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lsdoiphin · 5 months

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Foods of Vestur

@broncoburro and @chocodile provoked me into doing some illustrated worldbuilding for Forever Gold ( @forevergoldgame ), an endeavor I was happy to undertake. Unbeknownst to me, it would take the better part of a week to draw.

In the process, I conjured about an essay's worth of fantasy food worldbuilding, but I'm going to try and keep things digestible (pardon my pun). Lore under the cut:

The Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom has ample land, and its soil, landscapes, and temperate climate are amenable to growing a variety of crops and raising large quantities of livestock. The Midland palate prefers fresh ingredients with minimal seasoning; if a dish requires a strong taste, a cook is more likely to reach for a sharp cheese than they are to open their spice drawer. Detractors of Middle Kingdom cuisine describe it as bland, but its flavor relies on the quality of its components more than anything.

KEY CROPS: wheat, potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, pears, and grapes KEY LIVESTOCK: Midland goats, fowl, and hogs

ROAST FOWL: Cheap and easy to raise, fowl is eaten all over Vestur and by all classes. Roasted whole birds are common throughout, but the Middle Kingdom's approach to preparation is notable for their squeamish insistence on removing the head and neck before roasting, even among poorer families. Fowl is usually roasted on a bed of root vegetables and shallots and served alongside gravy and green beans.

GOAT RIBEYE: Vestur does not have cattle – instead it has a widely diversified array of goats, the most prominent being the Middle Kingdom's own Midland goat. The Midland goat is a huge caprid that fills the same niche as cattle, supplying Vestur with meat and dairy products. Chevon from the Midland goat is tender with a texture much like beef, though it retains a gamier, “goat-ier” taste. It is largely eaten by the wealthy, though the tougher and cheaper cuts can be found in the kitchens of the working class. Either way, it is almost always served with gravy. (You may be sensing a pattern already here. Midlanders love their gravy.)

FETTUCCINE WITH CHEESE: Noodles were brought to the Middle Kingdom through trade with the South and gained popularity as a novel alternative to bread. The pasta of Midland Vestur is largely eaten with butter or cream sauce; tomato or pesto sauces are seldom seen.

CHARCUTERIE WITH WINE: Charcuterie is eaten for the joy of flavors rather than to satiate hunger, and therefore it is mainly eaten by the upper class. It is commonly eaten alongside grape wine, a prestigious alcohol uniquely produced by the Middle Kingdom. The flavor of grape wine is said to be more agreeable than the other wines in Vestur, though Southern pineapple wine has its share of defenders.

BREAD WITH JAM AND PRESERVES, TEA SANDWICHES, & ROSETTE CAKE: Breads and pastries are big in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom considers itself the world leader in the art of baking. Compared to its neighbors, the baked goods they make are soft, light, and airy and they are proud of it. Cakes in particular are a point of ego and a minor source of mania among nobility; it is a well-established cultural joke that a Middle Kingdom noble cannot suffer his neighbor serving a bigger, taller cake. The cakes at Middle Kingdom parties can reach nauseatingly wasteful and absurdist heights, and there is no sign of this trend relenting any time soon.

CHOWDER, FARMER'S POT PIE, GRIDDLECAKES, EGGS, CURED MEATS: If you have the means to eat at all in the Middle Kingdom, you are probably eating well. Due to the Midland's agricultural strength, even peasant dishes are dense and filling. Eggs and cured meats are abundant, cheaper, and more shelf stable than fresh cuts and provide reprieve from the unending wheat and dairy in the Midland diet.

STEWED APPLES AND PEARS, JAM AND PRESERVES: The Midland grows a number of different fruits, with apples and pears being the most plentiful. In a good year, there will be more fruit than anyone knows what to do with, and so jams and preserves are widely available. Stewed fruit has also gained popularity, especially since trade with the Southern Kingdom ensures a stable supply of sugar and cinnamon.

NORTHERN KINGDOM - SETTLED

The Northern Kingdom is a harsh and unforgiving land. Historically, its peoples lived a nomadic life, but since the unification of the Tri-Kingdom more and more of the Northern population have opted to live a settled life. The “settled North” leads a hard life trying to make agriculture work on the tundra, but it is possible with the help of green meur. The Northern palate leans heavily on preserved and fermented foods as well as the heat from the native tundra peppers. Outsiders often have a hard time stomaching the salt, tang, and spice of Northern cuisine and it is widely considered “scary.”

KEY CROPS: potatoes, beets, carrots, tundra pepper KEY LIVESTOCK: wooly goats, hares*

GOAT POT ROAST: Life up north is hard work and there is much to be done in a day. Thus, slow cooked one-pot meals that simmer throughout the day are quite common.

VENISON WITH PICKLES: Game meat appears in Northern dishes about as much as farmed meat – or sometimes even more, depending on the location. Even “classier” Northern dishes will sometimes choose game meat over domesticated, as is the case with the beloved venison with pickles. Cuts of brined venison are spread over a bed of butter-fried potato slices and potent, spicy pickled peppers and onions. The potatoes are meant to cut some of the saltiness of the dish, but... most foreigners just say it tastes like salt, vinegar, and burning.

MINER STEW: While outsiders often have a hard time distinguishing miner stew from the multitude of beet-tinged stews and pot roasts, the taste difference is unmistakable. Miner's stew is a poverty meal consisting of pickles and salt pork and whatever else is might be edible and available. The end result is a sad bowl of scraps that tastes like salt and reeks of vinegar. The popular myth is that the dish got its name because the Northern poor began putting actual rocks in it to fill out the meal, which... probably never happened, but facts aren't going to stop people from repeating punchy myths.

RYE TOAST WITH ONION JAM: Rye is hardier than wheat, and so rye bread is the most common variety in the North. Compared to Midland bread, Northern bread is dense and gritty. It is less likely to be enjoyed on its own than Midland bread, both because of its composition and because there's less to put on it. Unless you've the money to import fruit spreads from further south, you're stuck with Northern jams such as onion or pepper jam. Both have their appreciators, but bear little resemblance to the fruit and berry preserves available elsewhere in Vestur.

HARE DAIRY: Eating hare meat is prohibited in polite society due to its association with the haretouched and heretical nomadic folk religions, but hare dairy is fair game. Hare cheese ranges from black to plum in color, is strangely odorless, and has a pungent flavor akin to a strong blue cheese. It is the least contentious of hare milk products. Hare milk, on the other hand, is mildly toxic. If one is not acclimated to hare milk, drinking it will likely make them “milk sick” and induce vomiting. It is rarely drunk raw, and is instead fermented into an alcoholic drink similar to kumis.

MAPLE HARES AND NOMAD CANDY: Maple syrup is essentially the only local sweetener available in the North, and so it is the primary flavor of every Northern dessert. Simple maple candies are the most common type of sweet, though candied tundra peppers – known as “nomad candy” – is quite popular as well. (Despite its name, nomad candy is an invention of the settled North and was never made by nomads.)

TUNSUKH: Tunsukh is one of the few traditions from the nomadic era still widely (and openly) practiced among Northern nobility. It is a ceremonial dinner meant as a test of strength and endurance between political leaders: a brutally spiced multi-course meal, with each course being more painful than the last. Whoever finishes the dinner with a stoic, tear-streaked face triumphs; anyone who cries out in pain or reaches for a glass of milk admits defeat. “Dessert” consists of a bowl of plain, boiled potatoes. After the onslaught of tunsukh, it is sweeter than any cake.

NORTHERN KINGDOM – NOMADIC NORTH

Although the Old Ways are in decline, the nomadic clans still live in the far North beyond any land worth settling. They travel on hareback across the frozen wasteland seeking “meur fonts” - paradoxical bursts of meur that erupt from the ice and provide momentary reprieve from the harsh environment. The taste of nomad food is not well documented.

KEY CROPS: N/A KEY LIVESTOCK: hares

PEMMICAN: Nomadic life offers few guarantees. With its caloric density and functionally indefinite “shelf life,” pemmican is about as close as one can get.

SEAL, MOOSE: Meat comprises the vast majority of the nomadic diet and is eaten a variety of ways. Depending on the clan, season, and availability of meur fonts, meat may be cooked, smoked, turned to jerky, or eaten raw. Moose and seal are the most common sources of meat, but each comes with its own challenges. Moose are massive, violent creatures and dangerous to take down even with the aid of hares; seals are slippery to hunt and only live along the coasts.

WANDER FOOD, WANDER STEW: When a green meur font appears, a lush jungle springs forth around it. The heat from red meur fonts may melt ice and create opportunities for fishing where there weren't before. Any food obtained from a font is known as “wander food.” Wander food is both familiar and alien; the nomads have lived by fonts long enough to know what is edible and what is not, but they may not know the common names or preparation methods for the food they find. Fish is simple enough to cook, but produce is less predictable. Meur fonts are temporary, and it's not guaranteed that you'll ever find the same produce twice - there is little room to experiment and learn. As a result, a lot of wander food is simply thrown into a pot and boiled into “wander stew,” an indescribable dish which is different each time.

CENVAVESH: When a haretouched person dies, their hare is gripped with the insatiable compulsion to eat its former companion... therefore, it is only proper to return the favor. Barring injury or illness, a bonded hare will almost always outlive its bonded human, and so the death of one's hare is considered a great tragedy among nomads. The haretouched – and anyone they may invite to join them – sits beside the head of their hare as they consume as much of its rib and organ meat as they can. Meanwhile, the rest of the clan processes the remainder of the hare's carcass so that none of it goes to waste. It is a somber affair that is treated with the same gravity as the passing of a human. Cenvavesh is outlawed as a pagan practice in the settled North.

HARE WINE: While fermented hare's milk is already alcoholic, further fermentation turns it into a vivid hallucinogen. This “hare wine” is used in a number of nomad rituals, most notably during coming of age ceremonies. Allegedly, it bestows its drinker with a hare's intuition and keen sense of direction... of course, truth is difficult to distinguish from fiction when it comes to the Old Ways.

SOUTHERN KINGDOM

The Southern Kingdom is mainly comprised of coast, wetland, and ever-shrinking jungle. While the land is mostly unfit for large-scale agriculture, seafood is plentiful and the hot climate is perfect for exorbitant niche crops. What they can't grow, they obtain easily through trade. Southerners have a reputation for eating anything, as well as stealing dishes from other cultures and “ruining” them with their own interpretations. KEY CROPS: plantains, sweet potato, pineapple, mango, guava, sugarcane KEY LIVESTOCK: fowl, marsh hogs, seals

GLAZED EEL WITH FRIED PLANTAINS: A very common configuration for Southern food is a glazed meat paired with a fried vegetable. It almost doesn't matter which meat and which vegetable it is – they love their fried food and they love their sweet and salty sauces in the South. Eel is a culturally beloved meat, much to the shock and confusion of visiting Midlanders.

NARWHAL STEW: Narwhal stew is the South's “anything goes” stew. It does not actually contain narwhal meat, as they are extinct (though the upper class may include dolphin meat as a protein) – instead, the name comes from its traditional status as a “forever soup,” as narwhals are associated with the passage of time in Southern culture. Even in the present day, Southern monasteries tend massive, ever-boiling pots of perpetual stew in order to feed the monks and sybils who live there. Narwhal stew has a clear kelp-based broth and usually contains shellfish. Beyond that, its ingredients are extremely varied. Noodles are a popular but recent addition.

FORAGE: The dish known as “forage” is likewise not foraged, or at least, it hasn't been forage-based in a good hundred years at least. Forage is a lot like poke; it's a little bit of everything thrown into a bowl. Common ingredients include fish (raw or cooked), seaweed, fried noodles, marinated egg, and small quantities of fruit.

HOT POT: Hot pot is extremely popular, across class barriers, in both the South proper and its enclave territories. This is due to its extreme flexibility - if it can be cooked in a vat of boiling broth, it will be. Crustaceans and shellfish are common choices for hot pot in the proper South, along with squid, octopus, mushrooms, and greens.

FLATBREAD: The Southern Kingdom doesn't do much baking. The vast majority of breads are fried, unleavened flatbreads, which are usually eaten alongside soups or as wraps. Wraps come in both savory and sweet varieties; savory wraps are usually stuffed with shredded pork and greens while sweet wraps – which are much more expensive – are filled with fruit and seal cheese.

GRILLED SKEWERS, ROAST SWEET POTATO: While a novel concept for Midlanders and Northerners, street food has long been a part of Southern Kingdom culture. You would be hard pressed to find a Southern market that didn't have at least three vendors pushing grilled or fried something or other. Skewers are the most common and come in countless configurations, but roast sweet potatoes are a close second.

CUT FRUIT AND SEAL CHEESE: Fresh fruit is popular in the South, both local and imported. While delicious on its own, Southerners famously pair it with seal cheese. Which leads me to an important topic of discussion I don't have room for anywhere else...

THE SOUTH AND CHEESE: Since the South doesn't have much in the way of dairy farming, cheese is somewhat rare in their cuisine – but it is present. And important. Cheese is the domain of the Church. Common goat dairy imported from the Middle Kingdom is turned to cheese by monks in Southern monasteries and sold to the Southern public, yes, but as you have noticed there is another cheese prominent in the Southern Kingdom diet: seal cheese. Seal cheese is unlike anything else that has ever been called cheese; the closest it can be compared to is mascarpone. It is is a soft, creamy cheese with a mild flavor and an indulgent fat content. It is used almost exclusively as a dessert, though it is only ever mildly sweetened if at all. It is extremely costly and held in high regard; the most religious Southerners regard it as holy. Dairy seals are a very rare animal and raised exclusively in a small number of Cetolist-Cerostian monasteries, where they are tended and milked by the monks. Due to their status as a holy animal, eating seal meat is forbidden. Eating their cheese and rendering their tallow into soap is fine though.

(HEARTLAND SOUTH) SOUTH-STYLE GOAT: The Heartland South is a Southern enclave territory in the Middle Kingdom. Visiting Midland dignitaries oft wrongly assume that because the Heartland South is in Middle Kingdom territory, Heartland Southerners eat the same food they do exactly as they do. They are horrified to find that familiar sounding dishes like “goat with potatoes” are completely and utterly unrecognizable, drenched in unfamiliar sauces and spices and served alongside fruit they've never eaten. Meanwhile, Heartland Southerners firmly believe that they have fixed the Middle Kingdom's boring food.

