#I mean wolves are VERY fluffy creatures

[marigoldendragon]

I was noooot happy with my last Jack drawing, so I did a bunch of studies and drew another XP

And yes fellow perverts, there is a nude version available. Two actually. One with fluff and a hairless version for those who, for reasons beyond my personal understanding, prefer their wolf-men clean shaven.

Enjoy ~

[dinocanid]

The voluntary/involuntary debate (-is making me lose my mind)

I don't see anyone saying this, but something being missed in the whole "therianthropy (and otherkinity) is completely involuntary!" conversation is that so much of the argument is overcorrection, and it's being treated as a binary when the lines are all grey. Which makes the constant back and forth feel very tiring.

First: context

10-ish years ago (even today in some crotchety circles), therianthropy-focused spaces were chomping at the bit to "weed out the fluff" due to the surrounding alt culture at the time (teen wolves) and the release of a few documentaries that many considered quite cringe-y and embarrassing. They went "oh god, we can't be associate with those weird people" and, while that wasn't the only contributor to the gatekeeping and grilling culture at the time, it was a significant one. So any new therians hoping to join communities were often grilled the hell out of, because people wanted to check if they were ""real"" therians and not those "fluffy teen werewolves" on TV. Therianthropy wasn't a game or a trend, it's a part of you, which is true. But "it's not a game" got bastardized into "it's involuntary" due to overcorrection and a lack of preserving nuance. Regardless if you think you were born a therian or if someone goes "I really want to be a [nonhuman animal]" and starts to embrace that identity, that's still therianthropy. "I want to be this, therefore I'm going to be this, and I am this" is still therianthropy.

This problem isn't unique to therianthropy either, "otherkinity must be involuntary" is also a result of overcorrection, more specifically due to the ableism and damage kinnie culture has done to the fictionkin community. Dragonheart Collective wrote a concise essay on this, so I will link that [right here] rather than repeat things, other than I have noticed "voluntary" be conflated with "kinnie" when it should not be. "Being kin isn't just relating to or liking something" got bastardized into "otherkinity is involuntary" by the community. Regardless if you think you were born otherkin or if someone goes "I really want to be a [character or nonhuman creature]" and starts to embrace that identity, that's still otherkinity "I want to be this, therefore I'm going to be this, and I am this" is still otherkinity.

Second: nuance.

No, involuntary doesn't inherently mean "it's a game". What counts as voluntary or involuntary is so blurry that a common conclusion can rarely even be reached on what it means. Things that have been seen considered voluntary:

Noticing the identity and choosing to embrace it versus shove it down and dismiss it

Waking up one day

Really wanting to be something and deciding to embrace it, versus dismissing it

Was born with the identity but picks and chooses which parts they prefer to focus on and explore

etc. along the above lines

And these are all perfectly fine ways of experiencing therianthropy and otherkinity, people have been having experiences like that for years. This is completely normal and nothing new and it's so tiring seeing people point fingers at places that these things didn't even come from, like TikTok.

"But what about linking then?"

This debate is much older than "-linking" terminology, which in and of itself is a product of this very debate. People made new words because so many were arguing if someone's identity is real if it originates in a particular way. This doesn't change how "-link" terminology should be used today, but it is worth noting that those are perfectly normal ways to experience otherkinity and therianthropy even if these other terms exist. It means you can use whichever personally feels best to you. It does not mean that people need to be shoved out of the non-link labels.

[cha0s-boyy]

revamp of my old creeper design from like... 10... years ago... minecraft old (notes under the cut)

[ID: two cartoony digital drawings of an interpretation of a Minecraft creeper, one fullbody and one headshot. it has a long neck, a short body that sits at an angle, due to its forelegs being longer than its hind legs, short floppy ears, a short duck-like tail, conjoined claws on its feet, and a deer-like nose that is joined to a prominent lip, making the iconic creeper frown shape. it is fluffy and green, with ticked markings suggesting a mottled coloration. its scleras are dark green, and its pupils/irises, nose and lip skin, and claws, are all green-tinted black. /end ID]

design notes!

i've always personally much preferred fluffy creepers over the more popular "irradiated flesh-melting humanoid mutant" interpretation. i know that a tweet doesn't exactly make something "canon" to the game, but i do like to think this fits with the "leaf-like texture" they were described as having. i do enjoy the "plant creature that explodes to spread pollen" theory, but even if you want to just interpret them as furry not actually leafy it makes sense from a camouflage standpoint. i used to give them pointier more upright ears (actually i usually made them back-pointing ears), but given that their model doesn't prominently display ears (like say, the wolf model does) i decided to allude to their "pig mistake" origins and give them triangular floppy ears like some pigs have. also, everyone always staunchly refused to give them ears despite only ONE mob at the time actually having modeled ears (that being wolves), so the idea of a creature having ears but not having them be individually modeled in the game was 100% plausible. nose and mouth! i am SO PROUD of this interpretation. i always found giving them a huge frown always looked a little goofy, so i tried to think of other ways to get that iconic shape, and i think joining the skin of a nose and a defined lip together really accomplishes this well. not to mention, it's actually closer to the pixelated shape, due to the nose sticking up higher than the lip. (that's just me being self-aggrandizing at this point tho. i don't think i've actually got the "better more correct" interpretation here or anything.) long neck / body plan - i NEVER understood why everyone always INSISTED on giving them humanoid torsos with no arms and four mutant legs when the option of having a LONG NECK was right there???? i mean if you're leaning into the rotated pig body thing it makes sense, but istg it was every. single. one. no matter how un-pig-like they were in every other respect. and besides it was usually a humanoid torso not a pig torso anyway. giving them slightly bent digitigrade legs i think also captures the "sticking out" look of their legs. again, i always preferred a more vertebrate look for creepers rather than the "alien walking around on spindles" look, but this was 100% done back in the day so i'm not as mad about it. also i'm proud of myself for the higher shoulders resulting in an angled body, because that lets me have the body a little longer without having to make something that would have absolutely 100% been modeled with another block for the body. tail is the same deal as ears - the only mob with a modeled tail (wolf) had an extremely prominent tail on its real counterpart, so the idea of the creature having a tail but not having it be modeled is 100% possible. actually snout too - i still don't give my creepers a very prominent snout/muzzle just to keep them recognizable, but long-faced/snouted animals like cows and (at the time) pigs were modeled with square heads, so a real creeper could 100% have a big ol' muzzle. i actually thought creepers had hooves for a long time before i realized the dark texture was only on the front of their legs, not all the way around. i could interpret this as them having longer fur that partially covers their hooves, but i like them with claws as well. they seem like they'd want grip. i did still give them partially joined claws to allude back to the hoof thing tho. but who knows? maybe i'll give them cloven pig-hooves in the future. nothing to say about coloration except that i obviously did a more simplified pattern to match my cartoony style rather than giving this drawing realistic mottling and brindling.

overall i guess my main deal with creepers is that i always wanted creepers to be animals (and specifically fairly large, terrestrial animals, that existed commonly within the world), rather than either insectoid cyborg aliens or cubes of melting flesh (that's one i didn't really touch on - many people were so unwilling to stray from making them cubic in their non-minecraft interpretations of creepers. i understand why for recognizability, but from a "actual creature vs minecraft model" standpoint, mobs just. aren't as square as they are in the game).

also disclaimer - i talk a lot about things that "everyone always did," and the keyword here is "did"- interpretations of creepers are more varied nowadays. it's been like 15 years! design tropes that were widespread through inescapable back in the day are no longer so.

[oceansssblue]

~[MAGICAL CREATURES SERIES] –THE BAD BATCH AU (N5)

"NOT A DOG" PT2. WRECKER/WEREWOLF!OFC

AN INJURED VALERIE GETS RESCUED BY ONE OF THE KINDEST HUMANS SHE HAS EVER SEEN. IF THE BLONDE KID AND THE VERY BIG SOLDIER THINK SHE'S A REGULAR WOLF WHILE THEY KEEP HER HIDDEN AND SAFE IN THEIR SHIP... OH WELL... SHE'S CONTENT TO PLAY THE PART UNTIL SHE'S HEALED AND READY TO LEAVE.

WARNINGS: TALK OF ATTEMPTED NON CONSENSUAL BOND-MARKING, MENTIONS OF BLOOD AND FAMILY LOSS 💔 OTHERWISE PURE FLUFFY FLUFF 💖

Link for part 1:

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"That's definitively not a dog".

Everyone seemed stunned into silence after Tech's –for once– very obvious observation. Echo's mouth fell open in surprise, while Tech frowned in confusion and Hunter's whole posture tensed as if readying himself for a fight.

The wolf's bright amber eyes studied them with equal measures of surprise and waryness.

Hunter clenched his jaw; his eyes never leaving the wolf.

"Explain yourselves" he demanded.

His tone was no different than the one he used in battle.

Omega wriggled her hands nervously and glanced helplessly at Wrecker. It was him who took a deep breath and talked them through what had hapened. The Batch listened attentively; all kind of different reactions swaying through their faces until settling in utter resignation.

Hunter sighed tiredly.

"And you've been hiding him in the ship ever since?" Omega nodded guiltily, and Hunter ran a hand through his hair unconsciously. "I'm surprised I didn't notice it earlier".

"We've been covering him in our clothes to mask his scent" the blonde mumbled her confession.

Hunter seemed equal parts of satisfied and reproachful.

"And you say he is perfectly friendly?" He insisted, slowly walking towards the animal in precaution to not anger or scare him.

Omega brightened and eagerly nodded.

"He is! And he's very affectione too. Always playing and demanding attention!"

Wrecker supported her statement.

"He's also weirdly intelligent. He understands everything we say and follow orders. You can try it out, if you wanna' ".

Hunter asked the wolf to do the basics, as if he were in fact a mere dog. The animal followed his instruction to perfection; soothing some of the soldier's worries about him being a danger to his family. As they had pointed out, he seemed intelligent and... Well, he didn't think wolves could really be trained that well, but the animal seem intent on being friends.

"He can do much better than that" chuckled Omega, quickly glancing around her. "Go bring Wrecker some food, buddy!"

The Batch watched in astonishment how the beautiful caramel wolf quickly walked towards the cabin of suplies, carefully grabed a pack of nutri-bars with his sharp teeth and carried it back to Wrecker, sitting patiently in front of him. Wrecker smiled and took it in his hand, roughing his fur affectionately with his other one. The wolf's tongue loled out and he pressed himself happily to the side of the man's knees.

That was... Not normal. Echo and Hunter were both lost in their thoughts, trying to find a logical explanation to the animals behaviour. It was Tech, of course, who solved the case for all of them.

"He's not a wolf either" he quickly realised. "At least not a normal one".

Hunter tilted his head and crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?"

Tech quietly stepped closer to the animal and crouched down, studying his features. The animal looked back at him, tilting his head in a mimic of Hunter's posture.

"He's not exactly shaped as a regular wolf" he started explaining, drawing a finger up to point at certain parts of his body. "This one has a less angular snout, ears not as pointy and eyes much more round than what would be expected. He's also slightly bigger. Did you know Ilya holds one of the largest werewolf settlements of the galaxy?"

All stares switched intermitently between the animal and Tech. Hunter tensed.

"Are you saying this is a werewolf?"

Tech nodded calmly. Somehow, everything always seemed impossibly normal and expected for him.

"Indeed. And it's also a she, by the way" he corrected. "That wolf is not a male."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Valerie's heart was pounding rapidly inside her body. Fuck, the goggled clone was unusually intelligent to have discovered her that quickly... All eyes turned to her again, and she shuffled nervously in place. This was it. She was going to have to turn back to her human form, and they were going to push her out of their ship –in the best of cases–. She would be left alone again and...

Hunter's eyes were murderous when he stepped closer to her. Valerie understood. She was a stranger that had been lurking around his brother and younger sister for almost a week now. A potencial danger. They didn't know what she wanted, who she was. His waryness and anger was natural and justified.

"Show yourself" he snapped. "And for your sake, don't make me repeat myself".

Valerie gulped and closed her eyes. She took some seconds to concentrate; visualizing her human shape in her mind. Her height and how annoying it was to have to get up on her tip-toes to reach things. The uncomfortable scrath of her clothes on her skin. Her honey blonde&brown hair –so similar to the fur of her wolf form– and her amber eyes, not as shiny in her human version but slightly brighter than the usual. The tic she had of twitching up her nose, the shape of her legs and hips, stomach and torso...

The transition was smoothly and painless; and soon enough she was standing back on two legs. She heard gasps all around her. She took a deep calming breath in and opened her eyes, scanning the room anxiously.

Hunter looked a bit more relaxed but still wary. Tech's eyes were full of intrigue, scanning her up and down without trying to hide it. Echo seemed lost. Omega was plainly wowed and straitly admiring her; while Wrecker... He looked sad and betrayed. As if he had lost a friend.

"I'm sorry" she croacked with her dry, unused voice, taking a step towards him with a hand extended to touch him.

Valerie felt her heart break with how he flinched backwards; mantaining a safe distance between them.

She dropped her hand and stopped her advance, turning her eyes to the floor below her feet and unconsciously hugging herself in an attempt to find some comfort in her own arms. Yes, it was a dream to have thought this would go any different.

Her eyes glazed over; but she refused to cry in front if them. It wasn't their fault. She had been the one intruding, the one lying. Time had simply runned out.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Everyone –except Wrecker, in case things turned wrong and the woman tried to attack the sargent in her wolf form– was sent back to their respective bunks while Hunter had a conversation with their resident werewolf. Omega hadn't even fighted him about it; knowing he had all the rights to find out who she was and that the conversation was a necessity. She felt nervous, though. She knew the female werewolf had no ill intentions; and felt worried with the posibility of that being the last time seing her. She hoped she could convince Hunter to allow her to stay. For now, all she could do was wait.

Back in the cockpit, Hunter asked for the stranger's own retelling of what had happened in Ilya. Valerie answered all of his inquiries with a quiet voice, eyes alternating between sticking to the floor and flickering over the cockpit. It was difficult for Hunter to imagine her fighting a pack of wolves on her own when she seemed so small and lost, now.

"Alright. I believe you" he conceeded. "But there is something that you have yet to explain to us. The reason why all that chasing started. If you've done something than could cause us problems on the long term, if you've made enemies that could follow us all the way here, I'm afraid our paths are going to have to separate".

Valerie shuffled in her place. She didn't want to talk about this, not really; but it was the only way Hunter would finally end his questioning.

"It had been a really long time since I last saw another werewolf" she explained, voice even quieter than before, though both clones had no trouble hearing her in the silence of the cockpit. "I came across two of them in the forest, and we played around as old friends would. I was happy to find some of my people in Ilya. My family had been killed in a fight against another wolfpack back in Ascaris and..."

Valerie paused and gulped. She didn't want to share more than what was strictly necessary. Didn't want them to hear how lonely and sad she had felt for a long time. She re-arranged her words and cut straight to the truth.

"One of them tried to bond-mark me" She whispered.

Both men exchanged a confused glance.

"Bond-mark you?" He repeated.

Valerie's eyes returned to their spot in the floor. She nodded, the memory of the panic and terror she had felt making her body shiver uncomfortably.

"Werewolves bond for life" she explained, avoiding their gazes and growing anxious as seconds passed by. "While having a bond doesn't strictly mean you have to always be close to said person, my people usually do, as you always feel a deep longing to be with them. To take care of that person and protect them. Natural loyalty. In the old times, some pack leaders would bite the bond-spots on werewolves necks to ensure obedience and discipline and grow their numbers with loyal allies. Some consider bonding bites equivalent to marriage. Though like I said, it doesn't necesarily have to be like that".

It was a lot if information to take in; yet Hunter couldn't help but focus on the hidden message beneath her words.

"So this stranger tried to... Force you to belong to him?" The fire in his eyes receeded and switched to honest concern. "Did he try to do anything else?"

Valerie closed her eyes, taking another deep breath in. She could still remember his teeth on her neck, the howls of the wolves around her, the blood dripping down her skin...

"I-I don't know" she whispered. "He was a bit affectionate... But then so was I, since I hadn't seen another one of my species for such a long time, and I was so excited, so I don't know what his plan was or..."

Valerie's words died on her tongue. Wrecker'd big arms suddenly wrapped around her, squeezing her gently to his broad chest; comforting her obvious struggle with a warm hug of his. Her amber eyes shined and a small chocked sob escaped from her throat. Her hands quickly clung to the man's back. She let the tears go.

"I'm sorry" she whimpered for the second time in the day, pressing her cheek to his chest and breathing him in.

She closed his eyes shut, trying to comit the feeling to her memory for her to remember when loneliness became too much in her future cold nights.

"Shh. It's alright" his voice rumbled through his body, deep and soft against her. "You've done nothing wrong, mesh'la".

Valerie didn't understand the meaning of the last word, but all of it sounded sweet and comforting, so she sighed and let herself melt on his arms. She might be leaving them soon, but at least, right now, she could have that.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

To her upmost surprise, Hunter allowed her to stay with them for a while. They had a pair of missions to complete before returning to Pabu; where the Batch had promised to help her re-settle. Tech had warned her that she was probably going to have to share an apartment, as a lot of the unocuppied ones were now housing the citizens that had lost their home due to the last tsunami on the island. Valerie didn't mind at all. A place where she could stay safe for a while sounded good enough.

She continued growing closer with Omega and Wrecker. Her wolf form was the girl's attentive guardian everytime they made a stop in their way; making possible threats step back with just a hint of her sharp teeth. The blonde seemed to want to absorb everything from her; perhaps because Valerie was one of the only females the young clone had had close contact with.

With Wrecker, once the initial akward moment had been left behind, everything returned to normal as well. Valerie still liked to play with him in her wolf form; tackling him to the ground when he didn't expect it and rolling around in the ground. She was strong enough to fight him in her animal shape; and Valerie found it exhilarating. Pure fun. She felt younger, like a pup, whenever she played with him. Valerie couldn't help but sometimes think that Wrecker would have made one hell of a werewolf. Admiration and affection slowly started to morph into something else.

Valerie alternated her nights between curling up around Omega's body and jumping into Wrecker's bunk. Always in her wolf form, of course; she knew it would be drastically different if she stayed human. The first time she had attempted to do it again, after Wrecker had already discovered her true nature, he had seemed slightly uncomfortable or plainly lost; as if he didn't exactly know where to put his hands or what to do. Valerie had made a tiny demanding whine; and Wreckers hand had flew inmediately to caress her fur. She had settled down with her head on top of his stomach contently; and the clone had soon sighed and understood that the situation didn't have to be any different.

One night, when Wrecker stepped out of the sonic with a clean change of clothes on, and he saw her sleeping in the co-pilot chair in the cockpit, Tech catched the soft smile that made its way on his lips at such sight.

"I noticed you seemed to have developed romantic feelings for her".

Wrecker shrugged and turned to look at him, not bothering on making an excuse. There was no point in hiding it.

"How can I not?" He asked back, and the goggled clone felt honestly surprised with the warmth of his brother's words.

Tech hummed.

"You should take her to the bunks" he sugested, quietly. "Echo and I were going to discuss the most efficient route to take to Pabu".

Wrecker nodded; and with all the care he could conjure, picked up the sleeping woman in his arms and carefully carried her to his bunk. He placed her in his bed, slowly adjusting the blanket around her. He was preparing to leave when Valerie mumbled in her sleep and harshly tugged his wrist.

Wrecker chuckled and accepted the silent request; slowly laying down besides her and repositioning her so they could both fit his bunk, with Valerie half-lying on top of him. He felt a bit nervous at first, his heart speeding significantly at this new way of cuddling –the first time with her in her human form–; but she was so warm and her weight felt so comforting on top of him he quickly forgot about it and fell asleep.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Once the fee for their stay in Arsa's space port had been payed, Hunter returned to the Marauder, quickly finding Tech stuck to his datapad on the cockpit. He sat down tiredly besides him. His nose twitched. He could pick up the werewolf's smell. It was strange to him; it was a mix of two in one, almost as if it belonged to different persons, but somehow still the same.

"Where's the rest?" He asked.

Tech answered without moving his eyes from the screen in front of him.

"I believe Omega and Echo must be finishing watching an episode of one of their shows in her room, while Val and Wrecker should be cuddling in our brothers bunk".

Hunter smiled. He had been reluctant about the newcomer at first; but Valerie was a nice girl –a good honest person, which was getting increasingly rare in the dangerous galaxy they lived in– and he understood his brother's infatuation with her.

"Seems you're not the only one wanting to be in a serious relationship anymore, huh?"

Tech blushed and cleared his throat. Evidently, Hunter had perceived his and Phee's reciprocal attraction. He wasn't surprised.

"I can not say i don't understand the appeal" he answered, diplomatically. Tech paused and added a thoughtfull "She seems a good match for Wrecker. Strong and fierce in her wolf form and gentle and soft when human. Her feelings for him seem to be genuine."

Hunter hummed in agreement.

"Yeah" an amused smirk made its way on his face. "I have a feeling Val won't be sharing an apartment with a stranger on Pabu for too long".

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

An hour later, on the bunks, a sleeping Wrecker repositioned himself on his bed, unconsciously tightening his grip on Valerie's human hip and bringing the werewolf back to consciousness. She seemed desorientated for a second before understanding where she was and who she was cuddling with. Then, a small, soft happy smile grazed her lips, and she gently pressed them to the naked skin of his neck for one long second, sighing in content.

They still needed some time to grow even closer together –the werewolf didn't want to rush their possible future relationship at all–; but maybe, one day, Valerie wouldn't mind if Wrecker gifted her with a very particular bite. A bonding one.

THE END.

--

Hi ya'll! There we have our little spin of our werewolf situationship. I hope you've liked it, let me know!

