#I have my own opinions and I'll stick by them

[amethystfairy1]

Regarding the Iskall Situation...

I've received a lot of asks wondering about what my take is on it, and since I'd prefer to have it all taken care of in one swoop so we don't have to continue to focus on it, here's my stance on the subject.

A: Yes, I have seen the credible evidence from Kasszki, I read the doc they posted, and I feel awful for them and the other victims that they had to deal with this. I'm glad to hear that the Hermits and others were supportive of them and helped them handle this situation in as professional a manner as possible. I have also seen the credible information from False that Stress left for her own separate reasons.

B: I strongly denounce Iskall's behavior, and I have absolutely zero intention of supporting him as a creator ever again.

C: Please don't pester the creators or the victims. I said it in my initial response to this situation before we knew what had happened, but my opinion remains the same here. Any information we get from the Hermits is a privilege, not a right. Hermitcraft and it's associated fandoms are well known for being healthy, good spaces, and I'm proud to be a member of this community. Now our money is where our mouths are. Please don't feed into the rumor mill, please continue to support the Hermits as you always would and don't pry or demand more details from them. This is a very difficult situation for all of us, and I'm certain it's even worse for all of them. Please keep in mind the Hermits are all grown adults, many of them had professional careers before they joined Hermitcraft, and they are handling this in as professional a manner as they are able. I applaud them for that. As their fans, we need to do the same.

What are my plans for Iskall and Stress in TTSBC?

Understandably, I've received several asks about what I plan to do about Iskall and Stress's characters in TTSBC. I've answered them individually, but I just want to put this here as a one-stop spot for what my stance is so it's clear.

I've always been a 'character not content creator' author. My characters are just that, characters. Does that mean I can completely remove them from the creators upon which they are based? No, of course not. That's not how this works, either. So here's my plan moving forward.

The two stories that heavily feature Iskall in TTSBC, "Run with It' and "Carry me Home Tonight" will remain up. They are timestamped with their dates of posting which was long before any of this came out, and again, they are very clearly meant to be characters, not the creators.

Iskall will be removed from the TTSBC: Wiki, and I will not be writing any new content for his character.

Does that affect the plot of TTSBC? Yes, it does. I'm not going to pretend it doesn't, and those of you who have followed the series at length can likely see where the issues arise...but I'm an author, and I can pivot. I also have an awesome little team behind me of @silver-sunray, @boo-the-ahh, and @khoirkid who are helping me to make sure TTSBC carries on smoothly despite this unforeseen struggle.

Stress will not be removed from the TTSBC: Wiki. As I mentioned in an ask earlier, her role in the story is very minor, and I hadn't planned for her to have any other pieces to herself outside of Hermit-a-Day May anyway...so aside from specific instances where it might be necessary to mention her, she will not be making any more major appearances. This is mainly because I'm a Hermit/Traffic/Empires writer, and I plan to stick to that notion unless future events cause me to pivot otherwise.

Lastly, I would appreciate if we could avoid anymore asks about the situation. If there are any further updates I'm sure I'll find that out on my own, I'm very active in this fandom and I see things pretty quickly when they spread, so if any new things related to this situation spring up, while I greatly appreciate your concern for me and my work, please don't send it to my inbox or in DM.

I'm very saddened by this, as I'm sure many of you are. Hermitcraft and it's associated fandoms have been my safe space for many years, through some of the hardest moments of my life, and with the mess that MCYT has proven itself to be at times, it felt like we were untouchable here. But like Doc said, the Hermits are good, and they are strong. And as their fans and supporters, we need to be the same.

Be good, be strong, and let's make sure our lovely community continues to be the positive space it always has been.

-Amethyst

[yazthebookish]

Ruhn about Lidia vs Azriel about Elain

I don't even have to analyze the text, this immediately pinpoints to the issue I have with Elriel. Sexual attraction is absolutely normal but what else is there? and that's what we don't see with Az when he thinks about Elain.

It's a very simple thing that could've been mentioned, it doesn't spoil anything but the fact that we didn't is very telling. He doesn't even makes a comment about her joy or smile when he gives her the necklace. We don't get what Az thinks about Elain as a person and that's the issue a lot of readers have with this pairing.

I just found this to be a very interesting example.

[sysig]

It’s almost their time of year ft. some redraws (Patreon)

[railingsofsorrow]

we'll be alright

[spencer reid x reader]

summary: the one where it's the team's night out after a few long weeks of work and you're finally relaxing... not really. because you have a secret that's brewing your insides out.

pairing: s.reid x f!reader

w.c: 2.4K

warnings/content: mentions of pregnancy symptoms; sleep deprivation; alcohol; jj being a good friend; discussion about choices; fearing one's reaction; yk spencer reid the best (only) man on earth.

A/N: I planned this to be a small drabble... anyways, enjoy this blurb while I finish up a few requests.

navi

masterpost

cm masterlist

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“what are you doing?”

“chill, jj. I'm not drinking.”

you roll your eyes at the blonde casting you a suspicious look when she walks over. you don't know why she did it, to be honest. everyone seemed to be having fun over at the table, you just felt too uncomfortable and had to take a breath of fresh air outside. when you came back, you sat down by the counter, the bartender placed a red drink in front of you claiming it was from a guy across the bar. you didn't look, you didn't care. you push it aside with an eye roll and stick to the glass of soda you had previously ordered.

“are you okay?” her sympathetic voice is too much for you to bear right now, so you inhale sharply, actually thinking about downing that whole red drink in a go but you're one hundred percent sure certain jj would knock it off before it reaches your mouth. “sorry. I won't ask.”

“i'm just... confused.” you shrug, playing with the hem of the glass, tongue traveling over your lips. they are pretty dry, you can't remember the last time you drank water. “you don't have to keep an eye on me, jj. seriously, I'll be back in a second. I'm just... thinking.”

“have you told him?”

“no.”

her brows pull together. and before she can offer you her unwanted advice, you cut her off.

“don't tell me he has the right to know or anything like that. I know, okay? I know what I have to do, I know what I need to do. but I have a right to process everything on my own as well and I'm doing just fine doing that. for now.” you don't mean to snap, acknowledging the fact that jj means well, but you're tired of hearing obvious things about the situation and none of them did anything to help easing your nerves.

seems like people cared more about spencer's opinion on the matter rather than your own, when it is, in fact, a matter that you are carrying.

“i was gonna say take your time. you don't need to have it all figured out right this second.” you glance up at her, doubtful. jj gives your shoulder a squeeze and casts you a reassuring smile that almost sends you to jump in her arms to be coddled. “you're not on your own. I know it can be overwhelming, trust me, but you can talk to me anytime you want, okay? when you're ready.”

you smile for what felt like the first time in the night. relief swallowing down a bit of the nervousness rumbling through your chest.

“thanks, jayge,” you say.

jj gives you a wink. she leaves you alone after that and you enjoy a few minutes on your own when a familiar and welcoming touch trails down your back.

“you're quiet.” spencer eyes something above your head with hard eyes and his gaze immediately melts when it falls upon you.

“marking territory, doctor reid?” you tease, noticing the jealousy by his tells. his tries at being inconspicuous are foolish, but you like it.

he flushes red, clearing his throat and mumbling I don't know what you're talking about under his breath.

you hum, resting your chin against your palm as you look up at him. “i'm always quiet.”

“not like that.” spencer points out, tilting his head as his lips stretch into a soft smile. his gaze says I know you. you can't fool me. and he's 100% right, you can't. “is everything okay?” he questions, fingers grazing your upper arm in a way that it almost causes you close your eyes and give in to sleep right there. the truth is that you haven't been sleeping for three whole days. tossing and turning and feeding the nightmare in your head that all would go to shit. your relationship, you mean. the most solid thing you have going on for you, you'd screw that up. personally, you're a fan of facing the problem right away so you could get rid of it quickly. but this is neither a problem — not for you — nor you could fix it.

“i have something to tell you.” you swallow with difficulty. “but I- I don't know how.”

“okay.” he caresses your arm, brows knitting together in slight concern. “do you want to go home? is that okay for you?”

you sigh, hand traveling cross your face. “i don't want you to stop having fun because—”

“i wasn't having fun.” spencer is quick to cut you off albeit gently like he always is. “i was basically begging for you to call it a night so we could leave.”

a surprise laugh escapes out of you. you believe that.

“okay.” you nod, convinced. and a little less anxious to be honest. it's not like you'd say what you want to say in the middle of a crowded bar filled with drunk people. “yeah, we can, we can go home.”

“great.” he kisses your temple and waits for you to accompany him to your friend's table so you can bid your goodbyes. the first indication that something is off was your withdraw nature throughout the entire day. not that you weren't doing your job perfectly fine, you were. but your mind seemed to be elsewhere from the moment you stepped into the FBI headquarters to this very moment now. the second indication was when you said you'd get a drink and never came back. he found you by the bar with, in deed, a drink before you. then, he knew he had to say something.

“where are your keys?” spencer asks, adjusting the leather strap on his shoulder as you stride out of the pub. you lift the car keys between your fingers and he outreaches a hand towards it to which your eyebrows pull together in confusion. “you drank, didn't you?”

your face smoothes out in understanding, “no.” he regards you with uncertainty. “i didn't,” you repeat with an eyeroll. “i can't. I ordered that one but I didn't touch it. if you wanna drive though, be my guest.” he takes the keys in the first chance and you just chuckle softly, walking to the opposite side and entering the car. when you finally adjust yourself in the seat, you let out a long breath in relief. your feet are killing you as well as your head. not to mention the dizziness coming back and forth.

you don't open you eyes when something presses against your torso, you know it's spencer buckling up your seatbelt that you had forgotten.

“what did you mean by you can't drink?” the peaceful silence is broken by spencer's gentle tone. he'd look over at you every few minutes, trying to point out if the cause for your pale cheeks is the faint light of the car or something else. your eyes are shut but he knows you are not sleeping by the constant shifting in your seat.

“what?” you stumble on an answer and that's the best you are able to come up with.

“you said I can't.”

“you're correcting my misspellings now?”

spencer's eyes widen slightly. when the traffic light turns red, he quickly turns to you ready to apologise. but he sees your smirk and backs down, letting out a sigh.

“no,” he says, rolling his eyes. there is still something unsettling about your behavior, he can't point out what. sometimes it just happened, that feeling. he knew something was off without a single glance your way. the red light turned green before he can carry on speaking.

he does it anyway, though his eyes are stuck to the avenue and not on you as he plans to.

“are you okay?”

silence. and then,

“why do you ask?” your voice is soft, almost uncertain. you are hesitant and holding back. something is definitely wrong.

“you're withdrawal. you look tired and you didn't sleep well last night. I'm fairly sure you're a bit pale since this morning.” you're groaning beside him and spencer frowns. you finally arrive at your apartment and he takes a while to park before he turns the engine off. “are you sick? do you have the flu? migraines? cause we could have gone straight home tonight, you know that right? do you have a fev—”

“stop, spencer.” you mumble before his hands reach your forehead to check your temperature. you hate that he notices so much so fast. even though he's quiet about it, spencer is always paying attention. always. “it's not— I'm not sick. don't worry.”

“i'm still worrying.” he replies matter-of-fact, earning a scowl from you. he isn't phased. “should we go to the hospital?”

you huff like a five year old. “i just told you I'm not sick.”

“and I don't believe you.”

somehow, you wish he noticed more so you didn't had to say the truth out loud.

“i'm not sick.” your tone was sharp though you avoid it, it was just how it came out. you were sick of that subject.

spencer frowns. he stops himself before he could ask if you were sure of that statement.

“but I might get sick.” you utter under your breath, unsure about saying it out loud but you already did it. spencer turns to you after he takes off his shoes, a pet peeve of yours is that you hate dirty shoes around the apartment. there's always a few pairs of flipflops by the doorstep in case you have visitors. or they can just walk around in their socks, you had no problem with that, which is what spencer did. “... once in a while.”

“what is going on?” spencer approaches you slowly, his concern starting to create a thousand of theories inside his head. “really, I'm worried—”

“i'm pregnant.” you let out and release the breath you've been holding for what felt like hours. there. it's done. when you open your eyes, you don't look at him but walk straight in the direction of your room. spencer is hot on your heels. you just wanted to shower.

“what— you're— what do you mean?” his frantic voice almost makes you laugh if you weren't so tired with a headache brewing.

“i really need to take a long shower, spencer.”

“I—” he blinks, studying you for a moment before he swallows all of his questions and he sees. he sees what's going on and why your behaviour has been off these days. spencer's very observant, but sometimes he can let one or two hints wander off his radar. “okay.” he wants to hold you but he stays in his spot. if you want space, that's what he will give you. “do you need me to prepare you a bath?” he prays you say yes but you shake your head, entering the bathroom and shutting the door.

he lowers himself down on the edge of bed and stares at nothing as his thoughts swirls around the signs being thrown at his face the whole week. the morning sickness. not being able to stand the smell of any perfume. a sudden dizziness... fuck. how could he have been so clueless?

spencer admits he's always beeng good at physics and chemistry and statistics and he's constantly praised for picking up certain behaviours in his line of work, but he sucks at social cues and most of the times he misses the joke in a room or your sarcasm — though he's infinitely better at detecting that.

he takes pride in knowing you. your little quirks such as the way you press your lips together when you're uncomfortable or when you pick at your cuticles when something is on your mind during a case. he doesn't know how he didn't notice that. really, you spent most of your time together, both at work and outside of work. hell, spencer knows your period cycle. he makes sure to fill his pantry with your favourites sweet and sour snacks for that time of the month. it truly makes no sense how be could be so oblivious.

he knocks twice on the bedroom door, apprehensive and extremely careful. he's afraid by your latest reaction that you don't want him around.

it's actually the opposite.

“come in.” you're finishing getting dressed for the night. one of his old Caltech shirts slipping through your frame as he walks in slowly. you raise a brow in his direction, eyeing his figure standing by the doorway.

“i made you some peppermint tea. it's good for, hm, nausea.”

letting out a sigh at his hesitation, you lift a hand, silently asking him to come closer. “i'm not mad at you.” you clarify, breathing into his neck as he gently pulls you into his arms. “i was frustrated and tired and sore and sleepy. 'm sorry I was rude.” then, you chuckle awkwardly. “and sorry I dropped that bomb on you without a notice.”

he squeezes you, running a hand through your back. “don't be sorry. I understand.”

“are you mad?”

he pulls back a little, stunned that you even asked that. “what? why would I be mad?”

you shrug, meddling with the collar of his work attire he still hasn't taken off. “we didn't plan it. it's not ideal.”

spencer shakes his head, lifting your chin slightly to meet his gaze. “i don't care. I'm here for whatever you decide to do. there's no such thing as ideal.”

your mouth quirks up in the corners and you brush a honey brown curl behind his ear, fingertips trailing down his jaw.

“what?” he nudges your nose with his.

“i love you.” his grin is contagious and you can't help the laugh that bubbles out of you. you love him so much.

“and i love you.” you let out a shriek as he pulled you up in his arms, your feet being suspended from the ground. “hey,” he cups your cheeks lovingly. “we'll figure it out. together. alright?”

you nod, warmth flooding through your chest as you close your eyes and lean into his touch. “yeah, yeah, we will.” you mumble in the croak of your boyfriend's neck. “I love you.” you repeat just because you felt like it.

spencer mutters the same three words softly into the crown of your head. and you know everything will be alright.