(BOREAL SOUTH) “TUNSUKH”: If Midlanders are afraid of Heartland Southern food, Northerners are absolutely furious about cuisine from the Boreal South - the most legendarily offensive being the Boreal South's idea of “tunsukh.” Southerners are no stranger to spice, so when Southern traders began interacting with the North, they liked tunsukh! It's just... they thought it needed a little Southern help to become a real meal, you know? A side of seal cheese soothed the burn and made the meal enjoyable. And because the meal was enjoyable, the portion sizes increased. And plain boiled potatoes? Well, those are a little too plain – creamy mashed sweet potato feels like more of a dessert, doesn't it? ...For some reason, Northerners didn't agree, but that's okay. The Boreal South knows they're just embarrassed they didn't think of pairing seal cheese with tunsukh sooner.

ARMY RATIONS

The food eaten by the King's Army is about what you would expect for late 1700s military; salt pork or salt chevon, hard tack, and coffee. The biggest divergence they have is also one of Vestur's biggest points of pride: they have the means to supply their troops with frivolous luxuries like small tins of candied fruit from the Midland. A love of candied fruit is essentially a Vesturian military proto-meme; proof that they serve the greatest Tri-Kingdom on the planet. Don't get between a military man and his candied fruit unless you want a fight.

#verse: forever gold #worldbuilding #fantasy worldbuilding #food worldbuilding #fantasy food #food art #animal death//#might have to proofread this later forgive any typos I am tired

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streetslost · 2 years

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when are you going to stop punishing yourself for things you cannot control? -A concerned Vigos 😗

tragic aesthetic sentence starters [x]

“PUNISHMENT SEEMS SUITING OF ME.” quiet voice would linger the agony the dwelled in the pit of her stomach. she was a thief, she was a criminal... something was wrong with her. why else would SO MANY leave her? abandon her, refuse to want her? she had to be bad, there had to be something wrong. cat couldn’t think of any other reason... she had t r i e d to be good and loving and worth it. nothing had come of it. there was just something wrong in her soul, her chest, the way she ticked... and so with no hope, she continued and continued and continued to do things she shouldn’t. she deserved the outcomes that hurt her, and much of those stemmed from her own doing.

silence stretched a heartbeat or two. she was annoyed by the words, but she couldn’t fight them. the street rat wasn’t that stupid. grin would stretch her expression, though it was forced. tired. inhale broke the moment, green eyes fluttering in desire for a sleep she couldn’t obtain. “besides, i c a n control most of the things. m’just an idiot. i make the bed decisions.”

copper was her fault, vinnie was her fault, maurion was her fault... it was all her fault, she didn’t know what she did but she did it. she was bad, she was wrong, it was her fault, she deserved the pain, she deserved it-

@two-black-leviathans

#two-black-leviathans #&&. verse ( nothing gold can stay )#this took forever for me to respond and i can only say sORRY #what is writing muse some days ajkl;fdsj #&&. asks ( sometimes you gotta know )

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ecoamerica · 23 days

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reallyromealone · 18 days

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Title: Oh Look a mate(s)

Chapter 3

Fandom: obey me

Pairing: demon brother's x male reader

Warnings: omega verse, nsfw, male reader, gay, smut, attempted assassination, drugging, biting, torture

Notes:

🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️

It was tomorrow.

The wedding was tomorrow.

(Name) Was quiet as he waited in the altar room, candles circling the room as marble carved murals surrounded him, the ceiling glass and the moon directly above him.

He sat in silence as the moon reached its peak before shadows flooded around him, a cold smoke that strangely didn't strike him with fear but instead filled him with warmth and safety. "Good Omega" one of the voices whispered as shadowy hands grabbed at him, gently touching and smoothing over the linen nightgown he wore before a long finger sliced it down the middle "Shhh" he could hear Satan's voice whisper in his ear as the seven men materialized and kissed various parts of his now exposed flesh "beautiful..." Mammon whispered breathlessly before biting into (name) 's flesh, the others doing the same.

Each scent gland was claimed as a tattoo manifested onto their soulmate tattoos, the demons licking and kissing their soulmate marks "You're bonded to us forever... Whenever you need us, call for us..." Beelzebub said as his blackened eyes gently kissed (name) 's lips as the fire of the candles burned brighter "Alphas...." (Name) Babbled as he leaned into someone's shoulders, Levi he believed... "So beautiful..." Asmodeus whispered as his hand crept down to the other's abdomen and began whispering enchantments, hand glowing as a tattoo formed on his stomach "Your first heat will be in less than 24 hours, this will help keep it from hurting so badly"

Never would he be denied a heat again.

The men scented and kissed (name), they could smell the slick flowing from him but knew better and to wait, wait till it was time.

When morning came, (name) was kept from his alphas all morning as he was polished to perfection, traditional white robes and gold accessories set aside as they painted swirls on his body, apparently matching the marks that would be on his alphas.

He looked at himself in the mirror, the makeup, the paint, and the clothes... He hardly recognized himself.

But it was him.

All him.

Lucifer made sure the guards were on high alert as he and his brothers got dressed, in their traditional robes that were the color of their omegas eyes, as is tradition in the kingdom, they already had two people sneak in after all.

"Your Majesty?" A meek voice spoke out as the demon turned to see an Omega maid look nervous, his eyes sharp and calculating "What is it?" He said simply and the maid straightened her back a bit before speaking once more "His Highness... He's extremely stressed and I thought it would be best if one of his--" Lucifer was already darting out of the room for his mate, he didn't care if he wasn't supposed to see him till the wedding.

His mate needed him.

(Name) Was freaking out as his omega decided Kw was an excellent time to freak out over the lack of alphas.

To be fair he got scented every morning but today, was a very high-stress day.

"My, aren't you beautiful" (name) snapped his head up as the maids left the room with haste and (name) whined and ran towards him, shoving his face into the alpha's chest and whining "My, can't go a day without your alphas?" He teased and lifted (name) 's face to look at it "None of that, you will ruin your pretty makeup" he was only soft for his omega, gentle kisses "We have a wedding, right? We will dance and party and then when the moon is high we will take you back here" he promised and kissed (name), scenting him lovingly.

"Now be good for alpha" he commanded, a slight alpha tone that they found calms (name). He liked not being in control all the time, instinctually.

"Ok alpha" he whispered hazily as the maids came back in and Lucifer left to finish getting ready, confident that he calmed his mate.

(Name) Looked nervous as he was ushered into a beautiful fabric and mahogany palanquin, the finest silks used for it "To walk you to the temple, your Highness" a soldier said calmly and (name) nodded as the soldiers in celebratory costume lifted it and (name) tried not to yelp.

He walked through the city, a grand parade to show the people the next queen, and (name) shyly waved at them as the people cheered in joy and some looked in envy at him. He could hear screaming in the distance, too focused on the slight shake with each step the guards took and the loud sounds around him to figure out what direction it came from exactly but the bullet that flew past his nose as a man was pinned down by guards have his answer, the omegas palanquin lowering as the guards checked on him "oh thank goodness... Are you alright your Highness?" The general that was a bit ahead rushed to check on him and (name) though stunned and Shellshocked, nodded slowly the Alpha nodded with a sigh of relief "We will get there soon your Highness"

The parade continued and (name) tried to regulate his breathing as he lifted his sleeves and took in the smell of Lucifer that clung to him, too close to his heat to be able to properly handle this.

God, he was so tired...

"We're here your Highness" Had that much time passed?

(Name) Was helped out by his maids, dressed in floral traditional outfits, darker colors as to highlight (name) 's snow white robes that dragged behind him, gold accents matching his accessories "You got this, your Highness" (name) 's closest maid, the one in charge of his maids smiled and (name) nodded before walking up the steps of the temple as people cheered.

Traditional fan dancers danced in front of him, a beautiful display as the guests of the wedding sat and watched in awe as (name) locked eyes with his alphas and had to suppress a chirp. The dancers moved their fans away to make an entrance for (name) to walk closer to them, Asmodeus taking his hands and kissing them gently as the others looked fond at the sight of their beloved, even Belphegor awake and focused on (name).

(Name) Looked at the guests, from countless kingdoms the Royals down to the mayors from cities including the village he was from, and looked in awe at the realization of how large this temple was, it seemed so small in the darkness.

(Name) Barely focused on the priestess as he looked at his mates, shadowy magic binding them together as (name) agreed to the contract of marriage "bound by the fates and the demon king himself, his Highness (name) Morningstar is granted a gift from his majesty of immortality, may his heart beat so long as his alphas" the demon king sat in the distance, watching his younger sons fondly, leaving hell to witness such an event as a red-haired demon stood beside him while staring intently.

(Name) Felt warm as he was brought close by his alphas and danced with them, a grand party that was sure to go on for the next week as guests watched and the city partied and after brought around to be introduced to guests "This is our elder brother, the next king" Lucifer introduced the Omega to his elder brother, next king of hell and intimidating to say the least but the large grin that broke out on his face said otherwise "my, a pleasure to meet you! My apologies that it took me so long to be able to meet you! Let me know if they act up all right. It will be nice to not have a little brother that will get on my nerves!" He teased as he hugged (name) and seemed so warm and understanding to him.

"My mate couldn't make it sadly, they're too far along to make the trip but hopefully after you two can meet!" Lucifer felt warm that his elder brother and a mate got along so well as the other brothers were dragged to talk to guests and eventually Lucifer and (name) went to speak to others, the Omega passed from alpha to alpha to not hog.

"An hour and you don't greet your parents?" (Name) Froze under Asmodeus' gentle hold as he turned to see the mayor of his village and his parents... And sister.

How did they get here?

"Not even an invite, thankfully our dear mayor invited us as his plus ones as his wife and sons couldn't make it," she said casually as his sister altered between glaring at him and swooning over Asmodeus, the beta looking flirty and showing her bust at him but the demon didn't even acknowledge her as he tilted his head at his mate's parents with a cold smile (name) didn't recognize but the gentle thumb rubbing his hip told him he was safe "my~ isn't this a surprise, (name) darling... Why don't you go make sure Beelzie doesn't eat everything, yes?" He urged his hesitant Omega who looked so precious and watched him walk away.

"E-excuse me!" The dad tried barking out and Asmodeus smiled coldly, a beta demanding not just an alpha but a supernatural alpha. Laughable really "I will allow you to continue to enjoy this celebration but if I hear even a whisper of my mate's name from any of your lips that isn't shining adoration I will remind you of your place," Asmodeus said barely above a whisper as he towered over the stumpy beta and his family, he read the letter.

All seven brothers read the letter.

And despite not being wrath, Asmodeus was the most upset.

No flirting, no banter.

Just a thinly veiled threat.

"Now you best behave"

You would think this Would deter (sister), make her behave... But no no.

She was hell-bent on having them.

Breaking this farce is a marriage.

It was expensive getting rut enhancer drugs but it was worth it in her eyes she looked around and saw that (name) was moved to Belphegor who sat in a corner quietly and (name) said worthless words to him and saw that Beelzebub was enjoying his food.

Perfect.

The drug was a fine powder, easy to mask on the powdered cream puffs that the demon was gorging on, slipping past when he went for some ribs and sprinkling on.

She just had to be available when the drugs kicked in.

It was not too long before the demon returned his attention to the cream puffs... But other people took them as well.

Like servants bringing them to their kings.

Oh well, she thought as she focused on Beelzebub and deemed everyone else as a stepping stone to her happiness.

Beelzebub froze after ten minutes, eyes dilating as he stood and looked around "Are you alright?" She tried to seduce the Alpha, pressing against him but like her brother, she didn't quite understand how mating worked and believed he would go to the first willing hole.

But in reality, he sought out (name) who was talking to Diavolos butler, the two fondly chatting about something or another.

"Move," he said coldly as he locked onto (name) marched to him, and lifted him, the other brothers looked concerned as Diavolo decided to start a ring dance and nodded at Lucifer, they all seemed to understand what was happening. (Name) Was confused as he was held close by his alpha who left the temple gardens and spread his wings before taking off, (name) shoving his face in Beelzebub's neck and that's when he smelt the rut. He couldn't help but whine, he was trying so hard not to go into heat but fuck...

He closed his eyes and felt himself sink further, sounds distorting and he felt his clothes removed carefully as voices spoke around him "he will be upset if we ruin this" Asmodeus...? Or is that Satan? "Alpha?" He slurred as the alphas kissed his flesh, cold to the touch and he felt something hard press against his back before he was pushed into his back, he couldn't even formulate a feeling of shame or worry as Belphegor traced the body paint that was on (name)s flesh "pretty..." The sleep demon murmured as he touched the womb tattoo a wave of pleasure washed through (name) and a low moan broke through him "Any pain he feels will feel like absolute pleasure... We may be dealing with a very horny Omega" Asmodeus teased, they didn't have an incantation to make him feel no pain during heat or pregnancy so it was the best option.

Especially because he kept moaning and crying, without it he would be writhing in pain.

"Why don't you spread your legs for us? Hmm? Show us how an Omega presents?" Lucifer spoke low and deep to the Omega who spread his legs on the bed and yelped when Beelzebub shoved his face between his legs and gave a long lick, pushing his legs over his shoulders as half his body was pulled nearly off the bed, Beelzebub on his knees before the bed. "O-oh! Alpha!" He cried out as Beelzebub ate his ass, licking around the rim before pushing in ever so slightly as the smell of slick was heavy in the room "wanna make alpha feel good? Why don't you show Levi here how much you want his cock?" Asmodeus took the initiative with getting (name) to pleasure them as they pleasured him, the Omega opening his mouth so prettily as the shy alpha fed him his cock, (name) licking the underside as he sucked. "H-how did he get so good?!" Levi gasped as he felt (name) hollow his cheeks with a vice force "I have been teaching him how to be a good little cock whore~" Asmodeus teased as Belphegor sucked on one of (name)s nipples as Asmodeus and Lucifer got hand jobs, the two assisting (name) a bit as his body shook.

Satan kissed his navel before moving to the omegas cock and sucking on it, the pre-cum leaking like crazy as (name) struggled to comprehend all the pleasure he felt, hips being held down as Beelzebub inserted a finger, curving it upwards against his prostate as he ate his ass like a final meal and added another finger "you're gonna be-- fuck! Taking a lot tonight baby ~" Asmodeus stammered as Levi came down (name)s throat, the Omega choking slightly but managing "fuck..? Shit.." Levi was already babbling as (name) 's body shook and a climax rolled through, Satan drinking it all "You want more?" Lucifer asked the Omega who whined "Nest!" Beelzebub wasting no time, feral and horny As the other alphas slowly went into a rut from being around a heat-stricken Omega, their demon forms were on full display. (Name) Was settled into his nest as they let Beelzebub enter first his large and heavy cock pressing against (name)s ass as (name) made out with Lucifer, pretty little sounds as Beelzebub pushed in slowly.

Each inch made for louder and prettier sounds from (name) as his body glistened with sweat, another climax rolling through him as Beelzebub was halfway through bottoming out before his hips snapped forward and his pelvic bone was pressed against (name)s ass cheeks "oh! Big...!" He cried out and pushed against him as Belphegor went behind him and held him up, kissing his neck as the others watched hungrily.

