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xxcatzladyxx · 5 months

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Demon Slayer Advent Calendar | Day Eleven | Tengen x Reader | The christmas market

Written by @lupina36

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"Wow, it's beautiful," you heard Suma gush as she admired with sparkling eyes the countless strings of colorful lights that lined your path through the city's annual Christmas market. The sun had long since disappeared behind the horizon, but the streets were still packed with people.

All sorts of different smells and sounds hit you from everywhere. Christmas carols, cheerful laughter, roasted almonds, cinnamon and even something alcoholic. A small sigh escaped your throat. You weren't really a fan of such gatherings of people. You were much more the type of person who liked to retreat to your room for a few hours with a good book, but Suma, Makio and Hinatsuru had really wanted to go to the Christmas market and you had finally been persuaded by them to come along too.

Now you were standing here amidst the cheers, hustle and bustle and general merriment, trying to put on a happy face, but somehow not quite succeeding.

"We won't be staying long," Hinatsuru had told you. You just nodded and tried to go along with it.

Easier said than done. After a short time, you began to feel more and more uncomfortable and would have liked to just go home, but you didn't want to be a spoilsport. After all, it wasn't often that the four of you were able to do something together with your husband, Tengen Uzui, the pillar of sound. This little trip to the Christmas market was one of those rare occasions. There was no mission to complete today, which is why Tengen had decided to devote himself entirely to his four wives for once. Tengen was a caring man who cared about each of his wives, which was why he had immediately agreed when Hinatsuru suggested going to the local Christmas market together. Now you were all here and everyone was having a great time. Everyone except you!

It was all getting a bit too much for you and you longed for the peace and comfort of your home.

You were more of a loner and it was almost a miracle that you were married to a man who had three other wives besides you. You liked each and every one of them very much. They were your family. Nevertheless, there were still moments when you preferred to keep to yourself. The others respected that, for which you liked them even more.

You were so lost in thought that you didn't even notice how the others were gradually moving away from you, before you knew it you were suddenly alone in the dense crowd.

You quickly tried to keep an eye out for the others, but they had probably already moved on, because you couldn't see them anywhere.

You couldn't even see the tall figure of your husband anymore and he was really hard to miss. Finally you gave up and decided to just stay put until they came looking for you. That was one of the things you had been taught as a child, if you got lost in a crowd, to always stay where you were lost because there was a better chance of finding yourself again faster than if you were on the move.

You spotted a small snack stand not far from you and decided to wait there without further ado. After all, you were hungry and there didn't seem to be much going on there anyway. There were only two men sitting at the tables and drinking from small ceramic mugs.

When you arrived at the stall, you realized that there didn't seem to be anything edible here, but mainly alcoholic drinks such as mulled wine and hot chocolate with a shot.

Since you wanted to have at least something in your stomach, you ordered a cocoa, but without the extra shot of alcohol. For the life of you, you couldn't imagine that something like that would taste good. You sat down at a table a little away from the others and sipped your cocoa from time to time while watching the hustle and bustle around you. "Well, what have we got here?"

A disgusting mixture of alcohol, sweat and something greasy got up your nose and made you grimace. A man in his forties with thinning hair and a three-day beard suddenly grinned directly into your face. You ignored him and continued sipping your cocoa.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?" he asked you, blowing his fierce flag in your face again. It was obvious that he had already had a few drinks.

You almost replied that you weren't alone, but that wasn't the case at the moment, so you kept quiet for the time being.

But that didn't seem to bother the guy. He continued to talk at you while he looked at your body with a clearly lustful gaze. You were starting to feel uncomfortable and you were about to tell him to get lost when he suddenly said. "I like you. What do you want for an hour?"

You stared at the man in front of you, completely dumbfounded. Did he seriously think you were a prostitute? That couldn't be true! Well, like all of Tengen's women, you had a pretty ample cleavage, but you'd never been mistaken for a prostitute before. On the other hand, the guy had already had a fair amount of alcohol, so there was probably no point in making a slug of him for asking you such a question.

Instead, you just took your cocoa and turned to leave.

Suddenly, you were grabbed from behind and dragged towards a small side alley, which was apparently very close to the drinks stand.

Thanks to your kunoichi skills, you quickly managed to free yourself from the stranger's grip and keep your distance from your opponent, who turned out to be the drunken man from the stand.

He gave you a dirty grin and said "I like it when you play a little coy. You don't want people to think you're a slut."

You snorted angrily, even though he had just taken you for a prostitute himself. "But you're all whores on the inside," he added, still grinning dirty.

That was too much! What did this guy think he was? "Are you still okay? I'm neither a prostitute nor a whore on the inside. I'm a married woman!" you hurled at him angrily. "Me too. Which doesn't mean that you and I can't have a little fun together," he said, which only caused you to grimace in disgust.

"No thanks. You'd better go home and get it for your wife," you replied and turned to leave again.

Unfortunately, turning your back on the guy proved to be a serious mistake as the next moment you felt a brutal blow to your back that drove all the air out of your lungs at once. Panting and gasping for air, you fell to your knees. For a moment, stars danced before your eyes and you were disoriented for a few moments.

All of a sudden you felt two large calloused hands roughly kneading your breasts from behind. The pain made you gasp again. You felt something hard against your back and didn't even dare to think about what it might be. Instead, you tried again to free yourself from the man's grip. But he seemed to have clawed at your breasts, because he didn't let go, no matter how hard you tried. "Come on sweetie, just relax. You'll see, you'll like it," the bastard whispered in your ear in a rough voice while he continued to massage your breasts roughly. Tears slowly welled up in your eyes and obscured your vision, but you could still feel him take one hand off your breasts and begin to stroke your thigh greedily. You immediately realized where this was going and you didn't want to let it come to that.

Instead, you decide to make one more attempt to escape the slavering hands of this drunken bastard. After all, you were a kunoichi and therefore trained in combat.

It shouldn't be a problem for you to free yourself from this situation.

But in this situation of all situations, all your fighting experience suddenly seemed to be forgotten. You felt helpless and weak. A circumstance that you didn't like at all, especially since the guy who still had you firmly in his grip had started to let his hand wander under the hem of your jukata.

Suddenly the guy had disappeared and you blinked a few times in confusion at the rapid change in your situation.

Still quite confused, you looked around the small alleyway and suddenly saw a tall figure looming over you. "Tengen!" you shouted, your voice trembling with relief, and you threw your arms around your husband's neck. At that moment, your tears broke free and you sobbed unrestrainedly into his shoulder. You only noticed in passing how he wrapped his strong arms around you and gently rocked you back and forth until you calmed down a little.

"That drunken bastard seriously thought I was a prostitute"; you finally blurted out after you had managed to get your thoughts back in order a little.

"Do you think I look like a whore?" you asked your husband in a sudden burst of insecurity.

"No! Not a bit!" came Tengen's prompt and confident reply.

For a brief moment, you wondered where the guy had disappeared to so suddenly, but Tengen's other women quickly drew your attention as they came running to you and Tengen in the alley. Suma immediately threw her arms around your neck and nearly squeezed the air out of you until Makio unceremoniously pulled her away from you by the hair and scolded her.

Hinatsuru also embraced you and together you decided to make your way home. You didn't say a single word the whole way. Your thoughts were still revolving around the incident in the alley when you suddenly noticed how Tengen had stopped.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking at you with a worried expression. You finally managed to smile a little. "I was pretty scared about what happened, but I'm slowly getting better," you said, and that wasn't even a lie. You really did feel better. "I'm just sorry that I ruined the trip to the Christmas market for the rest of you. It's so rare for us to all get together," you added dejectedly.

All at once, you were pulled into a warm embrace and pressed against a muscular chest.

"You haven't ruined anything for us (name)," you heard Tengen say quietly. "Even though you don't like crowds at all, you came along anyway. We just should have taken a little better care of you. That will never happen again," he promised you solemnly, which made you blush instantly.

Without further ado, you stood on your tiptoes to plant a kiss on your husband's lips, which he immediately returned. "Apart from this unpleasant coincidence, the outing wasn't so bad. But maybe we can all do something in future where there are fewer people around. For example, ice skating or sledging," you suggested. "Or baking cookies," Tengen added, which made you laugh a little. "I think everyone's had enough of your dick cookies for now," you said, which also made Tengen laugh.

All in all, it turned out to be a nice evening, even if you would rather avoid the Christmas markets in future.

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knickynoo · 3 months

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At what point in time do you think the original timeline McFly family started being dysfunctional? I’m sure George and Lorraine were fully in love at first, and Lorraine even still in the 80s seems to look back fondly when recalling how they fell in love. But I do wonder when exactly it started to go downhill, when they started having kids? Just with age? Or maybe it was never really great to begin with before Marty got involved

This is a really interesting ask, and it's something that I've thought about a handful of times. The Twin Pines McFlys fascinate me.

As for my own headcanons about when the dysfunction started, I think it was always there. Dysfunction within families is complex, though, so it likely ebbed and flowed and morphed over the years. Some thoughts! (hehehe, analysis and theories incoming)

I 100% believe George and Lorraine were fully in love at first and are even still in love when we meet them in 1985. It's just that life has beaten them both down in various ways, and they've lost touch with each other and fallen into a pattern of being resigned to (and maybe even comfortable with) all the disconnect within their family. But there's no mistaking the fondness with which Lorraine begins her story of how she and George met and the way it shifts to such sadness within just a few seconds. Her question of, "It was the night of that terrible thunderstorm, remember, George?" is such a clear bid for connection with him. A hope that he'll smile and recall that night and join in on her story. That's what Lorraine wants! But George doesn't even acknowledge her (not on purpose, I'm sure; he's just so wrapped up in watching The Honeymooners), and you see Lorraine gradually deflate from there.

It's so sad because you can see the emotions shift so suddenly in her! That first gif still holds such affection as she recalls their first kiss. It's like she's a girl again, feeling that overwhelming sense of love and all the possibilities for their life together. But then it changes. She's brought back to reality and all the unhappiness, the disappointments, the realization that life isn't what she imagined for herself.

By the last gif, she's a woman who clearly feels trapped. Now stuck with this guy for the rest of her life. And what makes it so awful is that you can TELL Lorraine still loves him. She longs for that happiness they once had, but it takes two people putting in effort to make a marriage work. She can try to reach George all she wants, but if he can't be emotionally present, it isn't going to work.

Also, I'm sure that George loves Lorraine as well, but he's got a whole plethora of issues that just. Haven't been addressed. George has no self-worth. He's meek and lets people walk all over him and is so completely anxious about everything in life that he's mostly shut down. He's trapped too, with no way (that he can see) to change things. So he does what he can to survive, which consists of doing Biff's bidding and retreating to an inner world at the expense of shutting his family out.

I don't think things were always to this extreme, though. For a while I'm sure things were okay, maybe even good. They were young and in love, and while George was still George, I don't think life had defeated him yet. They got married, really established their little life together, and I can see them as both having hope. And even if there were moments that seemed shaky or hinted that things might be difficult down the road, it was easy to brush it aside. They were still finding their footing, and they were young and had their whole future together to make things better. In all honesty, Dave probably got to experience the "best" versions of his parents for the first several years of his life.

However, each year and every hardship (big and small) likely chipped away at the McFlys and brought about additional dysfunction. I don't know if Biff and George started working with each other right out of high school or if they came to work those jobs later on, but I'm sure that was a huge factor. It offered no escape from Biff for either George or Lorraine. Just a predictable cycle of George having to do whatever Biff told him, Biff invading their home whenever he pleased, and everyone having to watch George immediately tuck his tail between his legs.

As I said, I think things gradually kind of unraveled in their house. As the state of their family became more solidified, Lorraine likely began drinking more and withdrawing. I do think they still had their good days, though! Moments that brought them together and where they felt that happiness they once shared (I mean, they had three children together, and it's clear Dave, Linda, and Marty ARE loved and were raised well.) But the state of the McFly household is probably all Marty has known for the majority of his life. I can see situations arising where maybe Dave has told him, "They weren't always like this, you know."

Dysfunctional as they are, George and Lorraine really are trying. I think they can absolutely see the cracks and the flaws—perhaps even the potential damage being caused to their children—but they just have too much brokeness inside themselves to do better. So, they do what they can, which for George involves trying to protect his children's feelings by discouraging them from taking risks. He doesn't want them hurt or sad or disappointed, and his solution is to have them form shells around themselves. Better to save yourself from all the headaches life brings.

Lorraine does her best to protect and guide her kids by way of warning them away from the very things that brought her to where she is in life. We see this manifest in the form of criticism mostly when she's talking to Marty.

Lastly even with Lorraine seeming as downtrodden as she is, I can see her clinging to the possibility of change. Hoping and praying that eventually, George would say enough was enough and stand up for himself. He'd put his foot down, step up as a husband and father, and things would become what she always wanted. She was the one always telling herself, "Someday. Someday..." until the point we see her at during the dinner scene, where she knows that "someday" isn't going to ever happen. Things are just the way they are, and she has to deal with it.

This was a lot, but I have a lot of feelings about the McFly family and how they operated in their day to day life. Especially the implications of the McFly sibs (Marty in particular!) being raised in such an emotionally disjointed environment. Ugh, those gifs of Lorraine make me so sad. The whole thing is sad.

Thanks for the ask, though! I want to write another Twin Pines McFly fic now.

#asks #back to the future #bttf #no but i could write a whole series of posts on Twin Pines McFlys #and how just that one short scene displays such a sad‚ tense home life #no cohesion. no true connection #checked out dad and depressed mom #& their oldest son who doesn't seem to have his footing in life‚ daughter who feels isolated & frustrated with a lack of social life #& youngest child who's anxious & so incredibly sensitive to rejection & feels directionless & has exactly one (1) stable adult in his life #growing up in that environment does things to you!!#and then Marty is thrown into a Better Timeline with very stable and well adjusted parents but he still was raised with the dysfunction!!#that's still part of him!!! how does he cope!!!!??#losing my mind eric stoltz was right about the ending!!!