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taglist: @lilyviolets ; @whore-for-spencer-reid ; @yeonalie ; @ninkieminjaj

[foone]

whats your favourite narnia book if you have one

Since I grew up as an autistic christian, I have many Narnia Opinions!

So, my favorite book for it's own reasons is probably The Magician's Nephew. I'm always a slut for worldbuilding and backstory and that novel is basically just only that. Some guy we know from another book goes on an adventure and in the process gets to be involved with the creation of one world and the destruction of another? kick-ass.

Best book to adapt? The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. 1988 BBC version, 1979 Cartoon version, 2005 theatrical? All good, in their own ways. The BBC version is just perfectly 80s and the costumes are amazing (because they are costumes! they did all the monsters by sticking a guy in a big costume and I love it), the cartoon version captures the fucking whimsy of a story where SANTA SHOWS UP AND GIVES EVERYONE PRESENTS and the first person to offer any serious lore about the situation is named MR BEAVER. And the 2005 film has the big battles and CGI and Tilda Swinton as the White Witch which is... so much. I love them all.

But the best book adaptation is the 1990 BBC The Silver Chair. Hands down. It's got Tom Baker's Puddleglum, Warwick Davis playing an owl, 0£ BBC budget greenscreened giants (MULTIPLE TIMES), a group of people discovering IT'S A COOKBOOK and one of them being offended by the cookbook saying they don't taste very good, the bad guy turning into a giant rubber snake. a witch trying to gaslight some humans into believing the sun is a myth, and the ultimate salvation of Eustace Scrubb: a boy who almost deserved being named that.

And since I can't not list basically everything Narnia ever made, BBC's 1989 Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is pretty good too. It's a fun "road movie", in that it's an odyssey into a fictional Mysterious Ocean of Here There Be Dragons.

Lotta hits in that one. It's also got a "collect the macguffins!" plot where they're trying to collect the Seven Lost Lords.

But yeah, it's like... the first Island gets them a lord and they get to end slavery. Next up, Dragon TF island (The dragon is Greed... but it's also just a literal fucking dragon). Next, Gold TF island. Gold, it turns out, makes you go insane in your lust for wealth, even if you're already a Prince of a whole country. The gold is Greed, but it will also just fucking kill you because you'll be turned into gold.

Then it's the island of the ugly invisible one-foot guys and it turns out they cast a spell to turn invisible so no one could see how they're ugly but they're not ugly, they just think they are? and then it goes "HEY LUCY COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOUR OLDER SISTER" and she's like "I'm ugly.... unlike her. Maybe I should use magic to STEAL HER BEAUTY?!" and it's like, wow. Is there maybe a theme here about self-esteem in your appearance? and Clive Officemax Lewis is over there going I'LL NEVER TELL.

Anyway it's got the good line about how the Wizard in charge of the ugly invisible one-footed pogo-idiots is that how he eagerly awaits the day that they can be ruled by wisdom, instead of magic. It's a fun approach to magic: it's something that is a shortcut, a crutch, and it's a poor replacement for Wisdom, even when used by "the good guys". Tell me, Mr. FedexKinkos-Lewis, do you have any opinions on the complicated relationship between Christianity and magic? oh, you do? I never would have guessed!

They also find The Island Where Dreams Come True. They don't land there, they just fish a screaming man out of the ocean who is trying to escape it. The sailors hear it's The Island Where Dreams Come True and are like "wow, I could have my own ship!" and he yells no, you fools, not dreams like your wishes and imaginations, your actual dreams come true on this island.

and everyone agrees: Get us the fuck away from this island and lets never return.

Anyway I'm not gonna talk about THE ENTIRE MOVIE/BOOK but it's got a great weirdness at the end where they reach the end of the world (which is flat. It's okay, this is Narnia, a completely different world with different physical rules than Earth), and it's a waterfall, but a waterfall going up?

It turns out Heaven is on the other side of it. They turn around, but the anthropomorphic mouse is like "ehh, I'll take that journey" and becomes the Elijah of Aslan's Country, their equivalent of heaven.

Narnia, won't you?

[woso-dreamzzz]

Scottish Sam

Hardersson x Child!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: Magda wants you to wear her jersey

It's not very often that Magda gets to see you in her jerseys.

You wore Pernille's Wolfsburg and Denmark one easily. You'd had, on special occasions like the World Cup, worn Magda's Sweden jersey. You'd never willingly worn her Chelsea one.

You'd complained about everything when she used to force you into it. The size. The feel. But most of all, the colour.

Your aversion to Chelsea was something she had grown to live with but, now that you were at Bayern, Magda hoped you would wear her jerseys more often.

There was a strong sense of pride that she could never properly explain when she saw you in one of her shirts like she could imagine the woman you'd become in your own professional jerseys. There was something about it that just made her turn to mush which was why she was glad the Bayern jersey had red.

Red was your favourite colour. She blamed it for the reason that you were drawn to Arsenal in the first place but now she was sure that it was going to work in her favour.

Of course, that all came crashing down when she walked into the locker room to find you wearing a Bayern jersey that wasn't hers.

It wasn't Pernille's either - the only other person she could tolerate you wearing.

Instead, you were wearing Sam's.

You were standing in the woman's cubby too, arms crossed over your chest as you oversaw the other girls milling about waiting to go onto the pitch.

You look a bit scary like that but only a little because you're the same little girl who still slept with your stuffed toys and complained about eating fruit.

Sam's grinning as she looks around, showing anyone who would listen what you were wearing.

"Did you have to let her wear that?" Magda groans," I had a plan, Pernille!"

"It wouldn't have worked," Pernille laughs," She has opinions now. You can't trick her as easy as before."

"We'll see."

As Sam helps you get down, Magda pulls her jersey out of her bag and clears her throat.

You look over at her, wandering closer because Momma has your keeper gloves and Maria and Anna said that you can train with them and Cecilía today.

"What's that?" You ask.

"A Bayern jersey."

It's your size and you look at it suspiciously. You pull at the one you're already wearing. "Why?"

"Well, I thought you'd like to wear it."

"I'm wearing one now."

"But this one is special."

That catches your attention and you shuffle closer. "Why's it special?"

"Because," Morsa says with a flourish," It's mine."

Your interest waves and you move back to Momma. "Oh. That's boring."

Momma laughs and Morsa hisses at her," Pernille! It's not funny!" She turns back to you again. "It's not boring. We can match!"

You huff and stare at Momma. "Do I have to?"

She laughs and cups your cheeks. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to." She helps you slip on your keeper gloves and turns you around so she can fix your hair.

You're facing Morsa now, who is looking between you and the little you-sized shirt in her hand. You stare unblinking at her as Momma runs a brush through your hair and begins to braid it back.

Morsa sighs before tucking it back into her bag and waving a teasing finger in your face. "I'll get you in that soon, Princesse. Just you wait."

You stick your tongue out at here. "Nu-uh!"

Morsa sticks her tongue out too and Momma finishes your hair.

You go towards where the keepers are waiting before you freeze and turn back to Morsa, tugging on her shirt.

"Morsa," You say," You have to take a picture."

"How come?"

"I want to show Australian Sam my new shirt."

Magda bursts out laughing, her ego suddenly soothed by your desire.

You'd never once in your life worn Sam's jersey, Chelsea's Sam of course. You'd always refused, running away whenever she tried to ask you and screeching whenever she came near you with it.

It was always funny to watch and Sam had to try and convince you from a distance.

You never accepted though and Magda's ego suddenly feels fine again now she knows you want to show Sam that you're happily wearing Scottish Sam's jersey.

"Alright," Magda laughs, positioning you so you're looking over your shoulder with a smile as Sam's jersey in seen clearly. She snaps the picture.

"You have to send it to Australian Sam," You say," Okay?"

"Got it, Princesse. Go on off to training."

You grin and nod, running off towards the Bayern keepers, who lead you outside.

"You're not actually going to send it to her, are you?" Pernille asks and Magda's answering smile is all the explanation she needs. "Magda!"

"What?" Magda asks innocently," I'm just respecting Princesse's wishes. There's nothing wrong with that."

Pernille rolls her eyes but doesn't argue anymore and Magda takes this as her chance.

SAM 😈 wtf???? you can't let her do that Magda!!! where's the loyalty???? get that girl into my Chelsea jersey this instant!!!

[meanbossart]

Oh boy, VaM is kind of a trial and error experience LOL I couldn't really show you how to use the interface and stuff without a whole video or something, but it's not THAT difficult to get a hang of if you just give yourself a day or two to play around, not to mention the number of tutorials you find out there. Luckily, if you only want to use it as a reference software that makes the process far easier (to this day I have no idea how to animate on that thing, since that's not what I use it for)

As for how I use it, it's pretty self explanatory - if there's a complicated pose I want to draw but I'm either having trouble with it, or just want to double-check angles/anatomy, I will use it as a resource! I use for most of my "proper" pieces (y'know, the nicer looking ones) and every once in a while for my silly comics if I'm having trouble with a pose.

Lets use this drawing for example (the character on top of DU drow belongs to @namespara )

I don't draw a lot of mud-wrestling (shocking, I know) but I had an idea of the kind of pose I wanted them to be in. So the very first thing I did was make a rough sketch of what I was envisioning:

I often do a rough sketch first, even If I know I'm going to be pulling the program up because A) It's less tedious than adjusting the models over and over again until I pick a pose and B) because sometimes I'll decide I don't need the reference, after all, and so that's 30 minutes I'll have spared myself of playing around on the software.

Now, this is a pretty complicated pose! It's in a weird angle and the bodies are making contact in ways I'm not used to depicting, so I did choose to whip out VaM for this one. I went into the program and after some messing around, I flopped my little dolls together like this:

Now something really cool about VaM is that you can completely customize your models, and if you have the patience, I would definitely encourage you to do so! Obviously, you don't have to make picture perfect replicas of every single character you have, but as you can see here I have made a DU drow "decoy" to help me better understand some of his features when I draw him: he has a strong brow, a short nose, a square jawline - these are all going to look a very specific way from certain angles, and I might not always be sure of how to draw it right! So it's useful to have models that bear SOME semblance to the character so you can better understand how different viewpoints will affect their bone structure and mass.

Also thank fucking god for the elf-ear slider. Figuring out how to draw those shits from certain angles was a huge pain in the ass when I started drawing DnD races.

So, with the reference in hand, I go over the sketch again:

Now you may notice that I don't stick to the reference 100%. There's three reasons for this:

posing on VaM is tedious as hell. You can get something incredibly natural looking and picture-perfect to reference from if you wish, but it's going to take you hours to do. So, for the most part I just slap guys together until the results are "close enough" and use that.

In my opinion, you should always aim to ENHANCE your reference material, not replicate it exactly!

While VaM is a PRETTY DANG GOOD source of anatomical reference, it isn't perfect, I often supplement it with further reference from real life resources or make tweaks based on my own knowledge where I catch it falling short (and, antithetical to what I just said, I sometimes fuck the anatomy up further on purpose if I think it looks better that way LOL it's all jazz baby).

Then lines, color, yada yada. I don't have a tutorial on that and I don't think I could make one, because my process is chaotic as hell, but I do at times use Virt-a-mate as loose reference for lighting too when coloring - waaaaayyyy less so however, because that process is even more tedious and I feel like I often get better results by just winging it. It is a feature of the program though, and I'm sure it would be helpful for someone who has a difficult time visualizing lights and shadows. I only started using this program a few months ago, so I happened to already have a pretty good understanding of that kind of thing and just don't personally feel like I get much out of that particular mechanic.

Here's a few other examples of pieces that I made reference for (WARNING: Suggestive)

Now, for the question many of you may want to ask:

"Can I trace this junk?"

And to that, I say: Buddy, you can do whatever the hell you want with the reference material you created.

However,

If your goal is to learn and improve your art, and to recreate realistic proportions and anatomy from memory, tracing won't help you.

Developing your own style, your muscle memory, and personal technique will all be hindered by choosing to trace instead of drawing from observation, so I would encourage against it. Hell - even when tracing is employed as a technique, it's usually by high-skill realism & concept artists who are looking to either cut some corners, save time, or just double-check their own proportions in order to improve further - if you try tracing as a beginner, you will most definitely find the result to still look stiff and "off".

So trust me, there is so much more to be gained from drawing from observation. Make note of tangents, compare proportions, use all the elements of the picture to dictate where and how things should go - it will be a far more rewarding experience.

Hopefully this has been helpful! VaM is a really cheap program (you get it on the guys' patreon for I think 8 dollars, just google it!) and it's definitely been worth my money as an artist since I found it. Learning to use it can be a little intimidating at first glance, but as I said above you only really need a day plus one or two tutorials to get a hang of the interface.

A fair warning though, IT IS A SOFTWARE MADE FOR VIRTUAL SEX/ADULT ANIMATION So when looking it up expect to see a some spicy content.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

This is a fandom related thing. I will say that right off the bat, but I needed a few extra opinions on this since it feels like I am alone on this.

AITA for killing off my OC in a group rp?

For some context, I (using the name Snow for myself) joined a group rp with some other people where we would come up with a plot together. Everyone would be using original characters (OCs) It was agreed that the things that happened would be voted on, but people were not allowed to control what other people did with their OCs. It is the whole "my oc, my rules" thing. For those who don't get it, it basically means that since the oc is yours, only you get to decide what happens to them.

To the story. I had plans I wanted to do with my OC. I wrote her to be someone who was secretly working for the villains and was only tricking the others into thinking she was their friend. The only other people who were aware of this were the moderators, and they had approved of it.

What was the problem then you may be wondering? Well the problem was that another member, I'll just call them Star, had said that they had gotten an emotional attachment to my OC. Which I personally found weird, so I typically tried not to be stuck alone with them.

When it came to reveal the plot twist with my oc, Star had a freak out upon finding out. They started crying and complaining that it wasn't right to do that and they could not picture "their" emotional support character doing that. The other members decided to comfort Star. They always sided with Star and acted like they were oh so special. The others were saying that this was all just a joke and that it wasn't actually going to happen. "It is just a joke right, Snow?" they had said.

And I replied with. "No. It's not a joke. My oc has been working with the villains the whole time."

Star's response was to have a meltdown over it, saying that I was out to hurt them and ruin their day. So I ended up getting a message from the moderators asking me to change my OC's backstory as to not upset Star further. They ended up telling Star that it would be changed to just having my OC be mind controlled the whole time.

This was not something I agreed with, but I pretended to play along begrudgingly. I hated that the group decided to treat my OC like she belonged to Star. But I played along and came up with my own idea. There was a plot point that came up in the rp that would have someone die off, so I took it as my opportunity to kill off my own OC. If I wasn't allowed to do what I had planned for her initially, then she wasn't going to stick around anymore.

After I killed her off, Star logged off and vanished for an entire 3 days. All the other members constantly messaged them to try and get a response from her, but they did not answer until they returned. When they logged on, they said that they had to a panic attack over what had happened and felt hurt that I would do that.

I just responded with "my oc, my rules. I quit this group." Then I quickly went through and deleted every little bit of information I had shared about my OC with that group before leaving their discord. After, I got a lot of messages from all the members, about sending the information so that Star could continue playing with my OC since she was their comfort character and it wasn't fair I was doing this to them especially after their panic attack. I said no and blocked everyone who had asked me that.

Sure I feel bad that they had a panic attack, but I felt betrayed that everyone else was willing to bend the rules for them and allow them to control my OC. Even if I no longer use said OC, I still wouldn't let them have her. This is still my property and I stand by the "my oc, my rules" thing.