Beelzebub wasted no time pistoning his hips as (name) clawed at his skin, body shaking and writhing in pleasure as he poured slick "puppy up!" He cried out as he begged to be bread, owned and full... Belphegor moved around to Sroke (name)s cock and kiss his neck before biting into its neck watching (name) unfold as Beelzebub rolled his hips at the tightness and his grip so tight it was going to leave dark bruises on his hips come morning.

"Please please! Pup!" (Name) Begged for cum, pulling Beelzebub for a kiss and tasting his slick as the alpha's hips slammed one last time and cum poured into him, hot and sticky.

Beelzebub felt some sanity return to him as he looked at a fucked out (name) who couldn't even form words but babbled nonsense as Belphegor kissed him and coddled him "Let's get water and food into him then the next round starts" Lucifer instructed as they already prepared the necessary things that morning, food tested by the demons along with the water before feeding it to (name).

(Name) May have immortality but they still didn't want anything to happen to him.

Though poison pains right now would probably give him six earth-shattering orgasms.

No! No! Bad!

They washed the sweat and paint off his body as (name) recovered slightly but soon grew whiny as he was placed on top of Asmodeus, cock pushing in with ease and crying as Asmodeus gave harsh and slow thrusts.

"Come now, you got more to take ~"

Mammon was furious, absolutely livid as he slammed his fist against the assassin's skull, not wanting this vermin alive as his mate struggled with his heat and six cocks currently "You are taking my precious time with my mate, who the fuck sent you?" He was bordering feral as the assassin finally gave in "The sister! She wanted him dead!"

Oh?

Interesting.

Mammon left swiftly, telling the guards to find her, she couldn't have gotten far after all.

For now, the greedy demon needed to sink his cock into (name)s cute little ass.

And maybe bite it.

Bite it.

When he walked into the heated room, already nude he was met with (name) being railed by Asmodeus and Satan, cocks moving in his hole at vigorous paces as (name) sucked Lucifer's cock like he would die "(name), look whose here" Lucifer pulled him off his cock to look at mammon and the whine and moan that left his lips as he cried for the silver-haired demon, hands reaching for him, and who was mammon to deny something like this?

Mammon shoved his tongue in (name) 's mouth and relished as the Omega tugged at his hair "Wanna make me feel good?" He didn't even have to show his erect cock as (name) moved and took it in his mouth, mammon sighing at the tightness of his throat "he's a natural" Satan slapped (name)s ass as he pounded as Asmodeus sucked on his chest, the omegas hands going back to work as everyone slowly found a spot for them, the Omega cumming again in the process.

(Name) Was unconscious with Belphegor, needing a heavy rest before the next wave and thoroughly fucked out, the other alphas getting their turns after as Mammon reported findings and what the assassin admitted "She most definitely drugged Bee, our ruts not till winter" Asmodeus said thoughtfully, he should have just let Satan do what he originally wanted to do but that was (name)s choice, not theirs.

But now it was treason that they were talking about.

An attempted assassination against (name).

You see when Diavolo was the next king of hell, they were given rule of the overworld and essentially made (name) queen as they were to be overworld kings come coronation granted by their eldest brother.

And after this, (name) would be carrying their heir.

God, they were half erect at the thought of (name) pregnant.

"I have a manhunt for them, a bounty will be put up as well"

For now, they would care for (name).

When (name) woke, he couldn't feel his legs and his head felt foggy as he was placed into a warm bath "Good morning, lamb" Satan caressed his cheek "Alpha?" He said weakly, voice hoarse from their activities as Mammon gently massaged oils into him, the alphas already washing the cum and sweat off him "Hello pretty baby~ you took us so well, we are so proud of you" (name) chirped at the praise as he received loving kisses "after this was gonna feed you" Lucifer promised and (name) felt a slight sense of clarity "cuddle? Before heat comes back?" He asked as the others smiled, unable to resist the request.

(Name) Was naked and dried off as he cuddled the others who doted on him "You did so well, absolutely beautiful my love" Asmodeus cooed, and (name) let him kiss and love him "My garden?" He asked softly, why that was his worry beyond anyone but Lucifer eased his worries with the promise of the gardeners taking care of it.

For now, he was to relax.

#obey me omegaverse #obey me x male reader #obey me smut #obey me x reader #omega male reader #omegaverse #male Reader #x male reader #lucifer x reader #asmodeus x male reader #satan x male reader #leviathan x male reader #beelzebub x male reader #belphegor x male reader #mammon x male reader

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lunalyt · 2 years

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@sunbcrned ;

( cliche pre-marmoe ) an accident occurs -- a comical one, that is. after a small misjudgment of strength during something akin to the crew's spring cleaning, she soon finds herself a clumsy mess upon the floors, having taken not only a heap of heavy boxes, but the ship's senior doctor down with her too.

for a moment, she's paralyzed - not due to the fall itself but because she swore she witnessed sparks in the blue of his gaze now hovering above her.

IT ALL HAPPENS TOO QUICK, a simple misstep, and suddenly he is being dragged down, pinning the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid his ocean eyes upon, to the hardwood floor of their ship.

One may assume a commander of his status and level of haki will have been able to prevent such a fall with his sheer strength alone but what said commander does not dare acknowledge, out loud or even to himself perhaps, is how his guard has always been set at a permanent low in her presence.

His heartbeat quickens momentarily and he wonders if she can feel it, his heart thrumming, desperate to break free from the confines of skin and bone, and connect with the one heart he’s ever sought to steal for himself. An expression of initial confusion quickly softens into intensity, warmth and — love.

Lips part slowly, in search of words but none manage to slip as he is too mesmerized by the glow within crimson staring up at him to truly register anything else. Right here, in this position, it’s almost easy to believe she can ever be his, to hold and love.

It is that thought however, which finally snaps the phoenix back to reality, unwilling to allow himself to cave into his desires. He finally pushes himself off, muttering an apology under his breath while ocean eyes avert in shame of his own thoughts.

❝Sorry-yoi..❞ he mumbles an apology yet again, before shoving the insecurities of a man in love away, forcing back the composure of a commander he’s learned to put on so expertly. ❝Are you okay? Next time, try not to take on too much on your own — you know you can always come to me for help-yoi❞

#sunbcrned #sunbcrned ; tomoe #( i thought this would be funnny but then marco got emotional - oops )#･ﾟ ✖ rise from the ashes ( marco ; ic. )#･ﾟ ✖ mythical bird . of blue and gold ( marco ; muse. )#･ﾟ ✖ verse : we will burn out forever ( marco ; preskip. )#･ﾟ ✖ verse : oceans through eyes so blue ( marco ; grandline. )#･ﾟ ☽ letters in a bottle ( ask. )

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fl3shm4id3n · 11 months

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Girl I saw u open requests for spider verse and I ran here right away snsnsknsmsjdndh I'm bad at explaining shit but could you write something for miguel that's like wait i forgot what I was gonna say damn I had a good scenario in my head too well hell never mind just ignore this I think im still tweaking lmao

ₗₐ ᵥᵢᵤdₐ ₍ₜₕₑ Wᵢdₒw₎

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲.

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴍɪɢᴜᴇʟ ᴏ'ʜᴀʀᴀ x ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ-ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ!(ᴡɪꜰᴇ) ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ꜱᴏɴɢ: ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʏʟᴠᴇʀꜱ- ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀɪɴ

TW: Angst, Death, grieving, comfort towards the end

A/N: I had a fic idea for Miguel (My beloved), and now I shall write it. I listened to I bet on losing my dogs by Mitski while writing this. I didn't cry, I swear. I hope this was to your liking, I couldn't wait, I had the need to write something.

Masterlist

You had lost everything, your daughter and your husband. You knew that being Spider-Woman had a prize, but you didn't expect for it to be like this. First it was your aunt and now your family was gone. Sometimes you wished that you could of gone back in time in time to save your husband and daughter, but there was no way. The first weeks, you basically slept at the graveyard, on top of there tombstones, you didn't want to part away from them.

For many years you've mourned, you never let yourself fall in love again, your husband was the love of your life and the only man that you'd ever love. You felt as if you were betraying him in a way, you had promised to him that you'd never love anyone else but him and him only. You still had your wedding wing, you'd wear it on your hand and when out on patrol, you never took it off. You also still had his stuff in your room, pretending as if he was still there, you didn't have the heart to give his stuff away to people who needed it, you couldn't do it.

You also kept your daughter's room the same, you left it alone, the only time when you'd move anything was when you'd go to clean off the dust and change the bedsheets. Sometimes you'd go in her room to just look at the stuff she had, you felt as if she was with you the whole time. You'd lay on her bed while hugging her soccer jersey, her first jersey, sometimes you'd cry on the shirt, wishing that she was there, telling you and your husband about her game. Just like your husband's things, you didn't want to give them away. How could you? She was you first baby, your daughter, the one that you carried in your belly for nine months, the one who'd cry when she was hungry or wanted her parents attention, she was yours and Miguel's baby. Gabriella will always and forever be your child. Sometime you wore the little gold bracelet that she owned when she was still a baby, on a necklace, to have something of hers on while on patrol.

That was unexpected, you had ended up in a secret Spider Society with Miles. A boy you began to work with after bumping into one another while trying to stop a mugger, that was when you decided to team up together as a duo. You knew about his identity and he knew about yours. You both had come up with the excuse that you were a lady that was teaching him Spanish since his parents would wonder where he'd wonder off to. It worked his you knew Spanish, it was a different kind of Spanish, but his mother was happy that he was learning it.

You were getting to learn about all the Spider-Men and women, how they were all from different dimensions and what they did in headquarters. Then you got taken to a room, where who you assumed the leader of the whole thing was. As soon as you saw who it was, you nearly fainted. It was the one and only, Miguel O'Hara, your husband, well, not really your husband, but it was him.

"Y/n... is that who I think it is?" Miles whispered to you, then he saw the look off shock in your face, getting the idea that you knew who it was. Miles knew about your past, who your husband and daughter were. When the man turned, his serious face turned to one of shock, just like yours. Gwen was the one to noticed both you and Miguel staring at each other, then she had an idea. "I...um.. I'm going to show Miles around a bit" she excused, then took Miles by the arm, guiding him out and Hobie followed them.

Miguel approached you slowly, seen every inch of you, wanting to see if it was you, his wife, not his particular wife, but you were her. After a bit of staring, he spoke. "You're not my wife.." he said, sadly, then you responded. "You're not my husband.." you said, with tears forming in your eyes. Miguel wanted to hold you in his arm so bad, comfort you and tell you how much he missed you, but he didn't.

You sigh, wiping off your tears. "So... you're spider man.." you said, there was a bit of an awkward silence, then he spoke. "And you're spider woman.." he said, as he reached over and placing a pieced of your hair behind your ear. You couldn't help but ask. "Gabriella... how is she..?" you asked, Miguel almost flinched violently by the question. "She's... gone.." he said, sounding very defeated by his response. You swallowed the lump that had built up on your throat. "You too?" you asked, this time tears had spilled from your eyes.

This made Miguel look at you, he got the memo that Gabriella was also gone in your universe. It hurt, seen that in both his and yours universe your daughter was gone. He sighed, seen that you had began to cry, it was obvious that you had not got over his and Gabriella's death like he was. He come over yours and his daughter's death, it took him a while but eventually he understood that no matter what he did, he could never bring you or his daughter back, but he couldn't help but miss the both of you. It was understandable, you were a wife and a mother, who lost both her husband and first baby. And he was a husband and a father that went through the same thing as you. Then he just went for it.

Miguel then pulled you into a tight hug, you didn't hesitate to hug him back. You buried your face onto his chest, crying, letting out all your sadness. You hugged him tightly was your so called Husband rubbed your back comfortingly. Being in his arms, felt like an eternity, you had forgot the last time you were held by him like this. You began to remember the first time you met, it was raining outside one night, and you had forgot to get an umbrella, then you came across Miguel, who was walking somewhere, who knows, but he saw how drenched you were and had offered you his umbrella. You didn't want to take it since you didn't want him to get soaked, but he insisted until you took it. Then he left, that kind gesture meant a lot. Afterwards you had made it your mission to find him and return his umbrella, it was weeks but you finally manage to find him again, in another rainy day, then the rest was history.

Rainy days had become significant to you an Miguel, since you both met on a rainy day. Every time it would rain, you and your husband would go outside to enjoy the rain, not caring that you both would get sick the next day, it was worth it, if it meant being sick together. Then Gabriella came in, she too would also come with you and Miguel out in the rain. "It's okay Mi amor" he said sweetly, but also sadly. You cried more, it's been years since you've been called that by your husband, he wasn't technically your husband, but he was. No matter what universe you were from, you and Miguel would be husband and wife. And Gabriella your daughter, you'd like to think that maybe in a different universe, you were all alive and living a happy life together.

ₙₑₓₜ ₚₐᵣₜ

#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara x y/n #miguel o'hara x fem reader #miguel o'hara x wife reader #miguel o'hara fic #miguel o'hara angst #female reader #female y/n #wife reader #wife y/n #spider woman reader #spider woman y/n #aphrodite's writing #aphrodite's requests

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bakuliwrites · 5 months

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Day One- Gale of Waterdeep

500 Follower Event, 30 Day Writing Prompts Prompt: Relic, Tender, Petrichor, Gale (BG3) Pairing: Gale x Reader Tags: Fluff, Kisses, Cuddling, Slightly Suggestive, Gale Route Spoilers, BG3 Spoilers Word Count: 741

Gale’s dark eyes sweep languidly across the page, no doubt committing to memory the poetic verses written within. You watch from the doorway, comfortably warm in the threshold between cozy library and chilly balcony, a mug of tea slowly cooling in your hands. It brings joy to your heart to see Gale this relaxed. He’s reclined in a loveseat, dressed in his usual soft sleeping clothes and donning a pair of new slippers. The book he’s absorbed in is tome-like in appearance: leather-bound, some sort of ancient relic etched in gold leaf on the cover, a hefty clasp hanging loosely on the edges. You smile to yourself as Gale cautiously turns an onion-skin page, brows furrowed in concentration as he scans the next verse.

With a small sigh, you lean against the doorframe, looking out to the churning sea beyond. There is something deeply nourishing about your days in Waterdeep. Perhaps it’s the way light rushes across the surface of the sea on clear days, sun glinting brilliantly in the sky, seagulls calling out to one another on the drifting ocean breeze. Maybe it’s the twinkling stars mirrored on the water at night, waves crashing gently to shore and the world silent as can be. It could be the hustle and bustle of the town around you, the familiar sounds of a peaceful life you’d almost forgotten in your adventuring days. Or perhaps it’s the unwavering gentility, the steadfast adoration of the wizard before you.