Like always, remember I'm taking prompts and requests, so if there's something you'd like to read from me, text me!

Reblogs appreciated.

See you in the next one!

Xx,

sky.

Back to *tbb magical creatures series* here:

Back to *main general masterlist* here:

[highfantasy-soul]

So I've seen some (I assume) show-only people really, really upset about Hopper's death. Like, calling the show runners sick, awful, disgusting people for it. So, insane as it is, I'm here to defend the murder of fluffy canines.

Wolves in the Wheel of Time world are not cute little companion puppies that are just so sweet and innocent and perfect. Killing a wolf is not killing a helpless creature that is relying solely on human kindness to survive, nor is it done just for shock value.

Wolves would be VERY UPSET if you viewed them this way! They are just as independent and capable as any of the human characters - they have their own society, lives, and beliefs. They fight in battle.

Hopper wasn't just standing next to Perrin as his little dog on a leash and then was murdered out of the blue - he chose to join the battle and attack an enemy. The enemy then killed him as he was seeking to kill one of them. Hopper died in battle just like any human would have (and did many times over in the story).

Yes, the Whitecloaks and people at large do only view them as animals - dangerous animals that can kill them - not as equals to humans, but Perrin does understand their importance as beings in their own right. He was reacting to Hopper's death not as a 'you just killed my pet out of the blue!' but as a 'you just killed a member of my family (pack)'.

Does it suck to see canines killed on screen? Yeah. Does that mean that if a story includes the death of a canine that means the writers are disgusting, sick, cruel people because 'killing the dog' has gotten a bad rep in media? No.

Including wolfbrothers means including their role as beings who are also fighting against the shadow. That means some are going to die in battle. Just as Uno's death was significant and meaningful to our characters, just as Rand's mom dying was meaningful, Ingtar's death, Karene and Steppin's death, etc, are all meaningful to the story and the characters, so is Hopper's death.

If the death of a canine is triggering to you, I get it. Torture scenes and graphic depictions of violence are triggering to me. But that doesn't mean that I thought the showrunners were disgusting, sick people for having death in the show, or lingering on people's last moments and giving them their due rather than brushing right past the death.

If the death of any being other than a human - especially canines - really gets to you, then The Wheel of Time probably isn't for you as the wolves play a very important role in the fight against the Shadow. They're warriors just like the people are which means they're going to fall in battle too.

I know this post is probably only for a very tiny fraction of people who watched the episode, but I felt it needed to be said. Calling writers bad people for wolf death is just wild to me.

[hex12345678910]

I'm shadowwolfkith and catlike humanoidkin, which is obviously very confusing as shadowwolves and catlike humanoids aren't creatures irl or in any books, movies, shows, etc (as far as I'm aware) so here's a random infodump on what "shadowwolf" and "catlike humanoid" mean when I use them <3

(It's under the cut)

Shadowwolf:

Creatures that live in the shadows, or rather they ARE the shadows, that can emerge from the darkness if offered a golden/amber jewel. They will take the form of black wolves and the jewel will remain embedded in their head. While the jewel is in their possession, they can switch between shadows, to black wolves, and to creatures in between.

Catlike humanoid:

I look like a human but with wings, fangs, claws, a tail, a cat nose and cat ears. I can shapeshift into a cat on command. My wings are as wide as I am tall, they resemble bat wings that are covered in large white feathers. My fangs look like those of a vampire. My claws are retractable and black. My tail and ears are fluffy, soft, and change colour depending on my mood. My nose is small and pink. My eyes are orange and green (irl they're blue).

Thanks for listening to my short rant :3

[shebeafancyflapjack]

A Slip Through Worlds (Part 14)

The Showdown. Based on @idiotwithanipad 's Gore AU.

-

"ROBIN!"

Stompy shouts his name as his own hand, yet not connected to his arm, grabs his hair and slams his head down to the ground. He groans in pain, his ears ringing terribly. It's been decades - no, centuries - since anyone has had the strength to inflict actual harm on him.

Thunder crashes as the wall splinters and breaks like cracks in glass spreading outward from a single dent. The heavens rage in response, the boring grey clouds turning dark in response to the order of two universes being disturbed.

A growl rumbles above. He opens his eyes and sees himself...except not quite, prowling beside him. Bared teeth snarling in warning to Stay Down.

"You....You me?" He feels the horror twist in his gut.

For thousands of years, other humans had accused him of being a beast, an animal. Ape, bear, dog. One time, one very dark time, someone had gone to the extreme of 'convincing' Robin to believe he wasn't human, just a filthy creature to be tamed.

Was this what he'd looked like after years of the Roman soldier's abuse and conditioning? Was this the monster that Elysabeth had chosen to befriend and help after decades living among wolves?

A chill ran through him as he met those feral eyes glaring down at him. Is this what he would still be, if not for his friends?

Other him turned away, his focus shifting to where Amy and Other Silver stood.

It let out a growl and moved towards them.

"Fizzy, who is it? What's happening? Is Robin okay?" Other Moonah Girl tugged Stompy's hoodie.

Stompy seemed as shocked at the sight of Other Robin as he was.

So this was why Other Silver had said there was no 'Robin' in her world. She knew 'Robin' by his voice, how he'd been comforting and playing and reassuring here these past few days. She knew him by how 'sweet' he was. Robin clenched his jaw. He remembered now how she'd talked about her fluffy friend who was grumpy and often mean, not even sure he was human.

That Moonah Girl only knew the worst version of himself. And he was heading towards her now like a furious sheepdog sent to fetch a stray from the herd.

Robin pushed himself up and leapt forward, grabbing his other self around the neck and tossing him around, before positioning himself in front of the girls as a shield.

"WHERE OUR MOONAH GIRL?!" He demanded.

The other Robin simply growled back at him once he'd righted himself into a crouched position, seemingly unable to stand fully erect. Like a man.

"What? You too dumb to speak?" He taunted, "You nothing but stupid animal, huh!?"

His scarred doppelganger gnashed his teeth, claws flexing as he slowly squared up to him.

"Might not be the best time to wind yourself up, dude." Stompy warned.

Robin put a hand back behind him, telling Amy to keep herself and Other Silver a safe distance back.

"No our Moonah Girl, no yours! That simple 'nuff for you?!" He declared, loud and clear.

If his other self wanted to try to take her, without a fair trade, then he'd have to go through Robin.

Another crash of thunder came, followed by a tornado of smoke and embers.

Behind the other Robin, appeared the magnificent and terrifying wraith from their nightmares. Along with what remained of the burned scraps of yellow and blue linen, the black whisps formed something akin to a great cloak covering the being that approached, the bottom half of a grotesquely burned skull beneath the hood.

Robin gulped, staring at her.

"Mary..." How could it be her? In any world, how could funny and sweet Mary ever become something that...radiated so much....evil?

Behind him, other Moonah Girl squealed.

"Mummy! Mummy, is that you, hehehe?" The blind girl jumped in excitement; "I can smell you, Mummy!"

The wraith lowered her hood, revealing the full horror of her face. A smile was barely visible. She raised one bony hand.

"I is here, darling girl. Come to Mummy." A raspy voice called.

Robin looked over his shoulder as Other Silver attempted to run, only to be grabbed by Amy.

"No! Remember the plan!" She snapped to the girl, who seemed forgetful. Stompy faced the witch; "Where is our Silver?!"

His other self growled, threatening. Embers crackled around the witch, her eyes glowing at Amy.

"T'is unwise to come between a mother and her babe, young'un." Other Mary hissed.

"Well I was never known much for my wisdom." The teen snarked; "But you're not getting your Silver back until we get ours. I know you have her, I saw it."

"The Silver Ravenstar who came from this world doth not wish to return." Other Mary informed them; "She hath chosen to remain in my lands and in my care. I thank you for returning my darling girl to me, but you needs not be troubled by thoughts of thy Silver anymore."

Robin frowned. Moonah Girl...doesn't want to come home?

Stompy immediately scoffed; "Bullshit! She sent a message to me! Why the fuck would she want to stay with you, you....cheap Halloween Babadook?!"

He threw the girl a look, to which she shrugged. Even she knew it wasn't one of her better insults.

"I cans give her that which she has lost. New friends, better friends, all that her creative mind desires...and, most of all, a mother's undying love." The witch told them; "What hath she to return to in thy world? Where everyone she loved either abandoned or betrayed her."

Robin felt the emotional stab to his chest. That must have been directed at him, for what he did to her. Amy, also, seemed to wince at the accusation.

"We didn't abandon her. We had no choice, me and our Mary." She defended.

"There be always a choice, girl. Like the one before ye now. Let my little'en return to mine arms, let the one you call a friend be happy in her new world and withs her new family....Or face the consequences."

The embers grew stronger, heating the air around them, until fire itself lit up in the witch's palms. Before her, like a true Hell Hound, the other Robin grizzled in a final warning.

Other Silver giggled, though quieter than usual.

"M-maybe it's best to let me go, hehe. No one has to get hurt. If other Silver wants to stay with me and Mummy, then I promise to look after her, hehehe." Other Moonah Girl offered, sweet as always but clearly nervous.

The witch's eyes softened; "She's ever so excited to meet you, darling girl. You two are going to have such fun playing together."

Robin stood firm.

"Then where is she?"

The witch tilted her head; "Excuse me?"

"Why Moonah Girl not here to tell us goodbye herself?" He challenged.

There was a pause.

"My sweet new girl coulds not bear it herself. She be resting. Safe and sound."

"Lying bitch!" Amy shouted; "Even if what you said was true, there's no way Silver wouldn't tell us herself!"

Those demon eyes flared again upon Stompy; "You needs to watch your mouth, girl, or else-."

"Or else what, huh? You don't scare me!"

"Then thou ist a far greater fool than the Amy of my world." The witch sneered; "I shall tell thee one last time. Give me back my daughter."

Stompy kept her hand clenched tight around the quiet and confused Other Silver's wrist.

"Not till you give back ours." Robin stated.

Those were the terms. They would accept no other. Moonah Girl for Moonah Girl.

The witch raised her chin up.

Another smile twitched on what little remained of her mouth.

"Dearest ally." She said, clicking her fingers.

Robin watched his other self raise his hackles.

"Retreive your Cub. Tear apart any obstacle in thy path." Other Mary demands, a righteous and offended Queen; "Show no mercy."

His bestial double snarled and began to prowl towards them.

"Stompy! Get back!"

After giving the order, he charged forward, letting out a war cry of his own. That's what he needed to think of this as. Not himself. Rival tribe. Enemy caveman. One on one. Superior in strength and ruthlessness, maybe, but not in wit and strategy.

As he and the other came head to head, his double swung a punch, which he dodged and ducked before slamming his fist into his other self's gut. Robin threw his arms around his opponent while he was winded, hurling him to the ground.

Teeth sunk deep into his shoulder as the other Robin curled and bit him deep. Fuck! He growled and swiped back at him, missing and then struck by a blow to his own face.

Rusty. It's been so long since he's fought anyone like this.

As he staggered to his feet, he growled as he caught the other Robin's fist before it could bash his nose. Face to face with his even more ugly opponent, he read the words unspoken in those bloodthirsty eyes as the beast grunted.

Weak. Pathetic. Let self go.

Robin growled back; "I smarter. Stronger in mind and heart. You weak. You stay same all these years. No. Worse. You more animal than man we were."

His double roared and cuffed him in the temple. The Void around them shook from the confrontation of two very old souls.

The other Robin thumped at his chest.

Me remain true warrior. Protector. Guardian. Loyal!

Robin laughed back, "Loyal like little doggie. No love in heart. No thought in head. Just do as Scary Lady say, yes?"

His opposite roared, insulted.

MISTRESS. GOD.

Robin had no time to react before his other self hurled himself forward, throwing his whole weight onto Robin and pushing him onto his back, then holding him down with one firm paw before the other struck his skull. Over and over.

And over. And over.

-

Amy's heart plummeted as the other Robin, the far less rational and human Robin, seemed to get the upper hand.

"Get up! Robin, get the fuck up!" She screamed.

The other Silver was clinging to her arm like a much younger girl.

"I-is he okay? What's hurting him? Hehehe, Fizzy, what's going on?" She asked, trembling.

It took everything for Amy not to shake her off. She kept reminding herself that this Silver was far more impaired and dependent than her own. She wanted rid of her, along with her fucked up 'family', to get the friend she knew back, but being cruel to the kid helped nothing.

"Just stay close to me. Don't let go unless I say. Please." She whispered to the girl.

"Ignore her, little'en. That not be the Amy you can trust. She be the devil's minion, sent to deceive thee."

The witch began to move towards them.

"Mummy...I know this isn't my Amy. But I trust her. She's my friend too, hehe." The other Silver said and Amy had to bite her tongue. 'Friend' was pushing it; "Mummy....I want to go home now."

"We will, my darling. I promise. All your friend need do is release you to me." The witch held out her hand.

"Fat sodding chance." Amy sneered; "You want your Silver? Call off your dog, give me back my friend, then you can have her."

"You dare to think ye can barter with me?! For mine own child?!" She began to rage; "I do not enjoy harming little'ens....but if my hand be forced-!"

The witch raised her arms up, black tentacles of smoke curling into shape and rising up, like some ethereal octopus. Flames raged in her irises as she prepared to set them loose on Amy.

Swallowing down all her fear and pumped by seven cans of Monster, the teen smirked.

"Gotta catch us first, cow."

The girl's form shifted into shadow and vanished from sight, taking the other Silver with her.

A pause of shock, then the witch screamed.

-

Robin's neck snapped to the side as the other him pounded his jaw with his fist again.

He stared up, defiant.

"There no God but Moonah! You turn on Her!?"

Paws shook him by the scruff.

Moonah abandon us! Moonah watch and do nothing! Mistress save! Mistress take pain away! You show respect!!

He swiped at Robin once more, claws tearing into his cheek.

Robin looked up at him, aghast at himself. In all his years of misery and madness, Moonah had been his one constant friend. There had never been a single impulse in him to lose faith in her.

"Why you do this?! This not us!"

With a fierce kick, Robin managed to throw the other him off. His rival growled back.

You forget who us be! You forget pain! Forget tribe!

He shook his head; "Never forget pain. Never forget...family." He wiped the blood from his mouth; "Just don't let it grind down. No let it rule heart. Turn pain...into good. Lose family...Miss family...But find new family."

The other took offence to that, aiming a swipe at his arm which Robin had to weave away from.

Insult family to forget! Replace with other! Like new spear replace broken one!

"No..." He panted; "Family....love us. Family no want us to suffer. Family want us to be loved again. To love new people...You no love your Silver?"

His other self flinched.

She belong to Mistress. I protect. Make sure no one hurt or steal!

"But you steal mine? Like enemy tribe steal babies." He told him, trying his best to appeal to the mind beneath the monster.

All it did was enrage him further.

NO! It not same!!

Lightning crashed nearby as the chaos seemed to swirl, the area around them becoming more unstable and unpredictable.

The tree like scar on his other self's body seemed to redden.

"My Moonah Girl...She choose to stay?" He asked, meeting himself eye to eye.

An impatient rumble.

She safe.

"That not what ask." He growled.

Other Robin simply stared back. No confirmation or denial.

Mistress...know....best.

That was all Robin needed to hear. Stompy seemed to be able to tell it was a lie straight away, but given how he and Moonah Girl had left things...he couldn't pretend it wasn't likely she'd choose to get away from their world. Away from him.

Except that wasn't the case. They were keeping her. Against her will.

He roared, louder than ever before.

Calling down the sky itself, lightning struck him as he charged at the other Robin again, coursing through him from his head to his toes, then released in a blow of blinding hot power that knocked the other him off his feet.

His other self groaned in pain and then frowned, confused. Rivets of electricity shot through his hair.

Robin chuckled, darkly.

This other one, this animal, had clearly stuck to the woods for all those centuries. No domestication. Never went inside. Never truly mastered a connection with electricity. Score one for the indoor caveman.

Refusing to relent, other Robin got back to his feet and ran at him again. Laughing, he stomped his boot, calling down another strike that hit his double in the leg, causing him to stumble forward.

There was a...strange satisfaction in seeing this lower, savage version of himself falter. A surprising boost to his ego.

"Who the daddy?! Ey?! I'm daddy!" He chanted, getting ready to charge up his fist and summon one more strike.

Third time a charm. Take the bastard down for good.

His other self reared his head, growled, then stood and sunk his teeth into Robin's ankle.

Voltage surged through his blood, into his bones, his nervous system, until it reached his spine. He released a single cry of pain before crumbling to the ground, twitching as the electricity burned beneath his skin and he could only lay there, paralysed.

-

"Fizzy Girl. What happened?" She asked, clinging to the meaner version of her friend.

"Shhh. I tucked us into a...pocket. A pocket of shadows." Amy whispered to her, squeezing her hand. "It's less complicated than it sounds."

"Hehehe, sounds clever!" She grinned; "Why are we here? Are we hiding from Mummy?"

"Something like that. You know Hide and Seek?" The teen explained.

"Yeah! Me and Mr Floof play it all the time and I always win when I hide." Silver grinned.

"Well it's that. If we win then you get to go home and we get our Silver back. Sound good?"

She supposed so.

But there was still angry noises outside. Crashing and smashing. It scared her. Even dragons didn't sound this mad when they fought.

"I think we should help Sweet Robin, Ames."

"I would if I could. Sadly, I'm on babysitting duty." She muttered to herself. "C'mon, Robin, get the fuck up and kick his arse."

"None of this makes sense. Why is Mummy so angry?" Silver asked, fiddling with her pentacle; "I...I thought she'd be happy to see me."

Amy scoffed; "I'm sure she is. But love makes us crazy, or so I hear. Or crazy people crazier."

She didn't like that word, but she knew what the other Fizzy Girl was trying to say. Mummy can't be in her right mind at the moment. She must have been so upset, worrying where her daughter was, and maybe it felt longer for her than it did for Silver.

"If I just spoke to Mummy, maybe I can calm her down...." She said, wishing she was more confident.

"Think you'd have better luck reasoning with a volcano." Amy tightened her grip; "Sorry, other Silv, but I can't let you go until I get my friend back. Once I find her, you can run along back to your mum, you have my word."

"Oh! You just want your Silver?"

"Yes!" Fizzy snapped at her again, as if she'd already said this a hundred times.

Maybe she had. Memory wasn't her best friend.

She giggled; "That's good then, she's right there!"

A beat.

"Where?!"

Silver pointed to her right.

"What the fuck are you pointing at?! There's nothing there!" Amy asked, growing ever more frustrated.

"Hehehe, can't you see her? You're the one with eyes!" Silver keeps pointing; "She's right there. I can...I can sense her, hehe. Like she's connected to me. She's...she's inside something. Like a big floating crystal, hehehe."

"What?! I can't...Fuck, your mum hid her, like I'm hiding you."

"Maybe, hehehe. This such a fun game, isn't it! Like a treasure hunt combined with hide and seek."

"Is my Silver okay?!" Amy asked, gritting her teeth.

"I...I dunno. I can't hear her, hehe. I can only sense her energy...but maybe if I let myself 'see' a little then I'll be able to get a better picture in my head." Silver reasoned.

"See? How..." Amy took in a breath and then tried to reach forward; "No, don't-!"

Silver let out a giggle. Loud and shrill. She felt the sound waves burst from her mouth and ripple outward. Her mind's eye formed what few physical images surrounded them.

Two figures scrapping on the floor nearby, like a couple of wolves or small bears, both refusing to quit as they clawed and beat at each other.

And just overhead, she 'saw' her double. Upright and weakly tapping the surface of her tiny prison. Her mouth formed three words on repeat.

It's a trap.

Black smoky tentacles coiled around both girls chests and ripped them out of the shadows.

"Found you, little'ens!"

[midnight-glasses]

Can I have Shin's headcanons?

I've spent about three months looking at this ask, trying to process everything I'd like to reference or say. Lucky for you, I'm terrible at turning down requests and I hate keeping people waiting, so... I'm going to try to meet your expectations on this one.

It's my first request!

There are a lot of headcanons here that I believe are half canon and others are just the voices in my head.

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS:

Sibling rivalry (can this be considered a trigger?);

Talks about visual impairment and phantom pain;

Mentions of sadism;

Animal death;

Shin's polite speech is a facade that he puts on to maintain appearances. In reality, he is often seething with anger and is quick to resort to violence, especially when he feels that his pride has been wounded.

Shin's love for “beautiful blood” is not just about aesthetics but also about his belief that only those with the most powerful blood can truly be considered part of the Ancestor bloodline.

Shin's admiration for Carla is tempered by his deep-seated resentment towards him. He wants to surpass his brother and become the true leader of the Ancestor bloodline, but it's just that this isn't motivated by the desire to be a leader, this is motivated by the desire to surpass Carla at all costs.

Shin's sadism is not just a means of asserting his dominance over others but also a way for him to channel his frustrations and anger. He derives pleasure from seeing others suffer because it gives him a sense of control.

Shin's pranks and humiliations of Yui are not just for his own amusement but also to test her strength and resilience. He sees her as a potential ally in his quest for power and wants to make sure she is worthy of his trust.

Shin's underestimation of his opponents is not just arrogance but also a result of his belief that he is the strongest founder in existence. He has a deep-seated fear of being overshadowed by his brother and wants to prove himself as the rightful heir to the First Blood kingdom.

Shin has a tendency to push people away, even those he cares about, in order to maintain his image as a cold and ruthless leader. He is afraid of showing vulnerability, and often uses his sadism as a shield to hide his true feelings.

He has a “softer” side that not many get to see. He often takes care of injured animals that he finds in the woods, nursing them back to health and releasing them back into the wild.

Even though Shin can transform into a snake, he avoids using his form because he has a strong grudge against the Vibora clan. He resorts to this feature if he has no other choice.