So AITA for killing off my OC?

What are these acronyms?

[konigsblog]

simon riley as a dad.

a/n; in this, simon is a single dad. please leave requests in my inbox, they're always open !! will make a part two if requested !!!

second photo isn't mine, message me the creators name and i'll update it ☀️

simon was definitely nervous to become a father. the thoughts of becoming like his own plagued his mind, stress forming as the due date came closer.

his beautiful baby girl was born. wipsy blonde hair, eyes lile her mothes, a birthmark on her chest, above her heart. he couldn't help himself, sobbing whilst he held his newborn, his little girl immediately calming down as soon as she was placed on his hands, eyes widening and staring at him with adoration and love, raising her small hand to his cheek.

the only person that new about simon's daughter was price, a man he could trust. it wasn't that he couldn't trust johnny or kyle, it would be easier to tell price as simon himself viewed price as a father. showing him the polaroid photos of his girl, smiling underneath the mask while talking about her.

it's her first day if school, and simon is unsure if he can let her go. he watches as the other adults send their kids off, hugging them goodbye whilst they skipped into school. his eyes glistening, becoming glossy as he held her tight, rocking her from side to side, forcing his tears back before kissing her forehead.

- “dad, i met a boy in my class!!” she yells out, excited to have made a new friend. the word ‘boy’ lingers in his mind. boy, oh god.

helping her with her homework after school seems boring and uninteresting, but to simon, everything about his daughter is exciting and interesting, it's his favourite part of the day; waking up and greeting her, watching as she scoffs down her breakfast, laughing and giggling with him.

i think by the times johnny and kyle figure out simon has a daughter, she's probably be around four. they literally yelled, unsurprisingly and exactly how he thought they'd react. rolling his eyes, yet a smirk hidden under his skull mask. - “the fuck do you mean you have a daughter??”

she definitely looks up to him. talks about him constantly with her guy friend. mentions that she wanted to do what he does for work, causing simon to spit his tea our and nearly have a panic attack at the thought. curling up to her, letting her rest her head on his chest as she took an afternoon nap after school, playing with her dirty blonde hair.

soap meeting her for the first time was definitely something.. he literally was jumping up and down the entire time, launching himself at the poor little girl infront of him, sobbing and whining because she didn't know who this freak was.

calmed down after simon explained that he was his colleague. price scolding him, simon glaring, kyle trying his absolute hardest not to start crying from laughter. - “oh my god, you're simons daughter!?!” johnny screams.

played games with kyle. beat him every single time - got accused of cheating.

price is calm, probably met her before the rest, letting her sit next to him while she talks about the her friend. raising his eyebrow to simon teasingly as she mentions the same boy, laughing at his expression, angered and terrified of a four year old - probably threatens to beat him up before reminded that was a kid.

as the future comes, she gets a boyfriend, and unexpectedly, and unsurprisingly, it's that same boy. literally is gritting his teeth and lecturing her. - “careful, kid. i know you think you love him, but he could be a shit person, 'alright? i'm not gonna let some boy hurt and ruin my daughter.” - “dad, im literally five.”

johnny becomes close with her (after attacking her) letting her out make-up on him. eyeshadow on his cheeks, lip stick on his eyes, false eyelashes on his lips. and kyle has a botched manicure, some nails placed on his palm.

- i can't be bothered adding anything more since it's nighttime, and i'm pretty tired 😵‍💫 tell me your thoughts and opinions ! :)

- will make a part two if wanted and requested.

[da-rulah]

Omg I love your writing! Could I request how each of the ghouls would react to an S/O who gets flustered easily? Maybe the s/o is like a sibling of sin?? Idk, whatever you decide :)

Howdy-doody! I'll keep this one gender neutral my dear, but reader is a sibling of sin and in an established relationship with the pairings (all at once or not, that's up to you... 😂)

Gonna stick to the Ghouls today, but if you'd like the Ghoulettes let me know and I'll try and figure something out for them!

NSFW 18+ content so MDNI!

(Thank you to @her-satanic-wiles for helping me out with this one. The brain fog was real, but your help has cleared it!)

Sodo

He's thinks you are adorable.

He likes to mess with you by doing out-of-pocket cute things for you, things no one ever expected Sodo to be the type of partner to do.

He comes home to you with flowers, thoughtful gifts, snacks. He loves to see your cute little reactions to them.

You always get a bit shy about it, even you don't ever expect Sodo to shower you in these little gestures. He always seemed like the grumpy Ghoul, the one who'd hiss at someone for breathing too loud near him.

You were his weakness though, as much as he was yours.

He feels a protectiveness over you that he can't explain, and has since the day he met you.

His favourite thing to fluster you is pulling you into his lap when you're in public or with other people. When his arms wrap around you you usually squeak, and he holds you tightly against him possessively.

And no, it's not his favourite thing to feel you wriggling against him while he holds onto you at all. How dare you suggest such a thing.

Rain

Rain is a soft soul too, and so when you get flustered? He gets flustered.

It doesn't take much to fluster you, but he loves how adorable you are.

Like Sodo, he brings you gifts that soften you up. Your favourite is a teddy bear he bought you with it's own Ghoul mask he'd doused in his cologne for when he was away on tour.

When he'd come home from tour, you'd made the bear it's own little bass guitar - oh, how his heart had swelled at that.

Quite often you'll find yourself in a giggle-off. He usually starts it, making you giggle. But your giggle makes him giggle. And his giggle makes you giggle. And your giggle makes him giggle. And his giggle makes you gigg-

The only way to break out of the loop is to silence you with a kiss - one that'll knock the wind right out of you and have you blushing and clawing at him for more every time.

Mountain

Oh my Lucifer, he likes to tease you.

Mostly teases you because of your size. But it wouldn't matter if you were tall or tiny, you'd still be dwarfed by him and he only does it because it makes you so flushed.

If he teases you around others, it's innocent and playful. A poke to your ribs during Mass or a light shove into a bush as you walk down the sidewalk. Sure, it flusters you, but he thinks it's hilarious watching you compose yourself.

Most of the teasing happens behind closed doors, because he can really go for it then. He knows how much he can get away with in public before you get too flustered and it does more harm than good, but at home? He can wind you up as much as he likes.

He likes the little tantrums he can induce by teasing you - it gives him an excuse to coddle you and be sickeningly sweet to win you back over. Not that it ever takes much...

The worst case scenario is he has to go the extra mile to win you back over, but... that's not really a worst case scenario for either of you. He loves to please...

Swiss

Total shitbag.

This man thrives on flustering you in public. Anything he can do, usually of a sexual nature too.

You'd taken him shopping one time and he'd very loudly asked for your opinion on a lace babydoll and asked if you'd like to see him in it. He'd revelled in the blush on your cheeks all day long.

He pays attention to details that fluster you, like when he rolls his shirt sleeves up as he plays guitar, or when he boops you on the nose with a wink in front of other people.

The worst thing he ever did was embarrass you in front of Papa, when he'd very loudly told you he would see you after band practise was over and he would 'bring the whipped cream this time'.

Phantom

Also a shitbag. But he's sneakier about it.

This fucker looks through your tiktok fyp, your search histories, your conversations with your best friends to find out what makes you tick.

The worst had been when he'd seen you liking videos of men in corset waistcoats. He'd gone out and bought one, wearing it under his jacket to dinner with you and your friends.

He'd basked in the glory of flustering you - and your friends who you'd talked about the videos with - when he took his jacket off at the table.

He'd also found out about your involvement in booktok and the exact romance novels you had read from your storygraph profile and began roleplaying the scenes to rile you up.

The first time he'd pushed you up against a wall, you'd squeaked and cowered under him. He loved that. Now, he'd do anything to hear that squeak again.

He finds it hilarious, and it usually ends in a long night for the both of you culminating in absolute bliss and loving embraces.

[malereadermaniac]

Bully! ~ Yoichi x Male Reader

Idk what the public opinion on Camp Buddy is, but Yoichi is hot, and I wanna write abt him Also for the purpose of this fic Yoichi is like 4-5 inches taller than you - ever if your 6" like me 😭 word count: 1k amab m!reader (genitalia mentioned but no nsfw) / FDNI

You and Yoichi had a very straightforward relationship - bully and bullied

You were a timid kind-a guy - liked by many but no-one would stick their neck out for you

So you were what Yoichi would call "an easy target"

It was non-stop 24/7

Every time Yoichi saw you he would find some way to pick on you or tease you

His antics varied from small comments to threatening to beat the shit out of you

His actions never actually matching his words but he got the message across

You could see it in Yoichi's eyes that he couldn't bring himself to hit you for no reason

Once your eyes were graced with the scruffy purple locks and ragged body of the muscular man, your ears would be equally graced with snide comments

"God! You're so pathetic, (n/n)"

"Fucking hell you're so weak!"

And if you'd try to ignore the taller man, he would get personally offended

"Oh, what? So I'm not worth your time now, am I, (y/n)?"

Being the compassionate person that you are, you tried to understand why Yoichi was the way he was - he had a rough childhood and has practically no family

But fuck did it get harder and harder to understand that bully!

With the camp sports day coming up, tension was clearly building within your cabin

The main person creating the tension being Yoichi

So when the purple haired man shouted at you for the 5th time today for not being able to climb a ten foot fucking rope - you felt something in you snap

The man towered over you, shirtless from his own training - annoyance visible on his face

But for the first time since your little relationship had begun, you matched his expression

"Is climbing a rope that fucking hard, (n/n)?" Yoichi teases you, his tone oozing petty annoyance

"How 'bout you just shut the hell up, Wolf Boy!?"

You gagged him a little bit with that one

Yoichi had never seen you snap back at him, he was left speechless for long enough to allow you to hit him with more

"Just 'cause you're insecure about yourself doesn't mean you have to fucking harass me y'know?!" You shout, pushing your hands against the hunks muscular chest, pushing him backwards

"A-At least I-I ca-an use my muscles-"

"Wow! Can't even form a sentence now can you? Just fuck off you bonehead!" You keep shouting at the speechless man

Yoichi should be getting mad at you right now

He's supposed to be annoyed and be mouthing off back at you with a pissed off scowl on his face

But instead, the rugged man is... blushing???

Barely anyone snaps back at him when he teases them - especially not you!

Why was his heart beating faster by the second?

And why could Yoichi only focus on how your body was moving with anger and sass?

"What? Can't mouth off anymore, can ya?" You tease the wolf boy, crossing your arms across your chest and looking up into Yoichi's eyes with slight disgust

In the span of 2 seconds, it clicked in Yoichi's brain what was happening to him

So just like a wild animal, he acted on his instincts and feelings

"What can I say, (y/n)? I get speechless when I'm around ya~" the muscular man FLIRTS with you

"HUH?! W-What are you on about now?!" You stammer out, a blush rushing to your cheeks as you avert your eyes

Yoichi moves closer to you, so you move backwards out if nervousness

You two move closer and further from one another until your back hits the wall of the rope-climb - Yoichi cornering you

"Heh... I'd never noticed you were so cute, shortie" Yoichi teases, his arm resting on the wall above your head

"F-Fuck off!" You say as you keep blushing, gently pushing your hands against Yoichi's chests

'Fuck he's so buff...' you think to yourself as you push against his massive pecs

"Ha! Alright alright... I'll see ya 'round, shortie~" Yoichi flirts as he turns around, waving goodbye to you without giving you a single glance

'What the fuck just got into him? AND WHY AM I HARD?!' You think to yourself, almost hyperventilating from the mix of emotions and panic you were feeling

Which was justified, your longtime bully just randomly started flirting with you

Calling you 'shortie' and 'cute'! Who just randomly does that?!

And it didn't help that you shared a cabin with the muscular man

So when you saw him later that night, all he did was give you a smirk and a wink

WHAT THE FUCK

You just tried your best to ignore him, heading straight for the bathroom to change into your pj's

The rest of the guys could tell something was off, you'd usually chat to all of them before changing

And Yoichi was never this silent, he was clearly lost in thought - which was rare since Yoichi barely ever used his brain!

Randomly, Yoichi goes towards the bathroom - once again following his instincts to just see you and tease you

He barges in on you changing

You jolt up and freeze at the sound of the door banging open

Silence fills the room as Yoichi gets practically entranced by your ass - a blush sprouting on his face as he bares his teeth in a grin

You turn around slightly to see the taller man eyeing you down - your turn also revealing your soft dick

"Damn, shortie~ Giving me quite the show aren't ya?" Yoichi says with a teasing smile, eyeing up your body

You were speechless, but you could still force your muscles to throw whatever was in your hand at the rugged man

"You pervert!" You shout, the item of clothing in your hand landing directly on Yoichi's face

It just so happened that the item of clothing was your underwear....

The universe must have it out for you today.

The purple haired man grabs the worn boxers and bunches them up - making a comment about them being cute or funny then giving you a horny smirk

'So cute... they smell good too ya know'

'SHUT UP!' You shout, pushing the man put of the bathroom, your frame still fully naked

'Well I won't turn down some free material' Yoichi thinks to himself as he looks at your bunched underwear and chuckles as he remembers your reaction to him seeing you buttnaked

[ominous-horse-noises]

not done talking ab fhjy actually so i'll just say some of you guys who go on about how you could've done better themes and narrative arcs can't even think critically about the one in front of you.

i do wish that the other bad kids had interacted with their foils more this season because it was fun seeing them trade insults, but i also dont think it would've done much for them. i mean, people forget the tbks did try to turn reuben early on (they literally saved him from grix even though it was his fault he showed up trying to kill people). adaine thought oisin was cool and tbks were onboard with thinking maybe he wasn't that bad, and then he sent his grandma to murder them and their entire school. fabian tried to get an 'in' with ivy and it nearly cost him a genuine relationship with a character who had a way better chance of helping them figure things out without the risk of being betrayed. kipperlilly had an ego-driven hateboner for riz since BEFORE the rage stars and killed her own party member in cold blood just to stick it to kristen, and you're telling me that she could've been my little ponyied into giving up her chance to squash the symbol of all her inadequacy? buddy and maryann are the only rat grinders who havent fucked them over meaningfully and guess what? they're not thrilled about having to kill them- they're actively avoiding targeting them! almost like theyre capable of distinguishing between someone not on their side and someone who's proved to be a threat!

brennan made it pretty clear that trying to befriend trgs in their rage forms was futile and actively punished it ingame. you can have your opinions of that, but it definitely had a narrative point: if you get rage starred, you cant be 'this isnt youuuu'd out of it. you think ONLY of rage, and rage can't be reasoned with. it's arguably worse than death, bc at least someone can revivify you and there's no lasting consequences. think about how hard brennan was trying to push the ihs into taking rage tokens. he knew exactly how dire he'd made the consequences and that was on purpose. the season has no stakes if you can just talk your way out of being rage starred bc tbks could save each other easily. the whole climax literally can't happen if trgs arent being evil bc porter can't be a living god of rage without followers. tbks hating trgs isnt a flaw in the story: it IS the story.

