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livingsurreal · 1 day ago

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It feels like keeping the Veil up just pushed a big problem onto Thedas’ future generations. We’ll keep slapping bandaids on it until it all falls apart. Someone else can deal with the fallout, but we’ll be dead by then, so who cares.

This is such a good point - no matter if you are pro or contra veil. The Veil is now tied to the existence of ONE ancient elf. An elf who was not even powerful enough to kill a single evanuris. The Veil was massively weakening, even with two very powerful (one of them the MOST powerful evanuris) fueling it.

Only a redeemed Solas is willing to keep the Veil up. All other versions of Solas still want to bring it down and you cannot for the live of me tell me he would not work very hard, even from fade prison, to get free and get it down. And even with redeemed Solas - what if anything happens to him? Boom - veil gone.

And if you think the veil coming down is catastrophic, with Solas and "a host of spirits helping to minimize the damage" - think how bad it could be with it just disappearing AND nothing to fuel the Blight Prison.

Like OP said - after Veilguard nothing has changed. (for the better)

Lets face it, even with Mae/Dorian at the very top - you cannot change a society that absolutely relies on slavery over night. If anything the elves are worse of b/c the Evanuris are elvhen and people WILL be angry for the fall and blightening of Minrathous. Can you image the amount of people who died when Elgar'nan took the city? There will be a lot of very dead elves after that. One Archon against a massive amount of rich and powerful people who do not want to give up their wealth? Dorian/Mae will not survive that long. Radonis did not survive the Venatori and he was on par with Tevinters status quo.

And even IF Dorian/Mae survive and do change some things, you can bet on Tevinter going back right to where it was, once they die of old age.

The Blight has changed, but I somehow doubt it changed for the better. Less viral does not mean less deadly, less controlling.

The south is completely broken, and nothing we did in previous games had ANY impact of the survivability. I cannot for the life of me understand why they did not use previous choices here. All we got from the south were letters from the Inquisitor. No animations or voice overs (save the few cutscenes we have with inky, but there is no big talk about the state of the south there, beyond "yeah blight, bad, we fight"). They could have incorporated a ton of choices from before and given us different outcomes via the letters. And with just the right amount of choices Southern Thedas might have had a fighting chance. But now? The only thing still standing is Skyhold? Like what the actual hell.

And again, as if any surviving elven would not be hunted down for the sin of their birth. ELVEN gods were the cause of all this death and destruction.

They said they wanted to give the elven/dalish a win. But, where is the win? There is no win! Anytime anything happens to the elves (or rather the people in Arlathan) Rook swoops in, being their white savior. Some VeilJumpers (who are for a big part not even elven) get lost in the forest? Rook comes to find the missing kids who played with stuff kids should not play with. (eg some ancient artifacts they most of the time do not understand). Elrgar'nan captures 10 dalish, Rook comes to save the day. (What was up with that quest anyhow? Like I expected there to be hundreds of dalish elves looked up. But no, its like a handful of people. That's enough for what ever Elgar'nan is planing? Okay then...) And they are building nothing new. They either lock away or destroy if possible what they find and deem to dangerous. What little remains they use in some way without even really understanding what they hold in their hands.

And apparently the elves suddenly don't believe in their own gods anymore. But instead of showing us a people who grapple with the lie that is their believe AND decide "NEVER AGAIN" and fight against their ancient oppressors - every one is just "eh, yeah ELGAR'NAN and GHILAN'NAIN - oh those two are bad!"

They just do all that coming to terms with the lie they believed off screen. Somewhere in the past. When? We don't know. That would have been a win. For there to be a win one needs conflict. But there was no fight. They just collectively decided to let go of everything the ever believed in.

So I guess something has changed - the dalish don't believe in the evanuris anymore. But that's about it.

Now after Veilguard, "Minrathous is the diplomatic center of Theadas"... So we are right back to pre-Andraste times? Where Tevinter rules the world? As if this "diplomacy" would not sooner or later become conquering. The Qunari in Par Vollen are defanged. They have lost their Antaam so Tevinter is no longer locked into an never ending war. The entirety of the South is leaderless, defenseless. Antiva still has no standing army. The Crows will not survive an invasion by Tevinters forces. Nevarrah is ruled by a dead king, puppeted by the Mortalitsaii and I bet they would welcome Tevinter rule b/c it means they have official power, no longer needing to rule from the shadows. Arlathan is a bunch of Dalish and human settlements, not standing army either. The Anderfels had the Wardens as their defense force, but the Wardens almost completely gone. Rivain remains, but do you think they could survive after Tevinter took everything else? The Dwarfs of the south are busted, only Kal Sharok remains standing, And they do not care about anyone but their own Thaig (not that I blame them).

Again, Archon Mae/Dorian would try to stem the tide, but lets be real, what are their chances.

Then there is the question of the future of the Titans. Valta was connected to a living titan. One that showed no signs of blight. From what Veilguard showed us ALL titans are supposedly tranquil but I cannot believe that Valtas titan was in fact tranquil. How could she have reconnected with it otherwise. How could she have dwarven magic otherwise. So after Hardings quests - are we supposed to just "let go" of anything Titan-related? I mean we have SEEN a baby titan in one of the first concept trailers and then they just do away with this story line? Forget the past - only the future is important seems to be the theme of the game. But one who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it.

Ya know, when the first trailers hit - I thought Solas and Varric would be a bit like the devil and angel on Rooks shoulder. Both trying to convince Rook of their way. I thought this would be our theme. Who is right? They both believe in the righteousness of their cause, keep the veil, bring down the veil, but who is right, which way will Rook go. What would be best short term / long term / what is the good kind of change / what is the bad kind of change.

Stagnation does not help anyone - everything is constantly in flux - but how to usher in a better world for future generations.

Despite all the damage a falling veil would do, you cannot ever convince me it would be worse than the devastation and death brought by Big El and Ghil. That it would be worse than the state of Thedas we have now, where everything that has happened since Andraste is in danger of being undone.

Again, never mind that the Veil is a construct and all constructs break at some point. It will not, cannot stay up indefinitely. This was the one change to bring the veil down with the least amount of damage. The next time the whole Blight gets free too. And only redeemed Solas is even working of "calming" it. The other versions of Solas - true to their nature of being a spirit and thus reflecting - are either trying to trick their way out or gnawing on his bars like a feral wolf.

Again - NOTHING has changed. Everything is just delayed.

Not a single thing Rook did (or rather, what we as puppeteer of Rook decided) changes anything. In the end even the Treviso/Minrathous decision was meaningless since the blight just burned away(?) after Solas went into the Fade Prison.

Ya'll remember Morrigan in DAI - how she tried to preserve the magic of the past? How sad she was about everything becoming more and more mundane and how more and more magic and beauty gets lost with every decade? This is where we are now. Even more magic and beauty has been lost.

I am calling it now - the magic eating storm that comes from the North, the Executors and their plans - in the end we are left with a Thedas without any magic.

That is the end goal of DA - a world without ANY magic.

(I am glad that at least the companions made me fall in love with them. Otherwise this would have been the first "play it once and be done with it DA")

Castles in the Fade, or What Was the Point of the Veil Anyway

Something that will now haunt me until the end of time is why was the concept of the Veil ever introduced into this series.

We’ve been hearing about it since the very first game. There’s a codex entry about tears in the Veil in Origins. Tamlen mentions a thin spot in the Veil if you play a Dalish elf. Sandal has a prophecy in Dragon Age 2: “One day the magic will come back—all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.” Admittedly, this is just one line said by a character who often says odd things, but it hinted to the fact they were planning to do something with the Veil from the very beginning. The state of the Veil is repeatedly brought up. It all had to mean something! Or so I thought.

When I saw “The Dread Wolf Rises” quest in Veilguard, I said, “Oh, here we go!” The Veil is coming down, magic is coming back, and it’s going to set up such an interesting story for the next game.

Alas, no.

I hadn’t really enjoyed my time playing Veilguard up until this point. It felt like the game was ducking and dodging every bit of world building and lore that could possibly bring nuance or complexity to the story. Every returning character or faction was a cardboard cutout of themself. They shoved Solas is a time-out box and gave him nothing to do. They refused to let him have any impact or influence on the story when he had been set up to be our main antagonist back in Trespasser. This game used to be called Dreadwolf! And while we learn about his past… we never talk to him about it. In the present, he’s in stasis.

Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are our villains. And they are your typical evil for evil’s sake villains. They are mad, bad, and only as dangerous as the narrative will allow as to not give Rook and co too much trouble. They are surprisingly patient while Rook fixes all their companions’ problems… until Elgar’nan moves the moon to cause an eclipse. A vital component in making his own lyrium dagger. For some reason. This guy can move a satellite!? And he just let Rook walk away in previous encounters… twice. Ok. Sure.

The Evil Duo need their own dagger ostensibly to tear down the Veil, because they want to unleash the full force of the Blight onto the world. Because they are evil. And they were thwarted last time they tried to Blight the entire world. Why do they think Blighting the world is a good idea? What’s the point of ruling a world if everyone is dead? I guess they haven’t thought that through, because of the madness and the evilness.

Ok, I thought. Perhaps the gods will be the one to tear down the Veil. Or maybe we’ll have a choice to let Solas do it his way before they can, which will be less chaotic and less full of Blight. Because the Veil has to be coming down one way or another? Why introduce the concept of the Veil, especially a Veil that has been thinning and failing since the series began, if it’s just going to… stay.

There is a principle in storytelling called Chekov’s gun. If something is mentioned in a story, it must have a purpose. If you keeping mentioning that gun hanging on the wall over the fireplace, it’s because at some point in the story, someone is going to take it down and use it. The Veil felt like Chekov’s gun to me. Chekov’s Veil, if you will. It’s been here from the beginning of our tale, the spectre hanging over our protagonists’ heads for multiple games.

The Veil has been a character unto itself. It was the central focus of the third game, and its dissolution was set up to be the core conflict of the fourth game. We learn everything we thought we knew about the Veil was a lie. It was not created by the Maker to separate the Fade from this world because of jealous spirits, it was created by a guy named Solas to trap the elven gods and the Blight from destroying the world. Also, the elven gods were never gods, and they are also evil.

This reveal will surely throw the Andrastian religion into chaos! This puts the very existence of the Maker into question! The Evanuris are a lie; it’s only fair Catholicism—oh, I mean—the Chantry is a lie too. We briefly touch on that in Veilguard… then it is quietly discarded. Religious crisis averted.

But I digress.

When the title of the fourth game was changed from Dreadwolf to Veilguard, I started to see the writing on the wall. Still, I held out hope the Veil would have some greater purpose in the story. That its introduction as a concept was for a reason. That something in this world would change.

Instead, from the get-go, the question of the Veil is no question at all. We only get Solas and Varric making oblique or catastrophizing statements about it. Solas says little beyond he has a plan. If I ever wanted to hear a villain monologue about their plan, it was now! Varric, on the other hand, decries Solas’s plan. He warns that should the Veil fall, it will destroy the world and drown it in demons. And that’s that.