Gale catches you staring, the corners of his eyes crinkling with delight at the sight of you.

“Care to join me?” his voice breaks through your silent musing, eyes softening when you meet his gaze, “Books are always better with company.”

“Of course,” you return, for how could you refuse such an invitation? You abandon your mug on the coffee table, shivering when a gust of wind brushes through the balcony. With it comes a pleasant whiff of petrichor and brine, a scent you’ll probably forever associate this tranquil afternoon with.

“Darling, you’re freezing,” Gale worries, shifting in his spot to give you room to lay next to him. The loveseat is hardly big enough for two, but all the more reason to cuddle, you think to yourself. And that was most certainly Gale’s plan, for as soon as you sit down, he draws you into his warm embrace. He’s quick to take one of your freezing hands in his, drawing it to his lips and pressing a tender kiss to your knuckles. He warms it with his breath before sneaking in another kiss to your palm.

“Better?” he ventures, a gentle beam breaking through the gloomy grey of the afternoon.

“Much,” you softly chuckle, letting your forehead rest against his. This moment is suspended in time, the balcony suddenly a realm of its own. Beyond the soft sound of Gale’s exhales, you can hear a drizzle of rain pitter-pattering on the rooftop, droplets bouncing off the railing and landing in tiny ripples on the water’s surface below. Gale holds your hand to his chest, his other arm drawing you close. Beneath your fingertips is the velvety texture of his shirt, the gentle thrum of his heart. This is nourishment in its purest form: Gale Dekarios, his love silently enveloping you, body and soul.

You angle yourself to better reach his lips, pressing a tender kiss to them, lingering for a long while. Gale’s tongue softly traces the part in your lips as your fingers tangle in his hair. He moves to press tiny kiss after kiss against your cheeks, eyelids, and jawline.

“Hmmm,” you hum, when he dips to give some much needed attention to your neck, “You can keep reading if you’d like. I don’t want to interrupt you.”

Gale’s book is long abandoned somewhere on the loveseat. You suspect he might be sitting on it, far too engrossed in you to pay attention to the tome digging into his leg.

A small chuckle reverberates through Gale’s chest when you inadvertently gasp, his lips ghosting down to your collarbone.

“You’ve well and thoroughly distracted me, my darling,” he admits, “I’d much rather you be the subject of my studies this dreary afternoon.”

“Then you are easily distractible,” you return with an impish smirk. Gale quirks an eyebrow at you.

“Or is it that you and your irresistible charm are incredibly distracting?” he teasingly returns, laughing as he pulls you closer and lays his lips to yours once again.

A/N: I adore Gale. Honestly, I adore all of the companions in BG3. And many of the NPC's haha. I want to write more for him, so maybe a fic in the future? Time permitting, of course. Thank you for reading! Up next in this event will be Portia Devorak from The Arcana!

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #bg3 spoilers #gale spoilers #gale x tav #gale x reader #my writing #drabble #fluff #one shot #500 follower event #30 day challenge #slightly suggestive #life is better when you're snuggling with a wizard

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lifeandlies-of-regulusblack · 24 days

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you know I love me some fae regulus but have we considered siren regulus??? let that twink drown and eat some people!!!

Regulus probably has a reputation among sailors, known as the siren capable of making men lose their minds -- make them yearn for the sea, yearn for him. While this is customary for your regular siren, what makes Regulus so unique is that the men who hear his song are never able to fully come out of the trance. The sailors who survive a siren raid, unfortunate enough to have Regulus a part of it, slit their wrists in open water in the hopes to have Regulus lure them to their deaths.

Regulus is physically unable to speak the human language because sirens never evolved to have the same anatomy for communication. Regulus, like other sirens, communicates through a series of garbles, trills and clicks with his tongue. Lots of humming, too.

Capable of projecting emotions, he has men fully believing they're having conversations with him, telling him they're going to marry him, love him forever, worship at his feet, when all they're doing is stripping out of their clothes and jumping out of ships.

James is the son of Fleamont Potter, a renowned adventurer and feared siren hunter. The Potters have made a name for themselves in collecting their scales (which cost more than diamonds), gathering their tears (which are said to heal the deathly sick), and selling them for an amount of gold that basically ensures the longevity of their empire. What fuels the single-handed focus of Fleamont Potter to make sure the misery of the siren race, is the memory of a raid, that cost his only son, his leg and the loss of his wife as their ship sunk.

Regulus is caught in one of Fleamont's hunting expeditions and the moment he's brought on board, the men, well versed with the tales of this particular siren, struggle to grasp the reality of what they've just achieved. As a gift to his son, Fleamont assigns Regulus to James. It must be kept alive until they reach land to be made an example of but ultimately, Regulus, is his.

Of course, Regulus immediately tries to kill him.

Of course, James Potter falls in love. Of course, Sirius Black, King of the Seas, brother to Regulus Black, wages war to get the captured prince back.

My writing tag on tumblr.

#regulus black #regulus headcanon #james potter #sirius black #jegulus #starchaser #the black brothers #black brothers #marauders era #dead gay wizards #hp marauders #morgue-an 💘#my writing

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mondaymelon · 1 year

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— "𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂." ♥

:feat~ xiao, childe, zhongli x gn!reader:

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ (open!) : @manager-of-the-pudding-bank, @iamdedinside,@ilyuu

XIAO has never felt… so enamored over something as foolish as a human.

But the way you smile at him, the way you laugh whenever he’s around, the absolute look of adoration that dons your face whenever you catch the very sight of him, it’s almost addicting. Your voice is like music to his ears, something that seems to revive him, and it stuns him how such few words can bring him back to life.

And it almost scares Xiao, with how loud his heartbeats have become and how the heat rising on his face has easily become familiar. It unnerves him, because he knows that you are but a mortal, and he is an adeptus, and the two should never mingle. Yet, he can’t bring himself to turn away from your warm touch and soothing words, no matter how much he wants to, or tries.

It’s a silent night, your head in his lap, him gently stroking your hair while you sleep.

And under the moonlight, his voice is barely a whisper, his eyes shimmering pools of gold:

“I…I think I might be falling in love with you." ♥

CHILDE is well versed in the ways of capturing people’s hearts, so imagine his surprise when you manage to sway his.

The fact that you seem to be completely unaware of his feelings, however, is a different topic entirely. You just have the innate ability to make his heart race, even without knowing it! Childe’s not even sure whether he should feel impressed or not.

All he really can be sure about is that he’s fallen in love. Completely, utterly, and there’s likely going to be no way out. He knows that truth, and it rings in his head whenever he can hear his heart pick up its pace as you laugh, or as you smile at him warmly, like he’s your favorite person in the world.

Is he?

If you tell him yes, he’ll stay by your side for eternity, forever and ever, and never let you go.

“Hm~ You’re always so oblivious, aren’t you?” Childe gazes longingly at your sleeping form, a half-smile forming on his lips. “It’s not fair.”

“...I think I might just be falling in love with you.” ♥

ZHONGLI is a composed man, and just about no one can refute that.

So why exactly was it that he always found himself stumbling over his own words whenever you appeared? Why was the heat that rose to his face always so passionate?

He wasn’t supposed to feel this way, not again, not after what had happened to the one he loved before. He shouldn’t hold on, he couldn’t hold on to these fleeting feelings, yet his heart ached for something to fill its void, and there you were.

There… there you were.

Those eternal moments between the two of you on warm summer evenings that seemed to last forever, the way you held his hand with such a sparkle in your eyes… all of it made his heart ache for something he couldn’t decipher.

“Zhongli, what’s wrong? You keep staring off into the distance… you aren’t sick, are you?” You glance at the man, worry evident in your gaze.

“Nono, it’s nothing…” He smiles reassuringly, before standing up abruptly from where the two of you are resting off the side of the road. “I must go.”

“E-Eh? Okay…?”

As he strides away, rounding the corner, he finally falls to the ground, hand over his mouth as his face flares red. “Hah…”

“Archons… I think I might be falling in love with you.” ♥

(a/n) i have been revived

the method: listening to xiao playlists on repeat

event has around 2/3 spaces left~

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iwanthermidnightz · 2 months

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the fact that taylor played getaway car,

mashed up with august (lost in the memory),

mashed up with the other side of the door,

specifically starting at the part where it goes

and then on piano goes into i just wanted you to know that this is me trying 😭

I’ve been having a hard time adjusting

I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting (salt air and the rust in your door)

I didn't know if you'd care if I came back

I have a lot of regrets about that

pulled the (getaway) car off the road to the lookout

could've followed my fears all the way down

and maybe I don't quite know what to say

but I'm here in your doorway (i know all i need is on the other side of the door)

living for the hope of it all

Taylor on this is me trying (long pond studio sessions)

"I've been thinking about addiction and l've been thinking about people who, if they're suffering from mental illness or they're suffering through addiction or they have an everyday struggle, no one pars them on the back every day but every day they are actively fighting something. But there are so many days that nobody gives them credit for that and so, how often must somebody who's in that sort of internal struggle must want to say to everyone in the room, 'You have no idea how close I am to going back to a dark place.'

I had this idea that the first verse would be about someone who is in a sort of life crisis and has just been trying and failing and trying and failing in their relationship, has been messing things up with the people they love, has been letting everyone down, and has driven to this overlook — this cliff, and it's just in the car going, I could do whatever I want in this moment and it could affect everything forever.' But this person backs up and drives home.

And then the second verse is about someone who felt they had a lot of potential in their life. I think there are a lot of mechanisms for us in our school days, in high school or college to excel and to be patted on the back for something. And then a lot of people get out of school and there are less abilities for them to get gold stars, and then you have to make all these decisions, you have to pave your own way and there's no set class yourself you can take. I think a lot of people feel really swept up in that, so I was thinking about this person who feels really lost in life and then starts drinking and every second is trying not to.”

and yesterday she sang you’re losing me where she goes

fighting in only your army, frontlines, don't you ignore me / I'm the best thing at this party (you're losin’ me)

and today in this is me trying

and it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound

yeah much to think about 😭

#whew i think we both need a hug

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lsdoiphin · 6 months

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Yes. All sorts of neat stuff! One find sticks out more than the others, though.

#verse: forever gold #oc: ancha #comic #my ocs #fantasy oc #fantasy comic #narwhal #mythical creature #death stranding #the phenomenon not the game.#oc ask #answered ask #pocketden #innocuous ask with dramatic answer

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bp-zb1fics · 11 months

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Tall & Handsome & wants birthday kisses

pairing: ricky x reader

genre: highschool au (same verse as shy, shy, shy), fluff, romantic tropes

tw/tags: longtime friends, birthdays, coming of age vibes, a lot of banter, feels, cuteness, vandalism of school property, gyuvin will be fine, violent thoughts that are mostly unserious, many kisses, rizzky

wc: 1128

summary: for ricky, the best birthdays are spent with you

a/n happy ricky day~ little late here but it's 520 somewhere ~

Read part 1 here~

“You know I’m going to miss you right?”

You’re 12. It’s Ricky’s last birthday with you before his family moves and puts oceans and time zones between your friendship.

“We have each other’s SNS,” he points out. “You already made me promise to send pictures when the plane lands. Don’t make it weird.”

“But I will,” you insist. “I’m just saying, you know, it’s going to be weird not seeing your ugly face all the time.”

“You’re ugly,” he retorts because puberty is starting to get to the both of you, making it awkward and strange in ways where only you can understand what the other is going through.

“I hope you stay ugly forever.”

“Take that back.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Nope.” You have the audacity to make a face at him.

“Take it back.”

“Okay, tell me you’ll miss me too.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

“Say it or I won’t take it back and you’ll just be ug-”

“Okay, okay, fine.”

You look at him expectantly, arms crossed over your chest with the most infuriating expression that a 12 year old can muster on your face. He takes a deep breath, staring back at you.

“I’ll miss you.”

“Really? Is that it?”

“Did you ask me to say anything else? I said it.” Okay fair enough.

“Fine. I knew you’d miss me anyways.”

God, you’re annoying. It’s even more annoying when you give him your gift and it’s an amazingly huge sketchbook along with a pizza-themed birthday card where you’ve written too many words for him to even read in one sitting. And it’s the most annoying when Ricky gets off the plane and he’s in his new bedroom in his new house and he realises that-

-well, he actually really misses you too.

__________________________________________

“Happy 16th, Ricky-ah!”

It’s been four years since Ricky’s had a birthday with you beyond the greeting messages you’d send, maybe a short call if the timing is right.

It’s absolute chaos. (But that’s mostly Gyuvin and Junhyeon’s fault)

Somehow, they’ve managed to turn his desk into a- he didn’t even know what to call it. Black construction taped over the top, someone (definitely Gyuvin) managed to hang silver streamers right from the ceiling above and his chair completely covered in gold foil and shiny red cellophane in some sort of convoluted throne.

They also tried to surprise him when he walked into the classroom but jokes on them, Ricky learned how to hold a poker face and keep himself from flinching a long time ago. Probably from that time when you were 10 and made a game out of who could give each other the bigger scare. It was stupid. So stupid that Ricky decided to learn how to do that because you were so cute when you were frustrated.

Oh cute what? He’s pretty sure 10 year old Ricky didn’t have any reasoning like that.

He’s just letting you put that silly plastic crown on him because he’s nice and it’s been awhile and he doesn’t want you whining about it to him the whole day. Nevermind that the look he gives Gyuvin promises blood, murder and death if the other boy so much as said anything.

(Gyuvin says something anyway, Ricky’s really going to punch him one day no he isn’t )

You even get him one of those little cakes from that convenience store and cafe near your school. It’s your lunch break and you’re leading the birthday song, sitting across from him, clapping your hands as Gyuvin, Junhyeon and even Gunwook decide to try and do their own harmonic rendition.

“Make a wish, Ricky-ah~”

Maybe Ricky’s definitely deaf from Junhyeon’s creative decision to belt the song out at maximum volume. Maybe his fist is twitching in an effort to resist the urge to sock the shit-eating grin off of Gyuvin’s face. But suddenly, all he can see is how your eyes shine, even if that’s probably from the light or the glow of the candle.

Ricky makes a wish and he realises that-

-well he might actually like you more than he thinks. (And by more than he thinks, yes, like more than friends).

__________________________________________

“So now will you tell me what birthday gift you want?”

Your boyfriend gives you that coy look which honestly, you don’t know how he’s capable of doing at your young age.

It’s been pretty great so far. You had birthday lunch with the dog mafia, their unofficially adopted children and a few other friends at Ricky’s favourite pizza place. And you’ll have dinner with his family later.

