#Here's some personal details for no one to care about

[verstappenverse]

Pairing: Camgirl!Reader x Obsessed!Max

Authors Note: NSFW still working on the details for the upcoming fic but having fun with the concept. Let me know what you think or send any additional ideas 😉

Max can’t remember how he found your page—maybe it was a suggested post on Instagram, or maybe some random link caught his attention. It doesn’t matter how it started, what matters is that now he’s addicted.

At first it's just curiosity, he wasn’t the type to watch cam streams or really spend any time on adult content, but something about you was different. You weren’t like the over-the-top, hyper-curated content he’d expect from this kind of thing. You were sweet, soft-spoken, almost shy in the way you interacted with the camera. And Max sitting alone in his Monaco penthouse couldn’t look away.

He tells himself it’s just a passing distraction, a way to unwind, but then he starts getting… attached. His obsession grows quietly at first. He subscribes to your page, buys your exclusive content, and sets notifications for your streams. It doesn’t matter if he’s at a racetrack, a sponsor event, or a hotel halfway across the world - when you post about your next stream, he checks the time difference and tries to plan his schedule around it.

The first time someone else drops a high tip and you thank them by name, Max feels it. That sharp, irrational sting of jealousy. He knows it’s stupid, he’s one of thousands of viewers, but the way you smile for them? It makes him want to punch a wall. So he does the only thing that makes sense - he outbids them.

When you say his username in that soft, teasing tone and add “Thank you so much, you’re incredible!”—it’s like a shot of adrenaline straight to his chest.

It starts small a few high donations here and there, but soon enough he finds himself spending more of his income on you than he’d ever care to admit. From there it spirals, he’s tipping more, requesting more, even messaging you privately. You respond graciously of course, you always do, but Max convinces himself that your replies to him are different. More personal.

Custom videos, private streams - whatever gets him a little closer to feeling like he’s the only one you’re looking at. He tells himself it’s harmless. He can afford it after all.

It doesn’t take long before his obsession starts creeping into the rest of his life. Between races, he’s refreshing your page to see if you’ve posted. During long-haul flights, he’s watching your videos on repeat. Even at the paddock while his team is running simulations or tweaking the car setup he catches himself checking for notifications.

There are nights he barely sleeps staying up to catch you live, even if he has an early training session the next day. Between races he’ll watch your older streams on repeat, memorising the way you speak, the way you smile. Max knows he’s in too deep, but he can’t stop. He doesn’t want to stop.

His spending ramps up. When someone else tries to steal the spotlight in your chat, he doesn’t just outbid them—he obliterates them. He’s dropping tips that make everyone else look like amateurs, just to keep your attention squarely on him. And it works. His messages get bolder and more desperate too.

I can’t stop thinking about how good you’d look in my bed.

It’s torture watching you touch yourself, knowing I could make you feel so much better.

Tell me I’m your favourite, just once.

You should be sitting on my lap right now instead of talking to them.

Do you know how hard it is to sit here and watch you, knowing I can’t touch you?

The things I’d do to you if you were mine… you wouldn’t be able to walk the next day. Your lips part in surprise at that one, and you quickly cover your flustered reaction with a laugh. “Well, that’s… quite the statement,” you say, trying to keep your voice steady. I never make promises I can’t keep.

But it’s not enough.

The idea of being just another fan starts to gnaw at him. Max Verstappen isn’t “just another” anything. But Max is nothing if not competitive, and the idea of being just another fan doesn’t sit well with him for long. He’s used to winning, to being first, to having the best. He wants to be the one you think about when the stream ends.

He wants to know you in ways the others never could. Where you live, what you liked to do when the camera was off, whether anyone in your life treated you as well as you deserved.

What would it take for me to get your attention?

And when you reply, laughing softly, “You’ve already got it,” it’s game over for him.

Max is playing a dangerous game. Balancing his life as one of the most recognisable athletes in the world with his growing obsession for someone who doesn’t even know who he really is. But that’s the thing about Max - when he wants something he gets it. And right now, there’s nothing in the world he wants more than you.

[absoluteocellibehavior]

THIS IS THE ONE I'VE BEEN WAITING FORRRRRR!!!

NOEL AS JUDGEMENT!! LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!! Ok, so Judgement is the second to last card in the major arcana. You are nearing completion with this card. Judgement is all about taking the past experiences you've had and moving forward positively with them. It's also about undergoing a period of healing from past negative experiences. Both of these Noel has going in spades. Noel's life has been less than easy. Hell, his life has been turmoil since the jump. Between losing his best friend in the war, to seeing the last remains of his private investigating partner ripped apart before his eyes, to being tortured by the King in Yellow for 10 years, Noel would have every reason to be cynical and hateful towards life. However, Noel is not this way. While his over-social tendencies could be argued as a part of Noel's persona of his best friend, it's very clear that Noel is a compassionate and caring person from how he treats Arthur and especially through how he treats John. He is using the hurt and pain from his past in order to move forward positively. In a more direct way, Noel in past had promised Lorick that he would help Arthur now in the present. So, that in of itself is using experiences in the past to proceed in the present. Noel is characterized as being quick witted, clear-thinking, and experienced which is why he is such an asset to Arthur and John.

Which is why his depiction in this is so tasty... <3

Take a look at him. Does he look certain to you? Does he look decisive to you? If you said no, then you're on the right track. Murky waters and foggy skies are clear indications in Reiki sessions that the person is feeling conflicted, confused, apprehensive, unclear, nervous, etc etc. Both of these are depicted in this card. Clouds appear the most in the Suit of Swords in the minor arcana which represent thoughts, intellect, and generally the Mind. When you have clouds, you have foggy/cloudy/unclear thinking. As another fun detail, clouds generally represent imagination, thoughts, and DREAMS! Yes, dreams! You know who else has a lot to do with dreams? Well, let's take a look at the water there. Water in tarot generally represents the emotions, intuition, and the subconscious. Yes, sure. Noel has been able to move on from the King in Yellow and has attempted to put together a resemblance of normalcy in his life afterwards in the City that Never Sleeps. But! But <3. Take a look at this quote from Season 4 Part 40 I:

Up until this point, Noel has been confident, guiding, and focused. However, when he is confronted head on with his past with the King in Yellow, all of that is lost. He becomes unsure, nervous, and irrational. He puts on a display of still being able to think clearly but it is obvious that he is not based on their encounter with the Grand Vizier. I do give him the credit that he becomes more confident later on, but we can't discredit how this is affecting him. That is why he see this in the card. He's focusing on the murky waters. He's focusing on the King in Yellow dipping into his subconscious with those tendrils closing in on him in the depths. That past coming back to haunt him. As we know in Part 40 II, The King in Yellow is able to take over Noel's weak subconscious at this moment and causes him to leap off of the balcony. He can't see the light of the Moon or the Sun. His trust that things will work out and his hope is slipping. He's wrapped up in the cloudy, murkiness that surrounds him.

Throughout this entire season, Arthur has eclipsed John shown by the Moon eclipsing the Sun here. It's an Arthur heavy season with Arthur growing and reaching out for allies and help beyond John. However, this also left John in the dark leading to some... unsavory decisions (*cough* *cough* nearly killing Oscar *cough*). However, Noel is the one that breaks that in this season. He talks directly to John. He makes John feel heard. To feel like a piece in things again. Most importantly, Noel forgives John in Part 40. While he doesn't have the knowledge that John was in the book while Noel was being tortured by the King in Yellow, Noel has an intimate understanding that John is something wholly his own and attempting to work towards good. You know what's another big association with Judgement? Mmhm. Forgiveness. Remember who is ultimately able to save Noel in Part 40? That's right. John. John is able to shine forth against Yellow and grab onto to Noel to pull him and Arthur back onto the balcony. He is able to shake Noel from this cloudy, dark thought and provide him with clarity. That's why you see that little shine of the Sun breaking forth from the Moon <3. However, the moment that Noel is able to gain his clarity and hope back... he's shot in the neck by Larson. As much as I want that star shape on his neck to be some sort of representation of Oscar... it's representing that impending shot to the neck (Potato Lord, when I get you! When I get you, Potato Lord- /ref).

LET'S GET BACK TO THE FUN STUFF BECAUSE I AM NOW SAD-

Color schemes, my dears. Color schemes. You notice that Arthur and John's cards are warm toned, while Noel's and Oscar's are cool toned? THAT'S RIGHT! JARTHUR AND HOLY GHOSTS!! However, you see their relationships, these color schemes tie those characters together. Arthur and John's ties are clear. Noel and Oscar are bound by their help that they provided for John and Arthur in addition to a popular thought that they two continue their work together after the events of Season Four. In addition to all of this, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, and Judgement are all cards that appear back to back. They are close to one another and therefore their meanings are in addition in relation to one another. The previous three seem clear but without the experience and delving into those three cards, you don't have the fullness of your past experiences to move forward or the reveling in how far you've come when reaching Judgement. Remember that the Major Arcana tells a story of the journey of the Fool, the first card. The cards echo the stories of the ones that come before them and influence the experience of the next. Those four are tied to one another. Oscar kick-starts Arthur's journey in Season Four. Noel is one of the last ones that Arthur is with at the end of Season Four. His... disappearance happens right before the completion of Season Four and the beginning of another arc. Remember how Judgement is the second to last card in the major arcana? Well, the card that comes next is The World. A completion. A finalization. A close. And then the narrative begins again with The Fool. Again with Faroe. Carrot and Stick, remember? One of the motivations for the search for the Black Stone in Season Five. This narrative has finished. And another one begins again…

From the top, shall we?

XX Judgement

Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see

[revelboo]

any updates on our prehistoric friend?

being kidnapped by a metal dinosaur is the dream of some, nightmare of others I'd assume XD. and an induced fever dream for the Grimlock fans. lol

Sure! Yeah, his human isn’t loving it right now

Shiver Pt 3

Grimlock x Reader

• That soft voice chains the confusion and anger, making him feel more like himself. Like before. Venting against you, he tips his head and carefully grips your leg in his jaws to tug you closer. And no matter how careful he is, you start screaming again and kick him in the face with the other leg. Growling a warning, he ducks his head and gets a better grip on your torso and carries you to the door of the cabin, head lowering to gently drop you as you scramble away until you hit the door. Nudging you gently, he vents again. “Run, Grimlock chase,” he warns, tail swaying behind him. Because there’s an appeal in that, in running you down and catching you again. Backing up slightly, he watches you stand and fumble at the door. Yelping when you get it open and nearly fall inside, the door slamming behind you. Huffing, he curls himself about the cabin.

• Foot sliding, you stagger and almost fall. There’s enough light filtering in from the holes in the rotten roof to see that you stepped on a handful of spent shell casings. Heart racing, little details snag at you. The little table overturned near the door. Sheets dragged into the floor near the army style cot in a corner. A dropped box of shells, unused ones littering the floor. Shuddering, you make your way to the cot. Who’d been here before you? Did they get away? There’s not much useful left behind despite the previous owner leaving in a hurry, but you do find a battery powered lantern and turn it on. Skin prickling as you catch a glimpse of Grimlock outside the one window, those baleful yellow optics staring while you drag the cot into the very center of the room and cover the thin moldering mattress with the sheets so you can sit on it. Staring at the closed door and wondering how far you’d get. He has to sleep sometime. Right?

