#and just run water over my head at the end so people would think I'd showered and washed my hair

[cookinguptales]

.........lmao

so I was remembering the way I had to start wearing a training bra when I was like. seven or eight. and I hated wearing it so much that I would like hide it at the bottom of my drawer and try to sneak out of the house without it. (I was not allowed to go out without it, my parents were always on me about that.)

and I'd always conceptualized that as me just not liking my body being talked about the way it was now being talked about but sitting here in bed at age 33 I finally was like

wait there are times that I have to be really careful about wearing bras (or really anything that puts any pressure at all on my ribcage, including just well-fitting shirts) because that can cause rib subluxations. also, I regularly dislocate my shoulder while putting on bras.

and now I've got my head in my hands over here, because I swear, part of having chronic illnesses is just constantly recontextualizing your weird childhood behavior!!!

like I used to get in trouble a lot as a kid for sitting scrunched up at the dinner table (like crosslegged or knees pulled up to my chest) and when I went to Mayo to get diagnosed at 17 the doc was like "does she sit all curled up a lot?" and my mother was like "???? yes?????" and it turned out that was a behavior they'd noticed in a lot of kids with POTS because we had such weird blood flow problems.

(and yes, my mom then felt bad for yelling at me for it for all those years. lmao)

[zweiginator]

smoking weed and then stoned sex with art plssssssss

been thinking about this for days because i feel like you know art in college, assume that since hes a student athlete and very serious about his sport that he doesn't really partake in drugs and/or alcohol. but you're surprised to learn that he smokes pretty frequently.

leaving a party with him because he's over it and doesn't want to be around a bunch of drunk people. he takes you back to his dorm and you're surprised to see him open up his window and sit on the shitty radiator by the window and offer you a hit of his joint.

you're not used to this, you haven't smoked very often--but you want to stay with him. want to seem cool. even though art would always think you're cool.

so you take a drag. art realizes you aren't used to smoking when you start to cough up a lung. he thinks it's cute. rubs your back as he gives you his water bottle to sip from.

"you didn't have to smoke. i just wanted to offer." he wipes a tear from your cheek.

the reality is that the enormity of your crush on art would lead you to the ends of the earth. but you fear he doesn't feel the same. you're nothing like him--you don't play tennis, you dont think youre extraordinary like those girls on the team with him. but art thinks youre perfect. and twenty minutes later, the effects of the weed start to kick in. you're giggly and touchy and art's eyes look bloodshot but his smile is so easygoing and god he smells so good.

art asks why you don't hang out that much.

"i don't know." you say lowly. "i'd hang out with you everyday if it were up to me."

art leans in closer, wipes the potato chip crumbs from his hands. he's still chewing which makes you giggle. but he agrees with you. "me too. seems like it is up to us. what's stopping us?"

"i dunno. fear of rejection?" you say.

"only the stupidest man in the world would reject you." he rests on his palms, leaning forward. you stand up and sit on his bed, motioning for him to come over. he does, immediately.

"can you help me?" you ask. it's stupid but you're so bad at making the first move. "my mouth is dry."

art smiles, running his thumb over your bottom lip. "is it?" he leans in and kisses you. first it's slow and loving and meaningful. and it doesn't become less meaningful, of course, but he starts to move faster, cradling your head in his hand and leaning into you, pushing his tongue into your mouth and licking yours. moaning as his spit intermingles with yours. he tastes like tobacco and marijuana, like peppermint gum and art donaldson.

he lays you down on the bed, rutting his clothed cock into your cunt, only covered by your thin panties which are exposed from your skirt riding up.

"oh my god, you're fucking perfect." he groans. he is embarrassed by how much he gets off on just grinding against your little pussy, watching how your mouth falls open when the friction stimulates your swollen clit.

"i wanna fuck you." he whispers against your mouth. you've barely heard art cuss. this sounds vulgar coming from him.

"then do it."

he pulls your legs over his shoulders. the stretch hurts but it feels so good to know he'll be fucking into you soon enough. his cock is hard and leaking and there's a wet spot on his boxers. he shushes you as he pushes the head of his cock against your entrance, his thumb rubbing your clit.

"i think my roommate's gonna be back soon."

"then you're gonna have to fuck me hard, aren't you?"

art's cock rests heavy against his stomach. "gonna be a slut for me? lay on your stomach then. i'll fuck you hard."

you obey him and look back over your shoulder as he props your hips up. covers your mouth and pushes in inch by inch by inch.

"pussy's so fucking tight." he gasps as he bottoms out. he leans in and moans against your lips to muffle your whines as he fucks you deep, his balls slapping against your ass. "my mouth is dry now too--get it wet for me?"

you kiss him, spit in his mouth, claw at the hair at the nape of his neck, wet with sweat.

"fuck yourself back on my dick." he nods. it's a whole different side of the sweet boy who shares homework answers for you and saves you half of his clementines for study breaks.

you arch your back and move your ass in tandem with his thrusts, but its not fast enough for him. his fingers dig into the fat of your ass as he slams into you. your legs shake for him. all you can muster is please, please, please--but you don't even know what you're asking for.

art hears his roommate coming down the hall. the thrill of being caught makes his cock twitch, and mixed with your tight little cunt choking his dick--he cums. you muffle your moans into his pillowcase; it's covered in your drool and faint lip gloss marks.

you and art situate yourself before his roommate opens the door.

"did you guys smoke in here?" he asks.

art is shirtless, sitting on the edge of the bed. you're under the covers, pretending to sleep. art's chest is covered in cherry lip gloss, his hair matted with sweat.

"yeah, sorry man, we tried to aim out the window."

[aihoshiino]

chapter 166 thoughts

As of chapter 166, Oshi no Ko has finished a roughly four-and-a-half year run started back in 2020. While there's some speculation about an epilogue or some extra content in volume 16 when it drops, this is where the main story ends. And you know what that means!!!

OSHI NO KO HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED WITHOUT ADDRESSING OR ACKNOWLEDGING THE FACT THAT RUBY KISSED HER BROTHER IN CHAPTER 143

please understand that this is FUCKING BOGUS

I'll probably do a longer post on this subject specifically, but my main critique of 143 when the chapter dropped was that while I liked the individual beats in it and I was really glad to see Akasaka finally addressing this tension bubbling underneath Aqua and Ruby's relationship, the immediate swerve away from showing us the aftermath of that kiss felt to me like an admission that the story was going to needlessly draw this out even more. Now that the story has ended and we can see that moment had literally no impact on the plot or even the character dynamics, I'd like to revise that statement - it feels like an admission of compromise. It feels like crumbs thrown to AquRuby fans to tempt them to keep reading and to stir up the waters of the ship wars, so people would keep reading and stay invested in the manga right to the very end. But most of all, it feels deeply disrespectful to both Aqua and Ruby as characters. Rather than exploring their feelings and giving both of them interiority and complexity in relation to incest or even just fucking acknowledging that the kiss had happened and letting their dynamic evolve, the series just memory holes the entire event and asks that you do too. Rather than letting Ruby have any development whatsoever as pertains to that relationship or, god forbid, let a female character move on romantically from the male lead, the series ends with her feelings so up in the air that I literally could not tell you what she thinks of Aqua by the time he dies.

ANYWAY… FINAL CHAPTER. BREATHES OUT VERY HARD.

I really can't believe it's taken us until the final chapter to actually deal with Ruby's grief over Aqua lol. We got a snippet of it last chapter but it was so brief that it really just felt like a tease. I also just think it's kind of bizarre that we're spending this little time on Ruby having feelings about Aqua's death to the extent that I have no idea how or when she found out about it.

It's also kind of hard to feel particularly strongly about Ruby's grief when the chapter doesn't really bother to explore it all that much. It's just a montage of Ruby quite literally Screaming, Crying and Throwing Up while Akane dispassionately narrates it all. The art also doesn't really help in terms of connecting with the emotions at play - I usually really like Mengo's expression work and the way she depicts extreme emotions but this all just felt like of… I don't know how else to put it. Goofy??? Is that an insane thing to say about Ruby grieving her brother???

Idk, something about both the panelling and just the extreme on-the-noseness of Ruby, again, literally Screaming, Crying Throwing Up while she's wearing a Burning cosplay Just In Case You, The Audience, Didn't Get It only for her to abruptly be done crying with no exploration or insight as to what's going on in her head that allows her to move forward.