We never really learn why Solas wants to tear the Veil down, or why he thinks it will help anyone. “The Veil is a wound inflicted upon this world. It must be healed,” he says. And that’s basically all he says about it in Veilguard. In Inquisition and Trespasser, we learn it took the immortality from the elves. It cut most of magic off from the world. Spirits are trapped and are being corrupted into demons, and most of what we know about spirits and demons is wrong. There are ancient elves possibly asleep? That part is left vague, but ancient elves are still about. We meet some in Mythal’s temple. There seems to have been some merit in bringing it down, because elves were flocking to Solas’s cause at the end of Trespasser. He had agents working for him already. What do they know that we don’t know?

Apparently nothing, because by the time Veilguard rolls around, there are no mention of agents. He is working alone. His only motivation now seems to be he’s too deep in his sunk-cost fallacy. The Veil is unnatural, so it must be removed—consequences be damned. We are never given any reason to think Solas has a leg to stand on in his pursuit of tearing down the Veil. We never hear any kind of counter argument from anyone, not even Solas, as to why the Veil should come down. We are only told it will destroy the world. It will drown the world in demons. This is all Solas’s fault.

There is no nuance. No complexity. No moral quandary to mull over. The game gives us vague warnings with no explanation as to what exactly is so world-annihilating about the Veil coming down. We must take Varric’s word at face value. We’re the heroes; Solas is the villain. Stop him.

It makes me wonder why Solas was ever a companion in Inquisition, let alone a romance option. Solas was presented to us as a complicated character in Inquisition. We had the potential throughout the game to make him see the value of this world, to help him realize he was wrong about it. “We aren’t even people to you,” the Inquisitor says in Trespasser. Solas replies, “Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong...again.” He began the third game viewing the world as tranquil, seeing the people in it as nothing more than figments in a nightmare, just as we saw our companions in the In Hushed Whispers quest. He ends the game having made friends, having recognized he was mistaken. He might have even fallen in love. (Or he may still seen no merit in this world if the Inquisitor antagonized him the entirety of their time together.) But something makes him continue with his plan to tear down the Veil, despite recognizing this world is real. He must know something we don’t. Something we’ll learn about in the next game.

We’ve been hearing about the Veil for three games now. We’ve set up our complex antivillain for the next installment, and he’s going to tear the Veil down. We swear to stop him or save him. But it has to be more complex than that. It can’t be so straightforward. Uncomplicated. Simple. Boring. Right? Right?

Nope. He really is just the villain, mustache-twirling and all. He apparently had no greater motivation, no as of yet unrevealed knowledge that would put this whole Veil thing into a new context. It was really as simple as the Veil falling will destroy the world, so Solas must be stopped. There is no new information that is revealed which makes us question what we are doing. Solas is never given any nuance or complexity to his actions. Nuance and complexity have actively been taken away. Both him and the Veil are looking like they are the worst things to be in a story: pointless. Why introduce the Veil if it’s just going to remain unchanged? Why introduce a character like Solas, bother humanizing him (for lack of a better term), giving us his backstory, setting him up as a cunning antagonist, only to make him look stupid, then put him on a shelf until the last ten minutes of your game?

Solas was the trickster archetype of this tale. He was our version of Loki from Norse mythology. What is the role of the trickster archetype? To challenge the status quo. To bring about events of extreme change, like say, the tearing down of a Veil that holds back all of magic. Loki is a huge contributing factor in Ragnarök. Through his manipulation, he causes the death of the beloved god, Baldr. This ushers in a long winter, which signifies the beginning of the end. Loki is imprisoned for this crime. When the final battle between gods and giants begins, the sun and moon are swallowed, plunging the earth into darkness. The earth shakes and Loki is freed to fight on the side of the giants. The world burns in raw chaos, falls beneath the sea, and is reborn. The world is remade, and a new realm of the gods and a new, better earth is formed.

It really felt like this was the setup they were going for. Solas causes the death of Mythal, and this is his catalyst for creating the Veil, which ushers in a world without magic. This could be seen as equivalent to the long winter. Solas falls asleep, trapped in dreams. He wakes and sets in motion bringing about the apocalypse. It’s not a perfect one to one, but it’s there if you squint. We have a war against the gods in Veilguard. I was expecting a few remaining Titans to wake and join the fight. But we don’t get any of that. There is a final battle, but it does not end in the end of the world. Or a better world. It just ends, and everything is the same.

It seems our trickster god caused his apocalypse thousands of years before our story started, when he created the Veil. His role in this tale was over before ours began, and he really is just some relic from a long-past age. He has no role, no purpose in this story. He is here to be thwarted. He is no Loki at all.

If you can’t tell, I wanted the Veil to come down. Did I think the Veil coming down would be painless? Have no negative consequences? No. Of course not. But keeping it up has negative consequences too. And it made for an interesting story. Or at least it could have. But we never explore that. The game presents no counter argument to having the Veil stay up, which, again, begs the question: what was the point of introducing the concept of the Veil at all?

Did I think the Veil coming down was actually the best solution to help Thedas become a better place? I don’t know, and I never will, because the game never argues for it one way or another. It just tells you to want it in place and to stop asking questions. In real life, a catastrophic event is not the best way to solve any of the world’s problems. But this is the realm of fiction. We have gods and monsters, magic and myth. We have introduced the status quo of Thedas, recognized it needs to change, then our trickster god appears ready to fulfill his role in the narrative.

Instead, it all comes to nothing.

I got to the end of Veilguard… and everything was more or less the same as it was at the start of Origins. Veilguard actually tries its hardest to pretend any previously mentioned problems don’t exist, so of course the Veil coming down has no merit. There are no problems to solve in this world, apparently. Solas is just stuck in the past and can’t get with the times. Silly Solas.

The Veil isn’t even a permanent solution. It wasn’t to begin with. It was some duct tape wrapped around a broken pipe, and we’ve just slapped an extra piece of tape on it. It’s still leaking. It is still unnatural, and will fall eventually one way or another. Large amounts of bloodshed weaken it, so I guess Thedas better achieve world peace real quick to avoid any battles. There were seven super-powered mages holding it together… now there is just one. Ironically, the Veil was going to fall after two more Blights anyway. The Wardens were doing Solas’s work for him! It would also have released the full force of the Blight at that time… which Solas was trying to avoid, I presume.

Primarily, I wanted the Veil to come down from a storytelling perspective. The Veil was an interesting concept and I wanted the story to do something interesting with it. Conflict is what makes stories stories and the Veil coming down could create so much compelling and complex conflict. And the Fade is weird, and I like weird. Stories are also about change, and I wanted to see Thedas change. Yet, Veilguard is over, and barely anything has changed. Instead of magic coming back being a conflict for the next game, they went with Fantasy Illuminati. Oh.

The Veil turned out to be a nothing-burger, and no problems in this world are even close to being solved. Slavery is still rampant in Tevinter. The elven people are still oppressed everywhere. Mages have no more rights in the South than they did in Origins. Spirits are still trapped and being corrupted. The Calling still exists, though might be different somehow now? They don’t really get into that. The Chantry’s validity is still not allowed to be questioned. The Blight still exists in some form, but again it’s vague. Oh, and we learn the dwarves have been gravely wronged, and the Titans are still tranquil. At least if you redeem Solas and a romanced Lavellan joins him, they can work together on healing the Blight and helping the Titans. Oh, good. One problem is being acknowledged and some action will be taken. Offscreen. Hurray? Solas doesn’t have a really great track record of fixing problems, so Lavellan is definitely going to need to be there to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.

For some reason, this game seemed terrified of letting us think about anything for more than two seconds. It shied away from complexity or nuance at every turn. The game is called The Veilguard—ironically, that word is never uttered in the game—but we are given no real motive for guarding the Veil. We’re unquestionably the hero. The villains are uncomplicatedly evil. Save the world… never wonder what you are doing or why.

I wanted the game to make me question if the Veil staying up or coming down was the right choice. I needed to be given a real counter argument. Convince me the alternative would actually be better or worse, because as I mentioned… things suck quite a bit in Thedas already for a lot of people right now. Let the Veil’s fate be a difficult choice to make. If the conflict cannot be what to do about the Veil, it should be am I doing the right thing about the Veil. If the heart of your game is so thin on motive, everything else falls apart around it.

I hoped they were setting up a complex, Thedas-sized existential conflict for this game in Trespasser, but no. I wanted something to happen, but nothing did.

I want to feel challenged and changed by a story, not left feeling empty. I’m tired of superficial entertainment. I want to sink my teeth into a narrative that doesn’t paint the world in broad strokes of black and white, good and evil, heroes and villains.

Ultimately, I think my issue is why even introduce a concept like The Veil if you’re not going to do anything interesting with it. Or anything at all. What I thought was Chekov’s Veil turned out to just be a MacGuffin. And that’s disappointing.

#dragon age #da critical #veilguard #dragon age veilguard #dragon age the veilguard

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teamchasezwrites · 2 days ago

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Call Me When You’re Sober

Word Count: 7,634

Characters: Damian Priest/OC

Genre: Drunken Confessions, Dirty Talk

Summary: The drunken confession wasn’t exactly unwelcome…

Author’s Note: Hoping to write a sober follow up in the near future.

Damian Priest shouldered the arena door open and stepped outside. The crisp fall Boston air slapped him in the face, causing a shiver to motor through him. He tugged the neckline of his black leather jacket further up his neck to fight against the chill the low temps brought. Luckily he’s lived in the north for many years, so he was used to the winter cold. Not that he particularly wanted to be hanging outside in freezing temps.

It wasn’t a long walk to his rental in the private parking lot. Then he’d be inside and on his way to the hotel where he planned to take the hottest shower he could stand in hopes the water would soothe his sore muscles. Then he would crawl into bed, find something mindless on television to watch before he fell asleep. Tomorrow, he’d be heading toward the airport and home to New York City to get ready for the upcoming holidays.

Raw was a double taping that night, recording next week’s episode as well so the talent and crew could spend time with their families leading up to Christmas before the bustle of live shows littered the days between Christmas and New Years. He was actually looking forward to the days off the double taping afforded, especially after his work tonight.

First he had a match with his current nemesis, Finn Balor. Their match happened in the last hour of the show. The match was nearly twenty minutes to make up for a scrapped match between Pete Dunn and R-Truth. He heard Pete was having an issue with a muscle spasm and to play it safe, they decided to just ax it. In order to make up the time, his match got extended.

Which was fine. Both he and Finn worked so well together. They threw everything at each other; challenging each other during the match and they were actually able to pull the crowd back into their feud. He knew the fans were getting tired of him and The Judgement Day constantly being at arms. So was he. They were all ready to move on to other storylines. The New Year was set to do just that and he couldn’t wait.

His match with Finn ended in a disqualification as Dom and JD interrupted. He ended up on the ground with his former friends over him victorious. He was comforted by boos raining down on them. For the taping of next week’s episode, he attacked JD in a backstage spot. The scuffle drew Finn and Dom of course. Multiple security guards and referees pulled them apart. To close out the show, he was in a six-man tag team match. Him and the War Raiders versus Finn, JD, and Dom.

This time, he ended the night with his hand raised in victory, but damn was his body feeling it. A hot shower and Ibuprofen was on the agenda tonight.

Damian turned the corner as he pulled keys from the pocket of his black jeans. He was almost to his car when he heard a sound. His steps faltered and slowed, tuning his ear to the sound. The parking lot was well lighted unlike some arenas he performed in. Some everyone made sure to never leave alone. Just in case.

