#about it and someone who cares about you so deeply that they think about you at night and smile so big that it hurts and someone who loves

[no2ticonderoga]

This...this right here is the consequence of "oh, you need a degree to get a good job." Which is closely related to "You have to figure out what to do to get an A".

Becuase we have managed to drive all the curiosity out of education. There's no room anymore for someone who is genuinely interested in learning. Because we've commercialized education to the point where is simply another goddamned checkbox to be ticked off on the way to some (usually mythical) financial payoff at the end. It's the same thing that drove the Varsity Blues scandal...if you don't get into the 'right' schools, or the 'right' major, your future is toast.

As teacher, I see it in my classrooms. Nobody is actually curious anymore, with very few exceptions. They don't actually care about learning anything, they just want to know how to get an A (or a D, depending on their goals) and get out of my class and go on to the next one.

And this line: "why are you paying thousands of dollars to go to school and learn if you're just going to plug everything into a computer whenever you're asked to think??" I'll tell you why.

Because God forbid you're wrong.

Much easier to have someone, or something tell you the correct answer. Because being wrong is unaceptable, because there's this perception that people don't have permission to make mistakes, to learn from them. And look, I don't like being wrong either, I am a recovering perfectionist, bering wrong is deeply uncomfortable to me. But I learned how to learn from it. But there doesn't seem to be room for it in today's world. God forbid you stand out from the herd, God forbid you don't conform...people don't take risks.

There's so much more here, too, especially in regards the current streak of anti-intellectuallism, (which I actually blame more than anything else for Trump and all his ilk)...that really beats academics out of people. They're not interested in learning the 'whys' about anything. They don't care, because "why" doesn't pay bill. "Why" also leads to uncomfortable truths about a lot of things, and that's not the 'in' thing right now.

But yeah, we've lost the ability or desire to be curious about anything. All anyone cares about is being 'right'.

I just started grad school this fall after a few years away from school and man I did not realize how dire the AI/LLM situation is in universities now. In the past few weeks:

I chatted with a classmate about how it was going to be a tight timeline on a project for a programming class. He responded "Yeah, at least if we run short on time, we can just ask chatGPT to finish it for us"

One of my professors pulled up chatGPT on the screen to show us how it can sometimes do our homework problems for us and showed how she thanks it after asking it questions "in case it takes over some day."

I asked one of my TAs in a math class to explain how a piece of code he had written worked in an assignment. He looked at it for about 15 seconds then went "I don't know, ask chatGPT"

A student in my math group insisted he was right on an answer to a problem. When I asked where he got that info, he sent me a screenshot of Google gemini giving just blatantly wrong info. He still insisted he was right when I pointed this out and refused to click into any of the actual web pages.

A different student in my math class told me he pays $20 per month for the "computational" version of chatGPT, which he uses for all of his classes and PhD research. The computational version is worth it, he says, because it is wrong "less often". He uses chatGPT for all his homework and can't figure out why he's struggling on exams.

There's a lot more, but it's really making me feel crazy. Even if it was right 100% of the time, why are you paying thousands of dollars to go to school and learn if you're just going to plug everything into a computer whenever you're asked to think??

[zylusmusings]

"what do you think our wedding will be like?" she asks, and rafayel feels his heart still immediately. he gives it a second, letting the two sides of his heart battle it out.

a part of him feels giddy - she wants to be his bride again. it will happen again, because they are fated mates! all of the worrying was for nothing because look! she wants to get married, bonded to him again. sure, the "sanctity" of marriage amongst humans on this earth is laughable and ludicrous compared to the solemn oath he literally has embedded to his chest... but he'll take it nonetheless. he'll take anything she has to offer, honestly.

albeit the other part of him wants to sulk and throw a tantrum. because this question is simply yet another reminder of what was left to be forgotten. the fact that she was already his bride, but the fact to be so horridly and devastatingly taken away from him. ripped away from his clutching fingers. sea of god he may be, but the strength of fate has no competition. what a painful reminder that question is, to be reminded, oh yeah you were my bride... until?..

rafayel doesn't realise that dancing around the two emotions has taken some time. purple eyes swirling with mixed emotions as his lips are pursed to the side in silence. this reaction causes her to shift nervously, afraid that she's made him uncomfortable with the question.

she clears her throat soon after, sitting up after spending hours on the couch with him, slouching against the backrest as his purple hair splays out against her chest. the movement shakes him out of his trance, a brief moment of confusion (and a dramatic look of "how could you!”) plastered on his face as he turns around, sitting up for the first time in 2 hours as well. he faces his blushing partner who is clearly flustered at his lack of response.

"um.. i mean - i'm not saying we will definitely get married or like whatever, it was just a question. i don't even know if you wanna marry me. again, it was just a question, you don't have to answer it if you-"

he gasps dramatically, brows furrowed deeply as he scoots away from her in bewilderment. "did you say you don't even know if i want to marry you?" he scoffs, standing up and begins to pace around the room. "is my devotion and quite frankly obvious and constant yearning for you not enough? for you to even question that?"

"rafayel, i-" "maybe the hunter's association should put you on bed rest if your brain's not functioning properly. oh perhaps, it's not the brain, it's your heart and its inability to feel the love i have for you. is that right, hm?"

"rafayel," she repeats louder this time, sighing. "that was not what i meant - i just. you went completely silent on me when i asked the question, so i thought you felt uncomfortable with the topic of marriage." shrugging, the red on her cheeks deepens as a replay of the scene comes to mind. she shrivels into herself, crossing her legs as she begins to play with the loose threads of her sweater. "and i know we’ve never talked about it either, so i shouldn't have just sprung it on you like that."

his face softens immediately, guilt pricking his chest as he watches the vulnerability she was expressing. while she wasn't exactly wrong - the topic of marriage does make him uncomfortable. as much as he wants her to be his bride, it’ll undoubtedly open new doors for pain all over again. but as uncomfortable it is, rafayel knows that she is someone he'd carve his own heart out for (well....).

"you have nothing to apologise for." he tells her gently, the tone contrasting the loud rant he performed earlier, and he's back on the couch, crawling onto the space next to her. his fingers are careful, he reminds himself he's holding onto his reason of being, his kyrptonite, the atoms of sunlight itself. he feels his stomach flip, and the soft warmth that begins to exude from the side of his chest tells him that if she peeked underneath his shirt, she'd bear witness to the physical embodiment of his sacred vow. "it threw me off guard, yes. but only because i've been keeping it myself for far too long, cutie." he smiles, still ever so gentle as his thumb caresses the smooth of her cheek.

"i’ve known that i have wanted to marry you for years now," and while she'll take that as a mere dramatisation (rafayel being rafayel), he means that as literally as it gets. only he knows about the pain, humiliation and fear that comes with the wait and for a moment, he's grateful that she doesn't know. he doesn't want her to be burdened with such hardship-filled emotions, so he'll carry it for the both of them.

"you won't be in white - maybe a light shade of blue. i'll obviously wear the best suit ever to be worn. we'll have a ceremony by the beach," he's speaking straight from the vision he's replayed in his mind countless of times, the smile on his face unconsciously growing as he mindlessly twirls a piece of her hair. "you'll have your hair down, and it'll probably get caught in the sea breeze - but it just makes sense to me."

"and," he pauses for a moment, hesitating before he continues. "we'll say our vows twice. one for everyone to bear witness to, and one just for you and me." a vow so sacred and intimate, rafayel refuses to share with the world. he refuses to taint it even a little bit, it should simply be meant only for his lover and him, and his pure everlasting love for her.

"oh." he has rendered her speechless, and now it's rafayel's turn to be nervous, fearing he has made her uncomfortable. hiding the embarrassment behind a scoff, he pulls away with a pout. "y-you were the one who brought it up first!" immediately, she shakes her head and pulls him back into her chest and rafayel doesn't fight his body when it relaxes immediately. "i was just a little surprised, raf - in a good way. didn't think you would've had all these little details in mind already." her voice mirrors his previously gentle one, and rafayel feels his eyes flutter shut, coaxed by her fingers running through his hair.

she hesitates, but braves herself to say it. time and again, once peeling off his layers, she's beared witness to his endless courage so why not walk in his footsteps? "i do hope we get married." her voice is quieter, but it speaks volumes to him. he feels a lump form in his throat at the emotions that begin to overflow within him. he reaches out to catch onto her hand that's combing through his hair and brings it to his chest in attempts to quell the tears that threaten to form behind his closed lids.

shakily, his lips whisper against her knuckles, "in my mind, we already are."

in his world, they already were. how lucky was he to get married to her, again and again, and again.

god, he'd do it a million times over.

[seventeenficsformalereader]

Wonwoo NSFW ABC's

REMINDER THAT ALL OF THIS IS FICTION! NONE OF THIS IS REAL OR REPRESENT THE REAL PERSON IN ANY WAYS WHATSOEVER‼️

Aftercare - How and how much

Wonwoo seems like a very caring type. He would gently clean up everything and maybe even change the sheets if you were too messy. Will give you cuddles afterwards, no questions asked.

Body parts - Fav body part on himself and his partner

Wonwoo likes his hands the most. He loves making you moan and cum with only his hands. Just watching your face as he fingers your hole is enough to make him reach his high, too

On your body, he loves your stomach area. Whether you're chubby, skinny, you have marks or anything like that, he absolutely adores your stomach area. It's also his favorite place to leave hickeys on.

Cum - Where, How, etc.

Like I said, Wonwoo loves your stomach area. That's why he usually likes to pull out and cum on your stomach. He might sometimes also finish inside of you if you ask him to.

Dirty Secret

Wonwoo once secretly took a video of him fucking you from behind and he keeps it in his phone buried so deep inside his gallery that no one could find it. He watches it sometimes to get himself off.

Experience

Wonwoo is the quiet guy, so I think back in high school he didn't get that much action. He probably had your first time with you and he was really nervous. Like REALLY nervous. But he wanted to make you feel good. And he did.

Favorite Position

Wonwoo loves missionary position the most. Mostly because it's easier to cum on your stomach, but also because he can look at your face as he pleasures you. There's nothing better than having your legs spread wide and on his shoulders as he rails into you at an animalistic pace.

Goofy - How serious or goofy is he during sex

Wonwoo is really serious during sex. It's a pretty new concept for him and he holds it as a important thing in his life. That's why he barely teases or jokes during it. He also might get embarrassed talking about it afterwards.

Hair - How groomed is he

Wonwoo doesn't bother shaving down there, but he does it occasionally. He just doesn't see the point since he's not the one who loves recieving oral so much. He would prefer you to keep it pretty clean down there though, because he likes to suck you more.

Intimacy - Is he romantic or rough, etc.

Wonwoo is a bit of both. If he's at a time in his life where he's not stressed, he can be really romantic and pleasure you in every way possible so gently that it makes you cry. But if he's stressed out or has a lot of pent up anger in him, he can and will take it out on you (only if you allow him to, which you usually do. You can't say no to rough sex once in a while)

Jack off - How often does he do so

Wonwoo didn't jerk off before he started dating you. He just didn't see the appeal of it. But after his first time with you, he realized that he probably needs go do it once in a while. He just sometimes can't keep his thoughts away from you and your body and can't help but get hard at the thought of it. Usually just jerks off while looking at the secret video he has of you or just looks at your nudes or just pictures of you.

Kink - What kinks does he have

Wonwoo isn't a super kinky guy, but he might have a few.

Wonwoo seems like the type of guy to like breath play. Something about restricting you from breathing occasionally by wrapping a hand around your neck while he fucks you deeply is what makes him want to continue even more. And the noises you make are so lovely, he wants to hear those more. He loves to hit all the right spots to make the most sounds out of you.

Location - Favorite place

Wonwoo prefers the bed. In his own bedroom. That's where he feels like he won't be interrupted and be embarrassed with someone catching him and his partner in the act.

Motivation - Turn ons

Again, Wonwoo loves the sounds you make. You sound so pretty maoning his name under him. And covering you in his cum is just a must every time. When he sees your body glistening under the dim lights of his room because of his cum, it makes him want to go for another round always.

No - Turn offs or things he wouldn't do or be into

He wouldn't like leaving the bedroom. Having sex anywhere else where someone might catch you is a no go for him. He's a pretty jealous guy when he's with you, and wouldn't want anyone else seeing your body the way he does. Sometimes he joins you in the shower, but only if he's sure that absolutely no one else can get in when you aren't wearing any clothes.

Oral - preferences on it

Wonwoo loves to give you head. He isn't a fan of recieving it.

Pace - How fast or rough during sex

Like I said before, Wonwoo can be slow and gentle, but he can also be very rough and merciless with you. It depends on his mood, and if you are willing to let him be rough. But even when he is rough, he's still constantly checking up on you. If he goes too fast that makes you cry out, he immediately stops and asks if you are okay. Once you reassure him that you're okay, he continues with his fast pace.