[hotchgirlsummer]

i'm a mess but

⤷ aaron hotchner x reader

summary ⤷ Aaron has this date all planned out but things seem to fall apart and they're forced to improvise.

pairing ⤷ aaron hotchner x fem!bimbo!reader

warnings ⤷ fluff! slight angst - reader opens up about her horrible dates. aaron mentions haley, her death, and how he feels about it (briefly). not a warning but jack and jess make an appearance!

word count ⤷ 7k words

a/n ⤷ HELLLOOOOOO! i wasn't really expecting the first part to blow up but the support and love i received in my first bimbo!reader fic was so overwhelming 🥺🥺🥺 thank you to everyone who read the first one and i hope this second part lives up to your guys' expectation and to your liking. i received three requests involving aaron and bimbo!reader so i'll be working on the two before incorporating the third request in part three of this saga! also i have a possible plot for spencer reid x bimbo!reader and i'm trying to gauge if you guys would be interested in that? as always, feedback is appreciated. have a day as fantastic as yourselves!!! ❤️❤️

masterlist | part one: mess of mine

✪

“And just as a reminder, we will be having the weekends off for this month as Strauss has deemed we deserve a break after the continuous cases that took away most of our time,” Hotch reiterates before they end their final meeting for the week. This announcement was met with cheers and applause by the rest of the team. “Anyway you can have them extend our weekends off for the next, say, 12 months?”

This time Hotch cracked a smile as he gathered his files and into his folder as he shook his head, “Only way you can have that is by making a wish to a genie.” The team looked among themselves, each of their faces etched with surprise and amusement as they rarely got to witness their unit chief ride in on their jokes; behind their entertained expressions, they were curious as to what prompted this change. Rossi schooled his expression as well, despite knowing about the cause for Aaron’s welcome change in demeanor, he knew that his friend wanted to share the little ray of sunshine he found on his own terms. “If there’s nothing else, you all are dismissed for the rest of the week. Have a good one.”

As the team slowly dispersed out of the room, Hotch found Rossi smirking at him to which he raised an eyebrow at him, “Penny for your thoughts, Dave?” To which the mentor looked around the round table to ensure that everyone but them had left, “So, I’m assuming tonight’s the first date then?”

The faintest shade of red littered Aaron’s cheeks as he nodded and exited out of the room, “Tonight is the first date, yes. I’m picking her up after her shift at 7.”

Rossi looks at his watch and smiles upon seeing that their unit chief had a solid hour prior to picking up his date for the night. “Normally I’d wish someone good luck on their first date,” Hotch appreciated in that moment how Rossi leaned into his ear to whisper that as to not catch the attention of the nosy profilers, “But something tells me you would not need it in this scenario. Have a great weekend, Aaron.”

“You too, Dave. Try sticking to one jazz club this time, yes?”

Chuckling when Rossi flipped him off, Aaron hurriedly packed all of his things in his briefcase before heading out of the office. As he waited impatiently for the elevator to bring him to the floor of their parking lot. Turning on the radio, Hotch found himself smiling upon hearing a pop song — that he once was not familiar with until he started talking with Y/N. What started as constant texts, transitioned into hour long phone calls where their topics of conversation ranged from her opinions on how the internet’s influence on fashion trends have both been good and bed, her singing him the new song she had stuck in her head — which explains how he was now familiar with a lot of the songs that were played in the radio — but the one thing that seems to be a constant subject is how he would look good in certain styles of clothing.

Once home, he was delighted to see that Jack had been all cheery from his day at school and soccer practice. He indulges in his son’s excited recollection of his day, relishing in the giggles he let out everytime his son praised the dinner that was prepared for him; though it was just chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and some fries, he supposes that if it were made with love it would taste like a fine meal. It was like time passed by quickly after their meal as Jack was already bathed and dressed in his jammies before 6:45. After a quick chat with Jess, he was out the door and anxiously driving to the boutique. Once parked right out by the store, he was just in time to see his sweetheart exiting the front door and closing the aluminium security shutters. Jumping out of the car, he surprised her by gently pulling her back and lowering the shutters. “Aaron!” Came her surprised giggle, hugging his arm and looking at him like he was her whole world. “You’re here!”

“I did promise to take you out on a date, right?” He teased once he was sure the chutters were secured. Chuckling, she nodded her head as she smiled widely, “You did! And I was so excited for our date, you know? Phoebe got so annoyed with me talking her ears off about how handsome you were and how nice you are.”

Grateful that she was too busy rambling so she couldn’t witness Aaron blushing, he walked her to his car, opening the passenger door to reveal a bouquet of pink and white flowers; handing them to her with a smile he spoke, “For you, sweetheart.”

“Aaron! They’re so pretty!” She squealed excitedly and threw her arms around him, nuzzling her face in his shoulder, “Thank you, thank you! You’re spoiling me way too much already!”

“Well I have to, sweetheart,” He explained as he helped her in the car before quickly jogging to the driver’s side and continuing on, “Have to treat you like a queen, you know?”

“Does that mean you’re my handsome king?” Her question had him reciprocating the sweet smile she had on before reaching for her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles and affirmed, “I’ll be whatever you need me to be, sweetheart.” And in turn, that made heat spread throughout her face.

The drive to the restaurant was short yet filled with so much light and conversation. Stepping out of the vehicle once Aaron opened the door for her, she smiled at him, “Thank you, Ay-ay-ron.”

Before entering the restaurant, the couple were met with views of disgruntled customers, some of them having wet stains on their dresses while others seemed to have  food stains on them. Puzzling her, she looks up at Aaron, “I wonder if they’re alright.”

They were about to find out for themselves upon reaching the host’s stand and announced their arrival, “Reservation for Hotchner, please.” The host who had their back turned faced them with an uneasy smile as they too were trying to rid the blemishes and food stains that unfortunately clung onto his work clothes; he looked down on the their tablet that served as their scheduler and frowned upon looking up at them, “I have to sincerely apologise, Mr. Hotchner. There has been an unfortunate incident, one of our servers tripped which caused this domino effect to the other servers, causing them to drench our customers and staff in food. Not to mention that one of our new chefs in training caused an identical chaos at the back.”

“You can use a butter knife to get rid off the food there,” She pointed to both the host’s shoulders that had some food residue that looked very well edged in the fabric; next thing she noticed wine stains by their chest, “And for the wine, putting hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid in the stain for about ten minutes will get it out.” The way she shared the information so casually paired with the way she tilted her head to the side and pursed her glossy lips made it all the more surprising that she new what to do; but beside her, Aaron felt nothing but pride swell in his chest as he pressed her closer to him by her waist. 

“I appreciate your advice, ma’am,” The host then faced Aaron once more before saying, “Unfortunately we are not in any capacity to entertain our beloved guests for the rest of the evening. We’ll put a note to put you in our priority list for next time if that sounds fair?” Nodding as he held back a frown of his own, the unit chief understood that things were past their control, “That would be much appreciated, thank you.”

With that the couple then left the restaurant, Aaron tried to school his features as he tried to hide the panic in his face; however as Y/N looked up to see him she pouted as she saw that there was a slight furrow in his eyebrows. Reaching up to rub the skin between them she cooed, “Don’t frown, Aaron. Why are you even frowning?”

Almost immediately a smile replaced the mentioned frown as he explained, “Well since the restaurant is a bust, I’m sensing that I’ve just wasted your time, sweetheart. The date’s pretty much ruined already.” Her offended gasp took him aback, causing them to stop just as he was about to open his car door for her, “Well good thing a dinner is not the only you go out for a date! Plus, you just saved me, you know?”

“Saved you from exactly what, sweetheart?”

“From having a fancy dinner! Don’t get me wrong, the décor looks amazing and all, but sometimes their menu is so hard to pronounce too! Like just say roasted, why use sweltering? And don’t get me started on their alcohol — bordeaux, wine, brandy? It’s all just so confusing,” As he walked her to the passenger seat and helped her in, he just chuckled lightly as he tried to console her, “They do tend to differ in ingredients and alcohol percentage.”

“Even you get it,” She whines out to which he now smoothed the furrow she had which quickly disappeared upon feeling his touch in her skin. Swiftly moving to the driver’s side, Aaron looked at her with a soft expression before asking, “Why don’t I get your mind off of it then? How would you like to spend our time together?”

His heart melted at the excited grin she had as she thought deep about how to spend their date before rambling, “We could go bowling in this place on 6th Avenue, oh but they have league games today. Oh! How about we go to this drive-in theatre just by the outskirts of town?” Just as he was about to agree to her suggestion she pouted once more, “But wait, their movie for tonight is a kid’s one, Megamind, I think.” Her excited gasp accompanied by her light taps to Aaron’s shoulder made it evident how excited she was by her current idea, “We could go right into the city centre! They have different kinds of food trucks this day of the week!”

“You sure that’s what you want, sweetheart?” He got her affirmation as she buckled her seatbelt up and nodded, “Sure do, Aarbear! I heard there was a food truck that would sell raspberry and cherry cotton candy.”

“Aarbear?” He questioned the nickname although he could not deny the warm feeling that washed over him upon being granted to him. She hummed, “Ever since we last saw each other, I’ve been thinking of cute nicknames for you; since you call me sweetheart. Aarbear is my favourite just because you remind me of a teddy bear. Just so snuggly and cute.”

“Snuggly and cute? Sweetheart, have you taken a good look at me? I’m the farthest thing from that don’t you think?” Aaron playfully countered as he relished in their playful banter. “You know what? Yeah, I have taken a good look at you and if I say so for myself you always look dashing and,” Her train of thought was cut off when she gasped out loud and saw the coat he was wearing, “And I thought I told you to wear the pink suit I got you! Why didn’t you?”

By that time, they had already reached the public parking that was allocated for the food truck event, Aaron looked at her chuckling as he thought she wasn’t serious about her little plan for the pink suit she gifted him; but upon seeing her expression which consisted of a frown with her wobbly lips and a furrowed brow, he knew that it was serious and important to her. Hoping to appease her feelings, Hotch then lifted his hand up to rub on her cheek gently and as she nuzzled herself deeper into his warmth, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. But I might have mentioned it before, but I don’t really know how to pair up clothes, you know? That’s why my suits and slacks have always matched.”

Placing her chin centre on his palm, she shoots him a smile as her upset expression now melting into an excited one as she speaks, “Does that mean I get to dress you up? I get to rifle through your wardrobe?” Removing herself from his hold, they both tried to ignore how empty it felt when they were not within each other’s reach; but to help diminish the emptiness they felt Y/N then laced her hand with his large one and grinned, “Next time we go out for a date, we go to your house first so I can dress you up and make you even more handsome! Oh there’s this new sweater line that came out and I wanna see how the sweater brings out the brown in your eyes.”

“Already planning our next date, sweetheart? You already want me around you that much?” Unsure of whether he can handle the truth of her answer, Aaron kissed her knuckles as he made his way out of the car and opened the passenger door for her. Leaping out to wrap her arms around his large figure as she hummed against his shoulder, “I sure do, Aarbear. So hopefully you don’t get sick of me right away.”

“I don’t think I could ever get sick of you, sweetheart,”  Aaron reassured her as they began walking towards the plethora of food trucks that were present in the little festival going on, “Besides, the only thing I plan on getting sick on is a ton of cotton candy. Was raspberry your favourite flavour?”

Failing to hide how giddy she was at his sincere revelation, she smiled as she laced her fingers with his and dragged him to where the food truck that sold cotton candies were. “I do like the grape-flavoured ones, do you have a favourite?” It was in that moment that Aaron wished he had a camera permanently lodged into his brain so he could capture the way her eyes sparkled as she inquired more about his interests. He hummed as they stood in line in front of the food truck, “I don’t think I’ve explored enough of these flavours to have a definite favourite.”

Her gasp paired with the soft tap on the shoulder was another thing that was quickly becoming a favourite of Aaron’s. Upon reaching the front of the line, Y/N took charge and ordered three kinds of cotton candy. As she reached down for her wallet, she was caught off guard at how quick her date was in tapping his own credit card against the machine. 

“Aaron! Why didn’t you let me pay?”

The two walked a few feet away and sat down on the bench nearby before he smiled and pinched some cotton candy and offered it to her, “Now what kind of man would I be if I even let you touch your wallet throughout our date?” 

Returning the favour by feeding him some cotton candy as well, she pursed her lips as she concluded, “A handsome gentleman, still. And don’t ever think differently.” From there on they fell into an easy conversation which ranged from childhood shenanigans to workplace happenings. For Y/N this was a complete 360 switch to see Aaron’s eyes crinkled in joy and his posture relaxed; seeing him so serious and stiff on their first meeting gave her the impression he’d be too uptight. In her mind, she’d do anything to keep the beautiful smile on his face. “Wait, so Garcia was able to access the file that I didn’t know the password to?”

“Took her less than five minutes to do that, sweetheart,” Aaron informed her as the two wiped their mouths of any crumbs and threw the container in the trash before strolling once more to get more food, “What else are you in the mood for?”

“Can we get some tacos? It’s been quite a while since I’ve had some,” With that Aaron led the way as he spotted the specific truck sooner, “So Garcia can hack into anything?” As they stood in line in front of other patrons, Y/N made sure to only whisper her question so as to not attract any unwanted attention from curious ears, something that did not escape Aaron’s observant nature and something he appreciated.

“Absolutely, it only takes her about ten minutes to do so. There’s rarely anything she can’t crack,” He answers, however he’s left more puzzled as she stands on her tiptoes and whispers in his ear, “Do you think she can hack into something for me?”

“What exactly do you need to get hacking into, sweetheart?”

At that, her glossed up lips — which compared to last time that was a soft red shade, this time around she had a flushed pink hue with a slight shimmer to it — formed a pout as her eyebrows furrowed in frustration as she recounts, “Because I signed up for Snapchat a year ago and then now I forgot which password I used to it, it reached to a point where I’ve tried so many times that they told me I’m no longer allowed to try guessing. And I wanna get access back to it because everytime I take a cute selfie of myself I send it there.”

 By the end of her story, they reached the front of the line and Aaron paused their conversation for a while to order for the two of them; his heart fluttered when Y/N patted his shoulder gently as she whispered, “Extra cheese on mine, please.”

Once they were handed their food, the two stepped away and once again found a bench to give them privacy. Before even taking a bite from her taco, she faced him and her face was once again etched with concern, “So? Do you think Garcia will help me? I can give her a cute little outfit in the boutique if she does. Or whatever else she wants, promise.”

Smiling at her as he allowed his first bite to go down before replying, “I’m sure she’d love to assist you even without the promise of repayment.” She was midbite when she looked up at Aaron, cheese at the side of her mouth as she seemed confused with what he meant before he clarified as he wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, “I’ll let her know you need help, sweetheart.”

Shrieking out of excitement wasn’t the only way she expressed her relief but also with the way she tried her best to wrap her arms around him without causing both their tacos to crack as they hit the ground, “Thank you, Aar! Can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that! Do you think Garcia will like cupcakes or cookies more? I’ve been meaning to bake since it’s been a while, you know.”

“I know for a fact she wouldn’t mind either one, sweetheart,” He leaned closer as if he was sharing a secret and whispered in her ear, “But I do know you and her will get along well.”

Her nose scrunched up in excitement as she shimmied her shoulders in a little dance, “You did mention she likes little quirky gadgets and she dresses a lot like I do. Maybe she and I can go shopping sometime? You mentioned you work with other ladies too right? Alexa and GG?”

“Alex and JJ, sweetheart,” He gently corrects her as threw his napkin after finishing his taco in the nearby bin, “But yes, I’m sure they’d love to meet you. Maybe in the near future we can set that up?”

Her excited nod caused some of the taco sauce to spread past her lips, prompting Aaron to wipe the sides of her mouth as she replied, “Do you think they’d like me though? Some people I’ve met before say I’m too much or you know,” The slight pause between her train of thought made him worry about what previous perceptions were about her so he encouraged her on, “Know what exactly, sweetheart?”