• Drifting in and out of recharge, he’s dimly aware of a branch cracking in the woods. A distant crash. Those spindly four legged things running from another hunter? Lip lifting to show sharp denta, he rumbles. He’s chased them sometimes, always letting them escape. Fun, but they can’t speak to him like you can. Knows you’re frightened, but he just wants someone to talk to even though it’s so hard for him. Someone who doesn’t only see a weapon to be wielded in an endless war.

• A scream rings out in the night and your breath catches. A cougar or panther? You’ve always heard they sound like a person screaming. But then you hear someone scream for ‘help’ and your heart races. Dust rains down on you as Grimlock moves against the cabin and then roars to make you clap your hands over your ears, the lantern hitting the floor and rolling. There’s a crash from outside. Screaming, roaring, and explosions. The military come to the rescue? Except the sounds eventually die down and you shudder as Grimlock’s optic appears at the window, searching until he finds you. Did he just eat someone?

• Good. Still there, staring up at him with wide eyes. Venting, he rubs his muzzle against the side of the cabin to make it creak. Still irritated at the Insecticons invading his space. They’d been chasing a little human, but he’d let them take them, unwilling to pursue and possibly lose his own. Tries not to think about what might become of that human, because there’s something very wrong with the Insecticons. A ravenous hunger and willingness to devour anything and everything. Not just energon. Saving that human might mean losing you, though. And he needs that soft voice of yours to help him think. Keep him calm.

Previous

[sprinklenoodles]

I think that out of all 3 movies, Sonic 1 Robotnik is my fav if we don’t look at the fact that he’s supposed to be, well, Robotnik. Like, sure, he’s not the most game accurate, but if we don’t look at that, I do just like him better.

In the first movie he obviously hasn’t gone crazy just yet. But not just that, he seems more rational, more confident. He doesn’t want revenge like in the second movie nor is it like anything in the third movie, he is just interested. There’s an alien on Earth and he wants to get to know all about it.

And while he is technically working for the government, it’s clear he couldn’t care less about that. He does his own thing and sees them as nothing but idiots- well, with the exception for one… for the most part.

It’s clear that before Sonic he had never lost, that he had never failed. He truly was the smartest person on Earth, and nobody could stop him or even try to contain him. If anything, it’s a wonder he’s working for the government in the first place.

And then there’s his relationship with Stone because of course I have to talk about that too. We don’t see a lot of them, especially Stone just sorta… disappears, but their dynamic is really interesting, especially when they’re around others.

Like, Agent or not, but we see from the very start that Stone is loyal to Robotnik, immediately ‘translating’ for him. And then Robotnik asks if he ‘can feel it’. It’s a very small thing, but we can clearly see that Robotnik values Stone more than anybody else, at least from what we’ve seen so far.

And then when we see Robotnik analysing Sonic’s footprint, he explains everything to Stone, even moving out of the way so he can see it clearly. He does also insult Stone is this scene, yet it seems more… mild compared to the insults he gives to other characters, something that continues for the rest of the movie.

Stone is also always next to him. Not behind him like all of the other agents, but always next to him. It’s a small detail for sure, but one I did just want to point out.

And honestly, there’s even more than that. I could most definitely go into more dept if you guys want, but I also want some sleep, so… Gonna have to leave it here for today. I just really like his character in Sonic 1, mostly because it’s just so different from the Robotnik we have almost everywhere else.

[chipikliiilboy]

CLOUD TOWER!

༄ ‧₊ This is an alternative universe of our favorite "pizza tower". I can tell you for sure, the personality traits of some characters have been changed, which I think is logical. The universe does not just change the appearance and environment of the characters, but also the situation, the relationships between the characters and so on. There is NO clear antagonist, the characters are not divided into "bad" and "good". IMPORTANT DETAIL! No one is negative towards each other! Keep this in mind.

"The three friends consisting of Peppino, Gustavo and Mr. Stick find themselves in a cloud kingdom, or as it is commonly called, the «Dream Kingdom». This is a place where there is an eternally calm atmosphere, a pleasant, harmonious melody for the ear with notes stretching out as if light as a feather. Keyboard instruments, brass, strings. At night, stars shine over the island, resembling a gold bar. You can take them right in your hands, feeling the sharp edges and smooth surface, as if this is the very star that is hung on the Christmas tree. In this place, the spirit of magic, fairy tales about fantasy, simple children's stories, a lullaby that your mother reads to you reigns. Delicate pink and orange clouds blow on you from behind while you admire this view."

Peppino, Gustavo and Mr. Stick do not change their personalities and remain the same as in the original version of the game. BRICK - This is one of Cloudhead's sheep, who showed great interest in Gustavo as soon as he saw him. Not much to say, but he… Sleeps very softly. Yeah. PEPPERMAN - Now this is STARMAN (Also nicknamed Starlet by Cloudface). The main artist of the kingdom and part-time best friend of Cloudface. Many of the paintings in the castle are his. The character has not changed much, but I would say that he is more shy in his work, and among the paintings of the BEAUTIFUL himself, there are many landscapes, portraits and so on. The guy often shows interest in other types of art, but as soon as he sees that someone else is better at it (especially his best friend), his hands drop sharply. A strong sense of envy, I would say. VIGILANTE - A loyal guardian of the kingdom. One of the few people Cloud can trust to guard the entrance to his chambers (which are a very important place to him).

THE NOISE & NOISETTE - Moon and Sun, Yin and Yang. Just a cute couple like in the game, lol. FAKE PEPPINO - A hallucination of Peppino that haunts him after a terrible sleep disorder. What's weird is that others can see him too, but this is a fantasy world so pffft. PIZZAHEAD - His new name is Cloudhead! He's a sheep herder who is also Cloudface's son. He's the first one to notice Peppino in the dream kingdom when he was fast asleep on one of his sheep. He's less annoying here, if that's what you could call him. A kind soul with a very calm personality, albeit an overly positive one.

PIZZAFACE — Cloudface or Cloud for short. The star of this au, I guess… Basically, he was the first one to be created, and others were created in his image. He is the king of this cloud island and also part-time the one who gives you pleasant gentle dreams at night. I mean, he rarely and little sleeps, which is why his head is spinning a little. An ardent character, mood swings. Despite all this, he is quite a caring and gentle person, friendly, although these traits of his character may not always hover on the surface.

a couple of drawings that I can add to all this.

Cloud has a concept with a body in principle, so I'll throw it in here too. Damm… That's all from me.

[judesdrabbles]

The Cure (part IV)

As you agree to go home with Vincent after a rough night, things unfold differently than you thought they would.

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

A/N: this is the last part of the series! I’ll continue to write other one shots / headcanons / series for Vincent and other oc’s, so if you have any suggestions or commissions don’t be afraid to ask! <3

word count: 2.5K

warnings: nsfw!!, yandere, obsessive tendencies, sexual themes, misuse of power position, foul language, afab reader, fingering, overstimulation

The hum of the car engine was a low, soothing backdrop as Vincent drove trough the quiet streets. You stared out the window, watching the city lights blur together. The adrenaline from earlier had faded, leaving you with a hollow ache in your chest. The remainder of the alcohol in your system was wearing off, too. In summary: you felt like shit.

Vincent glanced at you, his knuckles tight on the steering wheel. 'You're quiet.' He says. 'Are you alright?'

You hesitated, biting your lip. 'I don't know if 'alright' is the word I'd use. Tonight was embarrassing. Humiliating.'

His brow furrowed. 'You have nothing to be embarrassed about. What happened tonight was out of your control.'

You shook your head, still staring out the window. 'No, it’s not just that. It’s the whole reason I even went out tonight, you know.' You pause. 'Vincent, I've been stuck in this.. rut. So I thought, why not? Go out, have a few drinks, meet someone, and well, maybe even-..' You stopped yourself, your cheeks heating up as you realized what you were about to say to your own psychiatrist, none the less.

Vincent's eyes flicked to you briefly before returning to the road. 'Maybe even what?' He asked. He knew exactly what. He just wanted to hear you say it.

You exhale sharply. 'To- uh.. get laid. Forget everything for a while.'

The silence that followed was deafening. You glanced at him, unsure of what to expect. His jaw was clenched, and his hands gripped the wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. He didn’t speak for several long moments, and when he finally did, his voice was low, almost strained.

'And, did it work?' he asked. 'Did you.. find what you were looking for?'

You let out a hollow laugh. 'Obviously not. I ended up in a dark alley with a creep instead. Guess that's what I get for being desperate.'

Vincent didn't have a lot to remark. You didn't expect him to.

The rest of the drive was oddly quiet.

'We're here.' Vincent said after a while, parking his car in his driveway and turning off the engine. He led you into his spacious house, a place so pristine and meticulously arranged it almost felt cold. Every detail was flawless: the lines of the furniture, the faint scent of wood polish in the air, the sharp angles. It felt like him- controlled, ordered, and yet, beneath it, something kind-of human, if not a little fractured. 'I'll get you some water. Go sit, I'll be back.'

The hollow ache in your chest tightened up again as you look at him walk to the kitchen.

Why did he care so much?

It was like everything hit you all at once.

He was just your psychiatrist.

Why did he even invite you in the first place? Fight that random man? Why was he quiet whenever you talked about your love life? He always seemed to go out of his way for you. He was a cold and stoic man. Then why does he care so much? He wasn't supposed to.

You sit down on his couch as you stare at the walls. You feel like you could burst open.

And then was that guy, that guy from the alleyway.. Why didn't you do more? Scream louder? Why did you freeze back there?

'Here is your wa-'

'I let it happen. Why did I just let it happen?’ You blurt out.

Vincent stops in his tracks, standing still with two glasses of water in his hands.

'I'm sorry?'

'I let it happen- I..' You stand up. 'I didn't do shit. I could've screamed, I could've kicked. I was frozen. I was useless.. What kind of person just.. lets that happen, Vincent?'

Vincent puts down both of the glasses on a nearby coffee table. Then, he walks over to you.

'Don’t do this. Don’t twist this around and make it about something you did wrong.' He says sternly, his voice piercing trough you. 'You didn't let anything happen. You were scared. That’s normal. That’s human.' He drags a hand through his perfectly combed hair, mussing it in a way that looked unnatural on him. 'You’re not a machine, Y/N. You don’t have to be perfect, to know exactly what to do in any situation.’

'Perfect.' You echoed bitterly. 'That's funny coming from you.' The words tumbled out before you could stop them. Vincent expression shuttered, his lips forming a thin line.

'I know what you're trying to say.' He says, his voice tight but still calm. 'And, yes, you're right. I.. do like to have everything.. perfect. I used to think that was the only way I could keep everything under control.’ He glances around the neat room, the perfectly arranged books in the bookshelves; the tables empty, no dust; everything spotless like no one lives in his house. ‘But it doesn't work like that.'

You feel tears bubbling up. No. Not now.

'Why do you even care so much anyway, Vincent?' You let out. 'You're my psychiatrist, for Christ's sake. I'm not supposed to be here. Were not.. supposed to have this conversation.'

Vincent's eyes flickered with something, and for a moment, you thought he was going to walk away.

