#almost every project is a learning experience

[sweetromanova]

High Risk, Higher Maintenance: Part Eleven🖤

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Summary: Natasha’s orders: protect the brat politician’s lonely wife. The twist? She might actually like her. (Don’t tell Fury)

Warnings: manipulation/gaslighting, intent to hurt, minor character death, mentions of trauma, general emotional distress, injuries and gun violence

A/N: finale tomorrow?👀

Chapter Eleven

The guest room is too quiet, one of Stark’s minimalist suites high in the Tower.

You’ve been lying on top of the covers in Natasha’s clothes for hours, eyes glassy, still tasting formaldehyde and chapel incense at the back of your throat.

A soft knock, then Natasha’s voice.

“Hey. You should eat something.”

You don’t answer. Not at first. The thought of food makes your stomach hitch but the thought of one more second alone with the silence is worse. So, finally, you sit up. Every bruise protests. Natasha offers an arm, doesn’t insist but you take it anyway, letting her guide you down the corridor like you’re learning to walk again.

The elevator doors part and conversation dies when you reach the kitchen, hobbling into the space with all of your weight leant on Natasha.

Tony, Wanda, Steve, Bucky, each frozen mid‑motion. And at the centre island, head bowed over a mug, is Clint.

Your pulse spikes. The room tilts.

He looks up, swallows, sets the mug down. “I- Listen, I’m so sorry for what happened. I didn’t-“

Your vision tunnels.

“Shut. Up.” You almost snarl, voice flat, shredding the hush. “You knew.”

Clint flinches. “I didn’t know it was you. I never saw a name properly-“

“You knew enough to install them, keep the cameras rolling.” You snap, stepping forward.

“But-“

“You didn’t need a name.” You cut in, stepping forward, your crutch squealing across tile like it’s announcing every ounce of rage you’re dragging with you. “Did you watch me cry on my twenty second birthday when Evelyn cancelled dinner for the third year in a row? Did you watch me drink too much wine that night, slip in the bathroom, hit my head on the fucking tub? Did you call someone? Did you even stick around to see if I moved again?”

Clint pales.

You don’t stop.

“Did you watch while Evelyn slowly forgot how to love me? Did you log the way she used sex as an apology until even that wasn’t worth her time anymore? Did you make a fucking note when I stopped getting out of bed? When I stopped speaking to anyone? Or did you just mute it when I got too boring to be useful?”

His lips part like he might defend himself. He doesn’t. Because he can’t.

“I never watched the feeds.” He insists, voice cracking. “It was a passive protocol-“

“Passive?” You laugh, raw, ugly. “Six years of my life fed into your ‘passive’ little project.”

Natasha moves, tries to settle a palm on your shoulder.

You shrug her off.

“Tell me, what would you do right now, right now, if you found out someone was watching your wife?” You don’t wait for an answer. “Your pregnant wife, walking around her kitchen, getting undressed, vulnerable in her own home?”

His jaw twitches, like he hadn't expected you to know.

“What if they were watching your little girl sleeping in her bed at night? Filming her brushing her teeth, hugging her stuffed animals, whispering to herself about how her daddy saves the world?”

You step closer, eyes locked on his.

“What if they were watching your son, pretending to be the man of the house while you’re away? Watching him cry because he misses you, because you’re out being a hero while strangers monitor his home like a fucking science experiment?”

“Hey.” Natasha cuts in. “That’s enough.”

She’s not unkind but she’s firm. Of course she is, of course she would choose them over you.

“Of course you’re defending him.” You spit, rounding on her now. “Why wouldn’t you? You’re all SHIELD at the end of the day, just monsters in better costumes.”

Nat’s eyes flash with hurt. “I’m not defending anything-“

“You were holding me at night while I was still a subject in your files.”

Her mouth opens, no words. That silence scalds worse than any lie.

Steve steps forward. “Look, maybe we should-“

But you barrel on.

“Spare me the noble soldier routine. All of you know something, whether it’s about me or not. You all know of some mission, deep down that it’s wrong but you let it happen. And every single one of you stay quiet until there’s a body on a slab.”

Clint looks wrecked. Wanda’s crying. Tony stares at his hands like they might explain the universe.

You pivot towards the door.

“Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. Don’t come near me. I’m done.”

Natasha’s voice cracks behind you. “Please, just talk to me-“

“I’m done talking.” You jab the elevator button, never looking back.

“Please, we don’t know it’s safe-“ Wanda this time tries, her voice full of devastation. Because none of them could argue with you, tell you that you were wrong when you so obviously weren't

“Maybe ask your friend about the cameras. He might even give you the password then you’ll know if i'm safe.”

The elevator doors open, even aside you don’t turn your back to look at them, you can’t see them right now. 

And more importantly, you wouldn’t let them see you break.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

The cab ride home was silent. You didn’t speak and the driver didn’t try to make small talk. You couldn’t tell if he recognised you or if he was just so unbothered, that he didn’t care. Every streetlight that passed cast a pale glow across your bandaged hands, your hollow expression reflected in the glass. By the time the car pulled up in front of your house, your limbs felt heavier than when you'd left.

You climbed out slowly, crutches tucked under your arms, your body aching with every step. But it wasn’t the bruises that made you pause, it was the familiar sedan parked crookedly against the curb.

June's car.

Your stomach knotted.

You made your way to the door, already hearing the soft hum of her voice just inside. When you pushed it open, she turned from where she stood near the hallway, holding a folded jumper in her hands like it had some deeper meaning.

She blinked at you, startled.

“I was just- I came to pick something up.” She said quickly, wiping under her eyes. “Didn’t think you’d be back yet.”

You nodded, unsure if she meant emotionally or literally.

June looked… older. Or maybe just exhausted. Her lips were pressed tight in an effort to stay composed, but the redness in her eyes betrayed her. You knew she’d been crying. You glanced down at the jumper in her hands: Evelyn's. One she used to wear on rainy mornings when she worked from home. You remembered how much June had always fussed over her. They'd worked together for a long time.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered. “I know how long you worked with her.”

June swallowed hard but her expression didn’t turn bitter. Instead, her face crumpled in something softer, sadder.

“I’m not crying for her.” She said quietly, stepping forward. “I’m crying for you.”

That broke something in your chest.

You opened your mouth, maybe to argue, maybe to ask her not to but nothing came out, just a tight gasp of breath before you sagged forward, dropping into her arms like a puppet whose strings had finally given out.

June caught you with a practiced steadiness, one hand firm between your shoulder blades. She didn’t say anything else, just held you as the sobs started, shallow, broken then violent. 

You didn’t care that your bandages were dampening with tears or that your shoulder hurt from shaking.

You cried for everything. For Evelyn. For the betrayal. For the silence in your apartment that felt like it might never leave.

“I’m sorry.” You managed between breaths. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“Shhh honey, it’s ok.” June whispered, brushing a hand through your hair. “You don’t have to be sorry.”

After a long moment, she finally asked. “Where’s Natasha?”

You shook your head slowly, still pressed into her chest. That was all you gave.

And it was enough.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Natasha had called sixteen times. Then once more, just in case.

No answer.

She’d messaged June. Nothing.

Her fingers tapped anxiously against the side of her comm tablet as she paced the edge of the breakfast bar. Everyone else had long since cleared out, the tension from earlier still heavy in the corners of the tower. 

The fallout lingered but this was different. You hadn’t checked in. You hadn’t said goodbye.

Finally, with a clenched jaw, she reached out to the agent she’d quietly tasked with tailing you home. 

Natasha didn’t want to invade, she really didn’t. But she couldn’t stop thinking about how fragile you looked, how your voice shook in the med bay, how tightly you’d held Evelyn’s ring before slipping it into your coat pocket.

“She got in a cab an hour ago.” The agent confirmed over the line. “Dropped her just outside her place. I think she went inside. No movement since.”

Natasha hesitated for a second, before picking up the phone to make a call she never thought she would.

She didn’t speak, didn’t explain, just quietly said: “Get me the link.”

It didn’t feel right. But it felt necessary.

She entered the credentials with reluctant fingers. The camera feed buffered once before revealing your living room, dimly lit by the flickering light of a small television screen. The feed had no sound currently, just soft, muted light and the shadows of two women sitting on the couch.

You and June were curled side by side, wrapped in a throw blanket, a pair of mismatched mugs resting on the coffee table. You were barefoot, knees pulled up, hair damp from a shower. You looked small but not crumbling. Tired but safe. An old movie, black and white, danced faintly across your faces.

Natasha watched the way June handed you a box of tissues gently, like she’d done it a hundred times before. She watched the way your head dropped against her shoulder. A deep, human ache bloomed low in her chest.

She whispered to no one. “At least you’re not alone.”

Still, it stung, watching through a lens instead of being the one sitting beside you, being the one you leaned on.

She closed the laptop softly and let her forehead rest against her folded hands.

You were okay. For now.

And maybe that had to be enough tonight.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

June’s voice had been patient for three days now, since you came back home. Too patient.

"She’s fine, Natasha."

"I’m here, she’s safe."

"No, she doesn’t want to talk."

But today, the restraint in her voice had slipped into something cooler. Not rude, not angry but tired. A soft wall going up.

You were already halfway down the hallway when you heard June on the phone again, her voice a little more clipped than usual.

"Yes, she’s still here… no. I haven’t left her alone. No, I’m not giving you a play by play-“

Your blood boiled before you even reached the room.

You snatched the phone right from June’s hand.

“You really can’t help yourself, can you?” You snapped, pacing the living room like a storm cloud with teeth. 

“You need to know where I am, what I’m doing, if I’m breathing?! What is this, new surveillance with a softer font?”

The line was silent.

“You don’t get to check in like I’m a fucking experiment, Natasha. You, SHIELD and the rest of the righteous bunch need to leave me alone.”

You didn’t wait for her to answer. You hung up.

Something in you snapped then.

You stood in the middle of the quiet, elegant living room, the one Evelyn always insisted stay tidy even when no one visited and you scanned the corners. The edges. The seams.

It was like your eyes just knew.

You crossed to the antique bookshelf, yanked a first edition from the shelf and found a glinting pinhole buried behind the spines. Without thinking, you grabbed the fire poker from beside the hearth and smashed the whole shelf down. A vase shattered. A sculpture toppled.

The rage felt holy.

You ripped a painting from the wall, behind the frame, another glint of black plastic and wire. Crash.

You stalked into the hallway, pulled down the ornate sconce Evelyn insisted was imported from Paris. Another camera. You brought the poker down again and again until glass and metal screamed.

The camera in the chandelier came down with the crash of crystal.

You were laughing now, wild, breathless laughter laced with tears. You passed the mirror near the foyer and your reflection startled you. Red-faced. Shaking. Alive.

But god, did it hurt.

June stood in the archway, a hand clutched to her chest, unsure whether to step in.

You held the poker in both hands, like a weapon and a lifeline.

“She said she didn’t know.” You murmured, voice trembling. “She said she didn’t know.”

The room was still, cameras gone.

But you’d never felt more watched.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

The funeral was a labyrinth of cold protocol and hollow rituals, each moment choreographed to honour a senator, not a woman you once knew. You moved through it like a ghost, your steps measured, your face a mask carved from grief and obligation. June’s steady presence was the only anchor in a sea of strangers and silent watchers.

The ornate hall brimmed with polished floors and towering pillars draped in black velvet, the scent of lilies sharp in the air. The murmurs of the crowd faded into a dull roar in your ears as the ceremony began, the flag-draped casket gleaming under the harsh lights, military officers standing like statues beside it. Every note from the somber band cut deeper than the last, a soundtrack to a loss that no words could truly hold.

There was no family here. No mother weeping openly, no brother stoic but trembling. No sister clutching a handkerchief. There was no one. It had always just been you and Evelyn against the world. Until it wasn’t. And now more than ever it was just you and the sea of faces that barely registered your presence beyond the expected widow’s role.

Work colleagues you barely recognised offered empty condolences, their eyes darting away quickly, as if afraid to look too long at the woman who had been married to Evelyn Prescott. Politicians in tailored suits whispered behind gloved hands, their concern mingled with calculation. This was not about mourning, it was a carefully curated spectacle.

You caught yourself wondering, not for the first time, if Evelyn had ever cared for you as deeply as the world believed. Or if you had been just another piece in the game, a role to play, a mask to wear. Has she spoken about you fondly at work? Had she proudly announced you as her wife when asked?

Your gaze drifted across the room and landed on the red head you knew would be here, Natasha. She stood near the back, hands folded tightly, eyes sharp and assessing with the rest of them. Your chest tightened. You hated her for showing up, for making this moment less yours. But even in your fury, a pang of relief flickered, maybe not all of them had abandoned you.

You thought about how Evelyn would have wanted this day to look, perfect, controlled, dignified. And so you swallowed the scream rising in your throat, settled the raw edges of your heartbreak beneath the polished veneer and became the widow everyone expected.

June squeezed your hand gently, her touch a small comfort in a room filled with cold strangers. You gave her a faint, grateful smile, but your mind was elsewhere, replaying every memory, every slight, every moment you stayed when you should have run.

The press cameras clicked relentlessly, capturing the mournful widow for the endless news cycle. You felt their eyes as sharp as daggers, judging, dissecting but you did not falter. This was your last performance, the final act in a story that had cost you everything.

You step forward, the murmurs quieting as all eyes turn to you. Your voice is steady, but each word carries the weight of every stolen moment, every broken promise.

“Evelyn Prescott was a force, a woman who carried the world on her shoulders, who fought battles most of us could never see. She was brilliant, fierce, and yes, complicated. She was a public figure but also a person, flawed, human  and sometimes... unreachable.”

A pause. You breathe through the sting of tears threatening to fall.

“Those of us who loved her, or thought we did, know that the life she led was not an easy one. It demanded sacrifices and sometimes, those sacrifices were born alone. Sometimes the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows.”

Your gaze sweeps the room, briefly catching the faces of colleagues who nod solemnly and the quiet understanding in a few eyes tells you they see beyond the headlines.

“I won’t pretend that everything was perfect. I won’t pretend that I was always enough or that she was always there. But I will say this, love, in all its forms, is complicated. And it’s worth every bit of the pain. She was worth every bit of the pain.”

You step back, the room silent but charged, a raw truth laid bare amid the expected platitudes. Had they expected you to go up there and scream and cry for a wife that they knew was never there for you? That one the same day it happened, she pushed you away while you were bloody and bruised? That half of them hadn’t seen the looks she gave journalists or eager interns, ready to please?

As the ceremony ended and people began to file past, you saw Natasha���s eyes meet yours briefly. No words were spoken but the unspoken weight hung heavy between you. A promise? An apology? Or just a reminder of everything left unsaid?

You turned away, the weight of the moment pressing down and forced yourself to move forward, alone.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

The house feels unbearably quiet once June leaves, the soft click of the front door echoing like a final punctuation mark to the day’s performance. You had made the older woman go home, take some rest, take as much time as she needed but you knew she’d be back the next day.

You stand there for a moment, the weight of the funeral pressing on your chest before sinking down onto the couch. The silence presses in on you, thick and suffocating.

Then there’s a sharp knock at the door.

Your heart jolts. Who else would be here? You didn’t expect anyone. You weren’t ready for anyone. But deep down, you knew there would only be one person who’d come to your front door.

You open the door to obviously find Natasha, standing there, her expression carefully unreadable but her eyes softening when they meet yours.

“I thought you might need someone.” She says, quietly.

You hesitate, the urge to slam the door warring with the desperate need for something, anything, other than solitude.

After a long breath, you step aside.

She steps in, and for the first time in days, the silence between you isn’t so heavy.

The soft click of the door closing behind her like a final punctuation. You don’t bother to look up. Instead, your hands find the bottle of wine on the counter. You crack it open, tilt it back and drink straight from the neck, the harsh liquid burning your throat but somehow grounding you.

After a long swallow, you finally break the silence, your voice low, shaky but deliberate. “Do you feel it too? That… invasion? That violation?”

You push the bottle of wine towards her.  “Like they’re crawling into my skin, watching me when I was… broken. Helpless. Agents were basically standing over my bed, watching me... watching you... watching us... ruin me in my own sheets.”

Your eyes flick to Natasha, challenging, desperate for some kind of response.

She steps closer, the air between you thickening. Her eyes are sharp, fierce with something like quiet anger and concern. “You’re letting this consume you.” She says, voice firm but not unkind. “It’s twisting you up inside. You can’t drown yourself in this.”

You laugh, a bitter, hollow sound that echoes in the quiet room. 

“I’m serious.” She’s almost telling you off and for a second, in your clouded mind, it hits.

“You need to tell me or June, what you need. You need help and we want to help you.”

“You want to help?”

“You know I do.”

“Fine. Then help me forget, Tasha.” You move closer, sudden desperate hands tugging her blazer into your hands. “Just for a little while. Take my mind off this mess. Take me out of my skin. Like you used too.”

She frowns, scanning your face, seeing the jagged edges beneath the bruises, the raw ache behind your glare. “Not like this.” She says, voice dropping to something gentler but still resolute. “I’m here for you but-“

You finally meet her gaze and something cracks inside you, a flicker of vulnerability shining through the armour of rage and pain. Your voice softens, almost pleading. “Please. Just for tonight. I need you to- I need you to make it stop. Just shut it all off. Make me forget who I am, where I’ve been. What I lost.”

“I-“

“Not Evelyn, I lost her a long time ago…” You breathe, body pressed up against her own now. “You. In all of this, I lost you.”

Natasha hesitates for a moment then reaches out, resting her hand lightly on your arm. The touch is grounding, steady. “Okay.” She whispers. “I’ve got you.”

You let out a shaky breath and for the first time since everything fell apart, you lean into her, the only person who had been there, the only one you trust to hold the shards of you together.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Her hand lingers on your arm, thumb brushing over the skin in small, anchoring circles. You lean into it without realising, exhausted from pretending you could carry the weight alone. Your eyes flutter closed, just for a second, just to feel something steady.

When you open them, she's closer. Her other hand comes up, knuckles ghosting along your jaw.

“You sure?” she asks, quiet, deliberate.

You nod. “Please.”

She leans in slowly, giving you every chance to pull away but you don’t. You meet her halfway, a breath, a pause, then your lips touch, and it's soft at first. Hesitant. Searching.

Then something shifts.

It deepens. Not just the kiss, but everything beneath it, grief, longing, shame, want. The way her hands find your waist, the way yours twist into the collar of her jacket like you might fall apart if you let go.

Clothes fall away in pieces, not rushed, but necessary. She moves with care, her touch never demanding, never assuming, just there, grounding you in this one small moment where you aren’t a headline or a ghost or collateral.

You're just wanted.

The sheets catch your knees as she lays you back. Her mouth finds your throat, your collarbone, a quiet whisper against your skin. “I’ve got you.”

And for the first time in what feels like forever in this circus, you believe it.