Perhaps it was the way he gently coaxed her or the way he rubbed her back was full of care but it got her talking as she mentioned, “It’s just, people like my friends say that I’m dumb, that I’m no fun to be around with,” She sniffled a little which proved to be the wrong thing to do as it accidentally got some sauce on her nose, to which she scowled a little and threw the wrapper away and she felt a sudden wave of shyness take over her as Aaron was quick to wipe by her nose, “I don’t have very many people who stay — except for my family, I guess, but they don’t really have that much of a  choice — so I don’t know,” She looks up at him and it was only then that Aaron got a good look of her eyes that had a glimmer of both hope and sadness, “I’d really like for you to stay, Aar.”

“I’d like that too,” Came his immediate reply as he brought her into his warm embrace, tucking her head underneath his chin as he tried to get across every ounce of affection he had had for her, “I promise I’ll keep you close to me, sweetheart.”

Slightly detaching herself from his hold to take a good look on his face, she smiled up at him, “Have I ever mentioned that you’re one of the most handsome men in the world? If not the most? Like, inside and out,” She pulled away fully from his embrace and frowned as she recalled her statement, “No wait, I don’t think it works that way. Do you mind being called beautiful? I know some guys are uncomfortable with that. Or maybe I can call you a pretty boy?”

Shaking his head at her silly antics he just kissed her forehead and teased her, “I thought Aarbear was the nickname you had for me?”

“I guess that’s just one of the struggles for when you’re the most perfect man in the world, hm? Having too many options for a nickname since you’re everything good,” she giggled. 

Just as he was about to reply with some sort of a witty comeback, the shrill tone of his phone broke them out of their trance. Dread filled his gut immediately at the thought of a case whisking him away from a great date; he shot her an apologetic expression before saying, “Sorry,” And answering the phone and being pleasantly surprised that it was just Jess calling, “Jess? Is everything alright?”

Deciding to keep herself preoccupied while Aaron tends to his call, Y/N mindlessly grabbed for his free hand and slowly traced over the lines on his hand and smiled upon noticing how much larger his hand was and when she lined up her hand against his, she rubbed the skin of it and realised that she could get used to the warm feeling of his touch.

“I’m sorry about that, sweetheart,” Aaron apologised as he pocketed his phone and that seemed to break her out of her trance as she looked up at him and mirrored the small frown he was sporting, “That was Jess, she’s the aunt of my son. She said he awoke from a nightmare and won’t calm down. Apparently, he’s been asking for me and refuses to go back to sleep until he sees me.” 

“Then you should go to him,” Was her instant reply as she stood up on her feet and held out her hand for him to take, “Let’s go to your sweet boy, Aarbear.”

Taking her by the hand, he smiled at her as he led the way back to the car he decided to check in with her, “I’m sorry to spring this on you, sweetheart, but I’m a single father to a five year old.”

Upon being helped into the passenger seat she waited for Aaron to buckle himself in beside her before asking, “So what’s he like? And what’s his name?” The unit chief could not hold back the smile from how sincere she was in her curiosity. “Jack is a talented soccer player, he’s slowly getting into music and he can’t wait to audition for their spring play. I will say though he takes a lot of traits from his mom, which might be a good thing for him, honestly.”

Scoffing in offence, she gently scolded him, “Do not talk about yourself in that way, Aarbear! You’re smart, kind, funny, always keeping alert and all that. You have a lot of good qualities, you know.” There was a comfortable silence that took over for a few minutes before they were at a red light where it got Y/N thinking, “Wait, so if you have a son he has a mother, right?”

“I do believe that is how biology works, sweetheart,” His lighthearted joke was his attempt to soften the upcoming difficult conversation they were definitely going to have  in light of her recent discovery of his son. 

“Where is his mom then? Wait,” She panicked as she looked at him and gently held onto his forearm, “Oh God, please don’t tell me I’m making you cheat on your wife. That I’m not the other woman.”

Her somber pout while adorable made his heart clench as he realised she was concerned about what Haley meant to him as it shows how serious their relationship is to her. So he reached over the console and rubbed her knee comfortingly, “You’re not the other woman, sweetheart. Jack’s mother, Haley, is not in the picture.”

“Why not? Is she okay?”

Her kind nature came through once more and every time Aaron has a glimpse of it, it makes him feel like he’s in this trance-like dream where his dream woman came to life by merely manifesting it. “She unfortunately passed away. We had this unsub — bad guy — who went after me and my family.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Aar,” Y/N sympathized once Aaron was parking his car in their assigned stall. Once parked he looked at her and there was a slight tremble in his lips as he shared with her, “She was killed, and he was about to go after Jack but I was able to put a stop to it before doing so.”

“You saved Jack,” She reminded him of his heroic act as she smoother over his trembling lips with her thumb as she tried to comfort him the same way he did her everytime she nearly spiralled into overthinking negatively, “You didn’t kill Haley, the bad guy did. That’s not your fault, okay?”

Slightly rotating his head so he could press a quick kiss to her palm, he smiled at her, “Thank you for that reminder, sweetheart; I needed that.” 

Feeling the heat creeping up her cheeks she smiled too and grinned before gasping out, “Wait, we’re here already, right?” At his confirming hum, she then quickly said, “We need to get to your boy!”

Aaron found himself frowning not because their moment was cut short, but he was unable to open the door for her and escort her out of the vehicle. Upon reaching the elevator of the building, he noticed Y/N was bouncing on her heels as if she were nervous. Just as he was about to check in on her, the elevator had a soft ping and opened the doors to reveal that they were on their floor. Gently placing his hand behind her back, he led her to their apartment and he hated that his sweaty hands slightly dampened her dress; but she didn’t seem to mind it and instead unknowingly calmed him down by smiling brightly at him.

Upon entering their living space, Aaron could vaguely hear Jess keeping Jack occupied by talking to him. “Jack? Buddy? I’m home,” Aaron called out gently as he made his way by the hallway while Y/N settled by their couch as she didn’t want to intrude any more than she already had.

Almost instantly the sound of pitter patter of tiny feet, “Dad!” Jack ran towards his father’s embrace and Aaron opened his arms as he allowed his son to nuzzle into his neck and carry him. “How are you feeling, bud? Aunt Jess said you couldn’t go to sleep?”

He rubbed his eyes with his hands as he frowned, “Yes, had a nightmare, dad. I was so scared I couldn’t get back to sleep with you.” As Jack laid down his head on his father’s shoulder that’s when he noticed a pretty girl sitting. “Who is she, dad?”

Y/N smiled warmly as she waved, Aaron sat him and his son on the armchair near the sofa she was sitting at and mentioned, “This is Y/N, she’s my friend, Jack.”

“Nice to meet you, Jack,” She held out his hand for a shake and while she understood that kids are naturally shy, especially around people they’re unfamiliar with, she was thoroughly surprised when he shook her hand and had a shy smile on his cute little face.

“Hi Y/N, I’m Jack,” When he retracted his hand she took a good look at him before mentioning, “You look like a princess.”

Indulging him she then leaned a little closer and playfully whispered, “Don’t say it out loud, this princess just snuck out to meet with her prince.” Jack giggled at her silly reply and mirrored her actions and came a little closer, “And? Where is he? Did you get your happily ever after?”

“Not yet,” She replied as she shyly smiled and took a quick glance at Aaron, “The story isn’t done yet. But you do know what a princess needs? A knight of shining armour who can be her best friend! Can we be friends, Jack?”

Looking up at his father, he shot Aaron a questioning look and inquired, “I know Y/N’s your friend but can I be her friend too?” Feeling his heart warm up at the way how gentle and considerate Y/N was to Jack — knowing that she couldn’t automatically assume Jack will see her as a friend and instead she’d have to earn it — paired with Jack’s interest in getting to know her, he smiled down at his son as he steadied his grip on his growing toddler who seemed to be wiggling a little at the excitement of having a new friend, “I’m more than alright with that, Jack. But it’s up to you, okay, bud?”

Nodding at his father before facing Y/N once more, Jack showed her his toothy grin that came out every time his father told him a silly joke before concluding, “I’d love to be your knight friend, Y/N. Does that mean we’ll go on adventures?”

Giggling and clapping her hands in delight, Y/N nodded before calming down and saying, “We sure can, Sir Jack! But maybe after you’ve had a good night’s sleep? That way we both will be energised and ready for whatever adventure comes our way?”

Right on cue, Jack let out a little yawn that Aaron partially thought Y/N induced out of him by mentioning he had to sleep, “Okay, I can’t wait for our adventure already!”

“After a good night’s sleep, okay, bud? I’m gonna put you to bed now,” Jack didn’t fight his father much and instead curled his arms around his neck, signalling that he wanted to be carried back to bed. As Aaron stood up, Jack unclasped one of his hands and waved at Y/N and smiled, “Bye, princess Y/N.”

“Sweet dreams, Sir Jack.”

Once the two men disappeared into the hall, Jessica came into view and walked towards her. Taking initiative Y/N reached out for her hand and introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Y/N. Aaron mentioned you were Jack’s aunt.” 

Shaking her hand, she confirmed, “Yeah, I’m Jessica. I’m Jack’s mom’s sister. Did he mention Haley to you?”

A sincere, sombre expression washed over her face as Y/N pulled Jess in for a hug, “He did, and I’m so sorry about what happened to her. From what he’s told me, Haley was such a lovely soul.” Noticing that Jess tensed slightly at the hug but relaxed because she didn’t realise how good a hug can be from someone earnest; which is why Jess was puzzled when they pulled away and Y/N had a frown. “I didn’t ask first before hugging you, sorry ‘bout that. My family did always say I was such a big hugger.”

“Don’t worry about it,” The blonde woman reassured her as she reached out and held Y/N’s hand, “I appreciated the hug and your kind words.” Beaming brightly at that, she looked down at their hands and her sharp eye couldn’t miss the blouse Jess was wearing and noticed, “Are you wearing Nanette Lepore?” Taking her aback, Jess then had her mouth open in surprise as she was unsure how to respond to that. Y/N, however, took this opportunity to babble on, “You have a good eye! She really shocked everyone when she revealed that her fall spring collection was mostly going to be perfumes but I was really excited to buy one, but shipping costs are a pain in the butt.”

“I’m sorry but our conversation took quite a turn here,” Jess tried to steer their conversation and Y/N smiled as she explained, “Oh sorry, I get so excited when the topic is fashion and all that. I work at a boutique, always thinking about designing my own clothes, but I don’t know.”

It was then that Aaron walked in the room, “Sorry for the delay, Jack requested quite a few stories tonight.” Placing a hand on his date’s shoulder and facing Jess with a tight-lipped smile, “Jess, I appreciate you looking out for Jack tonight. I was out on a date with Y/N earlier and I hope that it won’t  cause too much of an issue between us.”

Jess appreciated Aaron’s vulnerability at the moment as she knew how bad her brother-in-law’s mindset and confidence was following Haley’s passing. He was deep in his belief that he was unable to open up to someone and if he ever did, they’d walk out on him after having a good, long conversation with him. Reaching out to rub his forearm that she couldn't  help but notice was colder than usual before smiling, “I know, Aaron. And can I say just how lovely Y/N is.”

“Oh oh, before I forget,” Y/N reached for her bag and fished for something and made her way back over to them and handed a card to Jess, “Next time, please do swing by in the boutique. I’d love to give you some clothes that will really go well with your style! Plus, it’d be fun just chatting up with you and there’s a cute little cafe nearby too.”

Taking the calling card and looking at it first before pocketing it, Jess smiles as she hugs Aaron and gives the same affection to Y/N before parting ways, “I’ll definitely give you a call when I can swing by, okay? Enjoy your evening, guys.”

As she was putting on her coat and slinged her bag over her shoulder she looked at Aaron, “Oh and Aaron?” The man raised his eyebrows and just as he was about to ask what’s wrong Jess winked at her, “I think you found yourself a keeper.”

With that, Jess allowed the two lovebirds their privacy, the two snuggled with each other on the couch but just as they made each other comfortable Y/N looked up at Aaron and had another confused pout, “What did Jess mean when she said you found a keeper? Did you lose a tupperware container?”

Aaron chuckled lightly at her question before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and shrugged, “I’m not too sure too, sweetheart. I’ll ask her the next time she swings by.”

Deciding to let go of the topic, she then nuzzled her cheek into his chest as her hand mindlessly drew random shapes on his chest; it was Aaron that broke the silence by apologising, “I’m sorry our first date didn’t exactly go as planned. I’ll make it up to you next time, I promise.”

Looking up at him through her lashes she smiled at him and gently shook her head, “It’s okay, Aarbear. I had fun at the food truck festival. If I only knew I was going to be meeting sweet boy Jack, I’d buy him a few cotton candy flavours.”

“I’m sure your sweet personality made up for the lack of treats you gave him, sweetheart,” He tickled her sides gently to elicit giggles from her and when she did he wished he recorded it as it was such a joyous sound, “Besides, he will be looking forward to some princess-knight adventures you two will be having.”

“Is that okay with you though? I’ve read some stories where kids don’t like it when their parents date someone else. I don’t wanna come across as evil or anything,” She worried and now she stopped her movements and just looked at Aaron with worried eyes. 

This time it was Aaron who had his hand rubbing her back gently to coax her back into her relaxed state, “Sweetheart, I wouldn’t worry about that. Did you see how at ease Jack was when you were talking to him earlier? I don’t see any scenario where he would treat you unkindly and you to him.”

Nodding her head softly she then leaned against his shoulder once more as she said, “Okay, but if he ever tells me or you that he needs some space from me, I’m gonna do it. And you can’t stop me from doing it.”

Humming as a reply, Aaron appreciated how Y/N was respectful of Jack’s boundaries. They were basking in a comfortable silence before Y/N asked, “Did you really have a great time with me, Aar?”

“Of course,” Came his immediate reply, “Did I give the impression that I didn’t?” He felt calm when she gently shook her head and sighed out before sadly recollecting, “No, you didn’t. But I just went on dates before where it ended up with them just calling it a night right away. They’d mutter under their breath that they can’t handle being around me for any longer.”

Her quiet sniffles had him fearing that she thought this was how their relationship too was gonna go; choosing to reassure her, he lifted her chin with his hooked finger and looked serious yet loving as he spoke, “I’m sorry to hear you’ve been on terrible dates with terrible boys. But let me reassure you that I do not, in any way, think of you in that way. Can I tell you a secret?”

Looking at him with curious eyes she nodded as he took his queue to reveal to her, “You bring so much happiness and joy in my life. I don’t think you can ever be those mean things that they said. In fact, I think you’re all I could ever need and want.”

Having to bite back her smile as she tried to not show how his words affected her she smiled and leaned in to press a kiss on his cheek, “You’re too sweet to me, Aaron.” She bit her lip before continuing her train of thought, “Would it be too soon to say that I like you a lot? Like, I know it’s only been nearly two weeks since we’ve talked to each other but you make me so happy. Whenever I get a text from you I smile so wide, it even got to the point where Phoebe has to tell me to stop smiling and giggling too much because it might creep out other customers.”

Laughing along her story as she did so, he shook his head as he shared, “I feel what you mean, sweetheart. I have to be careful of my reactions everytime my phone rings because of you. Which is hard to do around profilers.”

“Wait, profilers? Is that the ones who try to understand the bad guys or the ones who just do the research on how to find the bad guy?”