The sound came again and he realized someone was crying. His brows furrowed and he followed the sound. She was standing with her back to him and the parking lot, leaning against the concrete barrier separating them from the access road. He wasn’t sure who it was, until the bowed head came up revealing the brown mass of wavy curls.

Cassie.

The ‘Queen of Hearts’ wrestler spent the majority of her career on the Smackdown roster. It wasn’t until this past year where she was traded to Raw during the draft. One of the few wrestlers who actually changed shows. She was shy and a little naïve and a lot introverted which was a little funny considering their profession. Rhea’s extraverted self eventually wore her down. Cassie hadn’t stood a chance.

That’s how he became enraptured by her.

Shy at first with everyone but Rhea, Cassie eventually warmed up to him, Finn, and Dom. Rhea would make Cassie sit with them when they were in catering. She would squish into their rental to go back to the hotel. She’d hang out in the locker room with them. She’d hang with them while they checked out the various cities.

During this time, Damian slowly found himself catching feelings.

“Cassie? Are you okay?” Damian asked softly as he walked up behind her.

Cassie froze at the voice. A quick tinge of fear rushed through her initially, not expecting to hear a voice. Recognizing Damian’s voice, her body relaxed. She stuffed her phone in the pocket of her hoodie and swiped her fingers beneath her eyes, erasing the evidence of her tears. She took a deep shuttering breath as she fought to settle her emotions. When she felt she was okay, she turned around to face Damian.

“Hey,” Damian took a step closer. He gave a quick perusal of the area, but didn’t see anyone or anything to warrant suspicions. They were alone. He could just make out the tear stains on her cheeks. The wet eye lashes. A rush of protectiveness swarmed him. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”

Cassie nodded. “I’m okay,” she said softly, sending him a small smile that wobbled as more tears threatened. “Just family stuff.”

Damian nodded, relaxing the vigilant stance he held. “I understand that. Holidays don’t make it any easier either.”

She snorted. “I figured not being back home would leave me out of things but…” she huffed as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m pulled in the middle anyway. I just…” her voice broke and she lifted a hand to pinch at the corner of her eyes in an effort to stop the new tears.

Damian’s heart lurched at her tears and the way she hid her face from him. “Ah Princesa,” he dropped his bag to the ground and stepped forward drawing her into a hug. With their height difference, her head ticked under his chin perfectly. She didn’t wrap her arms around his waist like he hoped, but kept her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook with quiet tears, like she was ashamed to be crying in front of him.

He wanted to tell her to let go. He would shoulder her pain. She could lean on him as much as she needed. He would protect her. Everything would be okay; he would make sure of it.

But he couldn’t.

She didn’t know his feelings. He did a good job keeping them under wraps.

“Come on,” Damian said in a low voice when her tears quieted. Her breaths still hitched, causing her shoulders to jolt in his arms. “Let me give you a ride to the hotel.”

Cassie nodded and lifted her head as she stepped out of his arms. The cold penetrated her once again and she shivered. Her coat was back home in Philadelphia, not wanting to travel with it. Instead she relied on a hoodie if she went out, but with the double taping, the majority of her time was spent at the arena.

“Do you have your bag?” Damian felt the loss immediately. He forced himself to reach for the strap of his bag and not for her. He hooked the strap on his shoulder and reached for hers laying near the concrete wall. Once he had both bags, he nodded in the direction of his rental.

The ride was mostly silent, broken only by the low volume of the radio and her occasional sniffles. She never spoke and he never offered conversation. She sat in the passenger seat with her head turned to stare out the window. He wanted to offer a comforting hand, but her hands were both stuffed beneath the thigh of the leg she had crossed over the other. Her posture was definitely reading, ‘don’t.’

Damian just settled in the driver’s seat and tried to be content with the bonus time he received in her presence.

At the hotel, he pulled into a parking spot and grabbed their bags from the backseat. She walked next to him, their shoulders brushing. In the glow of the outside lights, he saw her eyes were dry and he was thankful she stopped crying. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe her tears were over for the night. Probably waiting until she was back in her room alone.

Once they were inside the lobby, they made their way to the elevators. The car was waiting and the doors opened immediately. Inside he pressed the button to the sixth floor and looked at her expectantly. “What floor are you on?”

“Four,” Cassie answered. Her face burned in embarrassment at falling apart on him. “Listen Damian…”

“Hold the door!”

Cassie’s words were cut off and she quickly reached a hand out to stop the doors from closing. Then was pushed out of the way as Sonya, Shayna, Zoey, and Zelina filed in along with their wheeled suitcases. She was herded to the back next to Damian as the four women situated themselves on the elevator.

“Hey!” Zelina greeted her with a smile. “Great match tonight!”

“Thanks,” Cassie smiled as the door closed and the elevator began its assent. She was part of the tournament to crown the first ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion. The opening round was a bunch of triple threat matches. She wrestled tonight with Iyo Sky and Natalya to air during next week’s episode. It was supposed to be Kairi, but she was taken out with an injury after the other three women in the elevator attacked her to set up a feud between the Pure Fusion Collective and Kairi’s Damage CTRL. Iyo eventually won.

It was a bitter pill to swallow since she was supposed to win, but swerves happened all the time. She just hoped Creative had something for her in the New Year.

The elevator dinged before she could comment on Zelina’s own triple threat match. As the other ladies started to clear the elevator, she glanced at Damian, who was silent the whole ride. She sent him a smile, still embarrassed to have cried on him and reached for the bag he still carried. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime.”

Damian’s low voice wrapped around her. Their fingers brushed as he handed her bag to her.

Damian wanted to keep her near him longer, but he had no idea what to say. He wished Rhea was with them. She could draw them both to her room for whatever and takeout. With a small wave of her hand, he watched her follow the rest of the wrestlers off the elevator leaving him alone. As the door closed he caught their conversation.

“Hey, we’re going out in about thirty. There is this really great bar Zoey wants to check out. Wanna come?”

“Well I don’t…” He could hear the hesitation in her voice and held his breath when Zelina practically begged Cassie.

The doors close and the elevator rose, but Damian could still hear Cassie giving in.

*~*

Almost one am and Damian was still wide awake. All he could think about was Cassie’s tear filled gaze. He hadn’t wanted to leave her alone, but couldn’t think of an excuse. Plus he didn’t want to do it in front of an audience. He didn’t have the kind of friendship with Cassie as he did with Rhea. If he caught Rhea crying in the parking lot, he would have gathered her in his arms, herding her back to the hotel, and take her back to his room. He would have ordered take out and put a movie on.

He was also still wide awake because she went from tears in the parking lot to being drug out to a bar. He wasn’t sure how close she was to those girls. Would they watch her? Make sure she didn’t drink too much? She was obviously hurting…

He didn’t even know if she was still out. For all he knew, she could already be back and fast asleep unaware she was the reason he couldn’t sleep.

Blowing out a breath, he rolled over and reached for his phone. She was a grown woman. He didn’t know why he was so worried. She probably went out a lot of times he didn’t know about. He didn’t know why tonight was any different. Maybe it was because he couldn’t erase the image of her tear stained face looking up at him with tears clinging to her lashes. Couldn’t erase the feel of her body against his even as hers shook with sobs.

Browsing Instagram, Damian saw no new posts from her except the previous shared post promoting her upcoming triple threat match airing next week. Disappointment set in as he watched her match from backstage with Rhea. Rhea yelled at the TV, while he sat quietly keeping his thoughts to himself. He would have laughed at Rhea’s excitement for Iyo’s victory and the anger at Cassie’s loss if he hadn’t been gutted for her loss at the same time.

Another universe he would have been waiting in Gorilla for her to appear.

No postings of the night’s bar trip were from none of the other girls either.

Damian told himself he just wanted to check on her, make sure she was okay. He didn’t know how she reacted to emotional issues. Sometimes he went out and got trashed. Sometimes he picked up an unknown woman for a night of fun. Other times he shut himself up in his apartment or hotel room and brooded ignoring everything and everyone.

Did she do the same? Was she out there getting trashed before stumbling back to her hotel room? Was she picking up some loser who didn’t deserve to even stand in the same vicinity? His hand folded into a tight fist at the thought. Before he could stop himself, he was sending a text to Rhea.

‘U up?’

It took too long for his liking for Rhea to answer him

‘No.’

Damian snorted at Rhea’s answer.

‘Can you find out where Shayna, Zoey, and the rest went tonight?’

The dots appeared and disappeared a few times. Damian understood. While friendly, the newest female faction wasn’t who he normally spent time with.

‘Why?’

Damian wondered what Rhea really wanted to say before she settled on the simple noun. Now he was left with having to explain why he wanted the information. Rhea wouldn’t let him get away with anything less than the truth. She wouldn’t believe he was just curious.

‘Cassie went out with them.’

‘Ahhh…’

Damian waited for the teasing to come. He was sure Rhea didn’t know about his crush, but maybe she did.

‘Why in the world would she go out with them?’

‘She was upset. Family stuff I guess. I caught her crying outside the arena when I left. Brought her back to the hotel with me where they snatched her up.’

‘You let her go???’

‘What was I supposed to do? Tie her up?’

‘A little drastic. That would probably scare her away. You gotta hide your crazy until it’s too late.’

Damian grew antsy but Rhea’s next text was the name of the bar.

Armed with the information, Damian stood up and dressed in the same clothes he’d taken off just a few hours before. Making sure he had his wallet and room key, he snatched the rental key from the table and left his room before he could talk himself out of going.

It didn’t take long before he was parking his car a block away from the bar. The bar was packed given the late night hour and it being a Monday night, but who was he to judge. The holidays tended to have that affect on people. The music was loud. The conversation louder. The sound of balls breaking signified a pool table somewhere in the madness.

Damian’s eyes swept the room; meeting and dismissing many. They weren’t the ones he was looking for. He wasn’t here for a good time. He was here for one reason.

And that reason was tucked on the lap of some clean cut guy with a wide grin. Damian watched as Cassie downed the shot in her hand to the cheers of the table. Two other men egged her on to take another. He could read the looks exchanged between them just as easy as if their words appeared in a bubble above their head as she reached for the shot glass filled by the man whose lap she sat on.

His jaw clenched painfully, his molars grinding together. She wiggled on the man’s lap. His hands gripped her waist holding her steady and he knew he was pressing his cock into her ass. He wanted to send his fist right into the smiling face and break those perfectly straight white teeth.

Maybe he should have sent Rhea to save her.

Then again, Rhea might react worse than him.

The shot in Cassie’s hand lifted and her head titled back. In the same movement, the man’s hand reached up copping a feel of her breast. The fabric nearly pulled down to give a show to the table who were practically drooling over their own liquor glasses.

His feet moved, cutting through the patrons quickly. Satisfaction coursed through him seeing the eyes of the two men who didn’t have their hands in inappropriate places widen. Their laughter died suddenly as he stopped in front of them.

Anger rolled off him.

“Damian!”

Damian’s arms were immediately filled with a warm, wiggling, very drunk female body. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed against him.