Right now, you’re at his house, lazing the afternoon away because Ricky had insisted on spending time together, just the two of you. Honestly, you’re pretty sure he was about one more side comment away from actually strangling Gyuvin if you hadn’t tugged him away.

“Remember when I turned 12 and you called me ugly?”

“Eh, all of a sudden?”

“You never took it back.”

The incredulity of your stare is very much felt by both of you. Dumbfounded, literally.

“What- are you- is this for real? You’re kidding me right?”

He takes your hands in his, pulling you towards him so you’re staring right at each other. You tilt your head back, seriously he needs to stop with the rizz.

“Take it back.”

“Seriously?”

“Take it back.”

“Okay, okay I'll take it back. God, anything else you want?”

He leans in, pressing his lips to yours. You jump a little, not exactly expecting that. And then you melt. He pulls back, leaving a hint of strawberry and the smell of his cologne.

“19.”

“What?”

“I want 19 of that for my birthday.” He’s managed to keep a completely straight face but you have eyes and the pink on his cheek and at the tip of his ears is definitely not a trick of the light. Well, two can play a game.

You lean forward, cup his face in between your palms and peck him on the nose a few times, giggling.

One. Two. Three. Four.

You press light ones over each eyelid, propping yourself up to kiss his foreheads, littering small ones all over his cheeks.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Four-

Maybe you lose count at some point, your lips lingering over his, soft and sweet. You playfully bite at his bottom lip before pulling back to look at him. He’s definitely trying not to smile too much.

“For the record, I never really thought you were ugly.”

“I know.” Your nose scrunches up and he kisses the corner of your mouth.

“You’re lucky it’s your birthday”

“Ah, so can I have 19 more?”

Honestly? He can have all the kisses he wants. Even on days that aren’t his birthday.

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ecoamerica · 23 days

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

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scribble-dribble-writes · 8 months

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Plastic Hearts - (27)

<<<Prev

---

This is the last chapter! So it's a bit long and a little spicy in certain bits haha but I hoped you enjoyed the journey so far!

We got to the end and a happy ending 😆

Love you all, thank you making this a great experience and for all the lovely comments 💖

---

The sun kissed your skin and so did your husband, his dark blonde hair catching the light as his eyes took in the sight of you sprawled out in your swim suit. Just your very presence seemed to make him look drunk and for his fingers to crave for your warmth.

The waves were gentle today, that it made the sunlight glimmer over the surface like patches of diamonds. It had been a while since you had moved out to the Hamptons. You hadn’t had a lot of grey days or gloomy clouds hanging over your head, it was endless blue skies and white clouds, the beach air seemed to agree with you as you took in a deep breath. This new chapter made up for everything, so much so that Barbieland was now in the past.

The city had it’s charm but you needed a change of pace, a step towards a new start. The wounds in your heart was healing, it was time to step out from Melissa’s apartment and a life you knew. You had grown comfortable in it and all you needed was a shift in your perspective. It was nostalgic, to place the keys to that dark wood door into the hands of a new tenant as you packed away your things into a moving truck. But the beauty was, you weren’t doing any of this alone. Every aspect of this change felt welcome and adventurous because he was by your side.

So as a reward to all your hardships, now you began your day with morning swims instead of bustling through an angry crowd and by lying in Ken’s arms as you lounged by the beach instead of being in a loud kitchen. Life had taken a slower pace and you enjoyed every bit of it.

It only felt like yesterday when you walked out that hotel lobby hand in hand, gold rings gleaming in each other’s ring finger and now it had already been a year of this bliss. The gathering was quaint but it was never about the people or the grandeur of it, it was getting to be there together after having thought you had lost him forever. It was getting to slow dance to your favorite song and then dance the night away.

You were by the corner talking to one of your friends when Ken found you during your reception, his cheeks flushed with colour and a smile that he couldn’t contain.

“Come on, I’ve requested a song for us.”, he took you to the middle of the dance floor as he tipped his head toward the Dj to play the song.

The intro began to play as he took your hands in his to give you a playful wink. ‘The very first night’, by Taylor swift was the song he had chosen. You shook you head as you laughed.

“Every weekend, the same party. I never go alone and I don’t seem broken-hearted. My friends all say they know everything I’m going through. I drive down different roads but they all lead back to you”

He sang the words to you, it took you back to the all the times you had seen him waiting outside during Girls night. To think that all those different roads had in fact led you both together made the nostalgia dig deeper.

"We never saw it comin’, not tryin’ to fall in love, but we did like children runnin’, back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart. We broke the status quo, then we broke each other’s hearts."

You sang the second verse to him, because that was how you fell in love, and you broke the status quo when you both found your own lives here, but parts of the story left you both with broken hearts only for it to seal together now.

His eyes beamed with life but so did the corners as it held traces of his tears.

"But don’t forget about the night out in L.A. Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway. No one knows about the words that we whispered. No one knows how much I miss you."

This you sang together, he placed his forehead on yours as you swayed together. For all those nights ago when you were catching feelings and falling in love all over again.

It truly was one of a kind, a love you will never get to witness again in this lifetime.

"Take me away to you."

He spun you out and that night was the best you had ever witnessed, your heart was full. It felt like it could go on forever.

You knew nothing about what life held from then on, all this was new and so when many advised that it would start getting harder after the honeymoon phase died, you didn’t understand the logic.

Because for you, his love was constant. It wasn’t something that demanded a lot of effort. You and him shared that easy frequency where fights were limited, like you could read each other’s mind. The honeymoon phase didn’t have an expiration date, he treated you with such tenderness that it wasn’t just a display of his affections, it was the embodiment of it.

But today was important, it was the grand opening of your restaurant, situated right on the beach front. At the very thought your mind dipped away from your daydream and into the endless spiral of preparation for the event, so you held his face in your hands to get his attention to which he groaned as he pouted his lips.

“We’ve got to prepare for the evening.”, you chuckled to which he broke free from your hold to nuzzle his into your neck as he laid by your side.

“We’ve got hours to prepare.”, he mumbled sleepily.

“I don’t know, I don’t want anything to go wrong.”, you said as you sighed.

“And it won’t.”, he reassured you.

You nodded, placing your hand over his that wrapped around your waist. You turned to him, to catch sight of him resting so peacefully. He looked like a merman come to life so content with his life on land, that you were blessed with having him with you, in the arduous journey of life.

“I’m just nervous.”, you let the words spill because with him it just ebbed from out of you. His thumb stroked your body as his eyes fluttered open.

“Don’t be.”, he said gently, his eyes finding yours, you were lost in his gaze.

You weren’t saying anything and neither was he, but you were having an entire conversation. You pushed away his hair, he caught your wrist, to then pause before he kissed your palm. It was as if he could never get enough, that’s how he displayed his affection. Delicately and unconditionally, executed with excellence.

“You know what you have to do now, don’t you?”, you felt his grin against your palm to which you groaned, squirming away but he didn’t let you slip away.

He reeled you in, like a boat out on the bay, till you were on top of him. He raised his brow letting you know that he was waiting for it, the sentence he got you to repeat every time you doubted yourself.

“I deserve this happiness.”, you began to which he closed his eyes again, feeling appeased as he listened to you.

“And?”, he asked.

“I worked hard for this.”, you continued to which he nodded his head in agreement.

“You did and you continue to.”, he held your cheek as his eyes found yours again but now he beamed and you knew that he was proud of you.

As you held his gaze you narrowed your eyes at him knowing well why you were out here. The morning swims and walks by the beach were your effort in helping him get out of his fear of the water. All this while, he would only stand by the shore and never get in. You didn’t force him, it had to be on his terms, he would wait for you when you went out for a swim but you could see it in his eyes, the desire to follow you in.

“Now it’s your turn.”, you got up and he sighed as he looked at the serene waters.

You held your hand out to him and he took it, to stand up and dust the sand off him.

“Race you to the shoreline?”, you asked him, with adrenaline beginning to rush into your bloodstream.

“What will you give me if I win?”, he smiled as he rested his hands on his hips after pulling away his shirt.

“Anything you want”, you said mischievously which piqued his interest.

“Ok count down to –

But you didn’t, you didn’t wait for him as you took off running, down towards the open waters.

“Hey!”, he called after you, telling you it wasn’t fair that you cheated as he chased after you.

You felt laughter fill your mouth and the sweet taste of victory when your feet touched the water before you dove in.

He slowed down the moment you waded away, his smile sobering as his feet rested ankle deep. His eyes however were on you, looking at you as if he was mesmerized. He wanted to get out there. So he waded in deeper, the water rising up to his knees.

So you made it easy, and got closer to him instead, as you stood in front of him. Your hair slicked back as you felt water trickle down your face, your hands were cold and wet as you placed it against his cheek.

“You don’t have to push yourself. This is greater progress than before.”, you told him.

But something about the way you shimmered beneath the sun, the cold touch of your fingertips, he knew he couldn’t let this hold him back. He had to let go, of the way his past fears still had an edge over him. He wasn’t going to lose everything again. All this he had now was here to stay, so were you. So the waves didn’t seem daunting anymore.

He hummed as his gaze fell to the shape of your lips, his eyes darkened as he bit his lip. He took in a deep breath, looked ahead and in that instant made up his mind.

You didn’t expect it, when he picked you up, getting your legs to straddle his waist as he ventured further. The water level raising up his waist to his chest. Seeing you smile was intoxicating that he wanted to venture further.

“I just needed the right motivation.”, he chuckled.

“Oh and what is that?”, you asked swiping away water from his face.

“You”, he said, his eyes taking in the details of your face.

And with that feeling the cold waters around him that were being to turn warm as he got used to it, he couldn’t wait anymore, he reached up to place his lips on yours.

It was sweet, the taste of strawberries on his lips then the sting of the salt balanced it out. He pulled away from you, leaving you wanting more with a sly grin on his face. You dipped low, you lips hovering over his.

“You don’t want to claim your prize?”, you whispered feeling bothered that he didn’t catch the meaning of your phrase from before.

“Not here.”, he said slowly, his voice getting husky and low.

“I feel jealous having to share you with the sea.”, he said and it only made you chuckle. That his competition wasn’t another man’s attention but the elements around you. That some how he wanted to be the breeze that caressed your skin, the water that enveloped you or the sun that made your hair change colour.

“Alright.”, you conceded with placing a kiss on his forehead.

It was relaxing, bobbing a long the waves as you lazily swam about. But with the afternoon sun rising higher, the water was getting warmer and your skin had spoken up enough salt.

---

So you packed up and headed home. Your new place was much bigger, the large windows let natural light stream in, your kitchen was idle with a few covered dishes from last night sitting on the counter top. You dropped your bags into the allocated space that contained all the items that related to your beach activities.

Ken put away his flip flops to then head over and peruse through the fridge to cure his hunger.

“I’m headed off to take a bath.”, you let him know as you undid your hair, a trail of water droplets followed you.

The salt now stuck to your body and face that everything felt grimy and uncomfortable. So you took a towel and got into the shower space, the warm water cascading over you to make you feel fresh and clean.

But half through you heard the sound of the bathroom door open and close. You saw his silhouette through the fogged glass. The outline of his body gave way to his presence as he got into the shower with you. He held his sweet gaze but you could tell he wasn’t here to play games. He drew closer to you until he towered over you, to tilt your chin so your eyes were on him, the water beginning to cover you both, his hand slid up your neck as his fingers wrapped around your throat gently. His eyelashes dripping wet, his light hair turning dark as it soaked through.

“I’m here, to claim my prize.”, he said, his voice lost its politeness, now he said it with an authority making his lip tilt up.

“Took you long enough.”, you said as you met his gaze.

You slid your hands down his back, there was no holding back now. He found your lips with a passion and hunger that never seemed to run out. Being touch starved only meant neither wanted to keep their hands to themselves. He held you steady, his body pushing you up the tiled wall as you held onto him, your hands slipping against the glass as he dug his tongue deeper.

Your bottom lip getting caught between his teeth as his hands traced down your body. The salt disappeared, the steam took over. There was no time to pause, it was a dance, it was an art. The way he paced himself and the way you craved his touch.

You could see his little puffs of air take up a wispy form as the hot water continued to keep you both warm. His fingers travelled down the dips of your waist to the curve of your backside. He trailed it back up to cradle your head again as he held onto your hair, the edge of his nails scraping against your scalp as he exposed your neck to leave a trail of kisses or to leave little love bites but you fought for your turn.

You pulled his chin down to you, meeting his unrelenting mouth with yours, the sound of his delighted moan drove you insane, the power your touch held to make him weak in the knees, it empowered you to pull on the ends of his hair, to pull him deeper towards you that his hand slipped from when he had braced himself against the wall behind you. He pressed into you and you pulled away to catch your breath.

Madness, you were both full of it. You would eventually get to finishing up your bath later, but as he took caught his breath, his chest rising and falling with yours, his eyes focused on yours to tell you he only wanted more, you knew this was far from over. He pinned both your hands above your head and dipped his head to meet your lips again.

The walk up to your store was nerve wracking. The sun had set and the moon was out, Ken was all dressed up in a loose blazer, white fitted shirt and trouser pants, he looked pristine while you wore a maroon velvet gown, perfect for this evening. But when you caught sight of your restaurant, the nervousness faded because the neon sign was on. ‘Melissa’ in a cursive font lit up the street and reminded you of fond memories.

Ken took your hand to give it a gentle squeeze, his hair combed back as he nudged you ahead. You stood taller and pushed through the door to be greeted by your friends and staff, some of whom joined you from Sam’s kitchen.

The menu was set, the food was prepared and everyone looked happy. Ken invited his colleagues from the local school he worked at and also from the youth program he was overseeing. You grabbed a drink to clink against the glass to get everyone’s attention.

“I know I’ve spoken a lot over the past few months so I just want to keep this short. I wanted to thank everyone here, for being a pillar of support and for cheering us on. Looking forward to a great night and to the many more that are to come.

Here’s to new beginnings.”, you finished raising the glass in the air to hear an eruption of cheers around you.

The crowd fizzled away as each one found their own spot, you took a sip from the glass as you turned to the photo wall behind you. Ken slipped his hand from behind to kiss your cheek to then rest his chin on your shoulder as he admired the photos with you.

It had one of Melissa, a lot from New York, one from your wedding day, one with Ken and you riding horses and many more. This was your new legacy, one made by your own with the people you loved. The other walls were still empty but you knew that as time passes, they will become full too.

You took Ken’s hand as you found your table, that idea set up for you two, he held out the seat for you to sit in and once you did, he took up the seat in front of you.

Your plates were placed in front of your with the first course and it felt like you had come full circle from where you began to where you were. The world paused for a second. Ken’s eyes caught yours before he looked towards to shelf near the entrance. You turned to see it too and on it sat, Chef Barbie and Beach Ken.