'Because I care about you, Y/N.’ He says after a while. ‘Not only during our sessions. Outside of it. More than I'd like to admit. More than I should. And more than is.. appropriate. I wish I could have control over that instead. But I don’t.’

Your breath caught in your throat, his confession hanging in the air. You furrowed your brow and stand up, walking over to him. You look up at him. He looks down at you. And for the first time since you met him all those weeks ago- you see something else in his eyes.

Insecurity.

'Oh..' you let out softly. Everything suddenly made sense.

You let him see you- know you. Week after week, you had laid open your feelings, all your secrets, bare to him. Only for him to unfold. Only for him to hear. And he was always there. Not only during your sessions, but after. When your car broke down, when a shady guy followed you, when you needed him- he was there.

'Y/N.' Vincent whispers softly, as if trying to pry you away from your thoughts. 'Will you let me show you how much I care?'

You were dumbfounded, but on the other hand, relieved. The hollow ache in your chest slowly disappeared on itself.

You nod slowly. ‘Okay.. Show me.'

The words seemed to break something in him. He got rid of the only space left between you, raising one of his hands and resting it softly on top of your cheek. His thumb brushed across your skin, holding you like you were something fragile.

This is what he had wanted. You were so perfect.

His resolve crumbled as he leaned in. His lips were tentative at first, brushing against yours as if testing the waters. But the moment you responded; tilting your head and getting closer, something in him snapped.

He cradled the back of your head as he pressed his lips against you. It was warm. Persistent.

With an undercurrent of desperation.

You kiss him back, clutching on his shirt as his other hand rests on your back, his thumb tracing soft circles against your skin, anchoring you to the moment. When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against yours, his breaths ragged. 'Tell me to stop,' he murmured, his voice hoarse. 'If this isn’t what you want, tell me, and I’ll stop.'

You shake your head. 'Don't stop. Please.'

Something in his eyes lit up when he heard you say 'please'. In that sweet, sweet voice. It was dangerous.

His hands tighten on your waist as he as he pushes you softly on the couch with him. You had never expected him to be this gentle.

But he was.

Only for you.

He kisses you again, and this time deeper, more insistent. With one hand cupping your cheek, he breaks the kiss apart to look at you. He was hovering above you, while you were basically melting into his touch.

'Y/N.' He says softly, as if tasting your name. 'You are so beautiful like this.' His fingers brushed over your cheek; you were getting red, panting softly.

There was so much that you wanted to say, yet you couldn't. Vincent's dark hair was disheveled and looming over you. He had always been handsome. You just never let yourself accept that.

'I don't know what to say, I-..'

'Shh, shh.' He said, pressing a finger to your lips. 'Then say nothing, sweetheart. I'll take care of you.'

His lips find your neck, nipping softly at it as he draws out a moan from your mouth. His hands find the hem of your sweater, slithering under it to grip on your soft flesh. His fingers were so gentle- so skilled. His eyes find its way back to you as his hands go higher, up to reach your breasts. He brushes softly against your nipple, as you let out a whine. Shit- It had been way too long since someone touched you. But no one ever touched you like this. Looking at you like you were literally the last woman on Earth, like there was only you. Time seemed to blur, the world outside fading away until there was only Vincent- the way his body fit against you, the way his whispered assurances made you feel like maybe, just maybe, you could let go of the doubts and let yourself be wanted.

'You're so gorgeous when you moan for me,' he says as he gets bolder, pinching one of your nipples between his fingers. He never wanted to let go. Never wanted to get off off you again. What did he do to deserve such a perfect woman, right here, on his couch?

'Vincent- fuck..' You let out when he rolled your nipples between his fingers again. 'Please don't stop- I.. I really.. want you.'

'Hmm?' A smirk on his face appeared. A genuine smirk. 'You're begging already? That's so sweet.' He leans in, bites softly on your earlobe and then whispers: 'I won't stop, okay? I'll make you feel so good. You deserve it.'

One of his hands stayed clasped around your breast, fondling it and teasing it while the other went out from under your sweater to your pants, unzipping them. 'Up.' He just says. You comply, and he takes off your pants until you're left on his couch with only your underwear covering you.

His other, warm hand disappear from your breasts and you're left with a cold feeling. 'Vincent..' You didn't care that you were sounding whiney. You wanted this man.

'Shh, I'll come back. Don't you want me here, too?' He says, smiling as one of his hands cup your heat. You blush; you were already basically dripping, and he didn't even touch you properly yet.

'Mhm..'

'Good.' He presses a soft kiss on your forehead, then lowers himself to line up his head between your thighs. He looks up at you, his dark eyes piercing trough you like knives. While planting soft kisses on your inner thigh, he lets his hand roam to your pussy. He was not pulling your underwear back. Not yet. He finds your clit and start to rub circles trough the fabric.

You moan loudly, feeling embarrassed as you try to cover your mouth He knew exactly what he did.

'No, no, no..' He says, taking your hand away gently while continuing to rub your clit. 'Don't. I want to hear you.'

The wet patch in your underwear only grows as Vincent finally decides to take it off, to stop the teasing. 'May I?' He says as he slips it off, hovering over your heat with his mouth.

You nod quickly. 'Yes, please.. you make me feel so good.'

A low groan escapes Vincent's mouth. 'Darling, you have no idea..' He delves in, starting to suck on your clit while tasting you.

You tasted so divine- How could he go his entire life without seeing you like this, melting under his touch, moaning under him? Where were you all this time? Oh, he'll make sure to make up for the lost time. It's the least he could do for you.

His mouth latched onto your clit. It made you tense, pleasure building up as one of his fingers start to tease your wet slit. He ate you out like you would expect him to: methodically, rhythmically. All the while keeping eye contact. Staring at you with dark, lust-filled eyes.

Two of his fingers push past your slit as your walls clench around it. You felt so warm- so good. Whenever his tongue wasn't lapping up your juices, he would repeat quiet praises to you.

'You are doing so good for me, sweetheart. You're so beautiful. You'll cum for me, hm?'

And then you felt it approaching, rapidly, like a dam breaking.

'Vincent- I'm gonna cum..-'

'Cum for me, sweetheart.'

You pant as your walls clench around his fingers. You cum all around them as Vincent continues to eat you out to prolong your orgasm. It was nothing like you had ever felt, and when you came down from the high, you felt your muscles relaxing and you let out a long sigh.

Vincent kisses your inner thigh before licking off your juices from his fingers, savoring the taste. He then sits down next to you on the couch, his hands wrapping around your waist, tilting you up to sit on his lap. Your wet cunt stained his perfectly neat pants, but he didn't mind. Not if it was you.

'I could get used to this.' You say after a while as he runs his fingers trough your hair. You hesitate, but then you lay down on his chest, your arms wrapped around his shoulders.

'Mmm. You better.' He says, his voice low. He had you. Finally. Right where he wanted. In his arms. In his home. Together. He kisses the crown of your head.

'Never knew my stoic doctor would be such a good kisser. On both lips.' You tease softly, feeling a certain something grow in his pants.

'Oh, yeah?' He gently tilts your chin towards him. 'Well, there are more things I'm surprisingly good at. Let me show you, hm?'

He wasn’t done with you yet; far from it. He was only done when you were a limp mess on his couch, and then he would continue to finger fuck you while you whimpered desperately on his lap. He wanted you to think of him, and only him, nothing and no one else.

‘Ah, hush, sweetheart. You can take more.’

[plutoschiild]

it makes me so happy to think about an AU where atem is not a 3000 year old spirit trapped inside a puzzle, but a 3000 year old spirit trapped inside .. a cat body . it would make him so silly, because wdym you were once a pharaoh, a mighty leader, treated like a literal god in this earth, having the knowledge to all the existing games and controlling shadow magic and now you're here melting with some pets behind you ears??

i like to imagine that yugi found him after completing the millennium puzzle, yes, but they meet during a moment where atem is in danger and yugi rescues him. like yugi completes the millennium puzzle -> atem wakes up confused in domino -> he fucks around and finds out -> yugi finds him and takes him home. yugi puts him on his bag in the front of kame game and enters home, because he doesn't think his mother or his grandpa would approve a cat.

so he hides atem inside of his bedroom for months, and atem gets bored in the beginning, because yugi would be out for most of the day during the week. so he starts following the teenager secretly, and when yugi notices his presence, its too late - he is already on his destination. then everyone would have to deal with yugi playing duel monsters with a cat on his lap, sometimes jumping on the table and laying over the cards lazily or just dropping things around out of nowhere, because he is bored and yugi isnt giving him attention.

(eventually, sugoruku finds out about atem because he needed something that was inside yugi's room and his grandson was in school. so he enters the bedroom and atem is on the bed, belly up and spread all over the mattress, like he is the king of that cubicle of a room.)

and do you know that cat that wants to start a war with everyone, but adores their owner deeply? that is cat atem. he is distrusting of almost everyone around him, except for yugi's friends, but with rules. no one can rub his belly but yugi; no one can put him on their lap but yugi; no one can give him medicine but yugi; no one can >tame< this beast of a cat but yugi. all that it takes is for yugi to sit down on >whatever< surface and atem is already jumping on his lap, dirtying his dark clothes with his fur.

besides, yugi eventually learns that atem can sense the evil in people. when they are around someone with bad intentions, atem gets defensive, hissing and attacking if that person tries to get too close to him or yugi. and, coincidentally or not, not too long after that, the rumours start to run about that same malicious person going through some traumatic experience and never being the same ever again.

atem also constantly tries to keep a cold facade, but melts so easily to yugi. look, he has thoughts like a person, right? he thinks that this is a completely normal thing for a cat to have - critical thinking, knowledge about games, political debates inside of his head. and when he is trying to keep that facade around other people --always on yugi's lap-- and yugi starts scratching behind his ear, he enters a dilemma, thinking "oh.. oh no, this is going to ruin my reputation! ok, act nonchalant.. im a dgafer, im indifferent to .. this super special awesome ear scratch- wait im losing my focus! ok i don't care i don't care i dont ca- OH YES RIGHT THERE"

so duelist kingdom starts, yugi starts to hear a different, slightly deeper voice inside of his head during the duels. at first, he thinks he is going insane, but that same voice whispers to him all of the strategies that granter his victory. and when he duels against pegasus, he gets to see the truth - he passes out and sees atem in his human form for the first time. after that duel, he starts seeing atem during the duels in his spirit form by his side, indicating the card and strategies to win and in his sleep, atem visits him and they spend what seems like hours getting to really know each other - even though atem doesn't know a lot about himself in the beginning, he loves knowing every detail about yugi.

[anemicjellyfish]

Random theorizing and/or speculation post idk.

So I've said it before and I'll say it again. Helluva Boss is pretty damn good at "Show, Don't Tell."

While it isn't entirely devoid of expositional dialogue, it really doesn't seem like they rely on it heavily. Even with a few heart-to-heart moments between characters like Blitzø & Fizzarolli in Oops and Loona & Octavia in Seeing Stars, big dialogue exchanges are kept to a minimum. Character development happens over time and through on-screen events rather than sitting down and talking it all out.

This, combined with the show's tendency to both 1, let events come full-circle and 2, show generational trauma as a way to let characters break free of the molds set for them, is why I think Octavia might get the "Stolas Experience" soon.