Quickie - His thoughts on quickies

Wonwoo prefers to take his time with you, and he usually isn't THAT needy, but if you are, he understands and takes you to a secluded area where there's a little to none chance that someone catches you. He's willing to move out of his comfort zone and fuck you in semi public if you are too needy

Risk - How risky is he

Like mentioned, he doesn't like having sex in public. He prefers his own bedroom or someplace else where no one can catch you.

Stamina - How long can he last, How many rounds

Wonwoo is used to dancing for many hours so he has a pretty good stamina. He can go for rounds, making you cum many times in the process and watching your body get covered in cum.

Toys - Use or Own any

Wonwoo doesn't like to use toys since he wants you all to himself. Except might put an anal plug on you sometimes just to remind you who you belong to.

Unfair - How much does he tease

Wonwoo is a very serious guy. He doesn't tease you a lot, but he might show his weird side for you sometimes, maybe during sex but also just because he can.

Volume - Volume during sex

Wonwoo might let out a few moans if he's close or if he goes many rounds. But usually just gets embarrassed and tries to keep his voice more quiet to hear you better.

Wild card

Wonwoo absolutely loves you riding him. Sometimes he's horny but too lazy to do anything so he makes you do all the work and let you ride him until your legs give out.

He's also pretty freaky with hickeys. Especially on your stomach area. He loves to leave hickeys there so he knows you are his even when no one else sees it. Bonus if you wear a a shirt that exposes your stomach and the hickeys are visible for everyone. He secretly enjoys it.

X-ray - Lenght, Girth, Curve

Wonwoo is a quiet kid. Need I say more? Everything about this man is so big dick energy and he definitely has one.

Yearning - Sex drive, horniness

Wonwoo has a high sex drive. When he's alone with you even for a bit, he will not keep his hands off of you. Whether it's giving you hickeys, touching your thighs, pushing his fingers inside you, grinding against you, or making you ride him.

Zzz - How fast does he fall asleep

Wonwoo is pretty sleepy after being satisfied. He cleans up the mess and falls asleep almost immediately once he has you in his arms.

[unknown-cold]

In this interview Amanda said something that caught my attention. Do you think that in ep 8 Caitlyn will talk about what Jinx did to her when she kidnapped her? Bc Amanda said that in ep8 there's a Caitlyn line that will make us say "Oh so that's why"

Amanda means this line that Cait is going to say will let us know why she was so mad at Jinx in ep 3 and how Caitlyn went completely blind when she saw Jinx in her target and bc of her anger and also her fear and terror of Jinx, Cait has completely lost control of herself in this moment. (there is someone who made a post on this topic @loycos and talked about what happened to Cait in ep3 and how Cait didn't see Vi or Isha in front of her bc of her anger and her deeply terrified of Jinx) I mean look at her eyes and the expression on her face, yes she looks angry but she is also terrified.

This is a natural reaction. I mean for example, imagine that you see something that scares you so much. There are two reactions, either flight or fight, and these reactions always come without a person thinking. At this moment the person is only thinking about getting rid of the thing that scares him, and he does not focus on what is around him bc these strong feelings control him.

Anyway, what makes me sure that this scene might happen in ep 8 (Caitlyn talking about what happened to her when Jinx kidnapped her) is Reed Shannon (Ekko VA) comment when he saw the drawing and said "I thought this was a leak" Reed might be joking as usually, but why this particular drawing and why he chose this word "leak".

But honestly if this scene actually happened and we knew what happened to Caitlyn, it would make us understand more why she was so angry and scared of Jinx when she saw her in front of her and it would also explain why she literally went blind and didn't see anything around her at that moment, neither the child nor Vi, all Cait saw was Jinx, she just wants to bring down Jinx. I mean look at these pictures she is so terrified of her

Again Caitlyn's insistence on killing Jinx in the scene in ep 3 was not only motivated by revenge on Jinx, but also out of fear and terror of her.

And not like those idiots who say that Caitlyn wanted to kill the child on purpose to get to Jinx or even say that she wanted to kill Vi too, or bc she's a cop and the cops kill children and blah blah... That's really ridiculous and annoying!! Bc if we focus a little bit on the period that Caitlyn went through we will see that Cait didn't have time to process all these things that happened to her, from the torture that happened to her when Jinx kidnapped her, then the killing of her mother, then the attack on the memorial ceremony. (I know that Jinx is not the reason, but from Caitlyn's perspective she thinks that Jinx and the Silco followers are the reason)

And in the end I hope that no one comes who doesn't like the post bc I am defending Caitlyn's character. If you don't like this character I don't care, there is no need for you to write a stupid comments. Please don't tire your little fingers if you don't like my post block me this is better for you and me. I will not waste my time responding to you, I will delete your comment and block you immediately.

I am a student at the Faculty of Psychology, and when I talk about trauma and the interpretation of human behavior and reactions, I know well what I am talking about. Bc most of the characters' reactions in this show are very realistic and need to explanation, writers do not want to explain everything in the show, they want viewers to occupy their mind and explain the events themselves (And I still repeat the point that the show focuses on the development and complexity of the characters more than anything else, and does not focus on solving political issues, the show is not about politics, okay)

And btw some people ask me about my opinion of Jinx's character, I have no problem with her character at all, I like her and I understand her condition, when I criticize her actions, it doesn't mean I hate her.

One day I may do a post about her character development and her condition, but I see that there are many posts about her and her actions, and I feel like I won't say anything new about her. Unlike the rest of the characters like Vi and Caitlyn, there are not many people talking about them. And maybe I will make a Viktor post bc I really like the development of his character. When the show ends, maybe I will.

[hasufin]

So, this is a thing.

You might hear pregnant women talk about "baby brain", and observe how someone who used to be the most organized, punctual person on Earth is now scatter-brained and can't talk about anything except their kids.

Baby brain is real. It's literally the mother's brain being rewired to think babies are cute, and to make her a better parent (results definitely vary).

Moreover, other adults experience the same thing when around babies and small children: your brain changes to think of them as adorable little beings who you love and care about. It takes longer - months of being around children to have any effect at all, usually, compared to the pregnant mother's neurological changes which are profound and happen in a matter of weeks. The default for adults who aren't around kids is more akin to a vague disgust or indifference.

Now, I wish to remind folks of that old adage: "The customer is always right in matters of taste." In this case that means if you think little kids are cute and wonderful, you're right. If you think little kids are kinda annoying and grating, you're also right. There's no wrong here, it's just not everyone likes kids.

Now, my own suspicion is, both of these mindsets have evolutionary advantages. Obviously liking kids is a good trait to have for parents and people in households with children. Not liking kids... well, I'd point out our evolutionary ancestors were probably not notable for impulse control, and raising Someone Else's Kids is not an evolutionary win in most cases.

However, in our society it's not atypical for familial bonds to persist across geographic distances: in other words, it's perfectly normal now to not live in the same household as your older sister who has children, but nonetheless to have the social obligation to attend piano recitals or whatever. Which means the adults who aren't enamored of children are reasonably likely to be forced into circumstances which they find vaguely annoying - but not often enough for their brains to go "Oh, so we're in a family with these kids and they're cute!".

So, my very-not-professional thought on this is, if you have kids and want to maintain close personal relationships with childfree adults, you're going to need to consider that the middle ground here is the worst option. Either convince them to get enough exposure to kids that they do get used to and like them, or respect that they don't like kids and try to not put them in a bind where they have to grit their teeth and deal with the experience lest they offend you.

Obviously, that goes for the childfree adults, too - either be deeply involved, or politely decline stuff that's going to make you feel like you're being low-key tortured in an auditorium.

Going to see children and adolescents dance badly, play ball badly, sing badly, play recorder badly because they are young: YES! YOU ARE LEARNING! INCREDIBLE!

[jensengirl83]

Pining In The Pines

Dean x reader

Word count-3843

Warnings- Angst, some fluff

Summary- Y/N and the boys have to go on a hunt in her old hometown. She's not happy to go home, and especially not when Dean makes a comment that brings up bad memories. How will she take it? And will Dean be able to make it right?

A/N- This fills my Secret Passageway square for @jacklesversebingo

First, I suck at summaries 😂 Second, this fic is a little self-indulgent. I've written it about where I'm actually from and the stigma about the people in this area. I really hope you like it!

“So, get this,” Sam started the conversation as he looked at his laptop. 

Y/N couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled in her chest. It never failed. When he found a hunt, the first words out of his mouth were, ‘So, get this.’ That’s how she and Dean knew to stop and pay attention. He had something they needed to hear. So, she tried to contain her laughter and give Sam the attention he wanted. 

“Y/N…Do you have to laugh every single time?” Sam groaned but didn’t wait for a response, continuing with what he wanted to say, “There’s supposedly been a Wendigo spotted in Morehead, Kentucky. Homeowners caught it on their security camera for their driveway.”

“Morehead…Isn’t that close to where you grew up, sweetheart?” Dean wondered, looking over at the huntress beside him. 

“It’s a few counties over, but yeah, it’s close enough. Did you say there was footage?” she questioned, leaning forward to look at Sam’s laptop as he spun it around for her and Dean to see. 

Her breath caught in her throat as Dean put his hand on her lower back as he leaned forward to watch the video. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she had fallen in love with the eldest Winchester. But how was she supposed to be around him, living in the bunker with him, and not fall head over heels? 

It was true that he had a temper, could be a real grump, and be downright mean sometimes. But, over the years, she’d learned that his temper flared most when someone he cared about was in danger. He would be grumpy when the weight of the world had gotten almost too heavy to bear, and he tried to push it down and keep it bottled up. He was mean when he thought he needed to push someone he cared about away because he was the one putting them in danger. To her, that was just the sign of a man who had been hurt, a man who loved deeply, one who cared so much that the thought of losing someone he loved was unbearable. So, how was she not going to fall for him at some point? 

But that’s as far as it went. She would never admit her feelings. She couldn’t. The likely rejection would be her end, and she would have to leave the bunker. She’d rather pine for him in tortuous silence than not have him in her life at all. So, as always, she shoved her feelings back down, focusing on the screen in front of her, and prepared for the hunt she knew was coming. 

“Earth to Y/N,” Dean nudged her, clearly seeing she was in her own little world. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m watching,” she rolled her eyes, trying to hide that she was fantasizing about the green-eyed Adonis. 

“Where was that pretty little head of yours?” he teased, his words making her heart ache. If only he really thought that way. 

“Just thinking of what I’ll need to pack. ‘Cause we’re clearly going to Kentucky, am I right?” she lied, hoping they would buy it. 

“Yeah, we have to check this out. I’ve never heard of a Wendigo this far east before,” Sam answered, getting Dean’s attention away from her. Thank Chuck. 

“There’s a lot of things in the Appalachian mountains that no one knows about. Trust me, you don’t want to be caught in those woods alone after dark,” she shivered at the thought. 

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark?” Dean tried to tease, but she gave him a stern look that made him think twice. 

“You should know that I’m not scared of the dark. I follow you into some of the darkest, creepiest places on earth. But, I grew up there, Dean. It’s not even just the monsters you have to worry about. I mean, there are bears, mountain lions, wolves…” she trailed off, not wanting to mention some of the crazy people that live in those mountains. 

“Okay, okay,” Dean huffed, throwing his hands up in mock surrender, “I get it.” 

“You better. You have to keep your head on a swivel while we’re in the woods. I’d hate to have to save your sorry ass from the real-life Yogi Bear,” she winked, “Because your ass will be the picnic basket.” 

Dean crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed at her sarcasm as Sam laughed. Even though she was crazy in love with him, she could give him shit right back. And to be honest, she thoroughly enjoyed frustrating him. As she saw it, it was payback for him making her love him in the first place. She continued to chuckle as she went to her room to pack. Y/N didn’t like the thought of going home. Too many memories she’d like to forget. But duty calls, so she was packing her bags for the long drive to southeast Kentucky. 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I highly doubt there’s a Wendigo here. They don’t stay in the wide-open woods,” Dean complained while trekking through the mountains. 

“Dean, do you not know anything about the topography of Kentucky?” Y/N asked, shaking her head in annoyance. He’d been in a mood all day. 

“Yes, sweetheart. I spend all my free time studying the layout of a state I rarely ever visit,” his sarcasm made her want to smack him in the head. 

“Well, dear,” she said just as sarcastically, “Kentucky is known for its underground cave systems. You know, Mammoth Cave. One of the biggest cave systems in the world…”  

“Of course! Because spelunking is high on my to-do list!” 