He is willing to take risks and act impulsively to achieve his goals.

Shin is very protective of his tail and becomes defensive if anyone tries to touch or grab it without his permission.

Shin's tail is very fluffy and soft, and he enjoys brushing it regularly to keep it looking its best.

Shin's tail is very sensitive to touch, and he enjoys having it scratched or petted by someone he trusts.

Shin's tail is very expressive and can convey a wide range of emotions, from excitement to anger to sadness.

His Familiars have a strong sense of loyalty and duty towards their master. They are willing to put themselves in harm's way to protect him and will never abandon him, no matter what.

The Familiars are highly communicative creatures who use a wide range of vocalizations, body language, and scent marking to communicate with each other and with their master, in that case, the masters would be Carla or Shin.

The wolves are highly loyal to the Tsukinami family and are trained from a young age to protect them at all costs.

Each wolf has a unique name, which is given to them by Shin himself. He believes it's important to have a strong emotional bond with your fellow battlers.

Despite their fierce and predatory nature, Shin's Familiars are also highly affectionate creatures who love to play and cuddle with their master. They are always eager to please him and make him happy.

Shin deeply cares about the wolves and considers their safety and well-being one of his primary responsibilities as the leader of the "pack".

Each wolf has a distinct personality, and Shin is able to identify each of them just by their behavior and appearance.

The wolves are kept outside the Tsukinami residence in a large fenced area built specifically for them.

He spends a lot of time with his wolves and is sometimes seen sleeping with them in their fenced.

Some of the wolves eventually get injured in battle, but Shin refuses to leave them behind. Instead, he personally takes care of them until they are fully healed.

Shin experiences phantom pain in the area where his eye used to be and has flashbacks of the trauma he suffered when exposed to stimuli reminiscent of the situation in which he lost his eye.

Shin experiences difficulties with depth and distance perception on his left side of the visual field due to the loss of his eye, he often trips slightly over things due to this, although he denies this even when there are witnesses.

For example, when trying to climb a wall to spy on the enemy, Shin loses his balance and lands upside down, hanging by his ankles.

On another occasion, in an attempt to surprise an enemy, Shin jumped from a rooftop, but ended up losing his sense of distance and landed face-first on the ground.

He has difficulty adapting to sudden changes in lighting, especially when they occur on the side where his eye used to be.

Shin has difficulty reading small print or fine details on objects that are on his left side. He often needs to get much closer to be able to discern what is written or drawn.

Due to his vision loss, Shin tends to position himself so that his right side faces his opponent in order to have a clearer view and not let anything get hidden in his blind spot.

Besides, he has already knocked over a tray of food on the table, spilling the entire contents onto his brother's lap as he tries to reach a salt shaker.

The lack of vision in his eye also leaves him vulnerable to attacks that come from his left side without warning. He constantly trains to compensate for this vulnerability and is always ready to defend himself.

Shin's love for nuts extends to cooking as well. He is known for making a mean nutty granola, and often experiments with different nut-based recipes in his free time, even though he's not very good at cooking.

Shin's favorite type of nut is the almond. He loves it in any form, whether it's roasted, salted, or in desserts.

Despite his love for nuts, Shin is very particular about the quality of the nuts he eats. He only eats the freshest and highest quality nuts, and is known to be quite picky about it.

Once, Shin got so engrossed in cracking open a particularly tough hazelnut that he accidentally cracked his wooden desk. He was both embarrassed and amused by the incident.

Shin's love for nuts has also led him to become quite knowledgeable about different types of nuts and their nutritional benefits. He can often be heard giving impromptu lectures about the benefits of nuts to his friends and colleagues.

Despite their ferocity, Shin's wolves are gentle and loving towards him. They often nuzzle against him and lick his face, and he returns their affection with belly rubs and ear scratches.

Shin was given two wolf cubs as a “gift” from his father when he was just a child. These cubs quickly became his closest companions and were his only source of comfort during his lonely childhood.

The two wolf cubs grew into powerful and loyal wolves that followed Shin everywhere. He spent hours each day training and playing with them, and they became an integral part of his life.

Eventually, these two wolves grew up and gave rise to a large portion of the next generations of familiars.

Shin would be devastated by the death of his familiars. Even though he's a “stoic” person, the loss of his trusted companions would weigh heavily on him.

He might blame himself for their deaths, wondering if he could have done something to save them.

He might become more reckless in battle, trying to avenge his familiars by taking bigger risks than usual.

Alternatively, he might become more cautious and hesitant, unwilling to risk losing anyone else he cares about.

Shin might keep a memento of his familiars with him at all times, such as a tuft of their fur or a pawprint, as a way of remembering them.

Shin might find it hard to trust new familiars after the loss of his old ones, worried that he'll only lose them again.

He might dedicate himself to finding out what caused the death of his familiars, obsessively investigating until he uncovers the truth.

Shin's love for long baths has been known to cause scheduling conflicts with other members of the royal family. On more than one occasion, he has been late to official events because he was too busy soaking in the tub.

Shin prefers his baths to be hot and steamy, with lots of bubbles and essential oils. He has a particular affinity for lavender-scented bath products.

Shin's familiars sometimes like to join him in the bath, much to his delight. He loves having their company and finds it to be a bonding experience.

Despite the potential danger, Shin sometimes falls asleep in the bath due to the relaxing nature of the experience. He has woken up a few times with pruney fingers and toes as a result.

Shin also enjoys using bath bombs and bath salts in his baths. He has a collection of different scents and colors that he rotates through depending on his mood.

These are some headcanons that I had in mind while producing this post, It probably wasn't exactly what you were expecting, but nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for the ask, anon!

All my written content is original, however, I do not claim ownership of the characters depicted. ©2023-Present.

[aroturier]

Sebastian: Evil or Not?

I am having trouble with Tumblr tonight I wanted to repost a little discussion between @bapydemonprincess @warmmilk-n-honey and @cangrellesteponme's Tumblr blogs but it's not letting me do both so here's my thoughts w/o the texts that inspired it.

For context I'll say that the princess started it by posting (and I can't say I entirely disagree) the following:

"People now in the end of 2022 on this platform in the kuro fandom: Sebastian Michaelis is the bad guy. The worst, the most evil, unshippable character. "

Then the others gave their ideas and in the end I wanted to add a couple thoughts, to wit:

I am one who enjoys the butler and sees enough character development to keep me interested —though I do know what you meant @bapydemonprincess— I'd just like to add and suggest that perhaps this would be a better way to interpret Sebastian and his 'evil'.

So is he? Evil, I mean. Is he really?

Isn't he more like an intelligent, very hungry tiger who just happens to walk on two legs and to whom you can speak? By that I mean to ask you, do you call all meat-eating creatures evil because they must violently kill cute little furry things in order to stay alive? Don't we normally view wolves, big cats, badgers, bears, fluffy fishers, hyenas and such as frightening, yes, but also noble and elegant, and find their prowess in hunting rather thrilling and beautiful to watch?

When you see such documentaries who do you root for, the lion or the antelope? (well I was practically raised by cats so my answer'll be obvious.)

Or do you perhaps feel more like medieval people once did, that wild beasts and domestic any who kill humans deserve to be hauled into court, tried and ultimately publicly executed, hung until dead for having the audacity to kill a human being?(There is an argument to be made for that, but this is neither the time nor the place.)

Isn't it rather foolish and ultimately a waste of time to fight against realty? Against your own inborn nature, against what you are made to be?

Could your housecat really swear off meat and join PETA?

You know she wouldn't want to even if she could. She loves being a cat and catching mice is the best kind of fun... and I'm certain that represents Sebastian's opinion on the matter as well.

Reality in Ciel and Sebastian's world is demons must devour human souls to live. It is the price Sebastian pays to continue to live. He even goes about it in a quite honorable manner (well. MOST of the time. It’s hard to resist being a little ‘slippery’ when you can run rings around the other person’s intellect isn’t it.) And since when is it evil to do and be exactly what you were born/made/whatever to do and be? It would hardly be fair to ask him to adopt a human view of right and wrong, would it? Just like us he cannot rail against his nature any more than we can throw a fit and insist we can live without drinking water. Be dead in three days if we tried that nonsense wouldn't we?!

Dunno what would happen to Sebastian if he tried going 'vegetarian,' but I'll bet he has no interest whatever in finding out!

I don't feel like I can condemn him for following his very natural desire to continue to live. We all want that. Thus, the lion must eat the cute little antelope. We don't call ‘the king of beast’ evil for that, do we -- well, I hope we don't. Antelope's quite tasty after all !

Of course, I'm certain it all seems very evil to that particular antelope caught bleating beneath his claws right now (!!!) The whole subject seems quite subjective when you think about it like this, doesn't it?

[ateezs-things]

Luna Strike was an unusual wolf. She had fluffy grey fur and large golden eyes that shone like the sunrise. However, the thing that set her apart from other wolves was her unique ability. Luna had the power to channel electricity, which made her a very dangerous fighter.

Luna had lived in the woods with her family for as long as she could remember. Her parents worked hard to provide for their pack and to protect the wild creatures of the forest. Luna loved her home, but she longed for adventure. She longed to explore the vast forest and discover all of its secrets.

One day, Luna was out exploring when she stumbled upon a group of humans living in the woods. At first, they seemed hostile towards her, but Luna didn't give up. She used her electricity to stun the humans, but before they could react, she ran back to her pack.

Luna's parents were shocked to see her return with humans as her only souvenirs. They could not believe what their weak-willed daughter had done. Luna shook her head, "I didn't mean to upset them. I just wanted to see where they came from."

Luna's parents were not convinced and ordered her to leave the forest. Luna couldn't bear to leave her home, but she knew she had to. She walked out of the woods, leaving her old life behind, and into a new one filled with possibilities.

Days turned into weeks, and Luna found herself in a new town. It was filled with humans and robots, but Luna didn't feel out of place. She made friends with a group of children and even began to help them with their schoolwork.

As Luna became more integrated into the human community, she began to noticed a strange energy in the air. The adults were panicking and stockpiling food and supplies. Luna couldn't help but feel responsible for her new friends and their families.

She decided to investigate the source of this energy and set out on a journey far beyond the town's boundaries. She traveled through the woods and met all sorts of creatures, from giant ants to tree spirits. But Luna never gave up her search for answers.

Finally, after days of searching, Luna found what she was looking for. At the center of the energy was a building that housed a massive electromagnetic generator. Luna knew that this machine was responsible for the panic in the town, and she had to shut it down.

Luna fought her way through the building, using her electricity to stun the machines that stood in her way. Finally, she reached the source of the energy: the electromagnetic generator. Luna quickly dismantled the machine and shut down the panic.

In the aftermath of the crisis, Luna found that she had made new friends in both human and animal communities. She had learned that humans and animals could live together in harmony, and that adventure wasn't always about fighting. Luna felt grateful for the experiences she had had, and she knew that she would never forget them.

From that day on, Luna continued to use her unique power to help others, whether they were just in need of a helping hand, or in danger of destruction. Luna had found her true calling, and she knew that wherever her journey led her, she would be ready to face it with courage and determination.

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

THE ARGONIAN MYTHOS: a basic overview pt 1- in the beginning, the three gods & airplane religions

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[and an additional note: i'm not a particularly religious person and their may be some bias, so please feel free to scream at me in tags or whatever if i accidentally make a genuinely offensive remark]

So…

Argonus now officially has religion and mythology to it. I mean, I've been worldbuilding on the actual fauna and the elkinets themselves for a while. What better way to expand upon this universe than to give out the mythos they believe and worship? I think it’s time for it. And oh dear lord, it is LOOOOOOONG!!! Why? Because I wanted to get rid of some of the major myths which most mythologies/religions have, plus it’s really fun to worldbuild an entire mythos...

So, without further ado, here’s [PT1] the mythos in its entirety (or at least the somewhat “basics” of it…),

IN THE VERY BEGINNING…

So, like all other mythologies, there’s a story about how the world and universe was created. Our planet argonus is no exception here, having the creation of the planet, sun and moon.

Once up many, many, many eras ago, argonus started off as nothing more than a smooth, round pebble floating in the pitch black void. Then, all of a sudden, the pebble started to form and shape the mountains, valleys and hills, and cracks began to form, releasing out all of the water and lava on that planet. From the cracks, two beings appeared: out of the lava came a bright, blazing crow named duzliv (The sun), and from the waters came a blue, swirling owl named magmor (the moon).

From there, the two birds immediately got to work, dumping some of their feathers onto the planet. The shaft and veins of the feathers became the trees and shrubs, and the fluffy afterfeather became the grass and flowers. It wasn't just feathers that shaped life on the planet, either. On every single feathers were mites, fleas and ticks. Those tiny, insignificant creatures would become all of the fauna of the planet: wolves, deer, birds, fish, and snakes. The mites that came from duzliv became the beings of the day while the ones from magmor became the creatures of the night. The only animals absent where the aeronoids (don't worry, they’re coming soon).

Once argonus had all of the life it needed, magmor and duzliv took a well-deserved break, before figuring out what to do next. Since they had all of these newly-created beings, they needed a way to control them all. Not only that, but they needed a place for the animal’s souls once they died.

It was duzliv who suggested they have children. Magmor, whilst not too keen on creating more life, knew that their children will have their parent’s god-like abilities. So, the owl and the crow had three children, and each of them controlled a specific role: one for the sky and the newly-created afterlife, one for the ground and the life that lived on it, and one for the waterways and the underworld. It would be here that this is where we meet the three major deities….

THE THREE BIG GODS OF ARGONUS

(and their worshipers)

After laying her eggs, all three of them hatch out, and immediately go to work, fulfilling their roles on argonus. The three gods, all of which had the head of a bird that fairly represented them, went along as as followed:

OGRIN:

the first and strongest of the children to hatch. He’s represented as an white airliner with the head of a brown-colored eagle or hawk (commonly the former), and he’s the sort of zeus analog. He not only is in control of the weather, but he’s also in control of “Aethorna”, the heavenly places where all the “good souls” go.

Aethorna is held up by clouds that only the souls of the deceased can see. This afterlife looks similar to the overworld of argonus, except that all plants grow lush green all year around, and the stars are visible regardless of daylight or not. The souls don't just include elkinets, but also all the animals as well.

Ogrin himself is a rather happy, carefree person who absolutely loves to eat, party and drink. However, like all other deities, if he's angry he often creates havoc in the forms of tornados, lightning and floods. He’s also often a total casanova, and like Zeus he goes after various beings to make sweet, sweet love too and have children with. These beings were often either other deities, mythical creatures or even just a regular elkinet. However on rare occasions during thunderstorms ogrin will accidentally (or purposely) strike an animal which will create a monstrous being, either the animal itself turning into one or later giving birth to the beast.

DHETOS:

Dhetos was the second to hatch out of the clutch. Depicted as a green or camo prop aircraft with the head of a chicken, she’s the land goddess that's in control of the overworld as well as the ground and the life that lives there (both of air, land and sea). She lives in a lush land under the mountains (often just called dheto’s land) where you can find any animal living there in peace.

Dhetos is a more stern person that takes her job seriously. She not only is capable of controlling the plants and animals around her, but can also create lifeforms of her own. This not only includes normal animals, but also the beasts and monsters that roam the planet. While she is commonly praised for the upkeep of creating new life, she’s also capable of taking it as well. As such, it’s not uncommon for stories to have the hero call upon her to take care of a dangerous beast the hero themselves are incapable of defeating.

Dhetos, despite being an all-serious person, does have a soft side when it comes to cooking and music. If one can please her with their music or food, then she’ll let them into her home.

XORTAN:

The final child to hatch, Xortan is depicted as a black seaplane with the head of a waterfowl (Most commonly a mallard or some kind of duck), and is the god of all waterways as well as the Underabyss, which is essentially the argonian version of hell or the underworld. This underabyss is located in only the deepest, darkest pits of the ocean, where all of the “bad souls” would go.

[tumblr edit: in much of the mythos, xortan is often depicted as a "regular' aircraft with webbed/lobed feet, though in modern times he'll also be depicted as a true seaplane. regardless, he always has a waterfowl head]

Despite being the ruler of the underworld, xortan himselfs is not a horrible tourture-loving person, or at least in most versions. In his satchel he carries all of the destinies and fates of every soul presently on the planet, which are often in the shape of gemstones or orbs. What he does with the orbs once the soul has died will be the outcome. For example, if he destroys the rob, that soul goes to aethorna. Another outcome for one’s soul is for the orb to be tossed onto land so one can be reborn as an animal (note: not always Xortan’s doing, sometimes it’s Dhetos that’s in control of reincarnation). Reincarnation, in argonus, is often likened to purgatory, except it give the soul another chance to end up in aethorna. However, he can also come up with unique punishments for each and every person that has done things too horribly to be given second chances.

Xortan as a person is somewhere in between that of dhetos and ogrin. He’s not a super carefree person, but not a super serious one at that. If anything, he’s depicted as a rather apathetic but reasonable person.

While all elkinets believe in these three gods and most of the big mythos surrounding them, who they choose to worship can depend. In this case, there are five major “religions” on argonus. Here are these religion, in order by popularity/commonness:

Ogrinism:

one of the most popular of the religions, it has its roots in Ben Ital in eastern eroon, were it spread and became a mainstay in most of eroon, l’russ and the planet’s western/orthidox culture.

considered the christianinty of argonus, ogrinism is the worshiping of ogrin himself, and is very similar to christianity: above-cloud afterlife god good, below-earth underworld god bad. Therefore, you worship Ogrin so you have the chance to go to aethorna and avoid Xortan as much as possible. Dhetos, on the other hand, is more of a neutral character that’s neither 100% good nor 100% bad, but just does what she needs to do. Ogrinism has two major version: Light and Solid.

Light ogrinism:

the most common and widespread version, is the idea the ogrin, whilst a powerful being, is a flawed character. he makes frequent mistakes; sometimes he recognizes it almost immediately, othertimes he only realizes it later either on his own or whenever his sibling point it out. light ogrinist still sees Xortan as an important person when it comes to death and were the souls go. Thus, while nobody likes him, the light ogrinists still respect him for the job he does. in some stories, Xortan has even helped his brother out in fixing the mistakes he has made.

airplanes that are into light ogrinism tend to understand that everyone is flawed, but as long as one is able to fix the mistakes and let ogrin into their lives, they'll let said flaws and mistakes go by. they give some care to the animals, as they know that they could be the souls of the ones who messed up and must retry life. They believe that the most common animals are often wild animals like deer and bears, as well as common pets like stunnits, dogs and cats. They believe that most major crimes like murder, arson and buglury are sins. However, like mentioned, you can still end up in aethorna if you change your ways and let ogrin in your life. Even if he doesn't let you in, he’ll still have his brother reincarnate you to give you a second chance.

Solid ogrinism:

on the other hand, solid ogrinism is the older, more extremist version of ogrinism. here, ogrin is viewed as "flawless, perfect and all-knowing". instead of being viewed as being no better than a mortal, he is instead viewed as the idealistic being to look up to. And of course, because of this, anyone who DOESN'T follow that path is considered "unholy" and "a heathen". not surprisingly, in solid ogrinism Xortan is 100% bad guy, and all who ends up in the underabyss are all sinners that 100% deserved it.

What is considered a sin varies depending on the era and who you ask. A common joke/theme [in modern times] is “anything can be a sin if you try hard enough”, which can range from something major to something so small and trivial. The more common sins are some of the same as what we would expect from our world’s conservitive extremists: abortion, premarital sex, anything NOT heterosexual (gay marrage and such), and basically all other religion that aint ogrinism. Many have even claimed that things like veganism and animal right/welfare are against the religion because, of course, even just being reincarnated as an animal means you sinned, and therefore animal right/veganism is just giving sinners what they want. Solid ogrinist also believe that all sinner that get reincarnated turn into livestock and any other animals that are killed for their body parts. Solid ogrinism is often what gives the entire religion as a whole a bad reputation, which may also be the reason why few elkinets are solid ogrinist in modern times.

Omnyism:

while ogrinism is often touted as the most popular, omnism comes very close second, having almost the same amount of people if not possibly more due to how widespread it is. It is primarily practiced in most of northest amerigia, nylus and sonias (excluding l’russ). It’s believed to be the first religion, as it encopasess all three aspects of the argonian afterlife, that is aethorna, reincarnation and the underabyss.

Omnyist worship all three of the gods, because to them they are all important and vital to their ways of life. All three of them not only give you land, food, water and all other natural resources, but they also tend to choose how you spend your afterlife depending on what you did wrong in your living years. Examples for each god include the following:

-Dhetos: the goddess dhetos was in charge of reincarnation in this religion, and people were reborn into animals that she saw fit for what they did in life. People would often be reincarnated because they committed a crime against the natural world. Examples of said crimes include things like wasting resources (commonly food), bringing unnecessary harm to animals, destroying land for pure greed, ect. However, not all the time was a complete punishment; sometimes she’d take pity on certain individuals and reincarnate them into animals close to home like pets. In many of these stories, these people were often forced to do the crimes and in reality were actually good people.

-Ogrin: not surprisingly, if you were a very good person, it was ogrin who’d take your soul in. This is most commonly relegated to people who proved themselves to be worthy of a good ending. The gods can tell whether you’re genuine or just acting good, so simply just doing good things isn't enough. You need to show kindness, great leadership, compassion, empathy, and basically show that you are a good plane all around. If you succeed, ogrin will let you in into aethorna.

-xortan: if you ended up on xortan’s doorstep, you’ve obviously messed up in life. And by mess up, you REALLY did. Elkinets who ended up in the underabyss have done nothing but the most horrible of things, like murder, warcrimes, genocide, ect. However, people who weren't good nor bad also would go to the underabyss, and they can appease him by singing a song, giving him food/goods, or just making him a little happy. However, often this is just to make sure he’ll send you to aethorna, as xortan already knows you’re not guilty of anything and he just wants you to humor him.