Now, I love Octavia. If I could pick a character to make sure the writing team doesn't traumatize, it's her. (This is a No Hate Zone for Octavia and Stolas btw.)

What I mean is that Octavia seems to have been kept from the same expectations that were put upon Stolas his whole life. She appears to make her own choices and express herself in ways that Stolas wasn't allowed. I have a feeling that, now that she is with her mother and uncle, she will be held to a similar standard as her father (at least until she's of age, which is likely 18).

I feel like minimal expositional dialogue will come in to bridge the gaps in her knowledge. Octavia getting told she's "just like her father" as an insult when she's not adhering to new standards.

To bring it to a head, I also like to speculate that Stella will try to arrange Octavia a marriage of her own. When Via pushes back on this, the "just like your father" line may come back. I also think Stella will deliver the final nail in the coffin of Octavia's opinion of her parent's marriage here.

My personal headcanon of the line is something like: "oh, for fuck's sake, Via. All Goetia marriages are arranged. It's not like Stolas and I ever loved each other. *laughter* Andrealphus, could you imagine? Stolas and I in love?! How ridiculous..." (mocking fades into the background as Via processes what she just heard) But this is just fanfic-level stuff that plays in the background of my brain.

Now, to skip ahead just a little. There are very few characters for Octavia to turn to. The most likely candidate for a lot of us is Loona. It makes sense, as they've already shared some screentime & Octavia got some solid advice then. And I don't disagree at all. It's a good choice.

But I like to think Octavia has something in common with someone she despises, but who could never hold hate in his heart for her.

Blitzø and Octavia have some unlikely common ground in severing connections with those they care about most through an emotional response to feeling unloved.

Octavia's song "I Will Be Okay" uses fire imagery to burn photographs to symbolize her readiness to cut off contact with her father after she came to the conclusion that he never loved her.

Blitzø set a literal fire unintentionally when his own father valued Fizzarolli over him, and likely felt that Fizz would never love Blitzø in return.

While the parallel between them isn't completely perfect, Blitzø is uniquely suited to understand a teenager who is scared, alone, and feels unloved.

We know a good deal about the circus fire, but Blitzø really hasn't spoken about it to anyone. It's unclear if he ever went into detail about it to Fizz, and he only vaguely referred to it being "traumatic" when Stolas brought up Blitzø's love of horses.

I personally like to think that Octavia will be the one Blitzø tells about it all. I think he'll obscure the details of a teenage crush to stay on-topic. But the loss of a loving parent (Blitzø's mom/Stolas) and being left with a horrible one (Blitzø's dad/Stella) is something that connects them in ways that both of them don't realize yet.

This doesn't have to fix things. Confronting traumatic events doesn't mean those events no longer happened. Blitzø carries the physical scars of his past with him everywhere he goes, and the emotional pain doesn't always heal without leaving scars of its own.

Octavia could slowly rebuild her relationship with her dad over time. It's not impossible yet. But she is slowly gaining an understanding of how things work in Goetic society; she will likely know soon that she was only born to be an heir out of precaution. So a part of her is always going to be the teenage girl who needs reassurance that she's loved, that she isn't the obligation that she thinks she is.

Sorry for another incomplete post. My thumb is hurting at the knuckle because I over-extended it the other day and it's hard to type on my phone with just one thumb.

[the-crooked-library]

I noticed something near the end of Dracula when Jonathan and Mina separate for a final time (so she can go to Dracula's castle), that a difference between Harker and Hutter is also near the end.

For context, several chapters earlier Jonathan gets two weapons “put these flowers round your neck”—here he handed to me a wreath of withered garlic blossoms—“for other enemies more mundane, this revolver and this knife;.

Then when Mina and Van Helsing are about to depart for their ride to the castle, Jonathan keeps the knife and gives the revolver to Mina. Even for me a large-bore revolver; Jonathan would not be happy unless I was armed like the rest.

I know the phallic analysis of the weapons in the book are overstated in scholarship but I think it's telling that Jonathan insists Mina to be armed with a big gun while he lets her go do what she wants without him. Thomas didn't arm her and likely wouldn't even it were suggested imo.

omg yes! That is definitely another detail that really stood out to me during my watch, and yet another reason I genuinely start getting annoyed whenever people conflate Thomas with Jonathan - because frankly, that is allowing Thomas to reap what Jonathan sowed, so to speak. I've seen a lot of people absolutely in love with him, and yet the traits they list as the reasons are none that he possesses; in fact, the great majority of them are in exact opposition to his canon personality, and this is one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I love Thomas as a character. I think he is quite sympathetic - and, on the Watsonian level, really trying his best; but at the same time, I think it is essential to acknowledge that he is deeply flawed, if only because on the Doylist level, these flaws are fundamental to his arc in the story. It is purely a question of structure and function; because, at the end of the day, he is a fictional character, and thus, a narrative component, rather than a person.

In this case, his choices prior to the vampire hunt provide the viewer with further evidence -> of an aspect of his characterization -> that acts as one of the driving forces behind the plot of Nosferatu. Specifically, he does not notice that Ellen is lying to him; he leaves her at home as he goes off to "fight"; he doesn't even consider arming her; and he does all these things because, even though he does care for Ellen, he never really thinks of her as a person.

Thomas doesn't notice that Ellen is lying, even though she is clearly nervous when she does it, because he doesn't know what she looks like when she's hiding something (I personally think it is because she masks around him, at least to some degree - throughout the film, he is uncomfortable every time she's honest). He doesn't bring her to the hunt because it doesn't occur to him that she could help with tracking down Orlok - despite him being aware now of her immense psychic abilities, despite Von Franz describing her as a native in a world he is only visiting. And, exactly as you said, he doesn't even think to leave her a weapon; because, even as he sets out on his "quest," even after she's told him of Orlok's obsession, even though the point of the hunt is apparently to "save" her, he doesn't consider the possibility of Orlok going after her.

Contrast that with Jonathan - who knows Mina so well that they can get concerned over three lines of writing, who works with Mina's brief psychic connection to Dracula in order to track him, and who arms Mina before the final fight, because he is not satisfied unless he can do everything in his power to ensure her safety. When it comes to their relationship, Mina's revolver, while not exactly phallic (seriously, why is that topic so overwrought?..), becomes a narrative symbol of his thoughtfulness.

The difference here is that, while Ellen is important to Thomas, this importance only extends insofar as she is his wife. He sees her as a responsibility, but never as herself; and, ultimately, he never actually considers her a factor that could conceivably affect his - or anyone's - decision-making. He plans their life without even asking what she wants from it, he neglects her emotional needs, and he leaves her like a sitting duck during the hunt, without a weapon or anyone to guard her. She continuously slips his mind, utterly inconsequential beyond whatever their surrounding society defines as her role and value; and Thomas, tragically, is unable to overcome this ingrained, rigid set of rules.

This is an essential aspect of his character - because, as stated previously, the plot wouldn't happen without it. If Thomas took Ellen's wants into consideration, he wouldn't have been so hell-bent on chasing a promotion, and he wouldn't have left her right after their honeymoon to go to another country, especially if she begged him to stay. If he knew her better, he would've picked up on the plan she made with Von Franz - or she would've told him!.. Most certainly, if he saw any real personhood in her, he wouldn't have dreamed of leaving her unarmed and undefended.

Nosferatu is about Ellen's continued systemic dehumanization. The point of the story is that every single human character contributes to it on some level, despite whatever love and best intentions they might have for her. It's about the inherent monstrousness of being othered by humanity, and Thomas is - inherently, narratively, crucially - human.

[brujc]

Spoilers for S2 promo content

Okay guys so I'm gonna be totally honest here it's just gonna be me being a petty bitch and rambling about my first impression on tbhk S2 (from the POV of someone who got into it not a long while ago and stopped the s1 at ep 5)

I would LOVE to say I'm excited about this second season but honestly I am more worried if anything haha...

So...PURELY ANIMATION WISE the op didn't appeal to me like uhh I feel so bad saying that it's like disrespecting the animators but like I mean I just hate how awkward a lot of shots turned out. I mean tbhk's manga art style is like super awesome and it is surely hard as fuck to animate but I really don't think the "thick lines" (idk how exactly to describe ) anime style will do justice to the manga, especially when we consider the pretty action packed and more serious scenes that are to come! I can feel some really clunky movements coming already

Like in this part of the intro, when Aoi and Kane were running towards the group idk why but it felt so... awkward... also this kinda chibified anatomy really doesn't suit some characters.

Like it makes some design choices very questionnable..

Like look at him... Because of the head-bigger-than-body choice he looks a bit weird? Like to be honest he doesn't look like teru at all, if it weren't for his iconic features like the blond hair I wouldn't have recognized him. Where's his prince-ly look? Or idk I don't care if he ain't jaw dropping but his "sharp" vibe and whole hair silhouette is gone..

(I'm super sad like I cannot express how sad I am)

Same goes for Aoi, I don't like how she doesn't have the Aoi vibe, she just looks like some random character (also is it a curse? I feel like she always have shots where her anatomy is super strange like in the flower shot above. Super big head awkward hand position and all)

Even before her major personality reveal she looked less empty than the anime one??? Idk how to express myself

Again with the anatomy, I just genuinely hate it I don't even know why it's just awkward as hell to me ( I said that multiple times already I'm really sorry). The very detailed shading and colors of the clothes and background with this very kid like anatomy and thick outlines just throws me off, idk the characters don't really blend in with the atmosphere (I mean in closer shots, sure but distance/half body shots usually are there most of the time)

I'm sorry I just can't bring myself to like his anime design...the eyes and just everything are so off..

I have a lot to fear but I'm begging please do him justice this season

Baby face again (I mean the characters are young so I might just be a shitty complainer but I just think they don't look good)

Overall I'm super worried for the meaningful scenes in pp arc, they have like chances to be ruined because of clunky animation but I really don't hope so! I can already picture a super awkward fall off the building scene with Kou or super mega awkward escape of the perfect picture with like the bike not feeling fantasy at all.

Anyway I'm losing focus! Ofc there are some fluid shots in the op but I just have the overall feeling that it won't be super good

Sorry for complaining like this but I'm just sad about the adaptation cuz I think some really cool stuff could've been done with the banger base material that is tbhk, so much potential...

I do hope I will be complaining for nothing and that the anime will in reality be very good tho (begging to be proven wrong)

[1caru]

My time has come >:)

Disclaimer: I'm gonna ramble about Twilight Princess Link, but we aren't gonna touch the manga because the manga is wrong about him and I am right :)

Every detail of Link's story and character in this game is tied so deeply to the concept of twilight, of limbo, of the space between places and times and the powers that rule the land and it drives me utterly insane with how good it is. Even at the very beginning of the game, before Midna and the twilight and the adventure, Link exists in this middle space. His house stands alone in the path between his village of Ordon and the kingdom of Hyrule, perhaps a symbol of his possible role as village guard. He has a close bond to Ordon, of course. The villagers all love and respect him; Rusl, Uli, and Colin in particular seem to act as Link's adoptive family. They've likely cared for him since he was quite young, judging by the drawing they keep pinned to the wall of their house.