“Oh! Look at him, Sam. He’s using big boy words like spelunking. I’m so proud of you, Dean!” she half shouted at him. Trying to keep her voice down so as not to attract unwanted attention to whatever was out there. 

“Guys! Knock it off. We’re here to kill a Wendigo. Not for you two to kill each other!” Sam exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. 

“She started it,” Dean whined, acting like a child. 

“Fuck off, Dean,” she growled as she walked ahead of them. Leading them to the caves she knew were close. 

Y/N ignored the bickering between the brothers behind her as she made her way through the trees. She loved Dean, but today, she thought about leaving him in one of the caves they found. He’d been an ass since they woke up at the motel, and she couldn’t figure out what had his boxers in a bunch. They’d had to share a bed, but she didn’t think he’d be that pissed about that, but she wouldn’t put anything past him at that point. But, whatever it was, it tempted her to make him Wendigo lunch. 

“Slow down, Y/N. We’re not born and raised hillbillies like you are. It’s taking us a little longer to navigate this hellscape,” Dean yelled, grumbling under his breath about her getting too far ahead. 

Y/N froze. That was the last straw. Yes, she’d been born and raised in the area, but that word…Hillbilly. She’d been trying to get rid of that stigma since she left the mountains, and now hearing Dean, the man she loved, call her that derogatory term was too much to take. 

“Let me tell you something, asshole! Yeah, I grew up here, but I’m not a fucking hillbilly! I’ll have you know not everyone who lives in Appalachia are backwoods, uneducated, rednecks! So, take that term, and shove it straight up your ass!” she screamed, her anger boiling over into dangerous territory. 

Before either of the boys could say a word, a guttural, terrifying growl tore through the darkening woods. Y/N spun around to see what they’d been there to find. The Wendgio was only about thirty feet behind her, moving in quickly. Sam shouted for her to get behind him, breaking her out of her stupor. Once she’d cleared his line of sight, Sam grabbed his homemade flamethrower, flicking his lighter to ignite it, but nothing happened. He tried again but to no avail. Y/N’s screams tore through the night air…

“Run! Follow me!” 

The boys were quick at her heels as she weaved them in and out of the trees and underbrush. Dean couldn’t help but think about how impressed he was at her agility in that terrain. He could tell she’d grown up here and knew her way around, which brought him to his next thought. How guilty he felt for saying what he had. But now was not the time to apologize. Right now, he had to concentrate on not losing sight of her and getting shredded to pieces by the monster on their tails.  

“Here! Guys, hurry!” she shouted, an old moonshining cabin in her sight. 

Once she reached the cabin, she flung open the door, waiting for the boys to enter before slamming it shut, silently praying that the rickety lock would hold just long enough to devise a plan. 

“What the hell happened back there?” Dean asked, hands on his knees as he panted for breath. 

“I don’t know! The flamethrower has never not worked before,” Sam answered with the same labored breathing as his brother. 

“Well, we can figure that out later. Now, we need to figure out how to stay alive!” Y/N yelled, panic starting to set in. 

“Calm down, sweetheart. We’ll be okay,” Dean tried to calm her down, but she was still too angry with him. 

“Don’t! Do not ‘sweetheart’ me! You had no right to talk to me like that!” 

“Look, swe- Y/N, I’m sorry. But I don’t understand why that made you so mad,” Dean spoke as he looked around the cabin for something to use as a makeshift weapon. 

“That was a shit apology, Winchester. Just…just don’t speak to me until we get out of this mess,” she groaned, then mumbled, “If we live through this mess.” 

“Hey!” Dean shouted, getting her attention, “We are getting out of this. Don’t talk like that.” 

“Can you tell me how you plan to get us out of here? Cause I don’t see another way out except through the door that Wendigo is now trying to beat down!” 

As she walked toward Dean, her foot almost went through the floor, or at least it felt like it. She stopped, pushing down with her foot one more time. The bounce under her foot had her laughing loudly, and the boys looked at her like she’d lost her mind. Dean spoke as she started to rip the rug she stood on out of the way. 

“Care to tell us what you find so funny?” 

“This!” she continued to laugh in relief as she pointed to the hatch in the floor where she’d been standing, “It’s our way out!” 

“How do you know that? It could be just an old cellar,” Sam asked, walking over to inspect what she’d found. 

“Well, as Dean so nicely put it, us hillbillies would dig secret passageways to transport the moonshine back and forth without the police seeing them. They almost always lead to an abandoned coal mine or cave opening. Sometimes other cabins.” 

“Y/N, come on, I tried to apologize. I didn’t know it would upset you that much,” Dean threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“Well, it did, and…” she started to argue when Sam interrupted them. 

“Maybe you two can finish this fight once we know we’re not going to die? Let’s go!” 

Y/N and Dean simultaneously rolled their eyes. Sam would have told them they were two peas in a pod if they weren’t in such a hurry to save their asses. Y/N was the first one down the ladder, explaining that she’d be their best bet for not getting completely lost underground, and neither brother disagreed. Dean followed, with Sam on his heels. Once they were underground, Y/N led the way, and the boys were impressed with how well she could get around in the tunnels. 

After what seemed like a lifetime, Dean was going to ask if she really knew where she was going, but before he could open his mouth, they turned a corner and could see a light up ahead in the tunnel's ceiling. Y/N was climbing the ladder through another hatch before Dean knew what was happening. Maybe her nickname should be Squirrel instead of him, he chuckled to himself. As the last brother made it out of the tunnel and into another cabin, Y/N slammed the hatch, pushing an old, heavy piece of furniture over it. Luckily, this one was still quite furnished, with beds still in the bedrooms and an old couch in front of a fireplace. 

“This is home until morning,” she stated, looking around, finding, albeit dusty, pillows and blankets in a closet.

“Better than nothing,” Sam shrugged, walking into one of the bedrooms and shutting the door, leaving only one bedroom for her and Dean. 

“Looks like we’re sharing again, sweetheart,” Dean chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Nah, take the bed. I’ll take the couch,” she whispered, not looking at him. Damn, she was still mad. 

“I’m not taking a bed and putting you on an old debilitated couch, Y/N.” 

“It’s fine. My adrenaline is still too high to sleep. Besides, I’ll keep watch so you can get some rest. You have to drive us back to the bunker tomorrow. I can sleep in the car.” 

“Y/N…” 

“No, Dean, it’s fine. Please, just take the bed. I’m too tired to argue,” she almost begged, wanting to be alone. 

“I thought you said you weren’t tired?” he smirked, trying to joke, but she wasn’t having it. 

“I’m mentally exhausted. I just need time to myself to wind down. Now, please, go get some sleep so we can get the hell out of here in the morning,” she pleaded, the look on her face breaking his heart. He had really hurt her with what he said. 

“Okay, sweetheart. Good night,” he said dejectedly, knowing it would be a sleepless night. His guilt would make sure of it. 

“Night,” she replied, turning her back to him, sitting down on the couch, staring out the window, never glancing his way. The click of the door made her wince as Dean went to bed.

Sleepless night was an understatement. Dean’s eyes didn’t close once as he lay there thinking how wrong the day had gone. He and Y/N had argued since their feet hit the floor that morning. Him being an ass was the reason for it. He hated fighting with her, but when he woke that morning, she was curled up at his side, her head on his chest. Usually, a man wouldn't complain about having a beautiful woman wrapped around him, but it tends to put you in a pissy mood when it’s a woman you love but can’t have. 

Dean was ass over tea kettle for Y/N, but he’d never tell her that. She deserved so much better than being saddled with a man who could barely stand his own company most days. He drank too much, and he wasn’t good at communicating how he felt. He knew that. Sam had told him many times he needed to learn to open up, but he didn’t want to burden anyone with the shitshow that was his mind. Especially her. So, as with his other emotions, he pushed his love for her deep and tried to ignore it. Lately, that hadn’t been working so well. As he lay there telling himself all the reasons he couldn’t have her, a sound caught his attention. He tiptoed to the door, cracking it slowly, and what he saw had him rushing out the door. 

“Y/N, sweetheart, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” he quizzed her as he rushed to her side, pulling her into his arms. Her sobs were what he’d heard. 

“I’m fine, Dean. Go back to bed,” she hiccuped through her tears. She couldn’t tell him the full truth. 

“Obviously, you are the opposite of fine. Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” 

“Hey, look at me,” he whispered, placing her chin between his thumb and index finger to turn her face to him, “Is this about today?” 

“Partially,” she admitted, trying to turn her head back to the window, but his grip wouldn’t let her.

“Y/N…I’m so so sorry. I know I was being an ass, but I had no idea it would hurt your feelings like that. Can you explain to me why? I’m not trying to fight. I honestly don’t understand.” 

“I’ve tried to get rid of the ‘hillbilly’ stigma since I left this place. It's always the same thing whenever someone finds out where I’m from. There’s this image people have about people from the Appalachian mountains that just aren’t true. We’re not a bunch of ignorant, uneducated people who live deep in the woods and never come out. Unfortunately, movies and TV shows have depicted us in such a bad light that most people think that’s all we are. And when that term comes from the man you…” she gasped, catching what she almost said. But Dean caught it as well. 

“The man you what, Y/N?” he asked, holding his breath. Was she about to admit what he thought? Maybe, just maybe, he could try to be better, be the man she deserved if she loved him too. 

“Dean…” she whimpered, trying to turn away from him again, but he wasn’t letting her go now. 

“Uh uh, say it. Say it, Y/N,” he pleaded, his eyes staring into hers, “Were you going to say the man you loved?” 

“Yes! Okay? I was going to say the man I loved!” she shouted in frustration as she jumped from the couch, finally breaking Dean’s hold on her, “Now, go ahead and tell me that you don’t see me that way, tell me that you don’t want me, so I can prepare to pack my shit and leave when we get back to the bunker. Because I can’t stay there and see you every day after your rejection. I just can’t.” 

Dean stood and walked to her as she stood staring out the window, her back to him after her confession. He touched her shoulder, gently turning her to face him. Her look of sadness and despair nearly ripped his heart from his chest. He thought having his heart literally ripped out would hurt less than seeing her like this. He slid his hand up from her shoulder to cup her cheek. A tear trickled down her face as she closed her eyes at his touch, and he swiped it away with his thumb. 

“Is that what you want me to tell you, or do you want me to tell you the truth?” he asked softly, waiting for her to open her eyes, which didn’t take a split second. Her eyes went wide. 

“What are you saying?” she uttered shakily. 

“I’m saying that I love you, too, Y/N. I have for a long time.” 

“But, but,” she stuttered, trying to find her words, “You were so mad at me when we woke up this morning. That isn’t how someone acts when they love the person in bed with them.” 

“Sweetheart, I was mad because I opened my eyes to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen curled up against me, and all I could think was how I wanted it to mean something, and I didn’t think it ever would. If I’m being honest, you could do so much better. And thinking I’d never have you that way pissed me off because I’ve never wanted someone as bad as I want you, Y/N. You’re my first thought when I wake up, and I fall asleep picturing you beside me. I know I’m not a good man, and there’s someone out there that could and would give you more than I’ll ever be able to, but if you really love me, I’m going to be selfish for one time in my fucking life and ask you to give me a chance. I can guarantee that I’m going to piss you off and probably hurt your feelings again, but it will never be intentional. So, what do you say? You want to give us a shot?” He poured his heart out to her, leaning his forehead against hers as he waited for an answer. 

“Dean, contrary to what you believe, you are a good man. You love with your whole being and fiercely protect those lucky enough to get that love. I know you don’t believe you deserve it, but you deserve the world, Dean Winchester, and I’d be honored to be the one to try and give it to you.” 

“Really?” he asked with a million-watt smile, leaning back to look her in the eye. 

“I’ve never wanted anything more,” she returned his smile, both sighing in relief. 

“Come here,” he growled, pulling her face to his and kissing her passionately. 

The kiss was better than either had imagined, and they both poured the love they felt for the other into it. They stayed that way until the need to breathe became too much, pulling away with smiles. He pulled her into a hug, laying his head on top of hers. They stayed silent for a few minutes before Dean broke the silence. 

“So, you want to move your stuff into my room when we get back? 

“I don’t know, Dean,” she pulled back, chewing on her bottom lip, “I really think we need to take this as slowly as possible. Make sure that we’re going to last.” 

“Oh, yeah, okay,” he agreed, his heart clenching at the hurt he felt. 

“I’m just joking,” she laughed, poking him in the ribs, “You’re not going to get rid of me now!” 

“Damn it, Y/N! That wasn’t funny! You almost gave me a heart attack,” he grumbled, not finding her joke all that funny. 

“I think I’m hilarious,” she smirked up at him. 

“You’re something, alright. Now, how about we both try to get some rest? We have a lot of packing to do when we get home,” he suggested, leading her toward the bedroom, “You have a lot of shit. I don’t know where we’re going to put it all.” 