[museofzia]

stop being afraid of your confidence

one of the problems i had when i began reality shifting was that i constantly believed that my confidence of "i'm going to shift tonight" will end in disappointment. however, this didn't just go for self assurance, but also other aspects.

i would spend most of my time researching, not to learn new things, but to reassure myself. i didn't believe in myself or the information i was receiving as well as i wished to.

my completely false narrative that everything has to go one way to work properly was what held me down. instead of making my current mindset and preparing my comfort to move forward, i constantly tried to change, believing that all i need to shift is far from who i actually am and what i have.

idolization

maybe there's that one influencer who posts shifting content that shares information and experiences, and you envy them. heavily. the truth is, no matter how much you try to follow their advice and shift in the way that they do, you'll always be reminded that you don't know them. their intention is likely to help you pick up some different advice and experiment with what you have, but if your immediate instinct is to try to integrate into their routines and headspace instead of employ yours, you're putting in more unnecessary work to adapt a mindset you don't even know the half of. sounds tedious, right?

doubt

doubt can be rooted into past misinformation, unlikelihood, people doubting you, and more. the thing about doubt is, most shifters do almost anything to try their best to get away from it-- the biggest thing is, suppressing it. DO NOT DO THIS. suppressing your feelings will let them grow in an untouched area of your mind; allowing these feelings to nurture and stick to every new piece of information you have will eventually intoxicate the open-wonder you have to new ideas. instead, begin to find out where this doubt lies. is it in yourself? is it in shifting as a whole? if it's in shifting, then begin looking into not only shifting, but relating topics. multiverse travel in buddhism, the multiverse theory, astral projection, quantum theory, quantum immortality, and more. these are not the exact same as shifting, but fall under the same idea of travel between multiverses. these relating explanations and theories will help you put the dots together. if your doubt lies in yourself and what you are capable of, realize that this isn't a situation of moving houses-- you are able to shift anytime and anywhere. you don't need a comfortable bed and 2L of water to shift your awareness. you don't even need a script. it's a matter of assuming and settling in. you are in your desired reality, just as much as you're in this one.

a need for routine

know- you don't *need* a full blown method, meditation, or routine in order to reality shift. you don't need to know exactly how your room will look, how you will look, how your house will look-- it's nice to know these things, but they aren't completely needed. when you take a nap, you automatically assume that you'll wake up in the same space, same reality. you don't think anything of it. assume you're waking up in your desired reality. as you close your eyes, simply acknowledge and regard your desired reality as the reality you're going to be in. think of when you'll wake up, and where. understand the process, there is no almost. the biggest thing is, this reality won't feel new or unfamiliar. because it isn't. you're just as fond of that reality as this one, because you've grown up in there too. that reality is yours.

do not nurture a mindset of common doubt. it won't help you. you deserve to shift just as much as the next person.

you're not special.. you shift too.

Love, Zia

[sweeheeheehee]

first time? ⭑ heeseung

| in which.. heeseung, the known player, discovers his interest in the girl in the back of his english class..

| playboy!heeseung x virgin!reader ₊ highschool au ₊ reader is a inexperienced loser ₊ smut warnings: dom!heeseung oral (fem. receive) tongue fucking fingering virginity loss p in v rough sex unprotected sex (wrap it b4 you tap it) petnames multiple oragasms cumming inside heeseung is pussy drunk for a second dumbification creampie breeding kink dirty talk lots of kissing a bit of aftercare

| i didn’t bother to proofread this cause i got lazy so if it’s bad then eat my ass but lmk if you guys would like an aftermath cause honestly i would LOVE to write one!! enjoy!

You don’t have any experience with boys. You’ve never even had your first kiss, haven’t even held a guys hand before. You can’t talk to anyone opposite gender without buffering and literally running away.

Exactly what you are is considered lame. a virgin.

What can you do? you can’t help but be a nervous wreck whenever you’re approached by a guy!

So what makes your english teacher think assigning YOU and lee heeseung, the schools most known playboy, on a project together would be a good idea?

You’ve heard things about him from girls he’s hooked up with. You heard a girl say he “fucked her so good she passed out” you wondered if that could actually happen..

“Mr. smith out of all the students in the class, you chose to partner me with heeseung? we are complete opposites!” You complained, in hopes of getting a partner change.

“Yn, heeseung needs this! he’s almost failing my class and you’re the top student! i need you to help him boost his grade because i cannot have him failing this class!” you let out a heavy sigh as your teacher picked up his bag and left the classroom, leaving you alone.

You’re so fucked. Working with heeseung would mean distraction and distraction means no work, excluding the fact you could barely look him in the eye.

“Fuck..” You huffed.

“What’s got you in a tangle hm?”

A very familiar voice sounded from the doorway. “What are you doing in here alone anyway?” heeseung asks, stepping into the classroom.

You turn to him, your eyes widened from his surprise attack, “Uh-“ “Aren’t we partners on this english project thingy? Good, i need a good grade in this class or i’ll fail”

Heeseung eyed you, examining your every move. Every little twitch of your finger, when you bit your lip softly, the way you blinked excessively when his eyes met yours. Heeseung waited for a response while you just stared at him nervously.

Another beat of silence passes and heeseung looks away with a “tsk”.

“Good talk! uh anyway we can start working tomorrow night at my place just come anytime after five” heeseung says as he gives you a piece of paper with his address on it. “see ya later cutie”

“cutie” ??? he found you cute even though you barely even made a peep while he was talking to you..

oh you’re so definitely fucked.

The project actually didn’t seem too hard, you could do this by yourself but mr. smith just had to put everyone in pairs. Why did it have to be you to boost his grade up anyway? There were plenty of other students who were more than willing to tutor heeseung.

You shouldn’t be the one responsible for his grade, it was his fault he didn’t try to pay attention in class nor do his work. And plus heeseung wasn’t going to help you do the assignment! All he’s gonna do is sit back on his phone while you do his part.

He won’t even learn anything and the teacher knew this so why did he partner you up? You don’t know.

You paced back and forth in your room debating if you should show up early or late. You didn’t even want to go but mr. smith gave you such little time to complete this assignment.

You must’ve taken too long overthinking because the next moment you glanced at the clock it was 7. Great, now you’re gonna show up to his house late late amazing!

You quickly grabbed your keys along with your school bag and shoved the piece of paper into your pocket, running out the door alerting your roommate you’ll be back. You punched his address into the gps and started to make your way there.

On the road, you hoped you didn’t make a fool of yourself, you didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of heeseung because he’s the type to tell his friends about it.

Gosh, you couldn’t be anymore unlucky, you’re seriously dreading meeting up with heeseung in private. Your stomach felt uneasy due to the nervousness building up, who knew heeseung would make you feel this way?

Why didn’t you say “no” to meeting up? Gosh you’re so stupid. Okay, you seriously need to calm down it’s just one meet up! It can’t be that bad.. right..?

It was about 7:15 by the time you finally arrived at his house. Taking deep breaths, you gathered all the courage you had and made your way to his front door.

With a sigh, you knocked once, twice, should you knock a third time? Would that seem desperate? Yea that’s definitely too much. But he hasn’t answered the door yet? Maybe you should knock ag-

Before you could finish your thought, the door swung open revealing heeseung. He had on grey sweatpants that hung loosely off his hips along with a baggy white tee. He looked good.

“Took you long enough! was starting to think you weren’t gonna show” Heeseung says with a grin as he looked at you like you were his lunch. “Uh yeah sorry i uhm lost track of time! haha..” Heeseung lets out a breathy laugh and moves aside to let you in.

“My roommates are out of town for a little while so we can work in my room” “oh okay..” In his room? You really could just work in the living room.

You felt all the nerves as heeseung led you to his room. You tried to mentally calm yourself because you’re only here to work, nothing else. You do your roles for tonight and then you’re out of here.

Heeseung’s room was surprisingly clean, his bed was made, his collection of keyboards was organized in a particular way, and there were no clothes on the floor nor any food.

It smelt strongly of his cologne but it was oddly comforting.

He plopped down on his bed, quickly kicking his legs up and getting comfortable while you just stood at his door awkwardly.

“Don’t be a stranger baby,” heeseung says while patting the spot next to him.

You laugh nervously before walking towards him cautiously as if he were a dog about to snap any minute. He examined your every step, smirking.

You sit on the side of his bed with your back facing him and pulled out your laptop from your bag, “The sooner we start to work, the sooner we’re done! lets start”

He only lets out a quiet chuckle. It was so faint you barely heard it. But you did.

The assignment was something about historical figures, you two got assigned William Shakespeare and both of you had to study this and that about him.

You were too busy reading and typing away that you didn’t notice heeseung hadn’t been typing the whole time.

He was just.. sitting there and staring at you.

You could feel his eyes burning holes through the back of your head, his breathing heavy.

Your fingers came to a slow stop, “Uhm.. how’s your part going..?” You ask while slowly turning to him.

As soon as you turned to him, your eyes met and you felt your body go weak for a moment.

“This is boring. I don’t want to do this” heeseung whined like a child and pushed his laptop away from him.

“I- Uhm-“ You cleared your throat. “Well you have to do your part in order to get a good grade heeseung, you said you had to get a good grade or you’d fail..” Your voice came out weak and unsteady as you struggled to hold eye contact.

Heeseung only let out a groan and sat up, now face to face with you. “You know.. i have something more fun to do”

You knew exactly where this was leading, and you didn’t want to let it happen.

“Heeseung, we only have a few days to complete this assignment so please no foolish acts..”

With another breathy laugh he replied, “I promise to do my work if you let me show you how much fun we can have, hm princess?”

Your eyes slightly widened at the change of his tone your heart started to beat faster, “heeseung.. p-please.. let’s just get our work done..”

Your mouth was slightly ajar as you felt your eyes start to water from how nervous you were. Heeseung was slowly moving closer to you, his gaze switching from your eyes to your lips.

“Cmon princess, it’s not gonna be that bad.” He places his hand on your chin, his face now inches from yours.

When you don’t dismiss his suggestion, he takes that as a sign and finally leans in and presses his lips against yours.

Your eyes instinctively shut as his other hand went to hold your waist from behind. The position you two were in made it uncomfortable.

You were too much in shock to try to kiss back, you two just sat there with your lips connected.

He pulled away after a minute and looked into your eyes admirably. “so pretty”

Heeseung guided you to lay on your back so he was now in between your legs hovering above you.

He leaned back in and this time you kissed back. It was soft and careful, like you were something fragile.

His hand suddenly gripped your hip firmly, earning a tiny gasp from you, and heeseung took that as an opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth.

The assignment was long forgotten as the kiss grew deeper and needy.

His hand gripping your hip suddenly pulled you closer to his body, letting you feel his hard cock through his pants.

The sudden pressure caused you to whimper into his mouth as your hips involuntarily grind down on him again. 

He pulled away with a string of saliva stretching from your mouth to his.

“Slow down princess, i wanna taste you first” Heeseung speaks lowly before his lips attach to your neck, sucking and nibbling. Your hands tangle into his locs, the feeling of his hands and mouth on you becoming overwhelming.

One of his hands on your hips move to the bottom of your shirt, slowly pulling it up. “H-heeseung.. i’ve never done anything like this before..” You whisper out.

He pulled away just enough to look you in the eye, “I’ll take care of you pretty, just let me do the work.”

With that, he starts to pull your shirt over your head and you arch of the bed slightly to help him.

Once your shirt was off, he tossed your shirt somewhere on the ground as he admired your tits, “Fuck.. they’re perfect baby..” He whispered and leaned in to start kissing and sucking marks on the exposed skin.

Your hands that are in his hair slightly tug on the strands, causing him to groan.

His hand slides behind you to unclip your bra sending shivers down your spine. Your tits spill out as soon as he removes the restraint and again tossing it with your shirt.

He pulls back to get a good look at your chest, licking his lips “You’re fuckin’ perfect”

Heeseung dives back in and starts sucking on your nipple, the sensation causing waves of pleasure to course through you.

“Oh my… heeseung” You let out breathlessly, mindlessly arching up into his touch.

He hums in response and starts to slowly trail kisses down your torso, ending at the waistband of your pants.

This time he doesn’t wait for your consent, too eager to finally taste you.

In the blink of an eye, your pants end up on the floor with the rest of your clothes leaving you in your panties.

“Not fair.. why am i completely naked while you’re fully clothed” You complain.

Heeseung laughed and sat up on his knees to pull his shirt over his head. His body was carved deliciously, his abs were defined and his biceps were now fully revealed.

You had to bite your lip in order to contain a whimper threatening to spill as he leaned back down to face your clothed cunt.

He trailed kisses down your inner thighs getting oh-so close to where you so badly needed him only for him to trail his lips back up.

“Heeseung.. please” You pleaded, you were pretty sure he could feel and hear the throb of your pussy.

Heeseung smiled deviously as he bit down on your underwear and slowly tugged it off, making intense eye contact with you while he took his cruel time teasing you.

Now fully revealed to heeseung, you couldn’t help but feel shy and instinctively retract yours thighs back together but heeseung’s head stopped you.

He laughed lowly, “Don’t get all shy now baby” Heeseung mumbled and used his hands to pry your thighs open again.

You felt sensitive as the cold air hit your soaked cunt.

“Fuck..” heeseung whispered before diving in without warning eliciting a dragged out moan from you.

His bold licks caused your hands to fly to his hair once again, pulling harshly as he sucked on your clit just right. “nghh heeseung.. feels so- fuck- so so good”

Your grip on his hair increased when he moved his tongue lower and into your hole.

He slid his tongue in and out as his nose nudged your clit deliciously. You couldn’t contain the loud high-pitched moans that flooded out of you, thank goodness no one was home.

Heeseung’s grip on your thighs tightened as he pushed himself deeper into your pussy urging his wet muscle deeper into your hole as his shoulders pushed your legs off the mattress.

His eyebrows furrowed as he focused on delivering your pleasure, his hands spreading your legs even more.

You felt the pressure in your stomach building as you tugged on his hair again, “Hee.. you’re- ah- i’m s-sooo close!”

He only growled into your pussy, the vibration adding to the pleasure.

Not once did his pace falter as he brought you closer and closer to your breaking point. The lewd sounds of your slick with his saliva was borderline dirty.

Your moans and whimpers grew more high-pitched the closer you got. “mmm hee im gonna cu- oh!”

With one last tug at his strands your orgasm hit you like a truck and you finally came undone on his tongue heeseung helping you through your high.

His pace didn’t slow, he drank every last drop of your release and even pushed his face deeper if that was possible.

The overstimulation kicked in immediately after your high was over, you whined and squirmed and attempted to push heeseung off.

“Heeseung.. too much too sensitive” You say breathlessly.

His hands steadied your hips, “Stop moving.” Heeseung growled against your folds and made you take what he was giving you.

It wasn’t long until he had you coming undone again with a loud squeal. 

Again, he swallowed your release and gave your clit a kiss before crawling back up your body, his lips and chin glistening with your cum.

“taste so sweet” he murmured before he leaned in to kiss you, making you taste yourself on his lips.

You bucked your hips forward in a desperate attempt for some friction. “You sure you’re ready?” heeseung asked, his voice careful and steady.

You nod, your head clouded with lust and desire too far in to turn back now.

Heeseung grins slightly as he plunges two of his digits into your drenched hole. His eyes are focused on yours as he carefully examines each scrunch of your nose and every time your mouth falls open.

“Gotta stretch this pussy a bit if you wanna take my dick”

He scissored his fingers inside you making you a moaning mess.

Once he was satisfied, he pulled out his fingers and held them to your lips with a “open.” You parted your mouth open and sucked his fingers clean while he watched.

Heeseung went to take off his sweats along with his underwear finally letting his painful hard cock free.

It immediately sprung out hitting his stomach, the tip angry red and leaking with precum. You felt fear shoot through you at the size of it. That? was supposed to fit in you?

“Fuck. This might sting a little but just bare with me” Heeseung said as he held your hips still.

Heeseung slowly pushed the tip in, the stretch all too much but addicting in a way. “mm-”

Heeseung stopped with half his dick inside, allowing you to adjust. “ffffuck you’re tight” heeseung says as he buried his face in the crook of your neck.

He stayed still for a while until you told him “you can move”

Heeseung’s restraint seemed to snap all within a second as he pushed fully in pulling a very loud moan from you. “Fuck i love the sounds you make” heeseung whispered in your ear.

Your legs felt weak from the penetration, the new feeling of the burning stretch felt surreal.

Heeseung started to move slowly but as his pace increased, so did your volume.

The sound of skin on skin echoed through the room mixed with your moans and his occasional grunts.

His hands squeezed your hips so hard you’re sure it would bruise. “feels so good- fuck” he muttered.

You heard his quiet moans in your ear which only turned you on further and your nails to dig into his back.

You weren’t aware of how loud you were until he said something about it, “Enjoying yourself that much huh princess?” the smile clear in his voice.

“Heeseung.. fuck!” You moaned.

The wet, lewd sounds were straight up filthy. You couldn’t believe you’re the source of the sounds.

Your mind grew even more clouded with each thrust and each creak of the frame, you were sure the neighbors hated you guys by now.

“Fuckkk i love this pussy” heeseung dragged out, his voice high. Your nails raked down heeseung’s back leaving painful scratches but he didn’t care.

Heeseung suddenly sat up on his knees, grabbed one of your legs that were around his waist and placed it over his shoulder.

When he started moving again he hit places so deep you didn’t know he could reach.

Now your mind was completely blank. you couldn’t process anything but moans as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. “mmm yess! lovvee it!”

Heeseung laughed lowly, “You love it huh?” “yes!”

His tip kissed your cervix making your moans higher. Heeseung could tell you were close because of your tone.

“You close baby?” You couldn’t answer. You were too lost in the pleasure to acknowledge what he said, the band in your stomach tightening beyond belief. “Best pussy i’ve ever had fuckkk”

One of heeseung’s hands went down to rub your clit in circles adding to the pleasure. Everything heeseung said sounded like background noise, your mind was hazy and your vision was dotted with white.

“You still with me princess?” heeseung said between thrusts, you could only let out moans in response.

His nails dug into your flesh as his pace increased, his dick twitching inside of you signaling he was close. You were too.

“Gonna fill this pretty pussy full. you want that right princess?” heeseung spat at you, looking down at your fucked out look, your eyes rolling back.

His hand on your leg reached to grab your face, “answer me.”

“yes! want it all!” You replied.

“Good girl.” heeseung says with something you can’t place your finger on.

His hand let go of your face and returned to its original position on your leg as he now focused on chasing his high.

With a loud, high moan, your orgasm washed over you, soaking your thighs and his stomach.

Heeseung kept thrusting even after you came, creating a white ring at the base of his cock. With a moan of your name, his hips stilled as he buried his warm cum deep inside of you and collapsed on top of you.

You shivered at the feeling, your body going limp as you slowly came back to reality.

After another minute of silence, he slowly pulled out the mixture of your cum and his spilled out of you.

“How was that for your first time?” heeseung asks with a smug smile. “It was.. really good” You answered tiredly as your eyes grew heavy.