“Hi Princesa,” his lightened voice a direct contraction against the menacing look he was sending to the men behind her.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” She grinned as her arms fell from his neck to his chest. The muscles were hard beneath her hands and she curled her fingers into the skin. She licked her lips as she swayed toward him.

Damian couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he stared down at her. She was clearly very drunk. The red of her cheeks. The wide pupils. The slight slur of her words. The weight gone from her shoulders. Her muscles relaxed and languid. Copious amounts of touching. Her hands were all over him. Running up and down his chest, his waist and up his back.

“I just got here Corazòn.”

“Nice,” Cassie grinned, her hands moving to his back and she hugged him again. “I’m glad you came. I was hoping you would.”

The twinkle in her eye caused his heart to skip. “I’m actually your ride home…” Damian let the fib slip. He was certain he had hearts in his eyes as he watched her frown with her eyebrows drawn in confusion as she tried to decipher his words. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and that moved caused his cock to take notice. ‘Down boy,’ he thought.

Cassie lifted her arm to stare at the watch wrapped on her left wrist. She stumbled on her feet and nearly went down until warm hands grabbed her waist. Looking up, her breath caught as she met Damian’s dark brown eyes. Her hand fell on his bicep as she straightened. Her body pressed against his, her eyes never wavering. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Damian grinned. If he wasn’t in love with her before, he was after that look. “You ready to go?”

“Where we goin?” Cassie grinned.

“Back to the hotel.”

“Okay,” Cassie turned back toward the table, frowning seeing it empty. The table was littered with empty shot glasses, beer glasses, high ball glasses, and a pitcher. The chairs pushed back from the table. She reached for the remaining half empty glass containing Bud Light. “I wanted you to meet my friends.”

“Maybe next time.” A single glare over Cassie’s head had them cutting their losses and scattering into the crowd. No doubt searching for someone else to talk into going home with them. He tried to find himself to care about the next unsuspecting girl, but he couldn’t. There was only one woman he cared about and she was currently chugging the rest of the beer in her glass.

“You sure we have to leave?”

Damian nearly gave in when she stared up at him with big doe eyes. Ready to sit in one of the vacated chairs, pull her down in his lap, and order a drink. He nodded his head and gently took her arm to lead her away from table and toward the front of the building.

As they reached the door to leave the bar, the bartender yelled, ‘Last call!’ to the disappointment of the many patrons. He drew her closer when they made it to the sidewalk. When she shivered against the cold, he stopped and slid his jacket off to wrap around her shoulders. She swayed on her feet, but didn’t fall. When her eyes met his, she sent him a smile.

In a different time… in a different dynamic, he would have taken her face in his hands and kissed her smiling lips.

“Come on Corazòn,” Damian wrapped his arm around her waist and led her down the street to his car. Their steps were disjointed with her inability to walk straight. Every stumble caused her to giggle and clutch him tighter with the hand around his back. He found it hard to care about their slow pace with her hand on him.

Reaching his car, he patted the front pocket of his jeans searching for the keys. His pockets were empty. He had a moment of fright before he heard the giggle next to him. Looking up, he saw her holding his keys in the air.

“Looking for these?”

The keys must have been in the pocket of his jacket. He reached up to take them when she pulled them away. The movement nearly sent her to the ground.

“Nuh huh,” Cassie laughed.

“Come on Corazòn, give me the keys so we can get out of here.”

“Where are we going?” Cassie clutched the keys in her hand, swaying toward Damian.

“Back to the hotel…” Damian’s eyes widened when she moved right into his space. Her hands pressed against his stomach. His muscles twitched beneath her touch. Her hands crawled up his chest to entwine around his neck and his breath caught when she pushed up on her tip toes.

“You didn’t even buy me a drink,” Cassie teased, scrapping her nails over the nape of his neck. His close shaved hair rough on her fingertips.

“Next time Corazòn.” Damian reached up to untangle her arms from around his neck before he did something stupid like kiss her. He was unable to stop from pressing a kiss to her knuckles as he slipped the car keys from her grasp.

When he unlocked the door, Damian helped her into the car. It was pure torture being this close to her – so pliant… so ready… but he would never take advantage of her. The seatbelt proved to be too much of an adversary and he took pity on her. He leaned down and pulled the seatbelt across her body. A shivered worked through him when he felt her lips on his cheek. Then nearly lost his balance when she nipped his ear.

“Behave Corazòn.”

“Sorry,” she giggled sitting back in the seat.

“You are trouble,” Damian clicked the belt in place and backed away. He shut the door and quickly rounded the front of the car getting into the driver’s seat. More of the bar patrons spilled onto the sidewalk and he wanted to get away before he was stopped by a fan.

Starting the car, he quickly checked the mirrors before he pulled out onto the street.

“What’s your passcode?”

Damian looked over at the question and saw his phone in her hand. The screen lit up with a number pad waiting for his passcode to be entered before the phone unlocked. “How’d you get my phone?”

“It was in your coat,” Cassie grinned. “Please?”

Just like that, Damian found himself giving her his passcode. ‘The minx,’ he thought as he chuckled. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do too much damage control with any messages she sent or posted to any of his accounts. Switching into the left lane, he put his turn signal on and stopped at the red light.

“Here, hurry up before it turns green!” Cassie held the phone out in front of her with her right hand and leaned toward Damian.

“What are you doing?” Damian asked, glancing at her.

“Taking a selfie! Hurry before the light turns!”

Damian shook his head, but he shifted in the seat to lean toward the center counsel. The camera was up on his phone. He smiled as she leaned even closer to him, her temple resting on his cheek. The light turned green as she was moving back to her seat. He hit the gas making the turn to head back to the hotel.

Cassie grinned as she pulled up his Instagram account and posted the photo.

‘Uber driver. Highly recommend. Five stars.’

“What are you doing?” Damian asked, hearing the giggles. “Corazòn, if you’re posting crazy stuff…”

“I’m not!” Cassie insisted. She drew up his messages and opened a new one. She attached the selfie and typed in her name. Nothing came up. She frowned. Erasing the name, she typed it in again, hoping her contact info would come up.

“What’s wrong?” The drive was quick in the dead of night. The hotel loomed in front of him.

“I wanted to send this to me, but you don’t have my number…”

“I don’t think so. Just put your number in.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” Damian asked as he was pulled into the hotel parking lot.

“I can’t remember it.”

Damian laughed as he pulled into the empty spot he vacated not that long ago.

“Oh!” Cassie shouted suddenly and typed in Rhea’s name. The text thread came up and she brought the phone closer to her eyes. The letters blurring in front of her.

‘Send this photo to me.’

’Cassie.’

‘I can’t remember my number.’

‘I think I drank too much.’

She giggled as she tucked his phone back in the coat pocket.

“You’re trouble Corazòn.” Damian killed the engine and climbed from the car. He made his way to the passenger side where he opened her door and helped her out. She swayed on her feet and he reached to steady her. “You good?”

Cassie nodded. The movement caused her vision to blur. Her hand clutched his bicep as she waited for the world to right itself. She blew out her breath and smiled up at him as they walked into the hotel. “What does Corazòn mean?”

It was Damian’s turn to stumble. His face heated in embarrassment. The endearment slipped out accidentally earlier and he hadn’t been able to stop using it. Her being impaired felt like a free chance to get away with something so innocent.

“Is it bad?” Cassie leaned against him as they stopped at the elevator.

“Is what bad?” Damian asked, buying time. The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. He kept her close as he hit the number 4.

“Corazòn? Is it bad?”

He cursed under his breath at her small voice. “No. It’s not bad. It means sweetheart.”

“I like that,” Cassie said as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. “Corazòn,” she repeated softly. A warmness flowed through her.

“What’s your room number?” Damian asked. When she stepped off earlier, he hadn’t noticed the direction she took.

“426.”

Damian turned them to the right and walked halfway down the quiet hallway until they came to her door. He watched as she started patting her pockets. The front of her jeans turned up empty. The left back pocket revealed her phone. A sobering thought went through him. What if she gave her room key to the douche at the bar? If that was the case, there was no way he would let her stay in her room. He’d take her to his… Rhea’s…

That would be safer.

He opened his mouth to suggest staying elsewhere when she finally produced her room key. She held it up triumphantly in her hand along with her driver’s license, and folded up cash.

“Success!” She grinned. She frowned when she noticed the cash in her hand. “I drank a lot for someone who didn’t buy a drink all night.”

Damian laughed. “I bet.”

He watched her struggle to keep her hand still enough for the keypad on the door to read the room key. He wrapped his hand around hers to hold it steady. The light turned green. He tugged the handle down and pushed the door open allowing her to enter first. For a moment he thought about letting it shut with her safely inside and he outside, but then she stumbled and fell into the wall.

Stepping into the room, his mind shouted he was entering a dangerous zone. He should leave her to her own devices. Have Rhea check on her in the morning. Obviously glutton for punishment, he stayed. He told himself he was only going to get her shoes off and get her into bed. Fully clothed. Make sure her phone was plugged in with an alarm set. Then he would leave and go back to his own room.

Maybe get her to take some Advil before she passed out. She would definitely be hating life in the morning.

“Are we having a sleepover?”

She looked so cute dwarfed in his jacket. Smiling, he shook his head. “No sleepover. I’m going to make sure you get in to bed.”

Cassie frowned at his words and Damian watched as she made her way forward to stand in front of him. He looked down in her eyes. Her arms once again entwined around his neck and she went up on her tip toes again. Her lips a whispered away. He knew he should step away but he couldn’t. His feet were glued to the floor. “You can…get in to bed with me…Corazòn…”

It was the whispered Spanish term of endearment. It made him weak. Weak enough to lower his head and brush his lips against hers. She tasted of alcohol and the spicy hint of cinnamon. Her lips were soft and pliant. When he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, her lips parted with a sigh. He chased the taste of cinnamon in her mouth as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his body. His tongue stroked against hers, exploring the cavern until he knew it as well as his own.

He withdrew his tongue and the noise she made in protest hit deep in his gut. Her hands clutched the front of his hoodie; the material gripped tight in her hands, pulling it hard across his chest. The whispered, wanton ‘more’ from her mouth caused all the blood to rush below his belt to his hardening cock.

“Damian,” she whispered pressing closer. She felt the hard cock against her belly. Desire pooled at her center and she clenched around nothing feeling empty.

“Cassie,” Damian murmured against her lips. His hands traced down her back over his coat to her ass. He cupped the globes, encased in tight jeans, in his hands and pressed her into his cock, manipulating her hips to move against him.

“I need you…”

Damian froze when he felt her hands at the front of his jeans, trying to work the button open and lower the zipper. He brought one of his hands to wrap around hers, stopping the movement. A low moan escaped from his throat as her hand pressed against his cock. Her fingers working in small ministrations unable to fully move her hand because of his hold. His eyes drifted closed. His free hand threaded through her hair, a much safer location than her ass. He pressed her against his chest as he breath heavily.

“Please…”

It took everything he had to take a step back. Their hands fell from the front of his jeans. His cock still painfully against his zipper, begging to be released. “Wait…” Damian knew he needed to gather control quickly.

“I don’t wanna wait,” Cassie murmured, lifting her head.

Damian bit back a groan. Her lips were puffy and reddened from his kisses.

