Ahh. Gotcha

Would you consider the damsel in a tower trope to be a dead unicorn? It’s obviously overused in old fairy tales and hasn’t really been used as a serious plot point since then, but I thought dead unicorns were ‘perceived tropes’ that were never actually popular despite now being the butt of parodies and subversions.

Thanks! I tried to tow the line between cheesy-cringey and wholesome-romantic. It was fun to write, so I'm glad you enjoyed it too!

Angelica traced a line down my sternum with her fingernail as we cuddled in bed, the faint light of a Saturday morning peeking down through the skylight in the bedroom. “Baby?” she asked, an air of playfulness to her tone.

“Yes Angel?” I asked as I shifted my arm slightly; it was pinned beneath her shoulder blade and starting to fall asleep.

“Do you love me?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“I do love you,” I assured her.

She smiled warmly and nuzzled me. “Mmm.” After a few moments, I felt a tug on my ear lobe. “Baby?” she asked again. “If I was a cat, would you still love me?”

“If you were I cat, I would love you.”

Angelica curled her fingers and pressed her knuckles against my cheek softly. “Meow.” I chuckled at her and placed my hand against hers, pulling her knuckles over to my lips, and I kissed them gently. She continued. “Baby… if I was a horse, would you still love me?”

“If you were a horse… when I saw you, I would say: ‘HAY! … I love you.’ And I would brush your hair and even clean out your stall for you.”

Angelica snorted at that, sounding somewhat like a horse but I don’t think that was her intention. “Gross, you would clean up my poop?”

“I’m used to dealing with your shit already,” I said with a wink.

Her mouth hung open with feigned shock, though she couldn’t hide her grin. “Asshole!” she gasped playfully, slapping me in the chest.

I laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

Angelica giggled some more and then we both sighed, happy and comfortably wasting away the morning with our pillow talk. Then her face changed, a hint of seriousness creasing her brow. “Baby?” she asked.

“Yes, dear?” I answered.

“… Would you still love me, even if I was a Wyrm?”

“Even if you were a little worm, I would steal every one of your hearts, and I would put you in the nicest dirt,” I promised her. Angelica didn’t answer this time. “… Everything okay? Hmm.. well technically worms don’t have hearts, they just have aortic arches, but I’d still…” I trailed off as I noticed she still wasn’t smiling, and didn’t even seem to be gearing up for a response to my worm trivia. “Babe?” I asked.

“… What if I wasn’t a little worm? What if I was a big worm?”

“Then I guess I’d need more dirt.”

“… with teeth…”

I raised my eyebrows. “Teeth?”

“… and maybe wings… and some scales?”

“And wings, and some scales?” I echoed. Angelica just nodded. I thought for a moment, picturing the creature she had described; pretty much a dragon at this point. “… Then I would roll a natural twenty to seduce you… and then I’d plunder your cave! Mwah-ha-ha!” I laughed, rolling on top of Angelica and tickling her.

She shrieked. “EEek! Nooo! Don’t tickle me!” she laughed, and after few more pokes for good measure, I rolled back over. I laid there for a little bit, and then sat up with a sigh and slid my feet out from the covers. Angelica twisted underneath the sheets, pulling the now excess blankets further around her like a cocoon. “You already did,” she said softly.

“What?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Rolled a natural twenty to seduce me…” A sly grin curled across her lips. “And plundered my ‘cave’.”

I felt my ears get hot, but before I could respond with something clever or playful, an odd feeling gripped me. I frowned and stood up from the bed, my feet kicking some loose change that was strewn across the floor… quite a bit of loose change, now that I looked again. Piles, even. Turning my head upwards, I peered at the skylight. It was quite large, not to mention how odd it was to have a skylight in a bedroom in the first place. I squinted my eyes, and saw for the first time some scratch or claw marks around the edges of the skylight.

“Is something wrong?” Angelica asked. I looked back to her, concern set on my face. She returned the expression, though I saw her nose twitch involuntarily. “Baby, what is ih… ih… iiihachoo!” she sneezed, and a gout of flame rushed from her nose and mouth, blanketing the room in a golden-orange glow for a moment. “Ah! Excuse me… ugh,” she apologized, rubbing her nose.

“Angelica…” I started, and she looked to me expectantly. “… Are you… a dragon?”

She just stared at me for a few moments before snickering. “No silly… I’m a Wyrm, like I said.”

“………….. Ohhh! Wyrm… not worm…” I realized.

“Uh huh,” Angelica nodded. Silence reigned for a few seconds. I scratched my head, and then saw worry start to darken Angelica’s expression. “So… do you still lo-“ she started, but I interrupted her promptly.

“So… What do you want for breakfast Angel?”

r/TheCornerStories

It’s saying that your perception of the world is often a function of the attitude and intentions you enter it with. People who are kind and selfless often inspire or compel other people to do the same, either in return directly or in passing it forwards. People that put out that good energy often also see the benefits and are open to receiving kindness from other.

It’s not 100% foolproof obviously, and there’s still a lot about the world that’s awful, but whether you’re in the ‘there’s hope for humanity’ camp or the ‘burn it all down, humans are irredeemable’ camp often correlates to the way you treat other people yourself.