Chuckling as he found her confusion unfortunately adorable he clarified, “We do a little bit of both, sweetheart.” She gasps out loud as she frowns, “You do both? That sounds exhausting!”

“Well thinking of you does make me feel less tired, sweetheart,” Rubbing her cheek softly as he took in her features led him to focus on her lips that he had thought about kissing ever since they met, “Would it be too soon if I told you I wanted to kiss you, sweetheart?”

“Not at all,” Came her instantaneous reply, “I’d love for you to kiss me, Aar.” 

And with her consent he gently pulled her in softly by the cheek, tightening his hold on her without hurting her and slanted his lips overs. Feeling her smile into the kiss as she held onto his shoulders, bringing him even closer to her. Their lips felt warm and like puzzles fitting into place, after both of their initial shyness they both opened their mouths and allowed their tongues to entangle in a sweet dance as their hands took in every part of themselves that were new to each other. 

The couple poured all of the unspoken feelings they both were too frightened to share — all the premature love and companionship — was made evident by their sweet kiss that felt natural. Despite her unwillingness to do so, she had to slowly detach herself from his lips as she had to gasp for breath. Her fingers ended up playing with the short hairs at the nape of his neck and while she separated from his lips, she couldn’t pull away from his hair as she looked up at him, “That might be the best first kiss I’ve ever had with someone.”

Pleased with her conclusion, Aaron quickly littered sweet pecks all throughout her face before placing a long, loving kiss on her lips before nodding in agreement, “And the best part about it is that that’ll be just the first of our many kisses, sweetheart.”

[omaano]

SW Hades AU June Update

Other monthly updates: May - June - July - August

This month I’ve had some time to organize my notes and plans for my Star Wars meets Hades AU - I have a massive table for all of the characters, which original Hades game character they had been modeled after, and whether they need portraits/tokens/keepsakes/crests/etc. it’s colour coded and everything. (Fennec had to be cut out from the lineup and I’m hopelessly heartbroken about the whole thing* 😭)

Everyone has an icon who needs one (I’m sorry about the Echo and Fives one, okay? But they come as a package deal, and I also wanted to make sure that Echo is easily distinguishable from all the other clone characters and not just the average looking clone guy next to Fives who - by order of elimination - must be Echo), and everyone has a crest who needs one (except for maybe Barriss… I feel like that the Jedi order symbol doesn’t fully fit her, but for now I will keep it as a place holder. I can't come up with anything better for her at the moment T^T. The froggie returned to the “chtonic companions” line (it is exactly the plushie that Echo and Fives would give Grogu), and now there is Batcher too! If you notice any similarities between Batcher and Boba’s old rancor rag doll, it’s mostly because I took that one and modified it to fit the lurca hound, since they have a similar back ridge pattern.

I also think that it could be a cute in-universe thing if the Batcher doll had been modified from the rancor. Timelines are very flexible in this AU anyway, so it could be totally plausible.

Speaking of! I have a character sketch for Omega and Batcher!

It took me a while to settle on which version of Omega I wanted to put into this AU, but I am very happy with what I could come up with in the end. I had some trouble with what to do with her face, since Hades is really lacking in young teenage characters, and even Melinoe and Eris from Hades2 didn’t prove to be of much help, so I allowed a bit more of my own style to slip back in. With everything else I think it hit a nice enough balance. I mixed her s2 and s3 appearance into one outfit and gave her back her hat and old crossbow (I know she got a new one from Echo, but I prefer how this one sticks out over her shoulder).

This seems to be a girls’ update, since the next sketch I want to share concepts Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls! I’ve wanted to add them to this AU for ages, but all that armor and posing had just seemed too much of a hassle up until I had to seriously distract myself from some irl stress. So now I’ve got the trio to stand in for the fury sisters as first bosses. (I'll need to adjust Koska a little, I see it now)

God bless whoever’s decided to make one of those 30 cm action dolls of these guys, they had been so helpful when it came to looking up reference details! (While we are at details: I made Koska left handed (I think? Or opposite handed at the very least) because I had been coming up with their composition under the impression that she had her flame thrower in her right vambrace like Din and Boba do, which, upon further inspection, she does not ^^;)

Some in-universe thoughts regarding them: 1) Din can very much lose the Darksaber to whoever kicks his ass if he runs with is as his weapon of choice, and then has to return to reclaim it from that enemy (he doesn’t want to but they are in his way), and if he loses it either to her or another enemy Bo-Katan will most definitely have an opinion on the matter. 2) Boba is more than happy to swoop in as a “godly call” against Koska. If he has the option to claim the Call boon from Boba, it's a pretty good indicator that it will be Koska waiting for him at the end of the level. 3) After a while and enough encounters Axe starts showing up around and in the arena on this AU’s equivalent of the Elysium level. Paz would do anything not to have to talk about that minor detail. (Din: "Why does Axe Woves keep calling you baby girl?" Paz *steam escaping from the edge of his helmet* "how about we stop talking for a while." <- This meme has been on my mind for months, now you have to suffer it with me XD) After that it’s a boss fight of Din vs Paz and Axe.

This post is getting a bit long, so I will leave my progress with Obi-wan’s background to the next update. I will also make a separate post on the new little portrait icons, but I really liked how cute Rex and Omega looked next to each other in the big lineup Q^Q

*the only thing that made me dedicate myself to this decision with a heavy heart is that Fennec had been in the Bad Batch, and that would give me the ideal excuse to imagine her in a Hades2 inspired AU where she is helping Omega (as a stand in for Melinoe). I’ve thought a lot about this even before the test version of the game came out, and a lot of it would track now that I’ve seen some game play and story and characters but. Let’s not be delusional, I can barely keep up with this project, and the Hades2 art style, while super pretty, has a twist on the first game's art style that makes me want to cry when I think about replicating it ^^; so that just remains a nice little thought experiment.

Ventress went through the same thing, mostly because I think that in a strange way she would fit very well with Hecate's role. Especially after that s3 episode where she had her cameo with her new fancy haircut.

[half-dead-writer]

Wallace wells x transmasc bottom with a praise kink PLSPLSPLSSS

I was this 🤏 close to making it myself so YES OFC!! I tried my best writing Wallace but I feel like I could've made him better :( I included reader wearing a binder instead of having a top surgery because surprisingly there's not a lot fics about that! that was hell of a write, straight 4 days of writing, my longest fic yet - there may be some errors along the way, I really wanted to finally finish it lmao anyways, enjoy!!

I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship

A drunk escapade with you makes Wallace rethink his opinion on Sparks

character: Wallace Wells (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

words: ~7,6k

reader: transmasc (with a praise kink)

warnings: drunk sex, reader smokes and didn't have a top surgery yet

𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔰 + 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱 / 𝔖𝔠𝔬𝔱𝔱 𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪 𝔗𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔰 𝔒𝔣𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱

"Really, you came with me to the club just so you could not drink?" The alcohol in Wallace's hand was already being sloshed around in the fancy glass.

Today Wallace had asked you to accompany him to the recently opened club down the road. Your opinion of such places isn't really positive - a lot of strangers come there, some not as accepting as Wallace. You promised to walk with him to the place, mainly just curious how it looks like. You didn't plan on actually staying, but you thought taking a quick look inside wouldn't hurt. Of course, you should have expected this would happen.

"When was even the last time we properly hung out like that," he took a nonchalant sip of his Martini, "without Scott to bother us with random Sonic facts?"

Wallace knew full well that you wouldn't be able to refuse his offer once you actually got there. The place was steadily bustling with life, blue and pink strobe lights were dancing across the the dimly lit room. You were not used to being in places like this, in contrary to your friend, who you imagined spent most of his time in such setting.

"When was the last time you've been sober through the entire week?" Your intention wasn't really to shame him, instead just engaging in a playful banter.

"Don't change the topic, guy," he squinted his eyes in amusement, "or I'll start thinking you don't actually like my company," he quipped back with a sly smirk.

You rolled your eyes lightheartedly, leaning more on the bar you've been sitting by, "I didn't bring any money," you started, hoping he'd get the hint. Whether he would let you go or pay for your drink, it'd be a win-win situation.

"Poor you, huh," he raised his eyebrow in a feigned surprise, "why do I always land on leeches?"

You exhaled through your nose, amused, "so what do you wanna drink hm?" He asked, calmly taking out his wallet. It took you a moment to think of something.

"How about..." you scanned over the menu, a colorful drink caught your interest "Mango Mimosa?"

"Looking at the pretty pictures for help with choosing," he commented, finishing his own drink in one swig. "Classy."

"How the hell do you choose then?" You smiled, furrowing your brows in confusion.

"By trying each one in order, of course," he smirked, you weren't sure to what extend he was joking. He raised his hand to get the attention of the barman, "One Mango Mimosa and Martini this way!" You observed as the barman's hands moved in a smooth motion, spilling the alcohol into previously taken out glasses and decorating them with some enrichment. A slice of orange was set on the edge of your drink, Wallace got a fancy olive stabbed by a cocktail stick in his. He put the cash on the counter, "thanks, you're a dear." He winked the male barman's way, making the other avert his gaze in a hurry.

You took the glass into your hand, moved by the urge to get some alcohol into you. You got used to Wallace flirting with any males he considered cute, it was a package deal when it came to hanging out with him. What bothered you wasn't his ability to get game, but rather what you couldn't have. Contrary to how you usually acted around him, you really cared about Wallace.

You originally met him through Scott, your old classmate. You had only spent one school year with the ginger-haired man, but you were good friends while it lasted. Unfortunately, after the graduation you had to move out. Even though the circumstances were not ideal, you still somewhat kept in touch with him through messages. You knew he was now living in Toronto, had a girlfriend (who apparently had 7 evil exes??) and shared a house with a "cool gay roommate". The mention of that got you a bit curious. You were pretty gay yourself, so you hoped to make a new friend. It just so happened that the future had you moving into the same town your ex-classmate lived, and it kinda went from there. Scott greeted you with open arms, excited to see you again. You were also happy by reconnecting with an old friend.

Everything was going smooth, until the roommate he told you about moved from his sitting place to greet you as well.

"Y/N, hm?" He shifted his weight onto one leg, placing a hand on his hip. His eyes checked you up and down, making you extremely uneasy. Scott's vibe was always very unthreatening, which let you chill out around him really easily. This man, however, had the most intimidating aura. He was so- casually pretty, and had the calm conviction in his moves that you found really attractive. You felt unprepared to handle the situation, stopping in your tracks to just stare at him for a moment. He cocked his eyebrow to your silence, finally forcing you take action.

"Yes," you quickly responded, covering your lack of nonchalance with a smile, "... Scott's cool gay roommate?" You tried to ease the tension forming around you with a lighthearted remark.

"Been called that from time to time" he relaxed his face, offering a calm smirk, "I see you've also been charmed by Scott's amazing social skills, huh?"

'I've been charmed by you', you admitted to yourself in your mind.

"I'd say my social skills are... --tend to vary, starting from average." Scott's voice reminded you of his existence, the past few seconds of your life were occupied by the image of this god-sent man.

The first impressions had you feeling shier than usual, frankly just feeling dominated by his presence. You were mostly counting on Scott to keep you safe from being on one on one with him. The thought of Wallace, alone in the room with you made anxious.

Of course, after some time, you stopped putting him on the pedestal and making scary assumptions. Just because you considered him cool didn't mean he would be rude or a stuck up to you. Quite the opposite, even if his disposition was a bit blunt and bold, more often than not, you thought that he was on the same level as you. He respected you, and even shared a few gossips that you found fairly entertaining. At some point it even looked as if you were better friends with him than Scott. That let you embrace the casual bicker with him on occasions, which none of you minded. One thing that you disliked about Wallace was his common flirting with random boys he found attractive. It bothered you, because he also flirted with you.

When it first happened, it had you lovestruck. You weren't ready to digest that compliment yet, though, and your reaction painted you quite awkward. Wallace brushed it off, not minding the lack of reciprocation to the flirt. Your friendship remained casual, and as the time passed, it made more sense as to why you received such attention. Wallace was bit of a fuckboy. It wasn't hard to see him with another boy by the end of the week. Of course, you had no business in what he wants to do, and you weren't about to judge your own friend for having fun. Your relationship remained casual and relatively close, but that fact forced you to push back your hopes of actually getting together with him. Not mentioning the obvious sex difference. Even though you were confidently self-assured about being a man, an opinion Wallace also shared about you, you still compared yourself to his suitors as "less than".

"C'mon, loosen up a little. You're with your dear, handsome friend Wallace who's paying for your drink," he swished the Martini while boosting his own ego.

You rolled your eyes, "I am loose," you huffed out, pretending offense while taking a sip of your drink.

"Yeah, sure, and I'm straight." Wallace replied back, grinning at you. "Your shoulders look like you're about to have a stick shoved up your butt with how stiff you are right now."

The colorful description made you laugh, earning a satisfied smile from him.

"Lighten up, guy, it's just me and you, hanging out. Nothing out of ordinary, except that we're at a club," he pointed out, trying to chase your doubts.

"Yeah, yeah, alright," you gave in, taking the slice of orange placed on the edge of your drink and biting into it.

"So, any interesting news to tell me?" He rested his chin, leaning on his palm with all of his attention pointed at you.

"Mm, not really. Work sucks, per usual," you respond, bored with how uneventful your life is.

"Yeah, gossip from my side's gotta be the usual. Scott's still dating Ramona, they're as happy as ever, blah blah blah." He informed with a bored look on his face.

"How about you, huh? Which boytoy of the week you got your hands on now?" You ask casually, only slightly interested. Wallace wouldn't notice the angst-touched connotations of this question.

He took another sip of his martini, the alcohol making his cheeks flush a bit, "I realized I'm too beautiful for the majority of people, they don't deserve a taste of me. I'm taking a break for now."

You were surprised, you didn't actually expect Wallace to "get a break" from having fun, as he usually put it. Somehow, this info made you loosen up a little. You stopped with the idle drinking, finishing the rest of the drink in one chug. The warmth hitting your throat made you aware of how relaxed the alcohol finally colored you.

"Wow, I really feel special," you joked, a smile tugging your lips.

"You bet," he smirked, following your steps and disappearing the liquid in his glass as well. The percentages in his system also began to take course, making him more prone to smiling. "Barman, one more Martini and Mango Mimosa!"

You didn't even try to stop him, patiently awaiting your next dose of the courage liquid, ignoring the loud party music that easily pierced through your ears. You didn't have to wait long, the drink came into your hand quickly. The conversation was cut by both of you trying to feed more alcohol into your system.

"Wanna go out for a smoke?" You suggested, an easy way out when the activities on a party seem limited.

"Sure, why not." he shrugged, taking his Martini. You took the opportunity to hold his hand while searching for the exit from the big crowd of people, the feeling you'd treasure after this meeting. Wallace had no objections. Outside was a relatively secluded part of the club with certainly less people. A small, wooden bench and a table awaited, perfect for you to sit on. Wallace positioned himself comfortably, putting your drinks on the table. You leaned against his body slightly, an action easily explainable by the size of the bench.

"Ever heard of personal space?" He pointed out the close proximity, bu from the tone of his voice you assumed he wasn't serious. He readjusted himself so that your body would comfortably fit into his.

"Here," you passed him a pack of cigarettes after taking out one for yourself, his fingers lazily grabbed the object. You dug out a lighter out of your pocket, handing it to him. He let the smoke from the cigarette explore his lungs for a second, returning you the item after.