Honestly, this is kind of the issue with everyone in the cast. The resolution is just sort of "Aqua died and we were sad about it but then we stopped being sad". I know what the story is trying to go for here - it's trying to express that even when you're in pain, life goes on and so you have to find a way to go on with it. But the result is that we spend all this time oogling at their pain without spending equivalent or even meaningful time on their recovery process.

It feels both excessive and undercooked at the same time and I'm left with the same icky, voyeuristic feeling I got from Aqua's funeral last chapter. This should be the point in the story at which we empathize with Ruby the most, but she remains a frustratingly distant figure right to the final pages. Part of this is an unfortunate consequence of Akane's narration directing these final chapters meaning that we're hearing about Ruby from an outsider's perspective and thus don't really see what's going on in her head… but if I can be frank, this has been an issue of Aka's with Ruby in particular basically nonstop since chapter 123.

As others & myself have noted, despite the absolutely catastrophic downward spiral Ruby is in at that point, Aqua revealing himself as Gorou basically flips it all off like a switch. There's some mild lipservice paid to the idea that Ruby is just using her dependency on Gorou to prop herself up and it's pointed out that the issues that contributed to her breakdown haven't actually been resolved - but none of these issues are ever even acknowledged again, let alone resolved. So, functionally, that reveal does fix all Ruby's problems in the space of a single chapter and the result is, again, that we spend multiple chapters gourging on depictions of Ruby's absolute rock bottom only for her to ping back to normal like a lightswitch. As such, the depictions of her pain feel less like explorations of Ruby's interiority and more like voyeuristic oogling at Ruby's misery and trauma and the effect is that the resolution to it all is both unsatisfying and a little gross. The result is that it feels like Akasaka is just indulgently mining the imagery of cute girls suffering because it causes simple thoughts neuron activation but doesn't respect these girls enough as characters to build them back up.

It doesn't help that this is basically the in-universe excuse for Ruby's career further skyrocketing. Instead of Ruby becoming a star on her own merits as the story keeps insisting she was supposed to, she's artificially buoyed by the public's morbid fascination with her tragedy. If I was feeling charitable towards the story right now, I would say this is an avenue of intentional critique but… well, I don't feel super charitable about the story right now lol

I WILL say that the one part of this chapter I did just uncomplicatedly like was the beat of Mem trying to suspend activities (presumably in the wake of her grief for Aqua) only for Kana to basically immediately explode into her room and help her get back on her feet. It's a beat that would've been much more effective if we'd, you know, seen it, but I otherwise enjoyed it and I thought it was sweet.

But. pbbbbtttt. I guess I can't talk around it any longer… let's get into the Dome concert.

To start things off on the immediately worst note possible, Akane describes Ruby performing at the Dome as being 'everyone's dream', including Aqua's. I'm reminded once again of the strange turn the story took in insisting that um, actually, performing at the Dome was totes Ai's dream all along (even though she literally didn't give a shit even a week before she was due to perform there herself) so Ruby performing there is fulfilling that dream for her!!! and I can't help but wonder if this abrupt shift in focus is an attempt to make readers forget what Ai's actual dream was - to see her beloved children grow up happy and healthy. Hell, it wasn't even really Aqua's dream, until the story suddenly had to try and convince us that his entire purpose for existence was to kill himself so Ruby could be an idol for slightly longer than she would've otherwise. The only people whose dreams she's textually fulfilling are Ichigo and Miyako and Ruby herself, but…

Honestly, is this really Ruby's dream anymore?

Who is Hoshino Ruby? What does she want? Why does she want it? These should be the very least of what we can concretely say about not only a protagonist but a character who has become a central figure of the entire story as Ruby has, but with the way Oshi no Ko has warped and distorted her, I find myself increasingly unsure of what the story wants her to be or how I should answer those questions.What does Ruby feel about Aqua? Was she still in love with him? Had she moved on, romantically? Was she still waiting for a response to her confession? Did she finally realize it was probably kind of shitty to respond to her brother going "lowkey wanna kms" by sticking her tongue down his throat? I Guess We'll Never Know.

This extends to whatever the fuck Ruby's relationship with idols and being an idol is. Almost the entirety of Ruby's time in the story has been spent reiterating over and over that Ruby cannot just be an idol who imitates Ai and that to truly shine, she needs to step out of her mom's shadow and shine in her own way. Ruby even literally tells Kana in no uncertain terms in 137 - "I'll be a star in my own way. I won't be like Mama."

While this has always been the text of the story, as I've pointed out before, the actual art with which Ruby's idolhood depicts her basically just as Ai 2.0. It relies so heavily on mining the imagery of Ai's charisma and personality as an idol and using them as the measure of Ruby's success as an idol that Ruby essentially has no visual or conceptual identity of her own as an idol. She's just Ai, But Arbitrarily Better, For Reasons The Narrative Fails To Actually Establish But Hopes That You Just Accept Anyway. This was always kind of annoying, but now that friction seems to have been resolved by… just making her Ai 2.0, But Arbitrarily Better (etc, etc) in the text as well. The fact that we're given no further insight as to Ruby's feelings and continue to just have Akane Explain Ruby's Character Arc to the camera also doesn't help.

All this combines to make the Dome concert and the final few pages feel exceptionally cold in a way I really don't think was intended by Akasaka. Yes, that splash page was nice and flashy but… I just felt nothing. I have no idea if or why Ruby cares about this. And even though the Dome concert has been hyped up through the entire story as the peak of Ruby's achievements as an idol, I feel no sense of accomplishment in her finally being there - not just because her journey to it was basically sneezed at us across two panels, but because it just feels hollow as a victory lap for Ruby. Again, she feels so distant and abstracted as a character that I can't bring myself to feel very strongly about her good or bad.

I think the perfect encapsulation of this are the final four pages of the story. Ruby's words here are very clearly intended to be a callback to Ai's words to Gorou in chapter one but as @all-of-her-light pointed out in our initial discussions of the chapter, Ruby very much does not have an equivalent to Ai's conclusion that she nevertheless wants and values the opportunity to find personal happiness and fulfillment outside of being an idol. Are we supposed to believe that simply being an idol is all that Ruby needs to achieve a similar degree of happiness and fulfillment? Is there no more to her than that?

I've seen a lot of people interpret this ending as exceptionally bleak and, as usual, gleefully predicting Ruby's immanent suicide because her beloved oniichansensei isn't around but this is indulging in, if you'll allow me to be frank, some pretty transparently ship-motivated flanderization. Despite what certain sections of the fandom would like to believe, Aqua and Ruby's lives, past and current, have never revolved around each other to the exclusion of every other relationship in their life. Ruby has a massive support network of people who love and care for her and actively want her to get back on her feet. I can one hundred percent believe that she does not need Aqua in her life to be happy and content.

The issue is that we don't see enough of Ruby to understand that ourselves. Again, she has become such a distant figure with so little insight into what she's thinking and why that this ending is basically a Rorschach test in which you can interpret basically whatever the hell you want or assume because we have so little canon basis to support or debunk our assumptions.

and yes. don't think i didn't see them. it IS both grimly hilarious and weirdly tonally appropriate for this ending that ruby has a bunch of oshi goods of ai and aqua including their fucking autographs set up to say goodbye to every day.

AND…… WE'RE DONE!!! THAT'S OSHI NO KO, BABY!!!! well, technically, there's going to be a 20 page extra chapter in volume 16 but I don't see it being big or substantive enough to meaningfully change my feelings about the ending so… I guess we're leaving it here. Damn. Feels crazy to be done with it.

I'll probably do a bigger post down the line about my thoughts on the ending as a whole but in terms of just How This Chapter Made Me feel, I guess the word is just… meh! It's definitely not an ending I like and I think the execution is sloppy and rushed but I also just don't really have the energy to feel angry about it. Maybe that's sad in its own way but tbh… I still really love Oshi no Ko! I still find it engaging and I find the characters I enjoy rewarding to talk about. I like the artistry of the anime adaptation. I don't blame anybody else for being so turned off by this ending that they're done with the series but for me, I like what I like about OnK too much that this ending could retroactively ruin it for me. Whatever else happens with the OnK franchise, whatever directions the anime and live-action take, this will always be the series that gave me Ai and the Hoshino family and. look at me. look at what she's done to my brain. could I really ask for anything more than that?

That being said, I'm definitely not done with discussing the series! I have fics to write (including a VERY exciting large scale project lined up with some friends), my Ai analysis post to finish and I also want to do a re-read of the series and finish my anime rewatch. I'll be here to discuss Oshi no Ko as long as I have things to say about it and as long as you guys will have me! Despite how the series ended, I've had a genuinely wonderful experience in the fandom and I really don't want to let go of the little community we've built together just because the series is done. I'm Ai's fan for all eternity!!!