“Ha ha,” she deadpanned, “Well, we could always get rid of your vinyl collection to make room.” 

“Hey! Those are fighting words,” he growled playfully, leaning down to nip at her bottom lip. 

“Bring it on, old man,” she cackled as his eyes shot up his forehead in shock. 

“I’ll show you an old man!” he said in faux anger, chasing her into the bedroom. 

All that could be heard as the bedroom door shut was the laughter and playful banter between the new couple, and that’s how it stayed for the years to come.

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[joicecubes]

my take on this scene (arcane s2 act 2 spoilers. obviously)

if you’re active within the arcane fandom space recently i’m sure you’ve at least stumbled across the discourse where someone interpreted this exchange to be vi “realizing jinx is a better older sister” or something. personally i think it’s a lot less about comparison and a lot more about guilt.

vi has felt responsible for jinx her entire life. she was her protector when they were kids. she abandoned her after vander, milo, and claggor’s deaths leading silco to take her in. jinx went on to work for him. she killed caitlyn’s mother in the council meeting explosion. everything jinx has done and every horrible thing she’s experienced has been a direct result (at least in vi’s mind) of her own failures as an older sibling. and despite her guilt, eventually she forced herself to accept that powder didn’t exist anymore. even more painful, that since she’s the one who caused jinx to be this way, she also has to take responsibility and stand by caitlyn’s side in ensuring jinx won’t hurt anyone else.

but she fails. jinx runs free, vi wallows in her breakup sorrows, and the next time they see each other, jinx… has changed. and she has that same kid with her from their fight. and she’s come to vi willingly for her help.

i think vi is thinking a lot of things when she sees jinx comforting isha. surprise, firstly, to see this side of jinx she hasn’t seen since they were kids. the jinx she knows is a shell of her former self, changed beyond belief, and yet vi watches as jinx softens and treats isha with so much care. helps her dust herself off, says something vi might’ve said to powder what feels like a lifetime ago. “still got all your insides?”

the truth of it is, it’s not jinx being a better older sister than vi was. it’s jinx emulating what vi once was to her, and i think vi catches onto that. she’s watching as an outsider now, jinx and isha paralleling what her and powder’s relationship used to be like and i think it would make sense if the strongest thing she’s feeling right now is longing. how devastating it is that their relationship feels so irreparable, how deeply she wishes she hadn’t hurt powder so long ago.

but there’s also hope in her asking “why’d you come get me? you don’t actually need my help.” sure, she’s still bitter. how could she not be, after everything that’s happened between them? but she recognizes that jinx doesn’t need her anymore, it becomes especially clear seeing jinx taking care of someone else like vi used to take care of her. so why seek her out? why drag her all the way out here? there’s a deep, wounded, guilty part of her that’s desperate for reconciliation, so she reaches for it. especially now that she has no one else.

they make me so sad :(

[theoncomingchaos]

Who loves Rook: Spite or Lucanis

I've been seeing a lot of discourse about this, and I just want to add my thoughts.

I might be totally wrong about this, but here we go. When Spite was put into Lucanis, he was still Determination. The fact that he changed throughout the torture, forced insertion, and imprisonment suggests to me that they have been put into a speedrun of a similar situation to Anders and Justice/Vengeance where they have started to meld. (As Anders put it, you wouldn't know where one begins and the other ends). Just like Anders and Vengeance, Lucanis and Spite can have separate consciousnesses and even disagree about things, but their core values have started to influence one another and become a part of one another- heightening certain aspects.

I think this melding is why we see some dialogues where Rook tells Lucanis that he sounds like Spite and similarly it's also the reason for the shared attraction- which I fully believe is coming originally from Lucanis.

I'll be honest my first time through I romanced Lucanis and was very disappointed. I didn't even see him and Neve ever flirt (she only ever encouraged us!) But still, it seemed to go from 0 to 60 with him. Now, I am on my second playthrough and I only just met him, but I am starting to see some really subtle looks and dialogues that suggest that Lucanis wasn't lying later when he said he was attracted to Rook from the beginning, but was afraid to really pursue anything or even acknowledge the possibility of being with them. With his fear of trusting people, ptsd from the prison, failed history in romance, and his new situation with Spite that he still hadn't worked out yet, he never thought anything would or could ever come of his feelings. We know Lucanis loves romance stories and likely longs for one of his own, but in such a situation it must have seemed truly impossible and terrifying to let someone else in. Especially someone you really care for and are starting to trust. So, he pushed it all down. Rook flirts? Maybe a small smile, but then quickly lock it all up with everything else he can't handle. Focus on work. Don't think about Spite, or Rook, or anything difficult.

However, if the melding has already happened as I suspect, then the feelings Spite is expressing are shared with (and likely sourced from) Lucanis, he's just better at expressing it directly- which makes sense for a spirit that was once Determination. When you first talk to Lucanis after the rescue, the thing Spite says about Rook changes accordingly to your tone, but to me the responses still sound like they come from Lucanis and are then echoed in Spite: "He doesn't want to hurt us." Even the "He's more fun than you" is something Lucanis seems to think about himself as he is fully aware that much of his life has not been his own and believes "all he knows is death."

Leading back to the main point, Lucanis's trust and interest in Rook would be heightened by Spite the way Anders' anger towards the templars was heightened. Even though they are finally free from the prison, their is a sense of constant suffering from still feeling trapped by fear, regret, and pain- Spite feels that suffering too. The elements of determination are still within him the same way justice is another side to vengeance. Both spite and vengeance are the results of failing to achieve their goals of Justice and Determination. Spite sees Rook as a way to free them from pain and restraint, a glowing and beautiful key to the prison door, and he is determined to do what needs to be done to solve the problem. That's why he doesn't hesitate. He has no fear. He wants to talk to Rook. He wants Rook to come in and free them.

After Rook has freed them, they become a source of comfort and safety, once they encourage Lucanis and Spite to find a way to cohabit comfortably, the two continue to meld, and the need to protect Rook, to love Rook, to keep them, is very deeply shared. Now, IF Spite was somehow removed or even somehow restored (Both of which I think are impossible) that would likely change. Determination outside of Lucanis would likely become more like Compassion. He would likely forget the horrors he experienced to return to his original purpose.

So, that leaves some final questions, particularly one Hawke helpfully asked Anders- Is Spite an unwilling party in the threesome?

That's up to everyone's own morality. While both Spite and Lucanis didn't have a choice to become like this, it is the situation they are in and the way they have to find a way to accept and live with because there really doesn't seem to be any real way to change it. Through their time together, Lucanis and Spite have influenced each other and grown into something new. Part of that is Spite also loving Rook. In that way, for those who are feeling (rightfully) underwhelmed by Lucanis's romance, Spite can almost be seen as a symbolic expression of Lucanis's love.

All that being said, I think there were some small things they could have done to make the romance more satisfying over all...but I'll save that for another post.

[therobotmonster]

Once you believe in one kind of magic, it's real easy to think other kinds exist, even if they're blatantly fictional and would normally be outside the kayfabe of the whole thing because there's an actual name on the by-line.

But the 'theology' shakes out pretty predictably. Tricking kids into worshiping the devil because of a tabletop game makes no real sense in the larger scheme.

It's just an easy-to-defeat foe picked by the local would-be-Oz-the-Great-And-Powerful, something that freaks out the parents but has no real money or power behind it to oppose you. They always pick kid/teen interests because the parents don't care about the banned music/cartoon/toy/game, the only people that do are the kids who have no power. It's always "Pokemon is a world of the demonic" and not "your obsession with the local football team is a form of idolatry" because adults, who can choose, might choose to spend their tithes on extra Cowboys merch if forced to choose between Jesus and coach.

And the 'they're going for your kids' thing is just extra grease on the paranoia-to-payola slippery slide.

As the choice of target is entirely cynical and arbitrary, some kind of justification has to be summoned. The motivations of both the spirits and humans involved don't make sense because the problem is entirely imaginary, so they have to bend the world-building to make the villain's plans work in a sort of narrative special pleading.

So satanism can't be what it is (atheists fucking with you because its fun and sets advantageous case law), and artists can't use symbols specifically to provoke and mock, because that would make the whole thing deeply un-threatening.

And worship itself has to become some kind of energy-transfer because otherwise the evangelical canard of being 'tricked into worshiping a demon' makes no sense, and that's their answer for everything from the Hindu pantheon to the Catholic saints.

Lets say, hypothetically, I'm a demon, and I want to get a human to worship me to hork off o'l Nah-way and get him to throw them in the lake of fire. Well, I go to some guy and I say, "hey, I'm a god, my name is Hermes, worship me" and the chump falls for it. Then he builds a little statue (or a bunch of little statues of just a part of someone with some wings) and starts revering it as a god.

That guy isn't worshiping me, he's worshiping the mask I used to trick him. He has no actual loyalty or love for the creature that I am or my goals. I may cost him access to the 'real' theology by providing a fake one, but that's it. This is no different for him than if he hallucinated his own god, or was given a false one by his culture. You can worship something that's not there, but you can't worship something without knowing it.

Unless, of course, worship isn't "strong feelings of loyalty mixed with ritualized suspension of dignity" but instead a form of transference of quintessence from the worshiper to the worshiped. That also gives you a little extra buffer against the 'what if our god isn't the real one" if religions don't happen organically but are instead a form of metaphysical identity-theft.

The problem being that, as Evangelical Christians mostly steeped in the Bible, so most of their world building is only up to the shoddy standards of the thing that inspired it, a book that famously states you can make goats striped by having their parents stare at barber poles while they mate. A book written by a civilization of goatherds.

It's fascinating how a lot of Evangelical Christian anxiety about Satanism seems to be rooted in the unspoken idea that if the Devil gathers enough worship he'll depose God and become the new God, because that's not the party line in any major religion, but it is how it works in Dungeons & Dragons.

[idorukiss]

Heres a sorta drabble/headcanon of sorts of how I picture MC's relationship with Sylus would devleop~ I'm not much of a writer but the brainrot is real and ive made similar ones for the other boys too!

1,035 words || You can also read it on ao3

‧͙⁺˚･༓･˚⁺‧͙⁺˚･༓･˚⁺‧͙⁺˚･༓･˚⁺‧͙⁺˚･༓･˚⁺‧͙⁺˚･༓･˚⁺‧͙ Xavier ・ Zayne ・ Rafayel

Sylus is always prepared for any and every situation that could happen when he works, In all his time reigning over the N109 zone there hasn't been a single thing or person that hasn’t been accounted for to some degree- that was until you showed up at least. Like a black cat, you seemed to bring unexpected chaos wherever you stepped.

Of course he couldn’t help but do everything he can to keep you by his side, not only to be a formidable ally but simply cause he finds you as a whole fascinating. What kind of things will you say next? How will you get out of this situation? It’s like a game to him, one that he can’t predict or brute force the ending to.

While the two of you didn't get off on the best foot at the start, he proved himself very trusting and that he cared for your well being fairly easily. Sure he would take chances to tease you for the littlest things- even creating various situations just to see your reaction to them, but he still honestly responded to your every question and kept you as best in the loop for things as he was able.

It was strange yet nice to have someone like him by your side, someone so strong and confident that you could trust to cover your back and seemingly trusted you as much to cover his in return. It was a dynamic you weren’t that used to yet, sure you had your fellow hunters but no matter how much you fought alongside any of them you just couldn’t find yourself fully trusting in their abilities like this.

The more he got to know you the more he found himself thinking about you and the things you like. Often swiping his card first and thinking later any time your face flashed in his mind when perusing wares. He wonders how long it will take you to realize he keeps all of his estates fully stocked with presents and everything you might need in the event you show up to any of them.

“Sylus? Why are you calling me so early??” “Check your door kitten, you should have a package waiting for you” “Don't tell me its another gun, I keep telling you I can't use these outside of the N109 zone” he chuckles deeply “Well I could get you a gun too if you really want one. But no, it's something different this time” Curiously you grab the box and start to open it “...A teddy bear?” “Do you not like it? I figured it could add to your growing plush collection.” You let out a small giggle “That's so sweet of you. But you didn't have to send it to me right away, you could've left it in my room for the next time I came by like usual.” his voice is soft, almost whispering into your ear “I couldn't wait to give it to you is all. Wont you accept my gift?” Your heart pounds “I love it, thank you. Ill be sure to sleep with it every night!” your face is beaming, he cant see it through the phone but he can surely hear it in your voice.