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ladystoneboobs · 4 months

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A memory prodded at Theon. In one of his rare curt letters, Lord Balon had written of his youngest brother going down in a storm, and turning holy when he washed up safe on shore. -Theon I, aCoK

this little glimpse of balon/theon's strained long-distance relationship kinda fascinates me now. can't believe i'm going to defend balon as a father to theon in any way, however small, but i feel like hindsight has kinda blinded fandom into thinking balon gave up theon for dead and gone the moment he gave him away as hostage. this also carries the underlying assumption that balon was always going to rebel again making theon's life already forfeit to him.

thing is, while balon undoubtedly called his banners before theon came home, that also coincided with robert and ned both being recently dead, making that 2nd war seem really opportunistic. as if the only thing balon learned from his first rebellion was that king robert was strong enough to defeat him, the only man capable of defeating the great balon. so when that enemy dies, balon's crown is all but won in his mind, and with the death of ned too he could use his next war to take revenge on the (dead) man who took his son from him. maybe with robert's lifestyle he could have hoped to outlive him despite being older than robert, but robert and ned together? that must have seemed like a miraculous chance straight from the drowned god himself, a chance to rise up and take revenge that it was his duty to take for his people, even if it meant risking the life of his youngest child who'd been gone for 10 years anyway.

but before all that, even if robert being still alive was the real deterrant keeping him from warring again, he was, in effect, not only keeping theon safe by paying the hostage-ransom of keeping the peace, he was also keeping up a bare minimum connection with theon through rare and curt correspondence updating him on family events like aeron getting born again (and i'm assuming that's also how theon knew what asha's ship was named). idt we should so easily ignore that this is a society which views kinslaying as a grave offense regardless of circumstances or personal feelings, and one which greatly values male heirs over female heirs. i doubt balon was so much a feminist girldad that he just switched 12yo asha into the son slot right away as soon as all her brothers were lost. imo it was more likely a gradual process done not so consciously as asha proved herself worthy growing up and theon's time in the north stretched on and on. all until such point as asha had achieved son status and only son status at that, (maybe also coinciding with alannys leaving him so he had even less reason to keep up with her baby boy?), and then theon could be written off as belonging to the enemy, no longer ironborn or a son of balon, so sanctity of greyjoy life no longer applied to him. (real ironborn greyjoy son already killed by darth greenlander theon, from a certain point of view.) only then could balon be a not-father to theon, not welcoming him back home or even giving him a chance to prove his loyalty by providing intelligence on the northerners and the lands they were about to invade. (which could have made balon's war plans a touch less stupid. see, it all comes back to criticizing him in the end.)

in fact, come to think of it, i wonder if one thing ned and balon had in common is just not thinking of the danger of theon being executed as a hostage, not taking ownership of that possibility bc it hadn't happened yet. and hey, if it ever did come to that they could each tell themselves it would be the other guy's fault really, i was just doing my duty to my king/as a king to all my proud people. and that meant their actions didn't have to be obviously at odds with ned's view of himself as a good man opposed to killing children or balon's view of himself as great greyjoy patriarch and victim of the greenlanders (who could ofc prevail against them all if given the right chance).

#valyrianscrolls #asoiaf meta #asoiaf #theon greyjoy #balon greyjoy #unclear to me if balon would rebel if ned had survived robert's death #like hed obvsly still be stewing in resentment hankering for that great victory in his head #but ned and robert both dead w the north seemingly undefended was the impetus in canon and not a chance anyone could anticipate #and balon didnt even fight in that 2nd rebellion #so maybe not actually so bold anymore or eager to put his fantasies into practice if it meant fighting ned again actually in the north #taking kids hostage is fucked up and inherently abusive imo #but from a self-preservation standpoint why keep taking hostages if enough distance obvsly made them worthless?#ie the majority of people would still value heirs for the sake of inheritance and family honor if not love #thats a reasonable thing for people to assume including theon #(c)lsb

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flightfoot · 2 months

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Hey! I saw a rec of yours a couple days ago and completely lost track of it and was wondering if I could help me find it! It was something something Adrien and marinette were childhood friends and in the summary I remember it being like “if only they remembered each others names” I know this isn’t much to go off of but that’s all I can recall

There are a few fics like this that might be what you're looking for! All of these are "Adrien and Marinette were childhood friends and at least one of them forgot that fact, only to rediscover it later" fics.

His Princess and Her Knight by @seas-of-silver

Adrien, Marinette, Nino and Alya have a group assignment about how the past has shaped them into the people they are today, but they’ll make a discovery that’ll send them searching for answers.

This fic is adorable, Adrien, Marinette, and Nino uncover that they all went to the same preschool together, with Adrien and Marinette immediately latching onto each other, Adrien being the knight to Marinette’s princess, and also making friends with Nino. Sadly he was pulled after two weeks, but it made quite an impression on him.

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A Friendship Not Abandoned (Just Delayed) by @nomolosk

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste first met as tiny little kids, but then Adrien had to move away. When they finally meet again, will they even remember each other, much less become friends again?

Poor Adrien keeps on saying or doing just the wrong thing to give Marinette the impression that he’s a bully like Chloe when he’s not, and he keeps desperately trying to fix it. So a bit of an enemies au in that way, since Marinette doesn’t like him much. He does gradually manage to convince her that he’s a good person though.

---

Through the Looking Glass by @jheqiawrites

Adrien is a lonely child, cut off from the outside world by his parent's strict rules. But when he discovers a window in his closet and sees a young girl looking back at him like his reflection, maybe he has hope for friendship after all.

Poor Adrien here, he makes a long-time friend (who everyone thinks is an imaginary friend), and has several great years interacting with her as his parents grow more concerned with him not growing out of it... and then Emilie dies, Gabriel orders the window destroyed, Adrien’s put on medication to suppress his “hallucinations” (which also makes him forget Marinette) and he’s just kind of left like that for the next several years, until he’s an adult.

Luckily, while Adrien forgot Marinette, Marinette never forgot him, and he’s not too difficult to track down...

This is some really cute Adrienette, if you want a “forgotten childhood friends-to lovers” Adrienette story, you should check this out!

#ask #ml fanfic rec #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette

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dyns33 · 2 years

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Flufftober 1 - Dream

Dream x Reader Hob

It’s not good, but I really don’t have the time to write lately, I’ll try do to better for the next stories this month. I also want to write more about this pairing later.

Y/N Y/L/N was born in the 1300s, and she expected nothing from life.

Yet she loved life, she would have liked to see everything, hear everything, do everything, and for that she would have liked never to die.

One night she was discussing it with some friends, saying it was ridiculous to have to die, when there was so much beauty in the world, so much possibility.

"It's decided." she declared proudly, holding the glass of wine she had stolen from a neighbour's cellar. “I will not die !”

“You are funny, Y/N. Even if you couldn't die, you are a woman. It would be hell for you.”

“Nonsense ! It was much harder before, and I'm sure it can only get better. One day, women will be equal to men, and I could do whatever I want ! You just have to wait a bit, and I'll be there to see it !”

"If you say so."

"Excuse me." then said a man who had approached. "I thought I heard you had no intention of dying."

Y/N and her friends were silent, to stare at him. She might have been scared, wondering if he was going to mock her or take her for a witch, but the stranger seemed different from the others.

Almost inhuman. Dreamy.

Very proudly, she replied that it was true, that she was going to live forever, which made him smile.

"So let's meet in the village pub, a hundred years from now, Y/N Y/L/N."

"Very well ! I will be there !" she proclaimed, not realizing he knew her name.

It was strange for her to discover that she did not age, and that she could not die. She hadn't thought it would work. For a hundred years, she hid to avoid trouble, before going to the pub, where the stranger awaited her.

“... You are not human.”

"And you're still alive." he noted, as if he was surprised.

"Of course, why not ?"

"I thought you would have wish to be dead by now."

"No way, I don't want to die at all ! I was a bit lost and scared, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happy. I just have to adapt, find out how to do it. Are you going to help me ?”

"No. This is your life. I only want to talk with you, once every hundred years, to find out what has changed.”

He didn't give her his name. Obviously, he wasn't there to talk about himself, but only to see how Y/N was going to live her endless life.

That changed a bit during their second meeting. She had a lot to say to him, and he listened with great interest. It was during this period that she was burned for witchcraft. People seemed to believe that the fire was the cause of death, but it was actually the smoke, which suffocated her very quickly. That remained painful. Coming back to life was painful too. After several 'deaths', she learned to be more careful.

Y/N had travelled, visiting several cities and countries. She had met many people, first not daring to approach them since they were going to die, before deciding that it was not so bad.

“Not so bad ?” asked the stranger, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, even if I wasn't immortal, they're going to die, so they might go before me anyway, and I'll be sad. So even though I know I'll lose them at some point, I can enjoy their presence while they are there. It would be stupid not to talk to them just because it's not going to last."

The stranger looked impressed. He still didn't give her his name, but they stayed in the pub very late, before parting for another hundred years.

Things were a little easier. As she predicted, although it wasn't perfect, women were gradually gaining more rights. She had several jobs, relatives, a few lovers.

But in a corner of her mind, Y/N often thought of her stranger, looking forward to their next date. It was probably stupid to feel that way for an inhuman being whose name she still didn't know after all this time, but if they never got close, she wanted to at least believe they were friends.

She told him on their fifth meeting, a little shyly, not knowing how he was going to react.

Secretly hoping that he would tell her that he loved her more than just a friend.

Instead, her stranger turned very cold, his face taking on an angry expression.

"You dare. You dare to imply that I need you, that I have attached myself to your company in this way."

"Yes." she said, surprised. "Yes, I dare."

"So I have to go, to prove you wrong !"

Following him down the street, Y/N tried not to cry, shouting to him that she would be there in a hundred years, waiting for him, and that if he came, it would prove that they were friends, that he liked her, that he cared.

It was a real slap in the face when she waited for him all day, and he didn't come.

Maybe he was a lot angrier than she thought. Maybe she wasn't that important to him. Y/N stayed anyway until closing time, when she learned that the bar was soon to close for good, bought out by property developers to make housing.

“But... This is where we always meet !” she cried.

"You and your friend who didn't come ?" asked the bartender.

“It's... I don't know if we're friends. We had a fight the last time we saw each other. It was my fault. I have no way to contact him, we always meet here. If he comes back next time…”

“You can wait for him in front of the building, or somewhere else. And if you're not friends, then he's an idiot. No one would wait all day and freak out thinking they would never see the person again, if they weren't friends, and a good one. Maybe even more."

He gave her a wink with a sad little smile, before offering her a last drink and cleaning the bar.

Y/N didn't know if she would want to wait stupidly in front of a building, so she simply found another bar, leaving a clue to the location of the first, in case the stranger passed by, looking for her. We never knew. Even though it might sound silly, Y/N wanted to keep hope alive.

He would come back, at least to see if she was still alive, even if he didn't stay long.

Reading a book while sipping a beer, she still didn't look up when someone entered the pub. She had been doing this for hours and her neck was starting to hurt.

The person approached the table before stopping in front of it. Y/N could feel being stared at, but she took the time to finish her page before looking at him, ready to ask what they wanted.

No sound came out of her mouth when she saw her stranger.

She had wanted this moment so badly for two hundred years, imagining what she would say, what she would do, but she was so surprised, so happy, that she sat there not knowing how to react.

It seemed unreal. He was still as beautiful and mysterious as before. Maybe a little paler.

"You... You're late." she managed to articulate after a while.

"I am sorry. I know it's rude to keep friends waiting."

"Oh. You don't have to... I know I offended you last time saying that."

“My reaction was deplorable.” he replied, sitting down. "I'm not used to humans getting attached to me. Or that they want to be my friends.”

“Have you ever had any human friends ?”

"No. I'm not even sure I ever had a friend. On the other hand, I had a few human lovers.”

“Oh.”

“I had hoped...”

"Yes ?"

"No, nothing."

"Hmm."

They remained silent for a while, visibly embarrassed. Y/N couldn't figure out what he wanted, but he was there, he didn't hate her, and he accepted that they were at least friends.

A raven then tapped frantically on the window with its beak, staring at the stranger.

"... Matthew thinks you want to be more than friends with me."

“Matthew ? It's his name ? He is smart... I mean... It's okay if you don't want to, forget it. I'm just glad to see you once every hundred years. You know, even if it's not the only reason, our meetings make me want to continue. Not just because you're the only person I have around me that's not going to die, it's... I always look forward to seeing you. It was tough when you didn't come last time, but I get it."

"You came." he noted with a small voice. “And you found a new place to wait for me. Nobody had ever done that. I would have liked to come but I had an impediment. I am sorry."

"Not your fault."

Now I'm gonna do something I should have done a long time ago, according to my raven, my librarian, my sister and everyone I've talked to about it."

"What ?"

"I'll kiss you.”

She didn't have time to understand what he had just said, her stranger was already next to her, his hand on her cheek and his lips against hers.

Alright.

More than friends, as the long-dead bartender had said. A relationship of seven hundred years after all.

All she had to do was get a name now.

#the sandman #sandman #sandman netflix #dream #dream of the endless #dream of the endless fanfiction #dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless x oc #morpheus #morpheus x reader #flufftober 2022

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daeneeryss · 2 years

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the lady from the north ii.

– Pairing: Daemon x f! reader. – Summary: Years later, with two twin children, Y/n Stark begins his journey to King’s Landing alongside his brother as representatives of Winterfell. Recently, House Targaryen has lost some members and this has motivated the move to the place, however things seem to have changed drastically from what they were twenty years ago. – Warnings: Smut, oral (f and m reviving), p in v, slight, breending if you squintm unprotected sex, multiple orgasms, pet name, dom!daemon, sub!reader and smut…SMUT! – Word count: 6.5k – Rated: Yes, but mistakes can happend. Sorry if have ;( – Notes: So the big day finally arrived, my first writing involving older content explicit, I tried my best not to fantasize so much and leave the reading engaging at the level of Daemon Targaryen, this man moves me in a way I never imagined possible . I also thank everyone who liked the first part, currently the post has 82 likes and this goes beyond what I imagined, so here's my thanks to everyone who read it, if you haven't read the first part just click on the link below to be redirected or access the pinned post on my profile. A great read to all!

Daemon and Laena did not marry, the only union remaining from houses Targaryen and Valaryon is with Rhaenyra and Leanor; All phrases said in High Valerian will have a translation right in front of them, I hope you don't get confused. If you feel that your reading has become polluted, comment your opinion so that it doesn't happen again.

MASTERLIST

– DON’T REPOST THIS STORY ON ANOTHER SOCIAL NETWORK. IS NO AUTHORIZED –

“Mommy why only they have dragons?” Anika questions me while watching dragons resting in the distance.

“House Targaryen descent allows them to have a direct and stronger connection to these animals,” I answer my daughter. “Why would you want a daughter dragon? Don't you like Ivar?"

"Yes mom, but he's a wolf and he would like to have a dragon too." The daughter comments while watching the winged beings with all the attention in the world.