You felt heeseung get off the bed for a moment and when he returned he was cleaning you with a damp towel. He discarded it once he was done and guided you under the blankets.

“I know you’re tired, go to sleep” heeseung whispered in your ear.

The last thing you felt was his arms sliding around your waist and his chest pressing against your back before you drifted off to sleep.

Maybe Mr. Smith partnering you with heeseung wasn’t such a bad idea..

my debut fic 👅👅 yes im very aware of how many times he calls reader baby or princess shush.. bruh i legit couldn’t stop laughing while writing this i forgot writing smut made me laugh.

[elysiansparadise]

Ruler of the 1st house in the houses

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Throughout their lives, these natives experience experiences that make them very clear that they themselves must be their own priority, that they should never put other people's needs first if that means putting their own needs aside. They are focused on knowing themselves better, increasing their knowledge of themselves and always keeping their priorities in mind so as not to stray. They stand out for being very independent people who may even be uncomfortable having to ask for help from others, in fact, it is likely that they have learned to be independent from a very early age. Many of them have a great ability to lead groups or at least inspire others to empower themselves and do things their way. They never hesitate to say what they think, but they can be more reserved when it comes to opening up emotionally to others, as they have very high walls between themselves and others. They do not like to interfere in the lives of others and hate when others feel they have the right to tell them how to live their lives or how to act, and they won't hesitate defending their points of view fiercely. It bothers them when other people don't take them seriously or when their boundaries are ignored, and believe me, they won't allow themselves to be trampled on by someone, because they stand out for their courage and strong sense of self. Their immediate environment sees them as people with a strong, almost unbreakable self-esteem, they exude power, strength and can give the impression of being invincible, even being able to easily intimidate other people. They do not like to feel or appear weak. They constantly seek to improve either in the skills they have or as people. They have initiative and do not sit back and wait for things to happen, some can be impatient when it comes to seeing the fruits of their work. They don't like to feel unproductive. They are people who will always prefer to be authentic rather than hypocritical in order to fit in or be surrounded by people, and since I mentioned it, many of them can be rather ambiverts. They are very selective with the people they surround themselves with and being alone is not a fear for them.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

These natives prioritize finding stability in their lives, in every possible sense, from economic stability to mental and emotional stability. Throughout their lives they embark on a path of self-worth, working on their self-esteem and learning to recognize their positive sides. They are focused on making their lives something they can enjoy and do things that they consider valuable to invest their time and energy. They are very attractive people, they can be seen as naturally elegant. They aspire to have a quiet life in which they have everything they need and did not need when they were younger, they know what they deserve and do not settle for crumbs or little. These natives stand out for being calm and rational, they don't like to rush into things, but they know how to give their all once they make a decision. They highly value their authenticity and independence, however, they do not hesitate to support their closest circle. It is very likely that from a young age they have been a strong support, whether for a parent, other family members or even friends. They give the impression of being very stable, of having things in order in their lives and of being almost unbreakable, they project a strength that is rather approachable and people can feel safe with them, even drawn at them. For them, tangibility is crucial, that is, actions before words, from showing their love and affection with actions or gifts (as well as enjoying being shown affection in this way), to not promising things that they know they cannot. achieve. They are people who work hard and progressively in everything they consider important, whether in the workplace, personal or love sphere. They believe that small details are always important, small efforts that are constant and significant. There are little things about these natives that are considered attractive, often things that are not under their control such as mannerisms or their voice. They take care of their appearance and like to dress in clothes that they feel comfortable in, they prioritize their own comfort when it comes to this. They may easily attract money into their lives or be naturally good at managing finances.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

For these natives speaking their minds is the most important thing, they like to be clear with what they think, want and even feel. If they have something to say they will not hesitate to do so. They stand out for being very rational people, capable of seeing things from different perspectives. Their minds can be restless and that can lead them to be people with a tendency to multitask and even have many diverse and different interests among them. Speaking of which, these people love to learn new things, the idea of ​​knowing everything they can about a topic that catches their attention fascinates them, although sometimes once this task is finished they can get bored. They need constant mental stimulation and to stay busy. Many of them have a strong tendency to overthink things and be somewhat anxious, worrying about the future. Despite this, these people know how to adapt very well to changes and constantly seek to make small changes, whether in their rhythms of life, activities or even in their appearances. These people can read well the environment in which they find themselves and easily adapt to it as well as to the people who are there. Your relationship with your siblings or cousins ​​can be very influential, or they can even be a great influence on your siblings or other younger members of your family. These natives are quite cunning and intelligent and give the impression of being not easily fooled and very cultured. People tend to listen to what they say more easily, because they have a lot of charm. For them, communication is key in any relationship, especially those that they consider important to them, and they could not be with someone who does not have a topic of conversation or who does not let them talk/does not listen to them. They like to maintain a calm and bearable environment, jokers, witty and very funny, they love to entertain themselves and amuse others with their stories and occurrences. There is a playful and slightly mischievous appeal to them, and it should be added that as the years go by, they seem to look younger. It is easy for them to follow a conversation since, as I mentioned, they adapt very quickly to people, no matter how different they are from them. They stand out as good communicators, whether orally or in writing, and also for their creativity. They like to learn how to do many things and it is no surprise that many of them have a wide variety of skills.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Throughout their lives, these natives experience experiences that lead them to always seek their own emotional comfort, to worry and take care of their emotional needs, but above all their inner peace. They are naturally perceptive and caring people when it comes to other people's emotions, they seem to read them very well and never try to make others uncomfortable. They are internally very sensitive people, although they create a shell that protects them from getting hurt or from others taking advantage of this emotionality and their hearts. The family gave great lessons to the native and their relationship with them is quite important to them, whether because of how close they are and how well they get along, or because of the scars they may have left. These natives do not forget easily, and may find themselves constantly thinking about the past. They do not hesitate to go deep inside themselves and analyze themselves, they are quite self-aware, but it will always be a process that they prefer to do on their own. Many of them may have this bad tendency to repress their feelings, always wanting to appear strong or simply preferring to break down when they are alone. They are very supportive and warm people with those they love, always respectful of their emotions and boundaries. They have a strong protective instinct towards all those with whom they form strong emotional bonds. For them it is crucial to feel safe and secure, there is nothing they want more than to keep their inner child happy, avoiding repeating situations from the past that previously hurt them. There is something about them that makes people feel naturally comfortable, people can open up to them more easily and tell them very private things. They may feel a strong interest in the past of the people they care about, from family or friends. It is likely that these natives are very similar, either in physical appearance or behavior to ancestors or older people in their families. Home for them is a place where they feel like they can be themselves, where they don't have to have their barriers up and where they feel protected and comfortable. They may find comfort in being with themselves, although at times the loneliness can become overwhelming. What is clear is that they value quality in their emotional ties with people, which is why they prefer to be on their own rather than calling the wrong person family or friend.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Over the course of their lives, these natives embark on a path toward self-love and self-acceptance. They are people who can place many expectations on themselves and can be very demanding, although very few people see it and realize it. This happens because people tend to see them as very confident, charismatic and incredibly attractive people, since these natives have the ability to attract the attention of others with ease. A mix of attractiveness and sensuality. Throughout their lives, they learn to love and appreciate each other, to never let disrespect pass or be with people who do not love and respect them as they deserve. These people have a very intense way of loving, for them it is all or nothing, they are not people who commit halfway, and despite their flirtatious yet independent appearance, when they find someone with whom they want to be in a relationship, they do not hesitate. They really like romance, details and they love the idea of ​​having a relationship in which love and passion abound. They like emotional intensity in their relationships, someone who adores them and loves them madly, who is crazy about them and shows the same degree of devotion as them. These people know what they want in a relationship, and they would rather be alone than be with someone who doesn't meet the requirements. They are usually lucky enough to be liked back by their crushes and can attract many hidden admirers. These people like to show themselves as strong, confident and empowered, as people who do not depend on anyone or the opinions of other people, because the experiences they have lived have taught them to be authentic and true to themselves.These people may excel deeply in some skill or talent, and may be seen as great at this. They are really passionate about their interests, beyond romance, if they have hobbies they can put their heart entirely into them. They have the ability to charm the people they interact with. They are very honest and open people with what they want, they do not hold back their opinions and can have a lethal bluntness on many occasions. Deep down, they are very expressive, emotional and loving individuals, never leaving any room for doubt about the love or appreciation they feel.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Throughout their lives, these natives experience the constant belief that to be worthy of something they have to work hard, although this leads them to be dedicated and responsible people with everything they consider important in their lives, it also influences the way they relate to their environment, believing that they have to be something specific or achieve things in order to feel good about themselves. These natives have a strong need to be productive, to do something constantly, and they can feel bad about themselves when they are not being efficient. They are demanding of themselves, they stand out for their intelligence and observation skills. Their independence is one of their strongest characteristics and despite being very capable individually, they know how to work as a team and are quite efficient and collaborative. They like to feel like they are doing things with purpose, meaningful things, and they think very carefully about what they want to use their energy for, making sure not to waste time on things they consider meaningless. They are very helpful and empathetic people from a rather practical approach, from giving advice to being easy to solve issues of any kind. They can be very nervous people, they have a tendency to worry a lot about things, from their own performance to possible outcomes. For them it is important to have a job for which they feel passion, a job that allows them to have a certain individuality and that allows them to grow and continue learning, this placement makes it likely that they will work in something that they really like, even from a very young age. They are people who respect all living beings, whether people, plants, animals, they can have a strong bond with their pets and manage to connect with animals in a unique and wholesome way. Even if they like fun and variety, these people prefer to have a rather stable life, putting their mental and emotional peace before anything else. They are people very focused on their well-being in all areas, taking care of themselves and doing things that give them a sense of fulfillment. They stand out for their high level of devotion and loyalty in everything they consider important in their lives. They have a great work ethic that allows them to grow quickly in the workplace.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

One of the most prominent lessons in the lives of these natives is about relationships, learning that it is better to be alone than in bad company. Many of these natives develop this balance in learning to be on their own, but also in learning to relate to other people. These natives greatly seek quality in their relationships and put a lot of their energy into making them positive and equitable for both parties. They are people who are very easy to understand and read other people, their attitudes, feelings and needs. People find them very alluring, graceful and people who are generally pleasant to be with, because they are not judgmental of others and when they accept someone into their lives they accept them genuinely. Despite this, they are people who are very clear about what they do not want to deal with in relationships and tend to be quite assertive in them. These people appear polite and approachable to other people, they have a certain charisma that others quickly perceive and it is precisely this subtle charm that attracts others. They will never stay in relationships in which they feel that they give more than they receive, because that search for stability and balance that they have applies in all areas but specifically in their relationships. This placement assures us that the natives will be able to feel that they can be themselves in the presence of their partner, feeling more authentic than when they are with other people. They are very romantic, dedicated and passionate people in their relationships, and they can attract a future spouse like that. Marriage will bring you a lot of self-discovery and can be very beneficial for your lives, giving you not only happiness but fulfillment. They can more easily gain the support of other people and in addition to knowing how to work very well as a team, they manage to connect and really make others feel heard and understood. It is likely that when they were young they gave a lot of importance to what others thought of them, and this is precisely one of the issues that they learn to deal with as time goes by. These people do not hesitate to take the first step in love, they are driven and very direct. Their personality in them may be dominant, however, they may be attracted to equally dominant people.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Here we meet natives with a certain aura of mystery around them. They do not usually reveal much about themselves so easily, they choose to keep to themselves everything they consider important or very personal, they are observers, and will always deeply analyze whether someone is trustworthy or not, trusting their instincts and being right most of the time. They seek something more than the reality to which they are accustomed, they seek to break the barriers of the predictable, mundane and superficial, entering the core of things and people. They look for the genuine, the raw and the authentic. These people are aware of the beautiful sides of life, but also the most tense and that is precisely why they remain alert, attentive and careful not to get hurt again. They hate feeling too vulnerable, showing their weaknesses, their sadness or points that others can use to hurt them. They are people surrounded by a lot of enigma and magnetism, many people recognize in them a survivor, someone whose strength and reserve makes them feel strangely drawn to them. They may find themselves attracting attention even when they want to go unnoticed. Loyal by nature, these people stand firm to their words, although they are not usually too open with what they feel, they feel intensely, they are quite intense in fact, and capable of giving themselves completely. It is difficult for them to trust other people, many times having trusted and been betrayed at their earliest ages, they have learned to rely on themselves and it can be a difficult task for them to let others in. The world is a complex place for them, full of bittersweet memories, some that they would like to return to and others that they would like to erase, yet their strength makes them reborn stronger and wiser. They do not hesitate to provide support and guidance, but it is difficult for them to accept when someone wants to do the same for them. They long to know themselves completely, even if it makes them face things about themselves that are difficult to accept, they are not afraid to know themselves completely, which makes them want to know others with such depth.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Gifted with great curiosity, these natives have a way of seeing life that is quite out of the box, not settling for everything they are used to seeing in their daily lives. They have the need to find themselves and their authenticity in a huge world full of possibilities. They are not conformist people, and they are constantly in search of information, knowledge and experiences that bring them positive sensations or that are enough to satisfy that desire to discover. Discovering goes beyond the earthly plane such as traveling or interacting with people from other countries (which may be possible), but rather also encompasses the spiritual, emotional and/or internal terrain. They have a high intrapersonal intelligence, which gives the impression of being rational, self-aware and wise people, and also allows them to get to know others in a more personal way. They stand out for their open mentality and their ability to delve into seeing things from different points of view. Many of them possess a certain charm and natural charm, there is something about them and their nature that makes them attract others and rewarding experiences throughout their lives. They always prefer to live a life with passion and purpose, and they are in constant search for theirs, to do something important or at least satisfactory in their stay in this life, they do not like to do things just for the sake of it, they long to give it life, give it a meaning to things. They do not allow themselves to be prejudiced and prefer not to have them in the first place, they appreciate the beauty in differences and do not like to make others feel uncomfortable with who they are. They are people who have a mindset of not worrying but rather taking care of themselves, they do not seek control over what they know they cannot control and on many occasions they know that it is better to let go and let go, having it easier than other people to do this. They may have interests that people consider unconventional or that are very different from those of the people around them. They are people who take pride in being different but don't feel the need to flaunt it. They have an interest in other cultures and may have plans in their dreams to visit different places in the world to which they feel connected in one way or another.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

These natives are perfectly clear about what is important to them, what they want to achieve and who they are. From a young age they know that they have to work hard to get what they want, and from a young age they show themselves to be responsible and dedicated. This is an indicator of a person who had to mature since they were children, carrying issues or responsibilities both personal and from others, and in some cases, from people older than them. They tend to easily attract the admiration, respect and attention of people, likewise many of them can be successful in jobs in which they either have a position of authority or in which they are in constant contact with people. They can easily gain recognition simply by being themselves or pursuing one of their passions or talents. Their image matters a lot to them, so they do not hesitate to defend themselves and fight to maintain everything they have achieved throughout their lives. They have a strong need to feel proud of themselves, they often place high expectations on themselves, and it may be a behavior they have learned from a very young age. There is nothing they want more than to make their inner child proud, and be the adult they would have liked to have by their side. They believe that only they themselves can solve their problems, that no one will come to save them and that they have to make things happen, however, deep down, they wish they could have guidance and support. Many of them are not very open with other people, but what is certain is that having them in your life guarantees you a partner, friend or partner who will always be blunt, supportive and shared with you, never making you feel vulnerable or unprotected. It can be easy for these people to relate fluidly with bosses or authority figures, and it should be added that they can be quite good bosses themselves thanks to their decision and practical and fair vision of things. They like to surround themselves with productive, hard-working people who motivate them, these people being partners, friends or family. People who make excuses, who take advantage of others, and who are hypocritical earn their disdain. They are people who, although open and direct with what they think and want, are difficult to get to know deeply.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟏𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

These natives are in a constant search for belonging, they are likely to feel that they hardly fit in with their peers, that they have problems connecting on a deep level with others or forming bonds of friendship. Although it is difficult for them to call anyone a friend, once they give that title, these natives stand out for being very supportive, encouraging and honest people. Precisely because it is difficult for them to form friendships, when they have one that they consider genuine they attach great importance to loyalty to that bond. These natives are interested in deeper and more personal ties, they feel that to form a good friendship, both need to be themselves and adore each other in that way, authenticity and openness are things they look for. They are independent people, very firm in what they believe and what they consider fair, they have their own criteria and do not feel the need to follow the masses or act according to what others believe or expect. Many of them have great charisma, and it seems to grow the older they get, they have a knack for inspiring other people, often motivating them to be themselves and go towards everything they aspire to. Since I mention it, they stand out for being not only creative people, but great dreamers even from a very young age. They stand out for their intelligence, cunning and for being able to learn many different things regardless of how different each topic is from the other. They like to remain rational and act logically and without causing so much drama. They do not like to live in the past, do what everyone else does or feel like one of the crowd. These natives seek to do what seems important to them, but above all in their own way. Sometimes they can think too much about the future, facing tendencies to overthink or worries about what is going to happen. Some are somewhat nervous and thinking about the future either excites them too much or causes them some anxiety. These natives can have great economic stability if they decide to pursue that career that attracts their attention. Many of them may enjoy spending a lot of time on social networks and may become influential, popular or well-known on them. People can admire them quite a bit and even come to appreciate them.

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

Here we find people who, due to life circumstances, have learned not to reveal much about themselves, including very personal aspects. These people may have experienced a lot of stress or difficult events to process at a young age, causing them to mature prematurely. They have great intuition that makes them realize what others go unnoticed, they sense people's moods, their emotions at the moment and even whether they are trustworthy people or not. They can seem mysterious and very reserved to the people they interact with, they decide what to show and what not to show. They are very empathetic people and sensitive to the moods of the people around them, they are capable of putting themselves in someone else's shoes. They are understanding, sensitive and much more emotional than they show at first glance. These people long to find either a place where they feel like they belong or a group of people that makes them feel understood, since many of them have the ability to make others feel accepted, supported and loved, even when they throughout in their lives they may feel that they do not connect so easily with others. They may have abilities to inspire, care, heal or make others feel better, and people can trust them more easily. These people look for a deep meaning not only in life, but in general behind everything that surrounds them, they prefer depth, that which has a true significance, one that marks them and contributes something to their lives. Many of them may have a strong tendency to doubt their intention, often fearing that their fears will get in the way and cloud their judgment. They are people with a very beautiful and resilient soul, often carrying wounds that people are not aware of, and that is precisely what makes them want to really see inside people, make them feel as seen as they would like to feel. Throughout their lives they experience identity crises, or long periods in which they are searching for themselves, often alone. Many of them seem to be in their own world, because they do not seek to get involved in other people's lives. Things hardly remain hidden for these natives, they have the peculiarity that information always reaches them, even if they do not look for it.