Any time you find yourself without missions long enough to justify the trip, you spend it in the N109 zone with him. You told yourself at first it was just to keep an eye on him and see if you can catch any weaknesses, but you were secretly excited to be spending time with him even if it was just sitting in content silence together while he worked. And despite his unchanging face, Sylus might’ve looked forward to each of your visits even more than you.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary to accompany him to various events and gatherings, and it was surely strictly for business at first. Now though? It’s hard to tell. Not that you mind either way, it just felt nice to have his arm around you and being doted on throughout the night. When people inquired about who you were, he would usually refer to you as his woman in a more joking way at first, but your heart couldn't help but flip the first time he said it more genuinely. While looking right at you with a smile.

One very late night after attending a party, you couldn't help but doze off in the car on the way back to his place. It was much later in the night than you are typically used to, you don’t know how he can function at this time of night most days. You can’t help but let your mind wander and picture what day to day life with him would be like if you just never went back home.- If you stayed by his side for the rest of time.

He gently carries you inside, but instead of going all of the way to your dedicated room he brings you with him into his. There's no nefarious plans, he just simply wants to have you by his side longer and has wished to wake up to your face for far too long. A faint hum stirs you from your dreams as you are being gently placed onto the comfort of his mattress. A small kiss pressed to the top of your head as the blankets pulled over you before he quietly climbs in beside you.

Did you even wake up in the first place? Even if it was still a dream it meant everything to you, and you reach an arm out pulling yourself close to him and nuzzling into his side. Your eyes flutter closed once more enjoying his warmth as he quietly chuckles to himself and wraps an arm around you in return, falling into a blissful sleep of his own. Neither of you would give up this moment for the world, you were meant to be in each other’s arms just like this for eternity.

He would kill for you, and you would live for him. Nothing anyone could do would predict your love for one another, and you'll continue to defy fate to be with him

[lua-stellar]

Future of Your Love Life Tea Reading 🍵 PAC

reading about your love life in the future, who will be coming into your life, and what will your next major relationship look like? P.s this reading is available as a listing on my ko-fi ;)

Book a Personal Reading <3 My Ko-Fi Masterlist

Pile 1

So for pile 1 one obvious thing in your cup I see is a long line like a T shape, to me it looks like a road cutting through star, cross, envelope, and eye symbols, and then the line branches off down to sun symbol. I feel like this means that for some of you in the future of your love life, you will enter a romantic relationship with someone, you will learn a lot from this person and in return this person will learn a lot from you, you will even change them as a person. I also see a couple of perched birds in your cup, I feel that this means that in the beginning of the relationship things will be delayed, perhaps before you and this person enter a relationship you will feel a couple of delays regarding how they feel for you, if things will go the way you want, sort of like a "will they wont they" situation. I see that this is overcome because you will certainly enter into a new relationship with this person. I see two curved parallel lines on the bottom of your cup, I feel that this signifies that your next relationship may not be long-lasting, I also get Pisces energy from the way these lines look like they are fish swimming in opposite direction from each other, I feel that even if the relationship doesn't last long you and this person will care each other deeply and the relationship itself may feel dreamy.. Now in your tea plate which represents the overall energy of your love life in the future, I see a shrouded figure which appears to be flying on the back of some creature, and also a giant bird flying over it. I think this means the overall energy of your love life in the future is you will have someone sweep in and sort of arrive in your life, it may be just for a moment however.

Pile 2

For pile 2, regarding your love life in the future I see that you will hold on to hope when going out and putting yourself out there, I'm seeing you will have hope for love and you will likely go on dates and go and actively put yourself out there (signified by a horse shape on cup symbol) I also see that you may be held back from success in love because of old-fashioned beliefs, and an inability to change with the times as signified by a dinosaur shape on star symbol. I also see in your cup closer to the bottom clusters of dots, forming a big blob cutting through mars, mercury and Jupiter symbols. I think this represents a romantic relationship you will have with another person, this relationship will be filled with energy and vitality, but will be a short lived relationship. I'm getting the energy that it is more like a fling. Next I see a turtle at the bottom of your cup, I get the energy that this means that you will encounter more love later in life and success in your love life, but it will take waiting. Good things come to those who wait is the message I get from this reading, a turtle is a good sign and an omen for good luck. Now in your plate, which represents the overall energy your love life will have in the future, I see a circle but it has a couple openings. I think that your love life in the future, the energy it has, you will come across a lot of relationships and opportunities for relationships- but unfortunately not much will come from it. Be patient and you will surely experience good fortune in your love life.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Some of my thoughts for your conversation about inaction towards antiBlack/racist behavior in shared online spaces (particularly fandom).

1. "I dont see it / I dont go here" - this was my first thought/defensive reaction and in reading others responses I think its a shared one.

Tumblr is perhaps unique in how purposely you can shape your experience and limit what you interact with. Blocking someone just cause is fully acceptable and expected here.

So, when Ive seen depictions of 'Black' characters that made me go, "Mmm idk man" its been my policy to just block and move on. Less chance of seeing a racist in the tags I like in the future *shrug*

Now on other sites perhaps there is some consideration that could be given to not wanting to boost something racist via interaction...but that's not how Tumblr works. Furthermore your reminder that seeing things go unopposed is the problem hit me like a frying pan to the face. Because...yeah duh.

We know the 'social rules' of this platform, you report/block the porn bots, you dont spam tags for engagement (or report if you see it), add image descriptions, reblog things you like etc. Would it be so hard to leave a simple comment on the things you want to see be changed?

2. "What if I do it wrong/I dont know this fandom/Not my place to speak?" - I firmly believe the main reasons people dont meaningfully engage with posts here or on other platforms is two fold: Responses and Outting.

If you were to post a mild comment saying for example, "Hey, feels kinda weird how you're only talking about this Black character being violent in this show. Why dont you check out this blog post by CBC, a Black artist who really digs into this topic more?"

Now you are expected to 1. 'deal' with whatever that persons response is and 2. Anyone an see and respond to what you said.

I think we generally expect random stranger interactions on the Internet to be unpleasant but, like if we are putting the focus on caring about Black people in out spaces...shits already 'unpleasant' for them.

Its time to start firing fireworks off in our neighborhoods to keep the rents low so to speak. You, non-Black folk (i.e me), dont have to wage endless comment battles with someone who wont listen. Just stating what you are seeing is enough, its marking that post for other people coming along. Forcing the question, "Y'all are we cool with this?"

As for messing up/having a record of things you said someone else might take issue with later on. Yeah but thats already happening whenever you reblog anything.

If you actually spoke out of turn just say, "Im sorry thanks for letting me know" and move on with your life. Otherwise folks on here will actually harass you over your shipping preferences so your rolling those dice already. Why not do it for something better worth it?

3. A Note - Genuinely thank you for posing these thoughtful question and just honestly expressing your frustration/hurt. It helped me think more deeply about some old habits.

Thank you!

Hm. And you're welcome

[codfanficedits]

Before the mask - part seventeen.

Pairing: Simon Riley x Fem!Reader

Summary: Because Simon wasn’t born as Ghost.

Wordcount: 1525| Rating: E! (18+ only!)

Warnings: Just fluff :)

A/N: I am so sorry for dissapearing like that. I graduated in the meantime, landed my dreamjob, I'll hear in about a week if I'm keeping that dreamjob, since I live with a racist goverment. I went to Sleep Token, had surgery again and I started to plan my wedding. Anyway, enjoy this short chapter while I try to sort my life out.

Simon knew that he was a lucky bastard, having someone as beautiful as you next to him. And it made him want to try. He wanted to try to be a better man, to improve himself, he wanted you to be so proud of him. 

So when he saw you, all by yourself in the common area, with not a single soul who could see you two, he knew what he had to do. 

He stalked closer, almost as a predator stalking its prey. His footsteps oh so quiet, holding in his breath, his strong hands wrapping around your elbows, his chest against your back. “Care to dance with me, my love?”

Always." You answered, a soft smile on your face. Your eyes locked with his eyes, and you turned around, placing your hand in his, your other hand on his shoulder.

"Lead the way."

He spun you around in slow, gentle movements, moving your body effortlessly, almost as if his hands weren’t made for killing, but just for this. He held you close to him, resting one hand on the small of your back and moving the other from your hand to your hip. He stepped in time with the rhythm of his beating heart, his hands grazing your body intimately.

When he pulled you into him, you felt his heart beating strong. He leaned in and brushed your nose with his. "Don't ever let go of me," he whispered. "As if I would ever let someone as wonderful as you go." You whispered as you let him lead the way in this gentle dance. 

"I don't think you'll ever get rid of me." He chuckled softly. "That's good, because I can't imagine life without you." He held you tightly. Your hips moved against him in such a tantalising way, your body brushing up against his body. He leaned you back a little, leaning down to kiss you deeply. There was just something about you that had him smitten. "That sounds like a plan." You answered, after pulling back from the kiss, so you could rest your head on his chest. His heart was beating so fast, so hard, that it almost made you worry that it would beat out of his chest. 

"I really love you." You murmured softly as you closed your eyes, enjoying this sweet little moment together. 

"I really love you, too," Simon whispered. He stroked your hair gently, letting his hand trail down to your jaw, needing to see your face once more, his lips lingering near yours. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Another quick kiss gets shared, and you smile at him. 

"I really can't wait to grow old with you." You begin. "To be old and wrinkly and still be yours."

"Old, wrinkled, and in love." He chuckled lightly. "Nothing and no one can keep me from you."

Simon lifted you into his arms and twirled you around, pulling you back into his embrace. His hands gripped your waist firmly, caressing the shape of your body. "I love being with you, all the adventures and surprises. I want that forever."

Oh, how you loved this, just softly swaying with the man you loved most. When you first met Simon, this would’ve never been the way you would've seen yourself with him. 

"Is that a promise?" You murmur, as you look up at him, trying to look for any form of doubt in his eyes. "A promise." Simon planted a kiss on your forehead. "When we're eighty-five and we've had a lifetime of adventures together, you'll be holding my crusty old hand and I'll be thinking you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

The gentle swaying stopped and you looked up at him again. His words made your heartbeat a little faster. 

"You have no idea how much I look forward to being eighty-five and being able to look back on the beautiful life we had together." You whispered.

"Growing old is a privilege and I'll be so happy to do it with you."

"You may have to wheel me around on a wheelchair because of how old I'll be." He chuckled. "You'll be as beautiful as you are now."

And I could never get bored of you. I wonder what you'd look like with grey hair and wrinkles, never losing that beauty you radiate.

"I would gladly wheel you around." You laughed softly, picturing it all in your head. "I'll use your lap as a personal seat every time I get tired."

A brief moment of quiet before you started to speak again. "You'll always be the most handsome man to me."

His lips curled upwards. "I'd love anything if I could be with you."

His hands shifted from the small of your back, sliding up to your hips as he pulled you in for a kiss. His lips caressed yours, lingering longer than you would think needed.

"I want to wake up every morning and see your face in the bed beside me for the rest of our lives."

You took a deep breath, letting his sweet words linger in the air. "What did I ever do to deserve you." You whispered softly as you kissed him again. "Hmm, I think it was just sheer luck and destiny that I got to meet someone quite as amazing as you." Simon squeezed you against his body, letting his hands drift upward, back to the small of your back again. 

"I want to make happy memories with you, live out my dreams by your side. Whatever life throws at us, I don't think we'd mind if we had each other."

There is something so adorable about him, and you know that he is trying so hard to find his own spot in the military, and you also know that he is risking it all by dancing with you like this, with holding you like this, and that makes the whole thing all the better.

His large hands go to cup your face, and he looks you into your eyes, almost immediately making your breath hitch. “Tomorrow, when we are on that mission together, I want you to stay in my direct line of sight.” Simon murmured, just soft enough to hear. “I’m serious, I don’t want to worry how you’re doing, okay?’

It is tempting to argue about it, even though you’ve had this conversation with him before, you’re not a child, you do not need to be babied, but at the same time.. It is hard to put your foot down when he is looking at you like that. 

Like you’re the sun, the moon and the stars all at the same time. 

“Fine.”

And Simon couldn’t be happier. He got to protect his whole world. 

His hands give your ass a teasing squeeze, there is so much that he would like to say to you, there is so much more that he would like to do, but he needs you well rested for the mission tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that it is just routine, he has come close to losing you once, he is not going to risk it again. 

“Get some sleep.” He ordered, trying to be stern. “I need my soldiers to be in the best shape.”

Of course you knew that it would be best to get some sleep, to call it an early night. But who could blame you for trying to stay a little longer with him? 

“Oh come on!” You protest, not really wanting to pout, but that might just do the trick, your chest pressed against his, trying to get him to stay a little longer. 

And Simon had to bite his cheek, as there was nothing he would've loved to do more than to pull you closer, to let you feel how hard you’re making him. 

But your safety comes first, no matter how turned on you’re making him. 

“Maybe you can stay for the night?” You add in a soft whisper, your lips close to his ear, trying to ignite the fire inside of him. 