For the dolls who once had nothing, now the world was theirs, it was yours and his.

---

Tags:

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#barbie movie 2023 #ken from barbie #ken barbie #barbie movie #barbie #ken carson #ken x barbie #ken x y/n #ken x you #ken x reader #ryan!ken #ryan gosling ken #ryan gosling #ken fluff #ken fic #plastic hearts

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justaphan · 1 year

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POTO Fics by Mertens

More than any other Phantom of the Opera fic writer, I find myself consuming Mertens’ works over and over for the pleasing writing style, the complex emotions, and the raw and realistic portrayals of Christines in particular. Mertens’ writing is how I also got into modern AUs!

I’ve never done any rec list for this fandom so let’s start with my fav fics from @intothemertensverse! (Hi there! Thank you!)

Gustave Daae’s Daughter: A disfigured man on the edges of society with a good heart, Erik has been Gustave Daae’s closest friend for years. When Gustave realizes his time is almost up after contracting an incurable disease, he leaves his two most prized possessions to his friend—his violin, and his daughter. In progress as of 01/09/2023. If you’re not reading this then honestly what do you actually do with all the hours of your life? Some big surprises in this one. Featuring Ayesha and also Angst with a capital A.

A Love There Is No Cure For from Sonnet 86: A fic of epic proportions but it can be read independently of the larger verse it’s in. Major Leroux influences, and follows the SLOW BURNING journey of how Christine’s grumpy old insecure teacher became the happiest man alive (including all the very awkward sex). Mertens’ masterpiece.

An Old Fashioned Love Song: After an incident results in Christine needing to fulfill community service, she volunteers at the local old folks home where a chance meeting with a resident will change both of their lives forever. Cranky 80-year-old disabled Erik? I love this little goblin so much. You will too.

Saved From Solitude: Feeling anxious and unable to sleep in his own house, Erik spends the night in Christine’s dressing room to get some much needed rest. He’s certain Christine will never find out—as long as he wakes up on time. Erik may seem tall, dark, and imposing, but he’s actually the sweetest sleepy old man with a cane. I want to tuck him into bed myself. Bonus total BAMF Christine!

Scuffle in Box Five: The Ghost had requested that Box Five be kept empty, but on the night of Mlle Daae's first performance, Box Five is most certainly not empty. There is popcorn in this fic and it just makes it ten times funnier.

And Ask Me To Open Up The Gate For You: Christine Daae has tried every trick in the book to achieve the clear complexion she so desires, and all without result—every trick, that is, except for one. She can’t do it on her own, but perhaps her beloved Maestro will be able to lend his assistance in the matter. In progress as of 01/09/2023. This one is so innovative and different! POTO London Christine Alternate Holly Anne Hull’s Instagram Story had a callout for long-term acne solutions, and turns out a few people told her to go get pregnant to achieve clear skin :D

First Impressions: Erik takes Christine to his home and the cape flip goes awry. BLESS YOUR HEART ERIK!!!

Just Us Two: The day after the performance, Christine spends the day with her son, just like she promised. A beautiful, poignant continuation of Love Never Dies focused on mother and son.

Like Everyone Else: Mr. Y has cracked the code of blending in to society. At least, he thinks he has. LND-inspired crack. Just hysterical. Honestly how could anyone argue against Erik moving to New York, it’s plot-powering gold!

Mr. Y’s Christmas Surprise: Erik accidentally and inadvertently invents the ugly Christmas sweater. SEE COMMENTS ABOVE

Joyeuses Pâques (sans masque): Erik tries to celebrate Easter with his family on Coney Island—and what better way to celebrate than with a visit from the Easter Bunny? Guys just a reminder that Christine moved across the ocean to live with this guy, so.

My Three Eriks: Erik doesn’t actually speak in the third person. OR “What do you mean James Gant and James Hume aren’t the same person” Shit gets too real in the lair, and it’s laugh out loud funny.

The Nanny: College dropout Christine Dee lands what appears to be a dream job in taking care of a reclusive rich man’s seven year old boy. As she settles into her new life, however, she discovers a mysterious secret about her boss’s former wife that threatens to unravel everything. Modern AU. Definitely Gerik. Very relatable and insecure Christine. Very funny too. It’s a thrilling murder mystery and it’s very hard to stop reading once you start.

Baby Shark: Erik is haunted by a certain song his neighbor is playing. Modern AU. I thought this was going to be a crack!fic but I was profoundly moved by it. Both Erik and Christine are a hot mess. A very refreshing take!

Honolulu Sun: After two years of relative isolation during the pandemic, Christine is a little chattier than usual with a strange masked man in the grocery store. I’m more than a little bit obsessed with this one. Give me all the Gustave Sr./Erik bonding!!!

Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Wealthy Opera Populaire patron Raoul de Chagny has been kidnapped and the Opera managers have been receiving threatening letters regarding emerging star Christine Daaé. Private Investigators Erik and Antoinette have been called in to get to the bottom of what's going on, which means they'll have to be keeping a close eye on the safety of the young soprano. It really is a shame, then, that Erik seems to hate Christine who in turn seems horrified of Erik - but things aren't always what they seem. Film Noir AU. Big sweeping fic. Angles that haven’t been explored before. And an Erik that deserves to be seen!

#phantom of the opera #erik x christine #the phantom of the opera #love never dies #christine daae #justaphan's fic recs #mertens

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whenrainhitsmyskin · 1 year

Text

Gold Glitter Turns to ash

pairing: Bakugo Katsuki/Reader.

summary: In the dead of night your longtime friend Bakugo shows up at your front door. Body and heart battered and bruised, he knows you are the only remedy to ease his mind and soul.

4k+ words.

warnings: must be 18+ to read and interact, fem bodied reader, no pronouns used, mentions of blood and injuries, smut, manhandling, oral fem receiving, hand jobs, explicit sexual content, porn with plot, very vanilla, mention of death.

- canon verse, characters are aged up to mid-twenties.

a/n: First longer one shot, took a few days to finish it but here it is! I think this is a pretty good starting point and I’m looking forward to improving on my writing. This will probably be edited further at some point, don’t know when though. Enjoy !

There’s a bang at your door, you are startled at the sound of it considering you were asleep moments prior; you check your phone, it reads 2:27 am. You begin making your way from your bedroom to the front door of your apartment. The banging starts again. “Jeez ok I’m coming!”, you yell at whoever has interrupted your sleep.

As soon as you unlock the door and swing it open you see Bakugo. He’s in his hero costume which has burns seared throughout it and a nasty gash on his ribs. “Bakugo..” you whisper, taking in his disheveled appearance, “The hell happened to you?”

He isn’t looking you in the eyes, but rather spacing out somewhere on the floor, the only response you get is a shake of his head and a deep frown on his lips. “C’mere” you say, you lead him from the hallway with a hand on his back, you bring him to the bathroom that’s adjoined to your bedroom and guide him to sit on the countertop.

You take off his heavy gauntlets that are looking worse for wear, then take off his mask that was pushed to the top of his head. You jester to the shirt of his costume and ask, “Can I?”, with a slight lift of his arms you receive your answer and begin pulling his top off.

His honey smooth skin is revealed to your eyes. There are freckles on his shoulders that make him seem so much more human than he lets others see. So much more human than when you met him on the first day of school at UA eight years ago. He bleeds and feels and has freckles on his shoulders.

You take a closer look at the wound along his ribs, it’s a nasty gash but it doesn’t appear to be deep enough to the point that it would require stitches. You lower yourself to the vanity cabinet and pull out a box filled with what you need to get him patched up. You start with taking a cloth and running it under warm water. You gently press it to his side. You spare a glance to his face; he is seemingly looking at nothing and everything at once. His usual scowl is replaced with disgust and repulsion. You want to ask what happened, but at the same time you don’t want to pry at this moment.

You remove the cloth then dry the area and begin to soak a strip of gauze with saline solution to make sure the cut doesn’t get infected. You press it to his skin and you can feel him physically tense, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” You say slowly, but at this point you can’t be sure what you are apologizing for, his current physical discomfort or all the things you do not know.

You then bandage up the wound. “Do you need anything else?” You ask him, his eyes finally meet yours and a beat passes, then two.

“I wanna stay.” He states- he means it as a plea-although it will never be that to your ears. To him it means so much more than to stay for the night, he wants to stay with you forever, but you are the only one who cannot see it.

“I might have some extra clothes for you to wear, just stay here and I’ll bring them in.” You go to your closet and pull out a t-shirt with your favorite band on it that Denki got for your birthday that’s about four sizes to big, and a pair of Kirishima's sweatpants that he left at your place in case he needed to sleep off the alcohol after one of your groups notorious game nights.

You let out a deep breath before making your way back to the bathroom. He’s still sitting where you left him. Staring at a crack in the tile floor of your bathroom.

“These will probably fit.” You place them on his lap and head out to the kitchen to give him the privacy to change and to get him some water and pain meds. As soon as you lay them all out you hear his footsteps coming towards you.

He’s looking at what you placed on the counter, “Take these.” You beg, but to his ears they are only a command. You know he hates when others try to take care of him, you're confused as to how you were able to do anything for him at all.

He takes the medicine and finishes the glass of water. “Do you need anything else?”, he only replies with a whisper that sounds sort of like your name, but your mind is filled with so much confusion and anxiety it’s hard to make it out.

You tilt your head as you look him in the eyes, a silent question for him to be more specific. “I’wanna go to bed.” Is all he give you, “Okay..” you reply.

You lead him back to your room and lift the covers for him, he gets under and adjusts accordingly to get comfortable. You begin making your way to the couch where you plan on spending your night but Bakugos voice cuts through, “Where are you going?”

“I’ll sleep on the couch, don’t worry.” You voice, “No don’t, stay here…please?” He asks. Your eyes widen, you had no idea the word please was even a part of his vocabulary. This must be a dream.

But he has freckles on his shoulders and he’s human. It’s only human to say please when you want something so desperately. So, you say, “okay.”

You round to the other side of the bed and try to put a safe amount of distance between the two of you so you don’t appear to be too eager to get in bed with the man you have been in love with for so many years. You roll on your side and you’re now face to face. You can hardly make out his figure through the darkness of the room.

“Do you…do you wanna talk about it?” You hold out an olive branch. He purses his lips as he has an internal war going through his mind. “I…” He takes a moment to collect his thoughts. He shuts his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. You can tell the exhaustion is getting to him. “I couldn’t save someone.”

Your eyes start to water, and he opens his eyes again, they are a reflection of yours. “I’m sorry.” He reaches for your hand with his, you feel the rough calluses of his palm and they’re a little bit sweaty, but you don’t mind. He lets out a soft grunt in response.

Your eyes are feeling heavier, and your body so badly wants to fall victim to sleep but you don’t want to let go of his hand, you don't want to shorten this moment, you want it to last.

He says your name, it sounds so much nicer coming from his lips-which he purses- “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” you reply. You turn and face the wall and allow yourself to succumb to sleep.

You wake up to the sunrise peeking through the curtains and the chill from an open window, you suppose you must have forgotten to shut it before going to sleep last night. You sit up and notice Bakugo is gone. There’s not a singular trace to prove he has ever existed with you in this vicinity. That thought feels worse than it should.

You stand up and open the curtain to the window and lean on the sill. It’s a Wednesday, your one day off from your hero duties for the week. From your perch up here, you see a group of kids probably going to the school a few blocks down from you and a couple of men dressed in business casual clothing heading towards the train station for their regular commute to work.

You don’t know how long you’ve been staring at what’s below you but the sound of running water coming from your bathroom halts it all to a stop. The tap shuts off and out comes Bakugo, still dressed in the clothing you gave him early this morning, the same clothing he slept with in your bed last night.

It’s a staring game. Neither are moving or talking, just watching carefully, seeing who will play the next move. It’s Bakugo, “Move over tremors.” Hearing the nickname he coined you from your school days never fails to bring back a wave of nostalgia across your mind.

You think about your shared days at UA that you will be forever grateful for, thankful that your trauma from the attacks on your class is shared with others even though it goes unspoken.

You shift over enough for him to slot his way by the window next to you. The space isn’t wide enough, and his broad shoulder brushes your own as he leans over next to you.

Moments of serenity pass by, before either of you speak up again. “Thank you..” he breaks the silence with a whisper. “For what?” You ask, your heart and mind want to pinpoint exactly what he means. “For taking care of me, for being with me.”

In your peripherals you can tell he is staring at you; you blame gravity for pulling your own eyes towards him. He’s looking you down and up and you would kill to know what’s going through his mind, “What are you thinking?”

“You’re too good.” He says, you swear last night you only did the bare minimum. Who wouldn’t help one of their friends (unrequited lover) in a time of great need?

“In what ways?” You ask him. “For me.” He says and with that he looks away and back onto the street. You stand up straight and turn your whole body towards him. “Bakugo.” A dare.

His body language follows yours and you both are now face to face completely. You study his facial expressions. You’ve gotten quite good at it throughout the years, but it’s safe to say you usually never get this close. His expression is a mixture of resentment and disappointment. You want it to go away, you want him at peace.

He cups both of your cheeks. The plush of your flesh grounds him. Your hand reaches for the bottom of his borrowed shirt.

He leans in and kisses you. It’s less of a kiss and more of pressing his lips lightly to yours, testing the unknown between the both of you. You’re afraid you might die of shock and the evidence of that must be plastered on your face because he says, “I’m sorry…” an unnecessary apology from his end, he lets out a deep sigh and begins pulling his hands away, “I should have asked I’m sorry.”

You pull on his shirt with one hand, hold the back of his neck with the other and move slightly on the fronts of your feet to make up for your difference in height and kiss him this time. It’s short and sweet and this time his face has a look of surprise, “Don’t apologize for something I’ve been wanting for years.”

The truth from both of you comes out. This time you kiss each other. It’s not one sided like the others before, now that there’s an understanding that you are both okay and that what is unfolding right now is also okay. Both of your hearts are swelling in your chests, and you swear you haven’t felt this much serotonin since you were a kid.

You guide him backwards and he sits on the bed up against the headboard. You straddle his lap and move up to make yourself comfortable and that’s when you discover the semi he was probably not expecting you to figure out so quickly. He pulls away breathless.

“Shit, shit I didn’t-didn’t mean too,” his face contorts “M’sorry.”

“Bakugo stop apologizing it’s okay, I’m okay, we are okay.” Your fingers play with his hair at the base of his skull in an attempt to soothe his nerves. “Katsuki.” He says, you give him a confused look, “I’wan you to call me Katsuki.”

“Katsuki,” you let out, he nods, you smile, “Call me y/n.”