“My teacher said that people always want what tends to be impossible.” Edmundo, Anika's twin answers. "Especially something as different as a dragon."

“I think if we can be friends with the princes we could go there, Mom?”

"Maybe, but for the moment I think it's better to go play in the yard and so be away from balconies, right young lady?"

Gradually Y/n descends her daughter from the pillar that placed her to walk to the castle's central courtyard, during her youth it was her favorite place to read and put aside worries and matters about the future. So that moment with her kids there would be fun for her. During the walk, some servants passed by the trio and greeted them with a smile on their faces, the Stark woman felt the purest pride to see Anika and Edmundo politely responding to each of them, it seemed that even in the face of so much turmoil they were immune to everything bad. , especially the greed and wickedness of men.

After their birth, many of Y/n's late husband's family went to her to reach an agreement with descent for House Greyjoy, as the younger brother had been presented as lord of the house and with children, this could generate conflicts and power struggles. Y/n and her brother's thinking at the time was the coin, a certain amount for each child and any mention of the Greyjoy land inheritance about Anika and Edmund would be ruled out, a fact that their mother fought to be present in the role, it could be the only guarantee in case a feud got bigger in the future.

"Mommy looks there," Anika exclaims with her right arm outstretched. "Just like the tree at home, can we go closer?"

"Sure." I replied smiling at her." Did you know that was my favorite place when I used to come here? I would spend hours reading about the aristocracy to help your uncle."

"Can I go back to my room, Mom?" Ed questions looking down at his feet. "I wanted to play there for a little while."

"Stop it, Ed." Anika turns her attention away from me and pulls Edmund's arm. "Let's play hide-and-seek and this lazy face will disappear in no time. Besides, playing outdoors is much better.

"Watch out kids, watch where you're stepping," I warn them as they start to run into the yard.

Y/n possessed differential from the many women at court regarding children, even though she was a Lady she often put aside this title in the presence of her little ones, they need affection and courage, how could she provide such feelings if she worried about clothes, beauty, and other tasks? They might indeed be important, but here was the Y/n Stark woman holding up the skirt of her dress and making it easy to run to where Anika and Edmund were, provoking a series of ecstatic laughs from Anika, she was a real joker.

The afternoon passed and the three of them enjoyed every interaction, some moments they had visitors who watched what they were doing with great admiration, during this time Y/n had the pleasure of seeing again his childhood adventure buddy Mr. Harvin Strong. It was he who had caused a scar on his back when he went to Winterfell they both enjoyed climbing trees and one-day Y/n ended up slipping on some moss on the trunk and falling from a considerable height, however, resentments never remained between the friendship. While Y/n prepared a towel on the ground, her lady companion organized a brief coffee for her children over the shade of the tree.

"Anika comes to eat, your brother is already here," I affirm as I stand up and wipe my hands on the skirt of my dress.

"There is just one detail missing from the drawing." She shouts with her full attention on her paper. "Leave it there and then you can come back." I retort seeing that she was stalling to come.

"But mommy..." I look towards my daughter and noticed the presence of a pout on her lips with almost watery eyes, a worthy staging.

"Don't even think about it Anika, the only person who believes is your uncle. So come soon, you can play more later."

Y/n watches Anika walk carefully, she was angry at her decision, but the funny thing was her lips muttering something that amused her mother. "Say it louder daughter, so I can have the chance..."

"My prince." Elianne, my lady announces with attention behind me, I divert my attention at the same instant. Turning my body around I find Daemon walking over to where we were standing.

"The children are enjoying the day." The man replies smiling. His hands were clasped together in front of his body. "But why does only this one look upset?"

"Someone was preferring drawings to feed," I reply to him. "Feel free to enjoy some of the food, my prince."

At that instant Y/n receives Daemon's watchful gaze, he seemed to study every detail of his friend and the woman took advantage of the act to reciprocate the action. The last time they had seen each other the long platinum locks marked the face of the former friend, now his hair was at shoulder length, a little shorter, but still incredibly beautiful and charming. Still admiring Daemon, Y/n allowed herself to think about the possibility of finally having his company as a husband, after all these years she would be able to be by the side of the one she loved.

"Mommy the juice is out." Anika takes my attention and I look up at her, the empty stick was in her hands, yet I notice a striking smile on Daemon's lips. What could it be?

"Could you fetch some of the liquid Elianne? Just a little more, we'll have dinner later."

"Certainly ma'am." She bows toward me. "Excuse me, gentlemen."

Taking her cue from the lady-in-waiting Y/n lowered her hips to sit beside her sons, but Daemon's striking presence seemed to frighten her silent sons. The prince stood, features closed, hands clasped together in front of him and, main detail, gaze focused on the three below him.

"Is everything okay?" I ask as I cut a slice of cake. I notice Anika slowly approaching my body.

"He's looking at us seriously. I'm scared" I hold my smile.

"Daemon I think your presence is making my children afraid of your person."

"Really?" He inquires as he moves even closer to Anika, she slowly brought her body even closer together to mine setting aside the bread she was eating. "I thought that coming here to extend an invitation makes you excited and not afraid, maybe I was wrong." In that instant, he was already crouched over her calves.

"An invitation?" Edmund asks curiously as he eats a piece.

"The two of you seemed interested in my dragon earlier, especially you child. Perhaps you would like to get to know him more closely."

"Is it serious?" At the same instant, Anika leaves my arms now interested in my friend's invitation, "Mom can I go?"

"Well..." I speak as I look intently toward Daemon, he returned the look with a neutral look on his face. "Do you promise to keep an eye on them? What if something happens?"

"It won't happen." He replies eating some grapes. "Would you like to accompany us on this ride Y/N? I hear you are good at riding" A smile marks his lips as he chews the grapes. Was he saying that in front of my children?

"I appreciate the invitation, however, I need to speak with my brother soon. I appreciate the invitation." I direct my gaze to my sons and find them both already standing beside Daemon. "Be sensible and don't delay."

"Don't worry Mama, I am sure Lord Targaryen will not harm us."

"But it's the fear I was feeling earlier..."

"Rest assured Y/n, your children and I will get along super well, as will you and I" He replies as he stands up between his speech he approaches me "If I may." Daemon reaches out his hand towards me helping me up off the ground, after all, Anika and Edmund were practically ready by now and jumping up and down with anxiety.

"Thank you." I hold tightly onto his wrist as I stand up, but am surprised by a hand around my waist. "Daemon, have some manners and get your hands off of there."

"Nyke ȳdra daor remember complaining skori issa ondos istan va zȳhon waist se īlva bodies istan joined va se bed." Daemon whispers in my ear. (I don't remember complaining when my hands were on her waist and our bodies were joined on the bed.)

"Emagon manners issa prince, ao emagon people around se nyke would raqagon respect syt issa riñar." I remove their hands from where they were and smile at my children. "Elianne will escort you to a safe place, then be careful." (Have modes, my prince, you have people around and I would like respect for my children.)

Finishing the interaction with her children in a hug Y/n leaves their presence and starts her walk towards the meeting with her brother after she didn't lie when she denied her friend's invitation, however, the real intention was not to be so close to him when the memory was still alive in her memory. Even after four long months of the touch and acts of that night of pure lust shared between them, she could not blame herself after the death of her husband the neediness comes to her on certain days but when you have a lord brother in a place where everyone follows you it is impossible to have an affair, however, this prevented the king's brother from entering the young woman's hut at night during the winter games, Daemon accepted the invitation very willingly and went as a representative of House Targaryen.

"Modes? Nyke pendagon gīda ao dīnagon aōhon aside hae nyke entered ao, issa riñnykeā." (Modes? I think even you put yours aside as I entered you, my lady.)

Should she have stopped? Looked back or answered that line? Perhaps it was better to keep walking while going as far away from Daemon as possible, when the words reached her ear the sensations were directly aimed at her sex. To lie that such acts did not return once again in her mind would be considered a sin, after all, it was Daemon Targaryen she thought the man she fell in love with and gave her heart to.

After leaving the hall where some families were present during dinner, Y/n walked with her children to the rooms where they would sleep, it was small, and gave them both room to play when there was no one to accompany them around the castle. After helping both of them change and prepare their beds, the young Stark placed each of them on their beds with a delicate seal on the top of Anika's head, such an act was a mother-daughter tradition that she made sure to keep.

"Sleep well my children, anything call for Elianne and have her come to me."

"We are grown mothers. We can face the dark now." Ed proudly states.

"Even more so after having seen a dragon up close, we can put fear into anyone who tries to provoke us now." Anika completes her brother's speech, and in that instant, I noticed that she was holding my hand. "Mom what did you talk to Uncle Daemon about earlier?"

"UNCLE?" I exclaimed with a tone of surprise. In less than hours, he had already won over my children, what was he up to now?

"Well, we were talking in High Valerian, it is an ancient language and one that the Targaryen family descends from. I learned it in the time I stayed here as a young girl, even though he taught me much of what I know."

"I would like to learn it to find out what you were talking about, I wonder if..." Anika interrupts herself as she yawns, I need to remember to thank the gods for this.

"That means it's time to go to sleep, right?" I get up from Anika's bed and walk to the door, outside I find Elianne accompanied by a helper. "Good night mommy." I hear my children say before closing the door.

While walking to her room Y/n goes over some requests for her lady to carry out in the morning, in less than a week they would already be returning to Winterfell, and leaving belongings in King's Landing was not an option at this point of the championship. After bidding farewell to the company of both helpers the young woman found it strange when she noticed the absence of guards at the door, it was unusual since they came from the north, but when you have a party facts like this happen routinely, however, Y/n kept her sense on alert in case someone knocked on the door.

Leaving these thoughts aside, Y/n walked to her dressing table to remove ornaments, comb her hair and change into a more comfortable outfit to sleep in. While unlocking her hair Y/n began a light murmuring of a song, the intention was to distract and help the time to think, after all, patience is needed for the removal of everything that was in her hair. After finishing all the main steps the Stark woman walked to where her clothes were and chose the one she liked best to sleep in.

"Whenever nyke jurnegon ao, nyke feel raqagon nyke facing se olive precious treasure hen ry se sīkuda dārȳti." (Whenever I look at you, I feel like I'm facing the most precious treasure of all the seven kingdoms.)

"Daemon, how did you get in here?"

"I have lived here for many years before your first time in this castle, my lady." Daemon replies.

"Still, we are alone, and look at the situation you find me in." I indicate to my body, only a small semi-transparent veil covering my skin. "Do you think it's appropriate?"

"Appropriate no, however you know I have a certain fondness for acting against what is right." As I hear the end of the sentence I hear the lock being locked. "You know, earlier when you denied my ride and left me waiting for an answer, it made me question a few things."

"Well then, tell me what bothers your thoughts."

"Sagon issa ābrazȳrys." Daemon says as he walks over to me, I slowly feel my body shiver at his speech. "Sagon issa ābrazȳrys se ao jāhor ūndegon bona nykeā dīnilūks goes tolmiot beyond nykeā political commitment." (Be my wife. Be my wife and you will see that marriage goes far beyond a political commitment.)

"Ao gīmigon īlon kostagon't, especially hae nyke se dārys's lēkia se zȳhon pāstan ones would vēdros naejot ūndegon bisa situation isse court." I respond to the same. (You know we can't, especially as I'm the king's brother and his trusted ones would hate to see this situation in court.)

"When you say that do you mean Hightower or his family? Otto should barely know how to use his stick and thinks he's capable of deciding what I'll do with my life." Daemon's hands touch my face, and as I feel his breath on my face I close my eyes. "Mazverdagon bisa iderennon syt ao, ivestragī issa mazverdagon ao issa ābrazȳrys raqagon īlon promised issue childhood." (Make this choice for you, let me make you my wife as we promised in childhood.)

"Daemon." As I say his name he rests his forehead against mine, I believe he still felt fear. "Mazverdagon issa aōhon ābrazȳrys, issa prince." (Make me your wife, my prince.)

As if a collision of two stars in the sky happened, was the feeling of Daemon's lips next to mine, it was overwhelming to feel it all over again, after all, it had been months of indecent touches of my own at night thinking of him, the one who promised me the world when we were only 15, the man who made me feel in heaven and hell before I could even think of the consequences. It was with Daemon Targaryen that I allowed myself to stop being that delicate northern girl and experience anything that could corrupt me.

I had never been kissed or touched like this, not even when we had our first relationship months ago. As our lips deepened the kiss more intensely Daemon's free hand began to travel down my body, starting on my breasts still covered by the thin blue silk, slowly I feel my nipples getting hard through the fabric, but soon this feeling of being covered fades away and is accompanied by a look of pure lust from Daemon. "She was getting in my way." Having said that the fabric was being pulled off my body and thrown across the room, and I quickly feel a wet chill in the area, his mouth had been placed on my breast directly while the hand that was on my neck was placed on the other breast.

Hostage to this explosion of pleasure I search for support and entwine my fingers in Daemon's hair in an attempt to stand up, for his mouth was getting deeper and deeper in acquiring contact with my body. A groan made a presence on my lips when the man stopped his action, I wanted to feel him one more time, and both bodies joined as the stars made their presence felt in his night. That was the reaction when you are with Daemon. Everything becomes more desirable. I arch against him, begging with my whole body for more. That attitude caught his attention as Daemon lifts his face and brings it closer to my neck, there he pinches my ear shivering my entire body. "Please...please," I say to him. No answer comes only his heavy breathing, maybe he needs a break himself, meanwhile, I direct my hands to his drawing Daemon to the bed, surely it would be more comfortable.

"Jurnegon ao, desperately reacting not Issa religion," Daemon says as he stands over my body, with his right hand holding my two hostages above my head, his other hand kept moving down my body and his mouth never left my neck unattended this mix of actions. (Look at you, desperately reacting to my touch)

My conscience had all the words on the tip of my tongue, was to say yes and everything would be accomplished, but I was thirsty for the pleasure of having one of his fingers in my folds, Daemon started with a slow pace, yet kept my mouth busy releasing moans instead of answering his question. "What happened my beautiful? Have you run out of words?"

I arch my body against him, silently begging with my body for more. Only slightly sympathetic to my distress, he rubs his hips against my core and pinches my ear with his teeth. He says nothing, breathing heavily on the back of my neck, his right hand running over my hips, I sigh deeply as he rubs two more fingers into me increasing the accumulated moisture in my vagina. "Nyke aōhon," I say cos eyes closed and breathing deeply. "Mazverdagon issa aōhon." (I'm yours. Make me yours.)