When it comes to the hatred of non-ogrinistic religions, solid ogrinist sometimes consider omnyism the one true exceptions to this rule, since omyist do technically still worship ogrin and therefore are at least “on the right track”.

Dhetosism:

Dhetosism is the third most common religion on argonus. It is commonly worshiped throughout southest amerigia, astra and the amerigia-navaloon gulf.

Dhetosism, as the name would suggest, is the worship of the land goddess Dhetos. It is often confused for omnyism, mainly because of the similar beliefs for one’s outcome in the afterlife. Here, the goodest of elkinets go to aethorna and the worst of elkinets go to the underabyss. However, only the worst and best of people go to their respective places. The people who weren't those two extremes? Well, they’re in Dhetos’s hands [paws] now.

Like omyism, dhetos is the one in control of reincarnations, and not just that but is their ruler once reincarnated. Here, dhetosist believe that one starts their life as an elkinet, but when they pass on they begin the process of reincarnation after reincarnation. They go through several cycles of rebirth until eventually they become that very best/worst being and end up in aethorna or the underabyss. Every time they die and have to be reborn, they end up in Dheto’s land for a bit, often no more than a day.

Sometimes the souls get to choose what animal they get reborn as, others believe it’s up to Dhetos and her helpers to choose what animal one becomes. In either case, all animals are under the ruling wings of the bird-headed goddess, and must worship and respect her. Dhetotists believe that worshiping her while one’s still an elkinet gives them a headstart in the reincarnation process by being on her good side, and thus possibly being allowed to choose what animal they become. It’s often cited that, whether by your choice or Dhetos’s, the good (but not best) planes get to become wild birds so they still fly like they could when they were elkinets. Meanwhile the bad (but not worst) will get reincarnated into aquatic animals like fish and leeches.

It’s a common misconception that all dhetotists are vegetarian or vegan since to them, most if not all animals are the souls of elkinets. While true to some extent, whether dhetosist eat meat or not depends on the ability to obtain more plants than animals for food (aka where they’re living).

In places that make it difficult or impossible to grow or obtain sufficient amounts of plants, for example, dhetotists will still eat animals for food with the exception of birds. However, if they DO live in areas where they can gather/grow enough plants to sustain themselves, then they will avoid meat with the exception of certain holidays as well as scenarios where it’s unavoidable. In any case, all dhetotist will refuse to kill and eat any wild birds since those are the souls of good people on the path to reaching aethorna. They are, however, allowed to use poultry birds for their eggs since it’s a common belief throughout the argonian mythos that a life doesn't start until the egg hatches (though nowadays some dhetotist will also refuse to consume eggs or milk if they can).

A key thing people forget, particularly some of the more troublesome humans, is that simply going vegan isn't gonna appease dhetos (because like said, dhetotist do eat meat a whole lot). It is, instead, just simple common courtesy towards the reincarnated souls to abstain from meat whenever possible, allowing the soul a chance of dying from more natural causes. As a matter of fact, it’s considered an even worse crime against dhetos to go vegan for nothing more than personal gain and superiority (I can name a few of them on twitter and a certain former tiktok user). Dhetotist believe that if you’re horrible towards your own kind, you’re most likely horrible towards the animals you’re so called “protecting”.

Xortanism:

A much smaller religion, xortanism’s origins come from the islands of the indus island ocean, including the indus islands themselves.

Given that the underabyss is set in the deepest of oceans, it would make sense that in islands surrounded by water they’d worship the underabyss god himself. More accurately, though, xortanist believe that everybody is pre-destined to end up in the underabyss, as very few can really get up to aethornia. That is, unless you’re an animal, in which case ogrin will more than likely accept you in. Thus, instead of appeasing ogrin, they instead focus on xortan and making sure that he instead, give them that second chance in the form of rebirth so that they have a higher chance of going to aethorna when they die again.

It’s not just any animal that the elkinets get reincarnated as, though. Specifically, it’s the waterfowl or galliformes that xortanist believe to be the souls of the reincarnated. A Lot of people think that xortanist sacrifice these birds species just to get them to aethornia quicker, however that isn't true. Instead, the elkinets have a specific bird called the “rebirther”, as well as a male to make sure. They believe that, If a member of the village dies, the first chick to hatch from the rebirther is the soul of the deceased. Once the chick grows up, they get sent to the families of the deceased, where they are treated just like family, and are kept from being killed for food.

[tumblr edit: this act of avian rebirth is commonly done by the native villages of the indus islands. with xortanist outside of the indus island (and especially in first-world countries) it is not unheard of for the disease's family to be given a waterfowl-shaped object, such as a plushie, statue or figurine.]

This is also the only version where xortan doesn't have the head of a duck, but rather it's that of the xortan goose (aka xortan swan), a species of swan native to guinea centura.

Nullinism:

nullinism is a rather new kind of religion that’s particularly become evident in groups affected by religious extremism. It’s kinda unclear where or when it originates, but some suggest it comes from south n’gola from elkinet that have become exiled from their villages.

Nullinism can often be likened to agnosticism or sometimes atheisms, in that no one god is truly responsible for your outcome after death, and you're in control of your own destiny. It’s the opposite of omnyism, and that you don't worship any god, rather you go about life the best way possible and see what happens afterwards. After all, you don't know what happens until you’re dead. Most often, nullinist believe that life is nothing but a constant cycle of death and rebirth, until you eventually end up on either Ogrin’s or Xortan's doorstep. All that the gods do is make sure the planet is functioning so life can continue.

Although humans tend to call it the argonian version of atheism, it’s not actually that since, unlike atheism, they still do believe in the afterlife, just not in the ways others see it.

join me on pt2, were we discuss other facets of the argonian mythos..

[cathartes-aura-shitposting]

THE ARGONIAN MYTHOS: a basic overview pt 1- in the beginning, the three gods & airplane religions

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

[and an additional note: i'm not a particularly religious person and their may be some bias, so please feel free to scream at me in tags or whatever if i accidentally make a genuinely offensive remark]

So…

Argonus now officially has religion and mythology to it. I mean, I've been worldbuilding on the actual fauna and the elkinets themselves for a while. What better way to expand upon this universe than to give out the mythos they believe and worship? I think it’s time for it. And oh dear lord, it is LOOOOOOONG!!! Why? Because I wanted to get rid of some of the major myths which most mythologies/religions have, plus it’s really fun to worldbuild an entire mythos...

So, without further ado, here’s [PT1] the mythos in its entirety (or at least the somewhat “basics” of it…),

IN THE VERY BEGINNING…

So, like all other mythologies, there’s a story about how the world and universe was created. Our planet argonus is no exception here, having the creation of the planet, sun and moon.

Once up many, many, many eras ago, argonus started off as nothing more than a smooth, round pebble floating in the pitch black void. Then, all of a sudden, the pebble started to form and shape the mountains, valleys and hills, and cracks began to form, releasing out all of the water and lava on that planet. From the cracks, two beings appeared: out of the lava came a bright, blazing crow named duzliv (The sun), and from the waters came a blue, swirling owl named magmor (the moon).

From there, the two birds immediately got to work, dumping some of their feathers onto the planet. The shaft and veins of the feathers became the trees and shrubs, and the fluffy afterfeather became the grass and flowers. It wasn't just feathers that shaped life on the planet, either. On every single feathers were mites, fleas and ticks. Those tiny, insignificant creatures would become all of the fauna of the planet: wolves, deer, birds, fish, and snakes. The mites that came from duzliv became the beings of the day while the ones from magmor became the creatures of the night. The only animals absent where the aeronoids (don't worry, they’re coming soon).

Once argonus had all of the life it needed, magmor and duzliv took a well-deserved break, before figuring out what to do next. Since they had all of these newly-created beings, they needed a way to control them all. Not only that, but they needed a place for the animal’s souls once they died.

It was duzliv who suggested they have children. Magmor, whilst not too keen on creating more life, knew that their children will have their parent’s god-like abilities. So, the owl and the crow had three children, and each of them controlled a specific role: one for the sky and the newly-created afterlife, one for the ground and the life that lived on it, and one for the waterways and the underworld. It would be here that this is where we meet the three major deities….

THE THREE BIG GODS OF ARGONUS

(and their worshipers)

After laying her eggs, all three of them hatch out, and immediately go to work, fulfilling their roles on argonus. The three gods, all of which had the head of a bird that fairly represented them, went along as as followed:

OGRIN:

the first and strongest of the children to hatch. He’s represented as an white airliner with the head of a brown-colored eagle or hawk (commonly the former), and he’s the sort of zeus analog. He not only is in control of the weather, but he’s also in control of “Aethorna”, the heavenly places where all the “good souls” go.

Aethorna is held up by clouds that only the souls of the deceased can see. This afterlife looks similar to the overworld of argonus, except that all plants grow lush green all year around, and the stars are visible regardless of daylight or not. The souls don't just include elkinets, but also all the animals as well.

Ogrin himself is a rather happy, carefree person who absolutely loves to eat, party and drink. However, like all other deities, if he's angry he often creates havoc in the forms of tornados, lightning and floods. He’s also often a total casanova, and like Zeus he goes after various beings to make sweet, sweet love too and have children with. These beings were often either other deities, mythical creatures or even just a regular elkinet. However on rare occasions during thunderstorms ogrin will accidentally (or purposely) strike an animal which will create a monstrous being, either the animal itself turning into one or later giving birth to the beast.

DHETOS:

Dhetos was the second to hatch out of the clutch. Depicted as a green or camo prop aircraft with the head of a chicken, she’s the land goddess that's in control of the overworld as well as the ground and the life that lives there (both of air, land and sea). She lives in a lush land under the mountains (often just called dheto’s land) where you can find any animal living there in peace.

Dhetos is a more stern person that takes her job seriously. She not only is capable of controlling the plants and animals around her, but can also create lifeforms of her own. This not only includes normal animals, but also the beasts and monsters that roam the planet. While she is commonly praised for the upkeep of creating new life, she’s also capable of taking it as well. As such, it’s not uncommon for stories to have the hero call upon her to take care of a dangerous beast the hero themselves are incapable of defeating.

Dhetos, despite being an all-serious person, does have a soft side when it comes to cooking and music. If one can please her with their music or food, then she’ll let them into her home.

XORTAN:

The final child to hatch, Xortan is depicted as a black seaplane with the head of a waterfowl (Most commonly a mallard or some kind of duck), and is the god of all waterways as well as the Underabyss, which is essentially the argonian version of hell or the underworld. This underabyss is located in only the deepest, darkest pits of the ocean, where all of the “bad souls” would go.

[tumblr edit: in much of the mythos, xortan is often depicted as a "regular' aircraft with webbed/lobed feet, though in modern times he'll also be depicted as a true seaplane. regardless, he always has a waterfowl head]

Despite being the ruler of the underworld, xortan himselfs is not a horrible tourture-loving person, or at least in most versions. In his satchel he carries all of the destinies and fates of every soul presently on the planet, which are often in the shape of gemstones or orbs. What he does with the orbs once the soul has died will be the outcome. For example, if he destroys the rob, that soul goes to aethorna. Another outcome for one’s soul is for the orb to be tossed onto land so one can be reborn as an animal (note: not always Xortan’s doing, sometimes it’s Dhetos that’s in control of reincarnation). Reincarnation, in argonus, is often likened to purgatory, except it give the soul another chance to end up in aethorna. However, he can also come up with unique punishments for each and every person that has done things too horribly to be given second chances.

Xortan as a person is somewhere in between that of dhetos and ogrin. He’s not a super carefree person, but not a super serious one at that. If anything, he’s depicted as a rather apathetic but reasonable person.

While all elkinets believe in these three gods and most of the big mythos surrounding them, who they choose to worship can depend. In this case, there are five major “religions” on argonus. Here are these religion, in order by popularity/commonness:

Ogrinism:

one of the most popular of the religions, it has its roots in Ben Ital in eastern eroon, were it spread and became a mainstay in most of eroon, l’russ and the planet’s western/orthidox culture.

considered the christianinty of argonus, ogrinism is the worshiping of ogrin himself, and is very similar to christianity: above-cloud afterlife god good, below-earth underworld god bad. Therefore, you worship Ogrin so you have the chance to go to aethorna and avoid Xortan as much as possible. Dhetos, on the other hand, is more of a neutral character that’s neither 100% good nor 100% bad, but just does what she needs to do. Ogrinism has two major version: Light and Solid.

Light ogrinism:

the most common and widespread version, is the idea the ogrin, whilst a powerful being, is a flawed character. he makes frequent mistakes; sometimes he recognizes it almost immediately, othertimes he only realizes it later either on his own or whenever his sibling point it out. light ogrinist still sees Xortan as an important person when it comes to death and were the souls go. Thus, while nobody likes him, the light ogrinists still respect him for the job he does. in some stories, Xortan has even helped his brother out in fixing the mistakes he has made.

airplanes that are into light ogrinism tend to understand that everyone is flawed, but as long as one is able to fix the mistakes and let ogrin into their lives, they'll let said flaws and mistakes go by. they give some care to the animals, as they know that they could be the souls of the ones who messed up and must retry life. They believe that the most common animals are often wild animals like deer and bears, as well as common pets like stunnits, dogs and cats. They believe that most major crimes like murder, arson and buglury are sins. However, like mentioned, you can still end up in aethorna if you change your ways and let ogrin in your life. Even if he doesn't let you in, he’ll still have his brother reincarnate you to give you a second chance.

Solid ogrinism:

on the other hand, solid ogrinism is the older, more extremist version of ogrinism. here, ogrin is viewed as "flawless, perfect and all-knowing". instead of being viewed as being no better than a mortal, he is instead viewed as the idealistic being to look up to. And of course, because of this, anyone who DOESN'T follow that path is considered "unholy" and "a heathen". not surprisingly, in solid ogrinism Xortan is 100% bad guy, and all who ends up in the underabyss are all sinners that 100% deserved it.

What is considered a sin varies depending on the era and who you ask. A common joke/theme [in modern times] is “anything can be a sin if you try hard enough”, which can range from something major to something so small and trivial. The more common sins are some of the same as what we would expect from our world’s conservitive extremists: abortion, premarital sex, anything NOT heterosexual (gay marrage and such), and basically all other religion that aint ogrinism. Many have even claimed that things like veganism and animal right/welfare are against the religion because, of course, even just being reincarnated as an animal means you sinned, and therefore animal right/veganism is just giving sinners what they want. Solid ogrinist also believe that all sinner that get reincarnated turn into livestock and any other animals that are killed for their body parts. Solid ogrinism is often what gives the entire religion as a whole a bad reputation, which may also be the reason why few elkinets are solid ogrinist in modern times.

Omnyism:

while ogrinism is often touted as the most popular, omnism comes very close second, having almost the same amount of people if not possibly more due to how widespread it is. It is primarily practiced in most of northest amerigia, nylus and sonias (excluding l’russ). It’s believed to be the first religion, as it encopasess all three aspects of the argonian afterlife, that is aethorna, reincarnation and the underabyss.

Omnyist worship all three of the gods, because to them they are all important and vital to their ways of life. All three of them not only give you land, food, water and all other natural resources, but they also tend to choose how you spend your afterlife depending on what you did wrong in your living years. Examples for each god include the following:

-Dhetos: the goddess dhetos was in charge of reincarnation in this religion, and people were reborn into animals that she saw fit for what they did in life. People would often be reincarnated because they committed a crime against the natural world. Examples of said crimes include things like wasting resources (commonly food), bringing unnecessary harm to animals, destroying land for pure greed, ect. However, not all the time was a complete punishment; sometimes she’d take pity on certain individuals and reincarnate them into animals close to home like pets. In many of these stories, these people were often forced to do the crimes and in reality were actually good people.

-Ogrin: not surprisingly, if you were a very good person, it was ogrin who’d take your soul in. This is most commonly relegated to people who proved themselves to be worthy of a good ending. The gods can tell whether you’re genuine or just acting good, so simply just doing good things isn't enough. You need to show kindness, great leadership, compassion, empathy, and basically show that you are a good plane all around. If you succeed, ogrin will let you in into aethorna.

-xortan: if you ended up on xortan’s doorstep, you’ve obviously messed up in life. And by mess up, you REALLY did. Elkinets who ended up in the underabyss have done nothing but the most horrible of things, like murder, warcrimes, genocide, ect. However, people who weren't good nor bad also would go to the underabyss, and they can appease him by singing a song, giving him food/goods, or just making him a little happy. However, often this is just to make sure he’ll send you to aethorna, as xortan already knows you’re not guilty of anything and he just wants you to humor him.

When it comes to the hatred of non-ogrinistic religions, solid ogrinist sometimes consider omnyism the one true exceptions to this rule, since omyist do technically still worship ogrin and therefore are at least “on the right track”.

Dhetosism:

Dhetosism is the third most common religion on argonus. It is commonly worshiped throughout southest amerigia, astra and the amerigia-navaloon gulf.

Dhetosism, as the name would suggest, is the worship of the land goddess Dhetos. It is often confused for omnyism, mainly because of the similar beliefs for one’s outcome in the afterlife. Here, the goodest of elkinets go to aethorna and the worst of elkinets go to the underabyss. However, only the worst and best of people go to their respective places. The people who weren't those two extremes? Well, they’re in Dhetos’s hands [paws] now.

Like omyism, dhetos is the one in control of reincarnations, and not just that but is their ruler once reincarnated. Here, dhetosist believe that one starts their life as an elkinet, but when they pass on they begin the process of reincarnation after reincarnation. They go through several cycles of rebirth until eventually they become that very best/worst being and end up in aethorna or the underabyss. Every time they die and have to be reborn, they end up in Dheto’s land for a bit, often no more than a day.

Sometimes the souls get to choose what animal they get reborn as, others believe it’s up to Dhetos and her helpers to choose what animal one becomes. In either case, all animals are under the ruling wings of the bird-headed goddess, and must worship and respect her. Dhetotists believe that worshiping her while one’s still an elkinet gives them a headstart in the reincarnation process by being on her good side, and thus possibly being allowed to choose what animal they become. It’s often cited that, whether by your choice or Dhetos’s, the good (but not best) planes get to become wild birds so they still fly like they could when they were elkinets. Meanwhile the bad (but not worst) will get reincarnated into aquatic animals like fish and leeches.

It’s a common misconception that all dhetotists are vegetarian or vegan since to them, most if not all animals are the souls of elkinets. While true to some extent, whether dhetosist eat meat or not depends on the ability to obtain more plants than animals for food (aka where they’re living).

In places that make it difficult or impossible to grow or obtain sufficient amounts of plants, for example, dhetotists will still eat animals for food with the exception of birds. However, if they DO live in areas where they can gather/grow enough plants to sustain themselves, then they will avoid meat with the exception of certain holidays as well as scenarios where it’s unavoidable. In any case, all dhetotist will refuse to kill and eat any wild birds since those are the souls of good people on the path to reaching aethorna. They are, however, allowed to use poultry birds for their eggs since it’s a common belief throughout the argonian mythos that a life doesn't start until the egg hatches (though nowadays some dhetotist will also refuse to consume eggs or milk if they can).

A key thing people forget, particularly some of the more troublesome humans, is that simply going vegan isn't gonna appease dhetos (because like said, dhetotist do eat meat a whole lot). It is, instead, just simple common courtesy towards the reincarnated souls to abstain from meat whenever possible, allowing the soul a chance of dying from more natural causes. As a matter of fact, it’s considered an even worse crime against dhetos to go vegan for nothing more than personal gain and superiority (I can name a few of them on twitter and a certain former tiktok user). Dhetotist believe that if you’re horrible towards your own kind, you’re most likely horrible towards the animals you’re so called “protecting”.

Xortanism:

A much smaller religion, xortanism’s origins come from the islands of the indus island ocean, including the indus islands themselves.

Given that the underabyss is set in the deepest of oceans, it would make sense that in islands surrounded by water they’d worship the underabyss god himself. More accurately, though, xortanist believe that everybody is pre-destined to end up in the underabyss, as very few can really get up to aethornia. That is, unless you’re an animal, in which case ogrin will more than likely accept you in. Thus, instead of appeasing ogrin, they instead focus on xortan and making sure that he instead, give them that second chance in the form of rebirth so that they have a higher chance of going to aethorna when they die again.

It’s not just any animal that the elkinets get reincarnated as, though. Specifically, it’s the waterfowl or galliformes that xortanist believe to be the souls of the reincarnated. A Lot of people think that xortanist sacrifice these birds species just to get them to aethornia quicker, however that isn't true. Instead, the elkinets have a specific bird called the “rebirther”, as well as a male to make sure. They believe that, If a member of the village dies, the first chick to hatch from the rebirther is the soul of the deceased. Once the chick grows up, they get sent to the families of the deceased, where they are treated just like family, and are kept from being killed for food.

[tumblr edit: this act of avian rebirth is commonly done by the native villages of the indus islands. with xortanist outside of the indus island (and especially in first-world countries) it is not unheard of for the disease's family to be given a waterfowl-shaped object, such as a plushie, statue or figurine.]

This is also the only version where xortan doesn't have the head of a duck, but rather it's that of the xortan goose (aka xortan swan), a species of swan native to guinea centura.

Nullinism:

nullinism is a rather new kind of religion that’s particularly become evident in groups affected by religious extremism. It’s kinda unclear where or when it originates, but some suggest it comes from south n’gola from elkinet that have become exiled from their villages.