You felt pretty comfortable with the situation, which beckoned the playfulness to visit you. You put the cigarette in your mouth, straightening it while near his face. A smile tugging on your lips curved it a little. He noticed you approaching, quickly getting the hint.

"You know you can just use your lighter, right?" He sounded like he was complaining, yet still, he put the poor excuse of a pocky into his mouth. His face features got well lit by the little fire born from your cigarettes. The reflection was exceptionally pretty in his eyes, accentuating his slightly flushed cheeks, right next to a smirk on his lips. You blew out the smoke that's been uncomfortably residing in you for too long, holding in the need to cough. Wallace was surprisingly kind enough not to comment on it.

"It's more fun to do it this way," you were finally able to respond. He returned to his lazy sitting position, sprawled out on the bench, lazily holding the cig between his fingers. You dared to lean your head on his shoulder, sight pointed up, looking at the sky.

"Look at you, bein' all affectionate and clingy now," he mimicked your typical bickering session, adding touch of suave. "You're not usually like this."

"I can stop if you want," you threatened to take away the privilege of your warmth half-serious, an attempt to hide the embarrassment in you.

Wallace raised an eyebrow at the statement, a drunk smirk still persistent on his lips. "And why would I want you to stop? I'm just sayin' that you don't usually get this touchy. I don't mind you being close to me, guy."

The comment made your stomach feel butterflies. You knew your perception of his answer probably differed a lot from how he originally meant to say it, but the false hope was too strong for you to ignore.

"...Cool." You felt a smile that you couldn't stop creeping up. Wallace pushed the smoke out of his lips once more, "yep, pretty cool." He switched the cigarette into his other hand, moving his unoccupied arm around you in a way that rendered you as a nice armrest. You welcomed the sudden change of the position, entangling yourself in a way where both of you were comfortable. It was the first time you and Wallace were practically cuddled up, you thanked yourself for choosing to stay in the club.

"Damn, you're seriously hopeless when it comes to hiding your lack of human touch. It's kinda cute, in a pathetic way." His playful mockery hit you like a lightning.

"What's that supposed to mean?" You shot your eyes at him, halfly in disbelief of what you heard, halfly embarrassed at his statement being completely true.

"It means you don't have the guts to ask for a hug yet you still cling to me like a damn koala."

"Well- would you do it if I asked?" You lightly tested the waters.

"I dunno, try it." He flashed you his teeth in a cocky smile after putting out his used cigarette on the ashtray. You passed him your cigarette butt after the last use, buying some time before the big decision. He threw it away as well.

"...Do you wanna hug me, then?" You asked, convinced that you wouldn't be faced with rejection, at least judging by his tone. You were technically already pretty cuddled up, but there was still some space left between you.

"Yeah, guy, come here," he requested, (or more like commanded) patting his lap and raising his arm so you could get up. You could feel yourself getting warm, hoping Wallace would assume the flush look of yours was caused by alcohol. The short moment of clarity made you take a look around you, judging your current whereabouts. There weren't many people around, most of what you heard was some conversation and the music coming out of the club in the distance. Your little corner was secluded already, so you didn't need to worry about acting inappropriate in public (unlike some of the people here). You raised your hips, carefully making contact with his lap. You worried about being too heavy for him, but he didn't show any signs of discomfort. He locked his hands together, catching you in his embrace, his smile a looking a bit funny due to the percentages in his system.

Even though the act seemed fairly friendly and casual, you couldn't help but focus on the tension that's been lurking around you two. You weren't sure if it was just your wishful thinking, or did Wallace seem really open to being extra affectionate with you, but you couldn't believe how much of an effect it had on you, especially drunk. You felt as if the stars finally aligned.

"Any more requests, Y/N? I'm feelin' generous." Somehow the simple act of him saying your name made you even more flustered. Still going along with your (alleged) delusions, you thought Wallace's stare differed from the ones he gave you previously. You were usually relatively good at recognising Wallace's expressions and the meaning behind them, knowing him for some time now gave you this insight. He reserved the special, sultry-flavored looks only for the victims of his flirting, and right now you had a hard time convincing yourself you were the witness of it to such extent.

The hesitation in your voice made itself known, making you wait a second before Wallace could hear your response. "Yeah? ... How about a kiss then?" You made sure to hide your eagerness in a layer of playful tone, just in case he noticed your lack of nonchalance about the question. He squinted his eyes, letting out a small huff of amusement.

"Bold, I like that," his eyes fell on your face, which has been heating up pretty quick. Unsurprisingly, his gaze trailed right down to your lips, raising his hand to cup your cheek. You instinctively closed your eyes, the feeling of his lips touching yours became more intense. For a moment you thought you got a little sick due to the alcohol and the strong emotions coursing through you. You weren't sure how much time you spend pressing your lips together, but you assumed it wasn't nearly as long as you felt it was. You were the first to let go, anxiety made you overwhelmed by the length of the kiss, which made you worried about looking too into it.

Suddenly, Sparks.

You saw them, clear as day, which in all honesty wasn't that surprising. You knew you had it bad for him. Wallace opened up his eyes that were previously closed as well, the expression on his face was hard to read. He looked- surprised, but also confused. Did that mean he saw them as well?

You looked- shaken up. But in a good way. He smoothly got over the initial surprise, his hand fixed the stray strand of hair that fell loosely on your face when you pulled away from the kiss. "Come on, handsome, a kiss should last more than a few seconds," he insisted, enjoying every bit of your current expression. He seemed way more eager in comparison to the last one. That sentence had you absolutely going back in.

The next kissing session definitely felt more intense. Wallace knew how to kiss, that was clear. His thumb was gently brushing against your face in soft strokes, adding even more overwhelming sensations, along with his other hand that was busy slowly rubbing your back. It didn't take long for the shy make-out to turn into full-blown exchange of spit. Wallace made the first move of letting his tongue graze your lips, making you part them almost immediately. Granted this opportunity, his tongue explored the corners of your mouth in just slightly sloppy manner. You both were drunk, after all.

You weren't sure what to do with your hands, finally choosing to place them on his shoulders. Wallace continued to graze your back with his heavenly touch, eventually going lower. His hand snaked under your shirt just slightly, the fabric covered his fingertips. The feeling of his cold hand made you shiver and straighten up slightly, breaking the kiss. Wallace looked at you, making sure you're still in on it.

"What is it? Do you need to stop?" His hand still stayed idly on your skin, even though he didn't look up to stopping, he still took the time to check if you're feeling okay with the situation.

"No, you're just making me-" You weren't actually sure why you even continued speaking after 'no', feeling the regret of not keeping your mouth shut almost immediately.

"Making you what?" The playful, sultry look was once again apparent in his expression.

"I'm drunk! ... You're gonna make me," You mumbled the last part, trying to save yourself from even more embarrassment,

"...horny"

You were fully aware of not being able to recover from that. Wallace raised his eyebrow, visibly amused at your attempt to salvage your dignity.

"I mean, Is that a bad thing?"

He leaned in even closer, not being able to take his eyes off of your flustered face. "If I'm bein' 'onest- I'm pretty damn turned on right now too. But, of course, if you wanna stop, I'll totally respect that."

The honesty in Wallace's words had you stunned. You never imagined being in this situation, drunk, making out with your best friend, in public. It scared you a little, but you would rather die than stop right now. "N-no, I wanna continue. But, maybe not here?" You pointed out the lack of privacy around you.

"You're right, I think we should head home," he concluded, untangling his arms from you, "Scott is sleepovering at Ramona's so my house's free." The nonchalance in his voice had you impressed.

"Alright," you said, getting off from his lap, lightly adjusting your clothes after. You were so busy with everything that happened that you forgot about your Mimosa. You both finished your drinks in quick gulps, leaving the glasses on the table. As you made your way out of the loud club, the gravity of this moment fell on you like a bag of bricks. Were you gonna actually hook up with Wallace? Is this where you're heading to? You felt incredibly anxious and excited.

The walk remained quiet, but Wallace didn't seem to treat it as uncomfortable silence. He just walked straight, enjoying the scenery around you. You wished you could say the same. Most of your mind was filled with predictions of how the night is gonna turn out. A feeling of a warm hand touching yours pulled you away from the intrusive thoughts. Wallace didn't even need to do much to have you wrapped around his finger. The gesture made you calm down a little, which made you actually slow down and appreciate the calm atmosphere of the night. The street lamps made your figures cast a big shadow on the ground, fully showing your connected silhouette together.

You barely noticed the distance you walked, it seemed like just a moment before you were already standing by the entrance to his house. Wallace let go of your hand to get the keys that have been buried deep in his pocket. The doors opened after a short while of fighting with the lock. He turned on the light, letting you come in. The house was dead quiet, the only sound being your footsteps as you followed after him. Frankly, you didn't know what to expect.

Wallace turned to look at you, a sly yet playful smile plastered on his face. "Welcome to my humble abode," he still tried to keep the mood lighthearted and silly, clearly in a good mood. He gestured around the room with his free hand.

...As if I wasn't here before," your playful snark returned for at least a moment. Even if you had these intense feelings for him, he was still your best friend, always able to get the fun side out of you.

His laughter hit your ears in the most pleasant way. He shrugged, conceding to your point. "Yeah, tha's true. You've been here before," he admitted, taking a few steps closer to you. "But there's somethin' different about the atmosphere now, isn't there?"

"..Aa lot of alcohol, probably." There was no use of hiding what you two already did and were about to do, but as a final resort, you tried to at least put a playful spin on it.

Wallace chuckled, finding your quip amusing. "Yeah, alcohol probably has somethin' to do with it," he agreed. "But there's more, right?"

"What- what are you implying?"

"Y/N, I'm not gonna pretend as if I don't see you drooling over me."

A wave of extreme tension in your body had you frozen for a good moment - he knew?

"I- Wow, okay-" you tried your best to let out a nonchalant chuckle, which came out sounding more like a stressed cackle, "I guess- I guess the cat is out of the bag now huh-" His expression softened ever so slightly, your reactions were just too pathetic for him to keep pushing you. He moved even closer to you, making your body instinctively move back into the wall. "Wait- If you knew, why didn't you tell me?"

"I waited for you to have the guts to tell me, but I guess you had to be helped with that a little."

You honestly didn't know whether to be ashamed, angry, or relieved.

"And," he continued, "now that it's out there, I can say I waited a long time to find myself in this situation. So," he left your side for a moment to lock the doors, "you wanna continue what we left off?"

You were eager to respond with a confident yes, but before that, you had to make sure you were on the same page. "This... isn't like your usual boytoy hookup situation, right...?"

The boldness drained from his face for a moment, his expression softened to get a bit more sincere. "No, of course not. You're my best friend." He embraced you with one of his arm, pulling you closer. He got uncharacterestically hesitant before speaking again. "...Potentially more."

The last two words made your eyes widen rapidly, you surely misheard him?

"You're- serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," he didn't break the eye contact with you for a second, prefering to lay it on thick, "unless I'm totally wasted, and imagining things, but-"

"I saw Sparks. I questioned if they're even real-" He added, sounding as if he doesn't believe them himself. You could not contain your excitement after Wallace mentioned exactly what you wanted him to say.

"I saw them too!" You chimed in, finally letting your inner thoughts out. That admission made Wallace's smile even wider than he did before.

"I'm glad we're on the same page then,", he used his other hand to turn your chin towards his face. "You look so fucking hot," he tried his best so his speech wouldn't slur. The sentence rang in your head, making you freeze during the moment when Wallace collided his lips with yours again. In no time, his palm was on your side again, swiftly travelling under your shirt to touch the goosebumps covered skin. An involuntary moan forced it's way out of you due to Wallace's tongue invading your mouth. In the current moment, you could be his bitch forever.

You supported yourself by leaning on the wall behind you, Wallace taking up almost all of your view by now. Despite the cigarette flavor of his tongue mixed with the potent alcohol perfume clouding your senses, you managed to hear a request coming from the other boy.

"Let's move," he whispered, taking your hand and leading you to his favorite chair. Feeling like a lovestruck teenager, you mindlessly followed. He seated himself comfortably, pulling you on his lap. His eyes showed unrestricted eagerness, not even trying to hide how much he was enjoying himself. You felt overwhelmed at the ease in which Wallace could fire you up with just his usual way of being. The proximity between you two got almost nonexistent, his bangs tickled you slightly as he moved closer. The sensation got overshadowed by his lips sucking a sensitive spot on your neck, causing you to half-whimper. The noise cringed you internally, you were still not used to calling Wallace your official boyfriend, so this slip-up felt like a vulnerable response to your give your best friend. Wallace would not pass up the opportunity to comment on it.

"Awh, don't be embarrassed," he stopped to smirk, "that sound you made was adorable." Wallace's teasing wasn't an uncommon thing among you two on the regular, but the way his words were currently coated with a playful banter and visible desire could just melt you right then and there.

The shallow pants of yours echoing in his ears turned sharper as he continued to trail a line of hickeys on your skin. You squirmed on his crotch, not being able to control the way your body acted. Wallace lightly dug his fingers into your thigh during the pleasant friction. It didn't take long for you to feel the obvious change of your seat under you. Wallace's arousal was making itself known in the most straightforward display. He noticed the way your body tensed, "Like what you see?" He half-lidded his eyes, searching for more of that coy expression he loved seeing on you.

"...Shut up." You chuckled tiredly, hiding the flustered smile in the crook of his neck.

"Really? I thought you liked me talking." He grinned, "guess I will shut up then..."

"Well-"

"Ah, you want compliments only, don't you?" You must have been a glass window with how easily he could see right through you to be able to respond so fast.

"Who doesn't, Wallace?" you tried to fight back, making his amused smirk wider.

"If you keep acting like a good boy, I'll call you one - deal?"

You didn't trust your voice to answer with a required nonchalance, so you just nodded.

"I need words, Y/N" He squinted, testing you.

"I- I will." You raised your head to look at him, trying hard not to avert your gaze.

"Good boy," he purred, letting a grin contort the corners of his lips. "Now why don't you take care of that?"

Wallace didn't have to wait long for your curious hand to slowly travel down his zipper. You were really about to see his dick, and it stressed you out a little. The torturous tempo of your movements made Wallace impatient, "it ain't gonna bite, guy."

"Shush, I know!" You retorted, feeling your cheeks heat up. After that remark, you made sure to finish freeing him pretty fast. A sight you probably imagined a few times in your mind, yet never in a million years expected to see in real life. He couldn't ignore your gaze almost drilling a hole into his groin. As a man who paid great attention to self-care, of course he kept himself well-trimmed.

"Go ahead, touch me," his command got stuck in your mind. Your fingers hesitantly traced the shape of his member, getting used to the girth and warmth of it.

"You ever gave a handie to anyone?" The blunt words were nothing new coming from Wallace. You shook your head. "That's fine, I'll teach you." He spread his legs more comfortably, leaning into the chair and resting his arm on your thigh. He guided you to mimic the pace he liked. You made a mental note of his technique, it wasn't hard to follow.

"Just like that" he eased his breath, releasing a relaxed sigh and letting go off your hand. "You're doing pretty good."

The strong focus on the motion made you forget your previous worries, a need to pleasure him was your sole objective. A few drops of precum that gathered on his tip betrayed how much he enjoyed himself.

"Mm, alright, that's enough." You stopped upon hearing his words, looking up for further instructions. "Go lay on the futon."

You did as he told, quietly pleased at how casual yet commanding his voice could get. He got up from his chair, towering above you with an obviously visible erection, most importantly, caused by you. He took a moment to admire the sight before him. You were too occupied by the look on his face to think of anything smart to say. A smug look on his face warned you just before you felt his knee rub against your crotch. He had no troubles getting sounds out of you.

