was staring at you. Apparently, the prospect of having a tribrid in his army was too tempting for him to just forget what had happened here. You had to convince him otherwise. "Wouldn't it be better if it stayed between us? You could train me yourself. Secretly teach me how to use… this. Wouldn't it be better to have a secret weapon? Someone who can be summoned to the battlefield if needed and used as an element of surprise?"

"I don't want to use you." he growled, wrinkling his nose as he realized how sharp his words had come out. "I want you to be my equal, Y/N. But fine. We'll keep everything that happened here to ourselves. You'll come to my office every night so we can train."

"Every night? You want to cause a scandal, General?" you ask, regaining your ability to joke and banter.

For now, you hide all your doubts, fear and greyness that your life will change irreversibly in the back of your head. You allow yourself to get lost in the general's eyes for a while before returning to real life… before you have to decide what to do about the "Grishas case", knowing your newfound abilities now.

"Do you care?" you know what he's asking you, but he doesn't know how many different meanings his question has for you. And you're afraid that once he finds out about your plan against him and against his people, he'll stop looking at you with that... adoration in his eyes. Because, for some strange reason, you want him to look at you like that.

"No…" you replied, moving your gaze between his mouth and eyes. "I guess not."

~•♤♤♤•~

"I can't believe it! How did you know that was my favorite dish?!" I ask him after another grueling session of our training as he returns with a dinner brought to his door by servants.

"I have my ways." he responds, laughing as you practically pounce on the food ravenously. You didn't realize that using Grisha's powers was so… exhausting.

"Just like my allergy to the awful pollen that's out now, what particular, specific type of tea do I like, and what books do I prefer to read? What's next? Just hand me my favourite flowers and tell me it's pure case?" you laugh over your plate, glancing at him briefly. The general blushes slightly and clears his throat awkwardly. "Oh, Saints, you do have flowers for me, don't you?" you asked as a little smirk started to form on your face.

"It seems to you, vain little tribrid." you tremble at his words, and that sick feeling of deja vu follows you every time his damn dark irises pierce your soul. If he wanted you to go crazy, you're sure he was well on his way to making it happen.

Aleksander, on the other hand, stared longingly at you, searching for any trace of recognition in your eyes. How many times in those training sessions has he wished your memories of living with him would come back to you? He didn't know. Ever since he made sure you displayed the powers of virtually all ethereals, he's spent countless sleepless nights in his bed dreaming of the moment you'll whisper that damn nickname you love for him.

But nothing like that was coming.

Instead, he had to fight this urge to kiss you to death, to hold you forever in his safe arms where nothing could hurt you. He had to fight his longing for your slightest touch, your tender gaze, and the unconditional love you had. And with each passing day, he cursed himself for his inability to remember the life you two had spent together.

He was desperate enough to talk to his mother about it. He went to her as soon as he was sure it was really you to brag about his hunch and victory over her judgement. And complain about your innate ability to spite him and not remember him when he worked so hard to make it happen.

"If it's not her, then explain to me how she's already ruining all my plans and is getting on my nerves?" he asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow at Baghra.

"Just because you have a natural bad luck with women doesn't mean Y/N is back from the dead." she replied ironically, not even looking up at him.

"It is her. And when I prove it, forget about seeing her, because I won't let you."

"I'm not a spoiled child, General." you laugh back, snapping him out of his thoughts as cool water hits his chest. He raises an eyebrow at you, failing to keep an amused smile from spreading across his lips.

Saints, how he wants to kiss that malicious smirk off your alluring lips. But he has to be careful with you. He has to control himself. He can't lose you or scare you away now, not when he's so close to getting HIS Y/N back.

"You're definitely acting like one." he replies teasingly as he takes out the flowers hidden behind his back and hands them to you.

You sigh in shock before another heart-melting smile appears on your lips. You dip your nose in the flowers, and Aleksander tries to remember this moment forever. The silent hope that you will remember one of the many times he gave you those special flowers you loved bursts into unwillingness in his chest.

"Please, as if you don't like to spoil me…" you just reply teasingly, reminding him how fate was never on his side. It would be impossible for him to just get you back like that.

"I'd throw all the jewels in the world at your feet just to see that beautiful, wide smile spread across your lips." you tremble under his heavy, intent gaze, feeling him ignite that familiar, strange fire inside you, calling for him.

The answer to his confession just slipped out of your mouth as a whisper.

"You don't need jewels to make me smile like a fool in love."

Aleksander flinched as he recognised the words you said to him—the exact same words you used in response to his confession hundreds of years ago. You liked torturing him with it. Remind him of stolen moments with you in the woods, away from the king's men, his mother, and other envious people too scared of your abilities to see you as anything more than a dangerous monster. You loved throwing him into the past, while you stuck hard to what was happening now. At times like this, he promised himself that once he had you back, he would never let you go. He won't be that weak to let someone take you from him again.

You, in turn, watched him bewildered as another vision/memory flashed before your eyes. His warm lips on your wind-cold skin, his whispered promises in your ear as he held you close to him, his shadows dancing around you, shielding anyone from seeing you two.

That memory revived in your mind as the general's lips met yours.

Kissing him, enjoying the firm grip around your waist, you had those strange visions again. You were beginning to wonder if the general had seen through your cunning plan and decided to punish you by driving you crazy with these supposed memories.

But you didn't want to do anything about it. Not when he felt so good against you.

You kiss him greedily, tangling your hands in his hair and pulling him closer to you. He picks you up, placing you on his war table. Your hands travel up his shoulders to the buttons of his kefta and his to the strings of your corset at the back of your dress...

Just then, a loud knock interrupts you.

You laugh in disbelief that they're bothering you again. Aleksander smiles, biting his lip as he looks at you with amusement in his eyes. How he missed your sincere, carefree laugh.

"Go see what it is." you whisper to him as you slide off the table to stand on your own feet. Aleksander smirks mischievously and leans in to steal a kiss from you. You giggle as you push him away and whisper a softly "go".

You blush, feeling like a teenager caught kissing a boy. And you have a very strange feeling that this has happened before...

"Aleksander!" you squeal, laughing as quietly as you can. "Someone will see us!" you reprimand him by tapping him lightly in the chest.

"Only if you keep being so loud. Besides, how can you blame me for wanting to kiss my beautiful beloved after weeks apart?"

"Your secret beloved I would like to point out. Baghra and my parents will kill us if they find us here." you remind him, only smiling wider as his grip tightens around your waist.

"They'll have to go through my shadows first… that gives us enough time to escape."

"Well, well, what a cunning boyfriend I have. I like that plan of yours." I whisper into his lips, teasing him, as I move away each time he wants to kiss me.

"Y/N?" Aleksander's whisper and his gentle grip on my shoulder pulls me out of my memories. "Everything's all right?" he looks at you with concern in his eyes and something else, something like longing mixed with hope. You have no idea what it could be.

NO. I have strange visions of you where you love and need me more than anything in this world. I have dreams of a reality where it's just us, too busy loving ourselves to see anything else or care about all the problems in the world. And I have a feeling that I'm going to go crazy if you once again arouse in me that feeling of familiarity and fire that for some unknown reason cries out desperately for your slightest touch and affection. - you think.

"I'm fine, just thought of something. What did Ivan want from you?" I ask with a gentle smile.

"I have to go now. The First Army soldiers and my Grishas have reportedly gotten into some kind of fight. I need to investigate it."

You freeze, knowing full well what's going on. Your and your father's plan. Kirigan is about to get into the middle of a fight caused by the people of the first army (actually hired by your father's thugs). A fight with a general defending his people in the main role will start, which your father and the king are supposed to come across by "pure accident". You were supposed to let him get into your trap.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry, it's probably some stupid skirmish." he assures you, but you know better. You know that once he goes there, he will be banished at best for suspicion of treason and wanting to start a rebellion - rumours your father is now spreading to the king.

Your brain screams for you to let it go. You were Grisha, but people like you would never accept you; you knew that. And the nobles would kick you out if they found out about your powers; it was safer for you to get rid of the general, the only person who knew about your abilities.

But your stupid heart already bled at the thought of putting Aleksander in danger and being the cause of his downfall—the thing you were supposed to be so proud of only a few months ago.

"Wait!" you scream, reaching for his hand before he steps away from you. You lost. You lost the war with the devil and sold him your heart and the soul he had anyway, since he kissed you at the fountain, since he started appearing in your dreams as a strange vision of an alternate world where you live with him as his. A vision you desperately wanted to come true. "Please don't go."

"Why?" he asks, placing his hands gently on your shoulders.

"I... you can't... trap... my father... and king... they..." you hyperventilate, tears welling up in your eyes uncontrollably, and an indescribably great feeling of unease seizes you, making it a huge challenge to take even the slightest breath.