Now, for the longest time, I assumed that Colin drew this picture, since the taller kid here has the same bowlcut he does. However, if you look closely, that kid has another detail that Colin doesn't. In fact, there is only one person in Ordon who has this detail.

That taller kid has Link's pointed ears.

(Fun fact, this also means that Link canonically had a bowlcut as a kid, so all that art you may have seen of baby Ordon Link is wrong XD)

Anyway, I don't know about you, but a single Hylian boy living in a treehouse in a village of non-Hylians in the southern woods of Hyrule sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? This is a surprise tool that will hurt us later :)

Link himself doesn't seem to be bothered by the differences between him and the other Ordonians. In fact, some official sources tell us that he is next in line for the position of mayor once Bo retires. He clearly feels right at home here, content to spend his days working alongside the adults and playing with the kids. He, of course, does not quite fit into either of these age groups. Always in the middle. Never quite belonging. But still, Ordon is home.

Ordon is home, at least, until the twilight strikes. In one afternoon, Link has his family stolen from him by King Bulblin, he is taken captive by shadow beasts, he is forcibly and painfully transformed into a wolf, and Midna recruits him to help her take on Zant. And then, when he finally manages to return to Ordon, still trapped in his wolf form, Midna tells him to find a sword and shield for her. Your only option for accomplishing this is to steal from your family.

So Link sneaks into Ordon under the cover of night. Every villager he comes across, every friend and mentor, either runs from him or attacks him. His adoptive father, Rusl, doesn't see Link in the light of the torch he wields. He only sees a wolf. He only sees a monster.

(Ready for another fun fact? There are unused animations in the game for Rusl falling down after being attacked. At some point in development, Nintendo wanted you to leap at Rusl and steal the Ordon sword directly off of him instead of sneaking into his house to get it. In the final game, you can later find Rusl lying injured on the couch in his living room with his wife Uli caring for him. She says he was attacked by "monsters". Imagine seeing that and knowing exactly who did that to him.)

Later, when you return to Ordon in human form in order to get the iron boots from the mayor, you have the option to also tell the villagers that you have found their kids safe and sound in Kakariko Village. They are overjoyed at the news, and thank you profusely for telling them and for working to protect said kids. For a moment, it's as if things have gone back to how they used to be. Everyone looks at you with happiness and love, not fear and hatred. Then, you speak to Uli. Like the others, she thanks you for giving her the news about the kids. But, when you turn to leave, as you reach for the doorknob, she says one last thing.

You never get to tell her the truth. Perhaps Link can't bring himself to do so.

From this point on, a wedge has been driven between Link and Ordon. You don't notice it very often. Link still fights primarily to save the kidnapped Ordonian children. He is still shown to enjoy spending time with everyone in the village. He is devastated to learn of Ilia's amnesia, and he works hard to restore her memories. At the same time, however, he is on a journey with Midna. A journey full of both wonders and dangers that the Ordonians could not understand. He grows closer to Midna and decides to fight for her kingdom as well as Hyrule and Ordon. Perhaps the history of the Twili and their banishment from Hyrule resonates with him now. Outcasts, just like him.

He also meets the Hero's Shade, Ganondorf, the Light Spirits, and Zelda. Each of these characters represents Hyrule and the destiny that Link was literally born for. But the Hero's Shade and Ganondorf are from a time long passed, an old conflict that far predates Link. Even the Light Spirits and Zelda, while they belong to the same time period that Link does, are still linked to the past (heh) either by lifespan or bloodline. Link is left disconnected from even his own destiny.

At the end of the game, after he has saved not just the Ordonian kids but also all of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, where do we find Link? Where does he end up? We don't know. He does return to Ordon for a little while along with the kids, but then he dons his hero's clothes again and leaves without telling anyone (except possibly Ilia). We don't know where he is headed. The last we ever see of Link is him riding off into Faron Woods.

Every time I see this, I think about the beginning of Majora's Mask. Is this Link also off to search for a way to reunite with his lost companion? Will he end up meeting a terrible fate just like his ancestor, or will he end up finding happiness instead? We never find out, but I love that after everything Link has gone through, after he fails to find true belonging in Ordon, Hyrule, or the Twilight Realm, after finding no home in either the past or the present, his choice is to pursue the future. I like to think he finally found a home somewhere.

Okay Link fans I need help. I have my Link/Zelda game that I’m specifically fixated on (that being Wind/Wind Waker), but I want to be able to write/understand other Links with the same amount of care that I give to him.

So if anyone who sees this post has a Link who is their favorite little guy (you’ve played his game(s) multiple times, you’ve made a bunch of headcanons about him, you think about him all the time, etc etc), I want to hear your perspective on that Link. I wanna know what you think his general personality is. I wanna know what you think he was like pre-journey(s). I wanna know how you think his journey(s) affected his development. I wanna know how you think the themes of his game(s) intertwine with his character. I wanna know how you view his significant relationships. And I wanna know anything else about him that you would like to share. Any information/ideas are appreciated, just absolutely go off ^_^

[lionhanie]

the first snow (lee riwoo)

working during the holidays isn’t too bad with sanghyeok by your side 

co-worker!riwoo x gn!reader (non-idol au) 

this work is my contribution to @onedoornet’s christmas event, a very onedoor christmas! check it out here!

word count: 4.1k ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ genre: fluff

warnings: a pinch of angst i'd say (alluding to burnout/seasonal depression), reader is a people pleaser, i curse maybe twice lol, riwoo is referred to as sanghyeok! 

a/n: SORRY I KNOW CHRISTMAS IS OVER…. had fun writing it regardless :,) hope u enjoy ^^

reblogs ↺  + feedback always appreciated!

Being one of the younger workers in the office was frustrating to say the least. Pausing your work to complete trivial tasks in the middle of the workday – making copies of a meeting agenda, fetching your seniors’ morning coffees, reorganizing the ridiculously large stack of your current client’s files – the list seemed to never end. For some reason, everyone around you was conveniently occupied with something so urgent that they couldn’t attend to the matters themselves, leaving the responsibility up to you. Sometimes you felt like you spent more time faced with useless errands than doing the work you were hired to do in the first place.

You were expecting a bit more respect from your peers when you were appointed as the team leader for your company’s newest project, but you were quick to realize your naivety in the earlier group meetings, finding that no one seemed to take you seriously. You would’ve thought that because the other members on the project had years of experience on their side, surely they’d be able to hold their weight to a certain extent... Right?

Painfully enough, it was the complete opposite. You can’t count the number of times one of the more “experienced” workers asked you to repeat a detail you’d discussed just minutes prior, or proposed a suggestion that completely contradicted the end goal of your client– it was clear to you that no one saw your leadership as more than a joke, no matter how hard you tried. 

And to top it all off, your company was structured in such a way that made it nearly impossible for you to speak up against your elders. Your word as a senior associate meant close to nothing if you were going against one of the partners of the firm. It didn’t matter that you put in ten times more effort than your team members, it was almost as if they were praised according to how long they’ve been in the office.

Safe to say you were relieved when Sanghyeok was added as a member of the team you were leading on a random Tuesday afternoon. Not that you two were close by any means – the extent of your interactions consisted of small smiles exchanged in passing in the printer room or short discussions of weekend plans over coffee in the break room. Rather, you were hopeful that his addition to the project would mean someone would finally start contributing even a fraction of the work you were putting in.

Even though you dread your bi-weekly team meetings, it was so much more rewarding to at least one other person cared about the success of the project. Sanghyeok was always in his unassigned-assigned seat right by the projector, intently nodding along to your agenda and taking notes when he deemed necessary. Hell, he’d even chime in whenever someone would ask a question that was obviously answered earlier in the presentation, giving you the chance to save your breath for something that actually mattered, and shooting you a cheeky grin afterwards, clearly satisfied helping you whenever he could. 

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ Four days before the deadline. . .

Everyone begins to pack up their belongings the second it hits 5:00PM, slowly but surely filing out of the office before it gets too dark. It was no surprise to see your colleagues zipping up their briefcases far earlier than you planned on clocking out; the project deadline crept up on you faster than you’d like to admit, and your mostly incompetent team forced you to work overtime a majority of the recent weeks. In any other case, you probably wouldn’t be breaking your back hunched over your keyboard hours after the sun had set, but because the project was in your name, it pained you to present a finished product you weren’t proud of. 

“You aren’t leaving yet, Y/N?” You look up from your monitor, finding Sanghyeok looking at you from across your cubicle, wrapping a plush scarf around his neck. His eyes are full of concern– he’s noticed the way you never seem to budge once your peers start going home for the night. Even on days when he logs off later than he’d initially planned to, you’re still there, typing away at your desk.

“Agh, our Y/N is always so hardworking! They never seem to leave with the rest of us,” Alvin, a senior on your project notorious for sending in half-assed work far past the deadline you set for him, comments from his seat beside you. “I could never put in as much work as you do, not when I’ve got a family waiting for me at home!” Yeah, no shit. It’s hard to believe he’s stayed at the company so long performing the same quality of work you were doing in your first year in the office.

His words stung a bit, feeling oddly bitter at the idea of someone like him having people who loved him waiting for him to return from work– Coming back home to an empty apartment late at night never used to bother you, but something about the long winter nights and freezing temperatures made it undoubtedly sad in nature. It wasn’t just the weather making your loneliness feel colder than usual. 

The smile you return is painfully fake, something Sanghyeok clocks almost immediately. He gnaws on his lip, wanting to say something to the senior, ultimately deciding to hold back on it given how new he was to the project. Maybe it wasn’t his place. He didn’t want to make things worse for you by saying something out of line. Alvin shrugs his coat onto his back, quickly leaving the premises without another word. 

“If I didn’t see you in a new outfit everyday, I’d think you slept at your desk,” Sanghyeok jokes, trying to lighten the mood. From his first meeting with the new team, he quickly learned to admire the way you seemed to take charge when you needed to. It was impressive the way you’d joined the company later than he had, and were already put in charge of such a big task. He knew exactly how it felt to deal with all the stupid tasks from the other seniors in the office, finding himself doing the same thing for weeks before you came in. 

You chuckle pitifully, mainly towards yourself. “At this point, I should stop paying rent and start living at my desk.” You groan as you take a break for a well-needed stretch, your back cracking from your poor posture. “Some days I feel like I’m in the office more than my apartment.” Your words are lighthearted, but Sanghyeok notices the underlying melancholy in your statement. 

And Sanghyeok takes his leave, only after wishing you good luck and a “get home safe” as he always does, but he can’t stop thinking about how much time you’ve been putting into your work. He’s constantly shut down whenever he asks you if there’s anything else he can help with, just wanting to take a fraction of the load off your plate.

He knows you’re doing it just to be nice. You’re the type of person to take on a burden all on your own, even if it means committing to the ungodly hours you’ve become so used to. Even on the bus ride home, Sanghyeok can’t shake your tired eyes out of his mind. For some reason, it hurts to imagine you slowly killing yourself over a silly project all because no one had the decency to bother trying when they knew you’d fix it for them anyways. He wanted to do more… No, he needed to do more. 

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ Three days before the deadline. . .

Sanghyeok wonders how you’re always earlier than him when he walks into the office, finding you so put-together and diligently editing the project presentation when he’s still groggy after his commute to work. 