"I wanna see you. Can I take off your shirt?" Wallace broke the silence. The need in his voice showed clearly, yet he still managed to sound confident.

"I'm... You wanna see me?" You hesitated, not wanting to ruin the fun, yet feeling incredibly insecure with the topic like that.

"In return, I'll let you see some of me," he winked, completely serious about the exchange.

"But I'm not- flat, you know?" You muttered out, completely accepting the fact that Wallace had probably seen countless of pretty men to compare you to.

"Y/N, don't look too much into it." He started, A chest is a chest. I couldn't care less if you got a bit of manboobs going on." You scrunched your face a little in an embarrassed smile, looking away. "You could always put the shirt back on if my skills won't be able to persuade you otherwise," he looked pleased after seeing your approval nod.

His fingertips moved the shirt up and you raised your arms to help it go over your head. He didn't comment on the binder you wore, quickly coming up with a way to rid you of it. You appreciated not being tightly squeezed by the fabric anymore, but the slightly cold air hitting your skin had you feeling very exposed. The hesitation reflected in your eyes quite visibly, making you hold your breath. "Well, the shirt's off - and you still look tasty," his attempt at flustering you obviously worked - no matter what crude thing he said, he could pull it off entirely.

To continue with the theme, his tongue moved down to your collarbones, then lazily fell onto yours stomach, until it reached the waistband of your boxers. Your sight followed his every action, catching a glimpse of his self-assured smirk at the end. "Don't worry, I'm keeping my part of the deal," in the blink of your eye, he was already out of his shirt, pointing all of your attention onto his abs.

You had seen Wallace shirtless a few times already, but never up so close. Alcohol restraining the control of your actions made you curiously reach out to touch his chest, but you managed to stop yourself before you actually made contact with his skin. You looked at Wallace, silently asking for permission. He chuckled lightly, "knock yourself out." The casual tone forced you to feel sinful about yourself.

His chest was smooth, flat. You were quite jealous, but also sincerely admired his physique. You wanted to trace over every spot.

"I'm gonna touch you. That alright with you, guy?" The faster heartbeat made it harder to properly focus, "Mhm."

His hand disappeared under the hem of your underwear, just to resurface once more after being met with the arousal pooling out of you. "Oh," he commented, looking at the state of his hand, "how cute." He licked the mess off his fingers, making sure to hold eye contacts as he did so. You couldn't deny you were under his spell, not even having any response for him while your wide eyes looked at him licking his lips.

"Y/N, I barely touched you." He spared you no teasing, which you honestly expected at this point.

"What am I supposed to respond to that?" You tried to restore some parts of your dignity.

"How about you start with what you want me to do?" The voice you heard was sweeter than honey.

"I want you to dom me." You disclosed your thoughts, hoping it wasn't too forward.

"Oh, that'll be easy - I'm already doing that." He flashed you his teeth in a smirk of a banterish nature.

"...Like, you, in me. Soon." Your words fumbled due to the percentages mixed lust. He didn't try to hide his chuckle, making you flustered and impatient.

"Okay, okay- you're so needy." He teased, yet was quick to take off the last thing that covered your body. Your legs clasped together out of habit, making Wallace gently rest his hand on your knee, moving it down your thigh.. It made you part them, giving him the access to you. You felt- really naked like that. And he still had his pants on.

"Just so we're on the same page, uh- Just- Just treat me if I was a normal guy." You tried to eloquently put into words how you wanted him to have you.

"Stop. You are a normal guy," he squinted his eyes while observing you, "but I think I know what you mean. You ever tried anything by yourself in that matter?"

"I have some... toys. Yeah." The admission made Wallace pleased.

"Good. It's gonna feel way better than a dildo." He hyped you up effortlessly.

"...Prove it." You found some of the fierceness back in you, making him cock his eyebrow in amusement. Wallace leaned further, trying to reach under the pillow you were currently resting your head on. It amused you to look at him losing balance while trying to search for something under it. He frowned upon realizing the bottle of lube he was holding was empty.

"What!" He sat on your thighs for a moment while examining the offending item. "I was sure there was still some left."

"Keeping the lube under your pillow?? Classy." You recalled back what he told you a while ago.

"Where else would you keep it? It's my house." He furrowed his brows in amusement.

"I guess it is handy when it's closeby."

"When it's full, yeah," he put down the empty bottle somewhere where it wouldn't bother your vision. "Well then,"

He moved himself closer to you, using a finger to part your lips. "Lick."

Wallace quickly felt your tongue leave a hefty amount of saliva on his digit. "Good boy, you're a fast learner."

With the required lubrication, he made sure to prepare you pretty well. His experience in the topic wasn't hard to notice, as his movements were bold yet pretty gentle.

"Aren't you gonna turn me on my stomach?" You asked, voice quivering a little from the uncanny sensation.

"So I could miss those pretty faces you're gonna make for me? No way, sweetheart."

The nickname, even though playful in nature, still made you extremely coy.

"Now, keep looking at me." He pushed one of his finger into you, making you groan lightly. It was hard, but you kept your stare pointed at him despite feeling vulnerable. Lots of saliva proved useful for his finger to move without any unnecessary friction. You kept quiet, mostly just huffing out the labored breaths as he searched for the sweet spot in you.

"You don't have to hold back with the sounds. I like them."

"...I feel silly." You dropped a hint of your internal thoughts.

"Oh no, you feel silly because I'm making you feel good? Right, why should I be able to hear I'm doing a good job?" He pointed out the flaws in your logic.

"You know you're doing a good job" You squinted, looking at him.

"How can I know that if you don't communicate with me, hm?" Adding a second finger, he found the most efficient pace to repetitively hit your bundle of nerves. Each thrust made you tingle, forcing a few pants out of you. Still being met with silence from your side, he turned his movements excruciatingly slow.

"W- Wallace...!" You groaned, desperation seeping into your words.

"Yes, Y/N? Is the pace not to your liking?"

The torturous loop forced the words out of you, "Faster- The way you were doing it before was perfect." Wallace immediately resumed to his previous technique, "See how easily you can get what you want with words?" You paired a smile with a roll of your eyes to cover your shame.

"Anything else you want me to do?" He offered.

"Could you, uh, touch me as well?" Somehow a simple guide on what you expected from him seemed like you were beyond needy.

Wallace wordlessly fulfilled your request. You closed your eyes, determined to focus on the buildup rising in you. Wallace's ability to operate with both of his hands in such a precise way made you feel like a board that DJ's play on. This random thought made you chuckle involuntarily, of course gaining a head tilt from the man.

"What's so funny?" He slowed down his movements so he could hear you speak.

"I had a dumb thought-" You grinned, feeling silly for ruining 'the moment', "It's just- you do the thing so skillfully, like a DJ." Wallace stopped completely, the sound of his drunken laughter followed right after.

"Wow, I woulda expect Scott to come up with something like that, not you." He couldn't even mock a look of disapproval, joy too insistent to stay on his face. "But I can't say I don't find your stupidity adorable."

"Anyway, I think I finished mixing the song." He added onto the joke.

"Awh, what! Not fair." You scolded yourself for voicing your stupid thoughts before reaching your orgasm.

"Not fair? You don't wanna finally start with the main course?" He squinted his eyes in a smirk, leaning to grab something from under another pillow again.

"Mm, you drive a hard bargain."

You looked as he tried to find whatever he looked for, checking at least 2 more times before finally lifting up the pillow to see nothing there. This discovery made him groan in frustration, "Scott took the stash of condoms to Ramona. Of course."

"Ew, they're gonna have sex." You commented, completely acknowledging the irony of your current situation. It made him chuckle.

"So, guy- I know we're both drunk but we still gotta be responsible adults. What d'you wanna do?" He pointed his focus on you. "I'm clean, checked it recently."

"I haven't been with anyone yet, so..." Your gaze wandered on his body to avoid his eyes. You noticed he still had his pants on, a fact he realized right after you, finally taking them off.

"Alright," he concluded, nearing his hips closer to yours "you're sure about this, right?"

"Yes- One hundred percent." You lightly hug his sides with your knees.

"Okay. I'll go slow at first."

You spent the next few moments adjusting to the sudden warmth and stiffness residing in you. He was right. It didn't compare to the toys you had. He moved further while still almost fully pressed into you, brushing the right spot to make you moan. He wouldn't neglect your most sensitive area, bringing his two fingers to move in a circular motion. His pelvis met yours in a series of slow and deep thrusts.

"...Wallace," you moved your hand to trace over his chest, "faster, please."

"Since you asked so nicely," the rhythmic slaps of bare skin echoed through the house with more vigor. Wallace was sure of his good work, judging by the mewls coming out of your mouth. He also didn't spare you the array of lewd sounds. "I haven't been this horny in forever." He continued to whisper more sultry encouragements near your ear, "You have the sweetest voice when you say my name."

"Wallace-" you whimpered, desperate for more praise. "...Almost-" it took great effort to keep your composure, the euphoria threatened to overwhelm you very soon.

"Come on, Y/N. Show me how good I'm making you feel." The tension building up in your abdomen finally caught up to you with a jolt of pleasure. Your fingers dug into his sides, your legs entangled themselves into his body, pushing him even deeper into you. His ears were hit with the lovely noise of you riding your high, him helping you through it by continuing to keep the steady movements.

He let you rest for a while, the break filled the room with your heavy panting. The grip in your fingers loosened, just for him to take it as a sign to resume to the previous pace. It didn't take long for him to see the stars as well, pulling out of you with the desperate mention of your name. You felt the warm liquid hit your bare stomach. Wallace hovered above you, the sounds of your labored breaths melted together.

"...You made a mess," you broke the silence with a playful remark.

"My bad," he leaned to the source of the problem, placing a bold lick along your body. The gesture made you squirm a little, even more so after seeing Wallace wipe a bit of the semen stuck to the corner of his mouth.

"I want a kiss," you dared to request, making him raise his brow at the sudden bluntness. He inched closer, letting you feel the remnants of his salty flavor in a deeper kiss.

"I didn't take you for such a kinky person." He laid himself next to you.

"Said the guy who just licked his own cum off me." You quipped back, showing a smile to show you're not serious.

"Yeah - and you still wanted a kiss."

The proximity led you to initiate the snuggles, moving past the banter that led to nowhere. Wallace put the covers on both of you, adjusting himself comfortably to the new position. His arm was behind your back and your head laid comfortably on his chest. The faint sound of his heartbeat was comforting to hear.

"...It won't be weird to us tomorrow, right?" You murmured, seeking some reassurance. Wallace opened up his eye to look at you.

"I don't see why it would be. Unless you secretly hated it this whole time" He started playing with your hair, making it twirl around his finger.

"It was- awesome." He chuckled at the choice of your words.

"Agreed, guy."

"...So, can I officially call you my boyfriend?" You asked, hoping you knew the answer.

"Only if I can do the same around others."

[ambermotta]

Cleansing Basics – Crash Course

What is cleansing? When should I do it? How do I do it?

These are some of the questions I'll be tackling today. I hope this post will be useful to those who are not quite familiar with how to cleanse and why it's important for any witch or pagan practice!

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Long post based on my experience and research. Meant to be informative. I don't claim to know the absolute truth.

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What is cleansing?

Cleansing is clearing away energy from someone, something or somewhere.

When should I cleanse?

Whenever you need to clear away energy.

Personal opinion: you should cleanse yourself and your house at least weekly.

It is generally recommended that you periodically cleanse magical items and cleanse before and after any type of magical/ spiritual work. Cleansing before contacting deities (even if it's just prayer) is also considered "standard protocol" in some cultures, like in Hellenic paganism and Shintoism.

From my personal experience I do feel I can connect better with spiritual beings when I cleanse beforehand, but I believe my emotional state has a bigger influence on the matter. Cleansing generally calms me down too so –

Why should I cleanse?

The number one reason you'll see cleansing everywhere is because it is a way to help get rid of excess negative energy.

I'm not going to say you can clear away all of it because as living humans, we are constantly emanating energy and a lot of times it is "negative" energy. Which is okay, it's part of being alive. Plus, there are other factors that come into play.

However, cleansing often can help you stay in touch with spirituality and ease your mind since you'll be getting rid of excess (and oftentimes unwated) energy.

Cleansing also comes into play when you want to clear away any other kind of energy, for example, when you get a new magical tool (such as a tarot deck) or finish a magical working. You don't necessarily want the energy that was on that object or that spell sticking to you all day, you know?

How to prepare for cleansing?

First of all, gather your stuff. Gather everything you need and try to avoid interruptions.

I personally recommend you always do a physical cleaning up of whatever you are going to cleanse. Tidy up your house, take a shower, and clean your magical items (if possible).

Dirt and clutter feel bad, and it can distract the mind. Starting your cleansing in the physical plane can definitely make it more powerful in the astral too.

How do I cleanse?

Most cultures/religions/spiritual practices have their own way of doing things (ex: hellenic pagans have khernips), so first of all, do your research! And respect the fact that some things are out of your reach.

There are A LOT of techniques you can use to cleanse that are not particularly tied to a single culture and that can be done in many different ways. I'll quickly go through some of them, but it is by no means an extensive list.

Cleansing with the 4 elements:

Earth: I've mainly seen this in two ways, which are sending energy to the earth (something like grounding) and burrying objects.

Fire: commonly used together with air in smoke cleansing. There's also energy work that pulls energy and sends it towards the fire for cleansing (either a candle, a bonfire, or a visualization flame)

Water: mostly used for cleansing yourself or objects. It can be through herb baths and showers, rain/sea/river water, salt water, or sacred waters. For cleansing spaces, there are things such as water spray bottles and floor washes (though I've only seen this one being used in hoodoo). Careful with objects, some may not be resistant to water.

Air: generally the most common for cleansing spaces or people. Usually achieved by lighting up incense or herbs with cleansing properties and using the smoke to cleanse.

Sidenote: burning a herbs ≠ from smudging. Smudging is a native american practice that is closed to their people. Don't smudge, don't call some herb-burning smudging. It's not the same thing. Stick with what's appropriate for your culture.

Sun and moon: using sunlight or moonlight to cleanse (and often charge) yourself or objects. Always make sure what you are cleansing can actually be left in the sun and handle weather.

Crystals: Some crystals have cleansing properties, usually back ones (onyx, obsidian, black tourmaline), smoky quartz, and selenite, to name a few. Keep in mind that they usually need to be cleansed periodically, too.

Sound: Praying, chanting, singing, music, and using bells or drums are some ways you can use sound to cleanse.

Visualization: There are many techniques used for cleansing this way. While it can be effective, it is definitely not for everyone as a lot of people will find that using tools is easier and more consistent. Visualization requires some practice and a lot of focus.

What to do after cleansing?

That depends on your objective.

If you are cleansing a space, such as your home, and you want to keep it "clean" for longer, you can cast a protection spell.

If you are cleansing yourself or an object, you may want to do a Charging of some sort. When you cleanse, you are getting something out, which opens up space for the new, so you can use this as an opportunity to "fill in" with another type of energy.

Conclusion

Cleansing is very versatile and unique to each practice. There are a lot of things you can do that are fairly neutral, but in general, cleansing always has the same purpose and is done in a similar fashion.

Knowing what your tradition (if you have one) usually does to cleanse objects, people, and places can be very enriching, so do your research!

Thank you for reading!