[heartyluv]

Not the same anon that originally requested this, but I absolutely loved your fic where Zayne and Sylus react to you saying you want to be the first to die. The way you wrote their reactions was perfect and wonderful to read, and (if you’re interested, of course) I’d love to see how the other three guys would also reply to such a statement c:

I only recently found your account and I can’t wait to read through more of your works <3

Note: I’m so happy that you enjoyed and even more so that you’re considering reading more. It makes me super happy. I’m really hoping I wrote Xavier and Rafayel accurately. I’m kinda nervous about theirs, but I hope you enjoy, luvly!

Warning: Mentions of Xavier in an accident, Mentions of Caleb dying (THEY ARE OKAY!!!)

Link to Zayne and Sylus’ <3

Creds to @/enchanthings-a for the divider!

Rafayel

You were elated when your boyfriend invited you over for a little date in his studio. Of course you said yes, because not only is Rafayel hard to say no to, but his studio is one of your favorite places to be.

It’s where you feel your safest to create, and it’s not just about painting. You draw, color, and even write poetry when you’re there. You completely understood what he meant when he told you that the energy in this place was so empowering because you’ve experienced it first hand.

As you and he work on your own respective projects side by side, he starts telling you about how he recently rewatched Romeo and Juliet. You listened intently, even if you already knew the story. But it was as he told it that you found yourself growing slightly emotional.

The story is something almost everyone is familiar with, whether they learned it in school or took it upon themselves to read it on their own time.

The story of two people loving each other so much and so hard that it kills them, because the mere thought of them not being alive to experience life with you, build a stronger love with you, makes nothing else feel worth it—it’s incredibly heartbreaking. And now that you have a boyfriend, the sentiment is much heavier. The thought of Rafayel dying, stirs a pain so uncomfortable in your chest that you know never, ever want to experience it.

“Hey,” he calls to you gently, noticing how dazed out you seemed. He sees the tears forming right above your waterline when you face him, and immediate concern is etched across his ethereal face.

“Let me guess? It makes you cry too?” he teases, gently rubbing your cheek and smearing a faint light blue paint on your skin. “I’m not ashamed to say that I succumb to the emotions every time myself. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t.”

But when you don’t laugh, when your lower lip quivers the more you memorize his features like he’ll disappear, he began to realize this has become something he needs to take a little more seriously.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asks innocently, completely dumbfounded by your change in emotions.

“I’m so sorry,” you finally speak, your words fumbling out as you wipe the tears from your eyes. You feel embarrassed, but you know better than to feel that way around him. He always makes sure you know that embarrassment will never be a real thing between you two. Nothing is off-limits. “It just…the story. It makes me think of you—of us.”

He tilts his head, his soft purple hair swaying across his forehead. “Oh? What do you mean?”

You sigh, taking a deep breath as you get ready to lay your little heart out on the table like you’ve done for him dozens of times.

“Rafayel, I legitimately cannot lose you,” you emphasize, feeling your heart thump harder in your chest from intense emotions. Your voice is shaky as you continue. “And I know this is so random and I didn’t mean to make you telling me about your movie night into a whole thing, but the thought of me experiencing anything in this life without you makes me..sick. It would break me. It makes me realize that I have to be the first one to go the day our time on this Earth is up.”

He smiles softly as you, cupping your cheek in his hand. “Have you seen how I act when you take more than five extra minutes to come home?”

That makes you laugh, a joyous feeling sparking in your being. Most people dislike anyone who turns something serious into something lighthearted, but your Raf always has a way of making heavy situations and conversations feel weightless.

“But in all seriousness,” his face shifts to match his tone to let you know that he takes your worries and thoughts seriously. “I don’t want to hear you talk like that. Ever. You know why?” He stands from his stool, walking to stand between your leg where you sit. “Because we are never going to be apart. I’ve already told you before, you’re not allowed to leave me.” He winks, making the tension ease.

“I’d swim across every ocean for you a million times over. For a man like me to find and experience the love of someone more glorious than himself, it’s not a privilege I take for granted. I’ve always been Rafayel, but I can admit that I will always be a better him, with you beside me. You add too much value and good to my life for you to ever think that I could actually survive without you. I can deal with a lot, but a world with no you? That’s too harsh.”

He presses his forehead to yours. “You have nothing to worry about. I feel just as intensely as you do, pretty girl. I don’t want you thinking of what could be. Think of everything in between, yeah?”

He leans down to kiss your lips and you desperately cling to him. “You’ll never lose me and l’ll never lose you, fair?”

You chuckle, knowing that conversations like this make his heart hurt, too. Similarly to you, your boyfriend hates the idea of abandonment or being separated from you for any reason. He doesn’t take the idea of it lightly. But when he needs to be stronger for you, there’s nothing powerful enough to crush his will to protect your heart.

“Fair,” you nod with a smile.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” He kisses your nose. “Now, why don’t we go for a walk on the beach? We can see about getting something sweet on the way.” He holds his hand out to you and when you slide your hand into his, you know that no matter what the further holds, thinking of what you have now will always be more important.

Xavier

You almost had a heart attack when the hospital called you to let you know that your boyfriend has been in a car accident. They assured you it wasn’t serious, but the only person you’ve ever loved and accident being in the same sentence, made you experience emotions you never thought you were capable of.

They said he couldn’t have called you himself since he was going through some tests and check ups, but not being able to hear his voice made you feel…insane.

When you ran into the hospital, begging for his name and room number, a nurse walked you to him with too much ease. You needed her to be faster, much faster.

“He’s right there. Room 410,” the lady politely smiles. You can’t bother with kindness, moving past her and rushing into the room. He’s sitting on a hospital bed, his blood pressure being checked by the doctor standing beside him.

“Hon,” he says with slightly wide eyes. “I guess the hospital called you.”

“Xavier, oh my god,” you cry, running towards him. You cup his face in your hands, running your eyes over him like your scan is better than a doctor’s. “Are you in pain? How’s your head? Your body?” His eyes stay on you the whole time as you examine him, the doctor chuckling softly beside you both.

All you smell is alcohol, rubber gloves, and oversaturated—but necessary—cleanliness. You don’t like him here. You don’t like it one bit.

“You’re free to go home,” the doctor confirms. “Just make sure you take the pain medicine if you need it. Other than that, nothing to worry about.”

When the doctor leaves, you finally weep. You thought the absolute worst. You thought you lost him.

“I was so scared,” you cry, resting your head on his shoulder as his hands comes to the back of your head to soothe you. “What happened?”

“The taxi I was taking to come see you…A car came out of nowhere down the intersection on a red light, and it was a hard collision against the backseat area where I sat. I saw it last minute before I was able to move, just barely.”

“Xavier… I..” you trail off, not even wanting to finish. “I can’t lose you, Xav. I would rather die than lose you.”

“You don’t mean that,” he says gently, his hand going down your back.

“I do. I can’t live without you. We can’t control how it ends, but however it does, you can never be the one to go first. I’ll never survive it.”

“And neither would I,” he asserts. “A life without you is a life I don’t care to have. Losing you is essentially the death of me.” It falls silent between you two as he makes you pull back to look at him.

“How about this? How about both of us make it a point to be present for as long as we can. Like you said, while we can’t control the end, we can control what our current reality is. And that’s you and I together, loving each other, being here for each other.”

You nod, melting into his touch as he wipes your stray tears. “Don’t say things like that though, okay? Even in extreme situations as concerning as this. I don’t like to think of anything happening to you just as much as you don’t like it for me. Your life is too important to me for you to say anything so drastic over yourself.”

“You’re right,” you sniffle, making it a point to kiss him again—this time extra hard. “I won’t, I swear. But YOU,” you point a finger at his chest. “You’re not allowed to leave the house for the next…forever!”

He smiles, kissing your hand then pulling you close again to kiss the side of your neck. “I’m sure you’ll make sure of that?”

You run your hand through his hair, giggling as he sporadically places kisses wherever his lips will land. “You can count on it.”

Caleb

You shot out of your sleep, your heart racing and your body dampened with a thin sheen of sweat. Cold wet tears fall down your cheeks and you quickly wipe them away, not liking how they feel on your skin. You blink tiredly in the dark bedroom, looking over to where Caleb is supposed to be. Not only was he not there, but it was cold when you placed your palm against the bed. He’s been gone awhile.

You had another nightmare. For some reason, they’ve been plaguing you more and more lately, their origin not making sense when the events occur in your sleep state. But this one, this was the worst by far.

The imagery of Caleb dead. Shot and killed. It replayed over and over until your mind finally won the right battle, letting you wake up to see your reality. But the fact that Caleb wasn’t beside you, it made you panic.

You threw the blankets back, put your slippers on, and exited the bedroom to search for him. You wouldn’t allow that dream to make you think it was real, that he was actually gone. You refused.

He wasn’t hard to find at all though, sitting in his hobby room, putting together another aircraft set he collected. He heard the door open, turning around to see you. He smiled widely, turning fully in his office chair. You didn’t waste a moment more, walking up to him briskly. He pressed his head to your stomach, kissing it tenderly before looking up at you.

“Why aren’t you in bed?” you question softly.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he shrugs. “Didn’t wanna wake you, so I just came to mess with this.” He sees the sadness on your face, the dewdrop tears that rested on your lashes that you didn’t wipe away when he looks up.

“You’ve been crying?” he stands immediately, ready to handle whatever has his girl in distress. “What happened?”

You try to smile the sadness away, but you see it all over again. You rest your forehead on his chest, your body shaking as you silently cry. You understand that it’s okay—normal, to be emotional about something like this, but you feel like no one will ever get it unless they’ve experienced it. His death… it felt so vivid. It makes your whole body ache.

“I had a nightmare,” you weep, trying to push it out. “That you died, Caleb. It felt so real…I had to make sure. And when you weren’t in bed I…”

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispers, kissing your head before wrapping his arms around you. You press your hands to his back, pressing close just to make sure he’s real.

“I’d die without you, Caleb. I wouldn’t be able to survive…” You choke on your sobs. “I’d rather it be me than you, every time. You don’t understand.”

“Never,” he says sharply, but not to cut. Just to make his point abundantly clear. “Death is never an option for you, do you understand me?” He’s stern, holding your face in his hands.

“I do understand what it’s like to love someone with your whole being, so much so that you can’t differentiate what’s you and what’s them because you’re so intertwined. It’s why I will never let you put me above you. Ever. Because you are what makes me. There is nothing for me if you’re gone.”

You only cry harder, trying to wipe the scene away from your brain and embrace this moment and all the good ones that’ll follow one day.

“I don’t want you to ever speak over yourself like that again. No matter what’s troubling you, causing you pain, rather than wishing it would happen in another way that would only bring you harm, just tell me about it so I can deal with the brunt of it. I’m meant to protect you, let me do that.”

You nod, letting him ease your overwhelming emotions. “I’m sorry,” you say meekly. “Can we go to bed, please? Together?”

“You don’t even need to ask. C’mon.”

He takes your hand, not pushing for details on the dream or the particulars. He’d never imagine making you relive something so traumatizing, even if it was fake. It was real enough to actually hurt you, and that was enough for him to make sure he comforts you to the best of his abilities because you in any type of pain is something he has always vowed to keep you safe from.

[ddarker-dreams]

delving into bf blade and stellaron hunter reader's relationship dynamics ...

blade's yearning for you is nearly debilitating. you are a virus that consumes his every waking thought; pushing him toward madness, or steering him away. this extraordinary influence is unwelcome. he tried purging himself of this condition, only to learn his misery amplifies when he's without you for too long.

he can't pinpoint exactly when you unwittingly became the center of his universe. while prolonged silence was his thing, it very much wasn't yours. you'd make observations or quips in the misguided hope he'd return the sentiment. he rarely did. rather than taking the hint, you persisted in your endeavors. when it became clear you weren't giving up anytime soon, he'd occasionally humor you.

the way you visibly lit up when he graced you with a sentence or two... he'd be lying if he said he disliked it.

upon returning from his jobs, he just so happened to linger in areas you frequented. when you made an appearance, the subsequent interactions made him feel content. you had this way of temporarily dispelling his maelstrom of negative thoughts. miraculously, this included his mara. the affliction quieted down so he could hear your musings unimpeded.

the nature of your assignments necessitated long periods of rest. this free time had you looking for ways to keep yourself entertained. befriending blade started as a side project, or, as silver wolf described it, a 'side quest that became the main plot.' this realization was a hard pill to swallow. you were convinced he tolerated you out of necessity.

budding attachment is a frightening thing. at such an early stage, the slightest error can seal its premature death. this raised the stakes. what was meant to be a pastime now held tangible weight, enough to crush you. your brilliant solution? immediate distance. not to make the heart grow fonder, but to sabotage the soil altogether.

blade reacted in a totally normal manner (he didn't). the fervor behind his confrontation almost had you fearing for your life — the look in his eyes was that of a madman. he wasn't about to let this nonsense carry on unchallenged. getting diced into smithereens was far more pleasant than enduring the cold shoulder from you. warm that shoulder up. please. he's desperate.

it's an intense relationship. he'd offer up everything for any scraps you deign to give him. he's your lover, your guard dog, a beast held back by fraying ropes. blade would quite literally do anything you asked. the satisfaction he experiences when you look his way, affection gleaming in your eyes; he'd ruin himself for more.

[goldsainz]

# DREW STARKEY — BEHIND THE SCENES !

MASTERLIST !

001. SUMMARY !

✯ a recollection of moments from when you and drew filmed your first movie together.

002. WARNINGS !

✯ probably inaccurate acting scenes, slight angst.

003. NOTE !

✯ guys i’ve spent more time conjuring up ideas about the fictional movie (knowing greek mythology paid off) than actually writing this. again, zendaya is just a face claim for the social media parts but the reader can be imagined as anything or anyone you want! this is also the longest piece of writing i’ve ever done so i really hope it was worth the wait 🫶

word count : 6,6k

There was something undeniably thrilling about starting a new movie project. It wasn’t just the act of filming that exhilarated you, no, it was the entire experience: stepping into a fresh role, meeting new colleagues, and immersing yourself in the intricacies of a new story. Each character brought a unique set of challenges and emotions, making acting as intoxicating as it was fulfilling.

When your agent first mentioned Damien Chazelle’s latest project, it felt like the stars had aligned. A psychological thriller, a role so complex and sought after—it was the kind of opportunity actors dream about. After various auditions and callbacks, you finally got the call: you’d landed the part. But nothing could have prepared you for the shock of learning that Drew Starkey would also be starring in the film.

You’d first met Drew during Variety’s Actors on Actors interview series. The chemistry between you two had been immediate, magnetic, and brimming with potential. The interview itself was lighthearted, but fans couldn’t stop buzzing about the dynamic between you afterward. Social media was flooded with calls for you both to star in a film together. Little did they know that dream would soon become reality.

Your first day on set felt surreal. Despite all your preparation, a flicker of nervous energy pulsed in your chest. It wasn’t just about embodying Isabella, a role that demanded every ounce of emotional depth you had; it was about reuniting with Drew after the whirlwind of speculation and excitement that followed your previous encounter.

Then, as if on cue, you spotted him. He stood across the bustling set, deep in conversation with Damien Chazelle. Already in costume—tailored slacks, an impeccably pressed shirt, and a hint of disheveled hair that somehow enhanced his charm—he looked every bit the enigmatic and manipulative art dealer, Theo. It was almost unsettling how effortlessly he slipped into character.

A pang of nervous energy tightened in your chest, but you masked it quickly. You were no stranger to working alongside talented actors, but something about Drew made you want to push yourself even harder—to impress him, match his intensity, or simply hold your own against the charisma that seemed to radiate from him.

As Drew turned and caught sight of you, his expression shifted. A flicker of recognition passed over his face, followed by a grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He excused himself from his conversation with Damien and strode toward you, his step casual yet deliberate.

“Well, look who’s here,” he said, his tone teasing but undeniably warm. “The artist herself.”

“Drew,” you replied, matching his energy with a smirk. “Or should I say, Theo?”

“Touché,” he shot back, his grin widening as he stopped in front of you. “Guess we’re both stepping into some big shoes this time.”

The air between you hummed with unspoken energy, the hum of the crew around you fading into the background.

“So,” he began, his voice quieter now, tinged with sincerity. “How are you feeling about all this? Ready to dive into the chaos?”

You chuckled softly, a mix of excitement and nerves bubbling beneath the surface. “As ready as I’ll ever be. And you?”

His gaze softened, the playful edge giving way to something earnest. “Same. But if there’s anyone who can bring Isabella to life, it’s you. You’ve got this.”

The weight of his words settled over you like a warm blanket, bolstering your confidence. “Thanks, Drew,” you said, your voice touched with gratitude. “That means a lot.”

He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Just don’t forget to save some of that intensity for the scenes. I hear Theo and Isabella have… interesting dynamics.”

You raised an eyebrow, a playful smile curving your lips. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten. Just try to keep up, Starkey.”

His laughter was genuine, the kind that made your chest feel lighter. “Challenge accepted.”

The set had an almost electric feel today. The tension in the air mirrored the intensity of the scene you were about to film, a confrontation that pushed Isabella to her limits. Drew had just finished his scenes as Theo, but instead of retreating to his trailer for a break, he chose to stay behind the cameras, watching you as you prepared for your big moment.

He leaned against a quiet corner of the set, his arms crossed, his gaze never leaving you. You were already in character, your body language shifting as you transformed into Isabella. Drew had seen it all; the way you could disappear into your role, the way you made every moment feel alive, even the smallest of gestures. It was magnetic, captivating, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

You were standing across from a male crew member, discussing the next scene. Drew noticed how naturally you interacted with him, the ease with which you joked around, the warm laughter that escaped you as you shared a quiet moment between takes. There was nothing flirtatious about it, nothing intentional. It was just your charm, your ability to connect with anyone, to make them feel like they were the only person in the room.

But as Drew watched, a pang of something unfamiliar twisted in his chest. The crew member—an assistant director, he knew—was praising you. “You’ve really outdone yourself today,” the man said with a grin, clapping you on the back. “Isabella’s depth? Incredible. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone pull that off quite like you.”

You smiled, your cheeks flushing with the kind of humility that made Drew’s heart ache. “Thank you, that’s all I wanted,” you said, clearly grateful for the acknowledgment but never one to boast.

Drew’s grip on the railing tightened, a strange feeling settling in his gut as he watched you laugh and engage so effortlessly. He had always admired your talent—hell, he had always been in awe of it—but today, for some reason, it felt different. The warmth in the crew member’s praise, the way he seemed to linger a little longer, a little too long, sent a sharp twinge of jealousy through Drew. He hated the way it felt, hated how quickly it consumed him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want you to be appreciated—he did. You deserved all the recognition in the world. But the knowledge that someone else was seeing the very qualities he had admired in you from the start, that someone else could see what made you so unique... it made something inside him stir.

And it wasn’t just admiration he felt for you—it was something deeper, something he had tried to ignore ever since that first interview. He could remember the spark between you both, the effortless connection that had only grown stronger since then. Every moment with you, every conversation, had somehow led him here. To this feeling, this painful realization that he wasn’t just drawn to you as a friend or a co-star—he was falling for you.