And dear God, Simon is just a simple man. 

He gives your ass another squeeze. Taking a deep breath to compose himself. 

“You’re being too cheeky for your own good.” Simon grumbled. “But we’re sleeping apart, and that’s final.”

He would've loved to sleep next to you, in fact, he wouldn’t want to do anything else. But he knew that the moment he got under the covers, feeling your body against his, he would be a goner, and he would do nothing more than keep you up at night. And God forbid that something would happen to you because you’re too tired to focus. Simon had seen too many losses to take risks like that. 

So his nose brushes against your jawline as he is breathing you in. It wouldn’t be fair to be selfish, he knows that he has so many more moments like these with you, yet he can’t stop himself from savouring the moment. 

Simon finally pulls back, pressing a kiss on your cheek. “Go on then, before I change my mind.”

[bestworstcase]

So, it should be obvious to anyone paying attention or taking this seriously by now that Whiterose isn't happening. And I mean, they wouldn't really fit with what the show is going for anyways, with romantic relationships, no Ozlem fractals and all that. But it does stick out like a sore thumb, that within RWBY and JNPR they're the only pair of partners where it's not a thing. And I'm curious if you make anything of it, from an out-of-universe perspective, on why that's the case?

well for one thing, i think the conceptual basis for any ship being "well the other three major character academic pairs developed into romantic interests" is a de facto admission of non-canonicity in itself, and betrays a fundamental disinterest in character and narrative. this is perhaps not surprising, as i'm given to understand people have been shipping wr literally since the color trailers, which is to say that the core appeal has always been aesthetics.

full disclosure, my personal feeling is that wr is "man and woman breathed near each other one time!?" for sapphics. it's gay ruby/jaune. the ship isn't sunk, it's dry-docked.

in that sense, the out-of-universe perspective i have to offer is: the difference between ruby/weiss and arkos / renora / the bees is that the latter three were written with romantic intent from the start whereas ruby and weiss were not. i'll grant the possibility that the academic pairings were an inelegant plot device motivated by that romantic intention, but i don't in fact believe that is the case because the one/two/four motif is such a thematic workhorse for the contortions and distortions of ozpin's psyche; i think pairing the romantic partners was at most a secondary consideration. in any case, there is no rule dictating that every academic pair must eventually kiss. that's nonsense.

now. in the more specific sense of "why do these two characters in particular not go together" i think there are two reasons.

first, it's narratively important for ruby to be isolated. she's two years younger and left all her friends behind to enroll in beacon early and her big sister isn't and can't be her mom anymore and she gets paired up with an academic overachiever who initially treats her like an idiot baby who doesn't deserve the responsibility she's been given. ruby surmounts each of these challenges by remaking herself into their serious, competent, trustworthy leader and crucially this does not address, but in fact reinforces, her alienation from the rest of the team.

second, both ruby and weiss are profoundly sheltered and lonely girls raised in environments, denied close relationships with anyone but their elder sisters whom they both grew to idolize, and became, in contrasting but fundamentally similar ways, really good at performing the "right" behaviors—ruby adopting a happy, carefree mask, weiss becoming an overachieving perfectionist obsessed with her family's honor.

the point is, a) neither have ever had a real, emotionally close friendship before, and b) both have a deeply-ingrained tendency to Perform To Expectation. in this i think it is instructive to compare the conflict and resolution between weiss and ruby vs weiss and blake:

blake directly and overtly challenges weiss on her awful behavior until the brick wall of regurgitated bigotry breaks down and weiss starts to talk about the real emotional pain behind that wall, and blake reveals her own secret and then flees in distress, with the result that weiss has to face and think about the pain she's caused to someone she cares about and actually reflect on things blake said to her for a while. and then when they come face-to-face again weiss stops blake from anxiously trying to apologize / explain / appease her and says no, i thought about it, i trust you, you don't owe me any of that. she doesn't say the words "i'm sorry" but her actions demonstrate real understanding and empathy for blake.

meanwhile her conflict with ruby tears down ruby's self-confidence, ultimately leaving ruby receptive to ozpin's extremely destructive advice, and ends because port dresses weiss down and lays out for her in plain terms that her envy and resentment reflect poorly on her, whereafter weiss commits to becoming "the best teammate [ruby will] ever have."

spot the difference. the conflict between weiss and blake fosters a deeper, lasting emotional connection between them chiefly because they're fighting with each other—there's this back-and-forth, give-and-take that drives a resolution from within. weiss has to reflect on herself and decide that what she believed about faunuskind is wrong. and the. she has to decide for herself how to make it right. but that's not what happens in the conflict between weiss and ruby! weiss is just being a bully and gets told by a teacher she respects to knock it off!

and then little miss overachieving perfectionist pivots to "i will be the perfect teammate!" while the lesson ruby takes from this experience, courtesy of ozpin, is that she deserved to be treated that way because she didn't take her duties as the team leader seriously enough. she puts on a happy face and pretends nothing hurts because that's who ruby is, but the resolution here is very much just papering over the cracks.

not to say that ruby and weiss aren't truly friends and don't care deeply for each other, because they are and they do, but the foundation of this friendship is very brittle. on the surface, they appear as virtually the platonic ideal of what huntsman academy partners are meant to be—an unlikely pair who overcame enormous personal differences to become inseparable comrades-in-arms—but that is in large part because ruby's skill in masking problems harmonizes so well with weiss's drive to be the perfect huntsman academy partner.

but they're really not that close! it's a meme at this point for wr shippers to bemoan the dearth of "moments" between ruby and weiss, but that is by design. these are two girls who've never had a really close friendship before performing close friendship with each other almost flawlessly until the wheels very suddenly and violently fall off in v9, whereupon weiss—who is otherwise an empathetic and emotionally insightful person—realizes this hollowness and reflects on her treatment of ruby just as she did with blake back in v1. her perfect partnership has been an emotional burden to ruby this whole time, and she has to face that head-on before it can be fixed.

i think they're probably headed for a serious "we're combat partners who fight well together and get along, but are we actually friends?" kind of reckoning that will undoubtedly resolve in the direction of building real closeness, because maybe they're not as close as they believed but they want to have that kind of friendship.

which is like. you know. interesting. the core problem i have with wr fanon and the general insistence in that contingent of the fandom is that the apparent ideal-partnership is Real and trust me, they're totally in love, we're just meant to understand that they're having heart-to-heart conversations and emotionally vulnerable moments with each other off-screen all the time, the complete absence of this in the text is only because the narrative doesn't have the time—as if the narrative hasn't carved out time for arkos and renora and the bees and ruby/oscar, as if it wasn't a deliberate choice to contrast weiss getting scolded for bullying ruby against weiss empathizing and sharing childhood traumas and deep fears and cherished aspirations with blake and yang. like. come on.

the point is that things were "resolved" between ruby and weiss by external pressures that did not foster any real understanding between them, and then nothing ever changed. weiss' friendships with blake and yang pushed her to grow, to mature, but until v9 she and ruby were coasting on that "good leader/perfect teammate" dynamic, stagnant for ruby and a blindspot for weiss.

and this is the narrative reason why ruby and weiss had to be paired during the initiation. looking at it through the lens of "pairing the romantic partners (and the sore thumb of ruby and weiss)" misses the forest for the shipper goggles tree: the academic pairings are the inciting incident for each main character arc. for jaune, it's the first stroke of the ozlem fractal and the tragedy that motivates the rest of his story. for ren and nora, it's the safety of a comfort zone they'll eventually need to leave. for blake and yang, it's finding each other for the first time. for weiss, it's the mistake that will fester until it comes back to bite her to put all her growth in the interim to the test. for ruby, it's the painful experience that pushes her to take on self-sacrificial heroism as her duty.

it's just a device for establishing character pairs that will facilitate long-term development. that three of the four can be grouped together loosely as romantic arcs doesn't inherently mean anything for the one that isn't; to suggest otherwise is to collapse the differences between arkos / renora / the bees (and also ignore the goliath in the room of arkos not being endgame) and imagine a rule where there just isn't one.

for the sake of completeness i will add that coco/velvet is canon and the CFVY novels make a point of them not being academic partners.

[mistynatruther]

i was trying to sleep but i needed to get this out somewhere so here i am:

with this new scene of young silco and the new knowledge we have of him knowing jinx’s mom made a lot of people who favor jinx and silco’s relationship come out of hiding, so i just have a few words. now this has probably been said before but i have curated my space to not show me much silco and jinx tbh for this specific reason.

so don’t get me wrong. i LOVE their relationship. it has made me cry on multiple occasions. but what really GETS me in this fandom is the romanization of it. and i don’t mean the part where people say their relationship give off weird vibes ( bc i GET that one ) but i mean the people who think everything in the show revolves around them two. that their relationship was the BEST and he cared about her more than anybody and he was such a GOOD dad.

bc i feel like we watched two different shows.

because to me, sometimes, their relationship barely feels like a father/daughter relationship. yes, he raised her. but it’s more than that. silco is a deeply traumatized man who has clung onto a child who he THINKS ( !!!!!!! ) is just like him.

and what i mean by this is:

he projects onto her soooo much. if you remember the scene in the monster you created when he’s telling her that everyone has abandon and betrayed them and blah blah blah… it’s not true! it’s him wanting her to be like him so bad, him grabbing and pulling and gripping onto somebody who understands him. it’s unhealthy.

when silco looks at vi, he doesn’t see felicia’s daughter, he sees vanders. and with that, he sees the betrayal. and it hurts him. vi, unintentionally, harms him in ways that he, himself, does not understand. when he looks at vi, all he can see is the the life he once had and the hurt he now has.

so he’s projecting his pain and trauma onto jinx because she is SOOO vulnerable. she is deeply traumatized as well, but it’s not in the same way silco is. because he says it over and over again, he says that vi ABANDONED jinx when she didn’t. she never did. never would have. he wants jinx to have gone through what he did so he’s not alone.

i think jinx and silco’s relationship is very sweet at times and i could never be mad that he took her in, because in that moment, she truly had nobody else. vi got taken away, her family was dead, where would she go? i mean sure, she would’ve ended up as a firelight probably, but silco didn’t know that. all he saw was himself when he looked at her.

and i saw some people saying he held her because he knew who she was and it was because of felicia, but when you rewatch that scene with the context of him and vander’s past, it’s so clear that vander is his motive, not felicia.

he sees powder and when she says that vi is not her sister anymore, in his head, he believes that he has now found a kindred spirit. someone who is just like him. “we will show them all” he is saying that they will show everybody that it was THIER loss, vi and vander lost silco and powder, not the other way around. “we will show them all” that we did not let this affect us like it could have!

idk rambling is now over. it’s 1am and i work in the morning but i could not get this out of my head.

( also pls don’t take this as jinx and silco hate cause it’s not! like i said i only appreciate their relationship but i appreciate it for WHAT IT IS and not what the fandom wants it to be. i just think they’re interesting and complex and severely trauma bonded. vander is jinx’s dad. silco was the man who raised her. there’s a difference. and yes, her love for silco would be so much stronger bc she spent so much more time with him!! anyways good night. )

[acute-crashout-jeyuso]

Possession: a Jey Uso x Rhea Ripley x Jimmy Uso fanfic.

Chapter 7: animals by maroon 5..

Friday, November 29th, 2024 10:21 AM

Rhea’s hands stilled in the soapy water, the sponge motionless between her fingers as her mind betrayed her once again. The warm, humid air of the kitchen seemed to dissolve as her thoughts transported her back to the previous night. She could almost feel the weight of Jimmy’s hands on her waist, the way his breath tickled her skin when he whispered in her ear. A part of her burned with shame at the memory, but another part—a part she hated to acknowledge—felt a flicker of undeniable lust.

She stared out the window, her gaze locking onto the patio furniture outside. It was such an ordinary sight, but now it felt tainted, holding the memory of forbidden touches and secret words. The patio table mocked her as she tried to shake it off, scrubbing harder at the plate in her hands, but no amount of physical effort seemed to scrub away the emotions. Her chest tightened, a confusing blend of guilt and something far more dangerous swirling inside her.

Her trance was broken by the sound of Jey’s voice, pulling her back to reality with the sharpness of a snapped rubber band.

“Babe,” Jey called from the living room, his tone casual, his words so normal in contrast to the guilt inside her. “You wanna go out tonight with Joe and Galina?”

Rhea froze for a moment, the question throwing her off guard. She quickly plastered on a small, practiced smile before glancing over her shoulder toward him. “Yeah, sure,” she said, forcing her voice to sound light and unaffected.

Jey stepped into the kitchen, his presence grounding her in an uncomfortable way. He leaned against the doorframe on his good side, his good hand holding his phone, looking so effortlessly at ease. “They’re thinking about hitting that new steakhouse downtown. Sound good?” His warm smile should have comforted her, but instead, it made her stomach twist knowing what she had just done just a few hours ago.