“I want you…” Cassie dropped her hands from him to slip her arms from his jacket. The leather jacket fell to the floor with a muffled thud as his phone hit the thin carpet. “I’ve wanted you for awhile…”

Damian’s eyes flared at the piece of information. He wished he knew it before he pulled her drunken self from the bar. He stepped back from her when she stepped forward and found himself with his back against the wall separating the room from the bathroom. She pressed a hand on his chest and let it trail down his body. The internal fight had him grabbing her hand just before it reached his cock.

“Let me suck you,” she whispered swaying toward him. “Please. I’ve dreamed about it. I’ve dreamt about dropping to my knees in front of you. Pressing my face into your crotch. Breathing you in. Mouthing you through your clothes before pulling the zipper down. Reaching in and baring you to me…” she licked her lips as her mouth filled with saliva as it would in hunger… and she was hungry. Could already feel the weight of his cock on her tongue.

Damian moaned, his eyes closing as his head fell back. His cock twitched in his jeans, eagerly wanting Cassie to do just as she begged. He wanted to let her fall to her knees in front of him. He wanted to hold his cock in his hand as he fed it to her. “We can’t…” The hardest words he ever had to speak.

“That’s okay. I got a list of things I want to do to you… with you.”

He was only a man. A weak man apparently. One definitely glutton for more punishment as if the night hadn’t doled out enough already. “What else?”

Cassie reached out and squeezed his bicep; the hard muscle hidden from view because of his hoodie. “I’ve wanted you to pick me up and fuck me against the wall. Hold me above your cock before lowering me until I’m impaled…”

“Jesus Christ,” Damian groaned. His cock championed that position. To rid her of those skin tight jeans and press her to the wall behind him. Lower his jeans just enough to release his weeping cock and send himself home with one thrust.

“I want to strip you naked. Lay you down on the bed and trace every single tattoo with my tongue until I get to your cock…” Cassie reached for his hand with both of hers. She maneuvered his fingers leaving his pointer finger up. She brought their hands to her lips, where she swiped the pad of his finger with her tongue. “Then I’ll suck your cock…” At his swift intake of breath, she drew his finger into her mouth. Sinking down on the digit in a lewd manner. Her tongue teased the underside as she withdrew. The finger fell from her mouth with a pop.

“I wanna climb on top of you and ride your cock… With your hands on my hips in a bruising grip. I don’t have tattoos, but I’d wear those marks proudly. I wanna sink on your hard cock, slamming down on you, taking you deep inside me. I wanna ride you until completion… coming apart on your cock. Then I want you to roll me over and take me from behind. Pounding in me, while pulling my hair. Taking what you need until you explode. Your cum deep inside of me.”

With his free hand, Damian reached down and squeezed his denim clad cock, trying to stave off coming. The bed was right behind her. He could tear off her clothes and toss her down. Mount her from behind; pistoning in and out of her until completion. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long.

“I also want to straddle your face. Press my pussy down on your mouth forcing your tongue to lick me. Feeling your tongue inside of me. You licking and sucking on my clit. Your arms hooked on my thighs not letting me go. You can’t breath, you’re consumed by me… the smell… the taste of my pussy…God you keep licking. My thighs are quaking until I’m screaming out your name coming all over your lips.”

Damian was nearing the end of his rope. He knew if he shoved his hand down her pants he’d find her dripping. A slight musky scent of arousal hung in the air. It made him want to be the one to drop to his knees and press his face against her center. Toss one of her legs over his shoulders, baring her to him. He wanted to lick until those thighs quaked. Lick until she coated his cheeks with her essence.

“I also want you to take me in the locker room or in a dark hallway at the arena… fast and quick and hard… your hand pressed over my mouth to keep me quiet because someone could find us…I want you to tie me to my bed and make me beg… beg you to kiss me. Beg you to touch me. To put your mouth on me. I want you to mark me. Sucking bruising bites on my skin. My neck… my breasts…my thighs. I want you to mark me with your cum. Watch you with your hand on your cock, stroking up and down, until you explode… your cum painting my body…” Cassie hummed, her eyes falling shut. “I want to watch you stroke yourself. Your hand moving on your cock. See the muscles on your arm dancing as you grip your cock. Your thumb swirling on the head through the pre cum. Watch you lick your hand for a better glide…those thick fingers wrapping around your cock.”

Cassie’s eyes opened and trapped his. “I need to feel those fingers inside of me. One… two… three… stuffing me full…” A breathy moan released from between her lips. “Damian…Corazòn… kiss me. Please…”

Damian could no more refuse the plea than he could stop breathing. With a hand cupping her jaw, he titled her head up as he lowered his. Their lips met in a soft kiss – a much softer kiss than he was feeling after listening to her describe what she wanted to do to him or what she wanted him to do to her. He could feel her trying to push it further, but he kept it light. Their lips moving together.

When she swayed, he broke the kiss and pulled her head to rest on his chest. He closed his eyes and blew out a breath to try to get a reign on his anatomy. “Let’s get you into bed.”

Surprisingly she gave no resistance. As he removed her black booties and socks from her feet, she never tried to hit on him. She stayed silent as he knelt on the ground, her hands gripping his shoulders for balance. When he stood up, he reached for the black fitted long sleeve turtleneck shirt. Again, she simply lifted her arms over her head and allowed him to pull it off. His eyes gave a quick glance over the black lace bra before he averted his gaze. He didn’t need any more fodder for his late night activities but he would love to press his lips to the soft mounds encased in the lacy fabric. To tease her nipples through the lace drawing them into stiff peaks before he sucked on them.

“My shirt…”

Damian saw the black t-shirt thrown on the end of the bed and grabbed it. Then, like dressing a child, he pulled it down over her head. He stared in shock as the purple print came into view. It was one of his merchandise shirts.

Cassie giggled as she gripped the hem and pulled the shirt away from her body to straighten the fabric. “Rhea gave it to me as a joke. She knows how much I like Damian…”

Damian’s eyes flickered back to Cassie’s in confusion. Her eyes were glazed and he frowned at the far away look in them. The alcohol apparently had taken over her body. He knew from his own experience she was about ready to be gone from the world.

“But you can’t tell him.”

Damian chuckled softly at the secretive whisper in Cassie’s voice. “Why not?” He told himself not to push anymore. He picked his leather jacket up from the floor where Cassie dropped it.

“Because I know he doesn’t like me.”

“Why wouldn’t he like you?” Damian asked, interested to hear the answer.

“I’m dorky. I’m too short. I’m too shy. I like country music. I don’t really like going out. I like to stay home…” Cassie reached for her jeans, her fingers fumbling with the button.

“I have it on good authority that he likes you.” Already pushing the line, Damian reached out and undid the button of her jeans and pulled the zipper down. With both hands, he pushed the jeans down her hips. Stumbling a little when she decided to sit down on the bed. He knelt at her feet and pulled the jeans from her legs. His hands twitched to run up and down those smooth legs. From her small, dainty feet capped with dark purple nail polish, all the way up to her thighs.

“That’s what Rhea said…” Cassie fell back onto the bed on her back. Her eyes drifting shut. She offered no resistance when she felt her body being lifted and moved. Her head came down on a soft, cool pillow. Soon a blanket covered her body and warmth settled her. Her eye lids felt heavy – too heavy to open.

He was gonna buy Rhea breakfast in the morning. Damian grabbed her discard jeans and dug her phone out of the pocket. The lock screen lit up showing a few notifications – from Amazon, The Weather Channel, SnapChat, and an alarm found, along with a text from Rhea.

‘Why are you texting me from Damian’s phone???? Did you finally tell him?!’

He smirked at the text. Toyed with the thought of texting from Cassie’s phone, but ultimately plugged it on to the charger next to the bed. He placed the other items from her jeans next to her phone before tossing the jeans over the open suitcase. Looking around, he realized it was time to go.

Before he left, he was unable to stop himself from leaning down and placing a kiss on Cassie’s forehead.

“I love you Damian.”

Damian’s breath caught at the whisper. The words warmed him from the inside out, settling something deep in his soul. Tilting his head down, his eyes met hers. Time and alcohol weighing heavily on them. “Cassie…”

“I do. You’re kind and patient. You’re fun to be around. Funny. Accepting. I love how you love your family. How you work hard and keep pushing no matter what Creative or life throws at you. You’re supportive. I love your friendship with Rhea. It makes me jealous at times and I wish I can be that easy with you. I love how you always smile when you see me. How you ask how I’m doing and about my family. I love your arms. I love how I felt safe and protected the few times you hugged me. Like nothing could ever hurt me when I’m in your arms. I love your smile and the way one side tilts up. It makes my heart skip a beat. I love your laugh. How you make me laugh. I love your voice. How deep it is. Your accent…I get butterflies. I love your eyes. They’re so expressive. How they somehow sparkle when you’re happy even though they are so dark. How they crinkle when you smile. They make me melt…”

Damian nearly jumped when he felt the caress on his hand. Looking down he watched Cassie’s fingers brush over the back of his hand.

“Your hands… I love the shape of them. The long fingers… the veins on the back. The amount of roughness on the palm. I stare at them often. Not just imagining how they’d feel on my body, but how they would look holding my hand. How it would feel brushing my hair away from my face. I love your beautiful skin – tanned and tattooed. How tall you are…and how perfectly we’d fit together despite the height differences. How strong you are… not just physically…you could shoulder all my worries and fears…”

Her voice grew softer and softer as she lost the battle with consciousness, but he never heard anyone more clearly. Damian had many relationships over the years dating back to his junior high days. None of them ever compared to what he was feeling right now. He felt complete for the first time in his life; like a missing piece had slid home. His heart felt full.

Leaning down, Damian brushed his lips against hers. He kept it soft and light and was surprised when he felt the small movement of her lips against his. “Tell me when you’re sober, Corazòn and I’ll give you the world.”

#wwe fanfiction #wwe fanfic #wwe fanfics #damian priest #damian priest fanfic #damian priest x oc

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five-rivers · 11 hours ago

Note

If you are still taking Prompts, I would love to know how Danny's Delivery went in your fic Delivery in your Grandfather Clock's series. Like, I'm just imagining him getting shot (not seriously) and Clockwork fussing over him even while he congratulates Danny on doing a good job.

"Okay," said Sam, the minute Danny's parents and the doctor went out into the hallway to talk. "Spill."

"It pretty much went how I said it went," said Danny, shrugging. "I found that guy's notebook and decided to bring it back to him. The Guys in White were there with their stupid ultrasensitive targeting system. I set it off and they shot me."

"Yeah, you're helpful, but you're not that helpful," said Sam. "You'd normally have handed it off to Jazz, since she's got some classes there."

That was true.

"You've done it before," said Jazz, crossing her arms. No help there.

"Okay, you're right, but you have to promise not to get mad," said Danny.

Sam and Jazz looked at each other. Danny would have liked Tucker to be there, just for the sake of Guy Solidarity, but Tucker refused to get anywhere near a doctor's office unless someone was actively dying.

"Go ahead," said Jazz, finally.

"Clockwork gave me the notebook and told me to bring it back," said Danny. "Because, he said, the Guys in White would lose a lot of recruits and that'll be important in the future."

"He sent you somewhere to get shot at?" asked Jazz.