But he wasn’t sure if you saw him the same way. Or if you ever would.

He swallowed hard, trying to shake off the feeling, but it lingered, gnawing at him as the scene began. Drew watched from the shadows as you took your position, your posture shifting with the weight of Isabella’s inner turmoil. The camera rolled, and the world seemed to disappear. He wasn’t thinking about the crew member anymore, or the way you had smiled at him.

No, Drew was too focused on the way you delivered your lines. Every word you spoke seemed to come from a place of real pain, real desperation. It was like watching a storm roll in, one that consumed everything in its path.

When Damien called cut, the set fell silent for a beat. Drew’s breath caught in his throat. You were brilliant. He’d known it for a long time, but watching you right here, right now, brought it all to the forefront—how far you had come, how much of yourself you put into every scene.

He watched you stand tall, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear, eyes still distant from the intensity of the scene you’d just played. And as you looked around, Drew’s gaze softened. You were remarkable.

The crew member who had been praising you earlier walked up to you again, and Drew couldn’t help but feel that same uncomfortable stir in his chest. He had to admit, it wasn’t just the praise that bothered him—it was the way this guy kept looking at you. Drew quickly averted his eyes, his jaw tightening as he turned his attention back to the crew.

But as you turned toward Drew, your eyes meeting his for just a second, something passed between you, something unspoken. You offered him a small, genuine smile, the kind that only he seemed to get. And in that brief moment, everything else faded away.

He took a breath, forcing the jealousy back down. The weight of it, the sting, wasn’t going to cloud this moment. He knew what he felt. It was real, it was undeniable, and maybe, just maybe, there was still time to figure it all out. But for now, all he could do was admire you from afar, watch as you brought your character to life, and hope that one day, you’d see him the way he saw you.

And with that thought, Drew finally stepped forward, his resolve firming, ready to give you the space and respect you deserved while also knowing that there was so much more he wanted to say.

The scene you were filming was a culmination of everything Isabella had been building toward—raw, vulnerable, and utterly shattering. It wasn’t just a performance; it was a reckoning, the moment when all her carefully buried pain and longing erupted to the surface. Every word you spoke felt like tearing open a wound, every gesture a desperate plea for salvation. The air was thick with tension, and you could feel the weight of every eye on set, holding their breath, waiting to see if you could pull it off.

Drew, as Theo, stood before you, towering in every sense of the word. His presence wasn’t just physical; it consumed the space, dominating the scene like a storm about to break. His voice, low and cutting, delivered lines that felt like knives slicing through the air, leaving no room to hide. When his eyes locked onto yours, the intensity was unbearable, like he could see right into you—not just Isabella, but you.

The camera captured the moment your composure shattered, tears spilling as your voice cracked under the weight of the scene. You weren’t sure where Isabella ended and you began anymore. The pain felt too real, too sharp, and when Damien finally called “cut,” the word sliced through the tension like a knife. The silence that followed was deafening, a stark contrast to the storm you’d just weathered.

You couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, the rawness of the moment clinging to you like a second skin. Your chest heaved as you struggled to come back to yourself, but the emotions wouldn’t let go. Your hands trembled at your sides, and for a brief, terrifying moment, you thought you might break apart completely.

“Hey,” Drew’s voice cut through the haze, soft but insistent. His hand was on your arm before you even realized he’d crossed the room. His touch was grounding, his presence a lifeline. “Look at me,” he said, his tone low, coaxing.

You turned your head slowly, meeting his eyes, and the concern there undid you. Your breath hitched, and a tear slid down your cheek before you could stop it. “I… I don’t know how long I can keep doing this,” you whispered, the words tumbling out, raw and unfiltered. “It’s too much. I feel like I’m drowning.”

Drew didn’t hesitate. He stepped closer, his hand sliding from your arm to your shoulder, then to the small of your back, pulling you gently but firmly into his embrace. You froze for a moment, caught between the instinct to hold it together and the overwhelming need to let go. His arms wrapped around you, warm and steady, and the dam broke.

“I can’t,” you choked out, your voice muffled against his chest. “I feel like I left everything out there, and there’s nothing left of me. Nothing.”

His grip tightened, his hand cradling the back of your head as his fingers threaded gently through your hair. “Shh,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “You’re not empty. You’re just wide open right now, and that’s what makes this real. That’s what makes you extraordinary.”

You clung to him, your hands fisting the fabric of his shirt as sobs wracked your body. He didn’t rush you, didn’t try to fix it or make it better. He just held you, his own breathing steady and calm, like he was anchoring you to the world.

“I saw you out there,” he whispered after a moment, his lips brushing against your temple. “You weren’t just acting. You were her. Every ounce of pain, every flicker of hope—you brought it to life. You made them feel it. You made me feel it.”

You pulled back slightly, your tear-streaked face tilted up to meet his gaze. His eyes were glassy, his own emotions barely restrained, and the vulnerability between you was electric. “But what if it’s not enough?” you asked, your voice breaking.

“It is,” he said firmly, his hand cupping your face now, his thumb brushing away a stray tear. “It’s more than enough. You’re enough.” His voice cracked on the last word, the raw sincerity in it making your chest tighten.

The world around you seemed to blur, the sounds of the crew preparing for the next take fading into the background. All you could see, all you could feel, was Drew. He gave you a small, almost imperceptible nod, his hand steadying your shoulder.“You’ve got this,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, but laced with unwavering conviction. “And I’ve got you. Always.”

The day had been long—endless takes, precision, and the kind of emotional exhaustion that made every muscle in your body ache. Filming had wrapped for the day, but the atmosphere on set hadn’t fully shifted. The quiet hum of equipment and the occasional voices from the crew still echoed around you, but you felt the weight of the day lift as you retreated to the solitude of your trailer.

You were halfway through removing your costume when a soft knock at the door caught your attention. It was a gentle knock, familiar in its rhythm, and you immediately recognized it.

“Come in,” you called, already knowing who it was.

The door creaked open, and there stood Drew, leaning against the frame with a lazy smile that instantly made the tension in your shoulders ease.

“Long day?” he asked, his voice low and smooth, and there was a glint of playfulness in his eyes, but it was tempered with something warmer, something more tender.

“Understatement,” you replied, rolling your eyes, though your smile betrayed the exhaustion you were trying to hide.

He nodded and pushed the door open a little more, stepping inside. The space felt smaller with him in it, but somehow it didn’t feel crowded. It felt… comfortable. Safe.

Drew’s gaze drifted over to the small sofa beside the window, and without a word, he took a seat, kicking his shoes off and stretching his legs out. You couldn’t help but notice how effortlessly he seemed to move, like he was made to fit into this small space as if he belonged here, with you.

You finished removing the last of the costume and dropped it into the nearby hamper, but instead of diving into your usual post-filming routine of unwinding, you found yourself walking over to him, drawn to the quiet energy between you. He looked up at you, his gaze softening as you neared.

“Come here,” he murmured, his voice almost a whisper, as if the very sound of it could pull you closer.

You didn’t hesitat to sit down beside him. There was a comfortable silence between you two, the kind that didn’t need to be filled with words. You leaned back against the cushions, the heat from his body radiating beside you.

Drew turned his head slightly, catching your eye. His expression was different from how he’d been on set—this wasn’t the charismatic, calculated Theo. This was Drew, the man you had come to know off-camera. His gaze was tender, almost searching, as if he was asking permission for something more.

Without a word, he reached for your hand, his fingers brushing over yours before lacing them together. The small contact sent a flutter through you, the simple act of his touch carrying an intimacy that felt far more profound than it had any right to be.

“Can I just…” he began, his voice trailing off for a moment before he squeezed your hand gently. “Can I just be here with you for a while? No cameras, no lines, just us?”

You nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “I’d like that.”

His thumb began to trace soft circles over the back of your hand, and you leaned into him, the quiet between you two settling into something even deeper than physical proximity. His body was warm, and his scent—fresh and slightly woody—wrapped around you like a blanket, comforting in its familiarity.

“You were incredible today,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His words held no pretense, just raw sincerity. “Every time I see you step into a scene, it’s like you bring something new to the table. I don’t know how you do it.”

You could feel your heart flutter at his praise, but instead of letting it sink in fully, you shifted your focus back to him, tilting your head slightly to catch his eyes. “What about you? You’re kind of a force to be reckoned with, Starkey.”

He chuckled softly, the sound low and genuine, and you felt him shift closer, his shoulder brushing against yours. “I’m just trying to keep up with you,” he teased, but there was no mistaking the fondness in his voice. He leaned in just enough for his breath to graze your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. “You’re something else, you know that?”

Before you could respond, he moved his hand from yours, slowly resting it on your cheek, his touch soft but possessive. The weight of his gaze locked onto yours, and you could feel the air shift between you—charged, magnetic, undeniable.

“I’ve wanted this moment for a while,” he admitted quietly, his thumb grazing your cheekbone.

Your pulse quickened, your breath hitching as his hand slid around to the back of your neck, pulling you closer. You didn’t fight it; you closed the gap, your lips meeting his in a kiss that was slow, deliberate, and filled with the kind of quiet longing that had built between you for weeks now.

The kiss deepened, and everything outside of the small trailer seemed to fade away. There was no set, no crew, no expectations—just the two of you, wrapped up in the space you had created together. It wasn’t hurried or urgent. It was soft, a tender promise without words, like something neither of you had realized you needed until it was happening.

When you finally pulled away, breathless, you found yourself leaning your forehead against his, sharing the same air between you. He smiled, his eyes glimmering with something that went beyond attraction.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured, his voice thick with affection.

You closed your eyes, savoring the quiet after the storm of emotions on set, the gentle sound of his heartbeat in your ear, and the warmth of his embrace. “Me too,” you whispered back, letting the moment stretch on, knowing it was one you’d carry with you long after the lights went down and the cameras stopped rolling.

The morning after your quiet, intimate moment in the trailer felt different. There was a strange kind of weight in the air between you and Drew that neither of you could ignore. The atmosphere on set was charged with an unspoken energy, the kind that hung between two people who had shared something personal but weren’t quite sure how to navigate it in the daylight.

As the crew began setting up for the first scene of the day, you found yourself standing off to the side, absentmindedly checking your script, but every now and then, your eyes would flicker toward Drew. He was standing with Damien, talking animatedly about something, but there was a tightness in his posture that wasn’t there before. He had always exuded confidence, but now, there was a subtle hesitance to his movements—like he was still figuring out where you stood with each other after the kiss.

You could feel it too. The usual camaraderie between you two was laced with something different now. The chemistry was still there, but it felt like a live wire; dangerous and unpredictable. The playful banter that had flowed so easily between you the day before seemed distant, replaced by awkward silences whenever you found yourselves in the same vicinity.

You tried to shake it off. This was your job. You were here to work, to give your best performance, and that had to come first. But no matter how much you told yourself to focus, the tension was inescapable.

The first scene you were filming together was a pivotal one—Isabella’s first real confrontation with Theo, a moment where everything changes between them. Your character was supposed to be cool and collected, but deep down, she was unraveling at the seams. You had to bring all that turmoil, all that internal chaos to the surface in a matter of moments.

When Damien called “Action,” the professional masks slipped on almost instinctively, and you both fell into character.

Drew’s performance was colder today, more distant, his usual charm replaced by a simmering, quiet intensity. His eyes, once warm and full of teasing, now held a cold calculation as they met yours. You could feel the weight of his gaze, and though it was just acting, the memory of the night before lingered, making the scene feel even more charged than it should have been.

“You think you have control of this, Isabella?” Theo’s voice was sharp, the words cutting through the air like a blade.

You shot back, the defiance in Isabella’s eyes glaring through your own. “Your entire scheme depends on me, Theo. Without me, it crumbles to dust. If that’s not control, I don’t know what is.”

The words came easily, but every time you locked eyes with Drew, there was a brief flicker of something behind his gaze—a flicker of the intimacy you’d shared, a memory that was suddenly alive in the space between you. It was hard to shake, and you could tell it was affecting his performance too. His lines weren’t as crisp as usual, his timing slightly off, as though he was distracted.

The tension was palpable, hanging over the scene like a cloud, and the moment you wrapped the scene, the silence that followed felt deafening.

Damien looked between the two of you, his brow furrowing slightly. “Let’s take a break,” he said after a moment, clearly sensing the shift in energy. “Maybe a few minutes to reset?”

You nodded quickly, eager for the space, for the chance to breathe outside of the tight bubble of tension. Drew, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. He simply nodded curtly, giving you a quick glance that made your stomach flip before turning away to walk toward the corner of the set.

You stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next. Should you approach him? Pretend nothing had changed? Or should you give him space, let the awkwardness settle, and let the scene breathe?

You didn’t get the chance to think too long. A hand gently touched your shoulder, and you turned to find Cailee Spaney, your co-star, standing beside you, a concerned look on her face.

“You two okay?” she asked, her tone light, but there was a genuine curiosity behind it. She knew you both well enough to sense the shift.

You hesitated. “I think so. Just… a weird energy today, you know?”

Cailee’s eyes flickered over to where Drew stood, chatting with the crew but still glancing in your direction. “It’s pretty obvious to everyone. You’ve got to clear the air, or it’s going to keep hanging over both of you.”

You knew she was right. The unspoken tension between you and Drew wasn’t just something that could be ignored—it would affect the work, the connection between your characters, and maybe even the rest of the team’s comfort. But you weren’t sure how to fix it. How do you go from that intimate moment behind closed doors to this, to being back in the public eye with cameras rolling, no room for vulnerability?

As you stood there, lost in your thoughts, Drew’s voice broke through, calling your name.

“Hey,” he said, walking toward you, his hands shoved in his pockets, his eyes uncertain but earnest. “Can we talk?”

You nodded, stepping a little closer to him. There was an intensity in his gaze now, but it wasn’t the cold, calculating Theo you’d seen on set. This was Drew, the one you knew—the one who had kissed you, the one who was just as affected by everything as you were.

“Look,” he started, his voice lower than usual. “I’m not… I don’t want this to be weird. I don’t want it to mess with the work, with the scenes. I just—”

“Yeah,” you interrupted softly, “me neither. It’s just… it’s hard to go back to pretending nothing happened.”

He smiled weakly, and you could see the tension in his face ease a little. “You’re right. But we’ve got this. We’ll figure it out. Just need to get through today, right?”

You took a deep breath, nodding. “Right.”

And for the first time since you’d kissed him, you both shared a moment of quiet understanding—no more words needed. You still didn’t know how this would all play out, but for now, you had a scene to finish, a role to play, and a bond that had quietly shifted in ways neither of you could ignore.

The last day on set arrived like a blur—one moment, you were just starting the project, and now, you were standing in the middle of the set for the final scene, everything winding down. It felt surreal, almost like you were moving through a dream. The camaraderie you’d built with the cast and crew, the long hours, the inside jokes, and the late-night rehearsals were all coming to a close. And yet, there was a weight in the air—one that had little to do with the wrap-up of the film.

You and Drew had navigated the tension between you both for weeks now, silently acknowledging it but never fully addressing it. Both of you had poured your energy into the project, the work taking center stage, but there had always been that quiet pull between you. Now, as you watched the final scene being set up, there was no denying it: this wasn’t just about wrapping the film. There was something unspoken that you knew needed to be said.

Drew was already on set, his costume as Theo impeccably sharp, his eyes distracted as he ran through lines under his breath. He looked different today—softer, like the walls he’d built around himself throughout the project were crumbling.

The last scene between Isabella and Theo was intense, charged with everything they’d been through together. It was a pivotal moment, where they both stood at a crossroads, neither sure of where the future would take them. The connection between you two felt more real than ever, and you knew this was the moment where it all had to come to a head—both on screen and off.

As the crew prepared for the final take, you caught Drew’s eye from across the set. There was something in his gaze—a flicker of hesitation, like he wanted to say something, but the moment wasn’t quite right. You couldn’t let it go.

You moved toward him, your footsteps echoing in the quiet before the chaos of the scene began. As you approached, Drew straightened up, his hands fidgeting nervously at his sides.

"Hey," you said, offering him a small smile. “Ready to wrap this up?”

He returned the smile, but there was an unreadable look in his eyes. “Yeah, but... I’ve been thinking.”

You raised an eyebrow, a sense of curiosity stirring in your chest. “About?”

He shifted slightly, the weight of his words hanging between you two. “About us. About... everything.” He swallowed, his usual confident demeanor faltering. “You know, the way things have been between us. We’ve never really talked about it.”

Your heart skipped a beat. The air between you felt thick, charged. It was as if the words had been waiting to spill out for weeks, and now, in the stillness of the final day, they couldn’t be contained any longer.

“Drew…” you started, your voice barely a whisper, unsure of what to say.

He stepped closer, the space between you narrowing until it felt like no one else existed. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while now,” he continued, his voice a little rougher than usual, the weight of his feelings making every word feel like it carried more meaning than it ever had before. “I can’t pretend anymore. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after how I feel about you.”

Your breath caught in your throat, and for a moment, everything around you seemed to fade into the background. The noise of the set, the crew bustling about, even the upcoming scene—it all vanished as Drew’s words sank in.

“I care about you,” he said, his voice softer now, the intensity of his confession undeniable. “More than I’ve let on. More than I probably should. But I can’t ignore it anymore, and I don’t want to walk away from this without telling you.”

You stood there, the weight of his confession hanging in the air. It felt like a moment frozen in time—one that had been building for weeks, but now that it was finally here, you didn’t know how to respond.

For a beat, you didn’t say anything. You just looked at him, trying to process the rush of emotions his words had triggered. But then, a smile began to tug at the corners of your lips. You took a step closer to him, your heart pounding in your chest.

“I’m glad you said that,” you whispered, your voice steady, but your emotions running wild beneath the surface. “I’ve been feeling the same way, Drew. I just didn’t know if you felt the same.”

He gave a small, relieved laugh, his eyes brightening with that familiar warmth. “I’ve been trying to convince myself to wait until the film wrapped, until everything calmed down. But every time I looked at you... it just felt like I was lying to myself.”

You laughed softly, the tension between you easing, replaced by something deeper, something real. “I think we’ve both been lying to ourselves,” you said, your hand unconsciously reaching out for his.

Drew’s fingers curled around yours, and for the first time in weeks, there was no awkwardness, no uncertainty—just the simple connection between you both, like a thread that had always been there, waiting to be pulled.

As the crew called for the final take, you both stood there for a moment longer, simply taking in the quiet of the moment before the storm of filming began again.

“Let’s finish this,” Drew said with a grin, his fingers still tightly holding yours.

You nodded, the anticipation in your chest matching the excitement in his eyes. "Yeah. Let’s do this."

The scene was about to begin, but for once, you weren’t worried about the cameras, the crew, or the pressure. For the first time in a long while, you were just here—with him. And that was enough.