Nullinism can often be likened to agnosticism or sometimes atheisms, in that no one god is truly responsible for your outcome after death, and you're in control of your own destiny. It’s the opposite of omnyism, and that you don't worship any god, rather you go about life the best way possible and see what happens afterwards. After all, you don't know what happens until you’re dead. Most often, nullinist believe that life is nothing but a constant cycle of death and rebirth, until you eventually end up on either Ogrin’s or Xortan's doorstep. All that the gods do is make sure the planet is functioning so life can continue.

Although humans tend to call it the argonian version of atheism, it’s not actually that since, unlike atheism, they still do believe in the afterlife, just not in the ways others see it.

join me on pt2, were we discuss other facets of the argonian mythos..

[aniseandspearmint]

to clarify some questions/concerns i've spotted in the tags on this;

cutting so this doesn't get too long

Oh no, the Bunny and the Terrier would be fragile! I don't want to break it!

IT'S FINE. Familiars are MAGIC, they're strong, no matter what their base material is/was! Nothing short of an epic battle is gonna crack either of them, and if that happens, they're magic, they'll heal!

Wait, does this mean the squirrel steals stuff?

of COURSE it sometimes steals stuff, it's a SQUIRREL.

lol the rat with cloud fur is just a chinchilla

clouds are fluffy, but cool and light too, chinchilla fur is dense and warm. Also, floating is not a standard chinchilla ability, thank goodness.

The tabby cat is just a normal cat :/

Nope, it's not. Regardless of how mundane any of these SEEM, they are NOT in fact made from normal creature bits, they're fully magical constructs, capable of amplifying magic, and providing life time companionship to their Person (they DO live as long as their person). How 'realistic' they are seems to be based entirely on the Familiar Spirit's personal preferences, as far as anyone can tell.

Wait so, they can talk and stuff, right?

Varies. Some can speak with human speech, some can speak through images, emotions, etc. Regardless, their Person can always understand them.

Why are both the bird options clockwork???

They're not! I forgot the word 'living' from the songbird option. It was supposed to be 'living metal', like the bunny is living glass.

Is the swan based on the-

the antique automoton swan that eats lil silver fishies? YES. Yes, it is. This swan is, however, full size.

Why do the swan and the squirrel get extra powers?

*hands* because that's how it shakes out sometimes. The other ones probably have extra stuff too, they just didn't tell me!

Wait, the patchwork and ceramic terrier just says 'terrier' does that mean-

Yep! Left that one deliberately vague! It is any kind of terrier your heard desires from a yorkie to a pitbull! (the patchwork and ceramic is giving you kisses, it's tongue isn't wet but it's very smooth and cold, but warms from your skin quickly)

why make the other doggo a specific breed then?

I WAS just going to say 'sight hound' then an image flashed in my mind of a fully black saluki all long legs and banner ears shimmering in sunlight like rainbow obsidian and it just HAD to do that. Couldn't not. (this was MY pick btw, bc every saluki i have ever met was a delightful goof and completely gorgeous)

Does this mean the bunny has lasers?

Mmmmaaaybe?

Is the tiger OKAY being tiny?

The tiger picked it's body, remember. It's fine. It lives to stalk your desk and ambush any tiny evil things that slip past your wards.

why no wolves or foxes or anything fully magical like dragons?

eh, just didn't think of it right then. next time! and no dragons bc i kinda wanted to keep it to sliiiightly mundane seeming animals. I think I'll do a different version of this eventually! I came up with like ten more ideas as soon as i hit post, bc of course i did rite?

just having some fun with interesting fantasy imagery! Give it a reblog, if you play, please? And tell me WHY you picked what you picked if you want?

[eleteo125]

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Naughty Wolf (m)

Wolf!Baji x Red Riding Hood!Reader

18+ fic minors dni

Red Riding Hood is a title given to those with the duty of delivering food, crops, livestock, etc. to the wolves in exchange for the protection of the village. But what if you met one of those wolves?

CW: Sexual Content, biting, hair pulling

Word Count: 15,010 (yeesh haha)

A/N: I haven't written anything in a loooong time haha. Also forgive my smut scenes they aren't my forte when it comes to writing. English is also not my first language so have mercy if I made any mistake haha. And lastly @kazutoraholic here's the result of that little thirst post you had about Wolf!Baji hahaha hope you enjoy this too.

In a map of a far away kingdom, there is a dense forest that not many have travelled to. There have been so many sightings of large monsters and predators out for prey. Beasts so strong even the strongest knights cannot defeat. Said beasts has been observed to only reside in the forest not wandering outside so they just left it be. But in the middle of said forest resides a quaint village. As most would assume how could this village survive in such an environment where beasts of great magnitude reside? Well they don’t. They’ve enlisted the help of the “wolves” of the area whom have taken the responsibility of protecting the villagers from outside intruders from entering the village.

Mighty generous some would say but alas, their services are not for free. They have demanded to be provided some crops and livestock from the village every two weeks. And that’s where Red Riding Hoods enter. They are responsible of dropping off said supplies at a certain drop off inside the forest. Red Riding Hoods must be able to easily navigate through the dense forest for faster delivery of the supplies. They don a red hood as an indicator that they are allies to the wolves so as to not to mistakenly attack them.

One of those Red Riding Hoods happens to be your grandmother. She would be leaving for quite a while and come back with great stories of her adventures through the forest. It could be as great as catching sight of the mightily beasts or as mundane as finding a rare herb, you soaked it all up earning you a great curiosity what’s beyond those dense forest. She even mentioned coming across a wolf pup who wouldn’t let her go until she gave him some food. You both laughed at the story while also telling you not to tell anyone and it’ll be your little secret. She emphasized how the wolves are very private creatures and doesn’t really like interacting with humans. She brings life and wonder of what’s beyond the forest and not just a habitat of dangerous beasts.

But one day, your grandmother never made it home. She disappeared. She never came back from delivering the supplies. There’s a rule where once a Red Riding Hood haven’t returned in a week, they are presumed dead and a new Red Riding Hood is titled. A rule some would say is absurd, but considering how dangerous the forest is it seemed to make sense. And most cases where Red Riding Hoods not returning, they either end up found dead or still missing.

Your grandmother’s disappearance could be enough to drive you away from the forest, but you still have hope that she’s still out there. So you resorted to ways where you could go into the forest without trouble. Become a Red Riding Hood.

The only knowledge you have of the forest is your grandmother’s stories which does give information but not enough to get you to be a master navigator. SO you spent the rest of your teenage years studying about navigating and studying the on the forest that is available. After years and years of studying, you finally find yourself fit to be a Red Riding Hood. Teachers and Professors are willing to put in a good word for you when you applied to be a Red Riding Hood. And after going through a tedious process of paperwork and testing, you finally did it. You are now a Red Riding Hood. You may be doing it because you want closure on your grandmother’s disappearance, but you still felt that childlike giddiness now that you’re just like your amazing grandmother.

And here you are at the village gates waiting for the gates to open to enter the forest. Nervous and excited, that’s what you are. You’ve always been a curious little bean, so seeing more of the forest beyond just illustrations and books is beyond exciting. But you’re also nervous because who wouldn’t be when the most dangerous forest in the kingdom is right there where wild beasts could maul you anytime. So yeah, nervous and excited. To calm your nerves, you resorted to count the supplies and double…well triple check in this case.

“Nervous?” a man in knight uniform approached you.

“Atsushi! Yes. Seeing the forest up close like this is…”you looked up and took a view of the forest “pretty intimidating”

“Ah I told you Akkun is fine. Might as well get familiar with each other since I’ll be escorting you to the gates from now on. And if it’s any consolation, this is my first time being near the forest too.”

You chuckled at his nervous face when gazing at the forest which you can definitely relate too. Knowing someone else might relate to you comforted you a little.

“Welp! Off I go then!” you said cheerfully trying to ignore your nerves.

“Take care okay. And thank you for your service to the village.”

“An honor to serve the village. See ya!” you said before taking off.

You’ve been travelling for two days and you came to one conclusion. You were definitely being followed. You don’t really have any evidence you were being followed but you can just feel it. You barely slept last night, but at least you’re already at the drop off point. So you quickly did your tasks so you can travel back home already and hopefully not get mauled by a beast.

Just as you were thinking of that, you heard leaves from a branch rustle. Your face paled and your body was paralyzed. ‘Not on my first day please not on my first day” you pleaded with your eyes closed. You slowly opened your eyes and turned your head towards the direction of the rustle.

You came into eye contact with a guy. No wait, uh, he has dog or maybe was it wolf ears. He must probably one of the wolves. But when learning about the wolves you assumed they would look more…wolf-like and not human-like.

“Hey.” The guy? Dog? Wolf? Said trying to get your attention

“Uhm, can I- can I help you?” you hoped you said that loud enough for him to hear you still were shocked of what you came across.

“Ya got food on ya?”he asked and stepping out from the bush.

“Yea, I just locked it in the drop off point.”

He looked at the drop off point and looked back at you. “That’s great! But what I mean is a spare food you guys have a lot of those right?” he said with somewhat an excited look on his eyes. You even caught a glimpse of his wagging tail behind him.

“Well the food on me is for me while I travel.” You explained while patting your bag.

“Aww. How about a bite then?” he asked stepping near your bag and sniffing a little which caused him to drool a bit.

“No can do, sorry”

“A nibble then?” he asked crouching down next to your bag and looking up at you giving you the puppy eyes. You almost cooed out loud because admittedly he looked cute looking like that. You shook your head “N-no” you faltered.

As you said that, his face turned into a frown and his ears started to droop down. ‘Oh no not the ears, not the ears! Hhnnggg those cute ears and those fluffy hair aagghh!’You sighed and reached for your bag “Alright, fine”

“Hell yeah!” he stood up and took the sandwich you handed him with bright eyes. It isn’t a problem really; you made extra the amount of food for your travels to gauge how much you’ll need for next time. As the guy devoured the sandwich, you started to observe him. Long dark hair one of the noticeable trait of his after his ears. Sharp canines which he made great use of while eating, and amber eyes which were now looking at you. ‘Oh’ how long have you been staring at him? You felt yourself blush at the thought of getting caught but brushed it off.

“So, I hope you enjoyed it!”you tried making conversation

The guy gave you a smile that showed off his canines. “Definitely! It was just as good as your grandmother’s haha.” He said while patting his tummy.

“Wait-huh? My grandmother’s?”

“Was she not your grandmother? There used to be a nice old lady who gave me food all the time when she goes here.”

‘Could it be?!’

“A-are you by chance talking about my grandmother?!” you asked enthusiastically getting close to him in the process…well maybe too close judging by the fact that he stepped back a little.

“Yes…” he said now the one thinking you’re strange

“H-h-how do you know my grandmother and I were related?” your thoughts were going a mile a minute that turning those thoughts into words is a bit of a struggle.

“Well, you both smelled similar.”

“Eh?”

“Your scent.”

You stared at him before backing away and covering yourself “Have you been sniffing me?!”

“Wha- I was sniffing your bag I just got a whiff of you!”

“And how were you able to do that?!”

“I’m a wolf!”

“Oh” you realized feeling a little bit dumb. But at least you got a confirmation of what he is.

The guy in front of you sighed and said “Why don’t we start over. I’m Baji Keisuke, one of the wolves defending you village from the forest a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand for you to shake, which you accepted. “Gotta say, didn’t expect for you guys to change the Red Riding Hood so soon.”

Feeling like some tension was taken off, you decided to be friendly. “What can I say, I guess I impressed the village head with my top notch navigating skills.” you giggled at your faux arrogance which also earned the now named Baji a chuckle.

“So… you knew my grandmother?”

“I knew her as that nice lady with good food, other than that I don’t really remember much, was just a pup after all.”

Ah, you remember now. You recall your grandmother telling you stories about a wolf pup always bothering her until he gets food. With how he acted earlier, you definitely can connect the dots now.

“So how is she? Haven’t seen her for a long time.”

At that you felt yourself get sad for a bit. “I was hoping you would know something about it actually.”

He raised his brow at that statement “What do you mean?”

You looked at him before saying “She…she went missing. Here in the forest.”

“Oh. I see.” He said while looking down having a guess on what happened

“Don’t look so down, I still have hope that she’s still somewhere out there!” you declared full of confidence, you were determined to get to the bottom of your grandmother’s disappearance and Baji could sense that.

“Mind if I join you in that little quest of yours?”

You looked at him in surprise and delight you grabbed his hands and looked at him with bright eyes “Really?! You would do that?” you asked brimming with gratefulness.

Baji blushed a little bit at the sudden contact and proximity but you were just so excited to get help from someone that has a connection to your grandmother outside of the village that you failed to notice his flustered face. “Of course. Consider that as payment from the snack you gave me.”

“Oh you don’t have to worry about that.”

He smiled at you at that “Still, I would love to help you. She’s been a part of my childhood too albeit not as much as yours.”

“Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!” you said while continuously bowing.

“H-hey save your thanks for later once we actually made progress.”

“Oh r-right, ehehe”

“You better get going. You’ve got quite a long journey back home.”

“That’s true. I’ll take my leave then! It was very nice to meet you!”

As you were about to leave you felt him tug at your sleeve prompting you to look at him “Hey what do you say I escort you back to your village?”

“Really?” you asked though you find it hard to say no to a little extra protection from the forest’s dangers “Would that be ok?”

“Of course! Besides I like you!” he declared which made you blush heavily “No-wait uh, that didn’t come out right. What I was trying to say is that uh, your grandmother talks about from time to time so I kind of got an idea of what you were like so yea.” He let out a nervous laugh and though ‘The hell was that explanation, did it even make sense???’

“W-well I’ll be in your care then!” you tried to change the subject since this conversation is making you more and more flustered.

“Right!” he gave you a mock salute and went off to lead the way.

Through your journey, the sunset came about you. Baji stepped forward and held his hand towards the setting sun. He seemed to be gauging something before saying “We got a an hour or so before the sun completely sets. Let’s settle right here and set up camp.”

“Ok ok, I’ll grab some firewood not far from here.”

“Hmm, got a tent with you? I can set it up while you’re gathering.”

“Yes! Yes I do.” You answered handing it to him “Thank you very much.”

“Not a problem. Off you go now make sure to gather enough before dark.”

“I’ll be right back then.” Just as you said that, Baji noticed something move in his peripherals.

Finding firewood wasn’t that difficult and you find yourself content with the amount you have gathered. As you were finishing up, you heard a rustle to your right. “Ah Baji you didn’t have to come here I was…just…” it wasn’t Baji. And judging by the fact that this creature was eyeing you up as its next meal, it was safe to assume that it wasn’t gonna be as friendly as Baji was.

You tried to keep steady so as to not provoke the creature, but that didn’t matter since it started to approach you sizing you up. You’ve had training where you were taught how to defend yourself from these beasts and escape quickly but facing off with the real deal like this caused you to have a mental block.

You tried slowly reaching for your weapon—which is a measly knife—but it’ll have to do. But even the smallest of movements is enough to provoke it and was now charging at you in full speed. You were about to run but in the blink of an eye the beast’s head was crushed. And right on top of that crushed head is Baji’s foot. You were about to approach him but then he started stomping on the beast’s head flattening it to the ground. He then went towards its body and started to slash at it with his claws that you didn’t notice until now. He slashed and diced until all that’s left was just minced meat.

He took out what looked to be a handkerchief and wiped his face and hands before turning to face you. What he saw wasn’t exactly pleasant. You had a pale face with your trembling hands in front of you. He hopes he didn’t scare you too much, but what he did was necessary lest the creature go limping without its head. He took cautious steps towards you and you seemed to be rooted where you stand.

Who wouldn’t be intimidated at such a display? You knew it was necessary for both your survival but that was just too much for you to handle right now. On your first day no less. When you noticed Baji stepping towards you, you didn’t know what to do so you just stayed there. You were so lost in thought that you were surprised when you felt warmth around your hands. You looked down and saw him holding your hands. It was so big and warm and so…comforting.

Baji held your hands tenderly trying to calm you down. Once he felt your hands stop trembling, he asked you softly. “You doing ok now?”

His deep voice was enough to ground you to reality and be at the moment. “Oh I’ll….I’ll be fine. Just trying to process everything really.” Seeing one of the said protectors of your village in action is a lot, add on the fact that you were just in grave danger it’s a lot to take in. And he understood that.

“Why don’t we head back to the camp and rest there for a while then?”

So that’s what you two did. Seated by the campfire while you both stare at the bonfire, both of you not really knowing how to break the ice. You decided and went for it though so blurted out “That was impressive.”

“What is?”

“You overpowering something thrice your size. Didn’t even had a chance against you, you just stepped on it like a small bug.”

“It’s technically our job to get rid of those guys fast and efficiently.”

“Was mincing it really necessary? I mean you destroyed it’s head surely it must’ve died by then.”

“It’s mostly just a precaution really. That thing found us quite near our camp so I didn’t wanna take any chances.”

“I see.” As soon as you said that silence overcame the two of you once again. It wasn’t a comfortable silence nor was it an awkward silence. Just silence.

Baji got tired of it though. He looked at his surroundings before letting out a grunt as he stands up. “Come on, I wanna show you something. It’s not far from here.” He said as he offered you a hand to help you up.

You let him lead the way. You two walked for about two to three minutes until you ended up in a grass field where he stopped in his tracks. Was this the place, there isn’t much to see around here.

Baji suddenly bolted and ran through the fields in different patterns. You looked at him incredulously wondering what the hell he was doing. Before you could ponder on what purpose of his running was, you suddenly see a trail of gold light following after him. It didn’t take long for you to realize “Fireflies!”

They looked oh so beautiful with the moonlit night. As beautiful as they are your attention was on something completely different. Seeing Baji jumping and hopping around somehow made your heart skip a beat. ‘I don’t know maybe it’s his handsome mug?’

“Hey! Come on run with me!” Didn’t have to tell you twice. For the next ten minutes all you two did was run around while also trying to catch fireflies and letting them go not long after. It’s a cute activity except when Baji started to catch them with his mouth asking if it makes him glow. Which you firmly said no and proceeded to scold him, except it happened more than once so now you’re chasing after him to free those poor fireflies.

You managed to tackle him down but when you looked at him there was nothing in his mouth anymore. So here you are lying on top of him. You blushed at your position and quickly got off him for you to then lie down beside him. He was still laughing from the experience doing his best to calm his laughter down. You two are now staring at the stars while lying down and surrounded by fireflies.

“Beautiful place isn’t it?”

“Yeah” you sighed in contentment

“The forest is a scary place. It’s full of dangers and predators ready to pounce on its prey. But at the same time it can also be beautiful. It’s little wonders like these that give life to the forest. What you experienced earlier is a terrifying experience, but I ask you not to let that incident define how you view this place after all, it is my home. And maybe…your grandmother’s too.”

You sat up from your position and turned to look at him. “Thank you.” You chuckled after saying that “How much did I thank you just for today?”

“Don’t know wasn’t really keeping count. Besides,” he sat up “nothing wrong with being grateful.”

“We should take our rest; we still have quite a lot of land to travel through tomorrow. Especially you, you just went berserk just earlier.”

“Are you kidding I could easily take one of those guys again right now with ease.”

“Don’t jinx us.”

“Hahaha my bad, my bad,”

Your two day trip was shortened to a day and a half. And now the village walls is in your view already.

“Woah! Thanks for the help and of course for escorting me all the way here.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Managing to trek through these forests to the drop off point in only two days is commendable. You’re a Red Riding Hood for a good reason.”

“Oh come on you’re making me blush from those praise.” You muttered while holding your cheeks.

“Oh you got a thing for praises then?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Baji cleared his throat and said “Well uh looks like we’ll be seeing each other quite often huh.”

“Oh yeah yeah.”

“Until next time then?”

“Of course!” you answered quite enthusiastically

“Save me some snacks for next time then!” he waved at you before disappearing in the forest.

A very interesting first day you must admit.

You’re currently at your home taking your rest until the next excursion in the forest. You’re gonna have to set a routine and a new lifestyle so you can get used to your new job. As you’re taking your rest, your mind started to wander to that wolf you just met. He’s very energetic but you had a feeling you haven’t gotten the full experience just yet.

Now that you think about it, was it normal for wolves to escort Red Riding Hoods? It would make sense since they’re carrying something that the wolves need but that doesn’t explain the continuous disappearances of them. Maybe it happens occasionally. When you were studying, you haven’t come across any accounts that states they’ve been escorted by a wolf before. The only explanation you could think of is that since wolves are private creatures they don’t want them talking about how they are. Well the best way to find answers is to ask someone who’s been a Red Riding Hood before.

“Who did what now?” the man in front of you asked, shock written all over his face.

“A wolf escorted me home and I was wondering if that were normal for us.”

“Y-you came across a wolf?” he asked still in disbelief. He then stood up instantly “Do you realize what this means?! No one has seen any of the wolves for decades now!” The man then started to mutter and spouting details you couldn’t really make out so you just slowly backed away. Well now you know it’s definitely not normal. He was probably just helping you out cause he was familiar with your grandmother…and the food, can’t forget about that.

After all that deliberation here you are again nearing the drop off point to of course drop off the crops and livestock. You’re sat beside a large tree near it taking a little bit of rest before travelling back home again. When you felt well rested enough, you reached for your bag to take off only to find out it’s not there. Well that’s worrisome, but said worries were set aside when you heard someone clear their throat from above you.

“Looking for this?~” Baji asked while holding out the bag as he sits on a tree branch.

“Baji! Come on give it back!” he lowered the bag to you but pulled it out of your reach went you went to grab for it which made you chuckle. You tried to grab it from him multiple times jumping up and down. “Hardi har har Baji, now give it back or else I won’t be able to give you your snacks.” You persuaded which surprisingly worked on him as he jumped down from the tree branch.