After my words reach his ears he wastes no more time. Daemon brings his hand to my entrance and begins to stimulate the site, before bringing it to him he placed his fingers on my lips and looked intently at my face while tasting my flavor and aiding in lubrication, something I imagined was not necessary. Observing our situation I am sure I would be stoned for such heresy to my house, but I was willing to take that risk if the result was to end the night crying out for Daemon.

For a brief moment the loss of contact with him caught my attention and allowed me to open my eyes, Daemon was standing there unbuttoning his pants, his shirt must have come off before I could look at him. When the Targaryen prince was undressed in front of me and with his member against my abdomen the reaction to touching me was instantaneous, my trembling fingers touched my clit in light movements as I watched Daemon masturbating himself.

"Look into my eyes Y/n." The petition heated my desire even more. "Keep gracing yourself and keep looking at me."

Touch through touch. Each pleasured himself as we looked into the other's eyes, Daemon's sloppy touches on his cock taking the silence out of the room while my low sigh seemed to provoke him even more. Daemon closed his eyes for a moment and that's when an idea occurred to me, with that I put aside my self-pleasure and brought my hand up to the Targaryen man's member.

"Shit." A low moan leaves Daemon's mouth as he stroked his intimate. He had already removed his hands and handed control over to me. "Are you sure about this?"

"Kessa issa prince." (Yes, my prince.)

With that line I directed Daemon to a chair right next to my bed, earlier it was a place of pastime for reading now this became an object where Daemon would receive pleasure. When the prince adjusted himself on the seat I was kneeling between his legs, my gaze now changed from submission to dominance of what I would do next, I could have several thoughts at once, however, I would put them aside and focus on showing Daemon that I was game.

I slowly snuggle closer to my member, kissing his legs softly as I prolong his physical desire to have my lips on his manhood. Daemon is already moaning long before my lips touch the top of his cock, before bringing his length to my mouth I choose to have my hands do work down the length. I don't say anything during the process, I just look at Daemon who kept his head thrown back and eyes closed.

I had already felt his size inside me, but still, I am amazed to think how big he is and that he would be banging against my throat very soon. I inhale sharply but continue and lick from base to tip as my hand continues to slowly pump him the length below. I feel Daemon's body begin to shake, even more, his abdomen is contracted followed by a series of words in Valyrian, seeing him practically whimpering above me brings a lot of pleasure that is directed straight to my wet core, and when I decide to wrap my lips more around his tip, Daemon lets out a heavy moan that makes my stomach clench. I start by licking his pre-semen before pushing more into my mouth. I decide to squeeze the base of his cock with my lips gently before adjusting its angle to take him deeper, doing so Daemon grabs my hair tightly in response in an attempt to stimulate my actions even more. Slowly I begin to take Daemon's cock deeper. The instant his penis reaches the back of my guaranteed throat, even as I choke on it, I continue to push even deeper until my lips are pressed against his abdomen and my nose feels goose bumps due to his pubic hair.

"Look at you...a lady taking my cock like a slut." Daemon defends such words as I begin to move my head over his length. "Please... shit."

Daemon's hand absently finds its way around my hair like a tangled mess, he begins to pull my face rudely up onto his cock. When his movements become faster and stronger I search for support and squeeze his thighs hard enough to hurt, he could not be the one to gain in this act, a physical reminder was needed. He doesn't scold me when I perform the previous action, however, he continues to pound me for several more minutes before squirting all of his cum into my throat. The taste might not be one of the best, but I do my best to swallow every drop of it as he watches me in amazement as his tongue is thrust out, I don't think he even expected me to do that, so I make sure to always look into his eyes, never taking my attention away from his face.

Daemon groans as he feels the absence of my mouth on his length, however, he seems to recover quickly from his orgasm as he soon pulls my lips together forcing me to sit on his lap, the sensation of having him still wet on my insides teased both of us, I was sure when we both moan against each other's lips. He is looking at mine for a moment later when, still on his lap, I begin to make small movements with my hips over his softened penis after the recent orgasm. Daemon pulls back when I try to tighten our contact further, after all, he had had his pleasure, but I was still waiting for that and these movements caused goose bumps to run through my body, however, he grabs my hips immobilizing my attempt to reach out. He is growling low, I think then to direct my hands to his back and scratch the place, but I am surprised by Daemon grabbing my throat and lifting me slightly.

" Sagon careful skoros ao jaelagon syt, ao ȳdra daor jaelagon naejot wake bē unable naejot geron, gaomagon ao?" He murmurs, not releasing his neck, yet I feel his penis hardening again in my belly. (Be careful what you wish for, you don't want to wake up unable to walk, do you?)

Slowly he pushes my hips until it is possible to feel the tip of his member at my entrance, the movement is slow and firm the first time, stretching me comfortably to give me a chance to adjust little by little. I slowly catch my breath and realize that Daemon was waiting for a signal to continue, so I nod a few times for him to continue and he does, but the gentleness is no longer present in his actions. Pulling to the edge, he pushes back hard, sending the chair forward a little, occasioning a certain fear of falling that leads me to hug his shoulders with both my arms, Daemon seizes the moment and opens my ass as his cock settles deep in my vagina.

A loud sigh leaves my mouth combined with a possessive moan from Daemon, slowly the friction movements in our bodies begin and even though gentle their speed turns to speed and brutality leaving me ecstatic, after all, he pulled my hips out and pushed back again in a rough way. When I feel Daemon peaking I pull his lips to mine, the need to have him in all my spaces went out of whack when the tingling in my belly starts, I needed him completely and in less than two minutes I am tightening around him, and moaning with the need to cum.

Damon smiles against my lips as he notices my actions which draws my gaze and I realize that for the first time since I was inside him that our eyes finally meet again. "Are you going to cum already?" he asks in his sultry, sensual voice, his lips were close to mine, however, our friction was prevented by our joined foreheads.

My only source of response is a groan, and with his next thrust, a cry of surprise erupts my lips the same second he lifts my body next to his, we were now standing and walking towards the bed. As we lay down on the mattress Daemon stands over my body and returns the movements, but this time he exerted all the control over mine, the strokes were sloppy and fast and I could feel his anger, after all, earlier it had been hard for him too. As Daemon strokes his cock at my entrance he brings his right index finger up to my clit to stimulate it, it was the height of pleasure to my sex, the tingling returns, and I let out a loud moan that would be heard by someone in the hallway and nearby rooms. "Are you ready to cum on my cock honey?" Daemon asks smiling, he was reveling in my situation.

"Please, Daemon... don't stop. Please." I beg with my head turned on the bed and eyes closed. "Let me cum."

"Aōha jaelagon iksos nykeā order" (Your wish is an order)

Upon hearing his words in my ear I allow my body to crumble over his member, I cum all over his cock, drenching him with my cream-soiling even the sheets over our bodies, however, his movements do not stop after all he is not finished yet. He was not even close to reaching his apex. While I felt my body soft from the recent orgasm Daemon put his hands on my waist to turn my body, leaving my ass touching his cock, before I could react his direct hand joined both my arms behind my back making him dominate my body completely.

Slowly I feel his cock being placed back into my still dripping pussy to be accommodated, he immediately starts rubbing his tip up and down my slit, once again teasing me and begging for it. When he pushes the tip against my clit, I can't help but start shaking again, I was still sensitive from my recent orgasm.

"So you like having my cock inside your pussy, huh?" he purrs in my ear as he continues to rub his cock against my clit. As he continues to moan in an attempt to get him to push his entire length as fast as possible along my folds, to put aside this torture and begin the rough penetration.

Before I can respond I grumble at the lost friction but stop questioning his action when I feel Daemon pull away from my body, bending down and directing his face toward my ass, his right arm reaching up to rest against my lower back, providing slight support for his actions that would take place over the next few seconds. He spreads my legs a little wider and lays down between them, seconds later, his nose and breath are against my wetness. Then his tongue is going in and out of my hole, he is taking me so well on his tongue that I can't help but roll my eyes, Daemon licks up all my released cum and even swallows some of it. "Your taste is the best in all the seven realms, my queen." He presses his face even closer to my vagina causing me to thrust forward.

The sight is pure sin, his face buried in my pussy, me clutching the sheet as if my life depended on reaching that orgasm, and amid moans he licks, sucks, and bites my clit bringing me even closer to an orgasm. He doesn't stop when my legs start shaking or when my hand starts scratching his, I was sensitive and felt powerless to reach the peak once again. When I start to scream and moan louder he just buries his face deeper and moves his tongue so quickly against my clit that I come harder than our other night and the one a few minutes ago, not realizing that I had squirted my release in his face I remain just panting against the pillow underneath me.

Daemon doesn't even take a few minutes and I feel like he was drowning in my pussy from the feel of his tongue licking my juices and depositing them in his mouth. As his body rises from the sheets I direct my gaze back and find a wet face dragging and making contact, I notice a smile on his lips, but soon he breaks our gaze and starts pressing kisses and licks all over my back, especially over my local scar, taking advantage of the movement he moves up until he reaches my neck. He starts sucking and kissing my spine next, leaving bruises that would be visible to everyone on the court the next day, but at that moment I wish he would continue with his actions and in an attempt to allow him to continue I take my arm straight to his hair and let my hands pull some strands, he bites my neck releasing another moan from my lips.

When he reaches my cheek and begins to lightly seal that region I feel his erect cock in my folds searching for the hole he desperately wanted to return to. As his tip began to thrust into me again he leaves my face and returns his attention to my neck before raising his body, there he licks a long stretch from the bottom of my neck where it meets my shoulder. Without any warning, his cock pushes me the deepest in and simultaneously Daemon bites the spot he was just licking, again a cry of pleasure leaves my lips. He bites hard enough to draw a small amount of blood on my skin, at that moment my moan comes out with a little pain. "Be careful Daemon... we can't leave it obvious," I ask slyly.

He doesn't take his mouth off the bitten spot, his teeth are still buried in me and he wastes no time with his cock and resumes the movement in and out of my hole at that moment he seeks pleasure and there were no limits to achieving it. He enters several times and with a brutal rhythm, taking my body to limits I had never experienced before. Again and again, the movement in and out was repeated and within minutes I am releasing a moan coming from deep in my throat, legs trembling and squeezing Daemon's cock which remains buried in me, not moving until my pussy squeezes his cock as well. Finally, his mouth releases my neck and his tongue licks the little bit of blood from the bite present on his lips. At that moment the only things to be heard, other than the sounds of our breathing in the room and Daemon's hard thrusts into my vagina. Then I realize that Daemon had not yet cum inside me.

"Daemon..." I say as he starts to pull out of my aching hole, I thought he was going to seek pleasure with his own hands, but then his left-hand squeezes my wrist, and the other pushes me back onto the bed as I try to sit up. In one swift motion, he stands over my body and begins thrusting into my core once more. Daemon is moving fast, too fast for me to notice that his only desire was to release his seed into me. "Nyke jāhor leghagon ziry rūsīr issa nūmo, olvie aderī bisa giez sombāzmion jāhor sagon lēda hen heir, " (I will fill it with my seed, very soon this whole castle will be full of heirs)

I begin to whimper under him as he growls and moans loudly, his rhythm beginning to falter once again indicating that he was reaching his orgasm. Then, pulling to the end of the bed, he thrusts back into my core harder than before, and in that sequence of in and out he hits the deepest with such force that I am teasing again as he fills me with his hot cream.

"I..." I pause as he places his forehead on my shoulder. "I love you Daemon."

"I love you too." Light selfies are deposits on my collarbone, we were still recovering from that string of orgasms, plus we were a mess. "My queen."

After a while the couple remained the same way, Daemon inside Y/n, they wanted to enjoy the moment until they split up and continue to behave as was required for court, however after what had happened in the previous hours could cause some rumors when passing employees heard everything that happened between the four walls of the northern lady's room.

Daemon lifts his body and withdraws his member from the woman's entrance, a moan escapes the young woman's lips due to the absence of length inside her. The man stands up and walks over to the dressing table and takes a handkerchief from Stark's hair, with this in hand he returns to the bed and sits down near her intimacy, and cleans that area carefully and calmly.

"This is supposed to be used on my hair, you know?" I ask smiling as Daemon tosses the long handkerchief and begins to lie down beside me again. "Now I have to wash it before I use it."

"If you want to leave it with me I can find a perfect purpose and use for them." Daemon smiles when I realize the intonation he had said. "What? I'm just saying."

"Anyway shouldn't you be going back to your room?"

"No one would risk entering my room without permission. Besides I prefer to spend my time by your side."

Y/n hugs Daemon's abdomen as he settles in beside her, they both wanted that and the young woman wasn't going to waste those hours complaining or fighting. As they each left caresses on each other's bodies the young Stark felt her eyes getting heavy from sleep and tiredness, before she could fully surrender to the dream world she heard Daemon speaking.

"Tomorrow over dinner I will tell my brother of my intention to marry you." Daemon continues stroking my shoulders, however, my movements on his abdomen stop.

"But wouldn't it be better to talk to my brother first? He might react badly to such news in public."

"Your brother already knows of my interest in making you, my wife. I spoke to him yesterday." Daemon kisses the top of my head. "Is that okay with you now?"

"Fine. However my wish now is to have a pleasant night's sleep, would you grant me that wish, future husband?"

"Ah." Daemon laughs in amusement at my speech. "I will be here until dawn, should you wake up later know that I was by your side until the last second.

"One last thing." I say with my eyes closed. "Let your hair grow back."

– Note: YEAH! I'm a little anxious for your return, I think I got excited in some parts, but I hope to improve in my next works. I don't intend to continue in a third part, I would like your opinion.

#comment reblog #daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen fanfic #house of the dragon #hotd fanfiction #daemon targaryen x reader #daemon targaryen x you #daemon targaryen imagine #daemon targaryen x female reader #reader x daemon #smut #dom!daemon #daemon #stark reader

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horsetailcurlers2 · 1 month

Text

YET ANOTHER long and obnoxious stream of my thoughts while watching greys anatomy for the first time (SEASON EIGHTEEN bc i’m nearly caught up!)