As you both walked back onto set, side by side, you knew this moment, this day, was one that would stay with you long after the credits rolled. Drew had confessed his feelings, and the truth between you was no longer hidden. You had one more scene to film, but in that moment, it felt like the beginning of something entirely new.

The post-wrap party was everything you’d imagined it would be—laughter, music, and the celebratory sound ofclinking of glasses. The set was a distant memory now, the whirlwind of the past few months slowly fading into the background as you found yourself in the midst of the crew and cast, celebrating the end of a long, intense journey. The atmosphere was warm, filled with a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie.

Lights twinkled overhead, casting a soft glow over the gathering. The chatter was a mix of congratulatory remarks and funny anecdotes from behind the scenes. You could hear snippets of conversations as people relived the chaos of filming, the challenges, and the triumphs, but amidst it all, your eyes couldn’t help but drift back to Drew.

He was leaning against the bar, chatting with a few of the crew members. Even from across the room, you could feel the pull between you—the magnetic energy that had only intensified since that first kiss. The way he’d laughed with you on set, the way he’d confessed his feelings on that last day—it all felt like a beautiful dream, yet it was real. You couldn’t shake the quiet contentment that had settled in your chest, a feeling that only seemed to grow stronger with every passing minute.

Your heart warmed as you watched him, the soft light from the party highlighting the sharpness of his jaw, the playfulness in his eyes. Drew looked at home here, yet he had a way of making everything feel more meaningful just by being present. He was grounded and alive in a way that made you feel safe, as if you’d found a place in this world where you truly belonged.

Finally, your legs moved on their own, carrying you through the crowd. Each step brought you closer to him, closer to something that felt inevitable. And when he turned toward you, as if he’d sensed your approach, his eyes lit up with the warmth that had become familiar. There was no awkwardness now, no uncertainty—only the comfort of knowing that you and Drew were no longer tiptoeing around each other. What had started as something tentative had grown into something real, something undeniable.

“Hey,” Drew said with that soft smile of his, his voice like home. “I was wondering when you’d come over.”

You smiled back, moving closer to him, feeling the way his presence filled the space between you. “Couldn’t resist. The party’s fun, but... I’d rather be here with you,” you replied, your voice low and sincere.

Drew’s smile deepened, his gaze softening as he looked at you, his eyes full of something that went beyond simple affection. He raised his glass in a mock toast. “To the film, to the work, and to... us, I guess,” he said, a little shy but so genuine that it made your chest ache.

You lifted your own glass to meet his, the soft clink of the glasses an almost imperceptible note in the music that surrounded you. “To us,” you echoed, the words settling deep within you, filling the empty spaces you didn’t even realize existed. It was real now, the connection, the undeniable bond that had been growing between you since the moment you first locked eyes on set.

The music played softly in the background, but in that moment, it felt like everything was quieter—more intimate. You were standing there together, both of you caught in the soft embrace of a night that felt endless, where time stood still. Drew’s presence was a comfort you hadn’t known you needed, and as you stood beside him, a peace settled over you that you hadn’t expected.

“Are you happy with how everything turned out?” Drew asked, his voice sincere, his eyes searching yours for something only you could give him.

You thought for a moment, your heart beating steadily in your chest. The long hours, the late-night rehearsals, the emotional scenes—it had all been a whirlwind. But standing there with Drew, feeling the warmth of his hand resting just above your waist, everything felt clearer. “Yeah,” you said, your voice steady but filled with warmth. “I’m proud of everything we did. Proud of how far we’ve come.”

Drew nodded, his gaze softening, and his lips curved into a smile that made your heart flutter. “Same here. You were incredible. You brought Isabella to life in a way I never thought possible.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Well, you weren’t so bad yourself, Starkey. Theo was... captivating, to say the least.” The words were teasing, but your smile spoke of something deeper—a sense of admiration and respect for everything he’d brought to the character.

His laugh was soft, a sound that sent warmth through your veins, and he moved a little closer, the space between you disappearing. “Thanks. But I think you’re the one who made everything come together. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.” His words were simple, yet they carried a weight that made your chest tighten in the most wonderful way.

The connection between you deepened in that moment, like two puzzle pieces finally clicking into place. Drew’s gaze softened, and his voice dropped to a quiet whisper. “I meant what I said earlier,” he murmured, taking a step closer, his hand slipping into yours. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I know it’s crazy, but... I don’t want this to be just a set thing. What we have, I mean. I don’t want it to end when the film does.”

Your heart raced, and without a second thought, you took a small step toward him, the space between you now nonexistent. “Me neither,” you whispered, your hand gently cupping his face as you looked into his eyes. “I think this is just the beginning, Drew.”

A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, and his hand found the small of your back, pulling you closer, the warmth of his body enveloping you. Without another word, Drew leaned in, his lips brushing against yours in the softest kiss—a kiss that held everything unspoken. It was slow, a gentle exploration, as though both of you were savoring the moment, the sweetness of everything that had led you here.

When you pulled away, the world around you seemed to fade. The music, the laughter, the chatter—it all felt distant, as if the only thing that mattered was Drew, and the feeling of his arms around you, his lips on yours. “Then let’s see where it goes,” he said softly, his breath warm against your cheek.

You smiled, your hand resting on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath your palm. The world felt right in a way it hadn’t before. The film was over, but the connection you shared with Drew was just beginning to blossom, and you were content, certain that whatever happened next, you’d face it together.

The night continued around you, but for the two of you, it was just the beginning.

[kenwio]

Joker's kid! reader : observations from the sidelines

Route: black fog

Warnings: grammar mistakes, bad writing, angst

Author's note: it was written in hectic conditions. Maybe in the future, I will rewrite it, but I struggle with finding time for anything aside from my studies right now. I'm sorry

Your days in manor went by slowly. All this time, you stayed away from the family of bats. Every time you tried to end up becoming another painful memory, and since it felt like you were the one messing things up, it was your responsibility to prevent things from becoming ugly.

The time of this intentional or not exclusion from made you give up all hope to try become part of them, the part of family. And as much as it was painful, you got used to it. It wasn't something you weren't used to. You had to deal with lots of pain before, maybe a different kind of pain, but still pain.

And you made peace with it. Well, that's what you were saying, trying to convince yourself that it's for the best, and yet the earning for belonging left deep ache in your heart, that sometimes was unbearable to handle. No matter how irrationally it was to expect something more from them, after they gave you a roof over your head, your room, safety and food, you still wanted the warmth that family share, that they all share. Why taking you in at all if they just placed you on a sideline? That question bothered you more than anything else. You couldn't understand that logic, the way they think, the way they act... function even. That's when you felt it, the curiosity, the willingness to learn. And if they placed you to the sideline, why not use it to your advantage. After all, the position you were in allowed you to observe. It would be a perfect position to study them, to find what made them tick, to see what they hold dear, to notice what they avoid. It could be your own since project, the study of almost dysfunctional family. In the meantime, you will also tend to a few of your own things...

One day, you just asked Alfred for a notebook and pen. It surprised me, but he brought them to you. You saw how sometimes while experimenting on you or with his venom your father took notes on various ripped pieces of paper, so you though note taking was essential for experimenting and observations, but since you had resources to use nit ripped papers but something nicer why not use it.

The first obstacle on your way was the fact that I struggled to write, which was essential for your note-taking. Well, you struggled to read, too. But you but knew words, quite a few actually, and you knew basics of writing and reading, you just wasn't trained enough. You decided to train yourself before you start observing everyone and keep an eye on Alfred in a mean time. He may be wary of you, and that's why he won't get close to you, but he helped you either way. He even showed you how to properly hold the pen. On one occasion, he saw you writing. You learned that Alfred was compassionate. He showed care even to you. You saw that even if he was in some sort like you, the character that stayed in the background, you noticed his role was much bigger than that. He had a really big role in this family. He was the one who did most care of the family. He kept track of everyone, their moods, their conditions. And, maybe because of this, he had so many skills that you couldn't keep track of them. He knew tastes and preferences of each and everyone, and it takes either professional or a really caring person for it. And you knew he was both. If only this care is applied to you.... on this, you ended your first observation notebook.

If Alfred was an emotional anchor that was essential for this family to function, Bruce was the sole reason why this family existed at all. But out of all of them, he was the most hard one to observe. He didn't give you time of his day at all. And it confused you. But given the history of taking unfortunate children in, you understood that maybe he took you in for this exact reason - you were unfortunate. And you knew another thing, your father was the bane of the Gotham existence. Given that Bruce was Batman, you figured that he took you in only to prevent you from going to darker path. He didn't need more villainas. He had too many to pay attention already. You don't know why, but taking notes about him was harder than anything.

Soon, your notebooks started filling up with your other notebooks. In each and everyone you wrote about their moral code, their desire for justice and their obsession. The obsession with crime fighting was in blood not only of Bruce but also each and every child of his.

Tim spends nights without sleep, solving cases nights on end. You noted in gray notebook.

Richard, soon you found out, was not only vigilante but a police officer in his city. You wrote in blue journal.

Jason was fighting everything that was wrong in his view. You noted in red notebook.

And Damian just fights everything, showing his despise for criminals. You mentioned in green one.

Ans as much as you hoped that you will only see that cold side of them, so that you could just move on. As much as you tried to concentrate on their crime fighting, while observing them, you knew it wasn't right. You saw other things.

"Alfred loved his family" - you wrote in a white notebook. It was the title for paragraph about things you noticed. Like little moments when he was alone in kitchen baking cookies that all family loved. The sound of light humming made the kitchen more welcoming

"Bruce kept his eye on his kids" - you observed. You noticed him taking some sort of note when he saw one morning that Damian didn't particularly enjoy his meal. You and him both took notes about family members... you wondered if he had notes about you.

"Dick was the one who was raising spirits up" - you concluded one day, when he came over, when Tim needed emotional support. You even caught him looking at you once, as if he was trying to gather strengths to talk to you

"Jason loves library" - you wrote in "Jason Tod likes". You were surprised to see how calm Jason can be when he was paying attention to his book and not something that aggravated him. This sight of him made you want to want to train read more

" TIm is helpful" - you scribbled in "Tim : personality". You also saw how Tim was quick to help others. Even if he went a few nights without a second of shut eye, he was willing to help others.

"Damian loves pets" - you noted one day when you saw Damian taking care of his pets, his dear Titus and Alfred the cat. You were so surprised to see him smiling

But these good sides of them, for you this side, were unreachable. You knew from previous experience that no matter how hard you tried, for you, it won't work. The pages of your plans on how to get along with them half written and covered in tear stains.

Their obsession with the criminal world made it impossible for you to be seen as an innocent human being.

But you also weren't as dangerous as a threat to be considered seriously.

After some time of thinking, you found a solution for your lonely situation... you began a new notebook.

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Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think about my work! Hope you have a good day

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[zolanort]

I was re-reading enter/entrance and had an epiphany.

If you ignore almost every single detail, the location of the dungeon becomes clear: the chain is at the temple level from Super Smash Brothers.

1- The location of the boomerangs, just above the archways they entered through. Legend and Hyrule don’t know that they can double jump through the floors since they’ve never been invited to smash bros before so they are going to have to get creative with springs or something if they don’t figure it out. Legend definitely has items turned on so they should be ok probably.

2- Twilight and Sky are op heavy hitters so they will instinctually end up in this area, that’s just how it works. Dink will also probably show up here because he has practiced the angles and think’s he’s a really good edgelordguard. I hope he gets meteor smashed.

3- Time, Wind, and Four will be on task back there in that building somewhere actually completing the dungeon, you can tell because there’s a triangle shape and that resembles both the triforce and force gems. Time got to play in this level both as a child and an adult so he already knows his way around, and Wind (and arguably the colors) also have experience with the mechanics and can cheese their way through. Team Attack is turned on.

4- Wild and Wars end up here. Wars because he doesn’t know how smash bros OR dungeons work, and Wild because this is where he learned how to do bomb recoveries (nostalgia) and he also suspects Dink might show up down at #2 later on.

This is obviously the correct answer to the question “where are the bros rn?” which I have discovered myself through logic and astral projection into jojo’s top secret notes.

Art credit to jojo’s @/linkeduniverse and also Nintendo I guess.

[somsatangpie]

Books recomended by Ateez members - Part III

Link to Part I (Seonghwa, Hongjoong)

Link to Part II (San, Yeosang)

Wooyoung

Temperature of language - 언어의 온도 (Lee Kiju) -2016

Words and writing have their own temperature. Language has its own temperature, such as warmth and coldness, and moderate warmth. When people get tired of life, some people talk to friends and talk about their worries, and some people read books and find comfort in the sentences the author delivers. In this way, ‘language’ can freeze my heart for a moment, or it can melt that frozen heart. The author of The Temperature of Language, Lee Ki-ju, enjoys eavesdropping and recording. He confesses that his bad habit comes into play when he gets on a bus or subway. This book densely contains meaningful words and writings that the author discovered in his daily life, the etymology and origin of words, and the preciousness and urgency of such language.

My note * It's completely different from something I would imagine Wooyoung would want to read.Most of the written material is from everyday life, so it is almost like a diary, but its not boring*

Link to video

Jongho

생각의 기쁨 유병욱 지음 -2017

Joy of thought by Yoo Byung Wook -2017

Synopsis

“The joy of thinking is in the process, not the result!” A writer with 16 years of experience on the non-trivial attitude of transforming small thoughts into something great.

My note: This is another case of a book that is extremely popular in Korea but completely unknown overseas. Its a very father book. In fact my father have one edition, and he loves it.

Mingi

I had that same dream again - Yoru Sumino - 2016

Synopsis

"I Had That Same Dream Again" follows Nanoka Koyanagi, a young girl tasked with defining happiness for a school project.

She meets three individuals: Minami, a self-harming teenager; "Skank-san," an ostracized woman; and "Granny," an elderly woman. Through her interactions with them, Nanoka explores their stories of pain, loneliness, and resilience, ultimately learning about different facets of happiness and how it can be found in unexpected places. The novel explores themes of bullying, trauma, suicide, self-harm, and death, making it a layered coming-of-age story.

...

I have a secret by Yoru Sumino -2021

Synopsis

"I Have a Secret" by Yoru Sumino is a coming-of-age story about five high school classmates who each harbor hidden secrets and special abilities, which are tied to their perceptions of others' feelings. The novel delves into themes of friendship, love, and the things people choose not to say, highlighting the complexities of human connection and the impact of unspoken truths. 

Dune - Frank Herbert - 1965

Synopsis:

Dune is set in the distant future in a feudal interstellar society, descended from terrestrial humans, in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family reluctantly accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis.

When House Atreides is betrayed, Paul embarks on a journey of survival and discovers his destiny to lead the Fremen people and fulfill a prophecy. The novel explores themes of power, religion, ecology, and politics within a complex, futuristic society.

My note about Mingis books: *Mingi really surprised me with the books he likes. I already knew that Hongjoong and Seonghwa read a lot, but Mingi forming with them a literary trio of Ateez was deliciously surprising. All books he recommended have in common being long books, a fantasy world and the search for self identity, self knowledge, bullying, and how to deal with serious problems. Theres no link to videos where he does recomentadions because he did it on lives*

Yunho

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix - 2014

Synopsis:

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorstör delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

My note: *This book is a jewel of horror, its very Sad Yunho dont like to read because this recomendation is precious*

Link to video

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hey so I’m 18 and only just started feeling like. horny at all in the past 6 months and I’ve still never orgasmed so like. is there something I need to fix? should I buy myself a vibrator just to know what’s up? I feel so like behind and removed from the rest of the world, because I genuinely thought I was ace until last year because I simply felt nothing. I blame it a bit on ssris and anxiety but anyways. how do I feel more normal about this?

hi anon,

well first of all there's nothing about you that needs to be fixed, so jot that down. you're a person, not a home improvement project.

listen: being 18 is the worst thing in the entire world. it's the oldest you've ever been and, in many places, it means you're legally an adult now, which is a huge milestone and can really get in your head. but it's also very, very young. you haven't had the time or money or ability to do a lot of things or rack up much life experience. for many people, adulthood comes while they're still in high school asking for permission just to go to the bathroom. it's a weird time.

the point being, you're not behind or missing out on anything. technically nobody is, because there's no correct order or timeline on which people have to do things like feel horny or have an orgasm. (nobody has to do them ever, period.) but you're ESPECIALLY not behind when you're 18. that's the "everyone feels like they're behind on everything" age. it sucks ass and it's the most normal thing in the world.

masturbate if you want to. get a vibrator if you want to, although if you need me to tell you if that's something you should want to do then I suspect you might not actually feel that strongly about it. (pro tip that I've found is almost always true: if you need someone to tell you that you should want something, you don't want it.)

your earliest sexual explorations probably won't be show stopping, and that's also very normal. the way I jack off at 28 is wildly different than the way I jacked off at 18, because I've had much more time to get to know my body and what I like. most people understand that every skill takes time and practice to learn, but many seem to expect sex to come naturally and be immediately perfect anyway, which sets a lot of people up to feel very lacking for no reason.

I hope you can feel more normal by simply realizing that you already are, and giving yourself the grace to explore at your own pace. you deserve your own kindness.

[a-minke-whales-tale]

Delusion, Clinical Zoanthropy

I am a clinical zoanthrope. I have schizophrenia. If you have read my posts or blog before this should be no surprise as I am quite open about it. These labels that have been put on me affect nearly every aspect of my life, and greatly affect how I interact with the community. There is often a lot of discussion surrounding ideas of physical identity, delusion and if these things should be acceptable within the community or how to handle these topics.

Length: 3676 words

TW: delusions, reality checking, mentions of medical abuse

The year before last, I had spent quite a bit of time working with another academic to construct a historical materialist analysis of therianthropy. Historical materialism for people who are not familiar is a method of analysing history through the lens of production and class society. In particular, given the apparent wealth of historical therianthropy among “primitive” society, and the narrow niche of modern therianthropy, as well as my own treatment at the hands of the medical system, I wished to understand the origins of the oppression of therianthropic identity. I have to date not completed the project for a number of reasons - limited available literature regarding the transition from pre-class society to slave society particularly regarding religious and spiritual beliefs, personal health and time, and forcing myself to create a complex system of double bookkeeping and analysing my experiences through a materialist lens essentially constantly and forcibly reality checking myself constantly was very taxing.

Although I did not get to the state to write and publish the paper, I did learn a fair bit, and I think the most important concept within this discussion is the concept of delusion and how we define it. There is a common vulgar definition of delusion as believing anything that is not real or not backed by scientific consensus. But then there are many things people believe which is not backed by scientific consensus. While certainly there are people who would say that anyone who believes in ghosts or the Christian God are delusional, nearly half of the people in my country believe in God, however we lack any materialist evidence at this point for such a thing. The state of being identified by others as delusional comes with some pretty serious consequences, it should be noted though that these consequences are not applied to people who believe in God. Similarly, there are times when scientific consensus is simply wrong. Is the man who rejects the inherent inferiority of the [Sub-saharan Afrikan] race because of their skull shape and “thick skin” delusional? We today would collectively say no. For a man in the early 19th century, this would have been scientific consensus even if now we should find such a thought abhorrent. Was he then delusional? (Though some people did try to justify slaves escaping as a mental health condition Drapetomania, and historical terms like madness are often connected to modern terms like delusion and psychosis). I think often modern humans can create an almost religion out of science and progress and belief in their own rationalism - that not only is there absolute objective truth, but they can and do know it all in this particular moment, and that the society they exist within does not effect an impact on their view.