“Sounds perfect,” Rhea replied quickly, turning back to the dishes in an effort to hide the unease flickering across her face. She couldn’t meet his eyes—not right now.

“Alright, cool,” Jey said with a grin. He crossed the room and placed a soft kiss on the side of her head before leaving her alone again. “I’ll let Joe know we’re in.”

She nodded stiffly, her heart pounding harder with each step he took away. As soon as she heard him retreat back into the living room, Rhea let out a shaky breath, gripping the edge of the sink as if it could anchor her to reality. But it wasn’t enough. No matter how hard she tried, the guilt, the confusion, and that unrelenting flicker of desire gnawed at her.

“This isn’t me,” she whispered to herself, her voice trembling. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched the counter. She wasn’t the kind of person who got caught up in messy, tangled emotions like this. She wasn’t someone who betrayed the people she cared about.

And yet…

Her mind betrayed her again, flashing back to the way Jimmy had looked at her in the moonlight, his gaze dark and unrelenting, his touch so confident yet gentle. She hated that it had affected her so deeply, that even now, her body betrayed her, her skin tingling at the phantom memory of his hands.

“No,” she said under her breath, shaking her head. She needed to pull herself together, needed to bury those memories and keep them locked away where they couldn’t hurt anyone—not Jey, not Jimmy, and certainly not herself.

But deep down, she knew the truth. What happened last night wasn’t something she could easily forget—or ignore.

After drying her hands, Rhea headed to the bedroom, trying her best to ignore the lingering thoughts that haunted her since the night before. The sunlight streamed through the window, casting warm beams across the room, but it did little to soothe the whirlwind in her mind. She clenched her fists once more for a moment, trying to shake the feeling, and focused her attention on the mundane task of putting the folded laundry away.

But as soon as her gaze landed on her phone sitting on the nightstand, her resolve faltered. She felt the pull, the irresistible urge to check her messages. Slowly, she picked it up, her stomach tightening with both anticipation and guilt. The screen lit up, revealing a notification from Snapchat. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Jimmy’s name.

She hesitated for a moment, her thumb hovering over the app. She shouldn’t open it, she told herself. She knew she shouldn’t. But her curiosity—and something deeper—won out, and she tapped on the notification.

It was a video. The clip was short, but it sent her mind spinning. The camera was angled down, showing Jimmy’s hand holding a pair of black lace underwear. Her black lace underwear. She recognized them instantly. His voice followed, deep and laced with mischief: “They are mine now..”

Rhea’s breath caught in her throat, her cheeks burning with a mix of embarrassment and exhilaration. A nervous laugh escaped her lips as she stared at the screen, the image now frozen on the last frame of the video. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Finally, she opted for a simple and safe 🙃 emoji, hoping to keep things playful yet ambiguous.

The response was instant. Her phone buzzed again, and another message appeared.

“I want more..”

Her chest tightened as she read the words. A rush of heat coursed through her, making her heart pound in her ears. Her grip on the phone tightened as her mind raced. The weight of what had happened last night suddenly felt heavier, but along with the guilt came an undeniable flutter of excitement. She wanted to ignore it, to push it all aside, but his words lit a fire within her that she couldn’t extinguish.

She stared at the message, torn between what she knew was right and what her body wanted. Her thumb hovered over the screen, typing and deleting responses over and over. Nothing seemed right, or maybe everything seemed too honest.

Rhea’s heart raced as she finally opened the Snapchat from Jimmy. Her eyes scanned over the message he had sent: “My mouth is yours… yours is mine.” The words lingered in her mind, stirring something deep within her. A mixture of desire and guilt washed over her, leaving her frozen for a moment.

Her thumb hovered over the screen, unsure whether to respond. She had told herself over and over that she needed to focus on Jey, on being the supportive girlfriend he needed after his injury. But there was something about Jimmy’s words that sent a jolt through her, scaring her slightly. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, but before she could make a decision, Jey walked into the room, snapping her back to reality. “Hey baby..”

She quickly closed the Snapchat app, hoping Jey hadn’t noticed her distraction. He looked at her, his face tired but still showing that playful smile. His arm was still in the sling, a reminder of the accident that had left him sidelined. He walked over to her and plopped down on the bed.

“I’m gonna take a nap,” he said, rubbing his temples. “I’m still woozy from these pills. Help me out?”

Rhea nodded and set her phone aside, walking over to help him. She gently removed the sling from his arm and guided him into a comfortable position on the bed. Jey’s eyes fluttered as he adjusted, clearly worn out. “What are you gonna do, babe?” he asked, his voice soft with exhaustion.

Rhea glanced at her phone one more time, hesitating, before she replied, “I’ll finish up the laundry, then I’m gonna go get my nails and my hair done. It is a mess.”

Jey smiled lazily and nodded. “Okay, I love you,” he said, his voice already fading as he drifted off to sleep.

Rhea leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before she went back to folding the laundry. The rhythmic motion of putting clothes away seemed to settle her nerves, but there was still an uneasy buzz in her chest that she couldn’t shake. As she quietly finished, she heard Jey’s soft snores fill the room. A small part of her felt relief that he was finally getting some rest, but the other part—her heart—felt conflicted. She couldn’t deny the electricity she still felt for Jimmy.

As she finished up, Rhea’s phone buzzed again, another notification from Jimmy. Her breath caught in her throat, but she fought the urge to look at it. Instead, she grabbed her keys and kissed Jey’s forehead before heading out of the room. She needed a distraction, something to take her mind off of her emotions brewing for both men.

Rhea climbed into her prized purple Jeep, slamming the door shut behind her. The familiar scent of the car calmed her, but her thoughts remained restless. She turned on the car and grabbed her phone. She stared at the Snapchat icon, the temptation so strong she could almost feel Jimmy’s presence beside her. The sound of her phone buzzing again broke the stillness. She knew it was him.

She hesitated for only a moment before unlocking the phone and opening the message. It was a voice memo this time. Jimmy’s voice slid through the speakers of her car, low and seductive. “You taste… so perfect… I wanna wake up to tasting you every day.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the intensity of his words, and her stomach fluttered. A wave of heat spread through her body as his voice lingered in her mind. The desire that had been building inside her flooded back with full force. Rhea quickly turned her head, ensuring no one could see what was on her screen. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

Rhea took a deep breath and finally put her phone down on the passenger seat, as if the simple act of setting it aside would somehow make the situation less complicated.

—

Jimmy sat back on his couch, the soft fabric against his skin offering little comfort as his thoughts spiraled. In his hand, he held Rhea's black lace underwear, a physical reminder of what had happened last night. His mind replayed every moment—the heat of their shared intimacy, the way she responded to him. It was a feeling he couldn't quite shake, an overwhelming rush that had him smirking as he traced the fabric between his fingers.

He had done something Jey never could with her, and that thought made him feel a twisted sense of satisfaction.

The more Jimmy thought about it, the clearer it became that he wanted Rhea here, with him, in his condo. Not with Jey, not in Jey's house. She was his now—his possession, his prize to claim. The thought sent a surge of possessiveness through him, something deep and primal. Jey could never understand, never truly see what he had with Rhea.

But just as his mind wandered further down that path, a sudden ringtone broke through his thoughts. He glanced at the phone screen and saw it was a call from his boss, Hunter.

Instantly, Jimmy's demeanor shifted, the weight of the conversation falling on his shoulders. Gone was the cocky smirk, replaced by the cool professionalism that Jimmy had mastered over the years. The switch from possessive to business mode was as effortless as breathing.

"Hey, Hunter," Jimmy answered, his voice steady.

"Jimmy, how's everything going?" Hunter asked, his tone businesslike but cordial.

"I'm good, man. What's up?" Jimmy replied, his mind still buzzing from his earlier thoughts but quickly focusing on the call.

"I've got an idea I want to run by you and Joe. Could you and Joe be available for a video call in about an hour?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, sounds good. We'll be ready," Jimmy responded, his mind now entirely on the work ahead. The business side of his life, the one where he wasn't consumed by desires or emotions, would take priority now. It had to.

"Great," Hunter said before ending the call.

As the line went silent, Jimmy set his phone down on the coffee table, taking a deep breath. The business call with Hunter would be just another task to check off. He had learned over the years how to compartmentalize, how to push certain thoughts aside when it was time to focus on work. But as the thoughts of Rhea and last night's events lingered in the back of his mind, he knew that there was still much more to come.

After some time, Jimmy sat at his computer, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk as he waited for his cousin Joe to join the video call. The anticipation of what was to come had him fidgeting slightly, his thoughts still split between business and his personal life. But when Joe finally logged on, Jimmy straightened up, forcing himself to focus. Hunter’s face appeared shortly after, his expression professional, but there was an underlying excitement in his voice.

“Thank you guys for meeting with me today,” Hunter began, offering a smile. “I wanted to go over your return, Joe, and Jon. I have some good news for you and Rhea.”

Jimmy’s attention sharpened, now fully invested in what Hunter had to say. Joe, sitting across from Jimmy on the video call, gave a simple nod, a sign he was ready to hear what Hunter had to propose. Hunter’s smile widened, and he leaned forward slightly, eager to share his plan.

“Solo is getting some serious heat with his Tribal Chief gimmick,” Hunter continued. “He’s been building momentum, and I want to capitalize on that. What I’m proposing is the return for you, Joe—better than before—with Rhea and Jimmy by your side. The old and improved Bloodline versus the elevated Bloodline, with Rhea as part of the faction. We’ll keep this storyline going for the long term.”

The words hit Jimmy like a thunderclap. His mind began to race, imagining how everything would unfold. The idea of having Rhea by his side, permanently integrated into the group, thrilled him. The concept of the “elevated Bloodline” sounded like something out of a dream that is too good to be true.

Hunter paused, allowing the impact of his words to settle in before adding, “And when Jey returns, he’ll join Solo’s Bloodline. It’ll be a complete battle for power.”

The room seemed to fall silent for a moment as the implications of what Hunter had just laid out sank in. Jimmy exchanged a quick glance with Joe, both men understanding the gravity of the situation. This wasn’t just about wrestling; it was about control, power, and positioning. A battle between the factions, each vying for dominance, and at the center of it all was Rhea.

“So, you’re saying this whole thing could evolve into a civil war?” Joe asked, his voice calm but tinged with excitement.

Hunter nodded. “Exactly. It’s a long-term angle, a chance to redefine the faction dynamic. We’ll see Rhea, Jimmy, and Joe as the elevated Bloodline, but we’ll have Solo pushing his own faction, with Jey eventually aligning with him. It’ll be a complete power struggle. And I think you two, alongside Rhea, can take it to the next level.”

Jimmy felt the fire inside him stir. The idea of going toe-to-toe with Jey, of fighting for power, was thrilling and very line-blurring.

“Sounds good, Hunter,” Jimmy replied, his voice full of resolve. “We’re in. Let’s do it.”

Joe nodded in agreement, the wheels in his mind already turning, preparing for the battle ahead.

Hunter smiled, satisfied with their response. “Great. We’ll start planning the return and by next Friday, the WWE Universe will welcome Roman Reigns once more. I’ll send you both the details. Jimmy and Rhea have a major role to play in this, so I expect full contribution.”

The call ended, leaving Jimmy and Joe to reflect on the road ahead. Jimmy’s mind raced, the sense of power and control only growing as the possibilities stretched out before him.

—

Jey downed his third glass of wine, the rich red liquid swirling in the glass before disappearing in one long gulp. He barely noticed the warmth spreading through his chest. His mind was elsewhere, distracted by the tension that had been inside of him since he and Rhea had came back home, the tension that he pushed aside since Rhea made her choice. Was it the pills? Was it the wine? Was it both? Rhea sat beside him, her laughter blending with Galina’s as they shared a story. It should have been a pleasant dinner—a double date—between Jey and Rhea, Joe and Galina. But for Jey, he let some of his colors show..

Joe’s deep voice broke through the light chatter, pulling everyone’s attention toward him. “Rhea,” he said, his tone casual but deliberate. “Have you gone over the new storyline yet?”

Rhea turned her head, her expression curious. “You mean mine and Jimmy’s?” she asked, her voice steady.

Jey stiffened at the mention of his twin. The mere sound of Jimmy’s name was enough to sour his mood further. He set his empty glass down on the table with more force than necessary, drawing a fleeting glance from Galina. His jaw tightened as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

Joe, unbothered by Jey’s reaction, shook his head. “No,” he clarified. “The elevated Bloodline storyline.”

Rhea straightened slightly, leaning forward with interest. “Oh,” she said, nodding. “I skimmed through some of the notes. It’s a power struggle angle, right? With Solo leading one side and you on the other?”