Suddenly, all you hear is a buzzing in your ears. Slowly, your knees weaken, and you fall straight into the waiting arms of Aleksander, who looks like he's screaming something. You are enveloped in blissful darkness.

But before you lose your consciousness one thought runs through your mind.

What the hell did I did?

~•♤♤♤•~

You opened your eyes. It was dawn. You were in a clearing near some castle ruins. There were a lot of soldiers around you.

You slowly got up on your elbows and lifted yourself off the ground. You tried to push your way through the crowd of soldiers, but as soon as your arm was about to touch one of them, you felt yourself walking through it. You froze in place.

The sound of Aleksander's voice snapped you out of your daze. You walked forward, passing through the soldiers as you reached the stairs of the palace ruins.

It was a younger version of him, exactly the one you saw in your dreams. But this time it wasn't a pleasant dream. The love in his eyes was replaced by pure fear and fury.

You turned to where he was staring and gasped as you spotted a beaten, bloodied version of yourself held by one of the king's soldiers.

"Surrender. Or your girl will die." Aleksander stared at the younger version of you, trying to make eye contact with you, making sure you were still holding on to your life for him, despite the gruesome state you were in. "This one was brave. She was willing to die than reveal your hiding place. Fortunately, we got another, weaker one. Now, you better hurry before that bitch bleeds to death."

Tears began to form in Aleksander's eyes. He raised his trembling hands in surrender. You lifted your head with difficulty, watching him.

Then all hell broke loose. You set a soldier on fire and started a great fire. You tried to approach Aleksander and he came to you, but the soldiers around you were faster. One of them caught you; the rest kept Aleksander, who was struggling with all his strength, from rushing to your rescue and summoning his shadows. The soldier drew his dagger.

Your eyes and Aleksander's did not separate for a moment. Desperation and fear were reflected in his eyes, which met your gaze full of sadness and fear for his life.

"Aleksander, I love you-AGH!" you tell him when a soldier pierces your heart with a dagger in front of your beloved.

"Y/N!" Aleksander screams, tears in his eyes obscuring his vision at your last breath and your last look at him. He is overcome with rage, grief, and frustration so great that he can do nothing but scream.

His scream proves deadly. Deadly for his enemies.

His grief, desperation, and tremendous pain piercing his heart and seeing his beloved Y/N die raised within him a power so great that it covered the world in the darkness of his shadow.

And so the fold is born.

And Aleksander remains utterly alone in his darkness.

~•♤♤♤•~

You jump out of bed, screaming. You just saw yourself die... but it wasn't you, was it? It's just your twisted imagination. Aleksander couldn't... couldn't create the fold. The Black Heretic lived hundreds of years before you; it couldn't be true. It's just your sick imagination. You kept telling yourself.

You looked around the room, recognising that you were in the general's bedroom. You changed out of his black shirt, which you don't know who put you in, and left the bedroom in a hurry. You didn't know how Aleksander would treat you after he found out about your father's plan, and he certainly did after your panic attack in his war room. You also didn't want to risk getting caught in the general's chamber.

You were about to leave Aleksander's chamber, but someone's hand grabbed your arm tightly and covered your mouth. You tried to wriggle out of his attacker's grip, but in vain. Fortunately, the stranger let you go as soon as you entered one of the secret passages of the Little Palace.

You turned around, freezing as you came face to face with the woman haunting your dreams…

"Who are you?" you whispered in horror, recognizing the woman as the light from her torch illuminated her face.

"It doesn't matter. You need to get out of here as soon as possible." she grabbed your hand again in a strong, bruising grip, but this time you managed to pull away from her.

"Who the hell are you?! Why am I dreaming about you and some Aleksander?! How do I know you, Baghra?!"

"Hush for the saints! We're not far from his room." she tried to silence you, fearing that at any moment you would bring Aleksander back to his chambers here.

"Whose room? General's? What does he have to do with it? What the hell is going on here?!"

"Shut up you stupid girl before he comes here. I'm trying to save you."

"Saved me from what? I don't need a hero, thank you very much. All I want to know is why I'm having these fucking visions about you. Who are you? Why am I having some weird flashbacks about you from hundreds of years ago?" you ask, tired of it all, trying to finally get to the truth, whatever it may be.

"Aleksander was right… it's true. It's really you." she says in shock, eyeing you closely as you use all your powers in anger, summoning both fire, water and a light breeze in the deserted secret passage.

"Aleksander? Which one? Kirigan or some other? Answer me for the love of saints!" you scream at her, feeling like you're about to lose your mind at any moment.

"Child, there is only one Aleksander. My son. Aleksander Morozova. Black Heretic. General Kirigan and many other names he's taken since you died."

"What? What are you talking about? It's impossible, a Black Heretic lived hundreds of years ago… wait. Since I died? What do you mean by since I die?" the vision you just had haunts you again. Your blood, Alexander's screams. Screams of people turned by his grief, anger and rage into volcra as he creates a fold...

"You real name is Y/N…"

"BAGHRA!" Aleksander's furious scream echoes through the deserted corridor. He walks over to me faster than I can blink and stands between me and his supposed mother. "Go away."

"Aleksander..." she begins in a serious tone, but one dark look from the general keeps her silent. Never, not even during their worst quarrels, had he dared to oppose her so openly, so hostilely.

"I said... Go. Away." Baghra looks at you. Half in disappointment, half in fear, knowing full well the reason why her son is ready to use his shadows on her.

She lets go. This time. She knows full well he can't bring back your memories anyway. Or at least she hopes so.

Shee leaves you alone in a dark corridor. Aleksander slowly turns to you and reaches for you, but you pull away before his fingertips even try to touch you. He freezes. He watches you fearfully, afraid of what Baghra might have told you to make you so disgusted by his small touch.

"Don't take a step further. Why do I know you? Why did YOU know me before anything started between us? What the hell is this all about?!"

"Y/N... you need to calm down." he tries to calm you down as he sees you gasping for breath again. He reaches out to touch your cheek tenderly but you jump away from him. The fire begins to slowly circulate around your hands as you unknowingly summon it.

"DO NOT TOUCH ME! Who are you? Who are you to me? That's true? Are you a Black Heretic? What is going on here?!" you scream, you feel an indescribable power flowing through you that you are unable to control, a flood of emotions floods your mind, and your powers go out of control as a great wind rises and the corridor begins to slowly fill with water. The fire in your hands grows bigger, more alive, more uncontrollable.

"My milaya, please... try to calm down for me." he says, taking a step towards you with his hands up so you can see his every little move, every attempt to touch you.

"What am I?" you whisper, your tears flow freely, the water begins to rise faster and faster, the wind is so great that it blows both his and your hair and his black kefta in all directions, and the living fire from your hands prevents him from approaching you without risk of burning himself. But Aleksander doesn't care.

He wades towards you through the water that comes up to his hips and cups your face with both hands, forcing you to look him in the eyes. As soon as his skin touches yours, everything stops. The wind stops blowing, the fire disappears, and the water stops at a constant level. It is quiet. Eerily silent as you stare at him in a daze, tears dripping from your eyes into the makeshift river you created in the hallway.

"You know who you are. Just reach for it. Please, come back to me, Y/N Y/L/N. Moya milaya, moya lapushka..." he pleads, resting his forehead against yours.

You close your eyes. The flood of vivid memories makes your head hurt, but as soon as all the images are gone from your eyes, you open them to look into those familiar dark irises that pierce through you. And you cry with relief, finally knowing perfectly well how you know him, why you associate him with home, peace, love, unconditional devotion.

"Sasha?" you whisper, afraid you've gone completely insane, that it's all a nasty, twisted figment of your imagination.

And Aleksander sighs with relief hearing that damn diminutive he missed so much.

"It's me. My beloved Y/N. My life. My Light. My tribrid. You are finally here." he takes you in his arms as tears flow freely down your cheeks. You snuggle into him, your nose brushing his neck as you inhale the damn good smell of his perfume. Aleksander buries his nose in your hair, trying to hold back tears as he trembles uncontrollably. He finally had you. After hundreds of years, months of torture where he had you at his fingertips but couldn't touch you properly, you were finally with him. "Eya fyela chi." he whispers in old Ravkan, making you laugh in relief.

"I love you too, Sasha. I promise I'm not going anywhere anymore. Nobody and nothing will take me away from you."

"Brave of you to think I'd let you go anywhere. You stay by my side. Forever. I won't waste such a wonderful gift from the saints, my little flame." he says, kissing your temple.

You shiver for the first time enjoying the familiar feeling of love and warmth that comes with this tender gesture, often repeated by him in the past.

He leaned in, catching your lips in a passionate, long-awaited kiss. And you couldn't do anything other than enjoy the taste of his lips on yours and how you could create new memories with him without the old ones attacking you with every touch he made. You are no longer an intruder in your own body. And the unknown fire calling for him turned into the familiar flame of love.