He says your name and it’s the sweetest sound that your ears have ever heard. The softest melody even though his voice is deep and rough but that’s just a few of the many things that have drawn you to him.

You press forward and your lips are on his again. His hands are a heavy weight on your waist, someone’s touch has never made you feel so treasured and safe until this moment. Your weight shifts back again, and you make an experimental roll of your hips on his hard-on.

He gives your waist a little squeeze and that’s your cue to do it again and repeat. The light pressure on your clit feels good and you continue, his hips buck up and he lets out a soft moan onto your lips, your bodies now move in unison.

It’s getting too hot so you stop your movements and pull away. You take off your top and reveal your bareness to his ogling eyes. They burn your skin as he traces your figure with them. “You’re so pretty, y/n”

“So are you, Katsuki.” He leans forward and takes off his top as well. The freckles are still on his shoulders, where they have always existed. Your hands move across the plains of his abdomen and chest. All made of thick hard muscle, they move to his arms, you can tell he spends a lot of time on them, so he can use the full extent and power of his quirk without receiving too much damage. He just watches you enjoy yourself, his happiness comes in the form of your own.

“You can touch me too, Suki.” The little nickname pulls at his heart strings “I want you too.” And with that his hands make their way up the curve of your waist and your ribs, he gives you a little peck to your cheek and another to your lips and his hands finally reach your breasts. His touch is fanning the little flames of arousal that you have had for him since high school. You didn’t think it was possible to be more attracted to him than you were back then.

He cups the undersides and feels the plushness of them. “You’re so soft.” You kiss him again, you’re both feeling each other and getting quiet pleasures as your hips continue their ministrations.

He suddenly flips you on your back without ever breaking the dance of your lips moving across each other, he bites on your bottom lip and grinds down into you and you let out a little moan. You pull away red and embarrassed, how are you this worked up over a little kissing?

“That was cute.” He says with a smirk. “Yeah?” You asked, a genuine question made if your insecurities. “I’wanna see how many more of those I can get outta ya.”

He starts an assault of kisses, licks and nips down the span of your neck and continues down to your collarbones, chest and when he finally reaches your breasts, he tests the waters by licking your left nipple and toying with your right with his fingers.

You let out a series of breathless whines and whimpers as he continues to suck and nibble your breast. He switches and continues the other, working you up until you can hardly take it anymore, he finally relents.

He kisses down your sternum, stomach until he reaches the waistline of your shorts, “Can I take these off?” You give him a little nod and in return he raises a demanding brow, “Use your words y/n. I need…I don’t wanna overstep anything. I need you to tell me what’s okay and what’s not..alright?”

“Yeah, yeah you can take them off.” You say with a smile. He pulls your sleep shorts over your hips, the tops of your thighs and now they are completely off. He’s practically salivating at the sight of you.

Your hair is messed up and sprawled out on the pillow behind your head, pupils wide, lips bruised by his own and now there’s only one article of clothing standing in the way of seeing you in your entirety. The thought of that alone makes him impossibly harder.

He begins kissing the inside of your thighs, he sucks a spot that starts to feel tender and then kisses the waistline of your panties, “Wanna taste you.”

Your eyes widen and you can feel your heart rate pick up slightly, “Oh.” Is all you manage to respond with. Now it’s his turn to freak out, “Shit shit shit I’m sorry, I thought, thought you’ve done this before.”

“Oh, oh my god yeah I-I have it’s just…” you pause. He asks, “Just what..?”

“Nobody’s ever gone down on me before.” You hide your reddened face with your hands “Sorry, didn’t mean to kill the mood.” You let out a sigh of frustration.

“No no none of that, hey.” He pulls your hands away from your face and looks you in the eyes as he says, “Those other guys don’t know what their doin, but I do, if you’ll let me.” You take a moment to think over his words.

“Yeah, yeah ok.” He looks at your face searching for any signs of doubt and determines there isn’t any there.

He kisses your lips, slowly and sensually. He moves to your neck and collarbones leaving little love bites in their wake, between the valley of your breasts and continues down your stomach until he reaches the mound in between your legs.

“Can I take these off?” He asks, looking you in the eyes, “Yeah you can.” He grabs at the waistband of your panties and pulls them down your legs and tosses them into the pile where the rest of your clothing lies.

He’s scared his heart is going to give out from how fast it’s beating cause my god are you a sight to behold. He never imagined he would get so lucky, here with you in this moment that he will forever treasure close to his heart.

“Does everything about you have to be perfect?” He says with exasperation, with his thumb he starts to make light circles on your clit and kisses the inside of your thigh.

For now it’s enough to hold over the aching between your legs as you let out breathy whimpers. That is until he replaces his thumb with his tongue, the foreign sensation causing you to let you a high pitch moan.

“Fuck Katsuik, feels so good.” Your hips are attempting to buck up to find more friction, but his heavy hand is holding you down. He experimentally licks down into your pussy, and he pushes his tongue through. The act has you seeing stars in your eyes and then his two fingers replace his tongue, and it turns into constellations.

“God you're so wet for me princess.” His fingers continue pumping in and out of you and his tongue begins drawing circles on your clit. Your moans never cease to an end as the coil in your lower abdomen threatens to snap. “C’mon I know you wanna cum I can feel it.”

He continues talking through your pleasure causing your orgasm to finally break through. It has your thighs trembling around his head and hips stuttering. He slows down and finally pulls away, “There you go baby, such a good girl.”

He sucks his fingers clean of your essence and you swear you have never seen something so erotic in your entire life. You’re gaping at him in awe and he thinks its the cutest fucking expression he has ever seen on your face.

You pull him down to kiss you, you can taste yourself on his lips and it makes the moment so much hotter. You know you want him in his entirety right now. You pull away, “Katsuki, I want you.”

“You got me princess, I'm right here.” He gives you a sweet peck to your lips, “Yeah I just, fuck I want you inside me so bad, fuck me Katsuki, need you.”

“Fuck, really?” He can’t believe you want him how he wants you. In all the years he has been pining after you with no progress. “Yeah.” You say sweetly. There’s a confession at the tip of his tongue but he’s unable to let it spill out as the self doubt creeps in. What if you don’t reciprocate his love for you and you are only attracted to him physically?

Although he doubts himself, he will still take whatever you give, he will have you in whatever way you want him to. He would rather have a piece of you than lose you entirely.

“You have condoms?” He asks, you shake your head and his stomach drops, “It’s okay though, I’m on the pill, if that's okay with you of course?”

Relief washes over him, “Yeah, yeah that's good.” He gets up off the bed and strips off his sweatpants and briefs in one go, as you sit up and lean back on your hands. It's like a little show as you ogle at him, knowing what's about to come next.

He joins you on the bed and man handles you to straddle his thighs, “Want you to set the pace.”

He sees you look down at his dick as your eyes widen in surprise. You take it in your hand and give it a few languid pumps. It’s long and veiny and thick towards the tip which is leaking out onto your hand.

“Fuck…” He moans as he squeezes his eyes shut. You stop your movements, and he replaces your hand with his as you hover over him.

He feels for your entrance and slightly pushes in and with that you lower yourself down. You both curse in unison. It’s a wide stretch, but not too much to where it’s painful.

You start moving your hips up and down and after a few moments it starts to feel pleasurable. The room is filled with soft moans and the light slapping of skin upon skin. One of Bakugos hands leaves your hip in favor of giving your ass a loving squeeze.

“Fuck that’s it princess.” He smirks, “Doin so well for me, fuck you look so good.”

“Katsuki you feel-oh fuck-so good, so so good!” You cry out, you can feel yourself reaching the edge of your orgasm, but he flips you around and hikes one of your legs up onto his shoulders. He keeps the pace that you set in the previous position, working for you to cum before he does, you only deserve the best.

“Fuck you’re so pretty y/n, God look at you.” The praise leaves his mouth and before you can return it back, he kisses you again. It's a mix of tongue and clashing of teeth. Bakugo feels his orgasm catching up to him, so he reaches one hand down and begins drawing circles on your clit. You pull away from his kiss.

“Katsuki, fuck Im gonna cum.” You moan, “C’mon baby, you can do it just cum f’me.”

The sound of his voice pushes you over. You see a flash of white, your thighs are shaking around him and your breath hitches, your orgasm brings him to his own.

Everything slows down, it feels as though the world has halted its turn on its axis, just for the two of you. You bask in the glow of his post orgasmic face, at peace and looking at you with admiration. He kisses your lips softly and slowly, he pulls away and says your name.

“Yeah?” You ask and give him a peck, “I'm in love with you, and fuck I have been for so long now.” He visibly winces, scared that his feelings for you are not returned. Scared that you just wanted him for today and nothing more.

“Katsuki, I’m in love with you.” You smile up at him and see a proud smug ass face plastered onto him.

visit my: masterlist

#bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou smut #bnha bakugo katsuki #bnha #bakugo x y/n #bakugo x you #katsuki smut #katsuki bakugo my hero academia #bakugo katsuki is bad at feelings

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taylorswiftstylequestions · 16 days

Note

Something I noticed while revisiting her albums for the countdown. She really leaned into the songwriting tool of repeating the first line and the last line of the song on her debut album. I’m not talking about starting & ending a song with the chorus (that’s a different and separate song structure). I’m talking about a lyric from a verse. And like a true TSSQer, I scrolled through her discography for the data and I was right! It most frequently appears on her first album!🤓 (part 1)

12 Songs with exact same repeated first and last line: Tim McGraw, Teardrops on my Guitar, Invisible, Love Story, Come in with the Rain, Red, I Almost Do, The Very First Night, The Archer, Gold Rush, Tolerate It, High Infidelity. / 8 songs with mostly the same first/last lines but a slight change at the end for extra impact: Mary’s Song (Oh My My My), Our Song, Fifteen, Haunted, Forever Winter, Dress, Cornelia Street, Death by a Thousand Cuts. / It’s a fun little quirk I noticed! (Part 2)

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One of my favourite Taylor writing motifs/patterns. Definitely a little songwriters 'hack' she relied on a lot in her early days but that still gives me a smile. I love it so! And also the data! 🤓

#tsser #taylor

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in-death-we-fall · 1 year

Text

Aesthetics of Hate

This is the House of Nine. There is a horror that echoes through its walls. There is a horror that shifts and broods. A horror that coils itself into a moment of truth. This is our house. We have heard it sing.

It’s started again, hasn’t it? That’s why we’re back. That’s why we’ve… changed.

Back? Listen.

We never left.

Slipknot’s drug, alcohol and ego problems are history. No longer at war with each other, the only struggle now is finding a way to finish it.

Words: Ken McIntyre. Pics: Steve Brown.

Aka the one that aged like milk. Many thanks to @incredizort for sharing your collection. (docs link)

The are the village people of the damned, a psychedelic terror circus populated by depressed clowns, obsessive-compulsives, misanthropes, cyborgs, droogs, ghouls, and goblins. Their sound is a barrage of noise and confusion, a bundle of hiss and the dynamiting of mountains. They look like escaped mental patients on Halloween, and their demeanor vacillates between grandiose and openly hostile. They are Slipknot, and they are legion.

Since 1995, these nine creatures of latex and bone from the fertile plains of Des Moines, Iowa, have lorded over their dysfunctional kingdom of maggots and problem children with shaky hands that have often succumbed to their own wretched excesses. As the band went from strength to strength, from the runaway freight train of their 1999 self-titled debut album to the embittered, embattled success of 2001’s Iowa and their surprisingly tuneful comeback, 2004’s Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Slipknot scaled unheard-of heights for an extreme metal band, snapping up Gold and Platinum albums, winning Grammy awards, infiltrating the mainstream like sinister double agents.

But none of it came easy, and lurking behind the mask was a band at war with itself; a band riddled with drug, alcohol, and ego problems. In 2005, the levy finally broke, and Sipknot took a much-needed break, the various members healing, mending fences, and exploring other creative avenues. Singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root returned to Stone Sour, drummer Joey Jordison played with a myriad of bands, from Korn to Metallica, and drummer and visual artist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan produced the revealing ‘Knot-doc Voliminal: Inside The Nine, among other projects.

But they could not avoid their fates forever, and so Slipknot return with a roaring new album, All Hope Is Gone, which pits a burgeoning retro-thrash metal obsession and their recent flirtations with melody against their original vision of pure, bloodlusting aggression and brutality. And with this latest dispatch from the abyss comes the expected media saturation, as well as an endless arc of tours and festivals and television performances. It is during the brief calm before the storm that Metal Hammer catches up with Slipknot, rehearsing their new set at Wells fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines.

Slipknot (left to right): Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan, Chris Fehn, Craig Jones, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Mick Thomson, James Root, Sid Wilson Corey Taylor

They say it’s what’s inside you that counts.

That’s what scares me.

It’s in all of us

It’s what binds us that makes us clash. It will happen again.

We’re twisted pieces of the same puzzle. Nine faces that speak with one voice.

The voice of madness…?

Is it normal to be practising in an arena? Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan (percussion): “It’s not normal, but it’s not surprising at the level we’re at. It was my idea to do this, to practise in the small room and get it tight, and then to come out here and get the feeling of the arena again. Otherwise, you’re practising in people’s houses, and we’re nine brothers. Imagine nine brothers with nine families and everybody running with different crews, and all having different morals and standards and spiritualities. Imagine that fuckin’ insanity. So this makes sense.”

Des Moines had a series of floods recently. Did they affect the band at all? Corey Taylor (vocals): “Not really. I spent a couple days running around saving my friends. Everybody I knew with the exception of just a couple people lived on the flood plain, so I was just going out and helping people get the fuck out of there. I had a house full of people for a week.”

For years now, there have been allegations that you guys all hate each other. Is the band still dysfunctional? Joey Jordison (drums): “Yeah, we are dysfunctional. But I mean, we all grew up together. Me and Mick [Thompson (sic), guitar] are like, best friends, and I used to detest that guy. We fuckin’ hated each other, man. And Shawn, me and him are probably the closest brothers in the whole band, but we probably get along the least because we love each other so much, and we control a lot of what goes on in Slipknot. We’re constantly butting heads. I remember right before Ozzfest, you could just cut the tension between me and him with a knife, it was so thick, and one day I left practice (sic) all pissed off, and I was saying, ‘Fuck off, I think I’m quitting.’ There we were, we just got the ticket, we were on our way to making it. That’s how fuckin’ stressed out we were. And literally – he’s a lot bigger than I am – Shawn flipped his kit over, came over to my drumset, ripped my stuff down and held me by the fuckin’ throat, and I grabbed his throat and went to punch him, and then the whole band dogpiled us. We’ve had lots of fights like that, real fistfights. But even though we still get into fights, we don’t let them last that long anymore. The band is just so intense. I mean, we’ve got nine extreme personalities here.”