[hearts4skywalker]

why don't you bring your girlfriend? // robby keene

materlist!!

summary: robby keene had always been cobra kai's top fighter. when kyler decides to throw a party, kenny and the others all bombard robby on why he doesn't bring his girlfriend to the party.

pairings: you and robby!!

warnings: pet names (baby), you're literally such cutie, fem prns, probably cringe, takes place end season 3 (except it doesn't really make timeline sense but for the sake of the one-shot bear with me), hawk and devon being cobra kai, it didn't not come out the way i wanted to so i might make another robby one-shot idk 🤷‍♀️

w/c: 1100

robby had been punching the dummy for what felt like hours. his knuckles hurt and had blisters all over them. nothing cobra kai's top fighter couldn't deal with, however. next to the brunette was tory. she had just finished nis sparing with kyler when she sat down to take a drink.

seeing everyone grabbing water, robby followed. he twisted the cap off of a plastic water bottle, flicking it into a corner to never be found again. robby wasn't one to chat during practice. he found it disrupting and the last thing he would want to do is upset silver or kreese. truth be told, the boy was terrified of his senseis.

"party at mine tonight. be there by 7 or i'll open the kegs without you guys." robby didn't have to look up from staring at his bloody knuckles to know who's voice it was. kyler's voice annoyed robby to no end. robby listened to the people who said they'd be there. tory spoke up. "keene, you going?"

robby shook his head. "can't make it." kyler's face went from being full of pride to slightly offended. "why not? you too good for your friends now?" kyler rolled his eyes. robby cocked an eyebrow, standing up and walking over to the group. "sorry man i told my girlfriend i'd come over after practice." tory looked surprised.

kenny's eyes widened. "wait, robby, you have a girlfriend? since when?" this was news to everyone. even though robby and y/n had been dating since before he was on the run last year, the two never told anyone. partly because they were both very private people and partly because y/n was scared of samantha larusso. "uh about a year and a half now." robby looked around the room, realizing his mistake.

"why don't you bring your girlfriend?" tory interrogated. it was a pretty solid idea. robby just didn't know if y/n was all that of a party person. it couldn't hurt to ask he supposed. "i'll ask her. but no promises we'll show." and with that, robby left to head over to his girlfriends.

robby softly knocked on y/n's front door, knowing she was home alone and he didn't want to scare her. y/n quickly opened the door. her face lit up when she saw that it was robby. she threw her arms around his neck, giving him the biggest hug she could.

"hey, baby, i have a huge question to ask." robby started. the two had been laying in y/n's bed for quite some time now. it was around 6, an hour before the party started. y/n hummed in response. robby sat up, subconsciously scooting y/n up so she was still laying on his legs. robby took a deep breath. "kylershavingapartytonightandimayhaveaccidentallyletitslipthatwe'vebeendatingforayearandnowtheywantmetobringyousoyoucanmeetthem." (kylers having a party tonight and i kinda let it slip that we've been dating for a year and now they want me to bring you so you can meet them)

y/n was taken back by how quickly he attempted to get that out. "sure, seems fun." y/n patted robby's leg reassuringly. "wait really?" robby pushed his hair back, a sign of relief escaping his legs. "really. it's been a year and i think it's time for me to meet them." y/n sat up, shrugging. "you're actually the best." robby smiled, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

an hour later the two had arrived at kyler's house, already hearing the music blasting from a few houses down. there weren't many people there, just the cobras. tory described it as a "inner circle only" kind of thing. robby opened y/n's car door, offering his hand for her to grab. of course she couldn't pass on that offer. she took robby's hand. robby slammed the door shut with his free hand.

the two didn't know whether to knock or to just walk in. judging by how loud the music was, the two just walked in. the chatter stopped when the couple came into sight. "holy shit." kenny whispered to kyler, pointing at robby. "yo, keene, your girl was real?" kyler raised an eyebrow. y/n flipped him off. "this is y/n. y/n these guys are kyler, kenny, hawk, tory, devon, and....stingray?" robby pointed at each person, pausing at stingray.

y/n nodded towards everyone. her and robby went to go sit on the couch. "so, y/n, how did you and robby meet?" tory questioned, trying to help y/n ease into the group. (we love a polite queen) "oh.. uhh.. i think the first time we met he was working at larusso's car shop and i was picking up my car. right?" y/n held robby's hand a little tighter. she looked up at him for confirmation.

"pretty sure that's what happened." robby nodded. tory smiled at y/n. "c'mon, y/n. me, you, and devon can just talk while they do... whatever the fuck they're doing." tory had a weird tone in her voice when she said the last part. kyler had been trying to get stingray to chug a beer without spilling drop. "be back, baby." y/n kissed robby's cheek before taking tory's hand and running outside with her and devon.

devon took a breath of fresh air. "those people piss me off so much." devon laughed. tory nodded with her. the three girls sat in the grass, staring up at the stars. "you look good with robby. he's been a lot happier." tory reassured y/n. not like she needed the reassurance, but it was still nice to hear.

the girls talked about themselves, as well as cobra kai as a whole, for a good hour and a half before people started leaving the party. robby came outside, car keys in hand. "you ready?" he asked. y/n nodded, brushing the grass off her knees. she held her hands out for tory and devon to grab. she pulled them up within seconds. "it was so nice meeting you guys." y/n smiled at the two. the girls smiled back at her.

robby opened the car door for y/n, then closing it when she was fully in the car. he got into the driver's side, starting the car. "so, how'd you like them?" robby reached a hand over the gear stick to hold her hand. he rubbed his fingers over he knuckles. "it was good. they're sweet girls. especially tory." robby snickered.

y/n looker over at him confused. "it's nothing, baby. just never heard the words 'tory' and 'nice' in the same sentence."

[shoezuki]

Sampo has taken him to dozens of planets at this point, massive ships the size of celestial bodies and burnt out stars that have turned lush with discolored plant life over billions of years. Massive, writhing metropolitans and quaint, warm planets with people who gawked at their appearance. He's seen massive astral leviathans' open maws that span galaxies and ingest stars, phantom ships made of wood and bone slice through shimmering fogs. Planets composed of intertwined living beings, made of twisting and layered plant matter, places where the stars speak low sharp words and dance over his closed eyelids and make him dizzy.

But he hasn't take Gepard to his home planet.

Gepard assumed it was inevitable; he had known a while before Sampo had taken him off Jarilo-IV that Sampo wasn't from Belobog. He'd suspected it but been unsure long before Sampo mended him back to health. It was a partially spoken truth now, while Sampo divulged more information about every aspect of the universe to him.

"When are we going to your home planet?" Gepard had asked, openly, one night they spent on a waterlogged planet with specks of land, watching as the ocean jumped up and strange aquatic creatures swam through thick air.

Sampo had scoffed, Gepard watching him stand and look out over the horizon with his arms crossed. "My home planet? Please, no need to go to that lump of rock! Trust me, it's the worst planet out here. I've walked on gas giants and burning sun's that were better than that place."

"You came from it," Gepard said softly, maybe thinking Sampo would understand why there's something clinging on the inner walls of his heart that make him want to see where Sampo came from so bad. "It can't be that horrible then, right?"

Sampo doesn't speak, but he shakes his head. "Do you wanna go out? Do you think we could swim in the water... sky... thing?" He grins and Gepard let's him change the topic, content to follow Sampo.

He doesn't talk about his planet without Gepard pushing him. He doesn't talk much of anything about where he came from, how he grew up, why he apparently spent years jumping across planets long before he ended up in Belobog. Gepard asks, sometimes, when he feels maybe he can coax a response from Sampo. But he always deflects, gives vague or contradictory answers, or only responds with tame non-answers.

Sampo acts as usual; he talks constantly, about little things or memories or stuff he wants to show Gepard. When he's not talking, he's humming, tapping his fingers against the glass control panels of the ship, kicking his foot absentmindedly against his chair with a constant metallic thunkthunkthunkthunk. He always grins wide when he looks at Gepard, sometimes grabbing Gepard by his face and pressing kisses against every inch of skin so rapidly it's almost overwhelming.

Sampo talks to Gepard when he thinks he's asleep. Gepard, every time, pretends not to listen.

"I don't want to take you back."