-i don’t like teddy and owen getting married but teddy looks really cute

-why did it take me a ridiculously long time to remember who the fuck nick marsh is

-why would he ask her to marry him a THIRD time after her second no

-this is a really interesting storyline about the racial assumptions still being the bases of some diagnostic formulas. i remember a science teacher in middle or high school trying to tell us that black people have less nerve endings which is such an insidious myth

-i don’t know how i feel about blonde jo you guys. it’s a little disconcerting. like when ur a little kid and your dad shaves his beard for the first time and it makes you cry

-i like that the show gradually got a lot more queer over time

-“she’s like my sister. you’re like my sister” IS IT ADDISON? IS ADDISON COMJNV ???? my love

-i’ll forgive the cheesy dialogue bc she looks great

-ik it’s a logistics thing with the actors but it would make a lot of sense if jake was here working on uterine transplants too considering he was really interested in it when he was introduced in PP. like, i feel like it would just make a lot of sense for this clinical trial to be a joint endeavor, especially considering he’s the fertility specialist

-addie’s scrub cap!!!

-while i’m at it, i really wish we’d gotten addison scenes or mention when derek died. this elevator scene is great and i love it but i think it’s often minimized how big of a part addison played in his AND amelia’s lives. like obviously i get it. it would be weird to bring up your brothers ex wife in front of his grieving widow but in my head i think addison could have really been there for amelia because they could have shared memories that meredith wasn’t there for. and at the time meredith had no interest in grieving with amelia. like, they were together for a decade and a half. just because they’re no longer married doesn’t mean that death wouldn’t have hit hard. especially because mark is gone too.

-“there was tension” yeah and they should kiss about it

-they forgot how to write addison a little bit. also the convo with amelia feels really ooc. i get it’s showing how the pandemic fucked with everybody’s mental health but “truly hate” is a bit much and …. “i hate that for you” ???????? what

-my bestie tom looks good with a little gray in his hair

-ooh! meredith is in her kicky heeled boots era. love it

-i really like maggie’s hair this season

-bailey’s timeline is so fucking confusing. she was still a resident in seasons four and five (which span one year) which means she must have only been a fourth year in seasons 1-3 (also one year). yet she’s seen having way more authority and autonomy than any other class of residents had at her level. and she’s always going on and on about how she’s responsible for shaping and teaching meredith and her year of residents… which yeah sure but not in a very large capacity until maybe later on bc she was only a fourth year resident when they met. i’m so lost.

-i’m getting a little tired of the random car crashes you guys

-i’m not invested in link/amelia tbh but jo/link doesn’t interest me at all. none of the relationships are interesting rn

-oh my god this scene with all the blood and the waterfall on the podcast is so unsettling. there’s no way they’re going to continue the webber method after this

-i know it’s not going to happen and i know this makes me sound like a horrible person but god i would love it if hayes left and owen died in this car rn

-OH MY GOD OWEN TOTALLY KILLED THAT GUY AND HE TOLD HAYES BC HE THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA DIE, RIGHT? is that what they’re hinting at with hayes bringing up mercy killings to meredith? bc that would make this boring episode interesting to me

-link has a right to be upset but he’s pissing me off. he’s rewriting history and hasn’t been listening to amelia at all since the initial proposal

-didn’t they used to do m&m s in a much bigger lecture hall?

-i think the show was not necessarily less cheesy and melodramatic in season one but i will say that the cheesiness and melodrama was much more fun when everyone had flip phones and they were playing tegan & sara and the script in the background. not to mention everything is far too well lit and high def now it makes their bad choices look less sexy.

-now that farouk is older he looks really familiar. i’m trying to figure out what else i’ve seen him in

-“she’s ruined every good thing in my life” i feel for link, i really do, but i am so done with his whining.

-little ellis looks SO MUCH like ellis senior it’s insane. a+ casting

-owen sucks (x9)

-i was just reminded of that time in the earlier seasons when teddy and cristina’s patient wanted physician assisted suicide or something and owen got all weird and angry about it and overstepped a bunch. and now look at what he did. huh

-bailey needs to take several hundred seats

-addison looks so good !!!!!!!!

-do you guys remember a couple of seasons ago when jackson wasn’t gonna do that new bottom surgery for the trans woman and catherine yelled down the hallway “jackson avery!! i thought you were woke!!” ? that’s me rn but with teddy.

-am i supposed to like link??? is it an unpopular opinion that i don’t

-i feel like kai doesn’t vibe with kids and i think they should be up front about it before things get more serious

-i would play boggle with teddy :(

-ooh they’re using songs from the early seasons’ soundtrack

-let her LEAVE!!! why is nobody else taking any responsibility for the state of things. this in no way should fall on meredith’s shoulders. bailey especially! i get that she’s stretched too thin but that’s part of the problem.

#greys anatomy #i’m hanging on by a thread u guys #i can’t stop now only one more season until i’m caught up #meredith grey #teddy altman #amelia shepherd #addison montgomery #!!!!#you can find the rest of these under #greys reactions

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rizzrack · 1 year

Text

He gradually worked his way through the stockroom, performing an audit of the inventory counts. The numbers were always right, but the merchant had little else to do in the meantime. Thankfully it won't be the case for long. The keen had just received news from a colleague at the estate that the ordered prints were being delivered. He was looking forward to finally beginning work on this new project. He had to wonder however how his associate Milgram was doing. It had been over twenty-four hours since he set out to complete some research of his. The merchant wasn't too worried however. Knowing that the customer was on his way with the prints assured him that he could expect to see Milgram very shortly.

Even sooner than he expected. A dingling bell hanging in the doorway notified the merchant of the presence of two more diminuitive folk. Through the entrance stepped a stout keen, and behind him followed Rizzrack. Although at first hesitant to enter, he quickly began to look all about the room.

While the stand could catch Rizzrack's attention, the inside of the shop absolutely captivated him. The air was perfumed with the sweet smell of grease and lubricant,a telling sign that they did more than just sell parts. However that alone wasn't what struck him. Like most things the ceiling was high enough for the average person, but unlike everything else Rizzrack was so used to seeing, the chairs, shelves, tables, almost everything was made for keenfolk in mind, everything but the service desk; that seemed to be more in favor of the average height profile of the population in Weeping Rose.

Rizzrack knew he had never been in this place before, but he couldn't ignore the gripping sensation of familiarity as he took in his surroundings...

The way the stools had seats that he didn't have to hop up into.

The way the tables didn't go above his chin or required his elbows to be above his shoulders.

The way most everything was within his natural reach.

He was too lost in his own world to notice the merchant come over to greet them.

"Milgram. Welcome back! How went your research in the field?"

"As ordinary as it could be. Aside from this one variable;" He takes a step aside to gesture to the smallkeen right behind. "I happened across someone looking for you!"

"Friend of the warden, we meet again!"

Rizzrack snapped out of it at the mention of 'warden'. He quickly recognized the merchant as the keen he was looking for. While he was glad to have finally found him, his mood was instantly sullied by being reminded of Silencer, influencing the way he reciprocates the greeting.

"Surprised, eh? I wouldn't be. I should have expected him to trick me! Just when ya think you can depend on someone, they lead you on and waste your time."

While both the keen were taken aback by his sudden venting, they had no trouble with keeping tact. "I see. Well, I take it you're in need of dependable people. You know, I know dependable people."

"We're the dependable people." Milgram specified.

"Sometimes the only ones you can depend on is your kin."

'That's a lie.' Rizzrack wanted to say. He knew very well you can't depend on kin either, because sometimes kin get other plans and think it's a great idea to abandon you like trash. But these guys wouldn't be kin by familial obligation. No, it'd be through the shared experience of the struggle for progress that bonds them. It almost felt like some vague lesson he learned before.

Not wanting to lose control of the interaction, the merchant continued. "Despite how long we've known each other, I believe I haven't properly introduced myself yet. I'm Zimbard."

"Zimbard. Well, Zimbard. I'm Rizzrack, and I'm sure you already know why I"m here now."

Zimbard smiled and nodded along patiently as Rizzrack explained his situation. Although he was reluctant to get into reasons and motives, the merchant seemed satisfied enough just knowing the important details.

"Well, retrieving your suit shouldn't be a problem to accomplish, and while we can get right on it, we only need your help to keep an eye on things here while Milgram and I are gone."

"And of course one other important thing."

----

Not long after, the two keen were on their way, completely trusting Rizzrack to be alone at the shop.

He could really feel them depending on him.

It was...

p r e s s u r e.

But he was fine! He was in his element. If someone walked in looking for something, he could find it! He could even sell it! He's sold things before. Like wood. He's sold woodsohowcouldhemessupsellingparts?

Rizzrack did his best to sit still and relax at the service desk. While there were better places to sit, he felt inclined to sit where he thought he should on duty. Besides, the little service bell he found himself tapping with his finger proved to be a helpful little distraction.

In truth there was no reason to stress over selling parts. He wasn't there to sell parts. In fact he's only there to wait for someone to delivery some drawings. Take them, make sure the paper is signed. Easy. Can't mess that up. Unlike meeting up with people. Apparently that can be messed up. Stupid Nortrom. Well guess what Mr. Warden? I've got everything handled myself. I never NEEDED your help, and when the sawsuit is finally back in business I'll-

Ding-ding-ingling...

Rizzrack looked to the bell. No, that wasn't him absent-mindedly tapping it. Realizing the sound came from the door he walked through, he looked up instead to see if it was the customer that Zimbard was expect-

Rizzrack gasps and quickly ducks down, hiding behind the desk.

It's Nortrom. What is HE doing here!? Did he forget about today? Who cares!? Going away you stupid man I'm not READY to see you yet!

@nortromthesilencer

#sorry I just went and made it a new starter or something lol

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yandere-is-my-life · 2 years

Text

Yandere Lamia x reader

Warning

Yandere behavior, Kill, Confinement, Language difference

Summary

You are a nature researcher.

One day you and your companies had been explored the jungle of a country.

You have recently been granted permission to enter the jungle.

Unfortunately, you came across a herd of predators.

In escaping from them, you got lost.

Also, your body was covered in scars from the many times you have fallen and been caught.

Anyway, you have to find your companies.

After walking alone for a while, you came to an open area.

There was a big tree in the middle of there.

Let's take a break.

So you sat down on the trunk of the tree.

You were so tired, and fell asleep soon.

Story

You felt someone touching your face and body carefully.

It's like human hands.

Is it your company?

Slowly you opened your eyes and saw a beautiful woman.

You confused because no one should be living there.

But seeing her whole body, it made you surprise.

She was a lamia.

Also many times bigger than you.

You let out a small scream of surprise.

In a flash, she wrapped around you by her body.

And covered your mouth by her hand.

Then, she started observing you as if she was judging.

At that time, you remembered a legend.

…

Ancient time, a lot of naga lived in this jungle.

They attacked people, also kidnapped, and ate them.

The people sent warriors and offered sacrifices to keep them from harming themselves.

But many time passed, naga gradually disappeared.

At that time, people stopped entering the jungle.

However, there are still many story about them.

…

You and she stared at each other for a while.

Silence flows.

She let you out her hand from your mouth.

This was a chance to call someone's help, but it would be better not to.

Seeing that you had stopped resisting, she spoke to you.

But you can't understand.

It sounds completely different from any languages you know.

After a while, she took you aside.

Where is she taking you?

Is she gonna eat you?

But there was no choice but to be at her mercy.

…

In the meantime, you were brought to the cave.

There wasn't much thing, but it was just the right space and temperature.

She laid you gently on the bed and took the fruit from the table near her side.

And pressed one of them into your mouth.

She wants you to eat it.

You ate it a little, then sweet taste spread in your mouth, quenching your parched throat.

It was delicious than you had ever eaten.

She seemed to be satisfied.

You appreciated her and said, "Thank you."

And smiled as much as you could.

After you finished eating, she wrapped you again.

But unlike before, it was gentle.

She hugs you and pats you gently.

It's the same mother does to her child.

She wants to let you sleep.

If you stay here, you won't be attacked by predators again.

You fell asleep in peace.

…

It has been a while since she brought you at the nest.

She doesn't hurt you.

On the contrary, she gives you water, food, also treats your wounds.

In addition, you and she bathe together and have skin-to-skin contact.

It is like a mother taking care of her child.

Thanks to her, your wounds almost healed.

But there was one thing you concerned about.

Where are the other members?

Are they OK?

You wondered where they were and if they were alive.

And hoped to go back your home.

You tried to tell her about that, but it didn't work.

Next, you tried to leave the nest, but she noticed and catched you immediately.

But sometimes she would leave a lot of food in the nest and be gone for a while.

It's a great chance.

You felt sorry for her, but you couldn't stay here forever.

You took your luggage and some food she gave you.

When she was not around, you left.

…

While you were walking, it became evening.

Orange sunlight shines through the trees.

It's better to get ready for camping.

Just as thinking that, you heard someone's voice.

Walking to that way, saw some shadows.

I looked closer and saw some locals and a few of your companies.

It's so lucky.

When you called out to them, they shouted with joy.

We can finally go back home.

The relief was short-lived.

She appeared.

She seemed shocked because you were with them.

Then she killed the people on the expedition in an instant.

Hope turned to despair.

After that, she approached you.

She worried your situation.

By seeing that tragedy, you became disheartened.

She didn't mind it., and took you back just as she did when you first met her.

Later

You don't know how many time passed from that event.

Your baggage and clothes were threw away, and she gave you new clothes she made.

And she became overprotective.

In addition, she injects you something by her fangs once a day.

It seems like sedative, it makes you fell asleep or not to think anything.

After a short time, you came to forget something before you came here.

One day, you thought.

Why did I try to get out?

You don't worry about food, work, and danger.

Also you have a person who gives a lot of affection.

Nevertheless,do you need others?

You will live a happy life with her forever...

#yandere x reader #yandere #yandere monster #yandere naga #yandere lamia #yandere monster girlfriend #teratophillia #monster x human

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saijspellhart · 3 months

Note

Hi!!!!

...

I get so shy about asks...my last two (not you, different people) were never answered XD

anyway, I really love your writing! I just finished a 20 chapter fic about Kaiba (gradually and a little reluctantly) adopting Yugi because his grandpa died, and then Anzu dies (she's his GF in the story) so Yugi gets really sad and breaks down

I'm going to write a part 2, of basically Yugi going through therapy while living at Kaiba's house, could I PLEASE have some fluffy head canons of Kaiba and Yugi at the house while Yugi is experiencing depression? Basically he's suffering a bereavement overload (AKA he has trouble grieving for 2 people at a time)

Maybe just Kaiba..."trying" to be a dad, maybe Mokuba helped him with experience, but idk how that would go

I know you're busy, but if you have time, this would be rlly appreciated, and would help me a lot in writing my story!! thank you!

Well, given that I also lost three loved ones in my life, all in the same year, I can definitely empathize with the grief overload. I can say that some of the things my husband did to comfort me really helped. Even if they were small acts.