That reminds me, on a scale on (sic) one to 10, how nuts is your DJ, Sid? He just told me that he’s a cyborg, and I think he really means it. Joey: “One to 10? Like, 13. Yeah, he’s crazy. You take 72 hits of acid in one weekend, it’s gonna fry your brain up a little bit.”

How do you guys balance all the side-projects with Slipknot? Joey: “It’s fuckin’ simple. Slipknot comes first.”

So it didn’t take any convincing to get everybody back to do a new album? Joey: “Well, it usually happens when the other bands sorta run their course. Certain people in the band decide not to do anything, they just chill out until the next Slipknot record. Me, I do a lot of work with other bands, but Slipknot’s my priority, and I’m glad to be back playing with these guys. The first day when we started rehearsal, usually people are laidback (sic), it was like headbang city man, and we were like, ‘Let’s just get out metal necks, let’s get that shit out of the way.’ It feels great, man. I’m happy.” Corey: “ I was completely stoked to do it. I’d actually started thinking of it and preparing for it on the Stone Sour tour. I just started filling notebooks with ideas. It got to the point where I had two notebooks full of stuff, and I was just ready to go. So as soon as the music was written and the demos started floating around, I was just like, ‘OK, this fits here and this fits here.’ I wasn’t rushing around to write lyrics, which a lot of guys do. I was very prepared and not only was I saying everything I wanted to say, but I was doing it in a way I was ecstatic about. I knew I wanted to go heavier, and I knew at the same time that I wanted to balance that with this melodic side that we had really tapped into. And the proof is there. I think this album is the best thing we’ve ever done, to be honest. I think it really shows the growth of the band and the maturity. But it’s still chaotic and heavy, but it’s still got those moments where you just go, ‘Holy fucking shit!’ Not only is it good, but the more you listen to it, the more you find. There’s a lot of layers, and that’s something that gets lost on a lot of people. There’s just so much thought and so much meaning behind everything we do. It’s not just shock for shock’s sake.”

What’s the theme for All Hope Is Lost (sic)? Umm, hopelessness by any chance? Corey: “It’s not a blatantly political or social album, and it’s not a blatantly angry album. I think the overwhelming theme, for me, is that none of us are the same, but none of us are different. We may change as people, but if we use the same energy to try and solve different problems, nothing is going to get accomplished. And that’s something that I think is lost on a lot of people.”

What was it like having Dave Fortman as a producer for this one? Joey: “Dave was great. It’s not like when we were recording with Rick Rubin – he was like an oracle. He would make these little tweaks from his house. He’d sit in this little library in his house, he’d sit there cross-legged with these prayer beads and he’d get a vibe, and he’d tell the engineer what to do. That was a weird way to record. But Dave, he was there every hour, every day. When we write songs, we tend to write really long like, [Metallica’s] …And Justice For All- type songs, nine or 10 minutes long. So we’d record the song like that, and Dave would help us chop it down. The thing with Dave is, that guy knows his tones. I finally got the best drum sound in my life. The guitar sound, the bass, the percussion… finally, we’ve got the Slipknot sound I’ve been wanting to hear my whole life.”

You’ve got new masks and new outfits, do you feel constrained at all by them? Corey: “No. We don’t only have these, but we have actual outfits that we put together ourselves. They’re still cohesive, but they’re a little more individualistic. We had started doing that on the last album. It’s part of our evolution. If you’re not evolving, you’re dying. No matter what the fucking fans on the websites say, nobody wants to see the same fucking shit over and over again. This time around, we felt it was very important that we are represented as individuals and not just as a band, as pieces of a puzzle. The new mask and outfits range from outrageous to very subtle. It’s a reflection of who we are. But we also kept the boiler suits, because we like to appear as a unit.”

You guys got saddled with the ‘nu metal’ tag early on. Obviously at this point you’ve overcome it… Corey: “There were a couple of bands that were good and that had a really good attitude. Snot comes to mind. That was an amazing band; I loved Snot. (hed)P.E. – their first couple of albums were amazing, because they had so much attitude, and it was so different. But then you had bands like Limp Wristed and all that crap, where it just got so watered down; the P.O.D.s, fuckin’ bands like that, where there was zero talent going on. It was frustrating being caught up in that, but at the same time, people don’t want to think outside of what they already know. They want their opinions forcefed (sic) to them. So if a magazine comes out and says we’re nu metal, than (sic) that’s what they’re going to say. It took us a long time to change people’s minds. We’re just a metal band. The people that wanted to write us off as a nu metal band weren’t our fans, they just didn’t know what to call us. We just got stronger and stronger and more willing to experiment and so they just didn’t know what we were. In that respect, we sort of created our own genre, and there’s a lot of bands that kinda take cues from us now. It’s kinda weird.”

Slipknot broke the ceiling for extreme metal bands making it in the mainstream. Did it shock you when it was happening? Corey: “At the time we didn’t even think about it, we were just real busy working. We were literally on the road for 18 months and saw home for maybe three weeks in that entire time. We were gone forever. But we knew that was going to happen, so we just put our heads down and did what we had to do, because we just refused to lose. So once we got that done we had time to take a breath. We were getting ready to start on the Iowa tour, and we just turned around and were like, ‘Woah! Look what we did. We’re fucking huge!’ We were playing this place that’s not even there anymore, it was called the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. It was set up like a mini-arena and it was just fucking gagged, fucking jammed with people. I remember walking out on stage and thinking, ‘Are we opening up for somebody? Where did all these fucking people come from?’ They knew every word, they knew everything, I remember coming off stage and just having this amazing smile on my face. I was like, ‘Something’s different. We’re not an opening band anymore.’ And I don’t think we’d ever be again, unless we were opening for somebody like Metallica. It was insane, it was probably the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life.” Joey: “It didn’t happen overnight, because we had to work so hard for it but… it happened overnight. We went on Ozzfest, and three weeks into it we’d sold 150,000 records. Every time we played, everybody – every fucking band, Black Sabbath included – was out there watching us. And we’re out for blood, we fucking hate everybody, just ‘Fuck you!’ That’s always been the Slipknot mentality. We love a lot of other bands, we love a lot of different music, but when it comes to us playing, we just don’t care. It’s your ass. People think it’s arrogant, and it is. We believe in our craft. We believe in Slipknot.”

The voice of the madness perhaps

It’s the nature of madness – it’s always searching for a brave face.

Always changing…

…always the same

It seeks its own martyrdom…

…and to be reborn

Yeah, very fucking profound. Don’t get mad, get eaten.

You want to give food for thought?

It’s just for the food for the maggots.

Th-that’s all, folks.

Is it tough accepting the fact that you have to wear a mask for the next year? Joey: “No, not at all. I’m ecstatic to be back and playing with the guys again. It’s home, man. We take breaks because Slipknot is not just music, it’s a force, it’s a lifestyle. It’s also like being in jail. You’re constricted. You have to be on your game every night to be in this band. The stuff is not easy to play anyway, but we’ve got the whole stage performance, playing in masks, it’s what every band goes through, but with nine guys it’s very intense. I mean, look at this – all nine guys are still together. All nine original guys are still here. What other band can say that?”

So, has anybody ever tried to get out? Joey: “No, no one ever has. That’s why at the end of a 15-month tour cycle, we’re just like, let’s take a break, work on some other projects, just relieve a little stress. But when we come back to Slipknot, it’s on, man. There’s no fucking around.”

So what can we expect from this next tour? Clown: “For one thing, we’re musical, man. I play the fucking drums, so get used to it. I’ve earned the right, I’ve done the time, I’ve been on the mountain with the kung fu masters, learning. If you can’t accept that, go play with the kids’ toys. I’ve worked really hard on my art for this one. I got my boy-scout medals and I’m in the deep woods with no tools, no tent, no nothing, and we’re playing survival, man. Just know that I’m the guy who eats the fucking shit raw, man. If there’s an animal, I’ll fucking eat it. This is fucking Slipknot. That’s what you can fucking expect.”

Is Slipknot meant to last forever, or do you have to write the end of this story? Clown: “You nailed it, man. I am in more pain than anyone could possibly ever know, because I have to find a way to finish this.” Joey: “I don’t think it’s our last record at all, but there’s something seriously going on with this record, that’s for sure. It’s like Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. It’s a climax.”

Is Slipknot like Kiss, where you could lose a member and just find somebody else to wear his mask? Clown: “No. If I left this band, we’d be done. If Joey Jordison left this band, we’d be done. All of us, if any of the guys in this band leave… See, it’s been out of our hands for a long time, since 1998. The world is just too dumb, too anti-art, to realise how important this is, to actually accept the truth that yes, if I left the band it’d be over. There could never be a drummer to replace me, man. We are The Nine. There is no one else.”

Nine long, tense, and occasionally violent hours later, Slipknot begin to slink out into the inky-black, dead-still Des Moines night. It’s a mere week until they begin headlining the Mayhem tour in the States, and that’s just the beginning. Once this album hits the streets, it is unlikely that any of them will see their homes again for at least a year, and probably longer. Although the band harbours the expected anxieties about their long-awaited return to the metal arena, the sprawling expansive All Hope Is Gone will probably be their biggest album ever. At this point the eldest members of the band are now approaching 40, while their fanbase still hovers around 18, and that’s the same sort of 18 Alice Cooper once sang about: the confused, angry, half-a-boy, half-a-man kind.

If any of The Nine hoped to escape their fates as the ringleaders of the tormented, those hopes are now dashed.

“Man, it’s fucking embarrassing,” Clown admitted earlier, when we asked him how it felt to be a dad playing teen-rage anthems.

“I’m just glad I’m not alone in this, with this fucking-metal-fucking-arena-rock-fucking-stage-pass-interview-fucking-photoshoot shit. I don’t care about it. Yes, my art has grown into a way of life, yes, there’s a lot of people that live their lives by it, but I’ve always told people, I don’t want to be on the cover of Metal Hammer, I want to be on the cover of National Geographic. I’ve always said that. I’m gonna be on the cover of Metal Hammer anyway, because that’s just what I fucking do. But I want to take you all on another journey, a fucking life journey, a painful journey. There’s a reason why Slipknot gets the people we get: because they’re lost. They’re lost, and they find their way to us. It’s like a cult, man,” he says, staring a hole right through us.

“A cult of fucking pain.”

There are those who say hope springs eternal. They have obviously never spent a day with Slipknot.

A Stitch In Time

A bluffer’s guide to The Nine.

92: Drummer Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray begin playing in a band together.

95: Joey Jordison joins Shawn and Paul, form Meld with guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh Brainard, and singer Anders Colsefini.

96: Donnie leaves the band due to religious beliefs and is replaced by Craig Jones. Meld change their name to Slipknot and begin wearing grotesque make-up and costumes. Craig Jons switches to sampler and Mick Thomson joins on guitar. Slipknot release their first self-released album, Mate.Feel.Kill.Repeat., on Halloween.

97: Corey Taylor replaces Anders on vocals. Chris Fehn joins the band as percussionist. Slipknot start wearing their trademark boiler suits and numbers.

98: DJ Sid Wilson joins the band. They sign to Roadrunner Records.

99: On June 29, the band releases Slipknot, their ‘official’ debut album, and join the Ozzfest tour.

00: Slipknot is certified Platinum.

01: Slipknot release their second album, Iowa, and do the Ozzfest tour again.

02: The band take a break, Corey Taylor revives Stone Sour, Joey Jordison forms Murderdolls. Slipknot attempt to write a follow-up to Iowa, but struggle with inner-band conflicts. Rumours of the band’s imminent break-up start to circulate in the media.

03: Slipknot rally and begin recording new album with producer Rick Rubin.

04: Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is released. It quickly goes Platinum. Yet another Ozzfest tour follows.

06: Slipknot win their first Grammy award in the category of Best Metal Performance for Before I Forget. Voliminal: Inside The Nine, a self-produced DVD documentary, is released.

08: All Hope Is Gone released. Chaos ensues.

Project Revolution

Slipknot members are known for their many side projects. Here’s a crib sheet.

Stone Sour

Corey Taylor (vocals) Jim Root (guitar Stone Sour were formed back in 1992 by Corey Taylor and have existed in one form or another ever since. The alt-metal/grunge band have released two albums on Roadrunner Records (Stone Sour in 2002 and Come What(ever) May in 2006), and have been nominated for a Grammy award three times. The band are currently on hold in light of the new Slipknot record, but plans for a third album are in the works.

Murderdolls

Joey Jordison (drums (sic)) A horror-themed glam-punk band with a penchant for fishnet tights and make-up formed in 2002 by Joey Jordison, the Murderdolls also featured former Frankenstein Drag Queens frontman Wednesday 13. The band released their debut album, Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls in 2002 and played together sporadically over the next two years. The band are currently on hiatus, and when asked about the possibility of further recordings, Joey stated: “There might be another album. We’re thinking about it.”

Ministry, etc

Joey Jordison (drums) During his off-hours, Joey keeps busy by filling in on drums for several notable acts, including nu metal pioneers Korn, who he played with at the 2007 Download Festival, Metallica, (Download 2004), and Ministry, who he toured with in the summer of 2006.

DJ Starscream

Sid Wilson Sid Wilson’s day job is as a leading Jungle musician. As Starscream he’s released a host of singles and remixes on the Japanese label N20.

Dirty Little Rabbits

Shawn Crahan (drums) Shawn’s other side-project is a swirly mix of psychedelia and 90s style alt-rock. The band has yet to release an album. Dirty Little Rabbits supported Stone Sour on their 2006-07 US tour.

Dum Fux

Corey Taylor (guitar, vocals) A tongue-in-cheek cover band that plays everything from Flock Of Seagulls to The Stooges. Current status: active.

Audacious P

Corey Taylor (vocals, guitar) Perhaps the world’s only Tenacious D cover band. Currently on hiatus.

To My Surprise

Shawn Crahan (drums) A sun-dappled 60s rock-style band, To My Surprise were signed to Roadrunner Records and released their debut, self-titled album in 2003. It was executive produced by Rick Rubin. The band are on hiatus.

Roadrunner United

Joey Jordison (drums) Paul Gray (bass) Jim Root (guitar) This was a one-off album project put together to celebrate Roadrunner Records’ 25th anniversary. Roadrunner United featured 18 ‘supergroups’ made up of various Roadrunner alumni. Slipknot’s Joey, Jim and Paul played on several of the tracks, along with Type O Negative’s Pete Steele, King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque, and Cradle Of Filth bassist Dave Pybus, among others. The Roadrunner United album was released in 2005.

#slipknot #shawn crahan #corey taylor #joey jordison #interview #metal hammer summer 2008

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