He held out the bag to you but went to a sprint before you could grab it. “Catch me first! Hahaha” run after him you did. You figured that he wasn’t running in his top speed as you were able to easily catch up to him. No way were you able to outrun a wolf and you weren’t exactly the fastest either. Just as you thought you were close to him, he jumped up and onto a tree.

He turned to you and held his hand out “Upsy daisy!”

That caught you off guard “I’m not exactly a tree climber.”

“Don’t worry I got you!” he smiled at you with that wide smile where his sharp canines were on display. With such a charming smile, you couldn’t bring yourself to say no so you took his outstretched hand. You were much surprised when he was able to lift you up with just one hand.

He then handed the bag to you and climbed up higher and reached his hand out again. “We’re going higher?”

“Yeah I wanna show you something”

“How will we get down?”

“I’ll carry you down.”

You gave this a thought if it would be a good idea. You concluded that seeing the forest from a bird’s eye view can be very helpful especially in travelling. “Alright then.”

The higher you two get, the tighter the grip you had on Baji. He couldn’t help but silently smile at the thought that you trusted him in such a situation. Not long after, you two were at the top of the tree where the view of the large dense forest came to greet you. “Wow!” you gawked at the view while Baji basked in viewing the wonder in your eyes. “Look! I can see a little glimpse of the village’s gate from here!” you exclaimed pointing at its direction.

“They are pretty tall.” He acknowledged

You continued to sightsee and take in the large display of trees. You were taken out of your attention when you heard howling. You turned to Baji whose back was on you. You saw his flattened ears on his head, so you adjusted yourself to look at him and confirmed that it’s him who’s howling. “What are you doing?” you asked curiously

He turned to you and gave you a smirk. And that view got you blushing, his smirk along with the wind blowing his hair back with the large forest as the backdrop. After giving you the reassuring smirk, he continued to howl towards the forest for a few more seconds before pausing, waiting for something. Suddenly you heard howling coming from different directions of the forest.

Baji barked out laughter when he heard them. “THOSE ARE MY PALS!” he declared proudly. “You wanna meet them someday?”

“Can I?!?!” you asked excitedly. The idea of getting to know more about him and his friendships excited you.

You realize that your spot right now is a nice place to eat. So you fetched the food that you prepared for him. You decided to cook two servings of stir fried noodles since you figured that this man most likely had a gigantic stomach judging by the fact with how he devoured your sandwich last time.

Baji being the ever vigilant wolf that he is, smelt the food you took out and quickly sat beside you waiting to be handed the delicious smelling food. You even caught a glimpse of his wagging tail.

You held out the container to him but quickly pulled it back as he went to grab for it laughing at his pouty face paired with droopy ears. “Payback time.” He went and grabbed for it again but you managed to swipe it away from his reach. He tried again and again until your entire arm was outstretched while he was leaning on you as he tried to reach the container. It didn’t take long for you two to realize that he was basically hugging you with both his hands stretched out to reach the container and you in between his arms.

Both of you were quick to separate and sat there a little embarrassed flushing at the thought of how close you two were. “Here” you placed the container on his lap.

“Th-thanks”

A few moments has passed and you heard him starting to eat. Baji thinks that it’s delicious! It even reminded him of a certain food he loves back home but his mind is currently at how close they were earlier. You felt warm he could cuddle you all day just stay in your arms basking in its warmth. “Do you like it?”

“Mmfff!” He answered while also nodding his head. “We have something similar back home too!”

“Glad you enjoyed it. So uh,” you looked down from the tree “How exactly are we gonna get down?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’ll just carry you down.” He offered you his back “Just hang on to me and I’ll do the climbing down.

You appreciated that he was willing to do something like that but the thought of hanging on his back at such a height makes you scared that you’ll accidentally let go of him.

Baji sensed the anxiety you were currently having and thought of something else. “Th-then how about hanging from my front then.”

“Huh?”

“You clearly didn’t like the first idea and this is the only alternative I can think of.”

That was quite a smooth move whether it was his intention or not didn’t matter. Nevertheless clinging or basically hugging him until you get down didn’t seem like a bad idea. And you like being in his arms from earlier.

“That’ll do then.”

“Alright! Come on over here then.” He opened his arms with a wide smile trying to hide his fluster.

As you two got into position, both of you couldn’t help but focus on the breathing that’s right next to your ears. You give a pretty tight hug too. He lifted your thighs and guided them to wrap around his waist. The position was admittedly quite suggestive but he didn’t have any complaints and as he’s observed it seemed to be ok with you too. “Hang on tight.” He said as he started his descent.

As he was descending, you couldn’t help but pay attention to the breathing and grunts coming from him. You felt shame for thinking such thoughts so you just focused on the wind in your hair as he jumps from branch to branch and in no time at all you’re both back to the ground.

Once your feet were on the ground, you leaned back from your embrace with Baji. You still had your arms on his shoulders and his hands on your waist with you two just looking at each other. You caught a movement from his head and saw a caterpillar on his hair which made you giggle.

“What?” he asked concerned if he somehow looked silly.

“Nothing you just got a friendly guy hanging on you.” You reached for the caterpillar and let it crawl to your hand. As you wait for it to get to your hand, you felt how soft Baji’s hair actually was. You only assumed when since it looked like it, but getting to feel it it’s even softer than you expected.

The whole time Baji was just admiring you since he didn’t usually get a close look at you so he’s making the most out of this situation. He watched you place said caterpillar on a nearby bush letting it go in its merry way.

After that little encounter, you both agreed to start your journey back to the village. And thus another delivery as a Red Riding Hood has finished.

The both of you developed a routine where every time you are to do your duties, he would meet you at the drop off point, eat whatever you had prepared for him, and then show you a part of the forest he believes you would like. He never failed to bring a smile on your face when touring you through the forest. Then he’ll be on his way when you’re near the village. You’ve had this steady lifestyle for months until one day…

You were waiting for Baji because you just know that he’s on his way to get his precious snack. Your relaxed stated was disrupted when you smelt something burning. ‘That’s not good’ you thought It definitely wasn’t the smell of burning bonfire. You immediately rushed towards the direction of the burning hoping that it wasn’t the start of a forest fire.

Arriving at the scene, you were relieved it wasn’t a forest fire, but that relief was short lived because what you saw was somehow just as bad. There Baji was holding down a beast which is burning. “BAJI?!”

Your call made him turn to look at you. The sight of you made him widen his eyes in surprise “Stay back! I’ll handle this!” he said as he smacked the beast with a flaming torch before jumping away. He grabbed you in a hug and hid behind a tree where you only heard the flames getting bigger before silence.

You tried to look behind the tree but Baji only tightened his hold on you. The sound of something blowing up then overwhelmed you as you buried you head in his chest. A few more moments after that, Baji then loosened his hold on you. Once again you tried looking behind the tree only to find ashes everywhere. Nothing in the surrounding seemed to be burnt; the only evidence of there being a fire was the ashes and a missing patch of grass.

Before Baji could say anything, you smacked him upside the head. “What were you thinking?!?! You could’ve started something disastrous doing something like that!”

“But I didn’t~” he said before letting out a nervous laugh.

You went up real close to his face and said “You better NOT do this again or no more snacks for you!”

“Yes ma’am!”

You sighed and decided to take his word on it for now. “What even drove you to burning that beast?” you asked rubbing your temples

When you looked at him, he was guiltily looking down at his lap his ears droopy too, a clear sign of his guilt “I was hungry.” He said while in a pout.

“Come again?”

“I was hungryyyy” he whined “I easily get riled up when I’m hungry. That beast just attacked me at the wrong time.”

You sighed again not wanting to explore the topic any further. You took out a handkerchief and proceeded to wipe at his face “Look at you, you’re covered in soot.”

“So are you.”

“You know a place where we can wash up?”

Baji was silent for a moment trying to think of any. After a few moments, his face lighted up “I remember, there’s a river near hear with a small waterfall. I remember taking a bath there once.”

“Let’s head there then. Besides, a meal is much better after a bath after all.”

It wasn’t that long of a walk until you two came about the river he was talking about. The water in the river was crystal clear and the breeze around the area was refreshing thanks to the waterfall. You dipped your hand in the water to gauge its temperature which was just right it’s cold enough to be refreshing but not too cold that you’ll freeze. Maybe a little dip won’t hurt.

Unbeknownst to you, while you were observing the river, Baji was already shedding his clothes and was now running towards the river taking a dive. Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard a splash near you. You instinctively tried to cover yourself from being splashed. It doesn’t take a genius to deduct what was the source of that splash. “Baji!”

Baji resurfaced from the water and pushed his hair back all while laughing at your reaction “My bad, my bad.”

“You have to be mindful of others…around…you…” you drawled out after seeing Baji’s shirtless figure. Thank goodness for the sun’s reflection on the water or you would’ve gotten a full frontal view.

“You like the view?” he said with a big smirk on his face while also raising his eyebrow fascinated at how you were ogling him.

You were quick to turn your back to him to prevent yourself from staring. “Wh-why yes, this river is wonderful.”

“Not exactly what I’m referring to.” He teased

“Oh would you just shut it.” You blurted out in frustration. You were flushing so hard right now; you can’t bring yourself to face him like this.

“Oh well, it’s your decision to not take a dip. I mean it would be a shame for you not to experience the very cool river.” He sarcastically said while swimming over to the waterfall and washing his hair thoroughly through it. “ Ahh~ feels like I’m washing my problems away.”

You tried your best to remain firm but you find yourself turning to look at him curious as to what he was doing. And the sight of him washing his hair underneath a waterfall was such an enticing sight that you wanted to join him right then and there, but you were still embarrassed. You haven’t been naked in front of anyone, but the thought of being naked in front of Baji didn’t really bother you, you just felt shy.

Baji finished washing his hair before turning to look at you again. When he saw you still rooted in place, he swam over to you. “Come on take a dip, the water’s great. And weren’t you the one who said that a meal is much better after a bath?”

Few moments has passed of you just pondering the situation before answering “T-turn around.”

“Huh?” he asked in disbelief

“I said turn around. Don’t really feel comfortable being watched while getting naked.”

“Oh, OH right right! Uhh ok!” you heard a few splashes before you turned around to make sure. And there he is, his back turned to you—goodness even his back is such an eye candy.

You quickly make work of your clothes before taking a dip. In Baji’s opinion, the sound of your clothes rustling is much worse for him instead of just outright watching you get naked. Imagination is a powerful yet troublesome thing.

The soft sound of the water rippling as you stepped into the water rang in Baji’s ears refraining himself to look at your direction. “You should give the waterfall a try. It’ll also speed up the process if need be.”

Step under the waterfall you did. And to quote what Baji said, it really does feel like all your worries were being washed away. Baji then went back to washing himself once he was sure that you were settled nicely. Him minding his own business was quickly thrown to the side when he heard you let out a squeal. He quickly turned to look at you and he low-key regretted it. The sight of you and your pretty figure with water running down your body was more than enough to rile him up even more. He wanted to pounce on you right then and there. He clenched both his hands and his jaw trying to maintain what little is left of his self-control. But try as he might, he can’t make himself to look away from you his eyes stayed glued to you and you only, he was starting to have tunnel vision.

That tree branch sure did surprise you, now you felt silly for reacting such a way. You brushed that little incident off and went back to washing yourself which was paused the instant you felt an intense gaze on you. You turned to look at Baji since he’s the only person you knew who could be looking at you.

“Eep!” you squealed—yet again—out of embarrassment, not wanting to see his reaction to how you look so you quickly swan to the other side of the waterfall where he couldn’t or vaguely see you.

The second squeal you let out was enough for him to break out of his aroused stupor. Now with only concern in his mind, he swam near the waterfall but didn’t cross it. “Hey you ok in there?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Why’d you squeal earlier then?”

“You were looking at me earlier and I was embarrassed!”

There was a pause from his side “S-sorry about that I didn’t mean to. I was just concerned. Are you ok by the way?” he asked. You can hear the worry laced in his voice, and he did apologize so you decided to let it go.

“O-o that I was just-uh” you paused a little embarrassed to admit “A branch brushed my leg and I was startled. N-nothing to be concerned about.”

“That’s good.”

There was a pause once again. You only stared at each other’s figure albeit being distorted from the waterfall between you. “You’re beautiful.” Baji blurted out

“Huh?” you blushed at the sudden confession.

“I’m sorry, you were so irresistible to me I couldn’t help but stare I-I…” you saw his figure hold his face in his hands as if in shame “You’re a grown woman, surely you have an idea on what I’m feeling right now.”

You didn’t really have any words, you were speechless. But that’s not to say you disliked the knowledge that he saw you that way. In fact, it excited you. You reached out your hand to his side and took hold of his hands which were still holding his face. “No need to feel ashamed, I’m flattered actually.” You said as you then cupped his cheeks “Besides, you weren’t the only one staring.”

That admittance caused Baji to tense up. The thought of you looking at him the same way as he was looking at you was enough to rile him up again only this time, you were only a step away from him with you touching him. Once again he clenched his fists and jaw to maintain what’s left of his self control “Stop that. You don’t know what you’re doing.” He said with a slight tremble at his voice due to him trying to keep himself in place.

“What if I do know what I’m doing?” right now at this moment, you wanted to be as close to him as possible let him hold you close and do whatever he wants.

You felt some sort of vibration on your hands on his cheek. Was he growling? “You sure know how to rile a man up.” You heard him say through clenched teeth.

You realized you’ve made him wait long enough. You pulled your hands away from him and stepped back further in the waterfall to make room for him. “Come on over, must be lonely out there on your own.”

At first Baji was worried that he scared you off when you pulled you hands away, but you inviting him over excited him even more that he just knows how dilated his pupils were. Good thing the water was above the waist too or you would’ve gotten a view of his tail wagging aggressively.

You watched as he slowly stepped through the waterfall between you and seeing him all wet with some of his hair sticking to his in his naked glory brought you to arousal already.

Baji could say the same too. The sight of you all wet shyly covering yourself out of shyness from him was too much for him that he ended up caging you between his arms and the wall.

You two were close, too close with just a few inches between you as he pinned you. And yet it wasn’t close enough to your liking so you decided to fix that yourself. You threw your arms around his neck and brought your lips together with his which he gladly reciprocated. You felt how he was still trying to be gentle on you so you decided to rile him up. In the middle of your kiss, you gave his lips a long lick making him suck said tongue in turn. He then went to focus on your lips again sucking and biting which made you moan. Said moan turned Baji on even more as he shoved you further into the wall and dove to your neck giving it a hard bite pulling yet again another moan from you. The bite was hard but not hard enough to break skin yet hard enough to leave a mark that’ll be there for days. He gave the bite mark a lick before trailing butterfly kisses from your neck all the way up to your ear.

“I should’ve warned you earlier.” He said kissing your ear “I bite” he then proceeded to nibble at your ear while his hands were now roaming all over you feeling you up.

You didn’t want to be the only receiving end, so you proceeded to feel him up as well. You hands going to places you’ve always been curious about. First being his hair. You ran your hands repeatedly through his hair feeling how soft it is despite being wet. The next is his back; you’ve wanted to feel it ever since you caught sight of it earlier. You traced your hands on every muscle you could feel on his back starting from his shoulder blades and lower. You couldn’t help but wonder what it’ll be like when he’s thrusting into you. Third is his ears. You’ve always wondered if they were sensitive since it always seem to react to the tiniest bit of sound that not even you could pick up. You gave it a tentative touch and watch it twitch. You played with it for a while until you felt Baji’s nibbling to go harder.

Baji pulled away from your ear and dove for your lips making out with you as you both felt each other up. You were indulging in Baji’s kisses too much that you didn’t notice his hands going for your chest until he started playing with you nipples, pinching and twisting it while also squeezing your breast from time to time. The whole time he was doing so, you’ve been whimpering at the sensation. Baji was quick to put your breasts into his mouth sucking and nipping. As he does so, you started to feel something hard between your legs.

Naturally, you went and grabbed for it giving him slow strokes which earned a growl from him. A very welcome surprise for you, so you gladly kept doing it while his bites on your chests grow harder and harder. Eventually, Baji had enough of it. He grabbed your hand that was busy and pinned it to the wall next to you as he buried his face to your neck. “Careful now.” He growled

“Careful of what? I’ll welcome anything you have to offer, Baji.”

He gave you a tender look before going to kiss you again. As he was kissing, his free hand snaked down to your private parts and began to rub at it. Your moans from the action were swallowed by Baji as he kept kissing you. “You’re quite wet already aren’t you.” He said in between kisses.

“You sure it’s not just the water?” you teased

“Why don’t we find out ourselves.” He said with his signature smirk while inserted a finger in you making you gasp in surprise which he took advantage of tasting every bit of you through the kiss. Baji started to pull his finger in and out of you feeling your very slippery walls.

“I don’t know, it seems to me that the wetness is from you not the river.”

You didn’t even bother to answer, only focusing the feeling of Baji’s finger in you. You waited in anticipation as a second finger went up in you pulling a loud moan from you.

“Was two fingers too much for you, babe?” he swirled his fingers in you that made you squirm against him. “How are you going to handle me then?”

“B-baji please!” you pleaded as you looked at him with glossy eyes.

Baji would’ve loved to tease you more, but the sight of you begging and being putty under his hands is the straw that broke the camel’s back. He pulled out his fingers from you and grabbed your legs to lift you up against the wall. While in this position, you can feel his tip rubbing against you. Baji not wanting a moment to go to waste, entered you waiting for you to signal him to enter more until he is fully sheathed within you.

For a while you two stayed like that, basking in this very intimate embrace until you get used to the feeling of him in you. Once you felt ready, you called out to him.

“Keisuke”

“Hmm?”

“Take me.”

Baji gave your lips a peck “Anything my lady wants.”

He then pulled out from you leaving only the tip before slamming back in you. The act caused you to moan and squirm against him spurring him on even more to do it again. The first few moments he gave you slow and heavy thrusts but over time his hips started to move faster and faster leaving you a moaning mess against him. You can hear him growling and snarling as kept thrusting into you bringing you bliss every time. Baji only seemed to get turned on even more as he make love to you. The combination your sounds the feeling of your body against him and the feeling of your insides was driving him over the edge.

He dove for the space between your neck and shoulders and bit you his primal instincts taking over. The feeling of him biting you caused you to grab hold of his hair as you clenched around him.

In turn, the feeling of you clenching around him and pulling his hair only caused him to bite even harder. The act making you clench around him again. And thus it became a cycle throughout your session with his thrusts only growing harder as you two came near your climax. All you could hear was his muffled grunting and growling against your neck, his mouth still occupied by biting you. Not long after the familiar feeling of climax came upon you.

“Keisuke please! I-I”

He paid no attention to your words as kept his pace steady already knowing what’s going on. It didn’t take long until he heard you moan out his name out loud and feeling you cream all over him. He paused for a bit letting you take a breather. He went for a kiss making out with you before continuing to thrust in you again. You let him have his way with you as he chased after his high. A minute or so has passed of him just thrusting up to you until you hear his stuttering moan before feeling him pull out and rubbing himself before shooting out his load. You mimicked his action from earlier and gave him a kiss after his orgasm.

He let you down from your position before pulling you into a hug which you gladly returned. Being in his embrace after such an intimate endeavour felt romantic for you for some reason.

“How are you?” he asked as he strokes your head with so much tenderness you just wanted to melt into him.

“Amazing. I don’t know how else to word it.”

“I wasn’t too rough on you was I?” he asked looking at your bit marks in concern.

You noticed where his gaze was before smiling at him. “I would’ve smacked you upside the head if I didn’t like anything what you were doing. And I told you I’ll take everything you had to offer.”

“That’s good to hear.” He sighed in relief before kissing you. Said kiss started off innocent but eventually grew in fervor where he was now nibbling at your lips.

“B-baji?”

He pulled away and asked you “I know it’s too much to ask of you, but can you handle one more for me?” while caressing your waist.

“H-huh? Already?!” you gaped at him in surprise

“I told you, you’re irresistible to me. And I’ll only do it If you’re ok with it.” He emphasized

You were tired and winded from your first round, but the thought of a second round only aroused you despite what your body feels. You were definitely lying to yourself if you told yourself you didn’t want more.

As an answer to him, you jumped up and wrapped your legs around him again which he swiftly caught. “I’ll be in your care.

Baji definitely lit up hearing your answer. He gave you a deep kiss and said “I promise I’ll take good care for you the whole time.”

And just like that you were once again overwhelmed by the sounds of waterfall, your moans and his grunts inside the shallow cavern from behind the waterfall.

Just as he promised, he took good care of you drying you off, and dressing you up before cuddling you in a soft patch of grass beneath the shade of a tree. His arms felt so warm around you that you couldn’t help but fall asleep.

When you awoke, you realize you were lying down on his lap. The view that greeted you was Baji eating his serving of stir fried noodles. He swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking “Hope you don’t mind me eating while you slept. After all that I got hungry.”

“It’s ok you don’t have to worry about it.” You said as you slowly sat up “Besides better that than waking up to you burning yet another beast. And whose fault was it I was this tired?” you teased

Baji only laughed at your teasing before holding your chin and guiding you to him to give you a kiss. “I’d gladly do all it again if I’m being totally honest.”

You looked at him and said “No one is exactly stopping you.”

He went near your ear and whispered “Is that an invitation?”

You playfully pushed him away “Not right now you doofus.” You said chuckling.

Baji scooped you into his arms and onto his lap hugging you tight “I just wanna gobble you up all day.” He said nuzzling his face on your neck before looking up and giving you another kiss. After having a taste of you he just couldn’t get enough. He wanted to go back for more and more. Baji’s feelings were translated into the kiss where he continued to deepen it while also beginning to nibble on your lips.