Their bed is small, more like a cot made for one person. Gepard had offered it to Sampo the first time they'd investigated their stolen ship but Sampo had just laughed and pulled Gepard to lay with him. Every night Sampo holds Gepard, arms locked around him and keeping his head pressed to Sampo's chest, or his own body weight draped over Gepard like a weighted blanket.

Right now, he hooks his chin over Gepard's shoulder, running fingers through his blonde hair, one hand over his side. Sampo's hand ghosts over his ribs, burning through Gepard's shirt, directly over the rough, newly healed scar.

He's quiet, so painfully quiet, and gentle, with his touch faint and entirely for Sampo's own gain. Gepard nearly drifted off, but now he keeps his eyes closed, his breathing soft, hoping Sampo doesn't feel how his heart jumps when Sampo brushes a finger over the shell of his ear.

"I don't want to take you back," he repeats softly, his words dark and low with the confession, "I'd keep you in this... stupid little ship, in the stars with me forever. If I could. If you wanted. Only if you wanted."

Gepard does want it: to keep waking up to nothing but stars and Sampo's sleeping face or exhausted grin; to listen to Sampo drawl on about all the stars and planets and strange celestial lifeforms they pass with knowledge that feels bigger than Sampo himself; to be dragged from planet to planet, Sampo's hand searing new marks into his own palm and finger prints, his excitement electric and tangible.

Gepard does, deep down, want it. He wants Sampo to himself, too. To give himself entirely to Sampo. But a part of him will always be in Belebog. They both know it.

Sampo is quiet, the next morning. More than quiet--he's subdued, faraway, as if locked inside himself. Even when Sampo isn't speaking he's loud, his presence always drawing and begging for Gepard's attention. Now he seems small, curled in on himself in the piloting seat.

"Sampo?" It feels rude, wrong to break the silence with his own voice, but Gepard does. "Are you okay?" Sampo turns his head, barely, to look at Gepard where he stands against the wall. He shoots him just a smile, but says nothing. It makes more concern coil and simmer deep in his gut.

Gepard has no clue where they are now, in the vast impossibility of space. The universe is foreign to him, but Sampo treats it like an old friend, like he knows it intimately. Gepard has let Sampo take the reigns, guide them to wherever he wants to go. It had stressed him out, at first, the lack of knowing, the unfamiliarity of new worlds. But now more than ever, he's content just being with Sampo. He'd go with him anywhere.

Where they are now, though, feels different. The outside space is dark, swirling celestial bodies of black and grey and bloody reds and browns the colour of bruises. The terrain is made up of fragments of comets, rocks, shattered formations and debris. The debris varies from collections of dust to meteors larger than their ship, jagged and broken apart like Qlipoth had shattered them open with his hammer. Gepard sees the metallic glint of wrecked ships, metal shards embedded in rock and flayed among it all.

He hates this place. Gepard doesn't know if it's him, or if it's some sort of cosmic effect, but there's a heaviness pressing on him. Maybe it's something real, tangible, or maybe it's the way Sampo navigates the wreckages and meteors with a stiff ease in his shoulders.

Gepard walks up to him, quiet behind him. He wants to touch Sampo, feel the heat of him against his palms, but for some reason he feels like he can't. Instead he places his hands on the back of Sampo's seat, his fingers barely brushing against Sampo's back.

"Sampo, are you okay? If... if something is the matter, you can tell me--"

"What d'ya think?"

Gepard blinks, finding himself shocked by the weight of Sampo's gaze suddenly on him. His eyes always have a dull quality to them, the shine underneath his pupils gone save for when Gepard whispers against his skin or presses his lips across his face. Now, though, his eyes are dark, all consuming. They absorb the light and snuff it out, making the small ship feel cold. "I... what?"

"This place," Sampo hums, turning back to focus on navigating. His smile is a practised, stiff line. "It's lovely, isn't it? Or do you find it creepy? Messy? I mean, it's a lot of destruction. There's a good reason no one but ol' Sampo comes around here anymore."

Gepard frowns, feeling like Sampo's having a conversation he's not a part of. "What do you mean? What is this place?"

"There used to be a planet," he pauses, making a noise in the back of his throat, "actually, a few planets. Small ones. They'd been under the IPC's control for a looonnng time. Until they abandoned 'em after clearing all the minerals out and leaving the planets hollow."

His mouth is dry, his fingers digging into the back of Sampo's seat harshly. Sampo's voice is light, conversational, like he's explaining one of the allegedly 'boring and lame' planets they'd passed before. "The planets were basically just rocks, before the IPC made them into mining projects and shipped a bunch of people to work away there. They left the workers when the mines dried up.

"Rivet Town looks almost exactly like the mining planets did, back then." He clicks his tongue, shaking his head slightly. "The people who'd scrounged up enough money took off, taking everything they could with them. Mine supervisors left behind their working families and their kids and went back with the IPC while the planets starved slowly."

The ship slows, between asteroids and at the edge of a vast, whirling expanse of debris. It swirls around out and around a burning, black body of... of something, within the center of a shattered planet light years away from them. Gepard stares, and the sight of it burns into his eyes.

"D'you know how Masked Fools recruit people?" Sampo says it with a giggle, not waiting for a response. "Sometimes they just whisk kids away from happy families before they can remember anything. Sometimes people go to the taverns themselves and try and choke down the drinks, but that's not often. Most often, though, the Fools find hopeless, little planets and whisk away orphans seconds before... boom! Planet gone! You never forget the popping noise a collapsing, imploding planet makes."

He cackles, laughter loud and echoing off the metal walls. Gepard's hands are shaking, staring out into the ruined abyss, the remnants of planets and lives and a past Gepard can never, ever see or understand. His eyes burn and his heart aches.

Gepard lunges forward, pressing himself harshly against the chair as he wraps his arms around Sampo. He circles his chest and presses his face into the curve of his neck, holding him so tightly as if Gepard is trying to squeeze Sampo into his very being. Sampo's laughter becomes broken, wet and frantic when Gepard holds him tightly. He shakes under Gepard's tight grip, the shine of tears of Sampo's face as he continues to stare into ruined space. Sampo bites his lip, hard, to stifle himself.

"Come home," Gepard exhales, pressing his words into Sampo's skin, "come home with me. After-- after all this. I don't care how long we're out here or where else we go but please. Please come home with me. I'll copy the key to my apartment. I have enough room in my closet for you. We can--I can buy you wigs and dresses and whatever the fuck you want. Anything."

"Why?" It's a whisper, barely a question. Sampo lifts his hand and grasps the forearm pressed over his chest. "Why?"

"Because Natasha probably still needs your help, and Seele will gut me if you don't return, and Hook without a doubt misses you, and Serval pretends she hates you but still asks me how you are when you text me, and I'm in love with you." He sucks in a breath; saying it always makes him feel airy, lightheaded. "I'm in love with you, and I want you there. Why else?"

There's silence for some moments too long, Sampo still shaky in Gepard's grip. He starts to worry that he's suffocating, that it's too much, but when he tries to pull away Sampo grabs his arms and holds them there, stopping him from moving.

"... but my criminal record's gone," Sampo whines, the faintest bit of humour in his voice. He tilts his head back, eyes still red rimmed when he looks up at Gepard with a searching smile. Gepard, having spent so long with him at this point, knows what he's really saying.

"I'm sure you'll record will be as long as it was before in no time." Gepard grumbles, wrinkling his nose and letting his conflicted feelings into his tone. But he lets it drop away with a sigh, shaking his head and feeling fond. "... as long as you try not to give my Guards too much grief, Koski."

Sampo doesn't say anything, but when he smiles and laughs, when he pokes into Gepard's cheek and says that the Silvermane Captain better not go soft on him, his eyes are shining.

[oh-look-at-her]

"Use that on me."

Pairing: billy the kid x reader

Warnings: profanity, PinV, unprotected sex (don't be stupid, just babyproof it), dom! And sub! Dynamics, gun play, creampie, degradation, mocking, name calling(i think), small oral fixation if you squint, reader is female

tell me if i missed anything!

Description: despite Billy being a cowboy, he's a sweetheart, especially to you. He treats you like you're a porcelain doll and always makes you feel worshipped. You follow him on his unconventional journeys and tonight, you're staying in an abandoned shack in the woods and your mind wanders to unexplored waters.