#aleksander morozova x reader #aleksander morozova x y/n #aleksander morozova #general kirigan #general kirigan x reader #the darkling #general kirigan x you #darkling shadow and bone #darkling #the darkling x reader #darkling x reader #the darkling x you #shadow and bone #angst #love #oneshot #kasagia #aleksander kirigan #kirigan x reader #baghra morozova #lost love #angst and fluff #darkling x y/n #darkling x you #reincarnated lovers #reincarnation

[i-heart-hxh]

hi i have a question :3 i didnt rlly fully get these panels but was killua over the edge here bcuz he was worried of gon? like knowing bisky said he would leave gon to die someday.. i was guessing he got so paranoid of it and did this for gon's safety. (^^; help

Yeah, primarily what's going on in this exchange is Killua knows Gon has issues with seeing innocent people being killed, and he worries Gon will intervene if he sees the reality, and get himself killed or injured before they can complete their mission. So he's pushing Gon away for his safety, and so Killua can do what he needs to do without putting him at further risk. Killua did promise himself that he'd protect Gon and make sure Gon can fight Pitou, so this is a part of that.

It's actually part of a larger pattern we see with Killua's behavior towards Gon, where he decides to "protect" him by leaving him out of things and not giving him the full context of what's happening. Think of way back in Heavens Arena when Gido and Sadaso were threatening Zushi. Instead of telling Gon what was happening, Killua went behind his back and handled it himself. Another example is dealing with Rammot during the date with Palm. Not that Gon could have done anything then because he didn't have nen, but Killua doesn't even tell him anything about what happened after the fact.

Of course, it comes out of protectiveness and knowing Gon tends to take things too far, but at the same time it means their relationship can't be fully equal as things are--if Killua feels like he has to hide his own feelings and even what's going on around them in order to protect Gon, it means Gon can't make his own decisions or react to the full truth of a situation, and Killua has to make all these judgment calls about what he thinks Gon should and shouldn't know.

I actually think this exchange is interesting because here Killua is a lot more forthright than usual about what's going on and why Gon needs to stay out of it. But I think it also shows that the issues between them aren't entirely Gon's fault--it also comes from Killua pulling away as a result of his own ways of seeing Gon. Rather than laying out what's going on, discussing it, and letting Gon make his own decisions or talking it out so they both can figure out a solution, he makes decisions for him.

In this case I don't think he's necessarily "wrong" to do this within the context of the mission (though it ends up being a dangerous choice for Killua), especially because he tells Gon what's happening and why he's making the decision he is more-or-less, but it's part of a continuing pattern of Killua trying to shoulder burdens for Gon while (usually) shielding him from knowing Killua is even taking those burdens. In the process of taking on everything himself and not believing he needs backup or help, Killua very nearly gets himself killed (the needlefish scene). Only his kindness in seeing an enemy as a potential friend saves him ultimately.

We don't even know if Killua tells Gon the truth about what happened with that, either--my strong guess based on Killua's repeated tendencies is that he didn't, and he hides the seriousness of what happened to him because he knows it'll upset Gon and split his focus.

Also worth noting that Killua gets so worried about what Gon thinks of him and whether he sees him as a friend or a teammate in this arc, but here within the same arc we see Gon actively disappointed that Killua won't rely on him and stick with him, and wanting to continue to act together. We even see him thinking about it after they split up, worrying about Killua:

Of course this is well before he goes into his full rage hyperfocus that causes him to lash out at Killua, but I still think it's telling that here Gon is wanting to stick together and worrying about Killua's feelings. He seems pretty upset that Killua insists on doing this alone, even though he accepts Killua's logic.

This is all part of the communication tendencies on Killua's side that he's going to need to work on in order to have a better relationship with Gon. Of course, Gon has plenty of maturing to do himself, but I think it's worth remembering that Killua makes decisions like this a number of times that he thinks are in Gon's best interest, but it stunts their communication and means they can't work out the issues between them until they blow up in their faces.

Even their parting seems to be an example of this, where Killua makes all the decisions for Gon and tells himself it's in Gon's best interest, but likely doesn't explain fully why he's doing this. So again Gon is left in the dark about Killua's true feelings and motives.

It makes sense this is Killua's tendency, as is explored in canon Killua was raised with a smothering love, wherein he isn't able to have agency over his own life and others are constantly making decisions for him without his input. It makes sense his love for Gon contains some echoes of that.

Of course, it's something I'm sure they can overcome with time and maturity, but this scene is one example of Killua's protectiveness of Gon getting between the two of them.

#hxh #hunter x hunter #killugon #gonkillu #gon #killua #meta #long post #asks #luniandherkite #my posts #for some reason I feel like there's some aspect I'm leaving out in this post #but ummm if there's anything in particular to add feel free to reblog with it or send an ask! #and I guess I can always add on later if I figure it out #I'm not blaming killua here #he was doing the best he could in a tough situation

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 6.1 Patch Notes Breakdown

That time of the month again! Let's take a quick look at these together, and that part is actually important, because people have cross-referenced the Japanese and English patch notes and confirmed that there are several mistranslations in the latter, so stick with me as we roll through these!

This patch is heavily focused on balance changes, and outside of those, the only thing that isn't a bugfix is of course the Mincemeat Metalworks renovation. With that out of the way, let's look at the Main Weapon changes:

N-Zap gets two more damage, which makes it combo better with other sources of damage like the splash damage from the '85's Suction Bomb. There seems to always be a completely unnecessary Shooter buff in every patch nowadays, and this is the one this time, but it's at least balanced out by the fact that this weapon is also getting nerfed further down the notes, but we'll get there.

Dynamo Roller will now deal lethal damage in a wider spread than it did previously. Splat Roller got this buff a while ago and it was pretty good for it, so this is a definitive W for Dynamo mains everywhere.

Flingza Roller gets the exact same buff, plus a buff that cuts 5 white ink frames off its' vertical flick. Some nice quality of life for sure.

Inkbrush now moves faster, cheaper. Three percent doesn't sound like a lot, but I promise you that even such a small change is going to throw your aim off quite a bit, so get ready to get circles run around you in Clam Blitz even more than you already do.

The Brella gets 13% better ink efficiency off its shots, and that's quite a lot! Brella likes to play the long game and draw out fights, and most builds for it run a lot of Ink Saver Main as a result, so this should give it some more ability flexibility.

Undercover Brella can now... do full jumps while firing? I don't think this is a very impactful change, but it is neat, and I think if used properly could be a way to get more mileage out of your shield and avoid damage.

This is a mistranslation!

The first change is actually the complete opposite of what it says in the patch notes. They did not reduce Squeezer's ink consumption when tap-firing, but increase it, making the cost tap-shots 9% more. It'll also paint slightly worse when holding down the firing button, and considering how this weapon has been utterly dominant at all levels of play both of these changes are fair.

Ballpoint gets a small accuracy decrease in long-range mode, which frankly seems a bit uncalled for, because this weapon hasn't been on top of the metagame for a long time. At least it's also kind of a paint buff?

And finally for Main Weapon changes, Stamper gets its charge slash paint cut by 10%. Compared to the changes this weapon has been getting in the past it's a bit of a slap on the wrist, but it does in fairness paint really well, and Neo Splatana Stamper does put out a lot of Crab Tanks, so this isn't an unjust change.

After that comes two Special changes, and these are very interesting:

Wave Breaker will now immediately locate enemies upon being placed for a short while. They don't specify the range or time of the effect, but I have to imagine it'll be within the same area of effect as the Wave Breaker's Waves. Giving it an immediate effect is really cool to me, it makes me think of Splatoon 1's Echolocator, which Wave Breaker already kind of felt like a rework of to begin with.

THIS IS A MISTRANSLATION TOO AND IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST ONE

Again, this change is the complete opposite, reading the text you'd think this was a nerf to Ink Storm, but it's actually a buff, because it makes you heal faster in Kid Form when inside your own team's Ink Storms. This is essentially completely unprecedented, as we've never had anything that messes with the health regeneration system like this before, and I'm very curious to see how it shakes out.

And finally we have the Points-For-Special changes:

Neo Sploosh, Forge Pro, Luna, Bamboozler, and Zink Mini all get their Points-For-Special cut by 10 (a change Forge has been begging for since it released, seriously starting it at 210p was completely unreasonable) while Slattershot, N-Zap '85 (here's that nerf I mentioned at the very top of the list), Tri-Slosher nouveau, and Heavy Edit Splatling get another 10p added to their Special charge.

Overall I think this is a pretty good patch that has some really interesting ideas in it, but there is also a very notable omission. They went after all of the most popular Tacticooler weapons, and increased their Special charge, except for Snipewriter 5H. Snipewriter has been skyrocketing in popularity in competitive player for its' ability to serve as paint support, long-range damage, and Tacticooler spammer, all at once, and it got completely overlooked here. I suspect that nanowrimo is coming early in the world of competitive Splatoon 3, because everyone is getting their pencils ready.