The workload around the holidays is never too demanding, thankfully the company’s clients normally don’t ask for much as the year comes to an end. In your case, however, all your time is spent on trying to perfect the project proposal for your overwhelmingly-nitpicky boss. You’re convinced it’s some sort of test to see how good you’d be leading a team before you get the promotion you’ve been waiting on for the past couple months. Even if you make it out of your boss’ critiques alive, you’re certain you’ve lost countless years off your life with all the stress weighing down on you. 

You lock eyes with Sanghyeok every once in a while, finding him peeking over the divider separating your desks more than normal. That’s odd. You figure it’s probably because he has a question about the numerous items that still need fixing on the project. It doesn’t occur to you that he wants to talk to you until he rises from his chair, tapping his pen on the top of your monitor to catch your attention.

“I don’t know if you saw, but I just fixed a lot of the trouble areas you mentioned in the meeting the other day,” He’s excessively clicking the pen in his free hand, feeling oddly nervous to show you his work even when he knows he did everything properly– He knows how high your expectations are when it comes to your job. “I’m pretty sure I made sure to do everything you asked for, but you might want to double-check if I missed anything.”

The gasp of relief you let out is uncharacteristically loud, so much so that it earns you a side-eye from Alvin, who was currently playing solitaire at his desk next to you. He’d just saved you hours of overtime with his work, finding everything done to a tee. “No, no, this is perfect. I was dying to fix those until I realized I forgot Christian told me to come with him for his fieldwork later and–”

“It doesn’t matter who goes with him, right? I’ll go with him instead.”

“Huh? Are you sure? I don’t mind, plus he specifically asked me so maybe–”

“Y/N, it’s fine, really! I used to go on client visits all the time before he started dragging you along with him. I’ll be okay, promise!” He’s confident in his words, reassuring you of all the concerns he knew were starting to bubble up in your head. “I know you’ve been worried about getting everything done before the deadline, you shouldn’t have to waste your precious time following him around and pretending like you care about his wife.” 

The comment makes you giggle, everyone knew the senior for the way he could go on and on about his family life knowing damn well no one was actually listening to his neverending rants. “Thank you, Sanghyeok. It means a lot, really.”  

“Maybe we’ll be able to leave at the same time today, yeah?”

 

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ Two days before the deadline. . .

The following day, after everyone else in the office logged out for the night, Sanghyeok sneaks back into the office. He made it his mission to discreetly plant a care package for you while you’re busy in the printer room– It’s nothing big, no, rather just a hot cup of tea and a sandwich he’d purchased from the cafe across the street from the building. 

You’d offhandedly mentioned the way you get so immersed in your work without anyone peering over your shoulder that you forget to cater to your growing hunger, often resorting to eating instant ramen in the break room before returning to your desk. Sanghyeok knew how much the project meant to you, but that didn’t mean he was going to let you neglect your health just for a positive response from your old boss.   

You’re confused when you come back to your cubicle, finding all of your previously haphazardly scattered project papers perfectly organized in a folder by the edge of the desk. The lid was taken off the cup of tea, presumably to let it cool down a bit before drinking. Huh? The note atop the sandwich container answered the questions lingering in your mind.

hope you don’t mind me moving some stuff around on your desk :p  eat up before you get back to work! good luck y/n!  sanghyeok (  ≧ᗜ≦)

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ One day before the deadline. . .

“You think Alvin will mind if I borrow his spot today?” Sanghyeok questions, swiveling around in an office chair that didn’t belong to him.

“You could probably erase all the files off his computer and he wouldn’t bat an eye,” You joke as you sort through the stacks of papers residing on your desk, looking for a particular document. “I’m convinced he gets paid to just sit there and play card games for eight hours.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him touch his keyboard.” Sanghyeok chuckles before logging into the computer beside you.

“Why’re you using his computer though? You’re not going home yet?” 

“I think it’s only fair for me to help you finish the proposal when we’re supposed to be submitting it tomorrow,” Sanghyeok answers matter-of-factly. You watch as he opens up the same powerpoint you’ve been staring at on his own monitor. It’s quiet for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from the occasional clicks of your mouse. “...Doesn’t it get lonely working all by yourself?”

You pause to think for a moment. It’s not the worst thing in the world, you’re sure you wouldn’t be capable of doing it everyday if it was that unbearable. “No, not really. If anything, it’s nice to not have anyone pulling me away from my desk for some stupid shit– Sorry, stupid stuff.” You correct yourself. 

“I know we’re still at work and all, but you don’t need to censor yourself when it’s just us. I’m not gonna snitch on you for cursing on the clock, Y/N.” He teases, not surprised to see that you’re still in work-mode even when the office is practically empty. 

“Oops, just force of habit. I'd rather die than accidently curse in front of one of the oldies we work with,” You smile sheepishly, feeling at ease with him at your side. You’re not sure when you grew so fond of the man – maybe it’s because of how similar you are in age or the way he’s always so quick to defend you in the meeting room – but he’s always felt like more of a friend than a co-worker in times like these. “...It’s nice to have some company for a change, though. Felt like I was going insane looking at the same documents all by myself.” 

“It’s okay to admit you get lonely sometimes, Y/N.” Sanghyeok pauses his typing to look at you, his eyes soft when they meet yours. “I was thinking about it on my way home the other day, you know, the way you willingly stay in the office after everyone leaves every night. It’s hard to imagine it isn’t difficult being by yourself all the time.”

You’re silent, knowing that he’ll see through you no matter what you say. Sure, you had your fair share of moments sitting crying at your desk, in fear that your efforts wouldn’t pay off despite how much you’ve been trying, but that doesn’t mean you need his help. You made it this far all on your own, after all. 

And when you fall asleep at your desk, exhaustion finally catching up to you, Sanghyeok doesn’t hesitate to rest a sweater on your back. He knows how upset you’ll be once you wake up, bummed that you dozed off at such a crucial time, but he’s more than happy to let you sleep for a bit before gently shaking you awake after a well-deserved power nap. 

“Shit, how long was I knocked out for?” Embarrassed, you rub the sleep from your eyes, turning away to yawn. 

“It wasn’t even thirty minutes, you’ll be fine Y/N. I finished editing a section of the report while you were sleeping too.” You tap on your mouse, waking up the black screen, happy to see that a good chunk of the comments you’d made on the document were long resolved. “Can you promise me something?” 

You’re offset by the sudden serious mood lingering between you two, but you slowly nod regardless. “Even when this project is over, will you promise to come to me if you need help?” 

“I know I only joined your team recently, but I want you to know you can depend on me. It’s not fair for you to do all this on your own,” Sanghyeok can sense the way you’re processing his request in your mind, watching as you hesitate to answer. “I know it’s probably weird coming from someone who’s only been here a couple months longer than you, but I promise I’ll try my best if you ever need me.” 

“Okay.”

“...So that means you won’t try to turn me down whenever I offer to do something for you, right?” 

“Yes, Sanghyeok, I won’t turn you down when you try to help me.” You roll your eyes at him before turning back to your computer, missing the way his face lights up at your response, proudly smiling to himself. 

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ The day of the deadline. . .

You’re sure you could cry tears of joy when you send the final version of your project proposal to your boss. There were a few sections you wish you had more time to perfect, but it was impossible without an extension to your deadline– There’s nothing else to do but wait until you get feedback, which is entirely out of your hands at this point. 7:15PM. It’s still two hours past the usual 5:00PM ending time, but far earlier than you’ve clocked out in the past two weeks. 

“You’re actually leaving at the same time as me? I’m not dreaming, right?” Sanghyeok pinches at his cheek, earning a giggle from you in response. 

“Well, I just forwarded all the documents to our boss. Felt like I deserved at least one early night during the holidays,” You close your eyes as you fall back in your chair, letting out a content sigh knowing there wasn’t anything else you had to do for a while. “God, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Sanghyeok.” 

He holds the door for you after you’ve both collected all of your belongings, bundled up for the harsh temperatures waiting for you outside the building. The elevator ride down is silent until the man next to you clears his throat, prompting you to look at him. “So, do you have plans tonight?”

“Ah, not really. I was planning on picking up some dinner at the convenience store before heading back to my place.” He nods, fiddling with his tie in a feeble attempt to calm down his nerves from what he was about to do. 

“Can I take you out to dinner, Y/N?” Your eyes widen slightly, unsure what to make of the question. Was he… asking you on a date right now? It wasn’t out of the ordinary for coworkers to share a meal off the clock, but the fact that it was just the two of you had your brain malfunctioning. “...You know, as a thank you for working so hard on the project! It’s the least I can do.” Sanghyeok laughed nervously, hand flying up to the back of his neck as he waited for your response. 

It doesn’t take long for you to decide your answer, nodding in confirmation, feeling slightly bashful at the sudden act of appreciation you weren’t used to receiving, especially not at work. There’s a pep in his step as he brings to you one of his favorite ramen spots, a hole-in-the-wall joint tucked away from the main streets. It’s cute, honestly. You’ve learned a lot about your coworker in recent days, but this side of him was entirely new to you. 

You’re glad you trusted his recommendations when you take your first bite, the hot broth immediately melting the chills you garnered from the short walk there. Despite this being your first interaction with Sanghyeok outside of work, there’s no awkwardness in your time spent together– Instead, a fuzzy feeling rests in your chest as you look at the man sitting across the table from you. Perhaps it’s due to the newfound absence of pressure on your back from sending in the project proposal, or maybe because it’s the first time you’ve allowed yourself a proper meal in days, but it’s a feeling you don’t wish to lose any time soon. 

Usually you’re one to rush back home immediately after dinner, not wanting to lose any second of rest you have before you’re forced to go back to the hell you call work, but you’re more than happy to accept Sanghyeok’s invitation to go to a nearby bar for some drinks following the meal you shared. It’s there you realize he’s a lot wittier than he comes off as when you’re on the clock, your cheeks aching from smiling so hard at his endless supply of jokes. 

You don’t stay there long, only garnering a couple drinks before finding yourself walking around one of the parks in the area you didn’t even know existed, gawking at the string lights adorning the trees. Work was taking up all of your attention that you didn’t even have the time to decorate your apartment for the holidays like you normally would’ve. This was the closest thing you could get, but you were far from complaining. 

“I never expected you to be like this, Sanghyeok.” You confess after coming down from the fit of laughter he’d induced with one of his stupid puns.

“What do you mean?” He asks, worried that he’d done something wrong. 

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to say anything bad! You’re just… A breath of fresh air, I guess.” Your words emit a cloud of vapor in the frigid air.  “I’m sorry I didn’t notice it sooner, I’ve been a real shut-in especially with the deadline and–”

“You don’t need to apologize for that, Y/N.” He cuts you off; he’s well aware of your tendency to apologize for things that you didn’t need to be sorry for in the first place. It was one of the only things he wished he could change about you, wanting you to give yourself more credit for the love you poured into everything you did. “I just wanted to make your life easier, I guess. Thanks for giving me the chance to do that tonight.” 

“I should really be the one thanking you. You’ve been nothing short of helpful ever since you joined our team,” Thinking back on the past couple days, Sanghyeok never once shied away from doing things to ease your burdens, even going out of his way so you could focus all your attention onto what mattered most to you. “It’s like you were some sort of holiday miracle sent to me.” 