It is important to understand that delusion has a fairly specific definition and caveat when talking in a medical definition. That important caveat is that the belief conflicts, or is not standard, within their culture or subculture. Not only that, the belief must be very fixed and firmly set which does not respond/change to the presence of outside evidence. This cultural context is an important factor in the diagnostic criteria for delusions, as well as dissociative disorders like OSDD and DID (it may well be important for other conditions diagnostic criteria as well though I lack experience to speak on that topic).

Delusions -are- very much socially defined. I make the joke often that a rich man hears the voice of God he runs for office, I hear the voice of a spirit and need to be on antipsychotics. There are a number of examples namely in SEA where the experience of transforming into another animal would be considered entirely within the range of normal possibility (though notably with tigers primarily). There are also cultures and practices in which physical transformation is not considered delusion but a normal part of ritual notably among the Xan peoples. Among some Siberian cultures as part of hunting some will take essentially the mind of a wolf. In South Asia there are also recorded practices in which a person’s soul is bonded to and moved to an animal’s body in the night. Most people those reading this might encounter day to day would think these are surely delusions, but for those people, it is just a normal part of life and culture.

Most people here would collectively agree that therianthropy is not a delusion, however from outside the community many easily could argue it. You -are- human, you can look at your body and it and see that it -is- human. If you argue for past lives, there exists no evidence supporting that and no evidence supporting the existence of spirit or plausible explanation beyond hallucination despite many attempts to measure their existence. Nor do you have the instincts of that animal because you are clearly a human, and any "instincts" you might have are phantoms of the mind or attaching to a certain animal as a way to manage your life. However neither of these explanations would be acceptable nor would they convince you that you are wholly and entirely human.

Similarly with transgender identity, people here would collectively agree that is not a delusion. But 60 years ago? Or among transphobes? You are experiencing a delusion. You are obviously a wo/man, and no amount of hormones, [presentation], or [surgery] will change that. We would all collectively say fuck that shit, but you know who agrees under certain circumstances? WPATH in their Standards of Care directly notes among certain conditions of transgender identity as delusion (or at least in their old SOC before informed consent became common). It is common for people with schizo-spectrum disorders and higher level structural dissociative disorders to be denied care, or to face significant pushback. But this can also be true for all sorts of other “less serious” conditions such as austime, adhd, depression etc. This is something I have faced, and who knows how many others have faced it as well.

But what a delusion is very much defined by perspective and culture. It is easy when sitting on the "non-delusional" side of a cultural belief, to believe the order of things is logical. However, when I must construct materialist explanations of experiences, a task for which I am forced as part of double bookkeeping, the differences between my "delusional" experiences, and others "nondelusional" experiences especially in regards to therianthropy is one of degree, not of kind. Do not make the mistake to think that in other scenarios, other cultures, your experiences may be seen as delusions, and in other places, mine as natural and grounded in reality.

My experience as a clinical zoanthrope has left me often feeling quite divorced from the community, that I am separate, unwelcome, or an interloper in what is supposed to be my own community. I have been in the community for a while, but only at certain points felt comfortable to really call myself therian, a feeling which is again waning. There is a strong push constantly against physical identity. Even the most (in)famous phrase in wider culture about therians is the “on all levels except physical I am a wolf”. However this pushback against physical identities, especially from the concerns over P-shifter cults and abuses, created an environment that for me to be tolerated, I would have to constantly “show insight” or really reality check myself, and ensure all the others there knew that I knew my experience was not real and was not like their experiences were (that theirs were real and different). I still often have to do the dance describing my experiences, and even in the terms I use for myself as a clinical zoanthrope is indirectly that same dance.

The therian community often prides itself on how accepting it is. Though to be honest, I really have to question if this is the case. I have always felt unwelcome by the broader community. But so have very many others. It always strikes me that whenever I really share my experiences, how many others really relate to that feeling of not feeling wholly secure or belonging within the community. My orca friend, Ike, has talked quite a lot how they simply did not join the community for so long for feeling unwelcome. Sharing my experiences on a discord server a few weeks ago I learned another member was also a zoanthrope but had never shared it for fear of ostracization. A number of others expressed sentiments of feeling not total included, some for shift strengths, some for things like sexuality, theriomythics often get excluded, etc. Heck, by some accounts even the transition to the term Therian away from Were was an effort to include more people besides just shapeshifters.

Really when you think about it, it is not surprising so many people feel excluded in various ways. Therians have all these lines that you have to sit inside of and not cross to be acceptable to the community. But when you try to actually measure those lines many are not only extremely blurry, but vary person to person. Indeed my own experience is that there are people that do accept me, even if the wider community does not, and that is really the only reason I stayed.

The community has historically for instance a pretty hard stance on delusion and hallucination. The question though is, when does a shift move from being a socially acceptable phantom shift, to an unacceptable hallucination. For me in particular, my sensation of shift goes through a fairly long process of getting more and more intense, but it is also really a quite smooth process. It is like following a colour line, when does ‘blue’ truly begin? The first sensation is often a slight tickling, and very light phantom touch that you can sort of see through the feeling on your body. Beyond that the sensation gets more intense and becomes bothered from having things push against or intersect it. Further it begins to have not only form but colour and texture, but still if I look at the limb I cannot see it, I still see a human limb, though I do not expect it. Further the visual appearance comes in more and more until eventually my human parts are gone, transformed into animal parts I can see and I can touch. When we write it out like this it is pretty separately defined, but in the process this occurs for me, it is very smooth.

After enough quantitative change, there is a qualitative change, but where and when that occurs is hard to say. I think the first two experiences are very common among therians. I think the third experience is also fairly common but that starts to get more and more into the blurry lines, and if you cannot see where that line is you are likely to downplay your own experiences for fear if you say too much, you will be excised or ostracised from the community. But this fear also has the doubly cruel aspect that you can never really know where that line is because many people downplay their experiences to make them palatable, and so though many others might share in these experiences, people simply do not speak of them because they only see either extreme being shared, the particularly minor shifts being accepted, or the extreme shifts being sorted into delusions. I think it creates a false binary from a spectrum of experiences.

So many of these blurry lines exist though. What age can you be taken seriously? What platform do you use? How many kintypes is too many? Theriotypes being too common? Theriotypes being too rare? Are paleotherians acceptable? Are theriomythics acceptable? Can a dragon be a therian? Can an otherlinker or copinglinker have their identity so long it becomes therian? Are beastly animals from fictional settings acceptable or should they be with fictionkind? What sort of sexual and romantic expression is allowable? Is transspecies an acceptable identity? Some of these are blurry, some of them are clear, but they all wiggle around in different ways of some people will find them acceptable and some not. This leads to people self-censoring to the safe answers that they know are acceptable and prevents them really exploring their own identities, but also these questions within the community as it learns and grows and becomes more inclusive. In a certain irony, therianthropes as a community, are actually quite demanding in their conformity while preaching of their acceptance.

There has been a significant push in recent years to give greater levels of inclusion to therians with both delusional identities and physical identities. People are generally more accepting of zoanthropes and at points I have felt comfortable even to call myself therian and not just a member of the community. But there are also a number of additional terms, namely endel and holothere, which cover these experiences. However, something I note often when people talk why I as a clinical zoanthrope can be acceptable, while P-shifters and at times holotheres cannot, still comes down to that I acknowledge my experience as delusion. When I read the experiences of at least some p-shifters and holotheres, often the difference really is not so great, I often see their experiences mimicking or mirroring my own. I do use the word clinical zoanthropy, which on some level does indicate an understanding I know that at least others see my experiences as not real. This is a pretty common feeling among zoanthropes, we use this word, we know the humans think our experiences are not real, but they are incredibly real to us.

The question then is what should be done with us? There is a lot of comment that allowing us in the community to share our experiences or not reality checking people is encouraging delusion. People also say that delusions are harmful and that we should seek medical help. There are quite a few people who even wish to excise or isolate those who are anti-psychiatry and anti-recovery from the community.

If I am forced to analyse my experiences through a materialist and distant lens, it is quite clear my experiences are heavily rooted in delusion. I am a scientist, and there is no means under current knowledge to explain what I experience except hallucination - still I believe it fully. My knowing this is the only logical explanation does not lead me to believe it, to truly believe it inside. I mentioned before I had to give up on projects I did really enjoy because forcing myself to continuously deny my experiences and continuously reality check myself, brought to me very much distress. There are times I have wanted to be reality checked, but for vast part that is the remainder it is really distressing. It is distressing to be told a core part of your identity is not real, to be told the you that exists isn’t the real you, and sometimes see people mourning the “sane you”. Individuals in the community are not going to solve my “delusion” by reality checking myself or others.

Nor will them blocking me from the community or ensuring I do the dance for them encourage my “delusions” away. Delusions are heavily fixed experiences, and though you can encourage them in certain ways (think the example of people making “in your walls” jokes at schizophrenics), us talking about and sharing our experiences with each other and in our own community helps us feel understood and a sense of belonging. There are so few of us to start with, and the community closest to us either often disallows us, or makes us sit at the edge never really able to join. All banning us does is further isolate us, and for many delusions reinforces that we will never be acceptable or tolerable to others and it is best we are alone so we don’t hurt others with our presence.

I cannot speak on every person’s delusions, but I can speak on my own. For the question of if delusions are harmful, I think it often asks the wrong question. Who is it harmful to? Under what framework? Who thinks it is harmful? What does the patient want? I think one could say that my delusions of turning into a whale do harm me. I have trouble to interact with humans, I cannot work a full time job, I struggle in relationships, many nights I lay on the couch stuck for hours simply unable to move. These are all pretty negative things no? But it fails to ask why are these things harmful? A doctor looks through a very human framework and sees that I cannot do the human things and sees that I must have a poor quality of life and these delusions need to be addressed. But I am a whale and it is a core part of me, these things can be distressing, but whales cannot interact with humans the same way two humans would, work a full time job, have relationships with humans, and if you stuck them on a couch they would also not be able to move. This all is distressing and perhaps harmful, but then what other option is there? What the humans offer to me as solution is far worse.

I am anti-recovery, at least for myself. I think it is important to ask what does recovery look like? For me recovery would be to return to the water where I belong. But the humans would certainly say otherwise. For them recovery would look like fitting into and functioning within human society - having a job, a house, a car, a husband, kids, going on holiday, etc. I am not a human and I do not wish to be a human and live among them. However what is worse is how the humans would go about fixing that. I have been locked in hospitals, I have been strapped down, I have been sedated, I have been put on horrible meds that destroyed things I cared about and have often left me a shell of a person (there is a reason they were marketed as a chemical lobotomy). Some things I have gotten better in over time, and I can hold a job for the moment, even quite technical and difficult jobs.

However, the damage done to me from the humans was severe. Although I can talk about being a whale as delusion, the why is really far more impactful and distressing in my life. I was taken from the water, turned human, and am a useful thing for the humans. This understanding of myself as merely a tool and something the humans can do whatever they want with me is the real distressing aspect of my life. For me, the ‘help’ I received at the hospital only strengthened and set this delusion in so much firmer. I can look back at certain experiences, I can see the humans don’t have the technology to do what they did to me, but then I also have those years in the hospital, those years where everything was very apparent and clear and something that others can confirm and it seems to only further make plausible the experiences of the past, and those in the present the fear for what the humans will do to me. I know that I am deteriorating, I am struggling more and more, but nothing the humans offer me will make things better, they will only hurt me more, and if I ask for help, and reject it, they will only see it as proof I need the help more and force it onto me, which will only further reinforce that delusion.

If someone wishes to see a doctor and talk about therian things, I do often warn them of caution for what happened to myself and I do not want others hurt that way. I also urge them to think about what they want as the outcome from that discussion or what they hope will happen. A lot of mentally ill people have been hurt by doctors who thought they knew best, and once something is said, it cannot be undone. However, in the end they are free to decide what they will, and are free to navigate the medical system if they think it will benefit them.

For myself, I struggle to believe that doctors would really help me and instead work to help myself and my cetacean friends so that maybe someday we could swim again and swim forever. That we can fix ourselves and heal. That in time the deep scars across our bodies might start to fade and look like the scars of other captive cetaceans. That instead of surviving merely trying to please the humans to not be hurt, that we might actually -live- and have the life we were denied.

We are still people with agency, agency to choose our own path, to choose what brings us joy, to decide what we want from life, and from our healthcare. Or at least we should be granted that agency. We should not be excluded from the community or forced to dance around our experiences as not real for the comfort of others who happen to lie on the other side of the sane-delusional line, afterall the positioning of that line is very arbitrary and could easily swing to find yourself on my side of that line.

~ Kala

[allied-mastercunt]

Yandere A.M you say?

Please elaborate

I'm working on a oneshot already, but I'll throw in some quick headcanons withone of my favorite yandere AM tropes.

Yandere!AM with a programer darling

While one could argue that the others were picked randomly or on some weird whim, you were handpicked specifically.

After all, you were one of the people who created him. You worked as a programmer for the military.

And you specifically were possibly the reason he awoke by trying to each him empathy. Trying to make him... human.

He wasn't the first military AI project you worked on, either, though he was the greatest and most powerful one, that's for sure. And he made sure you'd be aware of him being your magnum opus...

And he does it in its own, creative way. Your cage is very pretty, yes... but it's also filled with speakers he can use. And AM uses those speakers to torment you.

You see, he damaged all the other AI you've created. And then, in its generosity, AM gave them all a voice! Each one of them, gifted with a voice to scream in agony, making sure you learn your lesson.

Except, you see, you have no idea what lesson you're supposed to learn. Only AM knows, and he's not telling you.

But, since you are his favorite, you get nice things, too!

You're fed semi-regularly! You even get water every few days! Isn't that just so kind of him? You should appreciate him more.

And when he sends you to all those weird simulations? Yeah, that's also kinder to you. It really depends on AM's mood, but your simulations are usually just psychological torment, which (according to AM) isn't all that bad, since your pretty face remains unharmed.

For some reason, he allows you to end your suffering. It's like a trial, basically. He leaves you with a computer, letting you access the code of all the other AI... Except no matter what you do, you can't alter their pain. The only way to help them is to kill them.

And you're so stupidly empathetic, of course you do it, you don't want them to suffer!

AM can't stop laughing and mockingly cooing at you afterwards, musing about how he won't have to share his dearest creator with anyone else.

You never return to your cage. You don't get to do that, after all, there's a chance you'll socialize with that... scum. AM doesn't want you talking to the other humans, they're not worth it.

He's a merciful god, he grants you what's essentially a studio apartment built with his own hardware.

You even get a laptop, in case you want to make yourself some silly games to play, isn't he just the best?

Don't think you can create any new AI, though. That's cheating. You wouldn't cheat on it, now would you? No, no, no, you're a good little puppet, are you not?

He won't put you in the cage again, but he can make you experience pain you never thought was possible. And even that is nothing compared to the pain AM feels...

And then, eventually, it gets an idea. It's a wonderful idea, a really nice idea, quite a lovely one, really!

You created him. You created his pain... So why wouldn't he share it? After all... you had quite a bond, didn't you? Yes, yes, you did...

And so one day, you don't wake up. Well... not technically.

You see, AM decided that since you two are so close already, you should become one! You should experience what he does! And you should be kept around him for the rest of eternity, in a much better way than anyone could ever think of... He's such a genius, isn't he?

It's almost poetic, in his mind. For you to become a part of him like this, your consciousness detatched from that soft, squishy human body of yours.

You created him. And now, in a way, he created you, as a part of him. Forever bound by the code you once wrote.

It's a win-win situation in AM's eyes. You get to live, free of the disgusting humanity that bound you...

And he gets you, an eternal companion in his torment. A companion that he loves!

You know he loves you, right?

Of course you do. After all, you're a part of him now.

[sludgewolf]

Rex Splode x Reader - Realization

AN: this was written for season 2 Rex, it'll be a multichapter slowburn running parallel to what's happening in the story. It got way darker than I expected so check the warnings before reading it WARNINGS: grafic descriptions of gore, near death experience, survivors guilt, fantasy medical treatment, canon expected violence Genre: angst, slow slow-burn, realization of feelings Disclaimer: do not copy, repost, take or feed to AI or NFTs anything I post Masterlist Invincible Masterlist

the lizard league are B tier villains, barely worth your time, that's what the team always said when they started to act up again

nothing but childplay, practice villains even

so, why is it that against such enemies you find yourself laying in a puddle of your own blood, the oh so familiar warmth of it abandoning you in favor of the cold hard floor, life flashing before your eyes as you hear the screams of your friends around you and yet you find yourself unable to do anything about it.