#splatoon 3

[radiant-reid]

hiii could you do like a blurb on spence when he’s in crutches in season 5 and he’s not resting he’s does cases and everything but reader wants him to rest so gives him head or something i don’t know🤭

no bc he is so cute and he deserves so much head

"Spencer Reid, you'll sit down right now if you don't want me calling Hotch." You warn your boyfriend as he tries to sneak into your home office. It's part of his reinstatement that he can't do any extra work from home. He can't understand how it's meant to protect him from overexerting himself while he's not 100% healthy.

Even though he's usually the rigorous rule follower, you have your turn when it comes to making sure your boyfriend is healthy.

He sighs loudly as he does what he's told, making sure you know he's in the living room by turning on the TV. "Sorry, I forgot you were the boss of me." He grovels.

"Well, you'll stop complaining if you want your juice." You tell him, treating him like he's a child. You hand the cup to him before sitting down next to him. "Feel okay?"

"I promise I'm okay." He assures you. "And thank you for my juice. You know, we should really get to the grocery store, and I did say I'd vacuum."

You shake your head. "Nope. You're going to sit here all weekend and watch TV or read. No chores and no errands."

"I get antsy when I have to sit around." He complains, throwing his head back against the cushion.

"I know." You agree with a laugh. "I guess, I just have to find a way to help you relax." You say suggestively, reaching down to touch his pants.

Spencer's head and eyes snap to you, focusing on what you're saying with excited interest. "Yeah, how will you do that? I mean, I'm bored."

You continue to palm his pants as he grows harder, making him groan a little. "Well, I'm quite entertaining, aren't I?" You ask with a smile.

"Going to put on a show for me, darling?" He asks with a grin.

You nod, slipping down onto the rug-covered hardwood floor. He's already got his injured leg elevated, and he moves his other thigh apart so you can get between them. He rests his palm on your cheek, thumb stroking over your cheekbone as you get him worked up over the top of his pants.

"Need more." He grovels, still fidgeting. "Please."

"Since you asked so nicely." You agree, unzipping his pants and pulling them down as far as you can without him having to move. You take him out of his boxers, pumping over his length. "So pretty, Spence." You trace over his head, mesmerized by smearing his pre-cum around.

In the interest of not making him wait too long and become whiney, you take him into your mouth, tongue tracing each popping vein. You continue to take him further down your mouth, bobbing your head up and down.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful." He moans, threading his fingers through your hair and scooping it up into a ponytail.

You smirk, holding eye contact as you sink your head completely down, fitting his full length down your throat. It's not an easy task by any means, but you're well-practiced.

You trace the underside of his cock with your tongue, earning a plethora of moans from his lips. It's easily your favorite sound in the world.

He keeps his beautiful lips parted while you keep yours moving along him, gagging lightly each time he hits the back of your throat in a way you know he loves. You move your hand to cup his balls, something that drives him even closer to the edge.

"Shit." He groans, rutting his hips up into your face. There's no rhythm, and you know it's a clear warning sign he's about to cum. "G-gonna cum."

You wink up at him while swirling your tongue over his tip, and it's enough to have him bursting in your mouth, balls tightening. He lays there blissed out, head against the cushion with a smile on his face.

"That's all I had to do to stop your bitching?" You joke, getting up with the help of the hand he offered you.

"Yeah, and it'll work every time." He agrees, pulling you closer to him so he can kiss you. He's never been afraid to taste his own cum in your mouth, always willing to kiss you. "Also." He trails off slightly, and you know the next thing that comes out of his mouth is going to be cheeky. "You need to call Hotch and explain what you just did. I'm technically not allowed to have sex for another two weeks."

You punch him in the shoulder. "You're such a dick. If I have to call our boss to tell him you've had oral sex, I'm saying to was with someone else."

Spencer scoffs. "He'd never believe that."

"True." You agree. "He knows you're obsessed with me."

"And your lips and tongue." He adds on.

#spencer reid #criminal minds #spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid fandom #spencer reid blurb

[roguelov]

Yes, hi, it's me. Thanks for your response. Got me smiling at my phone and all, and I'm less depressed now. Heh.

"Dream continued to smile at you. Just one day at a time, he thought. He would have you soon enough. You would soon understand his desires for you, his sweet guest."

It'll be a shame if she didn't show up at all for the entire evening and night. It'll be a shame if she's so skittish, that she's decided to hole up at the quarter that she's been provided with. He thought she'll be late, but nope. She's just not showing up. She doesn't know why she's like this, she reasoned that there's just something wrong with her, so she made the genius decision of just staying in and hoping it'll all just go away by its own. What will the Dream Lord do? Decisions, decisions...

Interesting anon very interesting 😌 (Part 1 is here!)

You worriedly glanced at the clock in your room. You winced internally. Nearly a few hour later since you agreed to meet Dream.

Why didn’t I go?

Why would I go?

A knock cut through your panicked thoughts. Without needing to answer it, you knew who stood on the other side.

Don’t answer it.

Answer it, have we not offended him enough?

Pushing down your fears, you shakily grasped the door knob and opened it revealing the Dream Lord. His expression was neutral, and somehow that was worse. You couldn’t understand how he felt, or what he was thinking behind his icy blue eyes.

“Dream, uh, hi,” you meekly said.

“You didn’t come.”

You winced, “Ah, right, um, apologies. I - I … uh … I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t.”

You groaned internally. His concise tone, and quick responses left you floundering. “Right, well … it’s getting late perhaps I should turn in -“

You began to close the door, however, Dream swiftly grabbed it. He pushed it further opened, and took a small step now hovering in the doorway.

You whimpered quietly. “Dream, please, I’m sorry for -“

“I told you you needn’t apologize.” He stepped closer to you, closing the space. “I simply wish to understand. Why? Why did you not come?”

You quickly tore your gaze away from him. “I - I don’t know.”

He tilted your chin, forcing your eyes up on him. “You do know.”

You swallowed.

His thumb barely brushed over your bottom lip. “These lips do not lie, so tell me: why did you not show tonight?”

I was scared. I couldn’t hope to think you see me in such a way. I am only a guest, a temporary visitor.

“I -“ you licked your lips, trying to find your voice - “I am unworthy of your attention.”

Now, that was the whole truth. He was Dream of the Endless, a being of such power and status. You, however, was a lowly fae only here to strength the bond between your realms.

Dream’s lips thinned. Anger flashed over his features. You flinched, and nearly stumbled back. But, Dream still had a grip on your chin. He closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. When he opened his eyes again, the icy anger was gone.

“Oh, my sweet little guest,” Dream whispered, drawing you closer. “You are so much more.”

Your breath hitched.

His hand moved, cupping your cheek. “If anything I am unworthy of such a kind soul such as yourself.”

Your eyes widened. “No -“

“Yes.”

You shut your mouth at his commanding tone.

His eyes scanned over your face. “Please, let us put tonight behind us. Join me for breakfast in the morning.”

He wanted to say ‘you will join me’. He wanted to demand, he wanted to enact his kingly rights, however he needed you to come to him. He will not scare you off, not anymore.

“Okay,” you muttered. “I’ll be there, I promise.”

He smiled. Good girl. He leaned in, kissing your forehead. A warmth spread over your chest. “Wonderful, I will see you tomorrow, little one.”

#the sandman #morpheus #dream of the endless #morpheus x reader #dream of the endless x reader #anon #ask

[raylaandcallum]

Ryomina gardening together on the dorm rooftop? Maybe Ryoji trying to flirt with flower language

Ryoji/Minato

1,5k

Come spring

The rooftop door creaked, and Minato looked up from the bag of soil he was holding.

"Minato!" Ryoji greeted him with a brilliant smile.

He looked as handsome as ever, but the moment he stepped on the rooftop, the wind started whipping his scarf and hair.

Minato allowed himself a slight chuckle.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still crouching.

"I came by to hang out with Junpei." Ryoji joined him at his side and peered at the bag curiously. "But he said he was busy. I didn't want to leave since I came all this way, so Fuuka helpfully told me you were up here," he finished with that same dazzling smile, but when those eyes were directed only on him...

Minato tried to focus on the conversation again. "Too bad Junpei's not free. The dorm isn't exactly on your way."

Ryoji nodded. "Which is why I decided to find someone else's time to monopolize, namely, yours."

Minato looked up at him, but the sun made him squint, ruining the desired effect. "Did the rest all draw long straws so it fell on me?"

"Har har. I won't bother you if you're really busy, but..."

Minato sighed with dramatic indifference. "I was in the middle of preparing these pots for the new plants, but you can keep me company if you want."

"Really?" Ryoji put a hand on his shoulder as he leaned over him to look at the seed bags on the floor.

"How about I help you? It'll go faster with two people. And before you complain, I promise I won't ruin anything."