A/N: Alright, it's finally here! I'm sorry, it took a bit longer to write than I thought it would when I posted the teaser of this story. I originally planned this to go a bit different, but I'm overall pretty happy with how it turned out even if it did take its own course of action a bit. The ending is a bit rocky, I know, I'm also sorry for that. Regardless of all that, I hope you guys like it! I'd love to hear your opinions or points I can improve on! Lastly I want to say; bear with me, English is not my first language, but I think I checked about everything. I appreciate feedback and if I have anything wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me!

"Use that one me." there it was. It spilled out. You had been thinking it for the last week and now it just slipped out. You were sitting up from the floor which you had covered with blankets in an attempt to make it more comfortable. You had been staring at Billy's gun holster for a while. He had been innocently going on about the road ahead. The journey that would start the day after.

"What?" he hadn't noticed how you kept eyeing his gun. He hadn't noticed how your eyes had glazed over with lust, just thinking about what he could do to you if he tried. He most certainly hadn't noticed how it made you restless. Your body tingled and your skin was on fire.

"I want you to be mean to me. I want you to fuck me like you mean it...and I want you to use your gun on me." A rush of adrenaline had taken over your mind. Or maybe it was just arousal? Who knows? You most certainly don't care.

Billy looks concerned. "W-what? Why?" He mumbles.

You look at him reassuringly. "Oh baby, you know you're always so sweet to me and I love that. But... I don't know, I just..." you don't know what else to say, but it looks like he's understood what you meant.

Billy looks at you for another moment, a bit dumbfounded, before getting up from the floor and walking towards the chair over which his gun holster was hanging. He slowly wraps his fingers around the base of his gun and takes it out of the holster. He looks at it intently before looking back at you.

"You want me...to use this one you?" You nod. "Why?"

You ponder that for a moment, thinking back to all the times he's held that gun up to people's heads. The look in his eyes...was mesmerizing. The lowering of his brows, the tilting of his head, the tug of a smirk on his lips.... So, you tell him exactly that.

He chuckles for a moment at your confession, looking down at the weapon in his hands. It’s a low chuckle, one you had never heard come from his lips before, sultry and enchanting. Your mind runs crazy at the sound. He kneels down in front of you, as you're still sitting on the floor and he looks at you for a moment, analyzing your features.

"You sure about this, Darlin'?" He asks in that same goddamned tone of voice. You nod eagerly at his question, your thighs discreetly rubbing together for any type of friction you could get.

He notices the small movement but doesn't say anything as he gets closer to you, until he's right on top of you and you're face to face with him. He looks into your eyes lovingly for a moment before putting his attention towards the gun still in his right hand.

Slowly, he traces your collarbone with the tip of his gun, testing the waters. When you breathe out a sigh of content, his eyes meet yours again and he knows that what he's doing is exactly what you want.

He slowly traces the gun from your shoulder to your collarbone again. From your collarbone to your neck and from your neck to your jaw. All the while, keeping eye contact with you and noticing how you're reacting to it.

You close your eyes, humming as a small content smile graces your lips. Billy watches every movement you make with the utmost interest. It spurs him on as he brings the barrel of the gun to your lips. You open your mouth obediently, something he hadn’t expected but he didn’t awfully mind. He pushes the gun to lie on top of your tongue. You twirl your tongue around it and Billy can’t help but think about what that pretty tongue of yours would feel like on his cock.

He feels the room getting hot and his pants tightening at these thoughts. But, fuck, are you pretty with your mouth open for him. His innocent girl with a gun in her mouth all because she begged for it. He never could’ve imagined this happening, the poor boy. Not in his wildest dreams. He was surprised, maybe even a bit repulsed at first, but seeing you like this for him is something he can most definitely get on board with.

You go on to suckle gently on the gun and it drives Billy absolutely insane. “Fuck, baby, you’re so pretty like this.” He murmurs to you and you smile. He pulls the gun from your mouth and admires the sheen of spit on it. “Absolutely disgusting.” He whispers to himself and your thighs clench together once more at his words because it is disgusting. You are filthy for wanting him to do this to you.

You just don’t care. You want him to do these things and you couldn’t care less about whether it’s bad or not. If anything, it spurs you on. It’s humiliating, but so, so good.

“Take that off, baby.” He gestures to your nightgown. You quickly obey, surprised by his sudden demanding tone of voice. The usual sweet Billy is no longer there and right now, you very much do not mind. You slip the nightgown off your shoulders, exposing your chest and Billy’s eyes catch on the sight before drifting further down as you push the nightgown off of you. You’re bare before him now and his eyes continue to wander. He’d never done that before. He said he always wanted to be respectful and didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

He was right, it did make you uncomfortable, but not in the way he had probably imagined. You grow shy under his gaze, but secretly, you love the way he’s looking at you. Hungry, like a predator admiring its prey and playing with it. But that’s not what makes you uncomfortable, no, the growing heat between your legs is what is making you uncomfortable and Billy had barely even touched you.

God, what would it be like when he finally does touch you? Your cheeks flush pink at the thought. Billy notices, of course he does. “What is it, honey? Don’t tell me you’re gettin’ flustered already. Prettiest girl I’ve ever seen and I can’t even look at her for a bit without ‘er gettin’ shy?” He’s teasing you, mocking almost. You furrow your eyebrows in frustration at his words and he chuckles. He moves to lie down next to you.

“Come here.” He demands, patting his thigh. You obey quickly, scrambling to move on top of him and straddle his lap. You’re naked on top of him and he’s fully dressed. When you’re travelling, he always stays fully dressed at night, just in case someone sees you both. He lets you wear a nightgown as you please, though. Right now, this proves to be a big contrast and it’s setting your mind on fire. You paw at his clothes and a smirk graces his lips at the desperation on your face. He likes it.

He holds up the gun that was still in his hand, tracing it from your belly to your chest. He smoothes it over your hardened nipple, making you shiver at the feel of the cold metal against your unusually warm skin.

“Might I remind you that I am the one with the gun in their hand right now, darlin’?” he props his left hand to rest behind his head as he continues to move the gun over your smooth skin. Your collarbone, your belly, your neck, anywhere he could reach. The suspense builds up and you can feel your stomach doing backflips as you close your eyes, soothing into the metal touch. But then…. click.

One short ‘click’ sound makes your eyes shoot open. He loaded the gun. Your eyes dart towards his face, a daring smirk on his lips, knowing exactly that that sound would’ve startled you. A shiver runs down your spine at the realization that the gun is actually dangerous right now. He could accidentally pull the trigger and hurt you….you like it.

“What is it, baby? You scared? I won’t hurt you, darlin’. Not unless you ask me to.” Those last words drive you insane and he can see you can’t take it anymore. You paw at his clothes once more, but he gives in this time. He gently lies the gun down next to him and sits up with you still on his lap. You stare at his hands as they slowly but surely unbutton his shirt, finally revealing some delicious skin to you. Once he’s unbuttoned the shirt, it takes everything in you to not start biting and sucking at his skin as he takes it off.

Billy sees the look in your eyes resembling hunger and he smiles to himself. He looks at you for a moment, letting you admire him, before saying; “If you want me to take these pants off, you’re gon’ have to get off of me, baby.” He chuckles as you eagerly climb off of him and he finally takes off his pants, leaving you staring at his obvious hard-on through his underwear.

“Yeah, you want that off too, baby?” he asks in a degrading tone of voice, mocking your desperation as if he hadn’t purposely been building up the tension inside you.

You nod frantically, a small whine escaping your lips at the thought and the degrading tone of his voice. Bily’s surprised at the sheer desperation of you. I mean, just look at you! Sitting there on your knees on the ground right next to him, breathing heavily and a slight sheen of sweat already covering your body, your nipples hardened and eyes low to solely focus on him. It’s driving him insane.

He quickly takes off his underwear at your confirmation, finally lying naked before you. You drink the picture up like you’re a traveler in the desert that hasn’t seen water in days. You climb onto him, your eyes locking with his before pulling him in for a kiss. The kiss is full of desperation and desire as you swirl your tongue over his bottom lip and lick into his mouth as if you’re delirious at the taste of him (which you must admit, is not entirely inaccurate). He deepens the kiss by pulling you in by the neck, his hand having snaked behind you to firmly grasp you and move you as he pleases.

When you come up to catch your breath, he looks at you mischievously. He wants you so bad… but he wants to play with you for a bit. After all, you did ask him to use his gun on you.

He suddenly flips you both around so he’s on top now, grasping his gun in the process so you don’t land on it. It is still loaded, after all. You look up at him adoringly and it melts his heart for a moment. You try to pull him in for another kiss, but he stops you and lets his gun sit on your lips again.