You knew where this was going you wanted more of him too, but unfortunately you decided against it tapping on his shoulder before pulling away saliva still connecting you both. You wiped your lips before speaking “Very tempting really, but we should rest. We still have the journey back.”

Baji’s face turned into a pout before burying his face in your neck again his droopy ear tickling your cheek. The sight was too adorable you couldn’t help but pet said soft looking ears. Baji hummed in content as his ears perked up again, taking pleasure in your attention. “Come on, Baji up we go. We still have to set up camp before nightfall.” You coerced while patting his back.

He let out a low whine before standing up picking you up with him which made you giggle while giving him a kiss on the cheek. Once your camp was set up, you two settled for the night, lying down next to each other. It didn’t take long before you’re all over each other again. Both of you agreed not to go further than kissing tonight, after all you still need energy to go home. Who knows how long you two were kissing until you both fell asleep in each other’s arms. Baji holding you close and you holding his fluffy tail.

As you enter the village gates, Akkun happily greeted you “Welcome back! I hope it’s been a safe jou- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!” he looked you over in concern

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at your neck! You’ve got bites on you! You have to go to a medic right away!” he frantically said while pushing you to a carriage that was supposed to drive you home.

Oh goodness gracious. Baji’s bite marks didn’t even occur to you. You stepped away from his pushy hands and tried to reason with him “C-calm down Akkun. This isn’t anything fatal; otherwise I would’ve been rushing here. It didn’t even break skin, look just bruised.”

Akkun only looked at you in disbelief “A-are you sure sure? Those look pretty gnarly. Might be safer to get it looked over.”

“I’ll be fiiine~ It’s just some troublesome creature that didn’t let go until he was satisfied.” You said looking back at you and Baji’s intimacy. He really didn’t let you go until he was satisfied. You only chuckled at the memory.

“Sorry if I’m a little bit pushy, but are you sureyou don’t want that looked over?”

“I’m sure. It’ll disappear in a few days.” You then remembered how hard Baji was biting you and concluded that a few days might be too short “…maybe.”

You opened the carriage door before turning to the knight “Thanks for the concern Akkun, but I’ll be fine.” You said before boarding.

“Take good care of yourself. I wouldn’t want the reason for a new Red Riding Hood to be appointed because the last one died.” He jokingly said before closing the carriage door and signalling the driver that everything’s ready.

Akkun watched as the vehicle went off still a little bit concerned. Just then a knight came near him and said “I sense that our little Red Riding Hood has been having fun in the forest.”

Akkun gawked at the statement before giving said knight a light punch to the stomach “Get your head out of the gutter, Makoto!” he scolded one of his subordinates.

“I don’t recall any creature that can give such a bite and not break skin.” A knight with glasses stated.

“Not you too, Yamagishi! Takuya help me out here!” Akkun turned to the person who seemed sane along with him in their little team.

Takuya only turned to him and shrugged “I’m somewhat of a biter myself and those looked familiar to me.”

Akkun gave up, these three can be stupid in their own way at times, even more stupid than Yamagishi.

Seasons come and go faster than we realize and before you knew it, winter is upon the land. Since winter is a very harsh weather for travel, Red Riding Hoods are only required to deliver supplies once a month. As much as you’re happy at the little break from your job, you can’t help but be sad too. Seeing Baji less brought your spirits a little down, but a job is a job and you must see through it if you wanna live comfortably.

So here you are the lone red in a backdrop of a harsh white, like blood in snow. It’s not supposed to be there. You hope that thought coming to your mind is not some kind of bad omen.

Sadly fate followed through with that omen. You being the only red thing among the snow, you are very noticeable and a winter beast has been eyeing you for a while now. You noticed that someone or something has been following you, but you assumed that it was just Baji, but when he didn’t turn up you figured that it wasn’t him and now you’re extra vigilant.

As much as you would’ve loved to run, doing so in such a situation can only provoke what’s been following you into chasing you so you did your best not to make any sudden moves.

You were too focused on not spurring whatever’s been following you that you didn’t notice that you’ve already arrived at your destination. You make quick work of locking in the supplies in the drop off point since you suspected that whatever is following you is after the food.

Just as you were locking up, you heard a loud roar which likely came from the beast that’s now making a beeline towards the place containing the food. You tried to jump out of its way but it was still able to reach you and pushed you out of the way quite harshly. You ended but getting scratched by its claws but at least you landed on the soft snow.

You looked at the beast trying to claw at the container, but failing to get it to open. You took that opportunity to run away and put some distance between you and it. The beast having found the container futile, decided to go after the running prey. Just as you think you have lost the beast, you heard it coming near you. So you continued to run away trying to think of a way to shake it off you tail. You were so lost in thought that you didn’t see the branches that you ran into it. You were quick to get up but wasn’t able to run away since your red cloak got caught. You tried to make quick work on it, but you noticed that the beast is gaining on you. You pulled as hard as you could to your cloak that when it was free you stumbled back and hit your head to a nearby tree.

Now feeling a little dizzy, your run was slowed and a little wobbly. You eventually ran into a dead end. The wall didn’t seem to be too high; you know it’s within your abilities to climb it. But with your dizzy state, you were seeing double and that climbing said wall can result to even more injury.

You looked back and saw the beast slowly coming towards you. All you could do was close your eyes and hope that it won’t be painful. And so you waited…

And waited…

Until warmth envelopes you. You didn’t know what’s going on but you welcomed said warmth. It reminded you of the warmth Baji provided whenever he held you close to him. Oh how you so badly wanted him to be here right now.

You opened your eyes and was greeted by red against white. It was the blood of the beast flowing down onto the snow. You processed that someone was holding you and you were greeted by the comforting dark locks and amber gaze of Baji. He looks at you in guilt as if blaming himself of what just happened. You couldn’t stand the look of him bearing the sins of a mindless beast.

You reached out your hand to cup his cheek and gave him a grateful smile. “Baji, thank you. You saved me you have nothing to be guilty about.”

Baji tightened his hold on you and kissed your forehead. “I know, I just felt responsible since you’re very special to me and I want to protect everything that’s special to me.” Baji leaned down and pecked your lips “You’re one of my treasures. I can’t bear to lose you.” He said his eyes on the verge of tears.

“And I’m still here thanks to you. You protected your treasure.” You returned his kiss before hugging him “Baji, I’m tired. Can I go to sleep?”

“Not yet, we have to get you looked over.” He said worry laced in his voice as he gently stroke your head as if trying to push your dizziness away.

��I’ll be in your care.”

You didn’t remember much that happened after. All you could recall was the cold wind against you as Baji rushed through the forest, the sight of a cave above you along with a lilac haired man with matching ears before everything went to black.

Once Baji is sure that you’re settled, he put on his coat and started to head out.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the guy tending your wounds asked.

“Don’t stop me, Mitsuya. That beast’s body is still intact; I’ll go finish it off.”

Mitsuya stood up from beside you and took hs coat. “No you won’t, I’ll handle it. You watch over your precious. She’d be more comforted if she saw a familiar face when she wakes up.”

Baji clenched his fist, his eyes full of vengeance. “I’ll destroy every bit of that beast. I’d make its soul suffer if I could.” He muttered in clenched teeth his rage leaking out.

Mitsuya knew that Baji being in this state will only be bad for him in the end, so he decided to slap some sense into him. Mitsuya grabbed hold of Baji’s face and made him turn to your sleeping state “Look at her! You want to leave her here just so you could satiate your hunger for revenge?! You already killed the thing, she’s already in a safe state now go take care of her. I’ll handle the beast’s body.”

The sight of your peaceful face was enough to soften Baji’s intense anger and admittedly he really didn’t want to leave you here. If he could he would stay with you forever to protect you from ever being harmed again.

Mitsuya sensed that Baji has calmed down and let go of his face. “I’ll be off now. Take care ok?”

Baji only gave out a nod before kneeling down next to you. Mitsuya smiled at the sight of this Baji not having seen it often. But he’s glad that he has someone special that he can be himself with. No wonder he’s been in a good mood lately. And like that he’s off to the forest to leave the two be.

Morning came, and you roused from your slumber taking comfort in the warmth next to you. It was so familiar that you’re sure that it was who you thought it was. You looked up and saw Baji’s sleeping face his hair cascading across his face that he looked to ethereal. You wish you could burn the image into your mind. He’s as handsome as ever. You lifted your hand and slowly pushed the stray hairs on his face to behind his ears, but the action caused him to stir awake.

You waited for him to open his eyes, before flashing him a big smile “Sorry for waking you.”

Baji stayed silent just looking at you before his eyes widened and sat up quickly and leaning on to you. “Y-you’re awake?! Are you feeling ok, you feel anything unusual, hungry, thirsty?” he bombarded you with questions in concern.

Before you could respond, he dove for the bag right next to him and pulled out a canteen and handed it to you. Now that you’re looking at it, you did felt thirsty so you gladly took it and took a big gulp sighing in relief after quenching you thirst. Baji took the canteen from you as you were finished and handed you a container filled with food which you gladly devoured.

Baji only watched you closely trying to see if there’s anything to be concerned about. So far, you’ve been fine but he couldn’t help but worry after yesterday’s display. “How’s the cut on your arm?”

“Hmm?” you swallowed the food still in your mouth and felt around the bandaged wound. “It feels just fine. It’s like it’s never been there in the first place.”

Baji smiled at the information and gently grabbed your arm. He started to remove the bandages causing you to pull your arm in surprise “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.” He held out his hand waiting for you to place your arm there. You trust Baji so you gave your arm to him.

He continued to remove the bandage and you were expecting to see a nasty wound, but what greeted you was your clean smooth skin which caused you to stare at your arm incredulously. Baji chuckled at your surprised face finding it cute. “A friend of mine patched you up. He’s no medic, but he’s very well prepared for situations like these.” He explained while caressing your healed arm. “He had an ointment on him that medics back home created made from herbs found in the forest. With a forest so big, there are a lot of things unexplored.” He looked up at you “It would seem that your village hasn’t discovered such a thing just yet.”

“That’s amazing!” you said still looking at your completely healed arm.

“I’d teach you to make it if I could, but sadly medicine isn’t a field I’m very knowledgeable with.”

“Then how about your friend? I wish I could’ve met him too.”

Baji chuckled “He doesn’t know how to make it too. He only carries it around because the rest of us can be muscleheads sometimes.”

“Well I get to learn it someday.” You said leaning into him as he hugged you “It would be a great asset to our village.” The thought of your village made you realize something. “How long was I out?” you asked concern written in your eyes.

“You’ve been out for a day. Why, is something wrong?”

“I-I have to get back home quickly!” you said quickly standing causing your vision to swirl. You wobbled but Baji caught you.

“H-hey calm down. Why in such a rush?”

“I have to get home quick!”

“W-why you shouldn’t even be moving too much. The ointment may have healed you but your body is still recovering from healing external wounds. You can’t be out and about right now especially in this cold weather.”

The reminder of the season caused you to shiver, suddenly feeling the cold. Baji tightened his hug when he felt you shiver. “I have to go home.” You said

“That sounded like there was an ‘or else’ was supposed to follow it.”

“I have to go home or… or I’ll be declared dead.” Baji tensed at that statement.

Baji pulled away from you to look at you but still close enough to hold you. “You’ll be declared dead?” he stared at the distance trying to figure it out but came to no reasonable reason “Why?”

“Being a Red Riding Hood is a dangerous job. We’re aware of what we’re getting into. They have a rule set in place where once a Red Riding Hood has not returned in the designated time, they will be declared dead.” You looked at Baji to see his reaction and he is infuriated. You could see his jaw clenching and his body tense ever since you started to explain the situation.

“Why don’t they send out a search party to look for missing Red Riding Hoods? Surely some of them only got lost.”

“Think about it Baji, you yourself are very familiar with the dangers of the forest. Do you think that those who went missing only got lost?”

“Then how about your grandmother, do you believe she’s dead too just because people who are too lazy to look for them declared that they’re dead?” he raised his voice which caused you to flinch a bit. He reached for your hand and you let him “I’m sorry, but you yourself have experienced the loss of someone out here. You still have hope to find your grandmother remember?” he reassured recalling one of your first conversations.

The rule has always been stupid in your eyes, but after years of studying of being a Red Riding Hood, they must have somehow buried that thought deep in you. Brainwashing you into thinking that said rule is a reasonable one. But thinking about it more, said rule is the reason you’re not with your grandmother anymore.

Too much emotion was going through you that you held on to Baji for comfort. In fact, it was too comforting that you ended up falling asleep in his arms. Baji gave the crown of your head a kiss before laying you back down and letting you rest. You need all the rest you can get because he just knows that you’ll insist on getting home once you wake up. He might even just carry you all the way there.

By the time you woke up, it was already evening. You smelled something good and saw Baji roasting something over the fire.

“Well rested?” he asked when he noticed you sit up.

“Like I could run a marathon!”

Baji sweatdropped and tried to reason “M-maybe not to that extent.”

“Well I technically have to run for a long time until I get home.”

“No need for that, I’ll just carry you. You can just enjoy the ride.” He said with a smirk no doubt confident in his abilities.

You chuckled at him “You know, when you say it like that something else comes to my mind you know.” You said blush slowly forming on your cheeks.

There was a slight pause as Baji processed what you just said just staring at you with wide eyes. He then smirked and said “There you are again riling me up.”

“Do you not like it?” you asked teasingly returning the smirk

“Never said such a thing.” He said as he took out whatever he was roasting off the fire.

You stood up and walked over to him not playing around. You lifted your leg over him and sat on his lap facing him. “Getting bold now are we.” He said his smirk growing bigger anticipating what will happen next.

“Are you still taking me for a ride?” you felt up his chest lacing your voice with a sultry tone trying to get him in the mood.

Baji placed his hands at your waist caressing it and occasionally wandering down to your butt. “In what context.” He teased

“You know…ride you.” You went close to him and gave his lips a kitten lick.

“I’m gonna need you to be more specific, darling.” He said before diving into your neck licking you there before giving you the first hickey of the night while also giving your butt a light smack.

“Please Baji! If you don’t take me right now I won’t be feeding you for the next month!”

“You treat me as if I’m some food motivated animal.” He said kissing you

“You sure act like it sometimes.” You responded in between his kisses.

Baji pulled away and looked at you with very dilated pupils. “Oh really? Then…” he lifted you up from where he was sitting and laid you down on your makeshift bed in the cave. “how about I eat you up. You’ll be my delicious meal for tonight.”

He went in to kiss you and took comfort of his tongue intertwined with yours. He indulged himself on your lips for a few more minutes before working to undress you and himself. Not long after, you two were passionately making out in the nude his hair cascading around you acting as sort of like a curtain, your only privacy.

Baji then slowly trailed kisses down to your neck where he placed a few more hickeys before proceeding to your chest. He took hold of it appreciating the feel of it against his hands before suckling on your nipples alternating between the two. After a few bite marks were given to your chest, he gave your tummy kisses.

You gasped when you felt Baji’s breath near your private parts. He adjusted himself and made room to slowly spread your legs. Guess you really were is meal, he looked starved when he caught sight of your glistening folds. Baji sat up and took a hair tie from his clothes and tied his hair back “Gotta make sure nothing gets in the way of my feast.” He placed your legs over his shoulders, held you down and gave your thighs a few bite marks.

Moans came out of your mouth as you felt his tongue give you a long lick tasting. Oh how he loved hearing those sounds knowing that he was the one to cause those. Baji gave her repeated licks savouring the taste of her burning it to his mind because he couldn’t get enough of it.

Baji was relentless, his tongue overwhelming you with sensations completely new to you. His pliant tongue a completely different experience from his thrusts back when you two were behind that waterfall. He was precise and you felt him everywhere, well it felt like it because the feel of him is the only thing you could feel and focus on.

After spending a while tasting your wetness, indulging himself in your taste. He figured he has tasted you enough that he should pay attention to your needs now. But you’d have to disagree as just his curious exploring was pleasurable as it is. Baji went to look for that bundle of nerves, and as soon as he came in contact with it, he felt you squirm away. Baji took hold of your legs on his shoulders and pulled you back and pinning you down. Now you’re a squirming and moaning mess underneath the mercy of his tongue. The stimulation was too much as you tried to squirm away once again but his tight grip on you prevented you from moving even a single inch from him.

The cave you two were in was filled with your moans and his slurping echoing across it which brought you an ounce of embarrassment and arousal. Just hearing those sounds excited you more, there’s something primalin the act of doing it in a cave, the thought bringing you excitement.

You felt around you trying to look for leverage to hold on to ground yourself from these sensations, but you settled at grabbing his hair and pulling occasionally. Since you couldn’t do anything but receive Baji’s actions, you were curious as to what he looked like and so you propped yourself on your elbows and peeked. What greeted you were Baji’s amber eyes staring at you intensely. The sight of Baji staring at you as he ate you out caused more wetness to gush out of you thoroughly aroused at the thought that he’s been watching you from the start.

Baji has been watching you, anticipating every single reaction he pulls out from you. He must know everything about you and how like to be pleasured, learning every single thing that brings you pleasure and excitement and exploiting them. Maybe even take advantage of it for the next time you get intimate. Everything about you just drives him crazy. He was in a daze he couldn’t stop and before he knew it a loud moan greeted his ears as fluids gushed out from you. He licked off every single drop off you clean before sitting up and licking his lips. He admired you and your limp and heavy breathing form, taking pride at his work.

As you were trying to catch your breath, you felt Baji lean over your figure and placed a kiss on your lips. Soon you felt something prodding at your entrance, but not right now. Not just yet. You sat up and pushed Baji into a sitting position with you leaning close to his face.

“That can wait. I have a different plan for now.” You said as you reached your hand behind his head and pulled his hair tie off his hair. You showed the object to Baji before using it to tie your hair back “Gotta make sure nothing gets in the way.” You quoted Baji from earlier which earned a chuckle from him.

You started to mimic how he went down on you. First kissing his neck and also leaving your little hickey before going down to his chest licking and tasting him. You took your time at his abdomen admiring it while also teasing him making him think that you’ll finally go down on him only to lick upwards again. You gave in after hearing him growl. You looked at him and his size seemed to lean on the bigger side. You weren’t sure if you could take all of him in your mouth, but might as well try.

You gave his tip a kiss and a lick before putting it in your mouth, swirling your tongue around just his tip. Trying to tease him more, you licked from the base of his cock all the way up slowly and flicking your tongue as you got to the tip. That seemed to be what caused Baji to snap. He grabbed you by the hair and shoved himself in your mouth. You giggled at his desperation before you started bobbing your head up and down your tongue still working in action.

Baji moaned loudly, throwing his head back as he indulged in the feeling of your mouth sucking him off. But he wasn’t one to pass up the sight of you and your face stuffed with his cock. He looked down and the sight almost made him come. He would’ve been done for if you were looking at him. Baji was quick to pull you away from him and kissing you. All the while kissing you, he pushed you down and hovered over you just appreciating in your beauty.

You could never tire of the view you have above you right now. Dishevelled hair around you both, his glistening lips, and the warm light of the bonfire made him appear even more sexier. It’s like everything around you was adjusting to you and Baji. Nothing else mattered except this moment between you two.

“Be a good girl for me and lie on your stomach, would you.”

Anything for him. You repositioned yourself and waited for Baji to make a move. You felt him kiss the small of your back his loose hair tickling you and made you squirm a little causing your butt to brush up to something hard.

Baji chuckled “Eager now, are we.” Ah, looks like he mistook it. No matter, you’ll both feel good later on anyway.

Baji’s hands explored your smooth back appreciating the feel of it against his hands and how you react to his every single touch whether it be a slight twitch or a whimper out of you, it excites him even more.

He leaned down to your ear “You ready?”

Once he saw you nod in response, he bit at your neck whilst inserting himself inside you. The feeling of each other’s closeness had you two letting out hot breaths, calming yourselves and letting you adjust to him. When you gave him the go ahead, he started ramming his hips into you. He couldn’t help himself from ravaging you, he’s been holding himself back ever since from the start.

You felt him lean down and felt his chest come into contact with your back as he continued to thrust into you. His pace started to quicken even more so you grabbed the nearest thing to you as leverage which happened to be Baji’s coat.

As soon as he saw you clutching at his coat, it sent him into overdrive standing on his knees and elevating your hips and holding your head down. He gave your butt a few smacks then proceeding to drive his hips into you once again. Baji pulled your hair up causing you to be on all fours.

“Look at you taking me so well.” He moaned out biting your neck once again “This is the third time I’ve been in you, right? You took me so well all times. Made me feel real good I couldn’t stop thinking about you after that.” He said between grunts.

Just as he said those words, he felt you clench at him “A-ahn~ you r-really do like praises huh.”

“You remember that? When I brought you back for the first time. You liked it when I sang you praises. Guess it carries over here too huh. Agh!” your insides clenched at him again. He grabbed your chin and made you face him “Driving me crazy here.” He kissed your lips tongue never failing to explore you.

After a few minutes of you two going at it, you eventually arrived at your climax which had you plop down on the makeshift bed ass still up. Baji rubbed himself a few more times before covering your back in white letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

Your back covered in his cum aroused him again; it makes him want to cover you with even more. But he knows he can’t, you still have to rest for tomorrow’s journey. He leaned down at your shoulder and bit down as his last ditch effort to satiate his current hunger, but sadly it only turned him on even more as he heard you moan in response to his bite.

You can tell that Baji is still raring to go but is holding himself back. “Keisuke,” you called in a breathy voice still trying to catch your breath “What’s stopping you?”

“Tomorrow, you need rest for tomorrow.” He kissed you again finding your dazed look to be irresistible.

“I thought you offered to carry me all the way home.” You teased

“I did say that.”