Minato gently shook off his hand so he could finally stand up and face him. "I wouldn't say something like that." He was almost insulted and a bit sad that Ryoji thought of him as cold. Maybe he still had himself to blame; he knew he didn't really come off as outgoing to most people.

"You should put your scarf away, it might get in the way."

Ryoji moved to do as directed and then returned to his side once again, rolling his sleeves up.

Minato allowed himself to notice it innocently for half a second.

Dammit.

"Can you get the rest of the pots from there and that fertilizer bag if it's not too heavy? I wanted to plant most of what I had in mind today. I really appreciate your help." He tried to keep his voice even as he looked at Ryoji.

He hated how his nerves betrayed him in such a silly situation, but was determined not to let it show. Nothing good would come from flirting with this infuriatingly attractive ladies' man. He thought he glimpsed beneath the surface of it, but if that was what Ryoji really wanted...

"Um, Earth to Minato?" Ryoji waved a hand in front of his face. He looked concerned. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

"Sorry, I space out for a second. Thank you." He nodded in the direction of the materials Ryoji brought.

Ryoji raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn't pry further.

Once Minato directed him on what to do with each pot, they worked in silence. Minato felt himself growing too nervous to start a casual conversation topic, and he hoped Ryoji was too engrossed in the work to pay it much mind.

"So what are we planting?" Ryoji broke the silence.

That he could handle, Minato thought.

"Flowers, mostly. I'm not really confident to keep up with fruits and vegetables with finals so near. And I've got more experience with these."

"Really?" Ryoji perked up. "Which ones?"

"I've got here irises, columbines and some thyme. I'd like to experiment with more different kinds, but those'll wait until spring."

"Interesting combination. Are they for anyone in particular?"

Minato gave a confused shrug. "Not really? Just for us here at the dorm to enjoy."

Ryoji laughed. Minato didn't know what he found funny in that, but his traitorous heart helpfully supplied he'd like to hear Ryoji laugh more.

"I think it's perfect. The symbolism fits."

... Busted.

"You... um, you know much about that?"

"About flowers? Of course, they make the perfect gifts."

He hummed in response.

"I find it fascinating how such small beings can hold so much life, beauty and meaning in them. They can be different for each person, but we can all appreciate them in the end." Ryoji paused, his hands still stuck in the dirt, like he was considering something.

"Yeah. You put it really nicely. It's kind of a comforting presence to have some around."

"I know what you mean. I don't think I've ever bothered having my own since we moved so much, but whenever I'd go out in nature, it was like witnessing another world."

Minato silently nodded, working on autopilot while he processed his words.

"I'm really glad I found you up here," Ryoji suddenly started, turning to look at Minato.

Minato found himself looking back without realizing what devastating effect Ryoji's smile had on him. But it wasn't his usual, brighter-than-light smile. This one was smaller, subdued, but Minato had a feeling it was just as genuine. He hoped it was as a small blush spread across his cheeks.

"If you'd like, I could help you with these again. I'm somewhat attached to them now after planting so many. I want to see them grow."

Damn his foolish heart. It would have its way in the end, so Minato blurted out: "We can grow some other ones too. Do you have any in mind you'd like to see?"

That seemed to take Ryoji by surprise. His eyes widened, and he scratched his cheek, forgetting the dirt that was on his hands and therefore leaving a smear of mud in the middle of it.

"Um... What about tulips? They're gorgeous to see, especially red and yellow ones. Just in time for spring. And maybe... gardenias. They're less subtle than tulips, but together they'll go really nicely. If we plant them just right, it'll be a beautiful arrangement." He smiled again, but there was color in his cheeks like the red tulips he spoke of. His eyes didn't seem to hold his usual loud confidence, but they shone with joy nonetheless.

It was impossible not to return that smile.

"That's a great idea. We can go shopping for them together. I know the lady at Rafflesia might have some helpful tips too, so we can ask her. By the time we see how these ones grow along, maybe I'll have an idea of how good the fertilizer is, so I'll know whether we need to replace it..."

Minato was caught up in the idea of growing flowers with Ryoji. When he realized he was rambling, he trailed off uncomfortably.

Ryoji wasn't looking at him anymore, his gaze was fixated on something on the ground.

Minato furrowed his brows. "Sorry, I can go on for a while when it's about plants. Don't worry though, it won't be too difficult."

Ryoji finally met his eyes. "Rafflesia, huh? I actually heard there that..." He regaled him with useful tips about growing flowers he picked up here and there.

Minato tried to listen, but he couldn't escape a hunch that something was wrong. That Ryoji wasn't feeling well. The way he unconsciously fixed his collar reminded him of the way he'd hide his face in his scarf. A habit he like to observe out of the corner of his eye entirely too much when he had the chance.

They sat with their back to the railing, and Minato found himself enjoying the conversation, and even more if he was being honest, Ryoji's presence and the sound of his voice.

He thought back to the moment Ryoji was full of smiles before he fell silent. He wanted them to grow tulips and gardenias....

Minato widened his eyes. His heart was trying to kill him, as far as he was concerned. The tiny spark of hope he trained so hard to grow in other aspects of his life began to ignite. And it wouldn't let him go.

As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, he casually asked: "Hey, do you mind if we add another flower to the list of ones we're gonna grow?"

Ryoji shook his head. "Not at all. What did you come up with?"

Minato turned his head to look at Ryoji. They were sitting really close, almost shoulder to shoulder. Ryoji looked just as beautiful in profile.

"Daffodils."

His face was on fire as he laid all his pathetic hopes out for the world to see.

Now it was Ryoji's turn to look at him and widen his eyes.

Just a tilt of his head and he would be...

"Did you know that daffodils have quite a romantic meaning?" His voice was quiet. Minato could only stare.

He swallowed. "Yeah?"

"What are you gonna do with them?"

"I was thinking... maybe I could have some in my room once they've bloomed. You could take some too. If you wanted."

"I'd love that." This smile was as briliant as it was genuine.

"Mhm." Minato finally tored his gaze from Ryoji and turned away.

"I can't wait," he simply said.

"Me neither." Ryoji chuckled.

As their shoulders brushed again each other's, Minato allowed himself to embrace the hope he'd been denying himself. It made him excited for all the days that were to come if Ryoji would be close to him.

Fin

thank you so much for the ask!! this has been eating away at me ever since i got it. the idea is so cute, but minato's ghost possessed me and said i have to include pining minato too.

the language of flowers

hope you liked it!

i will be posting these one shots on ao3 too, iwa_chan4

accepting more ryomina prompts!

#ryomina #p3 protagonist #mochizuki ryoji #makoto yuki #arisato minato #persona 3 #persona 3 reload

[autisticmao]

║▌ MANGA & TREATS

mao isara x gn!reader - fluff?

just a calm time to hang out with mao!

"Producer! Over here!"

A familiar warm voice calls out to you, catching your attention and causing you to cast your attention to where the very voice came from.

Sitting on a low wall, with a tree looming over and casting a large shadow onto the grounds and around him, was Mao Isara sitting in his casual clothing, his legs crossed over one another as he had a manga book in one hand, whilst his other motioned towards you with a wave.

You walk over to him, placing yourself next to Mao as you settle down comfortably under the cooling shade and away from the glistening sunshine that radiated a temperature far too warm for a day to do anything so easily, besides relaxing with your best friend.

"I thought I told you not to call me by my title when we're off work?"

"Right, sorry!" The beaujolais-haired boy apologised to you with a look of embarrassment, smiling thin and sheepishly from his forgetfulness as he shrugs towards you, "I guess it's just a habit I can't seem to get rid of~! Anyways, we're here for our weekly reads, right?"

You nod towards him.

"Then... what's with the bag? I already have the manga we're reading this time to share, so...?"

In your dominant hand lies a plastic white bag that holds a logo of a shopping brand imprinted onto it. You twist the bag around, placing it in between you and Mao from where you both sit. "I thought that seeing as the day was nice and very much warming, I'd go to the corner shop and buy us some snacks and a couple of drinks!"

"Oh, okay!" He replies whilst opening the bag slightly, his kelly green eyes peeking into the bag as a flow of excitement strings through his veins once noticing something. He shuffles one hand through the bag for a second and picks it out of the bag, his smile turning into a grin of bright cheer. "You even bought my favourite snack?!"

"Of course I did!" You chuckle, copying Mao's actions and grabbing something to eat for yourself. You glance over, seeing Mao chewing on his snack, his eyes closed from delight, as his smile just seemed to make him impossibly glow brighter and brighter, even from where he sat under the shade as a hum of satisfaction comes from Mao.

The sun may shine bright, and the stars may twinkle during the night, but Mao knows how to glow further stronger than the two combined in actions.

After a moment of eating, you ask him a question, reeling him back down to earth. "So what is it that we're reading today?"