“Just hold on, honey. Didn’t you tell me you want me to use my gun on you?” you nod, eager to find out what your darling boyfriend has planned for you. He smiles at your obedience and then focuses on the gun still resting on your lips. He slowly drags it down again. Down your jaw, your neck, your collarbone, your nipple, your belly button… He’s nestled between your legs now, the tip of the gun resting right underneath your belly button.

His gaze flashes to your pussy, your clit already red and swollen, begging to be touched and your pretty hole already so wet with anticipation. “Look at that, baby. You’re so pretty and wet for me, aren’t ya?” he dips his head down slowly and unexpectedly licks a stripe from your hole to your clit, moaning at your taste and making you mewl at the sudden pleasure.

He looks up at you, admiring the pretty look on your face at his sudden action. “hey baby?” you answer with a breathy ‘yeah’. “can I try somethin’?”  you pause for a moment, curious as to what this ��something’ is, but you quickly say yes at his proposal. He smiles and sits up, slowly dragging the gun with him.

The gun traces down… slowly down to where your pretty clit is aching for Billy to just touch. When the cold metal touches your clit, you squeal softly in surprise, the sensation foreign to you. Bily quickly asks if you’re okay, but the only answer you give him is a low and breathy moan accompanied by a smile.

He traces the gun lower… all the way to your pretty hole. The barrel of the gun catches on it and teases your entrance slowly, warming you up to the feel of it. Soft moans and whines erupt from your mouth and Bily can’t get enough of the sight before him. You, your legs spread out for him, his gun between them, your pretty face while you make those delicious sounds for him. It spurs him on to do what he does next.

He stops teasing your entrance with the gun for a second, but before you can protest or whine about it, he slowly pushes the tip of his gun inside you. Yes, he did it ever so slowly, but he’s having you mewl and moan for him so easily. He slowly keeps pushing the gun inside you (while still making sure you’re okay the entire time) until it’s in as far as it can get. At this point, you’re a puddle for him, all lust and desire for him and your brain has turned to mush.

The gun is soaking with your juices at this point and you feel so good all filled up by it. Billy slowly starts moving the gun out of you until only the tip is left inside you. A guttural moan rips from your throat when he pushes it inside you fully again. He starts fucking you with it, setting a slow but deep pace that has you squirming for more. His dick is growing impossibly hard at the sight before him and he can’t take it anymore. He slowly pulls the gun out of you now, carefully depositing it off to the side.

He slowly drags his finger through your folds, gathering your wetness before stroking his cock with it, spreading your arousal over it. The sight of him pumping his cock in his hand right in front of you has you delirious.

“Baby…” you mewl, reaching for him. “What is it, honey?” he asks gently, “What do you want?”

“Please fuck me.” You say directly and he smiles at that, leaning down to met your gaze. “Yeah?” he asks, slowly dragging his cock through your folds, teasing you and making your moan softly. Your hips buck up into him and he laughs at you. He laughs at you, how mean. You enjoy it, though. You like it when you feel degraded by him.

“Yes, please honey, please…” you beg and he smiles before finally pushing inside you. He stretches you out slowly. Your mouth hangs open and your eyes roll back, a guttural moan escapes you when he bottoms out. He pauses for a moment to let you adjust, but god, is he stretching you out good.

“Fuck, you feel so good, baby. My pretty pussy is so wet for me.” he slowly starts moving in and out of you, making you mewl.

” And all because I fucked you with my gun?” His thrusts speed up and you scratch his back as you moan with every one. He grabs your thighs and proceeds to wrap your legs around his waist, making his cock hit a spot impossibly deep inside you.

“You’re filthy, you know that?” he sets a brutal pace, his thrusts hitting that spongy spot inside you so well every time. You cry out and he admires the expression on your face, brows furrowed, jaw slack, eyes rolled back, a hot blush spreading across your cheeks, a sheen of sweat coating your skin.

“Gettin’ off on me threatening you with my goddamned gun" he curses and he can feel you tightening around him at his words, having caught on to the fact that you like it when he says these things to you.

You’re going insane at this rate and you can feel the coil in your stomach tightening already. “I didn’t expect my sweet girl to like those things.” he states, obviously out of breath. "Turn around, baby." He demands before pulling out of you. You whine at the sudden emptiness, but you do as he says, propping yourself up on your knees and resting your head down on the makeshift pillow below you.

He kneels behind you, admiring the way your back is arched and the way your pussy is soaked for him before teasing your entrance with the tip of his dick again. You're about to complain about him not fucking you yet when he suddenly pushes inside you and bottoms out in one thrust.

Your face is pushed down into the pillow and your eyes roll to the back of your skull as he keeps fucking you, setting the same brutal pace as before. He bottomed out every single time, sending waves of pleasure to your core and you can feel your orgasm starting to build quickly.

You try to tell him that you're close, but all that leaves your mouth is moans and rambles. Your brain is foggy with pleasure, but he gets what you're trying to say. "What is it, darlin'? You close? What do you need?" He asks in a mocking tone of voice. You just answer with a whine.

He chuckles at your reaction before reaching in front of you to slowly rub at your clit. You mewl and squirm at the sensation, feeling the coil winding impossibly tighter. Billy's thrusts grow sloppy and you can tell he's about to cum as well.

He sets a fast, calculated pace at rubbing your clit. "Fuck, baby, you're squeezing me like a vice." You whine at his words. "I'm gonna cum inside you." he curses at the thought. "Fuck, I'm gonna fill you up so good, honey."

He's thrusting into you at an ungodly pace and his skilled fingers rubbing your clit is just too much. You cry out as your orgasm washes over you. Your cunt clamps down on Billy's dick, coating him with your cum.

he moans and fucks you through your orgasm. "Shit, baby, I'm gonna come." The movement of his hips stutter as he comes, filling you up just like he said he would, slowly pushing his cum deep inside you with every thrust.

You whine. You're overstimulated and you can't take any more. you claw at his back and he slowly pulls out. "Hey honey, you okay?" he asks gently, cupping your cheek with his hand. you nod and sigh, too tired to keep your eyes open.

Billy lies down next to you, holding you close to him. your sweaty bodies tangle as you both calm down and you both lie there for a while.

"Well." Billy starts after a bit. "That was... unexpected." You chuckle at his words and murmur a small 'yeah' in return.

"Why haven't we done that before?" He asks incredulously. You outright laugh at his question.

"Did you like it then?"

"Absolutely."

Tags: @harvey-malfoy

[kanpaeki]

"stop playing with my panties, dominic" - dominic fike x reader

gif not mine <33

THIS is my first piece of writing since like 2018. i'm so nervous to left this fly but i've received some encouragement from some sweethearts so i think i'm ready!

this is just dominic bothering reader as she's doing her self care sunday. i wanted my first fic back to be something short, silly but cute. thank you so so much to @huhniebowl for helping me get this out, i'd been brainstorming for days.

hopefully we go up from here. hope you likeeee.

x

after a long week, self-care sunday finally arrived to reinstate the state of your sanity. nearing the end of summer, you'd assume people would have their lives together more so than the beginning. but nope. and of course it was your job to deal with the mess. but you digress, it wasn't like this all the time. plus, you wouldn't get such satisfaction out of cleaning as you do now.

you'd decided to start on chores to get them out the way before you really locked in with skin, nails and hair care. you'd already put a load in the laundry, taking care of the dishes currently when you hear the jiggle of the front door. dominic bursts through, having gone for an impromptu session at the studio after some lyrics suddenly came to him.

"hey! how was it?" you call over your shoulder, elbow-deep in some sudsy water. instead of answering you, he slinks behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist, resting his chin atop your head. "honestly, i really wanna put this one out."

you laugh at that, knowing he says that damn near every time. "it must be good then."

"well, you know, i'm something of a musical prodigy," he smiles, leaving your side to go see what snacks he could find in the cabinet, "just kidding. i don't know what i'm doing." he mumbles, stuffing a chip in his mouth.

rolling your eyes, you unplug the drain in the sink, letting the water out and shaking out your hands. "even your mom said you were a musical prodigy, i'd have to agree with her."

you go to grab a paper towel when he puts the chip bag down on the counter, "i'm being so rude, did you want help?" he dusts his hands off on his jeans before picking up a dish and rinsing it off. except he grabbed a spoon. and consequently, water went everywhere, mostly on you due to your position right in front of the faucet. he drops the spoon and pauses while you hiss at the cool water soaking through your shirt, looking down to see the damage before glaring up at him.