Unwrapping the scarf from his neck, Sanghyeok carefully loops it around the back of your head, securing it snugly at the front of your jacket. “It’s freezing… You should really be layering up more.” He’s glad the lighting on the trees is too dim for you to see the blush creeping up his neck after seeing you in his clothes. He’d probably blame it on the frosty air if you called him out on it. “Ah, it’s snowing!” 

The gaze you were previously sharing is broken as you look up, crystal white snowflakes slowly sinking from the sky. It was surreal to be standing in the middle of the park, ambient light illuminating the way the snow ended their descent atop your heads, your shared laughter harmonizing at the sight.

And despite the cold weather, you felt warm standing next to him.

© lionhanie 2025 ; all rights reserved!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

If you gave Chloe a redemption how would Zoe fit? Not Vespera just Zoe...

I discussed this in more detail here, here, and here, but canon Zoe has all the hallmarks of a Mary Sue. She shows up out of nowhere in the middle of the show and immediately becomes close to the main cast. She has no real flaws. Everyone loves her. She gets a romance arc with the main character. She's the only person other than Adrien to wield the black cat miraculous. You get the picture. She's the kind of character I expect to see as an OC in a fanfic, not an actual character in canon.

While I will defend the rights of Mary Sue's in a general sense, a Mary Sue has no place in Miraculous canon. It's the wrong type of story for an idealized self-insert that the audience can project themselves onto for many reasons, chief of them being that those types of characters only work as main characters. This makes it impossible for me to use Zoe as-is. I'd have to completely redesign her character so that she had depth and flaws and I have no interest in doing that.

It's not that I hate Zoe, it's that she has no reason to exist outside of being Chloe's perfect replacement. Take away that role and what is she even doing here? What purpose does she serve that you can't give to one of the twenty other teenage characters that canon already introduced!!! And that's not even counting the specials which introduced another three for some reason. Writers, what are you doing? Stop adding characters!!! You need depth, not breadth!!!

In theory, Zoe could be used as part of Chloe's redemption, but that would require them to have an actual bond. As best I can tell, in canon, Chloe and Zoe didn't meet until the start of season four. They're sisters in the biological sense, but that's about it. This once again makes it hard to see Zoe as value added.

If the Kwamis didn't exist and Zoe was Chloe's cool older sister, then she'd have some potential as Chloe's mentor, basically taking on the role I see Pollen in. She'd also have potential as a significantly younger sister who adores Chloe, making Chloe act nice because she wants to keep that adoration. But Zoe is none of those things. She's basically the same age as Chloe, Chloe doesn't care about her, and Adrien already fills the role of Chloe's same-age sibling who grew up in a different home, so why would she need another one?

Another theoretical path for Zoe would be to let Chloe redeem Zoe. We know that Zoe was a massive liar in the past. If she was introduced while still in that phase, then redeemed Chloe could show off her new skills by helping her sister. It would even give you a nice way to address how messed up their mother is.

As nice as that may sound, I still wouldn't go there unless Chloe was my main character. Zoe's redemption just eats up way too much screen time as you have to establish who she is, give her a relationship with Chloe, and so on. Not a quick little addition to the script and not worth the time when her only purpose is fleshing out Chloe. There's also the Sabrina issue. If Chloe is going to redeem someone, it feels silly to add a whole new character when you have an established character right there, ready and waiting. Writing wise, Sabrina feels way more like Chloe's sister than Zoe ever did so why add Zoe?

No matter what way you look at it, canon Zoe just isn't needed. There are no missing roles that she's ideally suited to fill. You'd have to totally redesign her to make her work and, at that point, you're not using Zoe, you're using an OC with the same name.

[fanbasetwo]

✦ INSECURITIES RIIZE WOULD ADORE!

pairing, riize × afab reader . . . genre, scenario(s), headcanons . . . word count, 50—60 each . . . note, these are not things ‘i’ consider as insecurities but rather things that ‘some’ people do and in no way am i shaming anyone (rather the opposite). [LIBRARY] [PART 01]

SHOTARO . . . ✦

THICK THIGHS : Shotaro adores your thick thighs because they’re soft, comforting, and perfect for him to snuggle into. He often rests his head there, using them as his personal pillow. He doesn’t understand why you’re insecure, because to him, they’re flawless—whether you’re wearing loose or tight jeans, they always look amazing. To him, they're simply the best.

EUNSEOK . . . ✦

PROMINENT EARS : Eunseok finds your prominent ears incredibly cute, loving how they stand out in the most charming way. He often playfully tugs on them or kisses them, saying they’re one of your most unique features. To him, they add an extra layer of charm, making you even more endearing. He loves how they make you, you.

SUNGCHAN . . . ✦

STRECH MARKS : Sungchan adores your stretch marks, seeing them as beautiful reminders of your journey. Whenever he notices one, he gently traces it with his fingers, as if mapping out the path you've walked. To him, they’re a part of what makes you uniquely yours, and he loves how they show your growth, making you even more perfect to him.

WONBIN . . . ✦

FLAT CHEST : You were so insecure about your flat chest, avoiding corsets because you thought you didn’t have enough to fill them. Wonbin, noticing how it bothered you, always made sure to reassure you that he loved you exactly as you were. He’d remind you how perfect you looked, not caring about societal standards, and that he was deeply attracted to every part of you.

SEUNGHAN . . . ✦

LARGE OR SMALL NOSE : Seunghan adores your nose, whether large or small, because it perfectly matches your face and makes you uniquely you. He loves how it complements your expressions, whether you’re laughing or pouting. To him, it’s not about its size but the way it adds to your charm, making every little detail of you feel even more special.

SOHEE . . . ✦

DARK CIRCLES : Sohee adores your dark circles, seeing them as a sign of how hard you work and care for others. He lovingly teases you, but always makes sure you get enough rest. He’ll bring you cozy blankets, prepare soothing teas, and make sure you're comfortable, knowing that your tired eyes only make him want to take better care of you.

ANTON . . . ✦

BODY ODOR : Anton adores your body odor, even if you feel insecure about it. He insists you smell amazing, like comfort and warmth, and it’s one of his favorite things about you. To him, it’s just yours, something only he can love. No matter how much you worry, he’ll always reassure you that your scent is perfect, just like you.

join my taglist by sending an ask or commenting here <3

© 2025 all rights reserved to fanbasetwo !

[polyamorousmood]

i've known i was polyamorous since i was in my early teens, and rarely struggled with romantic jealousy. with my current partner, however, i've started getting really jealous out of nowhere. every time they mention being attracted to someone else, my mind fills up with so much worry, doubt, and anxiety, that it makes me physically ill.

my only theories are that it could be some underlying insecurity of mine that had never been awakened before by my previous relationships. or maybe that, because this relationship is more non-standard than my previous ones, i don't have the common social rules and expectations to fall back on, which ends up getting replaced with uncertainty and fear? i really don't know though. i have to think about it more.

do you have any tips for managing jealousy like this?

So I've talked about jealousy a few times, and I won't repeat it here (I'll link to some good ones at the end), but since this is a recent development I do have a few steps to try first.

Evaluate other changes. Do you feel different about other things? Is there anything that could be making you more anxious generally? Med changes, sleep, other stressors, etc can all contribute. Make sure there's not some other root cause.

Differences in this relationship. Do you care about this person more than others? Or do you have a reason to doubt them you didn't with your previous partners? You mentioned perhaps its an underlying insecurity, what insecurity might that be/what could have triggered it? This is "less standard" than your previous ones, do you feel bothered by that otherwise, does it make you feel less stable?

And then you were right you need to think about it more. Without more details on why its a struggle for you, everything I would give is mostly my other advice for jealousy. This is the main ask I link to, but the whole jealousy tag might be useful for you to look through. If you don't read through that whole other thing, I at least want to make sure you have this workbook available to you

And like. As I'm sure you know, therapy is always an option. My opinions from my life experiences are not a holy grail. So on and so forth and what have you.

Good luck, friend!!

[ancha-aus]

Yes HI!! I am back!! With words!!!!!

First thing i need to address. i love the fact that N just lives in the fucking basement. That is TOO funny and fitting.

Because it makes sense lore wise as this is The Maskmaker. Something the rroyal family is guarding and holds highly. the fact the wood used is connected to the apple ritual?! Even more reason.

But the idea that there is just a person in the basement is so funny.

Yeah. you turn to the left and get to the dungeon. but you go down the hall and to the right and you find the maskmaker. That is too funny on so many levels

Okay but the detail that Nightmare can't feel the cold anymore is delicious. Just.there is somehting so human about feeling warm adn cold and nightmare just always feeling lukewarm. But still being able to feel the warmth and cold of others.

It means even more that nightmare takes care to make sure that ccino has weather fitting clothes, ESPECIALLY with the fact that the winters were gone and didn't come back until after nim is gone.

and the detail that ccino gave him a cloak!! special and custom made! hell maybe he even made it himself because he didn't have time yet to go order one, between his 101 duties.

nd the fact that while the cloak doesnt'truly make him warm as he can't be warm. the fact it does ground him. that it is a way for him to feel secure and just safe!! God that is so good Spot!! It is so good!!!

I love the fact that Nim took the twins down there to meet the maskmaker when they weree young. and the maskmaker just being casual about alreayd knowing their measurements. You just KNOW that nim went through something similar when she was young. which means. that it is tradition to take the young twins to meet the mask maker. Maybe it is to showcase that the maskmaker is pwoerful and special? important and in need to keep in the castle and secure.

I love love love that the effect of the tree is sitll noticeable here!! That being down here, near some of the source of the wood of the tree. near the source of this old spirit. That it still effects the people. and it would especially affect the ruling king as they ate the apple to gain those powers. making them extra receptive to this effect!!

Ngihtmare wanting to hide and cry. For just a moment in that space that little kid came out again. that little kid who just wanted to be safe and help hihs brother.

and then he pushes through because this is for a reason! He has his rights here! But most importantly. This is the least that ccino earns and damnit Nightmare is not going to let him be scared away.

The fact that the old maskmaker had looked with grief at nightmare. Knowing that nightmare would ahve died. Also i don't know if this is on purpose but the dark wood being used? the fact that nim didn't want nightmare to have a mask of the special wood. That is such a big deal. Yet it having been made with love and attention and so much care. that nightmare loved it, and still loves it.

And then the reveal of it being N!!

and nightmares FIRST thought being that N is an intruder. and he is so annoyed. not because of the fake being in the castle or even feeling afraid that someone broke in. just annoyed because he had plans and he wanted to get ccino his mask!!

And then it turns out that N IS the maskmaker.

and the fact that nightmare ASKS who N is. the fact he asks why there is a new maskmaker. and N being so happy because Nightmare is the FIRST king to ask about them!! that is a big deal and nightamre isn't even aware how big of a deal this is! I love that.

and i love how N's emotions are just wave upon wave upon wave of intense feelings. because N has been around the source of the tree's wood for so long now. They have been longterm exposed and even if it is part of her personality being near the last bits of the tree can't be helping them! also the fact she doesn't truly care what nightmare calls her. That is such a neat detail!