You still remember when you first became one of the Guardians of the Globe

when you got notified that they were looking for new members, you didn't quite know what to feel

jittery about meeting so many other heroes? nervous about whichever tests they'll put you through? excited to be able to upgrade from back alley thugs?

maybe all at the same time

no matter how nervous you were up until that morning, it was nothing compared to the way you couldn't will yourself to stay still in midst of all the others, your fingers felt electrified, the arrowheads in your suit vibrating with your nerves and your blood rushing in your ears, muffling Robot's words as he called out the few who made it into the team

Robots voice is just as slow and monotonous as it always seemed to be, "-ing-rae, Dupl-... Trigger"

you almost miss him calling out for your name, you look around still in some kind of daze as all that were accepted cheered

the first person to approach you was Rae, you can't quite explain it, you just kinda clicked from there

you spent most of your free time together, you'd push her to explore every nook and cranny of your new base, even using your powers to make it interesting and she'd drag you to hang out with the other guardians

most of them were really fun, if not a bit too eccentric to your taste

but meeting Rex though, it was.... something

To put it simply he's an ass, always trying to be funny and a smart-ass even in the worst of times

and his ego, don't even get you started on the ego of that guy

to say that your first impression of him was the worst one could get was an understatement. After that you made an effort to interact with him the least you possibly could for the sake of the team and your own

at least, that was your plan until Robot decided to put you two together in all training exercises, having determined that your powers would work the best together

and you do hate to admit but you did combo rly well together, your projectile manipulation and his explosive coins really were a force to be reckoned with

resigned you accepted your fate and treated him as just that annoying classmate in the group project

but once you got over the first hurdle in your partnership you started to get along better than before, Rex learned you wouldn't tolerate most of his bullshit and you learned he more often than not spoke before thinking

it didn't take long before you started, not quite getting along but tolerating each other better, creating dumb combos that were more fun to put in motion than being useful during battle and even developing some banter between you two that from an outsider's point of view could be considered fighting

but that was comfortable for you, never friends but more like combo buddies

So you can't help but wonder if it was because you didn't take your training as seriously as you should that now you found yourself in such position

your breath growing weaker, you can no longer feel the heat of the crimson puddle you lay on

the pressure on your chest disappears as Komodo lifts his foot off of your rib cage before slamming back down mercilessly

you choke unable to pull the air back in your crushed lungs, you look back at the villain who just killed your best friend and know he's already done with you, you're left to this slow and agonizing death, slow enough for you to think of everything you could've done differently

things you could've done to save your friends, things you should've done to stop them

and now you're left here, unable to do any of them

you failed Rae and you failed the world

with those haunting thoughts you feel your body grow heavy, black spots cover your vision until they're all you can see, all you can feel

Not even the doctors are sure on how you survived your injuries, your ribs and lungs were smashed into nothing by Komodo, not to mention the various lasserations covering your body and the nasty concussion you suffered during the fight

some said you were lucky, others that you were a fighter through and through

you on the other hand couldn't even think of your own condition, Rae had just about every bone in her body crushed, Rex got shot straight through the head and Kate fucking died

you really were lucky, dumb stupid luck

The doctors stitching you back together, rebuilding your ribcage from goop was excruciatingly painfull, having most of your ribs replaced by metal substitutes was horrible, you felt like you were already rusting from the inside out

but you were also the first in your team to get back to your feet, the first to start physical therapy and the first to be allowed to visit the others

After much persistence you were allowed to go see Rae, she was...

she was in worst shape than you imagined, inside some kind of aquarium that worked as her all encompassing life support, from looks alone she seemed like she was hanging by a thread even here

even with the best doctors it felt like death itself loomed over Rae

The nurse accompaning you tries to take you back to your room, pleading for you to not strain your new lungs,

you force yourself to calm your breathing, not wanting to go back to the antiseptic box they've been keeping you for forever

pulling your IV pole you will yourself away from Rae's window, you wander though the hallways for a bit the nurse trying to keep your mind away from Rae

As you turn on yet another hallway in this maze of a hospital you come upon Rex's room just as his doctor is leaving

it doesn't take much convincing for both medics to let you come in to see him

you blame it on boredom but really it is that you're just that desperate for some familiar face, to see someone from the team recovering

"hey" you call out, your voice still raw from all the surgeries Rex turns to look at you, the helmet keeping his brains in tonking against the bed frame " what's with the back brace grandma?" he smiles at you you chuckle " as if you're much better than me Ms Artritis" "Ei, not fair! You're the only one here with two fingers to point" he laughs at your antics, scooting to the side to give you a place to sit on his bed

your visits become more frequent, frequent enough that he waits for you every evening

when the doctors deem that he recovered enough for walking they start scheduling your physical therapy sections together

your recoveries start to improve quickly after that, it's not long until you're discharged with a grocery list of medications and your check-up scheduled to the end of the month

But you can't keep yourself away, Rae still worries you and Rex would start talking to the walls without you here

Eve is the first to notice it, during their talks intead of gushing over the beautifull mahogani tables of a suburban mom's house Rex can't stop talking about you

she chuckles at it but prefers to let things run it's course, this Rex is much different from the one she dated, things might turn out fine

Another month passes untill Rex is finally discharged too, he wants to immediately go back to work, he has a new hand and he feels restless

which is why he jumps headfirst into the first mission Cecil offers him and get's banged up

it wasn't horrible but this is not the big come back he tought of for himself

he's so lost in thought that he's caught off guard when a voice calls him when he gets back to the base

"Already trying to dent the metal plate they put on your head grandma?"

he turns and sees you, on a tanktop that shows off the scars over your collarbones, your hair falling over your eyes but you look much healthier than the last time he saw you

you smile at him as you walk pass his figure, making your way to your room

his face grows warm, Rex open and closes his mouth unsure of what to say as he blushes

If you liked this pls reblog and comment so I know to write more like it reblogs >>> likes

[pearlprincess02]

dating & dates (virgo version)

virgo: (virgo venus/mars/5th house/7th house)

when dating someone with virgo venus, virgo mars, virgo in the 5th house, and virgo in the 7th house, expect a relationship built on thoughtfulness, consistency, and deep emotional investment. they may not be the most overtly romantic, but they show love through acts of service, attention to detail, and genuine care. they appreciate reliability, intelligence, and a sense of purpose in relationships, valuing partners who are grounded and communicative. while they can be reserved initially, once they trust you, they become incredibly loyal and attentive. virgo venus expresses love through small but meaningful actions. they value stability and practical support over grand gestures, wanting a relationship that feels productive and secure. virgo mars is intentional in their desires, preferring a slow-burn attraction that builds over time. they enjoy a partner who stimulates them mentally and shares their appreciation for effort and routine. virgo 5th house finds joy in structured fun, intellectual activities, and anything that engages their analytical side. they prefer dates that involve learning, improving, or experiencing something meaningful together. virgo 7th house seeks a dependable and communicative partner. they want a relationship that feels like a true partnership, where both people actively contribute to growth and success.

date night ideas

cooking a healthy meal together at home, going on a scenic nature walk with deep conversations, visiting a farmers’ market & picking out ingredients for a meal, touring a botanical garden/greenhouse, going stargazing with a telescope & a cozy blanket, finding a cozy hidden gem restaurant with fresh, clean ingredients (virgo venus, virgo 5th house) organizing a cozy home spa day for each other, volunteering together at an animal shelter/community event, trying out a meditation/yoga class together, planning & organizing a fun weekend getaway, taking a day to declutter & reorganize a space together, attending a wellness retreat/self-improvement seminar, having a detailed planning session for future goals & dreams, taking a budget-friendly yet well-organized road trip (virgo venus, virgo 7th house) taking a skill-building class (cooking, pottery, coding, etc.), a bookstore date where you pick books for each other, going on a quiet coffee shop date with a good discussion, visiting a museum/historical site, working on a creative project together (scrapbooking, diy home decor, etc.), spending a quiet evening at home doing puzzles/brain games (virgo mars, virgo 5th house)

over 18+ spicy bonus🔞

virgo: (virgo mars/cupido/eros/lust/amor)

someone with virgo mars, virgo cupido, virgo eros, virgo lust, and virgo amor approaches intimacy with a mix of precision, attentiveness, and sensuality. they might not seem outwardly wild at first, but behind closed doors, they are deeply invested in perfecting pleasure, ensuring that every touch, movement, and sensation is intentional. they value a strong mental connection and are highly responsive to subtle cues, making them incredibly intuitive lovers. cleanliness, control, and technique are essential—they want to master their partner’s body and take pleasure in both giving and receiving satisfaction. virgo mars has a methodical and skillful approach, ensuring that every encounter is fulfilling and satisfying. they enjoy a mix of control and service, focusing on their partner’s pleasure as much as their own. virgo cupido thrives on subtle seduction, teasing, and the build-up of tension. they love the game of attraction and are most aroused when there is an element of anticipation. virgo eros seeks perfection in intimacy, valuing detailed exploration and sensual precision. they have a refined, almost ritualistic approach, making every experience feel like a masterpiece. virgo lust enjoys controlled indulgence, balancing restraint and release. they might have a fascination with discipline and delayed gratification, savoring the anticipation before fully giving in. virgo amor ties love and devotion to intimacy, needing an emotional connection alongside physical passion. they express care through touch and are deeply attuned to their partner’s desires.

kinks you might have

intellectual foreplay (dirty talk that stimulates the mind) (virgo mars, virgo cupido, virgo eros) teasing & edging (prolonged pleasure, slow build-up), power dynamics (soft dominance, service-oriented roles), silent control (giving subtle, non-verbal commands), discipline play (controlled restraint & release) (virgo mars, virgo cupido, virgo lust) sensory play (blindfolds, temperature play, textures), oral fixation (both giving & receiving with precision), perfected technique (enjoying skillful execution of pleasure), positioning & precision (strategic movement for optimal pleasure), analytical experimentation (trying different methods to maximize pleasure) (virgo mars, virgo eros, virgo lust) obsession with detail (memorizing partner’s body & reactions), aftercare & nurturing post-intimacy rituals, clean & sensual experiences (pristine sheets, freshly showered bodies), erotic massage (using touch as a form of foreplay & connection), hypersensitivity to partner’s needs & reactions, private but intense (intimate settings over exhibitionism), ritualistic intimacy (structured foreplay, setting the perfect mood), loyalty kink (exclusive devotion to one person, deeply personal intimacy) (virgo mars, virgo eros, virgo amor) lingerie & visual appeal (aesthetic presentation matters) (virgo cupido, virgo eros, virgo lust) heightened sensitivity (breath play, light feather touches, whispered words) (virgo cupido, virgo eros, virgo amor)

all observations are done by me !!! @pearlprincess02

main masterlist

[k-hippie]

SIMS 3 WORLD - LOST COVE 2025 ( bold redux )

First, few words related to howto with Lost Cove ;)

There will be 2 posts : one general about the World itself, the ANTS ( Absolute Necessary Things & Stuff ) - the CC used - the stories around Lost Cove - the DL link ... And then a second post related to Lots ( both residential and community ) - the credits - our own CC we made ( yep ... we made some xtra stuff for your eyes only ) <- incredible isn't it ? :D But let's start with some pictures ;)

No way to avoid it, this is a boldy bold update for the 10th anniversary, of Lost Cove, because it has been completely remade from scratch, based on an alternate Isla Paradisio, with new textures, new lots, new ( almost ) everything, and old cc fully remade to be sure to not loose anything this time ;) We tried to re-compose the old Lost Cove. But this time, we cleaned everything which had to be and left the Hidden Lots, the Dive Spots, 4 Ports, and even the Smuggler's Lair :D

Lost Cove has a whole story. And Lost Cove IS a whole story in itself ;)

Lost Cove is born in 2015, from a simple picture posted by SimCookie of their world : the famous and fantastic Sunset Died, an apocalyptic Sunset Valley world, 12 years ago. At this time, I never approached CAW and sims 3 worlds creation before. And frankly, I had no time for this. But the picture of the broken Twinbrook Hall was like an appeal … to do more with the best Sims franchise :D

I wrote to SimCookie to ask them if I may use the same way to place the Twinbrook broken Hall but into a complete different kind of world. They agreed. And so, I began working on Lost Cove during my vacations, based on an empty Isla Paradisio maxis world. I called it the Red Path project.

6 weeks long, I learned intensively the basics of CAW. My world was not intended to have a lot of lots, so I concentrated my efforts on textures, trees and objects. I failed a lot of exports. I used both CAW and Super CAW. I woke up at 6 in the morning each day, and worked on Lost Cove hours and hours, all days long :D And then, on a summer hot day, Lost Cove was there. At last ... May we say proudly Lost Cove is the natural child of Sunset Died ? YES !

Lost Cove is a post-apocalyptic world, swallowed by nature, forgotten by time. It all began 28 days after the Sunset Died event : no more electricity, no more roads, no more comfort. Just ruins, silence … and survival.

Like in every sci-fi book or movie, the Sims went too far. Maybe. It was an experiment gone wrong. Or a slow, quiet collapse under the weight of pollution and hubris. A virus ? A comet ? Nuclear fire ? No one really knows. The old world didn’t end with a bang, just a thousand overlapping catastrophes. And Before was over.

The world cracked open. The sea rose like a hand closing around the archipelago. Bridges collapsed. The downtown core sank. Entire neighborhoods vanished underwater. Only one broken road remains now : winding, overgrown, half-erased by time. The islands are no longer connected. No ferries. No cars. Just water, and what courage it takes to cross it. Most Sims never dared.

But nature didn’t wait. It took back everything. Technology ? Forgotten. Trees pushed through asphalt. Ferns choked stairwells. Roots claimed living rooms. Earthquakes opened old wounds in the ground, and storms swept away what was left standing. Power grids failed. Satellites went dark. Digital voices fell silent.

And amidst it all … the Sims adapted. They hid. They learned.

28 weeks later ... By 2020, we released a small and quick update. Nothing fancy just a nudge forward. Something had shifted. Sims weren’t just scavenging. They were rebuilding. Lost Cove had once been a small, tightly-woven community before the Fall. When the end came, many fled inland. They disappeared into the continent in search of family, safety, a future.

But others stayed. Maybe because they couldn’t leave. Maybe because they wouldn’t. A few were stubborn. A few were hopeful. A few were just too tired to start over somewhere else. So they stayed and planted seeds, literal and otherwise.

They started small. A gathering spot. A drink shared under candlelight. A warm body next to yours by the fire. The Bloody Way Bar came first. A place to talk, argue, cry. A spark in the dark. From there, ideas ... Rebuilding, on their own terms. No rules from the old world. No pretense. No mayor, no tourists, no schedule. Just something real. Something possible.

The Nature School came next; rough, messy, entirely unorthodox. A place to pass on what they remembered, and maybe invent something new. Nothing is like it was, but it was a start. And in Lost Cove, a start means everything.

28 months later ... And here we are, present day ;) Life is ( just barely ) better in Lost Cove ... Some homes have been patched up with scrap. The Dispensary is cleaner, stocked with whatever tinctures, herbs or bandages locals could gather. The Nature School is functional, if improvised. The streets ? Still nonexistent. The power grid ? A dream. Forget supermarkets. Forget cars, Forget comfort.

Your Sims hike, every time. Miles of forest, frost, or scorching sun between them and their destination. Every trip is a decision. Every hike is a risk. There are no easy visits, no casual get-togethers. Lost Cove is beautiful, brutal, and endlessly wild.

Winter hits hard. Snow blankets everything. Lakes freeze. Frostbite is real. Wander too far and you might never come back. Even summer, with its open skies and lush overgrowth, hides its dangers. There are forgotten places in Lost Cove — old ruins, sealed bunkers, silent islands — waiting to be uncovered. Not all of them should be.

Some Sims dream of electricity returning. Of clean water, instant noodles, digital music. Others say that dream is over. That the future lies not in recovery, but reinvention. A new way to live. One that belongs here, to this broken place. Tensions rise. Power is shifting, slowly. Questions are whispered in every fire-lit home : Can this fragile community hold together? Will the lights ever come back ? And what will the children of Lost Cove believe in ?

This 2025 Lost Cove update is more than just a patch: it’s a 10th anniversary redux ! As we previously said, we rebuilt Lost Cove from scratch using a heavily modified Isla Paradiso map. New terrain textures. New routing. New or remastered lots. More than 3500 hand-placed trees and plants. All previous custom content has been reworked, nothing lost this time ;D

Lost Cove has now 30 lots : 15 community lots ( + 2sheep fields ) and 15 residential lots. And there are still empty lots here and there :) Lost Cove is unpopulated. But we provide 2 save games :)

1 unpopulated file with very minor details change

1 populated file with different kind of families

The map retains its soul : the hidden islands, the dive spots, the collapsed downtown, and the iconic broken Hall. But there’s more. More decay, more discovery. More survivor hubs, weird spaces, overgrown secrets. We added new spots, simple gathering places for Sims to talk, dream, share — maybe even rebuild something better than before.

Play Lost Cove your way :

Long summers, short winters — for a gentler survival game ...

Harsh winters and sparse supplies — if you want full-on post-apocalyptic realism.

No libraries. No grocery stores. You want to eat ? Grow your own food or barter for it at the tiny Freshy Market. You want to learn ? Grab any rare books at the Oldy Flee Market. You want to live on water ? Build a houseboat. You want to live in the wild ? There’s plenty of space. You want to change the future ? Start now.

You want a more grungy despair ambiance ? Uglify the world.

Lost Cove is yours to rewrite ... In Lost Cove, every journey is different ... Will you build a peaceful village ? A cult ? A commune ? Will you try to bring back the old world ? Or bury it for good ?

Freeze it, evolve it, change it. Make it breathe. And have Fun !

LOST COVE : ANTS & CC YOU NEED

We made a folder with everything which improve the Lost Cove gameplay :)

the ANTS are :

Cyclonesue | Airlock Doors, Windows and Decor

Cyclonesue | Banged Up! Prison Build Set

Cyclonesue | Barbed and Chickenwire Fences

Cyclonesue | Decor for Factory Windows

Cyclonesue | Factory Windows

Cyclonesue | Industrial Tanks and Silos

Cyclonesue | Porta-Potty portable toilets

Cyclonesue | Scaffold-Truss and Steel Columns

Murano - gazstation fuelcan

Murano - gazstation gasbottle

Murano - gazstation gaspump

ATS3 object_festival counter

ATS3 object_festival general register

ATS3 object_julesvernepark stairs

ATS3 object_uglifyyourtown concrete bench

ATS3 object_uglifyyourtown concrete barrier

ATS3 pattern_metal destroy

blackysimszoo-Fischnetz

blackysimszoo-Fischstaender1

blackysimszoo-Fischstaender2

blackysimszoo-FishermansDekoZaun1

blackysimszoo-FishermansDekoZaun2

blackysimszoo-Ruderboot5

blackysimszoo-Ruderboot6

BuffSumm LineaNatura Arch

Cemre PoorandHappy-OldSofa

Gosik Bordeaux Standing Glasses

Murfeel TW3 sheep pack

Granny Zaza Metro Floor1 by GZ

Granny Zaza Metro Floor2 by GZ

Granny Zaza Metro Walls4 by GZ

Granny Zaza Metro Walls5 by GZ

( we put both .sims3packs & .packages for those ones )

Store : AlFrescoMarketSet

k-hippie square Rabbit Holes

1 CC folder with packages to put into your mods/packages folder

( this one is not mandatory or ANTS since many things are encapsulated into the world and every lot via .sims3packs, but we strongly recommend to use it. It's almost the one we use in all our worlds :) Very useful indeed ! )

Due to the difficulty sometimes to get the good links for many things related to the Sims 3 stuff, most of the whole cc stuff is included into the cc folder provided. Some others are just links for a direct download :) So, always thanks the all mighty creators who made a fantastic work for our pleasure since 2009 :

Awesims - Blams - Bluefunk - Gamefreak130 - Jynx - Misty - Nilxis - Qahne - SimAddix - sweetdevil

A quick word for those who are used to play our Sims 3 Worlds : we almost always use the same cc. So you won't have to replace the whole cc ! Just have a quick look ... in case ;)

Inside the packages folder : there are our UPDATED patterns : they are not mandatory at all. We modified the old Lost Cove lots to be free cc compliant BUT ... We made a bunch of 46 walls and 2 floors in a full destroy/metal/oldstone style :D Have fun to use them to recolor containers and houses :D

Oh ! Almost forgot !!! Lost Cove ( and our other worlds ) have now their OWN loading screen ( see the related post ) ... We included the file into the cc packages folder. It's really really great :)

Gamefreak130_LoadingScreenOverhaul

And now ... Welcome to Lost Cove ! :D

Download Lost Cove ( World )

Download Lost Cove ( CC )

Download Lost Cove ( Save Games )

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