What if Kaiba found a sufficiently mind numbing game that they could both play to distract from the pain? (When I was grieving my husband and I played Borderlands 2 together.) What if Kaiba and Yugi played Kirby’s Epic Yarn, or Yoshi’s Woolly World, or Secret of Mana, or Pokémon. Games that are cute, and uplifting, and great two player games. And something where if Kaiba gets competative, as he does, it would be ridiculous and hilarious given how Cutesy the games are.

Or there could be moments where Kaiba brings Yugi a hot cocoa, with like ridiculous frills, mini marshmallows in color Star shapes, with whipped creme, and chocolate shavings, and little wafer cookies. Etc. Just such a rich person cup of cocoa. So incongruent with Kaiba’s uptight and grumpy demeanor.

You could have Kaiba cook him dinner, and totally botch it. Like accidentally cooking a meal that’s all potatoes. Mashed potatoes and french fries. Or a grilled cheese with a side of Mac and cheese. Ya know, just like silly things that are basically the same food twice, but Kaiba doesn’t think about it because he normally doesn’t cook food. Or maybe he cooks Yugi some dinosaur nuggets, and before Yugi can acknowledge the dinosaur shapes, he drowns them in molten gravy.

Kaiba could bring home a book. Something random. And just unprompted, start reading aloud from the book. Softly, with a tenderness so unlike his usual manner.

He could buy Yugi a nightlight. People who suffer from loss can often suffer from night terrors. Maybe the nightlight shines little Blue eyes white dragon shapes on the walls. Very on brand for Kaiba.

Maybe he buys Yugi a “Snuggy” the blanket with sleeves. Then grouses and mutters when Yugi doesn’t use the sleeves. But he sees Yugi use he blanket anyway and cocoon himself inside it.

Depression kinda makes you not want to do anything, especially grief depression, so Yugi might not be responsive during all these things. But it would be small feeble expressions, or subdued body language that would show Kaiba the things he’s doing affect Yugi.

Anyway, I hope the ideas help. Good luck on your Hurt/comfort fic. I’m sure it’ll be amazing. I think you got this.

#ask answers #SaijSpellhart answers #asks #yugioh #seto kaiba #yugi mutou

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aubreysheadspace · 1 year

Note

Hi Aubrey! Can I request a Mari with a reader who's younger, chaotic and a prankster? But they're quite clumsy at times so Mari just slowly see the reader as her second sibling,,, this should be platonic, as usual!

...Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. When the incident happened, reader just... become a shell of who they used to be. They didn't harm themselves, just that... they're changing so much, to the point that Mari, who's dead, just questions if that's the same reader she knows. And depressed too, since if she never yelled at Sunny, and she tried to slove things peacefully, you and everyone wouldn't have act like this..

Aside from that, you can make what Mari thinks of the reader before death and after death!

Have a great day, Aubrey! Good luck!

MARI WITH A READER WHOS CHAOTIC YET NOW A SHELL DUE TO THE INCIDENT

(OMORI SPOILERS)

AAA I love your ideas, and ty,, hope u have a great day as well!~ hope u enjoy!

MARI

when first meeting MARI, she absolutely loved your attitude!

she enjoys your chaotic persona and would laugh at your little antics, you remind her of KEL as well!

she’s a bit of a prankster herself too, so she sometimes she would help you with pranks!

"psst, [READER].. i have another prank idea for you!" MARI whispered to you with a playful tone in her angelic voice, you were immediately interested. "you see, HERO hates bugs.. and i mean HATE them! i use to do this before so i can guarantee that it’s worth it! now, take some bugs and put it under HERO’s desk!"

she would also enjoy a little prank war with you as well!

no matter what, she’ll always fight back with a prank until she wins!

whenever you get injured by your clumsy antics, MARI would always be the one to patch up anything you got while being clumsy

she always hums as she patches up anything or cleans anything.

she enjoys taking care of other people due to her kind and caring nature, and would always stop from what she’s doing to make sure you’re alright

MARI sees you as like another little sibling! as long as you and SUNNY get along, she’ll treat you like family!

you could always sleepover at her place if you have a bad situation at home, you can get advice from her, and you can practically be yourself around her! she won’t judge you if you’re too reckless, clumsy, or loud!

…

…unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

you.. you saw her..

you.. you saw her lifeless body..

you saw how pale she was,

you saw how her body was just dangling thanks to the rope..

she was.. no longer MARI.. just a corpse..

…

you suppress the urge to vomit.

you couldn’t believe this.. why did she.. why did she take her life away.. just like that..?

you.. could’ve.. you could’ve helped her with anything..! yet..

you thought of yourself as just.. a stupid kid who couldn’t ever make anyone happy.. you thought you never made MARI happy.. all those memories you had with her..

..were they just lies..?

she lied to you..? about everything?

did she find you annoying deep down..?

…let’s just say, during the funeral.. you weren’t really.. yourself anymore

eventually, everything became.. blank to you

like.. the world slowly lost its color in your eyes

you became.. nothing.

you felt like you were just an empty husk, void of any actual emotion

you gradually lost all sense of a self-identity, becoming the empty shell of the person you are now

you couldn’t even taste any kinds of food, even spice

you lost the ability to properly taste and enjoy food

what was the point in doing anything anymore?

you mostly stay home doing absolutely nothing in your room

why bother doing homework? why bother going to school?

what was the point?

"wow, [READER]! you got a better score on your test than last time! i’m so proud of you!"

you heard a familiar voice, and with a sharp gasp you turned around to see if it was—

…oh

never mind, it was just your wall

perhaps you just simply had a memory of her always praising you, even if it was the littlest of things

although.. every-time you looked at yourself in the mirror, you swore you saw the figure of MARI right behind you

but there was no way, right?

she was gone..

"oh.. [READER]…" MARI spoke in a somber tone as she watched how you weren’t doing anything at all and just.. laying in your bed.

she felt so upset seeing you like this. she had remembered you were always loud and super reckless, she missed the old you! she knows you.. she knows that you wouldn’t have been like this if.. that didn’t occur..

it’s been four years already, and she’s been watching everyone as a spirit. she felt so guilty that KEL had changed to mature and quickly move on just to make others happy,

HERO had changed and became depressed for over an entire year.. and even if he’s become a better person and went to college.. she knows he still misses her everyday.

AUBREY had changed into a tough and aggressive delinquent who picks on BASIL,

SUNNY had changed into a complete shut-in and still needed to figure out the truth and needed to accept that she was gone,

BASIL had changed into an even more anxious person who was always afraid.. his guilt eating him up everyday,

and even YOU had changed.

you completely changed into an empty vessel, you weren’t the same anymore. if anyone’s changed the most, it’s you. she misses your true self and wishes you could come back. she entirely believes all the bad changes in her friend group was because of her.

she should’ve been a good older sister, and just at least talked to SUNNY during that morning. she could’ve helped him but instead she yelled at him.. she made him feel even worse..

but now, even as a spirit, she could try and make SUNNY forgive himself and to eventually accept the truth one way or another. she believes in her little brother and knows that he’s the key in getting everyone back together again, even if it’s without her.

she can and will make sure SUNNY can save everyone, so she could finally find peace and rest.. knowing that everything is truly going to be okay,

MARI wants to save SUNNY, MARI wants to save BASIL, MARI wants to save KEL, MARI wants to save AUBREY, MARI wants to save HERO..

…MARI wants to save YOU.

#aubreysheadspace!~#aubreys writing!~#omori #omori mari x reader #omori x reader #omori mari #omori spoilers

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practically-an-x-man · 16 days

Note

not so nice OC asks for Nik and Jasper! betrayal, bound, desire, ghost, and torture

Thank you!!! <3333

Not-So-Nice OC Asks

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

Nikoletta: No, because usually she doesn't let people get close enough for her to feel betrayed.

Jasper: They felt betrayed by their parents when they came out as transgender and genderfluid - their reaction was less than great, and that definitely hurt (especially since they were some of the first people Jasper admitted that to)

bound: Has your OC ever been imprisoned or captured? What happened? How did they get out? Did the experience leave any scars?

Nikoletta: Technically she was captured in Belle Reve twice. The first was for B&E and thievery, and she was there for about a month until her power dampener glitched and she escaped by shadow-jumping. The second, of course, is how we know her as the Queen of Belle Reve, and she didn't bother escape. It definitely left her with scars, though, since she hardened her heart so much she still isn't sure she'll ever recover fully.

Jasper: Thankfully not - their story definitely isn't mundane, but it's a little less... directly violent than most of my other ones.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

Nikoletta: She just wants to feel safe, more than anything, but she's lived such a tumultuous life that she's not even sure she'd know safety when it came to her. She feels safe with Abner, especially once they've settled into living together and all, but there are still times where she feels like things are going to spontaneously fall apart.

Jasper: They want to be accepted for who they are, to be loved unconditionally. Love in their family feels very conditional, and though Kyle loves them with everything he has, they lost him and then had to go through that rough recovery period when he was brought back, so at this point they just want to have someone in their corner no matter what, who they can trust without worry.

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

Nikoletta: STAR Labs, and everything she experienced while she was there. For a long time she was terrible at living with those ghosts, she just blocked them off and tried to ignore them (which is part of what led to her becoming cold and distant while in Belle Reve), but once she has a real support system in place she slowly, gradually begins to open up a little more and acknowledge what happened.

Jasper: Everything surrounding Kyle's death. It's a weird sort of grief, since he was brought back and by now things are almost back to how they used to be, but they can never forget how it felt to feel his emotions suddenly vanish from their empathic sense, or how it felt to find him broken and sewn back together with the witches. Sometimes the grief still hits them like a cannon in the middle of the night, and it's hard to reconcile the intensity of those feelings with the warmth of Kyle still sleeping beside them. It's just... hard.

torture: Has your OC ever been tortured? Would your OC ever torture someone else?

Nikoletta: Traditional torture, no. STAR Labs was certainly torture from Nik's perspective, but the scientists didn't set out just to hurt her - they didn't care that they did, but it wasn't their goal. As for torturing someone else... no. She can be cold and immoral at times, but her methods are much more succinct.

Jasper: No and no. Again, their story isn't mundane, but it's not really the "kidnapping and torture" type.

#my friends!!!#answered asks #ask game #my ocs #jasper wilson #nikoletta bordeaux

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eremiss · 1 year

Text

Reminisce

Despite what the Adders’ reports and the increase in Ixali activity seemed to suggest, two days of reconnaissance in the Shroud has yielded little and less. No news is good news in the case of Primals, however, even if it makes the investigation feel a bit tedious.

The Ixali haven’t created any new routes to try and smuggle crystals under the Wailer’s and Adders’ noses, and their old paths have been abandoned since the last time Gwen laid Garuda low. The items stolen in the recent roadside attacks were mostly sundries and foodstuffs bound for Coerthas which, while troubling, isn’t cause for the Scions’ concern.

None of the travelers and merchants they’ve spoken with over the course of their investigation have been happy about being accosted in the middle of the woods, no matter how politely Gwen and the Adder recruits try to go about it.

Thancred watches the latest victim of circumstance storm off down the road from his vantage point high in the trees. He lifts a hand to his linkpearl and remarks, “Seems he took offense.”

Gwen shakes her head, casting her gaze around the trees in search of him. “Just a bit. See anyone else?”

Thancred scans the road. “The road is clear, apart from your new acquaintance.”

She passes that on to the Adders, and they have a small discussion he can only assume pertains to what they intend to do next. Given the way things have been going, this investigation will surely be coming to an end soon.

Eventually the recruits salute and depart back up the way the traveler had come. Gwen doesn’t follow.

Thancred waits until they’re yalms away before speaking into the linkpearl. “What’s the word?”

“They’re going to the rendezvous with the other team, then contact the Adders’ Nest.” She tries to spot him in the trees again. And misses him, again.

“And we get to hold position and await further word?” he drawls.

She nods. Then she remembers they’re speaking over linkpearl, “Yes.”

He sighs at the thought of more bells in the muggy forest. “Wonderful.”

Rather than continue searching the treetops for him, Gwen turns and makes for the bushes on the far side of the road. He watches with mild interest as she wanders through the untamed foliage, ducking out of sight every now and then and gradually wandering further from the road until he’s lost sight of her.

Foraging, if he had to guess. She’s never been a fan of sitting still, and it’s the perfect way to pass the time in a forest. He’s not sure how much she’ll find close to the road, as surely other travelers have already helped themselves to everything convenient.

Gwen has never hidden her skills as a botanist, per say, but she’s a great deal more open about them now than she used to be, particularly when it comes to gathering herbs for her own use. Fetching tea leafs for a friend or herbs for a leve is all well and good, but collecting esoteric botanicals for herself is, apparently, a different matter. Perhaps a few too many people have commented about her snacking on dandelions and roots, or balked at the suggestion that they could do the same.

Thancred winces and shifts on the branch, knowing he ought to count himself amongst the former. He puts that little blunder out of his mind, reminding himself he’d meant it only in jest. Her knowledge of Eorzea’s vegetation is nothing to be embarrassed about, nor is utilizing it as she sees fit, and they’re both well aware of that.

He idly surveys the road, musing about how she’s rather reluctant to discuss how she learned botany, evasive when asked and quick to direct the conversation elsewhere. Frustrating as it is, he can’t really blame her. Few people whose childhoods were spent mired in hardship enjoy talking about it, and the two of them are no exceptions. Necessity, desperation and survival are wonderful motivators, but they don’t make for good conversation

Which is likely also why comments about nibbling on weeds or foraging for odd ingredients are particularly unwelcome. If she was as truly on her own as he’s coming to suspect, those ‘weeds’ may well have kept her alive. And isn’t that a hell of a thing to admit?

He’s not embarrassed by his ability to pick locks in seconds, either, but he recoils from the thought of admitting he’d picked up the skill breaking into homes and shops to steal food.

Eventually her lightly-staticy voice rings in his ear again. “Hungry?”

He’s mostly bored, and tired of the tree bark making an impression in his rear. “I take it you are, if you went looking for a snack.”

“Just passing time, mostly.” A pause. Communicating when he can’t read her expression or fidgeting is always interesting, and occasionally vexing. “But we’ve been out here a while, so…”

Thancred gets to his feet and peers up and down the road again, straining his eye and searching for the shapes of travelers through the sparse trees. It’s all clear.

“I don’t suppose you managed to find a wild bakery growing out there?” he asks, stretching his arms and legs in preparation for his descent.

She laughs as the red of her coat comes into view through the trees. “I’m afraid not.”