(okay side note. I got IDEAS about the line about the many different type of woods. and i understand that it are imported woods and stuff. but!! But!!!I got ideas and I will get back to that wiht an ask eventually because i need to make bad sketches to best explain!! but i swear i will come back to this and you can call me out and ask me about it in case it takes long!!)

okay but the rage tha tnightmare immediantly felt when N implied the mask was for a consort. later the fact that nightmare isn't even surprised that N knew who Ccino was. the fact nightmare immediantly figured that Nim would have taken Ccino down here to make sure the maskmakers are prepared in case Dream loves Ccino as much as Nim expects.

I don't know what is better. the fact that N is just snooping around and found out that way. Nim taking Ccino down here to show him off (also got thoughts about the fact that nim took a young skeelton which she KNEW would eventually grow into HER type as gift to her son. you think she ever watches the slowly becoming adult ccino and was disappointed her health was already declining? thoughts to discuss later.) OR! a secret third option. the carvers are right by the wood of the tree. the tree that is fond of ccino. maybe the tree just shared their emotions and feelings about ccino to them. which is protect. respect. special.

Just. options!

I love the process of the mask making?! not just the form or shape of the mask that is expected (though N asks for it at first so maybe most king's just told them what they wanted and expected the maks makers to make it work?) but when N sees that ngihtmare is very agaisnt it and tells him for who it is and why he wants one before anything else they go for the traditional way. which is to get a feeling for how the other thinks about them. To literaly FEEL what they feel to put THAT into the mask. that is so strange and alien but so damn beautiful! I love it!

And nightmare. gosh. he is so impacted. because thinking about ccino. about all he did for him. while his emotions are amplified. All those feelings and knowledge circling and effecting himself on such a level he is close to tearing up. i love that.

THE WAY HE CLUTCHES THE CLOAK TO GROUND HIMSELF!!!! The thing that Ccino GAVE him. just another reason why he is exactly there.

and N just being excited to get STRAIGHT to work. skipping over to the pile of wood to grab the best option and nightmare wanting to stay before deciding against it because it is just too much for him.

AND THE TAGS!!!

The fact the gang and ccino went down here to make a new mask for nightmare. ccino claiming first go because he IS the brother/caretaker/ REAL parent of nightmare.

Just. fuck! that would be such a banger drabble too! Maybe N doens't even address them by name but like by which animal mask they were given. Just right away she knows who is who without EVER seeing them. wihtout even being at any ceremony or anything!!

Ccino knocking and N opening the door only to smile and say "If it isn't the white cat!! Come in come in!" and Ccino is shocked. his mask is a very tightly held secret. just for his own safety. sure ccino figured nightmare told N for who it was but Ccino never met N. So he knows N never met him either.

And them all taking a moment to talk about Nightmare. You could really dive into their realtionships like that. ccino talks about nightmare with such pride and love. that is HIS kid at this point and his emotions and feelings say as much. Killer speaks about nightmare as this naive person still but willing to listen and learn. Soemthing that ngihtmare takes price in. Dust speaks about nightmare as his savior. Nightmare saved him first from dead and then from his own magic exploding him. Horror speaks about Nightmare of a trustworthy hardworking caring king. someone who tries his best to do right. Cross speaks about nightmare and can only think of forgiveness and second chances. He is safety.

Just. AAGH!!!

Also the idea that dream goes down here and N just smiling like "took your sweet time to visit me prince. You wanted a mask and you were literally down the hall!"

Dream sputtering "I was in a jailcell?!"

N tilts her skull "so? Could have still called for me. I could ahve had the mask you wanted ready AGES ago." :/

It is just not efficient lmao!!

The fact N just walks into town casually is so funny to me. Just. making my way downtown. walking fast. faces passing. no one knows how the fuck i do this :3

Spot this was such a good drabble!! I always love what you write!

The Maskmaker (New Age AU Drabble)

Hiiiii. So, this isn't very long and doesn't do Nightmare or N enough justice, but I wrote this a while ago and my lovely pals looked at me w/ big ol' eyes on my post about posting it, sooooo!!! Here it is!!

This is shortly after Night's coronation and follows Ancha's drabble regarding Ccino + his remaining by Night's side!

   These halls. They were cold. Colder than the rest of the castle.

��  Nightmare only knew, thanks to the gentle puff of steam left by his shallow breaths as he stepped down the corridor. The dark, long, corridor.

   He couldn't feel it. No. His sense of warmth and cold had faded almost instantly after eating the apple. The nervous chill in his core had been replaced with a luke-warm air. Like a puddle left after a summer rain. The chill couldn't reach him.

   Still, he wore his cloak. One which Ccino had tailored not a week ago because he feared Nightmare would feel bare without it. His old one used to keep him warm. Ccino was right, of course. Purposeless or not, the new heavy fabric kept him centered. Covered the restless twitching of his tendrils as he spoke with the few he could bring himself to communicate with since the incident.

  

   Now, it's bottom hem was suspended away from the old floors, just barely, by his extra limbs.

   His steps were silent, he wasn't sure when that had begun, but he imagined in this darkness no one would know he was there at all until the Cyan of his eyelight was turned upon them.

   He approached the door. Finally reaching the ornate, carved surface he'd visited only once before. When he and Dream were young. Nim had ordered them to come alone and let the mask-maker measure them. So they'd know when time came for them to commission their own masks. They didn't have to come down, the mask-maker already knew their measurements. They always did.

   His knuckles hovered away from the door. With its carving of that tree, swirling and dancing in the low light his eyelight provided. This space held more lingering emotions than he'd expected. His hand trembled a bit.

   No. He couldn't chicken out. He couldn't go crying, this was important to him. It was his right. It was... the least he could do.

   His fist connected with the door, twice, steadily. The loud sound echoed into the space behind him, and he stood. Prepared to face heckling and anger abd fear, for he wasn't sure the mask maker even knew of his rise to the throne. He hadn't been there, after all. At the ceremony.

   The door swung inward, and... Nightmare found hinself staring down at a monster.

   This monster... was not the one whom he remembered.

   Before, when he was young, he recalled a large, imposing monster. Heavy clay hands that held the pristine masks so carefully. Kind eyes which skimmed sorrowful past him, and handed him that lovingly carved owl mask. The one made simply out of dark wood.

   Now, the monster stood before him, leaning in the doorframe, was not that monster. This one was slightly shorter than him, stocky in the shoulders, and bundled in layers of cloaks and gloves. Their face hid behind the mask of some sort of rabbit, bright, burning lights behind the eye-holes were a soft lavender and blue. Only a lashing tail gave away their species. A skeleton varient.

   "Mask-maker." He greeted, composure renewed.

   The monster blinked, before they widened the door a bit more. A wave of amusement and excitement washed over Nightmare, and he thought he might be sick from just how potent it was.

   "Ah, my King!" They exclaimed, and Nightmare could almost hear the smile in their tone. "I wasn't expecting you so soon after your whole coronation, come in!"

   They darted away from the door, allowing Nightmare to see past them. The room beyond was as he remembered. The large sets of work-benches, suspended candles, piles upon piles of wood. Masks lined every inch of the walls, though now he could see newer ones piling up along shelves and along the stations.

   The monster seemed to round to a large chair, much too oversized for them, and plop down into it. Nightmare drifted inside, closing the door behind him carefully.

   "You royals only come down to see me for masks, that is my job though," They mused. "Or, well, that's what my mentor always said."

   Nightmare drew closer to the opposite side of the table which now separated them. He could see the messy, amalgamated surface of a partially-completed work laying between them. The wood mangled and frayed not unlike torn flesh.

   "I must ask," He knew he had other business and little time, but, "Who are you, mask maker? My mother never mentioned a change in position."

   It would be just his luck that a fraud would be hidden here in the depths. Though, the emotions were simply so delighted. They swirled about, as though every flick of their tail sent another ripple through the air.

   A giggle erupted from behind their mask.

   "Oh, I think I like you already, my king!" They said happily, "Mask-makers have never been asked such a thing by the royals! We have always been known to retire and pass on the mantel without care from you folks."

   They divulged the information so easily, but Nightmare didn't recieve the answer he had asked for. It took a few more breaths before they spoke again.

   "My name is N, my King. Call me as you see fit, I change as easily as replacing my mask." They finally admitted. "King Nim visited me once, two years ago, only to inform me her prince may quickly approach after his coronation. Though, I'm sure you're not the one she meant?"

   Nightmare withheld the hiss which desperately wanted to bubble up in his throat. His tendrils whipped about in frustration. Guilt. Of course they were expecting Dream. He'd figured as much.

   "No matter. I am here to serve my king, and that king is you, my good sir." They dipped their head a bit, "So, what is it you'd like me to carve? A noble wolf? A regal ibis? Something fitting a consort or-"

   "None of that." Nightmare cut them off, his good socket narrowing in disgust. The thought made his stomach churn.

   He thought he'd have to wait for her to speak up again, but found they had quieted and were seemingly awaiting information.

   "My... head of house. Recently promoted as of my ascension." He said, slower. He wouldn't get worked up again, "He deserves only the best, and I know you understand this well."

   N seemed to smile beneath the mask again, their eyelights hidden in thin crescent slits.

   "Describe away, my king!" They exclaimed, reaching out for a scrap of paper.

   Nightmare remembered how he'd been taught. To describe the mask with intention. Feelings and thoughts tucked away into each and every word. Those were supposed to be insightful for the mask-maker. To guide their hand as they carved.

   "This mask. I would like it to be the Visage of a cat. Well-kept, clean, orderly." He spoke, gently, drawing his eye away from the table and to the plain floor were nothing would influence his thought. "A kind face, soft. Trustworthy and bold. Clever. Warm."

   Nightmare wasn't sure what came over him. Descriptions and feelings tumbled from his jaws for what felt like ages. By the time he finished, his throat was raw with emotion. His hands clutched the inside of his cloak like a life-line.

   It was the tapping of N's charcoal stick to her desk which alerted Nightmare. Made his eyelight snap back up to her position.

   Though, she'd already put her sketch down and was up and across the room. Tugging at her piles and piles of enchanted and imported woods. For being a stationary monster, they had strength to move the wood with ease.

   "You've given me the perfect working material, my King! This mask should be done in four-days time." They assured him, not turning around.

   Their emotions read as elation now. A pure, unadulterated joy at the... the way Nightmare had described his mask? He could only imagine his magic intent had something to do with it. Ccino would, hopefully, understand.

   Oh!

   "The mask. You are aware who it is for?" He questioned.

   N hummed, before popping away from the stack of wood with a nice chunk of white-ish wood. It reminded Nightmare of cooked fish flesh, a pristine off-white with an intricate pattern.

  

   "I can only imagine it's that guy? Ccino? Good for him with the promotion, by the way. I'm sure he had his fair share of struggles to get there." N replied.

   Nightmare gave a minute nod. He hated that he had a heavy suspicion as to why N already knew Ccino by name. Nefarious plans set by his mother yet again. Bastard woman.

   He debated staying longer. Watching N strip the bark away or making smalltalk.

   In the end, it was better to leave. His hands were still shaking and his gut felt like it'd spill if he felt one more overwhelming emotion from the craftsman he was standing with. So, he bid them a farewell, promised to return in four days time, and exited from that heavy wooden door.

   The trip would be worth it so long as N delivered. And she would.