He perks up from beside you, grabbing the manga from his lap and showing you the cover to the manga. "It's a horror based manga that's been gaining popularity super fast lately, both on the Internet and off it. I've seen some panels of it landing about on media, so I thought maybe we could try to read it together? It looks great, and the art style is interesting, which I think you might like!"

After looking over the manga cover and hearing Mao ramble, you let your eyes cast to meet Mao's.

"I thought you don't like horror?" You ask with a tilt to your head in question.

"I don't, but I really want to read this one with you!"

"Last time we read a horror manga, you had nightmares for more than a month... and Kuro had to look after you every night like a dad would to a baby."

Mao huffs.

"Come on, you really have to bring that memory up~? I promise, it'll be different this time! Plus... I've gotten more braver since that incident!"

You blank face Mao. "This happened three months ago."

"Well- still...!"

"Alright," you deflate due to defeat, "we can read it. But don't blame me if you get scared again."

"I won't~!"

♡

#mao isara #mao isara x reader #trickstar #ensemble stars #enstars #oneshot #ensemble stars fanfic #fanfic

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

you and Vinelle have talked various times about the vampires being a violent species, many of them not surviving the first year etc. and take this for example as an argument for Carlisle having a gift, that he survived so long on his own

Why exactly do you think that? Cuz I reread Eclipse and Jasper tells Bella that Peter and Charlotte didn't get in any fights in the 5 years after they left the newborn army, even though they met tons of others

Was Jasper sugarcoating for Bella? I thought maybe Peter and Charlotte were similary scarred like Jasper is and other vampires were too afraid to try to fight them, but neither Bella in Breaking Dawn nor Edward in Midnight Sun mention this

Honestly, from what we see in all other circumstances, yes he was sugar coating or more accurately... not getting into nuances with Bella who wouldn't appreciate them.

Remember the time that the Cullens meet Victoria, Laurent, and James. Granted, they had Bella with them, but the situation is immediately tense on both sides. There's discussion on whether or not they've been eating in the Cullen territory.

I think that's probably how it goes for meeting most vampires. There's a song and dance where you assure whoever you're meeting that you're a) not a threat and b) not interested in their hunting grounds. Sometimes this goes well for you, sometimes it may not.

I'm sure Charlotte and Peter though were amazed in that it never broke out into a fight, where in the newborn armies this would have been a death sentence.

It was markedly better than before, but on the other hand there don't seem to be that many nomadic covens in North America (can't be or the death rate in Twilight would be through the roof) and as a result they're not having the same fights for territory.

I read that as Peter and Charlotte going "Wow, we met five whole people and none of them murdered us". And those five people... may or may not be alive by the time Breaking Dawn rolls around. In fact, I imagine most of the people they met at the time are now dead either from breaking the law and getting the axe from the Volturi or making an enemy of the wrong nomad/coven in and of themselves.

The vampires we meet in Breaking Dawn, Bella never got to see those who said "no" to coming and never did the recruitment speech herself. Bella sees the ones who already agreed to come and even then there was some anxiety about hunting grounds and what they might think of the wolves/Renesmee when they saw her up close.

The reason we noted Carlisle's situation as weird is he a) traveled much further than most vampires and b) acted fucking weird and tried to get them on a diet that sounds a lot like "poison yourself, it'll be a great time I promise!". That's a great thing to say to people who suspect you of being a thief the moment you enter their house.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #meta #headcanon #opinion

[taintedsoul-if]

Hey, how are doing, dear author? 🌹 Haven't seen you on tumblr for a while, but I'm happy you still work on your IF, it has so interesting and unique concept 💖

I am doing alright. Been feeling under the weather as of late. Sometimes the sadness just kicks in for no reason with no explanation whatsoever and boom there goes everything you've been working hard on. But you know these days I've been improving. And getting back in the mood for writing. This time away has finally made me figure out something about what I've posted so far.... so that's a win right there.

Where are my manners? How about you anon? I do hope you're doing much better than me.

And most certainly I am still constantly working on this IF. I made a promise to myself. And I have to fulfil that promise. Even if it takes me five years I will get this game up on playstore. I just need to push myself to at least remember to write something every day. Work is hectic but we can't allow work to take away the little joy and de-stresser that I have. (There's probably no such word).

Recently I've been writing alot of openings for the continuation of dialogues that I believe could have gone further. Like for example..... the scene where the MC's "bio" mother woke up in a foreign world. I was thinking of expanding on that. Giving a bit more information as to why she was injuried and the current background she has.

Then I opened a paragraph where there was an injuried stallion pulling a unmarked wooden carriage into the wilderness..... inside that carriage is a vermilion eyes boy whose heart was ripped viciously from his chest.

Then I did an opening where the MC slept with Trysten/Trista for the first time.... 😫. The sex scene is one I am still hesitating to write. As y'all know I am a simp. Imagine if I start simping for that slag. It'll be over for y'all. I'm sure of it.

The year hasn't ended as yet and I do believe that if it's even a 20,000 words update I must can give it to y'all so don't worry. Just keep me in your prayers of motivation. 🤧.

Anyways that's enough babbling. Thanks for checking up on me. Stay safe anon and I'll see ya around.

#ask #lovely anon #writing #progress #babble

[kunikinnie]

*knocks knocks* tao poooo

request are open, so! and I love Yukichi sm guess we're both a Fukuzawa simping blog

may I ask of Yukichi and how he would deal with his s/o's ex-boyfriend/lover 🤔 (like giving signs of wanting to get them back but of course we're not interested we won't replace Yukichi)

XD

a/n: galing ng prompt mo alavet HAHA hope this is ok! was writing the next part of Nabe and this is giving me ideas oop

dealing with your ex

featuring: Fukuzawa x GN!Reader

Your ex was trying to initiate contact with you a little more frequently than they should. You didn't think much of it, but right from the get go, Fukuzawa's suspicious. Of course he is - how could he not be? But it's not like there was reason to act on that hunch... at least not yet.

Because of how busy he is, he didn't even dwell on their presence at first. Every moment he spent with you was singularly for you and you only.

It was when their name and perhaps your slight discomfort became a regular occurrence that Fukuzawa decided to not ignore the issue any further.

Being your partner gave him the right to assert himself if needed - that much is undeniable. Yet at the back of his mind, he's worried that you might have lingering feelings for them. What should he do, then? The thought causes a certain pang in his chest that he dispels any speculation before asking you first.

Thankfully, you had the same thoughts as he did.

"Maybe I'm just overthinking things," you added after rambling your feelings on the matter. "It's not like they'll do anything, right?"

"Nothing will happen as long as I'm here," Fukuzawa replied with a firm but gentle voice, determined to fulfill that promise.

Now as protective as he may be, he's not the type to confront anyone less absolutely necessary. The most he'll do during this period is walk and accompany you more often (if possible) and to spend more time with you in general.

Most likely, it is the ex who'll confront him first.

"I still love Y/N," they say without shame. "Let me take a chance with them again, please." The audacity-

"It is their decision to make," Fukuzawa said calmly. Internally, however, he's already thrown him onto the speeding traffic. "And it's theirs alone."

If that wasn't clear enough, then God grant him patience. It wouldn't end well if he was granted more strength. Fortunately, leaving the rest to you was more that enough.

Your ex never showed up again since you talked to him. Fukuzawa would like to claim that during the period in between those incidents, he remained as stoic as ever. You knew that wasn't the truth, however.

If there's one thing you've learned from being with him all this time, it's that what your lover couldn't say in words he said through his eyes. The long and frequent stares at you when he thought you weren't looking spoke volumes about his true emotions.

"There's no need to get jealous, Yukichi."

The cough that followed nearly choked him. "I-I'm just worried he won't take it well."

"You said nothing will happen, right? As long as you're here, it'll be fine."

It's strange how the tables turned easily like that, he mused at the time. But once it had all passed, he could only be relieved that all that was promised remained unbroken.

taglist: @irethepotato, @kisara-16reblogs, @dazaee, @menshusband, @celestair, @bloobewy

#bsd #fukuzawa yukichi #fukuzawa x reader #fukuzawa x you #fukuzawa x y/n #ok sorry idk how to end it HAHAHA

[maggie-004]

(Un-) Lucky coincidence – 8

Jenna Ortega x Fem reader

Summary As dawn broke, Jenna and I shared a moment of intimacy before facing the day ahead. With mixed emotions about returning to school and an exciting interview for me, our unspoken feelings deepened, promising the potential for a transformative connection between us.

(btw, the mention remix is really one of my remixes, so if you want to listen, I’d really appreciate that)

Words:2226

Jenna and I drifted off to sleep, finding comfort in each other's presence as our bodies pressed together, entwined like we were attached at the hip. As the night embraced us, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and apprehension for the day that lay ahead. Tomorrow marked my return to school for the last time before graduation, a day filled with the final preparations and organization for the upcoming ceremony. However, there was a part of me that felt nervous about stepping back into the school environment, knowing that some students were ardent fans of DJ Y/A/N. I wondered if they had any inkling that I was the person behind the mask. Nevertheless, curiosity mingled with anxiety, and I knew I would have to face it head-on.