Joe leaned back in his chair, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Exactly. And you, me, and Jimmy are at the center of it.”

The mention of Jimmy again made Jey’s stomach churn. He couldn’t hold back this time. “Jimmy, huh?” he muttered, his voice low but dripping with sarcasm. “Seems like Jimmy’s name keeps coming up everywhere these days.”

The table fell quiet for a moment, the tension palpable. Rhea glanced at Jey, her expression unreadable. Joe raised an eyebrow, his smirk fading as he watched his cousin.

“Yeah,” Joe said after a beat, his tone cool. “Because Jimmy’s part of the storyline. Just like you will be when you’re back in action.”

Jey scoffed, grabbing the wine bottle and refilling his glass. “Sure,” he said, not looking at anyone in particular. “Can’t wait to see how this ‘elevated Bloodline’ turns out.”

Galina shifted uncomfortably, glancing between Jey and Joe. Rhea placed a hand on Jey’s arm, her touch gentle but firm. “Jey,” she said softly, her tone almost pleading. “Can we not do this tonight?”

Jey turned to her, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Do what, Rhea? Talk about how my twin’s suddenly the star of the show? Or how you’re part of his new little angle now?”

Rhea’s hand dropped from his arm, and her jaw tightened. “It’s work,” she said, her voice steady but cold. “You know that.”

Joe intervened, his voice calm but carrying an unmistakable edge. “Alright, that’s enough. This isn’t the time or place for this.”

Jey shot Joe a glare but said nothing. He downed another sip of wine, letting the burn distract him from the growing storm inside.

Galina cleared her throat, trying to shift the atmosphere. “So,” she said, forcing a smile. “How’s physical therapy going, Jey?”

“It’s fine,” Jey muttered, not looking up.

Joe exchanged a glance with Rhea, who gave a small, apologetic shrug. The rest of the dinner continued in strained silence, the earlier lightheartedness replaced with unspoken tension.

As the night wore on, Jey’s thoughts remained tangled in a web of frustration and jealousy. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was happening just beneath the surface, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. And it had everything to do with Jimmy—and Rhea.

—

The drive home had been quiet, the kind of silence that wasn’t peaceful but tense, simmering with unspoken words and unresolved frustrations. Rhea kept her hands firmly on the wheel, sneaking a glance at Jey every so often. He stared out the window, his jaw clenched and his eyes distant, clearly lost in thought—and fueled by the wine he had consumed earlier. She wanted to say something, anything, but she knew it would only lead to another argument.

When they finally pulled into the driveway, Jey got out of the car without waiting for her, the slam of the door echoing in the still night. Rhea sighed, turning off the ignition and following him inside. The house was dark, quiet except for the sound of Jey’s shoes against the floor as he made his way to the bedroom. Rhea lingered in the kitchen for a moment, leaning against the counter and exhaling deeply.

The weight of the evening pressed on her. She had tried her best to defuse the tension at dinner, but it had been clear Jey was on edge, his mood souring with every mention of Jimmy. She hated seeing him like this—angry, insecure, and distant. But she also hated the way his accusations felt like a dagger to her chest, as though no matter what she said or did, he wouldn’t believe her.

Finally, she pushed off the counter and headed to the bedroom. Jey was sitting on the edge of the bed, still fully dressed, his head in his hands. He looked up when she entered, his expression unreadable. Rhea didn’t say anything, instead heading to the dresser to change into her pajamas. She had already showered earlier, so it was a quick process, but she could feel Jey’s eyes on her the entire time.

Climbing into bed, she broke the silence first. “Well, that was some night,” she said, her tone light, though the words felt heavy.

Jey scoffed, leaning back against the headboard. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Couldn’t just wait to talk about Jonathan, huh?”

Rhea froze for a moment, his words stinging more than she cared to admit. She turned to face him, her patience already wearing thin. “I don’t want to do this,” she said firmly. “I thought we were moving past it.”

“Moving past it?” Jey repeated, his tone mocking. “How am I supposed to do that when no one’s listening to me?”

Rhea frowned, knowing exactly what he was referring to. Jey had gone to Hunter this Monday, pleading for the romantic storyline between her and Jimmy to be scrapped. But Hunter had refused, insisting that the angle was generating too much buzz to be abandoned now. Rhea had tried to support Jey through his frustrations, but it seemed like no matter what she said, it wasn’t enough.

“I’m here with you,” she said, her voice softening. “Not with him.”

Jey let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “Yeah, you wish you were there with him.”

Rhea’s chest tightened, her hands balling into fists beneath the blanket. “You’re not letting the kiss out of your mind, are you?”

Jey turned to her, his eyes narrowing. “Well, it’s pretty fucking hard to get it out of my mind,” he snapped.

Rhea reached out, trying to place a hand on his, but he pulled away sharply, the rejection like a slap in the face.

“I’m literally here with you,” she said, her voice rising slightly. “I chose you!”

Jey laughed again, but this time it was harsher, emptier. His next words were low and biting. “Have you fucked him?”

Rhea’s breath hitched at the question, her heart pounding in her chest. She met his gaze head-on, her voice steady despite the storm brewing inside her. “No,” she said firmly.

Jey stared at her, searching her face for any sign of deception. “I only kissed him,” Rhea continued, her tone unwavering. “And I told you this already.”

“And you think that makes it better?” Jey shot back, his voice rising.

Rhea’s resolve began to crack, her frustration bubbling to the surface. “I told you everything because I wanted to be honest with you!” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. “Because I wanted us to work through this together.”

Jey didn’t respond immediately, his gaze shifting to the ceiling. The silence that followed was heavy, filled with all the things neither of them knew how to say.

“You don’t get it,” Jey finally muttered, his voice quieter now. “Every time I see him, every time I hear his name, it’s like it’s happening all over again.”

Rhea felt tears prick at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I get it,” she said softly. “I get that it’s going to take time, but you can’t keep pushing me away like this. I’m here, Jey. I’m trying.”

Jey turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting hers for a brief moment before he looked away again. “Yeah but you kissed him..”

The words hung in the air, cutting through Rhea like a knife. She wanted to scream, to cry, to shake him and make him see that she was doing everything she could to prove her loyalty to him. But instead, she stayed quiet, her heart heavy as she lay back down beside him. Because… as much as Jey was here right in front of her… Jimmy was right in her mind already.

—

Flashback: 3:26 AM

The soft red glow of the digital clock illuminated the dark bedroom, the numbers glaring 3:26 AM. Rhea lay on her side, staring at the clock as if it held answers to questions she couldn’t bring herself to ask. The steady sound of Jey’s snores filled the room, a reminder of the man she had promised herself to. She glanced over her shoulder at him, his chest rising and falling rhythmically as he slept.

A surge of guilt gnawed at her, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. Slowly, carefully, she slid out of the bed, her bare feet touching the floor. She reached for her robe, draping it over her black silk nightgown as she tied it tightly around her waist. Quietly, she slipped out of the bedroom, her steps light as a whisper.

The house was still, the only sound the faint hum of the refrigerator. As she approached the kitchen, she saw him. His broad frame stood outside by the patio table, his face partially hidden in the shadows. The sight of him made her heart race, her breath hitching in her throat.

Jimmy.

He turned slightly, his eyes catching hers as she opened the door just wide enough to step through. The cool night air from the open window brushed against her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Jimmy didn’t speak, didn’t need to. His eyes held hers as she walked toward him, her movements hesitant but deliberate.

When she reached him, his hands found her waist, pulling her closer with a touch that sent electricity coursing through her veins. His warmth seeped through the thin fabric of her robe, grounding her and unmooring her all at once.

“Rhea,” he murmured, his voice low and heavy with meaning.

She didn’t reply. Instead, she tilted her head up, her cyan eyes searching his brown ones in the dim light. There was a moment, a heartbeat where she could have stepped away, where she could have stopped this before it went too far. But she didn’t.

Her lips found his, and the world around them ceased to exist. The kiss was soft at first, testing, but it quickly deepened, fueled by the forbidden nature of their actions. Jimmy’s hands tightened on her waist, and she let herself get lost in him, in the moment.

This wasn’t the first time, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last. The affair had started as a spark, a fleeting moment of temptation. But now, it was a wildfire, consuming them both.

Jimmy’s lips left hers, trailing down her jawline, and she let out a shaky breath, her hands clutching at his shoulders. For a brief second, the thought of Jey sleeping in their shared bed flickered through her mind, but she pushed it aside. She couldn’t think about him, not now, not when Jimmy’s touch made her forget everything else.

“We shouldn’t,” she whispered, though the words lacked conviction.

Jimmy pulled back just enough to look at her, his thumb brushing against her cheek. “We already did,” he said, his voice steady, certain.

Rhea closed her eyes, leaning into his touch as a tear slipped down her cheek. She hated herself for this, for the betrayal, but she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to stop.

Jimmy kissed her again, softly this time, as if to reassure her. “You’re mine, Rhea,” he whispered against her lips. “My possession.”

She nodded, unable to trust her voice, and leaned her forehead against his. For now, in this stolen moment, she let herself believe him.

Jimmy lifted Rhea up onto the patio table, her legs wrapping around his waist as he pulled her in for another deep kiss. He could feel her tongue exploring his mouth, and he knew that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

He pulled back from the kiss, his eyes locked onto Rhea's as he slowly lowered her onto the table. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her black lace panties and pulled them down her legs, inhaling deeply as he brought them to his nose. "Fuck, you smell so good," he growled, stuffing them into his pocket.

Rhea moaned as Jimmy leaned down and began to kiss her neck, his lips trailing down to her collarbone. He could feel her heart racing beneath his lips, and he knew that she was ready for him.

He moved lower and undid her robe, it falling softly onto the table, his lips brushing against the top of her breasts as he pulled down the neckline of her nightgown. He took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking and biting gently as Rhea arched her back and moaned.

Jimmy's hand moved lower, his fingers tracing a path down Rhea's stomach and into the wetness between her legs. He groaned as he felt how wet she was, her juices coating his fingers as he began to stroke her clit.

“Jimmy.. baby..” Rhea moaned as her legs opened more.

Jimmy covered her mouth with his hand, muffling her cries as he continued to stroke her clit. He could feel her body trembling beneath his touch, and he knew that she was close. He didn’t want to wake Jey up… although, he wouldn’t have cared if Jey saw the sight.

Jimmy lowered his head, his tongue replacing his fingers as he began to eat Rhea out as he got on his knees. He could feel her juices on his tongue, and he moaned as he tasted her. He loved the way she tasted, the way she responded to his touch. Rhea’s back arched at the way Jimmy was eating her out, it was such a surreal moment.

As Jimmy explored Rhea with his mouth, her thoughts raced, darting between the man on his knees for her now and the one sleeping peacefully inside the house. What am I doing? The question echoed in her mind, but her body betrayed her, leaning into Jimmy’s mouth as if it had a will of its own. Jey's face flashed in her mind—his smile, the way his hand fit perfectly in hers, the way he kissed her goodnight every evening without fail.

Jimmy's breathing was steady, his movements deliberate, calculated. He reveled in the way she responded to him, how her body seemed to surrender completely under his touch. The way her pussy ached for his mouth.

This was his moment, the culmination of days of tension. Rhea was his now—he could feel it in the way she clung to him, her hesitations melting away with every touch. She's mine, Jimmy thought, a smug grin pulling at his lips even as they brushed against her skin. Not Jey's. Not anymore.

"You're mine, Rhea," he whispered, and the conviction in his voice made her heart ache.

But I can’t be yours, she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come. His mouth making her body agree to him.

And then something forbidden happened..

She came…

"Jey has never made you cum like that, has he?" he asked, his voice low and primal.

"No," she whispered. "No one has ever made me cum like that."

Jimmy felt a surge of pride as he stood up, his member straining against his pants.

"Good…”

Rhea adjusted her nightgown, trembling slightly as picked up and tied her robe. “I want to wait before we go further,” she had said, her voice soft but firm.

Jimmy had hesitated, his possessiveness warring with restraint, but he nodded. “Okay,” he said quietly, leaning in for a final kiss that lingered with unspoken promises. “But don’t keep me waiting too long.”

As he disappeared into the shadows, Rhea stood in the cool night air, her mind a mess of guilt and desire. She locked the patio door behind her and quietly returned to the bedroom, where Jey’s snores filled the silence.

Sliding back into bed, she lay still, staring at the ceiling as the weight of her choices pressed down on her. Turning her head, she glanced at Jey, his face peaceful and unaware.

“I’m here with you,” she whispered, the words hollow and meaningless even to herself. But the memory of the orgasm lingered, leaving her torn between the man she loved and the man who set her soul on fire.