"I knew I was going to get shot at, and I did it anyway. That's kind of what I do every time I fight ghosts, too."

Jazz made a face. "That's true."

"So, it was time agent stuff," said Sam. "That's still working out for you?"

"Oh, yeah, it's great," said Danny. "Clockwork is great."

"I'm glad, but still... I don't like that he sent you to get shot at on purpose."

"But I'm fine."

"And remember what he was like during the snake thing," said Sam.

"I wasn't there during the snake thing," said Jazz. "Because you didn't tell me about the snake thing until after."

"Oh, yeah. Well, he was completely doting on him. Like at the, you know, at the party."

"You can say deathday around me, I'm not going to freak out."

"I know, I know," said Jazz. "We all like Clockwork, it's just that with Mom and Dad... You don't need someone else who cares more about work."

When it came to ghosts, things weren't quite that simple. He didn't think things were quite that simple with his parents, either.

"Yeah, but it was about making me safer in the future."

Jazz's expression softened further. "If you're sure that's what's going on, okay," she said. She sat down in one of the chairs. "But maybe give me a heads up in the future? You nearly gave us a heart attack."

"Mostly you," said Sam.

"Mostly me," agreed Jazz.

"Time out," said Clockwork.

Danny sat up straighter on the examination table. "I didn't mess anything up, did I?"

"Not at all," said Clockwork. "You did wonderfully. Everything is as it should be." He held out a hand. "May I?"

Danny nodded and slid the paper examination gown to one side so Clockwork could see the burns more easily. They weren't serious, and he was already healing quickly, but they were worse than what a regular human would have gotten from those weapons... Which had, at least, made the doctor and his parents that much more angry at the GIW. Although, who knew how long that would last or what excuses the GIW would come up with.

Clockwork adjusted one of the watches on his wrist and passed his hand over the burn. Danny watched as another couple of days of healing passed in front of his eyes.

"I need to learn that trick," said Danny, putting the gown back into place.

"I will be happy to teach you," said Clockwork.

Danny blinked at him. "Really?"

"Really. Time in."

#danny phantom #prompt #prompt work #ask #answer #I bet you didn't expect *this*#[fills a three+ year old prompt]

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nerdishpursuits · 3 days ago

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The real issue here is how Marta, Damián and Tasio deal with the issue of Eladio, who makes a pest of himself more every day. I hope Damián gets out of this smelling of roses, given he's decided to face Eladio himself. At least, it would seem, he's not going to meet him alone (I assume Tasio is the one behind Damián in the preview?).

That's the impending doom, in my eyes. With the pressure they're all under, I'm surprised Marta is able to function at all. She’s being attacked on every front and the sheer exhaustion is taking its toll. I will say though, being called a lesbian for the very first time, by someone who's blackmailing you? The fear in Marta's eyes as she’s forced to confront one of her greatest fears? Being condemned for loving a woman during a fascist regime and the devastating consequences? Someone hold her real tight (and by someone, I mean Fina). Here’s to also hoping they get use the term lesbian in a positive context as well. Marta & Fina are okay and the scene with Bigotes Reloaded proved yesterday's speculations were taken wildly out of context. Fina is not jealous, but very much worried for her woman because of what happened with Santiago. And right now? Fina trusts no man and, thus, warns Marta to be careful. Bottom line is, Fina isn’t worried about Pelayo because:

1. He’s a man and Marta is a lesbian (I think she’d be jealous if it were a woman, the way she was jealous of Isabel back in the day)

2. Fina utterly trusts her and Marta’s love and commitment to each other

3. Marta couldn't care less about his attempts at courting her (heck, her face in Monday's preview when he suggests they dine together is a poem - her suggestion was for their respective management teams to have a business dinner, not for the two of them to have a tête-à-tête - though I assume she’ll end up attending to further her business plan)

4. Marta’s heart is very much taken, thank you very much. Signed, sealed, delivered to one Serafina Valero Izquierdo. And vice versa.

As for Marta making a couple of comments today, that have some viewers questioning them? I’d say let’s also remember that, thankfully, there's a few men out there who aren't horrible and that, unfortunately, internalized misogyny is alive and well in most of us, pervasive as it is - especially within the context of 1958 (that is, for those who find Marta’s 'not all men' comment in poor taste - personally, I do not, given the context of the show and its examples of men who were, continue to be, or strive to be good people; we need to be capable of critical thinking, perceiving nuance and discerning context - that being said, Marta’s “not all men are like Santiago” and Fina’s “true, but we should always be on our guard”? They both ring true and complement each other. I can’t really tell which snake is venomous so I’ll be wary of all snakes). Furthermore, I perceived Marta's comment on them being able to, hopefully, turn the page as more of a self-reflection and something for the two of them to look forward to. I see it as Marta trying to manifest hope for the future, not just for Fina but for herself as well. Living caged by fear is not living and rings true for them both. Fina experiencing nightmares and Marta going through an ordeal Fina's unaware of. Turning the page and being able to finally move on with their lives is definitely something to strive towards. I see no problem with Marta voicing that, given she’s going through her own personal hell ever since Fina’s incarceration. A hell she currently sees no way out of. I also like that:

Marta has no secrets with Damián anymore and that they're now strategizing together. Marta really is the apple of Damián’s eye and there's no lengths he would't go to for her. If he got protective of Fina simply because Marta loves her? Now that Marta is facing the firing squad herself? Damián is seeing red. And I hope he emerges unscathed. Marta & Fina need him now, more than ever. Like my partner would say How the turns have tabled. We’re finding ourselves rooting for Damián de la Reina and hell hasn’t frozen over.

Marta claiming and assuming all responsibility for her decision but also saying she's not sorry about the beating Santiago received? Perfection. She may hate the consequences but Santiago got what he deserved. Her head is held high, as it should!!!

Marta & Tasio standing up for each other is something I like seeing. I look forward to this changing the dynamic between them, for the better. Let the siblings bond commence. Marta deserves a brother she can count on and Tasio deserves a de la Reina who appreciates him.

Fina still struggling with her trauma? I like the fact they keep addressing it. Would be really nice to see Marta and Fina talking about her nightmares though, with Marta holding her through it all. Some breathing space amid all this insanity would be most welcome and needed.

What I’d like to see in the nearby future? The show also addressing Marta’s own trauma. Can we talk about her absorbing Fina’s pain and internalising her own to the point of breaking? Keeping everything bottled up is bound to wreak havoc within. No one’s really asked Marta how she’s holding up and, in some ways, she seems to have taken Fina’s trauma harder than Fina herself. Which says a lot about how much she loves her woman, how desperate she is to protect her. I’ll be so disappointed in Fina is she judges Marta as well for her decision. Marta has enough torment as it is.

I’m also seeing people claiming Marta and Fina are not the same anymore. Of course they’re not? Events leave their mark. Like they do for all of us. We’re evolving, day after day. The fundamentals are still there, of course. What makes us intrinsically ourselves is immutable. But we’re all a work in progress. We’re constantly acting, reacting and adapting, always learning. We’re growing. At the end of the day? We still love who we love. And on this journey we’re on? We continue learning how to understand each other, how to offer support and how to love each other through the highs and the lows. Simple as that. We’re not stagnant pools of water. We’re rivers. And they say no water can be stepped into twice. Same with Marta and Fina. They’re evolving, learning and adapting, the red thread of their love guiding them through the maze. I’ve no doubt about that.

Additionally, let’s admit it. That fact that neither of them have had to deal with male suitors until recently? While a boon for the fandom, not entirely believable (and trust me, I’d be the happiest if they need not interact with a man ever again). But have you seen those two? Normally, admirers would be trampling one another. Until now? Fina had the excuse of Isidro and Marta that of Jaime / her widowhood. But now that their respective shields have been painfully removed, they’re not safe anymore. Sad as it is, that women can’t simply be left to their own devices, a suitor storyline would have happened, eventually. As far as I’m concerned ? As long as they keep treating Mafin with the care they’ve afforded them and keep the characters true to themselves? I’m very much okay with it. Drama needs to drama. So far, it’s been consistently good.

Special mention to Andrés being the most useless, spineless and incompetent fool. Egotistical to the marrow. Selling his shares to Jesús and betraying the trust Marta had in him (notably after she asked for his much-needed support on the board), betraying Damián as well and selling them all out to Jesús? All without even trying to look for a different solution, as Marta suggested? Truly, no words. Dude only thinks about himself and nothing else. He's tanking Marta & Damián and handing over the reigns of the business to their biggest enemy. Insanity. I do hope Damián rakes him over the coals for this one. I feel sorry for Begoña, truly, but her taste in men is abysmal. They all deserve better than Andrés. Qué soso más insoportable. And so irresponsible too. The bar was low for him to begin with, but worry not. There’s always new lows to conquer.

I also like to remind myself no soup is eaten as hot as one prepares it. And theories have rarely hit their mark when it comes to this show. The fandom has often been wrong about so many things and has come up with the most negative theories. Theories which didn’t come to pass (e.g. Miriam being interested in Marta or Fina, Fina falling for Santiago, Jacinto being gay and marrying Fina, Isabel being either a lesbian or a de la Reina, the Carpena family messing with Mafin due to their religious beliefs etc). None of those have come to pass but have stirred up so much drama at the time.

The show is meant to be enjoyed. When said enjoyment turns to angst and frustration? What’s the point anymore? And I’m not saying the sapphic community shouldn’t be wary? After all, this is the result of having been endlessly queer-baited, misled and exploited in the name of ratings. It’s hard to believe a lesbian narrative will in fact be handled with care and respect. Wariness and mistrust in the writers and producers is to be expected. That being said? Call my gullible but I’ll believe they’re ruining Mafin when I see it. Until then? I’m here to hopefully (and clownishly, if you will), keep enjoying this pairing that fascinates me so.

#mafin commentary #text post #just posting on my blog as I don’t want to clog the main tags anymore

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mambodork · 2 days ago

Note

A question perfect for the holidays!

On the several aus of boatem or just hermitcraft in genera. What would they do during Christmas?

For example, Isekai! Au, villain boatem! Au, and hotguy and the watcher/cuteguy

Hurray !! Merry late christmas :3

For the isekai au, the world building in the novel works differently from the real world. They have a different calendar system, religion, days of celebration, etc. So there's not really "christmas" in it.

I'd imagine Grian would see that the calendar is nearing its end and would mutter "Oh... it should be around christmas by now." Someone else would overhear him say it and ask what christmas is, in which Grian would continue to make up a lame excuse about something his family celebrates as an inside joke, yadda yadda. When Grian mentions that you're supposed to exchange presents, the rest of boatem immediately panics and scrambles to different directions to try and get presents for each other. Grian decides that this is a really good bonding activity that will HOPEFULLY make them not want to kill each other in the future.

The gifts they get ended up being extremely strange and/or explosive. I'd like to think Scar would accidentally trip on one of the presents, activating one of the explosive items and launching all the gifts under the "christmas tree" into the sky, making it look like some kind of firework. Grian just stares at the now lit up sky with his jaw on the floor. The rest of Boatem shoots laser eyes at Scar as he anxiously tries to apologise, only for Grian to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness. Gosh, I love him and the pathetic cats he picked up from the streets so much, guys.