The soft glow of dawn began to filter through the curtains as 7:30 a.m. approached, and we were woken up by Jenna's alarm going off. With a sleepy groan, she reached over to turn it off, and we both shared a knowing smile as we realized neither of us were particularly fond of early mornings. "Hey, good morning. Why does your alarm go off so early in the morning?" I murmured, my gaze lingering on Jenna. Even in her morning haze, she looked stunning, with her hair slightly tousled and her eyes not fully awake yet. "Good morning," she replied, stifling a yawn. "Uhh, I have to get up this early because I have an interview today. Sorry for not telling you earlier, I totally forgot." I chuckled softly, feeling grateful for the casual intimacy of our conversation. "No problem at all. Where is the interview taking place?" I asked curiously, genuinely interested in her upcoming endeavor. "It's at a studio near your school," she explained, her eyes meeting mine. A spark of excitement ignited within me. "Oh, if you want, I could take you there. I need to go back to school today anyways," I offered, eager to be of assistance to Jenna. A soft smile graced her lips as she replied, "That would be amazing, Y/N. Thank you. It'll be nice to have some company."

As we got ready for the day, I couldn't help but feel a sense of closeness to Jenna. It was as if our connection had deepened even further during the night, and the unspoken feelings between us added a layer of anticipation to our interactions. As we prepared to face the day ahead, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the bond we shared.

"Jenna, you look absolutely stunning in that suit and tie," I managed to say, my voice trembling with both nerves and admiration. Complimenting her felt like summoning a burst of courage from deep within me. Her eyes lit up, and a warm smile graced her lips. "Thank you," she replied, her cheeks blushing a delicate shade of pink. "But to be honest, I would much rather wear something out of your closet. Your style is effortlessly cool every day, and even today, you look really good. I'm a fan of your baggy street style." Her words sent my heart racing even faster, and I could feel the heat spreading across my cheeks. She was complimenting me, and I was struggling to contain my excitement and emotions. This was more than I had ever anticipated, and it felt like my feelings for Jenna were bubbling just beneath the surface, threatening to spill over. "You're too kind," I managed to say, my voice slightly breathless. "I've always admired your style too, Jenna. Seeing you in that suit, it's just...wow." As the interview approached, we decided to get finally done  together. The anticipation of the day ahead mixed with our unspoken feelings, creating a heady atmosphere of possibility and nervousness. Jenna and I stood there, caught in the moment, neither of us daring to make the first move. "Let's head to the car, shall we?" I finally managed to break the enchanting stare, my heart still pounding with anticipation. "Yeah, sure," Jenna replied, her cheeks tinted with a blush that mirrored my own. As we entered my car, I handed Jenna my phone, a small gesture of trust and comfort between us. "I'm the driver, so you're the DJ," I said with a smile, wanting her to feel at ease. "Feel free to play anything you want to listen to." Jenna's eyes sparkled with excitement as she scrolled through my music library, her finger finally landing on a particular track. "Okay, how about this one?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of mischievousness. As the music filled the car, I instantly recognized it as my newest remix: 'MDMA (Rock version) x Chris Lake & Lee Foss - Lies, Deception, And Fantasy (Original Mix)'. A mix of surprise and pleasure washed over me, and I couldn't help but smile. "Okay, I didn't expect that, but thank you," I replied, feeling my cheeks warm with a deeper blush. Jenna's choice of music spoke volumes, as if she knew me on a level that went beyond words. Despite the slight embarrassment, I couldn't deny how much I vibed with the mix, feeling a sense of connection and unity with Jenna in that moment. As the car cruised through the city streets, the music became nothing more than a pleasant background melody, because Jenna and I had our own starring moment. We turned our car ride into a live concert, singing at the top of our lungs, dancing like nobody was watching, and filling the car with laughter and joy. It was a reminder of the beautiful chaos that friendship could bring, where even the simplest moments turned into unforgettable memories.

The 20-minute car ride felt like a whirlwind of fun and excitement, but unfortunately, it came to an end all too soon. I still had two hours until my class started, and I wished time would slow down just so I could cherish every second with Jenna a little longer. "Would you mind sparing me a cigarette before all this starts?" Jenna asked, looking at me with a mischievous grin. "Sure, here you go," I replied, handing her a cigarette. We decided to stay in my car because its windows were heavily tinted, providing us with the perfect shelter to enjoy ourselves without worrying about being seen. "Oh, and don't worry about the smell, I have deodorant and perfume on me," I reassured her, wanting her to feel at ease. "You're literally the best. Thank you," Jenna said gratefully, her words making my heart skip a beat. In that moment, I realized how deeply I cared for her and how much I wanted to protect and cherish every single moment we shared. As we sat there, the sun casting a warm glow through the windows, we continued talking and laughing, delving into deeper conversations about life and dreams. Time seemed to stand still, allowing us to lose ourselves in the depth of our connection. In that intimate space, our guards came down, and my hidden feelings danced just beneath the surface. But I still weren't ready to confess them yet, choosing instead to savor the magic of the present moment. The world outside seemed to fade away, leaving just Jenna and me, cocooned in our little bubble of friendship and affection. I admired how the sunlight caught her hair, creating a halo of warmth around her, and I couldn't help but get lost in the way her eyes sparkled with every word she spoke. As the minutes passed, I found myself wanting to freeze time, to hold on to this moment forever. Reality beckoned, and I knew that Jenna probably had to get inside soon. As if she could read my thoughts, she asked, "Hey, do you want to come in? I mean, you'll have to learn the behind-the-scenes of everything, so come and just take a look." Her offer made my heart skip a beat, and I couldn't resist the chance to be by her side, to see her in her element. "Sure, I'd love to," I replied, trying to hide the excitement in my voice. She smiled warmly at me, and in that moment, I felt a rush of gratitude for having her in my life. I followed Jenna inside, stepping into a world of lights, cameras, and bustling energy.

The studio was abuzz with activity, each corner holding secrets of the entertainment industry. As I observed the organized chaos, Jenna introduced me to the crew, who greeted me with friendly smiles and welcoming gestures. Her presence beside me gave me a sense of comfort, as if she was my anchor in this unfamiliar territory. Let's fast forward to the moment of truth: my first interview. The publicist had heard about my DJing career and had seen all the headlines, and they were eager to be the first to interview me. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was the best idea, given my nerves, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I stood there in my signature street style outfit, mostly RVD-branded clothing, and my hair thrown up in a messy bun.

The makeup artists and hairstylists worked their magic, giving me a quick touch-up, and then it was time to face the camera. As the interview began, my nerves were palpable. My heart raced, and I fidgeted slightly, trying to compose myself. "Hey, my name is DJ Y/A/N, also known as Y/N, and I was on my way to school when I ended up here," I introduced myself with a hint of nervous laughter. Throughout the interview, I tried to answer the questions as honestly and authentically as possible, but the butterflies in my stomach made it challenging. Jenna sat behind the camera, listening intently to every word I said. Knowing she was there, supporting me, gave me an inexplicable sense of security. Her encouraging smile and the occasional nod reassured me, making me feel like I wasn't alone in this new territory. Despite my nerves, I felt like I managed the interview fairly well. The crew seemed pleased with my responses, and as the camera stopped rolling, a wave of relief washed over me. I turned to Jenna, my heart full of gratitude. "Thank you for being here with me," I said, genuinely appreciative of her presence and hugged her  She grinned, her eyes shining with pride. "You did great, Y/N. I knew you would. You're a natural," she praised, and I blushed at her compliment. In that moment, I couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for her, grateful for the unwavering support she always offered.

As we stepped outside for another cigarette, the air felt crisp against our skin, and the sound of the city bustle surrounded us. We continued our effortless conversation, discussing my interview and a myriad of other topics. It was as if there was an unspoken understanding between us, a connection that effortlessly flowed from one topic to another. Time seemed to slip away, but in those moments, it felt like we had all the time in the world. With a sense of reluctance, I glanced at the time and realized that I had to leave soon to attend my class. Jenna, ever thoughtful, suggested that she join me for lunch and wait in the library until my class was over so we could drive home together. Her presence during the day brought me comfort, and the prospect of spending more time together sounded like a perfect plan. "That would be amazing," I replied, my heart skipping a beat at the idea of having her by my side for a little while longer. I handed her my Hospital ID so she could access the library, knowing that she enjoyed reading.