"i didn't mean to do that."

with a soaked shirt, you sigh and continue the dishes. "you can dry them as i rinse them, how about that?"

"yeah, that's probably better."

after you'd finished the dishes, you moved onto working on laundry as he went to rest. or so you thought. you played some music from your phone softly, while you sat on a stool, folding clothes out the dryer and putting them in a clean basket.

something flung from the corner of your eye and you looked over to see dominic with an incredulous look of amusement on his face before he burst into laughter and picked up another pair of your seamless panties.

"dominic, what the hell are you doing?" you sputter, "are those clean?" as if that's the biggest issue at hand.

"i don't know, i got 'em from this basket." he laughed, flinging the next pair towards you and you flinch before they land on your head. you huff and snatch them off your head, balling them in your hand and standing up.

"stop playing with my panties, dominic. i thought you were laying down in the room!" you gasp, picking up the other panties off the floor while he laughs and runs away.

there was a pair you couldn’t find and you just gave up, not even bothering to waste time looking for them. you’d have him find it later.

today was going to be a long day, you think to yourself while you watch his form retreat back to the bedroom. it was rare that he got in these teasing moods and usually, you didn't mind but you don't think you have the patience for it today.

it's not until you've finished the laundry and put everything away that dominic showed his face again. using a spatula to spread the face mask on, wrapped in a robe, hair tied up and out of the way, dom pokes his head in the bathroom to look at you.

"sorry for being annoying," he gives you those puppy dog brown eyes and you want to roll your eyes so bad but you can't when those butterflies are fluttering through your stomach.

it takes you a minute to respond. you just look at him through the mirror, putting the spatula down and a soft smile spreads on your lips. your head tilts and you nod, "it's okay, dom." you can't help but chuckle. the ridiculousness of the situation was too funny. only dominic.

"you look hot." he deadpans. and you know he's lying. the green goop of a face mask dripping from your face, making a mess everywhere on the sink. but you laugh anyway.

“thank you. wanna do skincare with me?"

and of course, he’s down. ever the supporter of all things you, he sits patiently on the toilet while you paint his face with the goo. his nimble fingers find their way under the skirt of your robe to the waistband of your panties, snapping the material lightly on your skin.

“i thought i asked you to stop playing with my panties.” you can’t help but crack a smile.

he sighs and looks up at you with those brown doe eyes, “my fault,” making you laugh with pure adoration for the boy.

and so you finish his mask. while he’s checking himself out in the mirror, you begin to run a bath. he’s making noises from behind you, posing as you can see from the corner of your eye.

“what are you doing?” you ask, testing the water with the pads of your fingers under the faucet.

“i look like jason or something.” he pounces on you, shaking you playfully. he leans in to kiss you and you hesitate because your masks, causing his jaw to drop in offense. “what the hell was that?!”

you laugh, shaking your head, “just be careful. our masks are still drying.” and you lean in for a peck of the lips, cautious but sweet.

“i’m glad you’re here,” you murmur, wrapping your arms around his waist. all the gym’s been doing him good, you can feel the muscle building under his tan skin. he’s been warmer, healthier, happier. you’re so proud of him.

“thank you for putting up with me.” he responds, pushing the stray hairs back from your updo, smoothing them down. he always liked holding your head. you’re not entirely sure why.

a quiet moment ensues, just the sound of the water filling up the tub while you enjoy each other’s company, looking into each other’s eyes.

before you realize something.

“did you ever find where you flung my panties?”

“shit.”

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch - LiTA (Rain/Payu) 2

Because I'm petty, I had the crowd pick which blacklisted shows I would watch for the month of Pride. The first is Love in The Air, and even though I was mad in the first few episodes that Sky brushed off his friend running away from Payu at the beginning, Sky has proven he is a great friend, and I am very excited to get to his portion. Sorry, Rain. This Daddy x Baby dynamic needs to speed it up!

Let's wrap this stormy weather up!

If I was the receptionist, I'd love this job for the chisme. If I was a mechanic, I'd be pissed!

So all of this was a another test. Rain is proving himself to Payu as being worthy of his time and affection by ignoring Payu being mean to him, so even though there is definitely something happening with the yellow and blue between them, I'm ignoring it because Payu is HIGH-KEY pissing me all the way off, and I'm too focused on this room situation. Does this man have his garage room and actual house room?! What is this?!

LET ME IGNORE THEM, BABY JESUS!

Black x White. Blinding Light of Love. And just like that, I'm on my fellow Slut for Christ's side because WHY IS RAIN JUST STANDING OUT IN THE RAIN LIKE A DUMMY?! Miracles happen when we least expect them.

I am not feeling this bathing scene because there is not enough water in that huge ass tub, and out of all the things Payu should apologize for, he is saying sorry that Rain stood out in the rain. Can they just have sex already, so I can quit being petty?

God damn it! There is pink = 💕love💕 but I am very familiar with this scene because it was all over my dash when it aired, and I'm a bag of mixed emotions. Payu hid that condom under a toy truck, but opened it with his teeth, yet he kissed Rain's leg, so like . . . shit, Payu looks fine with his hair down.

The beginning of episode five is just horny on main from Rain telling his MOTHER that he was working on something else that was hard all night, and now we're just watching Payu work out before he peaces out in Payu's blue shirt only to end up in this! I refuse to acknowledge the colors because how did Payu find this boy AND WHY ARE THEY SCREWING AROUND IN HIS MAMA'S HOUSE?!

😬😬😬

Payu already claimed Rain to his face, followed him to his mama's house, and has gotten ultra possessive, yet Rain is freaking out thinking Payu is trying to ditch him. Rain is too smart to be this dumb.

A WHOLE ASS GIRL IS IN THIS SHOW! And Rain is just insulting her and her brothers after pining after her - "fruits" - really, Cloud Jizz?

The way I'm mad at these colors is the same way I'm mad at Rain for being upset that other people like his boyfriend. These two were made for each other.

STOP IT!

Number one rule of illegal race club is we don't talk about illegal race club.

I'm ignoring the wife talk the same way I'm ignoring the colors and the singing. I am God's strongest solider.

This legit should be the end of their arc and the fact that it is not just so Rain can get kidnapped is irritating me (yes, I know he gets kidnapped because my dash said so when it was airing).

Oh, look, a sweet flashback telling me they were meant for each other right before RAIN GETS KIDNAPPED!

These colors are on my fucking neck!

*eyes popping out of my head because the colors won't let me be* Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's gonna rip that suit off of you later and fuck you on the stairs of death then ride you. Yeah, we've all heard about it, now can we get to the kidnapping plot?

The colors are coloring on these two kinksters with Payu's "I like the sound, but not to ride" line like we don't all know what that means. So glad they found each other, but WHERE IS THE KIDNAPPING?! Does it not happen in this episode?! I thought there were only six episodes in each arc. Am I watching seven of just Rain ask the same damn questions of if they like each other?! Sonsito!

The colors are coloring so hard with Rain in his white tank and pink boxers (that he wore the first time they had sex) drinking white milk and Payu in his black shirt with his black tea cup and blue jacket hanging out on the chair. I HATE IT!

THE KIDNAPPING! The title card was "Sky After Rain" so let's move this along and give me my boy already! But also, if Rain was a rich bitch, this would've never happened! A delivery man asking for help? Um . . . better go find a buddy because rich bitches don't do manual labor. Finally, I appreciate that Payu's wild ass behavior of demanding Rain answer his calls paid off by him knowing something was up when Rain didn't answer. Now can we murder this bastard already for taking this awful picture?!

A comedian said that people only kneel for two reasons: God and dick, so this man is a dick who is about to meet God because he just said that he would have his men sexually assault Rain?! DRACARYS!

I have never been more excited to see the Bed Friend baddie! Not only because he is about to end this man's life, but also because he interrupted these two love birds making googly eyes at each other in the middle of a crime scene! And now Rain just said Payu was the only one who could screw him. WHY ARE THEY LIKE THIS?!

Rain is clearly a words-over-actions guy, but at this point it is OBVIOUS that Payu loves him, so I would tell him I don't love him just to be mean.

And now Rain is telling Payu he would harm him if he cheats. WITH WHOM?! The damn mechanic who has to keep running interference between you two AT HIS JOB?! Y'all are such a mess and fully belong together.

Oh thank goodness, it's my sweet summer child Sky finally!

And his red devil because Prapai has to be the red to his bestie's blue, no?