For the Boatem Supervillains, I could imagine a christmas special scheme where they would do some ridiculous thing like stealing all the christmas presents and replacing every single one of them with coal, pelting random people in the face with a snowball machine gun, Maybe even going to the extreme and actually kidnapping Santa 😭 whether or not it's actually Santa the real deal or just some guy in a mall, I'll let you guys decide. Just know that they're probably doing something really really silly.

For the h0tGuY and the watcher au ... I think it's a bit more on the angsty route with the both of them still having to work even in the holidays. Hotguy would continue to fight villains and monsters. He'd look at the occasional family, couple, or group of friends happily celebrating christmas and is just feeling so bittersweet about it. He takes a little rest after battle and Grian approaches him with those deer antlers headband. He's currently having a cold from the weather so his nose is like really red, and it makes him look like rudolph, which is so funny. Grian presents him with a lunchbox that looks like a traditional red present and Scar raises his eyebrows, questioning him since it wasn't time for lunch yet. Grian sneezes and tells him that it was a christmas special and he should just take it. Scar opens the box and cringes when he saw ... pickles ... cut in the shape of the usual christmas cookies ... snowflakes, gingerbread, christmas trees, the whole bunch. Grian sits down on the ground, not leaving until Scar finishes all his pickles like he usually does. And they spend the entire time just chatting until the next monster attack comes.

#vale asks #grian isekai au #hotguy and the watcher #boatem supervillains

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detectivestucks · 3 days ago

Text

Obito as your Arranged Husband

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact.

Pairing: Obito x F!Reader

Warnings: Violence, Unprotected Sex, Baby-Trapping

Art Credit: Kodek_Manga on Instagram

A/N: I got some inspiration during an early morning Tumblr read and this story started spinning in my head. I definitely see myself making more of these for both men cause they're fun and quick to write which means I'm gonna pick back up with my requests and publish them as headcanons

Arranged Husband Obito who has always loved Rin even though he’s been betrothed to you since birth.

Arranged Husband Obito who ignored you most of your days at the academy because he was always seeking her out. You remember bringing him rice cakes only to be told a weary ‘thanks’ before he left them on the ground to chase after Rin in a game of kick the can.

Arranged Husband Obito who you never stopped trying to connect with because you thought the world of him. He sometimes felt intimidated by the light behind your eyes when you’d stare at him. Your look of admiration brightened the room when he was late due to assisting the elderly, a look that made him shy.

Arranged Husband Obito who became a different man after Rin’s death. Dark and violent. Someone you didn’t recognize anymore.

Arranged Husband Obito who broke your heart when you discovered he was helping Itachi slaughter your clan. The screams of your family echo around the compound leaving you trembling before him.

Arranged Husband Obito who couldn’t stomach the look in your eyes, so different from when you looked at him growing up. Tears brimming the rims of them, the light gone and a darkness of fear taking its place.

Arranged Husband Obito who spared your life, telling himself it was so someone could raise Sasuke when really he couldn’t stand the thought of snuffing out your light even more than he already had.

Arranged Husband Obito who kept visiting the village for many years after to check on you. He watched from afar as you took Sasuke to school and taught him the secrets of your clan.

Arranged Husband Obito who can’t stand it when you go on dates because you are still promised to him, even if you don’t know it. You wonder why you’ve never been on a second date and no one seems to be willing to tell you what you did wrong.

Arranged Husband Obito who leaves small gifts on your kitchen table between missions to remind you that you belong to him. The gifts never say who they’re from but you take a guess, feeling a mix of comfort and fear. You look out of your window intensely every time you find one, trying to verify what you know to be true.

Arranged Husband Obito who thinks about dismantling the Akatsuki so he can return to the village to be with you. Missions become fewer and his vision for the future turns blurry as he wrestles with what he wants.

Arranged Husband Obito who slips into your bed at night to lay with you. His body carefully pushing flush against your curves. His hand tracing your arm as his face, free of his mask, rests in the crook of your neck. When you wake, he always teleports away, leaving no trace of his presence other than the warm mattress next to you.

Arranged Husband Obito who decided to wait in the dark for you to come home while Sasuke is off on a mission. He scares you half to death and you try to stab him with your kunai before you realize it’s him.

Arranged Husband Obito who finally made his presence known as he watches your face ping pong between emotions. You don’t know whether to be terrified, excited, relieved, or incredibly sad. You settle on pensive anticipation, waiting for him to explain himself.

Arranged Husband Obito who holds you in his arms as he steals the kiss you’ve been waiting for your entire life. In spite of all he’s done, you still love him. He’s the only man you think about when you’re alone and you always wondered what this moment would feel like.

Arranged Husband Obito who pulls you into him so your body is crashing against his. His grip on you possessive, hands wandering to where they shouldn’t before lifting off your shirt and slipping below your undergarments.

Arranged Husband Obito who lays you on the bed, crawling over you as your breathing becomes shallow. Your eyes light up once more as you look up at him. His intense stare driving you wild with need.

Arranged Husband Obito who takes you the way he wants to because your body has always belonged to him. He thought about this moment on a loop for the past ten years. How you would feel, what noises you would make, how well you would take him.

Arranged Husband Obito who makes you see stars when he buries himself inside of you over and over again. Your core barely able to wrap around him, your consciousness fading in and out with how hard he makes you cum. It was everything you ever wanted and more.

Arranged Husband Obito who makes you forget his past crimes by pulling orgasm after orgasm from you. Any shame you had at first for sleeping with the enemy has long disappeared with your sanity for surely you’ve gone mental, longing for a warlord the way you do.

Arranged Husband Obito who marries you in secret. Only Sasuke and Itachi know of your affair, being sworn to secrecy, not that they would ever betray a fellow Uchiha...again.

Arranged Husband Obito who plays villain by day and loving husband by night. Harsh to his enemies and tender at home with you. The boy you knew and loved as a little girl knelt at your table each night, sitting before you as a man who you thought was long lost, shoveling rice cakes into his mouth two at a time.

Arranged Husband Obito who quietly becomes sensei to Sasuke, helping him unlock his mangekyou and showing him how to rein its power.

Arranged Husband Obito who feels guilty about the Uchiha’s demise and bears the need to revive the clan he helped destroy. When you're not home, he replaces your birth control with sugar pills and finds an excuse to stuff your heat every night. Cumming in you so often that it begins to make you feel nervous.

Arranged Husband Obito who fills you with his seed till your shaking from sensitivity before shushing your sweet cries and flipping you over for a second and third round.

Arranged Husband Obito who finally sees you holding a pregnancy test, anxiously waiting to hear you tell him it’s positive.

Arranged Husband Obito who is the best father you could ever have dreamed of. He’s warm and goofy while always ensuring the safety of the family. He leaves his organization behind and is already trying to stuff baby #2 inside of you.

Masterlist

#obito x reader #obito smut #obito uchiha #obito is daddy #obito x you #obito simp #uchiha obito #obito headcanons

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fairvstairs · 10 hours ago

Text

THE FOXES DOING SECRET SANTA

From Renée to Matt

He likes them so much that he buys another pair with Fiona and Shrek.

From Matt to Nicky

He absolutely loves it.

From Nicky to Allison

She would wear it everyday if she could.

From Allison to Kevin

He hates it and never wears it with an exception for Allison's birthday.

From Kevin to Dan

"Funny gift coming from you."

"You are too nice, they need to know how much they suck."

"Kevin you are the one who should be reading that."

From Dan to Aaron

He brings it around with him in his pocket. When he's feeling smart and someone says something completely idiotic he wears it and coughs until they notice.

From Aaron to Neil

He uses it every day just to piss Aaron off. The mug takes many hits but always survives until Neil and Andrew adopt the cats. It lasts until Aaron's first visit, King pushes it off the table while looking at him straight in the eyes.

Andrew doesn't participate but he almost buys Neil this shirt when he sees it in a store. Almost.

His (unofficial) gift to Neil is letting him live when Neil stares at him for too long after saying "the only thing I have ever wanted for Christmas was peace, now I have so much more than that, I don't even know what more I could be asking for."

Neil picks Renee but she asks to whoever picked her to donate money to a charity of their choosing (I read this somewhere, don't know where but I liked the idea). He does it but still gets her a box with all of her favorite candies (Andrew helped but he says this doesn't count as participating).

They decide Nicky will not be participating in the future Secret Santas because he revealed his person and everyone else's in less than 3 days.

From Renée to Andrew

These are just for fun, don't take it too seriously!

I took the pictures from Pinterest.

A little late but here's something for Christmas! Happy holidays!💞💐

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kanasbinwriting · 2 days ago

Note

If it’s okay with you - I never see fics that continue on from the “you gave him some new holes” or “You’ll replace ren’s scars” and overall just a mean MC so if you want to - a fic like that would be nice^^

Happy holidays btw <33

REN HANA X READER

Mean MC, here I come!!

I'll definitely write more mean MC in the future...

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Ren sat in front of you on his knees, his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes narrowed in frustration and despair. You didn't look at him, and you didn't need to, you already knew how pathetic he looked. His head hung low, his usual sharp gaze now downcast and uncertain. His ears were pinned back, and his tail was lying still against his leg. Your attention was solely on the television, finally watching something other than these sick videos Ren forced you to watch. You couldn't help but let a bitter laugh escape from your lips, making his ears twitch. He looked so threatening when he put that collar around your neck, but when you turned the tables on him, his confidence quickly fell out of the window.

You might've felt bad for him if it weren't for the scars on your body that he had inflicted. You can still remember the day when you decided to fight back as if it were yesterday. How he looked at you in terror and cried when you replaced his scars, what fond memories. Ren's shoulders trembled slightly as he let out a sigh. Normally, you had him stay in the basement, only coming down to give him food, but you were bored and decided to switch things up a little. Being alone and isolated in that basement already felt like torture, but he didn't think that having you ignore him, while he was right in front of you could be just as bad. He tried to talk to you, begging for a single second of your acknowledgement, but you didn't grant his wishes. He was free to walk around, or so he assumed since when you untied him from the pole and went straight upstairs, you didn't utter a single word the whole time. He let out a whine in frustration and laid his head on the couch, continuing to look straight at you. You could feel his gaze burn straight through you. Ren longed to scream for your attention, but he knew better than to tick you off.

When the credits began to roll, you sat up straight and stretched out your limbs, letting out a satisfied sigh. Finally, after hours had passed, you looked down at him. His ears instantly perked up when you caught his gaze. Embarrassment slowly crept up on him, but he couldn't ignore his heart racing the longer you kept your attention on him. You felt his tail wag rabidly against your leg, making your brows furrow. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?" You muttered, your voice laced with disgust, though a flicker of curiosity danced in your eyes. You didn't know why you didn't run when you had the chance, some might call you insane for it, but seeing him like this gave you some sense of control. It felt as if you've been unconsciously searching for it all your life. Even though your tone was harsh, he felt his face flush red and his eyes tear up. “I-I just... Please, look at me... keep talking to me. I’ll be good, I promise...” his voice trembled as your gaze darkened. You smiled down at him, not replying to his pleas, and his eyes widened. Ren tried to be patient and wait, but even after just a few seconds without your voice passed, his breath hitched. His wagging tail slowed as he felt his desperation grow once more. "N-No... I- Please talk! I need to hear you-"

"Don't you have many demands...?" You interrupted the beginning of his rant, sighing in annoyance "Seriously, aren't you even a little ashamed?". His lips trembled as he caught the edge of your tone. Ren lowered his head, his ears drooping as a pitiful whimper escaped his lips.