He scoffs. “I thought you were an expert in botany, yet you can’t track down fresh bread in the wilderness?”

“Not even a single loaf,” she confesses, her remorseful tone colored with mirth.

“Shameful, honestly. Why did I even bring you along?” He starts climbing down with her laugh bubbling warmly in his ear.

Gwen’s excursion into the woods turned up a handful of roots, weeds and flowers that the average traveler wouldn’t look twice at. Between his survival training and his time in Dravania, particularly before he’d fashioned those obsidian knives, Thancred isn’t so easily perturbed.

They stroll along the road and snack, chatting and keeping an eye out for travelers or signs of movement in the trees. She walks on his left, covering for his blindspot. He has to turn his head to see her, but doesn’t mention it.

She shows him how to shave the tough skin off the roots, and then stares confusedly when he does it more masterfully than she had. He makes a bit of a show of it, reveling in her silent disapproval as he carelessly twirls his hunting knife around in his fingers in a way that has always made her tense.

When the idle topics run dry the road is still empty. Thancred isn’t sure whether to be glad, disappointed or frustrated. Maybe all three.

Gwen asks about Sharlayan and what the time he spent there was like, intent as ever to know more about him and draw out the things he normally keeps hidden.

He chews, thinks, and decides to oblige her. Mayhap she’ll be convinced to return the favor.

He lays the groundwork first, telling her about the city, the people, and the Studium to start. She has some questions, he has some answers, some more open and direct than others. Secrecy and facades are his nature, which makes her being so easy to talk to just as vexing as it is comforting. The thoughtful curiosity that flickers in her eyes shows that she notices when his reply is particularly short or cagey, but she doesn’t begrudge him his privacy, nor try to pry.

They spend a handful of yalms musing about the growing pains that came with maturing from a Lominsan wharf rat into a Sharlayan scholar. He doesn’t delve too deeply into it, but admits that the transition had been jarring and far from smooth. Part of his relatively quick adjustment to scholarly life had been out of pure necessity, adapting to survive, and part had been spite. Sharlayans and the Studium alike weren’t fond of outsiders in the first place, but especially not ones such as himself, and he’d had plenty of satisfaction rubbing his rapidly growing skills and exemplary marks in their faces--even though it ran him ragged more often than not.

When the scene is set Thancred weaves tales about some of his more harrowing lessons with Sharlayan’s masters of stealth and subtlety, sprinkling in a bit of his past antics and mischief for good measure.

Gwen makes a good audience, listening attentively and reacting at the right parts.

They haven’t run into another traveler yet or seen any suspicious movement in the woods by the time he finishes his tale, adding a flick of his wrist for a bit of flourish. He throws in a grandiose half-bow for fun, which earns a laugh and a brief applause.

After a brief discussion they turn around and begin making their way back to where they’d parted with the Adders recruits. They would eventually meet up with travelers headed either direction given their relaxed pace, it was just a matter of time.

“Your turn,” Thancred prompts, lacing his fingers together behind his head.

Gwen cocks her head.

“A story for a story,” he says. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m not much of a storyteller,” she says, not quite apologetically.

“I’ll temper my expectations,” he assures blithely.

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “What do you want to hear about?”

Everything, he thinks. I don’t know half as much about you as I should. He’s made due with reading between the lines and piecing together scattered hints and the small things she lets slip --a telltale habit here, an odd mention there-- but that can only get him so far.

She isn’t given to sharing much about herself, and she’s proven to be frustratingly skilled at passing off vague replies and non-answers as the real thing. He knows precious little about her beyond the basics, despite all this time and all his skill for gathering information. Her life before joining the Scions, in particular, is a mystery except for the broadest strokes. Even the fits of reminiscence she’s committed to the pages of her journal haven't afforded him more than a few pieces, glimpses, of a larger picture.

Thancred surveys the dirt and shady trees in silence, weighing potential topics.

“How about your life before Ul’dah?” he suggests eventually.

“Before Ul’dah?” she echoes curiously.

“Life in the Shroud, before you became an adventurer,” he says.

She tilts her head thoughtfully and silently studies him. He wonders if she might be trying to puzzle out his reasoning for the choice of topic. You asked about my life before the Scions, I figured I’d ask the same, is the explanation he’s ready to offer if she asks, because I’d like to know is too honest and will undoubtedly sound like a hasty lie.

But she doesn’t ask. Instead she hums an agreeable sound and turns her gaze back to the road.

They walk for yalms in silence while she thinks, fussing with her scarf to busy her hands. He resists the temptation to let the continued monotony lull him into a false sense of security, keeping his eyes and ears open for any signs of activity. Carelessness, particularly his own, has cost the Scions too much already, and he has no interest in letting it happen again, no matter how unnecessary this outing seems to be.

At least patrolling the Shroud means they aren’t missing out on the lovely day.

“Well, it…” Gwen laughs awkwardly and glances down at the road. “It wasn’t terribly interesting, honestly.”

“You sell yourself short,” he replies.

She laughs again, soft but not so awkward. “Whatever grand adventure you’re picturing, I’m afraid it’s not accurate.”

“Set me straight, then.”

She shakes her head, bemused but smiling at his insistence. “Well… I’m not a native of Gridania, though I was so young when I came here I scarcely remember anything before that.” She pauses, her lips forming the shape of words she doesn’t say for a beat before continuing, “Growing up I… I took care of myself and made my own way. I worked. I studied and trained.”

The look on her face says she’s no more satisfied with that answer than he is, though she doesn’t seem to know what to do about it.

“What kind of work?” he prompts.

“Anything, really. So long as it earned a bit of coin.” She doesn’t sound proud of it, but she’s not bitter or angry either. “I picked up a lot of skills along the way, and wound up becoming something of a jack-of-all-trades.”

“I admit, I don’t know much about the humdrum of Gridanian life,” Thancred says. “What did you do?”

She runs her fingers over her bracelets and lists off a few examples: a stablehand at the Bannock, trimming trees, culling problematic animals, catching squirrels and wayward pets, tending to private gardens, odd jobs for the guilds, and gathering whatever plants or herbs someone decided they needed. Once she’d proved herself trustworthy to Mother Miounne she joined the Adventurer’s Guild and started taking leves, too. Her last venture in Gridania was a stint as a waitress at Buscarron’s Druthers.

Like she’d said: A bit of everything.

“You were living like an adventurer well before you took the title,” he says.

“I was, wasn’t I?” she says with a small laugh.

Thancred asks what sort of work she preferred to do, whenever she had the luxury of choice. She looks surprised for a moment, and then thoughtful. Perhaps she’s never given it much thought herself.

Eventually she says, “I didn’t mind working at the Druther’s, even with all the rowdiness. Besides that… Working for the guilds, I think.”

“Which guilds did you belong to?” he asks.

“The botanist’s guild.” The solitary answer settles and she hurriedly adds, “But I worked for most of them whenever they had a use for an unskilled hand.”

Unskilled? He doesn’t ask it aloud, but the slight arch of his brow is easy enough to understand.

Her chin dips slightly and she admits that didn’t have the innate skill it took to be recruited as an apprentice craftsman, despite having a knack for wood- and leatherworking. Her ‘knack’ wasn’t enough to win a patron, either, and she hadn’t had the means to pay her own way training with the guild until she’d acquired enough skill to be taken on.

Instead, she was hired during busy seasons to gather materials and take care of menial tasks so the artisans could focus all of their attention on commissions and skilled work.

Gwen’s eyes are mostly on the branches overhead, but every now and then her gaze drifts to his face. She studies his expression only somewhat-subtly, plainly trying to gauge his reaction and figure out his thoughts on her less-than-auspicious upbringing.

Thancred responds by not reacting at all, listening attentively and offering a comment or question here and there to nudge the conversation along whenever it starts to stall out.

Judging by the way the hints of embarrassment and tension in her posture are gradually melting away, his steady attention and the absence of whatever judgment or pity she’d been worried about is just what she’d wanted to see. Her words come a little more easily as she relaxes, the pauses less frequent and her tone growing more open.

She’s talking around some things as much as about them, telling him about long days working her fingers to the bone, but never outright admitting to scraping by, surviving on little and less. She never states that she’d been on her own, but she also never mentions any family, friends, or anyone else that she’d been particularly close to.

It takes a bit of convincing, but eventually he gets her talking about the long hours spent toiling away preparing reagents, shaving hides, hauling wood, sweeping sawdust, and sharpening tools. Necessary tasks, but ones that didn’t require the same level of skill as crafting armor, clothing or furniture. The pay had been decent enough, even if the work itself had been boring, and once she’d proved her usefulness she’d enjoyed somewhat-steady employment.

What’s more, bells of practice maintaining guild tools taught her how to maintain her own, and all that time perfecting the basics made a solid foundation for her to build skills on. It took time to endear herself to some of the guild members, but once she had they were more than willing to offer advice, help, and even hand-me-downs.

A comment from Thancred about how she’d at least been spared unreasonable commissioners and demanding clients gets Gwen airing her frustrations about her other various jobs, from misleading requests to clients who’d try to haggle the price after the work had been completed. Apparently her fondness for guild work has as much to do with their reliability and honor as the work itself.

Thancred commiserates with a few gripes of his own, and they spend the next stretch of road companionably complaining about long days, arduous work, and troublesome clients. There’s still no sign of anything lurking in the trees, no matter how hard they look, which is just further proof the two of them don’t need to be here.

As the conversation begins to peter out he transitions into questions about her free time, as surely she’d had some at some point or another. Sooner or later work runs thin, whether you want it to or not.

At first Gwen merely calls it uninteresting again, but he coaxes her into telling him a bit more. She tended to turn to training, studying, and chores --foraging and tending to her gear and garden-- when earning a living didn’t fill her day. She put every minute to use however she could and rarely took, or even had,time to unwind or relax. Living on her own as she was, idle time was a luxury she typically just couldn’t afford to indulge in.

Small wonder why taking a day off is such a foreign concept and she feels so guilty for daring to be idle, he thinks. He’d assumed her work ethic and practically-minded ways were simply her nature, as they are Y’shtola’s. Alas, it seems they’re a learned habit that she hasn’t been able, or perhaps even tried, to shake.

They haven’t made it back to their starting point and Gwen doesn't seem quite tired of sharing yet, so Thancred takes advantage while he can.

“I’d assumed it was your love of flowers that inspired you to learn botany,” Thancred says. “But I’m beginning to think it was the other way around.”

Gwen hums, a small, wistful smile curling the corners of her mouth. If only.

“What made you decide to pick it up?”

“Well, ah, you see…” Her mouth wrinkles and bends into the familiar, lighthearted cringe everyone seems to get when recalling past foolishness, “When I was young I learned there was a place people could take leaves, sticks and flowers and get paid for them.”

“Leaves and sticks,” he echoes wryly.

She shakes her head bemusedly. “I didn’t know better.”

“I take it you thought to give it a try,” he prompts.

Her cheeks turn pink and she conveniently finds something to look at on her side of the road to try and hide it. “I did.”

“How did it go?”

Gwen clears her throat. “They… appreciated my enthusiasm, at least.”

Thancred winces sympathetically and chuckles, imagining a young, bright-eyed Gwen barging into the Botanist’s guild with handfuls of twigs and dead leaves and asking for money. He shies away from thinking about how it must have felt to find out the guild did not, in fact, pay people to bring in whatever detritus they’d scraped off the forest floor.

Gwen laughs ruefully under her breath and shakes her head. “To be honest I don’t think they really knew what to do with me. Eventually the receptionist said she’d give me a few gil to sort through an order of mistletoe and pick out all the bruised leaves.”

A tedious and simple chore. The perfect thing to occupy a bothersome child.

She looks down at her hands, flexing and curling her fingers as if remembering the feeling. “It took all day, and my hands smelled of mistletoe for ages afterwards. After all that, she gave me some gil and an old herbalism guide. She said it would tell me what I needed to know, and told me I had to memorize everything in it if I wanted to work for the guild.”

Something defensive and indignant tightens in his chest, and one corner of his mouth twitches down. There are worse things she could’ve done to send Gwen away, and she was safer foraging with a guide than without. Still, the thought is half bitterness.

“It was an old thing, and a hair's breadth from falling apart. But it had all its pages, and she’d written notes in all the margins and the insides of the covers…” She trails off, a bittersweet look easing across her face.

Whether or not it had been intended as genuine goodwill or merely a distraction to keep her away, it had still been a kindness and a tool. From the sound of it, she’d desperately needed both.

Gwen shakes off the melancholic look before it can fully settle on her features and idly kicks a loose rock on the road. “It was kind of her. But, honestly, I think she was just trying to get rid of me.”

“Memorizing a book is a tall order,” Thancred agrees mildly.

“I did it, eventually,” she says with a hint of pride. “Even all the notes and additions. After that, I started teaching myself everything I could. I read any book I could get my hands on, and I got advice from whoever wanted to share. Mostly botany at first, but eventually…” she gestures broadly with both hands.

Being self-taught would explain why she has such a unique way of doing things. He’d always written it off as simply being the ‘Gridanian way,’ much the same way Lominsans and Ul’dahns have their own eccentricities.

They come upon the rock again and she kicks it further down the road. “I couldn’t forage far from the city at first, though. The Twelveswood was even more dangerous back then, and I couldn't defend myself.”

“And so you learned the lance,” he says. “Did you teach yourself that, too?”

She scoffs and begins to shake her head, but stops short. “Well… Somewhat.”

Thancred gestures for her to continue, “And that means…?”

Gwen frowns thoughtfully and folds her arms, plucking at the wrinkled fabric in the crook of her elbow. “I was taught the basics as a child, but beyond that I watched others and taught myself. Until I met Valtemont.”

The name rings familiar, and after a moment he recalls why. The Wailer she was with.

“Aaaah, so that’s how he won you over, is it?” He teases, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and kicking the rock when she passes it by, “He gave you private lessons.”

Gwen’s cheeks are turning pink as she rolls her eyes and makes a disgusted sound.

Tempting as it is to tease her a bit more, he settles for chuckling at her affront. He’d rather hear more of her story. “Where did you learn the basics, then?”

“Some guild lancers. The guild started sending members around the forest every now and then to train the citizens living out in the hamlets. The training was free, so long as you genuinely wanted to learn. So, one day I followed them out to Bentbranch and asked them to teach me.”

And she stops there, her expression tightening slightly and the line of her mouth going flat.

After a yalm Thancred prompts, “...And they agreed.”.