As we walked back inside, I couldn't help but smile at the camaraderie we shared. It was incredible how well we got along, how we could always find something to talk about. It felt like we had known each other for much longer than we actually had. "You did so well in your interview, Y/N. You should be proud," Jenna said with genuine admiration in her eyes. Her words filled me with warmth, and a sense of pride swelled within me. Having her support meant everything to me. "I have to go now, but I'll see you later," Jenna said, her smile lighting up the room. She leaned in for another hug, and I wrapped my arms around her, cherishing the moment of closeness. The embrace felt different this time, as if there was an unspoken understanding lingering in the air. As we parted ways, I couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. Excitement for the day we had shared, the connection we had strengthened, and the promise of more moments like this in the future. But there was also a hint of apprehension, as if we were teetering on the edge of something significant, something that had the potential to change the dynamics of our relationship forever. As I drove to my class, I couldn't help but replay the moments we had shared in my mind. The laughter, the conversations, the unspoken glances — all of it created a tapestry of emotions within me. It was as if the universe had conspired to bring us together, to intertwine our lives in a way that felt destined.

A/N: I know there were no paparazzi mentioned but still brought in some media. FYI English isn’t my first language. I hope you like it

#jenna marie ortega #actors #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x you #the fallout #wednesday #wednsday addams

[musetotheworld]

Victory Ficlet anon here- wouldn't mind an expansion on that bodyguard/princess ficlet but if you want to keep things separate, would cowboy/wild west be a prompt of interest to you...? 👀

I'm not feeling an expansion (that's how you get WIPs) but a wild west AU I can definitely do!

.

"I'm not sure how much further it'll be safe, ma'am," Kara says as she helps her new boss over a fallen log. The path back to Cat's holding is still rough, too rough for a wagon to make it through. Kara's working on it, but with so much still needing done it's not a high priority. There's still plenty of time before she needs to lay in supplies for the winter.

"If it's safe enough for you, it's safe enough for me," Cat say stubbornly. She's made it a lot further than Kara'd expected her to, she'll give her that. But in her full skirts and dainty shoes, Kara's not sure how long that'll last. And any further than this it'll be just as hard to turn back as it will be to continue.

Another tree, this one smaller, and then they get to the rocks. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'am. But the rest of the trail is awful rough. We're gettin' close to the cabin, but it's not easy road from here on out."

"I suppose you'd call the first part of the trip easy then, would you?" Cat asks, resting against a boulder for a moment to catch her breath. "A nice quiet stroll in the woods?"

"Well, easy ain't my first thought," Kara admits. "Not with a pack full of goods plus watchin' for bears or anything else out there." Not that it's been difficult, but she's not about to admit that to Cat. Not when her new boss is paying so handsomely for her to get the holding set up.

Cat looks suspiciously at the woods around them, then pushes herself upright. "The sooner we get there, the better for us both, then. I can handle a little rough trail, I'd just very much like to be done walking."

Kara will also give Cat that much, she doesn't back down from a challenge. Even with spending most of her time after Cat hired her out in the woods getting things taken care of, she's spotted that much.

Of course, gumption only gets you so far when you're not properly dressed for the terrain, and they're almost to the holding when Cat slips, one ankle twisting under her as she tries to keep her balance. Only Kara's quick reactions keep her from going down completely, and it's not quick enough to completely save her from injury.

"It's definitely sprained," Cat says as she tries to put weight on it. "I don't think it's broken though, or it'd hurt a lot more."

Looking around to place exactly where they are, Kara debates what to do. They don't have too much further to go, but it's over terrain bad enough she doesn't think Cat will be able to make it on her own, even if Kara can find wood to make a quick crutch for her. Which means she'll need Kara's help, and that'll be difficult with the size of the pack she's carrying.

She could leave the pack here and get Cat to the cabin, but she really needs these supplies. Leaving them behind is just asking for something to go wrong. But there's no way in hell she'd leave Cat by herself out here. Not when she hadn't fully been joking about the bears in the area.

Well, nothing for it, then. "Ma'am, we're nearly to the cabin, but I don't think you'd fare well on the path between here and there, not with that ankle of yours. So if you'll let me, I think I'm gonna have to carry you the rest of the way."

Cat stares at her in disbelief for a long moment, then glances down at her ankle and lets out a sigh. "If you think that's the best way, I'll just have to trust you, now won't I? Not like I have much of a choice."

"I promise I'll be careful," Kara says, slightly stung by the response but trying not to show it as she carefully scoops Cat into her arms. "Path might be rough, but I've got the shoes for it, and I know it well enough to be safe."

With Cat in her arms like this it's hard for Kara to focus, but she'd run away from 'civilized' society years ago for a reason. She's not about to do something stupid now.

"Oop," Cat yelps as Kara picks her up, clutching at her shoulders until she feels settled. "That's not what I- oh drat it all, Kara Danvers. I do trust you. I just don't do well with pain. Now if you and your inconveniently convenient muscles would get us to the cabin, I'd really like to be done walking now."

"Inconveniently convenient?" Kara can't help wondering, stuck on that phrase even as she starts carefully walking forward.

She's surprised to see a blush on Cat's face, but the woman won't actually look at her, staring determinedly out into the woods instead.

Well then. That'll be a fun thought for Kara to puzzle over for the next few days while they're stuck in the cabin waiting for Cat's ankle to heal up.

But for now, she's got to get them there safely.

#Supercat #Supercat fic #Supergirl #Supergirl fic #Prompt fill #Wow I did not mean for this to be so long #Remember you can drop tropes/ideas/etc in my inbox for the 3 full victory fics I'll be writing! #Though as long as long as this is it almost counts as one of them lol

[starlene]

Assorted Moulin Rouge! Stockholm thoughts:

I think it was Thalia's guidance that led me to the front of the balcony in this performance. You see, I've never been a fan of Moulin Rouge! the movie (mostly because of the way it's edited – the music video kinda style is too fast for me; it already feels like that inside my brain all the time, I don't need any more of that in a cinematic format), and though I've listened to the Broadway cast recording a lot, I wouldn't call myself a fan of the musical either. And yet, when they announced the Stockholm production, I knew I had to go to see it.

So, thank you, Thalia, for your guidance and blessing. The show absolutely slapped all the way through.

However... as I said, I'm not a MR! fan, so this point has probably been made a million times and I just haven't seen it, but: the love story in this is... kinda awful, right? Like, I know it's the whole point that Christian is young and naïve and goes mad with love, but oh man, when he goes full young werther near the end and the dying woman has to talk/sing him out of committing suicide in front of a whole audience of people... dunno, I just think he could've handled Satine's rejection a whole lot better, right?

Also, to me, the story would actually be more touching if Satine wasn't dying quite so actively. I know it's an adaptation of La traviata, I know their use of the dying courtesan character archetype is very deliberate – but even so, to me, it would feel more tragic if Satine had to leave with the Duke in the end, living a rich but empty life as his mistress, with only the memory of her and Christian's song left of her true love. There must be fanfics like this, I gotta go read them.

Anyway, I'm not watching and loving this for the story, I'm watching and loving it for the vibes. And the vibes were 100% right in Stockholm. It's not a serious show or something to be taken seriously at all, it's just kitch and glitz and glamour and fun, but with just enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting to me.

Speaking of Satine, though: as @veilingofthesun wrote, Marsha Songcome was made for the role. I don't really have any insights about the character or the performance (it's hard to analyse perfection), I just want to point out that she was just right for the role.

I promised you Harold Zidler posting, so here goes: I'm in love with Morgan Alling in the role. Like. It's not very girlboss feminist of me, but can't help it, middle-aged musical men are my kryptonite. I knew this was going to happen, and here we are. Alling has such a kind energy somehow, and it suits the role surprisingly well! We're creatures of the underworld, we cannot afford to love my ass – he so clearly loves Satine, not romantically of course, but loves her nevertheless. There was something so real/human about the character to me. I gotta see this again just so I can analyse him further.

Also loved Alexander Larsson as Toulouse-Lautrec. What a voice! And Fred Johanson as the Duke of course – he does a great villain and his voice is to die for, just shame about the awful wig.

Currently, MR! the musical is running in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. They're not Broadway replicas, but they're all replica productions of each other, directed by Anders Albien (+ co-directors from Norway and Denmark, I think). Seeing how they've all premiered a couple of weeks within each other, I'd love to hear about the logistics of the thing – how did the creative team manage three simultaneous productions? (Also, why is Finland not a part of this so-called "Nordic production"? Or might we be getting our share later on? I've no doubt whatsoever that MR! is coming to Finland soon, but I'm curious to see if it'll be this production or something else.)

They sung in English but spoke in Swedish. I understand this musical must be an absolute nightmare to translate, and here, since both of those are foreign languages to me, it didn't bother me too much. But if they do the same thing in the eventual Finnish production of MR!, I think I'll have a bigger problem with it, since having to switch between my native language and a foreign language feels more awkward.

tl;dr: Moulin Rouge! Stockholm slaps and I have to see it again, who's coming with me?

#Moulin Rouge! #Nordic musical theatre