“And speaking of rides,” You sat up and sat on his lap, your cunt sliding against his already semi hard cock “I haven’t gotten my ride for tonight.”

Baji relented, grabbing your waist and guiding you to hover over his cock. “Do as you please.” He said with a smirk licking your collarbone.

Slowly, you sank yourself onto him with Baji’s arms stiff on your waist restraining himself from just slamming you down on him. It’s your ride, you do as you please. But goodness you sure are a good way to train his self-control because you keep testing him. By the time he’s fully in you, you caught sight of his knitted brows and a few droplets of sweat on his forehead.

You decide to spare him and slowly bounced yourself on him with Baji groaning in pleasure in response. You felt his hand on your waist go tighter. You can tell that he wants more, but you decide to just go at your pace going slowly. You low-key anticipate the impending rough treatment of you when he gets fed up with your ‘teasing’.

It didn’t take long before he’s biting on your neck and is now the one bouncing you on his cock. Baji laid on his back and continued to thrust up into you. You were glad he took initiative in this situation because you weren’t sure if your thighs could hold you up any longer considering his treatment of you in your first round.

Soon enough, you billowed out a moan your body twitching ever so slightly before collapsing on his chest. Baji pulled out of you and closed your thighs together and thrusted in there instead. The feeling of your soft lower lips and thighs rubbing him was what brought him to his second climax of the night. He felt you slowly dozing off on him. He pulled the blanket over the two of you before repositioning you into a much more comfortable sleeping position. He made sure to clean up the both of you before going to sleep himself.

You were woken up with Baji shaking you. When you woke up you were already dressed. “Time to go.”

You yawned and stretched before getting up preparing to leave. Travelling through the forest on a wolf’s perspective is a very new experience. You can’t help but close your eyes in bliss as you felt the wind in your hair blowing against you from the speed Baji was running. You vaguely remember this feeling when you were still injured after he saved you from the beast. You’re just happy you get to experience it again more clearly.

Baji suddenly came to a stop and when you looked ahead there are the gates of your village. On a normal circumstance you’d be happy at the sight of your home, but right now you’re only filled with dread. The gate lock was adorned with a red ribbon.

You hopped off Baji and approached said ribbon. “We’re too late.”

“What?! But you still have the rest of the day to return!”

“I know. They sure are quick to claim my death. Guess that’s that then.”

“You’re just gonna let them do that?!”

“Baji, once the ribbon is set there’s no way they’ll let me in anymore. It’s another one of those stupid rules. I’m not welcome here anymore.”

After all the work you did for them, they’re gonna dispose of you just like that??? Hell no, fuck those bastards, you’re not going back there. “You still have another place you’re welcome to go home to.”

Baji held his hand out to you “Come home with me. You’re more than welcome there. The pack would love you!”

You immediately took his hand. “If I’m being totally honest, I would prefer to be with you rather than stay in a place where not a lot cares about me. I missed you a lot when I couldn’t see you.”

Baji pulled you in for a hug and kissed you. “You’ve always been in my mind too. Now we don’t have to be apart anymore. We can be together whenever we want, wherever we want.”

“Let’s go to your home then.”

“Our home.” He corrected

“Yes, our home.”

And with that the two of you ran into the forest ready to start a new chapter in your lives where a new companion is by their side.

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Joshua: Second Chance (Part Three)

Characters: Joshua x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, some fluffy angst too so it’s not really angst is it lmao

Word count: 1,988

Summary: After his mate died, Joshua always blamed himself and never wanted to imprint again. However, fate has other ideas when he meets you: a young, energetic werecoyote that’s quite the opposite of him. He insists he doesn’t want a new mate – nobody’s even sure if he’s ready for a new one – but he can’t ignore his instincts.

Previous | Next | Second Chance Masterlist

“Oh,” the girl beside you seemed surprised that your eyes opened, squinting against the light, “you’re awake. How do you feel?”

You only groaned in reply. You definitely didn’t feel as awful as you recalled, but you still didn’t feel good.

“We’ve cleaned the remaining wolfsbane from your system, so you should make a full recovery,” the girl told you, her voice soft and soothing.

She definitely didn’t look like she was from here. She had brown skin, round eyes, and long black hair that she kept clipped back away from her face. Had you seen her before when you were dying? No, you couldn’t tell. Your memories from then were too foggy.

Wait, you were dying. How were you alive?

You opened your mouth to speak, but your eyes finally adjusted enough where you could see the person laying on a cot behind the girl. His eyes were closed, and you couldn’t tell if he was passed out or sleeping, but you just felt very strongly toward him. Much stronger than you’d felt about anybody ever. He was absolutely beautiful, and all you wanted to do was walk the couple feet of space between your cot and his to stroke his hair and cheek.

You didn’t know why you felt so strongly about a stranger, but you also weren’t questioning it. You were a curious person, yes, but you tended to just roll with the punches.

The girl noticed your gaze had drifted behind her, and she chuckled, “Would you like to be closer? It’s better for mates to heal if they’re as close as possible, and he needs all the healing he can get.”

Mates? That wasn’t something you’d heard about before, but you could probably guess what it implied. Either way, your head was nodding before your brain could really think much about it.

The girl stood and moved her stool out of the way before wheeling your cot closer to his until they were pressed together. Your face was almost right next to his now, and you observed every single detail of him. You didn’t even know his name or anything about him, but your heart and your instincts already told you you’d do anything for him.

“They’re cute,” Minjee commented once she entered the room as her partner continued to stand by the doorway and watch the two of you.

Prajya hummed in reply, her hand finding Minjee’s, “I don’t think the girl knows anything about herself. I told her he’s her mate and she seemed a little clueless.”

“Well, she is young,” Minjee noted. “Maybe nobody’s told her about creatures like her.”

Prajya nodded slowly before turning her head to look at her partner, “Did things with the other wolf go well?”

Minjee nodded, “Perfect, actually. Sura’s just finishing a few minor things and getting him settled into a bed to recover. His brother and the girls are still waiting in the living room.”

“I should go see if they need anything,” Prajya decided, pressing a quick kiss to Minjee’s cheek before she left.

Minjee turned back to the two of you after her girlfriend had left, but saw that you weren’t awake anymore. Your eyes were closed, one of your hands resting on Joshua’s as he slept. Minjee smiled to herself, thinking both of you looked like you were doing better already.

-

Josh still wasn’t awake. Even Hansol had woken up before his older brother did. Wonwoo had already brought Soomin and Suvi back to the house, and Joshua still wasn’t awake. It worried Hansol that he was asleep for so long, but Minjee assured him it was just because he had exerted his power too much.

“Is he going to get it back...?” Hansol wondered, his yellow eyes warily watching Joshua sleep beside you.

“Yes, with time,” Minjee replied with a warm smile. “You really have nothing to worry about, Hansol. Besides, he has his mate with him, so the healing will be faster.”

“Yeah, if he isn’t stubborn about it,” he muttered to himself, the human girl unable to make out what he said.

That was something else that was worrying Hansol. Joshua already had a mate and lost her. Would he really be so open about a new mate? Even if he did use the remaining energy he had in him just to save you, he did that on pure instinct. It didn’t necessarily mean things would go smoothly when he’d wake up.

“Who is she, anyway?” Kyung wondered, nodding her head in your direction. 

You were still sleeping beside him, your hand still in his. Neither of you had even moved, either, but Minjee also promised that was nothing to worry about.

“I’m not sure of her name,” Minjee sighed, “but my partners and I found her when we were out checking traps one night. My mate, Sura, knows where some of the werewolf hunters place traps regularly. He likes to patrol them and see if anyone was caught so we can help. We found her in one of them. Sura said she might be a werecoyote.”

“Werecoyote?” Hansol repeated.

The doctor nodded, “Yes. He noticed she doesn’t smell quite like werewolf, but she’s definitely something.”

The two mated wolves could admit they noticed the same thing but kept to themselves about it. They thought maybe it was just because of the wolfsbane.

The pair looked between the two of you. While Joshua seemed peaceful now, both Hansol and Kyung weren’t sure how he’d react when he woke up. They could practically already see the sour look on his face before grumbling something about not wanting a new mate. They hoped maybe they’d be wrong, but…

“What do you think she’ll do if he denies her?” Kyung wondered to her mate, unsure if you’d be as patient and understanding as Hansol. They didn’t know anything about you.

Hansol let out a quiet sigh, “I don’t know, but they’ll both just...eventually...” he didn’t even want to say it, but after a beat of silence, he quietly said, “die.”

-

“Werecoyotes are creatures I’ve never encountered,” Soomin hummed thoughtfully as she flipped through Beom’s book of creatures.

Once Wonwoo had returned home with her and Suvi, the youngest excitedly began talking about how Joshua had imprinted and saved his new mate. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack seemed shocked and almost horrified. They knew how Joshua was, and they knew he wouldn’t want another mate. What happened with Lilly messed him up pretty badly, but it also made him afraid of himself for a long time. He’d be too scared to be with someone else.

While Suvi was explaining what happened and the pack began spewing questions, Soomin was already looking through Beom’s stuff to find some answers.

“I think Beom had told me a story or two of werecoyotes, though,” Soomin continued.

“I met a few,” Yeji chimed in. “They didn’t really seem too different from you guys.”

“They’re not -- not really, other than some minor stuff,” Soomin said after finally reaching the page she was looking for. She scanned it over, using her finger to guide her eyes. “Overall, they’re essentially the same, just a little weaker -- smaller, not as strong, but they are a little quicker because of their smaller size. It makes them more agile.”

“Anyone can outrun that old man,” Jeonghan scoffed.

“Who’s the oldest, anyway?” Suvi asked.

“Nobody really knows anymore, but we just assume it’s Josh,” Jun shrugged. “Years start to blend together after a while.”

“Speaking of not knowing things,” Danbi spoke up as she looked around the packed living room, “where’s Soonyoung?”

“It’s nighttime, so he’s in town,” Jihoon sighed.

“I thought we were still being careful?”

“Since when does Soonyoung follow rules?” Seungcheol asked with a quirked brow.

Soomin cleared her throat to grab the pack’s attention and bring them back to the bigger matter at hand: you. Once they were paying attention again, she continued, “Werecoyotes have the same heightened senses, the same weaknesses, and the same instincts as werewolves. However, because they’re smaller and weaker, they recover slower and are more likely to die from things like silver bullets.”

“So Joshua’s new mate is essentially a hyperactive accident-prone child?” Wonwoo snorted.

Soomin frowned, finally looking up from the book to look at her mate, “That’s mean. And she may very well act mature. Just because they’re faster than werewolves doesn’t make them hyper.”

“You said werecoyotes are just werewolves, basically,” Jeonghan shrugged. “You’ve seen our pack.”

Seungcheol nodded, “Seokmin specifically.”

“Hey,” the young wolf whined.

“Let’s not judge her just yet,” Soomin sighed.

Jihoon raised his eyebrows, “You didn’t even meet her?”

“She was passed out,” Suvi was the one to explain. “Her and Joshua were sleeping beside each other when we left.”

“I wish I could be there when they wake up,” Seungkwan chuckled. “I’m sure that’ll be a mess.”

-

It wasn’t until the sun was about to peak over the horizon that Josh finally groaned and rubbed his eyes with one hand. The other felt warm with a light weight in it that kept him from moving it.

Wait…

The older wolf’s eyes opened before slowly looking to his left hand. He saw another hand in his and his eyes followed the arm up to the owner. He recognized your face. Not only did he remember what had happened as soon as he saw you, but he was bombarded with your face in his dreams -- well, more like nightmares. All he dreamt about was you and Lilly.

He wanted to snatch his hand away. He wanted to growl at you and wake you up and tell you to keep your hands to yourself. He wanted to yell at you to not touch him.

But he was too exhausted to do anything but lay there and glare at you with golden eyes.

“Oh, good,” a voice made him turn his head, “you’re finally awake.”

Joshua was briefly introduced to Prajya during his first check-up. She was a nice girl, but she had a little...bite to her. Josh liked her from the get go.

“See you’ve noticed your little friend,” Prajya chuckled. “You don’t seem too fond of her, though.”

His face scrunched up in almost disgust, “What is that?”

Prajya let out a snort at his reaction to his mate.

In your sleep, your nose wiggled a few times before you reached up to scratch it. Joshua rolled his eyes feeling his heart swell at how cute you seemed. He wanted his instincts to fuck off.

“I think you already know,” she replied in amusement.

“Who is she?” he asked.

The foreign girl just shrugged, “Beats me. We didn’t get a name from her or where she came from or anything.”

Unable to resist the curiosity, he slowly wondered, “...What happened to her?”

“Caught in a net that had barbs laced with wolfsbane,” she sighed as she leaned back against a wall and studied your face. “We were sure she was going to die until you showed up and--”

“Don’t,” he said sharply before dropping his tone to be only grumpy rather than angry, “mention it.”

Prajya just shrugged, “If you didn’t want it mentioned, you shouldn’t have done it. Kyung was right, you are a grumpy old man.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. Of course Kyung was gossiping with her old friends about him. The new alpha was a piece of work.

But she wasn’t really wrong, and even he knew that.

Prajya was silent as she watched Joshua watch you. It was clear that even though he openly showed his distaste for his new mate, his instincts were strong and hard to ignore. Even through the disgust and annoyance on his face, Prajya could see the love and adoration clear in his eyes.

The grumpy, old werewolf, and the young, carefree werecoyote. This would be interesting to see.

[therianhelp]

I can answer some of these questions! I'd also like to acknowledge, though, that a-dragons-journal's response is very good imo, so I'm just adding on my own perspective rather than trying to "correct" anything they or anyone else have already said :)

how does an individual find out their nonhuman identity?

It's different for everyone, but generally boils down to a buttload of introspection. As far as I've seen, most people figure it out through a long process of putting together puzzle pieces, like which biomes they're most drawn to or feel most natural in, what foods they like to eat and how, what specifically it is about their favourite games that they enjoy (eg. do you like tag because you get to chase someone down or run from someone, or do you feel most like yourself seeking someone out in hide-and-seek?), what kind of people or animals they tend to get along with most easily, etc. plus more overtly otherkin-related stuff like phantom shifts and past-life memories/dreams, if applicable. Like most things, it is a huge combination of every fact you can scrape together, not just one or two tendencies.

For example, my primary theriotype (I'm a therian, which is a subset of otherkin wherein your nonhuman identity is that of an earthly nonhuman animal, as opposed to, say, a plant, object, or mythical creature (all of which would be otherkin, but not therian)) is an Eastern coyote. (The following is abbreviated, there was more to it at each step) I've always just kinda "felt" canine in a way that's hard to articulate lol, so when I started trying to narrow down what species I am, of course I started with wolf (I knew I wasn't a wolf, but it's a good and obvious starting point). I'm much more solitary than wolves, so that led me to coyotes, but I very definitely feel wayy more natural in a temperate/northern forest environment than a desert one, and I also have a distinct sense of fluffiness that western coyotes lack, so what kind of coyote is fluffy and lives in forests? Eastern coyotes. They're like a coywolf mixed with domestic dog like 20 generations back or something like that, much friendlier and more playful than western coyotes, bigger than western coyotes but smaller than wolves, fluffier than western coyotes, mostly solitary, and prefer forests. I was able to 'confirm' this determination (as much as any of this can truly be verified) through a phantom shift when I put my hand on top of a life-size picture of an Eastern coyote's pawprint, and physically felt a sort of "click" sensation like in Sims or something when you're dragging an object and it snaps to the grid? like my phantom paw and the picture perfectly lined up

would a dog-kin person identify as a dog because they feel like they have a special connection to dogs?

like I said above, it's more about putting a load of puzzle pieces together, but also, it's commonly said that otherkinity is identifying AS something, whereas otherheartedness is identifying WITH something - so, I'm gonna skip ahead and answer your last question here too: "otherhearted" is more like when you "have a special connection" to a species (or sometimes genus or bigger clade). I'm corvidhearted, which means I feel a deep connection with corvids (crows, ravens, magpies, etc), but I don't feel that I AM a corvid. I understand them empathetically, I enjoy their company, and I relate to them, but I am not one of them.

Could one identify themselves as non-human but also not believe in the literal soul or any spiritual beliefs?

Yes! I don't believe in a soul the same way, for instance, Christians do - I don't believe I have some immortal, immaterial aspect of self that can persist after my brain dies - but I do believe I am non-physically nonhuman. Just as another example of identity, I'm also trans, but that doesn't mean I think my soul is a different gender than I was assigned, just that I am. In the same way, I don't think my soul is a different species, just that I am. When I'm feeling more metaphysically-inclined, I do sorta try to rationalise it like there's some kind of "essence" of consciousness, which gets dispersed at death and recombined into a new organism, and in my case my "essence" (in this sense) ended up composed partly of the essence previously composing a human and partly of the essence previously composing a coyote. but mostly it's just a part of my 'self,' rather than some poorly-evidenced speculation

I’ve seen a few people compare their non-human dysphoria(?) as similar to gender dysphoria and/or uses gender dysphoria as an example to better explain their non-human dysphoria. [...] I’m curious for the other experiences and reasons might one identify as non-human.

Not sure if this was meant as a separate question, but I'll answer it anyway :P My species dysphoria and gender dysphoria are alike in that my body doesn't align with either my perceived species or gender, I'd often rather be treated as though people saw me as a different species and gender, and I feel, behave, and prefer to behave more in line with my internal sense of species and gender. You said you understand this in your post but just to be clear for anyone reading: species dysphoria and gender dysphoria are completely unrelated (except in some individual cases where someone might feel that their species influences their gender or vice versa) and neither makes the other any more or less valid or problematic.

How does one know that they have multiple non-human identities?

In my case, I have two theriotypes: Eastern Coyote and Red Deer. It was a pain for a long time trying to disentangle them lol. I could tell I had big clunky hooves, but also paws - griffin? But I didn't have wings, and I did have antlers - deer? But I also had a long fluffy tail - what the hecc kinda species has hooves and antlers, but also canine paws and tail? Both at once didn't feel right, and I didn't get the more preference- or behaviour-based traits mixed up (eg. at any particular time I might have an urge to chase something, or just run as fast as I can and jump over something, but not both), and the combination of traits I could pick out didn't match up with any mythological creature I knew of (and I knew a lot of mythology when I was a kid lol). So eventually, I grew sure of my primary theriotype and pieced together my secondary theriotype, and they only made sense as separate 'types, rather than some chimera

I'm not the best person to answer your next two questions, so I'll skip them

Do some individuals with vague feelings and connection to a nonhuman identity label themselves as otherkin even if they don’t have experiences such as non-human “dysphoria” or experience phantom attributes like wings, horns, etc?

yup! In my mind, anyone can use any label that helps them describe or cope with their experiences, as long as it doesn't somehow detract from someone else (eg. closed cultures). Plus, just like with transness, dysphoria is not a requirement for otherkinity. there's also the whole long process of questioning and figuring it out, and you can totally call yourself otherkin if you think that describes you, even if you aren't 100% sure yet whether or what you are

Do non-human’s try out labels to discover what feels right?

Absolutely! I'm still questioning the exact right label for some of my "I'm pretty sure I don't identify AS these, but I definitely identify WITH these, but to what extent?"-types lol. I've questioned my precise relationship with hyenas, seals, red pandas, ferrets, snow leopards, cetaceans, big cats, primates, wolves, dogs, horses, and birds of prey. In the process of figuring out my theriotypes, I also had to consider each of the possibilities that every conflicting set of traits brought up (eg. griffin)

Do some non-humans identify as non-human because that individual strongly desires to be non-human?

I'm pretty sure these are called copinglinkers, though I'm also pretty sure I read of a less stigmatising term for that, but I can't remember it atm. It can be argued, though, that a desire to be something implies that you aren't already that (think in terms of gender - do you want to be a man, or are you a man? if the former, is it really that, or is it that you want to be seen as a man? (no offense meant, ignore if objectionable))

And lastly, I'm honestly not sure about aldernic identities, I'd have to look that up too lol

Great questions, and I hope this helps! Please feel free to message me if you have any other questions :D

I have a question for otherkin/fictionkin/therian/alterhuman/nonhuman communities. I’m still pretty new in my understanding of these terms and I was wondering how does an individual find out their nonhuman identity? I understand that one may find their non-human identity through spirituality or psychological experiences. I want to better understand that though, more so the psychological side.

For example, would a dog-kin person identify as a dog because they feel like they have a special connection to dogs? Could one identify themselves as non-human but also not believe in the literal soul or any spiritual beliefs?

(Like let’s say one identifies as a dog because they feel like their “soul” is a dog but also not believe in the belief of a soul?)

I’ve seen a few people compare their non-human dysphoria(?) as similar to gender dysphoria and/or uses gender dysphoria as an example to better explain their non-human dysphoria. (I know non-human identities have nothing to do with gender, unless they specify) I can understand specific things to a point but I’m curious for the other experiences and reasons might one identify as non-human.

How does one know that they have multiple non-human identities? How does one find out they have mythical identity such as a dragon? How does one find out they’re fictionkin? Do some individuals with vague feelings and connection to a nonhuman identity label themselves as otherkin even if they don’t have experiences such as non-human “dysphoria” or experience phantom attributes like wings, horns, etc? Could an individual who doesn’t believe in souls, still manage to identify as non-human because they feel like they’re non-human in their “soul” despite them not actually believing in the soul? Do non-human’s try out labels to discover what feels right? Even if the individual feels non-human but can’t figure out which non-human identities/identity they are? Do some non-humans identify as non-human because that individual strongly desires to be non-human?

I hope this makes sense. I know that the terms I listed above have different meanings. Like how otherkin can include mythical creatures while theiran does not include mythical creatures.

Also, one last thing. What are aldern-(insert identity here) identities? What’s otherhearted? Thanks for reading.