“Eventually,” she replies. “It took a lot of begging and bargaining, but they agreed to let me go with them if I made myself useful. While we were on the road I helped pack and unpack camp, cook and clean, and they lectured me while we walked. When we were in town I ran errands, picked up supplies, and spread the word about the lessons. In the evenings they trained me and quizzed me about that day’s session.”

Her expression tightens and her mouth wrinkles, her fingers sliding over her palms and feeling out the shapes of her calluses beneath her gloves. “They were… harsh, and the lessons were tough, but I learned. I did basic drills until my arms were about to fall off.”

She makes an effort to say it lightly, but her eyes are hard and the corners of her mouth are noticeably turning down. They ran me ragged.

Thancred shifts his jaw to keep his mouth from bending with a similar frown.

“We spent a month trekking all over the Twelveswood. By the time I was back in the city I knew everything backwards and forwards, and I only learned more from there.”

“Did you ever join the Lancer’s guild?”

She hums. “Valtemont talked me into it.”

“Did you ever consider joining the Wailers?” he asks.

Gwen tilts her head curiously.

“You trained in the lance and lived in Gridania, which seem to be the prerequisites,” he says. “Not to mention being possessed of a heroic disposition and an ample supply of gumption.”

She huffs a laugh, still feeling out the shapes of her calluses beneath her gloves. “Heroic disposition?”

“That habit you have of going out of your way for others,” he drawls. “Particularly when it involves running headlong into danger.”

She laughs a little more at that, and it’s enough to dislodge the pieces of old frustration and irritation from her features.

“I can’t imagine your assorted odd jobs earned a Wailer’s salary, even when they entailed performing similar tasks,” he goes on. “Surely the idea was all the more tempting when work dried up.”

She mulls that over, her gaze making a smooth arch from one side of the road, up into the branches overhead, and then back down on the other side.

“It was,” she says at length. “And, I admit, I did consider trying to join a time or two, especially with all the work I did for them…” She trails off and shrugs. “I always wanted to leave the Twelveswood, and the Wailers are pledged to it.”

“Living hand-to-mouth isn’t the worst price to pay for freedom,” he muses. “And you’re hardly one for regiment or rank-and-file. Honestly, I can’t even imagine you saying ‘Wood’s Will Be Done.’”

That gets a genuine, if private, smile and a gentle tap of her elbow against his.

They’re just now passing where they’d started and he’s fully expecting the linkpearl to start chiming any second now, or for a yellow-clad Adder to pop up down the road. She’s told him so much, yet there’s still so much more she hasn’t shared.

“What of conjury?” he asks, more straightforward because they’re fast running out of time. “The guild knows you well enough. Were you a member?”

“You’re full of questions today,” she remarks, smiling.

“I’m cursed with curiosity,” he replies with a hapless shrug. “Naught to do but try to sate it when I can.”

“Well…” She thinks for a moment, “I attended a few lectures and studied on my own, but I was rather intimidated by it all. I was frightened of the elementals more than I revered them, and that wasn’t exactly a promising trait for conjurers. But…” She turns her eyes to the sky, “Then the Calamity came.”

Every city state had been desperate for healers for the wounded and soldiers to fend off lingering threats after the Calamity. Cartineau had also served to decimate Gridania’s population of conjurers.

“I had to do something,” she goes on. “And the Conjurer’s guild was taking anyone who had even the slightest ability with magic. I had potential, so they took me on. E-sumi is an excellent teacher, and I learned the fundamentals quickly, but…” She glances aside, as if guilty. “I had no dreams of becoming a full-fledged healer. I didn’t pursue higher studies and was satisfied with learning enough to make myself useful. It worked out that it was enough to prepare for red magics, but even then I had more studying to do.”

And then you joined the thaumaturge’s guild in Ul’dah. She’d carried a thaumaturge’s stave and slung black magic in their initial encounters, back when she was new to Ul’dah and he was running himself ragged trying to fill Louisoix’s shoes. She’d traded both for a rapier and focus by the time she’d returned the Sultana’s crown.

Thancred realizes that Gwen is looking at him again, trying to decipher his expression and what he might think about everything she’s said. What impression he might have about her ‘less than heroic’ beginnings.

“So you’ve always been a woman of many talents,” he says, ensuring his expression conveys naught but thoughtful interest.

She gives him a wry smile, but stops short of replying. Instead, she looks down the road at the yellow-clad figure jogging towards them and raises a hand in acknowledgement.

"But is he ending our sentence or extending it, that's the real question," Thancred says dryly, covering a twinge of disappointment. He can't say he's upset about getting to return to society, but he has dozens of questions that haven't yet been answered. How she met X’hrun, how she found and tamed Duskfeather, what her early time in the Adventurer’s Guild had been like, and dozens of other questions still hang in his mind, unanswered.

"Ending, hopefully," Gwen says with an agreeable sigh.

"Sick of me already, are you?" he teases.

She gives his shoulder a playful push, grinning.

Questions for another time, he decides as the Adder scout reaches them, huffing for breath and red in the face. Gwen had been open to sharing , and hadn't begrudged his nudging and prompting, either. Besides, mysteries are better with time to linger and mull over the pieces.

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

Writing has been a capital S Struggle for more than a year now, for me and a lot of my fic friends @_@

I've had this fic on the back burner for a while in a bunch of loose pieces, and finally picked it up again and got it all put together and polished. I hope to try and get writing more and more often this year!

Endings are hard, as usual

#FFXIV #writing #Thancred #wol x thancred #Guinevere Ashe #backstory #first thing I've written/touched in a while!#my writing

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melloggd · 4 months

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Review: Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

Sanzaru Games • SEGA • 2014 • Nintendo 3DS Read it on Backloggd: (x)

Sonic's always had a strange, yet interesting history on handhelds.

Its history spans five different developers, from Sonic's birth in 1991 to his 25th anniversary in 2016, with each year marking a gradual change in what the games are even supposed to be for. In the 90s it was Ancient and Aspect, trying to replicate the creative, varied, ball-rolling and feel-good adventures or Sonic 1, 2 and 3, cramming them into tiny 8-bit Game Gear games. While they aren't fantastic or even, good, really, you get a sense that they really tried to capture what people were enjoying about Sonic on the genesis at that point and time, and distilling it into a new format. You see this further with Sonic Pocket Adventure by SNK, a lovely tribute to the Genesis games that gets really close to actually feeling like them despite its 8-bitty visuals, yet feels somewhat restrained by not being much more than just a recreation. From there you get Dimps' Sonic Advance games, now latching onto Sonic's striking new identity after Sonic Adventure: It was still a series about feel-good adventures, of course, but now there was a bit more flair to it all. Sonic in Adventure wasn't just a cool design with a cheeky idle animation, he now had a voice, several fluid animations, strikingly expressive graffitti-esque art, he comments on situations and does cool breakdance tricks after beating levels. Somewhat like the Game Gear games before them, the original Sonic Advance became a game trying to distill the essence of Sonic Adventure, the style, the vibes, even the dramatics in the game's memorable Egg Rocket stage, into a format befitting of a handheld. Advance 2 and 3 are obviously much the same thing but for Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes respectively, with Advance 2 channelling the high-octane adrenaline of SA2 levels like Green Forest and Sky Rail into a 2D sidescroller plane, and Advance 3 taking Heroes' team-up mechanics into its own direction.

Yet with Sonic Rush, things began taking a new direction. Not only had there not been a big new Sonic game to try and channel after Heroes, but Dimps had also begun finding their own voice. Sonic Advance 2 had been a monumental triumph in terms of both sales and reviews, and its bold adaptation of 3D gameplay into 2D gave Dimps a somewhat unique basis to build off of – to make Sonic games entirely their own. Even when SEGA would try to reel this back after 2008, instead only having them work on games specifically branded as derivative of others, Dimps now took these games on with a distinctly their-own approach, seen in games like Sonic Colors DS, Sonic Lost World 3DS, and most infamously Sonic 4. In short, Sonic's handheld games had gone from cute imitations, to games driven by their source, to full on original games, to original games using their source as a baseline.

Which now brings us to our fifth and last, developer, for the final Sonic handheld ventures: Sanzaru Games, and Sonic Boom on 3DS.

Shattered Crystal was always going to be fighting an uphill battle compared to its handheld siblings: Mainly, it had little to no foundation to build off of, with Boom as an entity being made specifically to reinvent the series, in a more Americanized direction. For the big debut home console game, Big Red Button was a great choice for this: Jak & Daxter-ifying Sonic with some of that game's lead developers at the helm, whilst not seeming like a great direction to a lot of Sonic die-hards, at least seemed like a great way to get a solid product out. Thing is, unlike games like Advance and Pocket Adventure, Shattered Crystal didn't have a pre-existing thing to try and replicate: Due to being developed in parallel with Rise of Lyric, Sanzaru didn't have much to work off of beyond a few core concepts for the world, and a general idea of teamwork. On top of this, unlike Big Red Button or even Dimps, Sanzaru were in no way known for their excellence in 2D game design, or even known as good developers in general. And so, in a way, Shattered Crystal ended up a hodgepodge of all the different eras of handheld games, trying to both share the brand identity of its console counterpart, yet also be its own thing, but still building its foundations off of some core ideas from the main game, althewhile being fertile ground for the games' developers to grow and learn.

I wanted to give that rundown both because I find it incredibly fascinating to think about, but also because it makes the end product of Shattered Crystal make a lot more sense. Its a messy little game, filled both with ambition to be like what handheld Sonic once was, yet also embrace elements of the 2000s western-made platformers. The game's levels are uncharacteristically large for one, and a lot of the game is focused on exploring them to find collectibles manditory to unlock later levels. The other playable characters, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks, can be switched to on the fly, yet all they really offer is unlocking passageways or access to aforementioned collectibled. Its a very arbitrary inclusion of multiple playable characters, and it combined with gargantuan levels you're forced to explore could have very well ruined the game to be as bland and boring as its Wii U counterpart. So its a good thing, then, that they somehow managed to make Sonic himself feel absolutely fantastic to control. I'm serious: I have no clue how they did it, but Sonic controls like such a dream and has so many movement options, yet remains at a comfortable enough speed to make exploring levels still feasible compared to Dimps' best outings. Its a distinct feel to the character, yet immensely fun to play around with, mainly due to the fun interplay between the airdash and double jump.

To break it down, at any point in midair Sonic can dash either to his sides or straight up, after which he regains his double jump if it was used before. After a double jump he can airdash one additional time, but not in the same direction as the previous airdash, and this repeats until you've airdashed in all directions. What this means is that you can get crazy airtime by doing all of these interlinked airdashes and double jumps correctly, giving you more distance than Tails' flight in most instances the game wants you to switch to him. Jump, doublejump, airdash forward, doublejump, airdash up, doublejump...its reminiscent of those cool strings of moves you execute for long jumps in Mario Odyssey, only far more compelling due to being attached to get-to-the-goal speedrunning stages that still have a lot of options on how to best progress through them. What this means is that when the level asks you to switch to Knuckles to tunnel up a steep cliff, or switch to Tails to cruise over a bed of spikes, and so on, you can almost always execute it faster and more satisfyingly through mastery of Sonics controls. Add to this the fact that the doublejump maintains all of your speed, and the fun Enerbeam that has some really satisfying swinging physics, and you get some levels with some genuinely great flow to them. It takes a similar formula to the Wisps in the mainline Sonic games, switching to far simpler playstyles to clear very specific-to-them challenges, and instead gives you the tools to completely skip them if you're skilled enough with Sonic.

Granted, this doesn't always hold water, and the rushed nature of the game does sometimes catch up to it. Sticks exists to hit switches with her boomerang and she is the ONLY one who can do so, meaning there will inevitably be sections like the start of Scrapyard Zone where you're arbitrarily required to use her. The collectible grind can also halt your flow a lot of the time, like with the strangely out of place Tails Submarine levels where you play a slow and boring diving minigame for 2 minutes each in the middle of an otherwise fast paced game. Or rather, its a game where you can otherwise MAKE the pace faster than it in reality wants to be.

And thats just what makes Shattered Crystal so interesting. Despite everything, it holds on to so many things that makes Sonic games so fun to play, like fast movement, levels you can explore for both items and shortcuts, hell they've even got Richard Jacques – composer of Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast – doing the music, and its often quite good! The levels themselves are super cool in theming, mostly thanks to each level having a "foreground" and "background", putting new spins on the same level theme sort of like how Sonic Heroes handles its levels. In Shadow Canyons, for instance, you go from grinding on rails and running along scaffolding by these big imposing cliffs, to being flung into the mining facility going on in those mountains. I honestly don't want to spoil the final level because it is such a cool theme for a stage with this system, that it makes the entire game feel worth it just to get to.

Because at the end of the day, for as much cool stuff there is in Shattered Crystal, for as close as it really does come to being a successor to Dimps' handheld lineage, the game is sadly just too much of a chore to get through normally. Unlike a game like Sonic Colors, the explorative nature of the stages isn't just there for optional unlockables, but rather required for progression and beating the game. By the end, you will more or less need a 90% completion rate, meaning most stages need to be both combed through but also beaten with above 50 rings and under a specific time. Its not that this stuff is bad or unfun to do, the game has a super detailed map on the touchscreen showing you where you havent been yet and where things are and I actually really like the autorunner extra stages you can do inbetween levels. It's moreso that it leads to the game feeling at odds with itself: Its immensely fun to speedrun and try to go faster in, but so much of the game wants you to instead do the fun-but-not-nearly-AS-fun collectible hunt. Then, you add that with how the controls can start to really hurt your hands after a while: There's no D-pad movement, meaning you need to slam a somewhat-flimsy circle pad as far to the left or right as it can go to move quickly, whilst also holding down Y at all times to run, whilst also asking you to be ready to use B to jump and A or X to airdash and enerbeam...

It all adds up to Shattered Crystal being a game with truckloads of potential to be amazing, that holds itself back both due to a rushed development and a need for surface-level parity with the slow-as-molasses home console Sonic Boom game it has no business associating with. But when you're able to overcome all those restrictions, when there's no longer a need to collect things, when you've mastered Sonics controls to almost never need to switch to the other bozos, and when you get a true flow going with mechanics you would never expect to be so fun for what the game looks to be on the surface...

That's when you've broken free. Because trouble keeps you running faster.

Playtime: 20 Hours Key Word: Shackled

#melloggd : reviews #game reviews #video games #video game review #game writing #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic boom #sonic games #sonic music #sonic boom show #sonic boom shattered crystal #miles tails prower #tails the fox #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #sticks the badger #dimps #sanzaru games

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