"I don't care." He muttered, his voice cracking. "As long as you pay attention to me in one way or another..." You tilted your head, a cruel smirk forming as you leaned closer, feeling his breath against your skin. "Good," you murmured, brushing his cheek with your fingers, feeling him tremble against your touch. "Because I won't stop anytime soon."

#boyfriend to death 2 #ren hana x reader #btd ren hana x reader #boyfriend to death ren x reader #btd x reader #btd ren x reader #btd ren

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manicpixiedreamfakeboy · 2 days ago

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"non-binary" girls like me are too easy to fix.

we don't even want to be real boys. we're blatantly doing this for attention. after all, you can't "pass" as non-binary--but you can pass as an eccentric, tomboyish woman.

no one looks at me with my long hair, barely "androgynous" voice, feminine body and style and wonders what gender I am. they don't need to take even a second! I practically announce that i'm female to everyone that sees me. they don't see a girl with hairy legs and question what they already know.

any man with a handsome face and a way with words could decide that he's bisexual just so he can get in my pants. and he will! i'm just so desperate to have my delusions respected and affirmed, I'd go right along with anyone that pretends to.

he calls me his partner, his pretty boy, his doll. he's just abiding by my preferences. non-binary people don't owe you androgyny! I'm as feminine as I want to be, and he loves it. he praises me so well, treats me so good when i'm dressed up pretty for him. he loves how submissive I am, and he loves my pussy.

one day we're talking, and the subject drifts to having a family of our own.

i tell him how deeply I wish to carry my own. to grow and bring life into the world. he's thrilled, and he thinks I'd look perfect pregnant. as the child's parent, of course.

he doesn't want to wait.

i protest. I could never manage to disguise my swollen breasts as a flat chest, and my goals for top surgery in the future would be wrecked. but he consoles me, tells me that my own breast milk would be best for the baby. he knows i'll be such a good parent. so strong and willing, i only want the best for my baby. he only wants what's best for me and the baby.

i'm nervous, but so excited. he almost can't contain himself. I went off of testosterone, my menses returned, and, within the year, we get confirmation that i'm pregnant.

we both suspected it by then. my senses had become so sensitive, and my breasts even more so. he's quick to help me soothe them: eager to hold, massage, and suck on my swelling breasts. by the time i'm showing, he can't stop his eyes or hands from exploring my new, soft curves. holding onto my widened hips, squeezing my ass, staring at my full, round breasts while I ride him.

i've deluded myself into believing that this is queer sex. that this man is attracted to me for being anything but a woman.

he knows better. he sees me just as I am -- a woman: with a body ready and willing to let me know.

#fakeboy #ftm detrans kink #ftm girl #detransition kink #misgender kink #ftm misgendering #misgender me #ftmgirl #detrans ftm #detrans kink #forced detrans #forced detransition #misgenderingkink #ftmtf girl #ftmtf breeding #ftmtf kink #ftmtf nsft #junepost

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sungnxxn · 2 days ago

Text

Mięso | Meat |

[sad!parksunghoon x fem!character]

Genre: Angst

Warnings: smoking, emotional detachment, profanities, mention of having a family, Sunghoon needs a hug AND therapy, self desctructive jokes, mention of diagnosis

Word Count: 1,7k (1722)

Actually wrote this based on the song 'Mięso' by Taco Hemingway, yet it does not necessarily fit but the vibe of the instrumental surely does sooo give it a listen if you want

!!! DO NOT REPOST NOR TRANSLATE WITHOUT PERMISSION !!!

It is not like he planned on going into that cafe. He had not. He just passed by and his feet led him there automatically. He really did not plan that. Within a minute he found himself sitting at the table that was near the big window. If you were a passerby you could see the whole cafe from the outside if you decided to take a look through that window. 'Cozy setting' he thought to himself. The single lightbulb casting a small light right onto his table. In the whole cafe there were like twenty more of them though.

And it hit him. 'Why am I even here?' furrowing his brows he took his keys and a pack of cigarettes out. Placing them onto the table he could not mind of letting a frustrated sigh and leaning into the chair while confusingly scanning the whole room he found himself in. Seeing all the people - weirdly happy people - chatting, smiling, gesturing with their hands, as if they were having any kind of oral exam and the teacher asked them suddenly a tricky question, made him oddly uncomfortable. Not to an extent where he could not hold it anymore. Just a normal kind, you could suppose at least.

Rolling his eyes he looked out of the window wondering how could somebody be still smiling when the weather could be compared to aboslutely dog shit. It has been cloudy and rainy all week and today seemed like the worst day. Suddenly single rain droplets appeared on the window. 'Just great.' Taking a cigarette and a lighter out of the box, Sunghoon sighed once again. He promised he would quit. Seemed like not today at least. Positioning the cause of his long term addiction between his lips, he took a look around the room once again. Pacing his eyes among the people, he made eye contact with a child. Literal child. Just a child. Somebodys pecious and favourite human being.

The youngster smiled at him, yet he could not care less and roll his eyes away. 'Don't look at me like that.' She used to joke about having a kid with his eyes. His hair and his last name. ''One hell of disaster would that be.'', he told her back then. He would never want to see another version of himself in this world.

Finally lighting the cigarette and taking a drag, he could not help but note that the taste changed. Oddly nothing. No satisfaction. No relief. No comfort. No nothing. Just a cigarette with weird light mint taste.

Fidgeting with the lighter in his left hand, his eyes paced around the room once again. He made eye contact with the child. Again. 'What's his problem?', annoyed that somebody was watching him, Sunghoon tore the eye contact once again. 'Obnoxious little shit.'

Could have been his obnoxious little shit. Yet he was not build for that life - nor was she. Not then, not now, not even in the future.

Licking his lips, he shook off the ashes out of the cigarette. Darting his eyes to the world outside of the cafe. He saw her. Blinking calmly he looked out again. It was her. Her. Her. Her. Her. Her.

Suddenly his head started to hurt and his stomach had an unsettling feeling at the bottom. Yet the time did not stop, nor did the world. Spinning just like before. Spinning just like his head one and half years ago. Just like that time when she told him she wants to leave. She needed to leave. Needed to leave to pursuit the love she deserved, not the one she was getting from him at that time.

She was laughing even though she was soaked in the rain from head to toe. Laughing with somebody else. Somebody that actually made her laugh. Somebody that she did not have to fake her laugh around. Somebody that seemed to make her better. They did. Somebody that is just the right amount of love, respect, understanding, happiness and the right amount of sad for her. She could not handle Sunghoon. Even when she tried, he was too emotionally draining. If he ever showed his emotions in the first place.

He knew that something was wrong with him back then as well that something is wrong with him now, yet he does not see the sense of fixing it. It will fix itself with time. It surely will. It has to.

Just within a moment seeing her made him feel empty. Nothing. He was not jealous. Heck, of what? Of finding somebody that treated her how she should have been treated? It wasn’t jealousy that coiled in his chest, but something colder — acknowledgment and pure understanding, happiness even. She deserves this. Hell, maybe he did too, in some other timeline where he hadn’t turned his back on her dreams of something bigger, brighter, warmer. And maybe if he hadn't turned his back on his own dreams and health too.

'Great to see her genuinely smile. Suits her.' he thought. He started to shake his head. She is over him. He is over her. They are over. And so are her dreams that included Sunghoon. Her dreams probably contain the person standing just right beside her. The person she's smiling to. The person she really loves.

Sunghoon could never give her what she wanted. Not in this timeline and not in any other. He was just too blind to see, too numb to feel and too hopeless to live. He does not know any of it now either, he is just existing. Yeah, existing is the right word.

The right amount of vowels and consonants. E X S I S T I N G. What a lovely word. If you are existing you are not obliged to commit to anything. Family relations, friends, love, life. You just don't care… about anything in particular.

Sunghoon did not care if he had food in the fridge. He did not care if he smoked or not, or if he even had anything to smoke at all. He did not care if tomorrow he will be kicked out of his apartment, if he even has somewhere to live.

He kinda wished he was in his grave already. Obviously he would not say that out loud - except for those unfunny jokes that whenever the topic were ropes or something similar, he would just say ''Yea, perfect noose for a head.'' Or if the topic would be high buildings, it was natural for him to say that he would just love to try to fly. Just for those goddamn science reasons. Right??

The truth is, he does not know why he suddenly started to feel or think like that. He turned 14 and poof, no reason to live available. It is safe to say that him not talking about any of his very concerning thoughts did not help for his character development.

But it is safe to say that he tried to change or fix whatever was wrong with him when she entered his life. He went to therapy, secretly but he did. Maybe that was one of the reasons for their break up, when she would accuse him of cheating when he did not tell her where he was going for one hour every three days. He did not want to tell her anything that he himself did not know. Or maybe he was just ashamed. Of not being normal. Of not being perfect. Of not being the right amount of love, respect, understanding, happiness and sadness.

Or maybe the real reason for their breakup was his later shortly diagnosed emotional detachment. Towards her, his family, friends, coworkers. He was cold. No empathy. He kept all his sadness and anger inside. He kept his opinions inside. He was very objective. Even when he should take sides. The side of his partner. He should have been emotionally available for her when she needed it. He wanted but he did not know how to be vulnerable. Well,, we will never know. (?)

He learned that showing your emotions was showing weakness. He certainly did not want to be seen as weak. He loved her even when he did not feel anything in his chest. The only emotion that he felt physically was fear. And that is how he thought every emotion should feel like. Physically. He did not have any physical pain when he was supposed to feel adoration for her. Back then he convinced himself that he was feeling something. He was hoping it would come with time. It had to come with time.

The only thing that came was fear. Fear of not being able to love her, fear of not being able to feel anything. Anxiety.

Shortly after their breakup, Sunghoon decided that his therapy was going nowhere and it did not help him. He checked out. Told his goodbyes to his therapist that saw that idea as bad. Right before he was about to exit the counselling room, his back then therapist told him his concerns. How he was near the diagnosis of emotional detachment, depression and self destruction. Sunghoon called them money-greedy afterwards and never came back.

He obviously thought of that 'near' diagnosis, and decided to only accept the first one. 'Pure bullshit of a dignosis, I'm not depressed nor self destructive, what the hell.' A lovely mindset of his admitting to only one.

He could not pinpoint when exactly he got startled by a waitress telling him that smoking in a cafe was not allowed. Apparently he stared out of the window for solid 3 minutes causing his cigarette to nearly burn out. And stating the obvious, the smoke and smell alarmed a waitress.

He blinked at the woman working in the cafe and out of the window once again. He did not see her anymore. She vanished into the crowd of people running away from the rain. Then again, he looked at his cigarette or more like ashes piled in a stick, if ever, shaking them off into the ashtray and immediatly putting out the rest of the remaining cigarette.

Suddenly Sunghoon stood on his feet while startling the waitress, hiding his box of cigarettes and keys into his pockets. He left the cafe without a word.

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