See, Rain is triflin' because Sky did not snitch on him dating Payu, yet Rain gave up his number quick. This is why I ignored their colors because Rain knows this is wrong, but at least it FINALLY gets me more Sky on my screen. The End!

HE FUCKED UP HIS CAR ON PURPOSE?! WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK, PAYU?! YOU HAD THIS BOY INDEBTED TO YOU FOR WHAT?! BECAUSE HE WAS PRETTY AND YOU WANTED HIM?! WHAT WERE THE REASONS, PAYU?! WHAT?! WERE?! THE?! REASONS?!

*takes off my glasses* These after scenes got me all the way fucked up, and even though I was fine with how they ended in the car this episode, now I'm mad as hell that Payu just offered up this fun little tidbit that he jacked up Rain's car so he could see him again at the very end.

🤡

Pushes play on episode eight

[scorpioriesling]

I Look In People's Windows

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

Pairing(s): Eris x reader

Warnings: angst

Summary: It's been years... years since the breakup. He is no longer yours. He never really was, always keeping you at a distance. But, there were some good times. Maybe that's why you keep hoping to see him again, anywhere. Just one more time.

SR’s Note: Cannot get this song out of my head, and yes I am doing an Eris story! I love writing him. This one ends happy, just trust.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

The day he left was the day you'd changed.

He'd tried to reason with you, to make you see why you couldn't be together anymore; it was the day his father killed his younger brother's lover.

Perhaps, he changed on that day too.

"You have to go," he'd said. "You have to get out of here. Now." You remembered it like it was yesterday; there was no option for questioning or changing his mind this time. You'd already started crying, before the argument began.

"I don't care, Eris! I love you, I can't just leave..." You could still feel the way your heart broke, split right in two. Eris had been frenzied, frantically gathering your things and packing them in a backpack.

"And I love you! Don't you see that? I mean, really -- don't you get it?" He threw the backpack on the bed, and you'd watched from the doorway, water dripping from your chin and onto the expensive oak flooring.

"I know you're afraid, but-" He charged over to you, taking your wrists in his hands.

"I am not afraid. Of nothing. Of no one." He said, so close you could feel his breath on your nose. You narrowed your watery eyes at him.

"You are." Is all you said. He dropped your hands, returning to the bed and snatching up the backpack. His back had still been turned to you when he said:

"I won't have you end up dead like Jesminda." Another silent sob racked your body, and you tried hard to keep from shaking.

"You know I'd love you to the ends of Prythian, Y/N." He said, voice quieter now as he approached you and slipped your arms into the staps of the pack. "I would do anything for you." A tear slipped past his eyeline. "Hell, I would jump into the cauldron for you-"

"I don't need anyone jumping into anything," you say, brushing your thumb over his tear-stained cheek. "I just need you. Me. I don't want to not know you anymore." The last part came out shakily. "Does it feel alright to not know me?"

His hands pulled your waist close, and he wrapped his arms around you one more time. You remembered feeling his shoulders shaking, your tears staining his mahogony jacket as you buried your face in his chest. You inhaled deep, smelling his campfire and cinnamon scent one more time...

And now here you were, still addicted to the "if only"s. If only he'd let you stay. If only he'd run with you. If only he was still yours...

You hadn't realized you'd wandered out of your neighborhood, and into the town square. The sky was gray and dull; reflecting how you'd felt inside. When was the last time you'd truly seen the sunshine?

On the last day you'd spent with your love.

Meandering through the Autumn court streets was usually peaceful, not many people being out this time of year as the air had turned a bit chilly. You would constantly check inside shops, the big windows highlighting the guests inside. You don't know what you'd do if you saw him now; its been years since he told you to leave. You'd listened, and stayed away; but that didn't help your mind playing tricks on you. Thinking you'd seen him boarding a train; seeing him at the tables of Christmas parties you couldn't bring yourself to attend.

You were pulled from your thoughts when you heard the conversations around you, growing more and more as you'd ventured further into the square.

"I heard his kid did it."

"I can't believe the High Lord is actually dead."

"I was told that the oldest son slayed him, out of pure hatred."

What were they talking about? Certainly if they were discussing Lord Beron, you would have heard the news by now. If what they were saying was true and he was really dead, that would mean...

"Ahh, thank you Mariella. You always know exactly why I've come!"

Your body freezes, the whisper of sound drifting from an open doorway to a bakery on your left. You'd recognize that honey-dripped voice anywhere.

You break into a sprint, right for the bakery.

You knew you weren't decieving yourself this time.

Peering in through the storefront, you catch sight of his radiant curls, piled on his head. His genuine smile exposes his perfect canines; a smile you hadn't seen in so long. One you'd never thought you'd see again. He looked almost the exact same, just how you remembered him from all those years ago.

Your breath fogged up the glass, and you wiped it with your sleeve. The small squeak that came from the action caused Eris and the cashier to both peer out at you, and you felt an electricity bolt shoot through you when your eyes met his one more time.

He murnured something quickly to the woman, and raced out of the store. When he cleared the entry way, he stared at you in silence for a few beats, utter shock on his face like he was seeing you for the first time all over again. He took one small step towards you, and you couldn't wait any longer. You ran to him and threw your arms around his neck, his wrapping around your waist and twirling you around. When he finally set you down, you pulled back and met those whiskey orbs, solely focused on you. You didn't care who was staring. You didn't care what people said. You only cared about the male in front of you.

"Eris, what... what happened?" You asked, voice breaking as you tried to contain the happy tears running down your face. He only smiled back at you longingly, taking one hand in yours and placing the other in your hair, finally feeling your wispy tendrils he missed so much.

"I feel as though I've waited forever for this," he admits, pulling you in closer. When his lips meet yours, the sweet apple taste is back. One you'd missed for so long. He continues kissing you for a few moments, relishing in the fact that you were finally back in his arms.

"And," he says, pulling away and resting his forehead on yours. "I'm not afraid anymore."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Hiya!!

Do you think you could do a lil thing with the prompt #16: “Come in, please. I'm mad at you but I don't want you to burn to crisp.”

With David x male reader? Maybe a lil angst with comfort at the end, arguments that lead to David-style apologies?

Sorry for the wait! I hope you like this!

-------------------

Seething I stood in front of my mirror, looking at my reflection. Cold water ran down my face - I had tried splashing it to clear my head, but apparently, that didn't work. At least, not now. I sighed as I turned the tap off, running my hand over my forehead.

"How could you've been so stupid," I mumbled to myself, the build-up anger I'd gathered in the past few hours slowly getting out.

Four hours ago, my former boyfriend and I had gone out on a date. Four hours ago, everything was fine. We were great. I really liked him, and I was certain he liked me too. I was certain that we worked. I mean, we have had our rough patches , but every relationship had that. I remembered our first valentine date, for instance, which, on hindsight, was an absolute disaster.

We had fun initially, having dinner at a local establishment, riding some rides on the boardwalk. It was all great fun until he said he needed to show me something.

Until he led me down the beach, telling me to wait there.

I did, I waited. I waited for almost an hour. And when he returned, he came back holding a box. A wet, drippy box.

"What this?" I asked him, uncertainty lacing my voice.

"You asked what I'd do for you."

I looked at David, then at the box, then back at David. I felt nervous as I opened it, not knowing what to expect. I carefully took the lid off, and dropped it in the sand when I saw what was in it.

"What the fuck, David?!" I looked at the human heart, and then at my boyfriend. He had told me what he was, told me he was a vampire, but this?

That had almost caused us to break up. But we didn't. He had apologised, and he had made it up to me. He made sure that he let me know that he knew he had gone too far. And I forgave him. After all, I loved him.

I cursed quietly as I left the bathroom, shaking my head. I still loved him. I couldn't understand why, I didn't want to love him, but somehow I still do. I made my way to the kitchen, making myself a sandwich.

Halfway through making it, I was wondering why I even bothered. With what I had seen tonight, I doubted I'd be able to eat any time soon.

I had asked David how vampires fed. He told me it was as simple as biting someone's neck. It sounded simple, and even though killing was something I obviously was against, biting someone in their neck and making it a quick kill seemed merciful.

Except, of course, when I accidentally walked in on him and the other boys feeding. The bodies were ripped apart, limbs flying everywhere. The boys cheered as they threw the corpses on the fire, high fiving when someone made a gruesome kill. I had looked at the scene in front of me, frozen in both fear and disgust. David had lied. Just tonight alone, he had killed three people, while he had told me before he could do with about one per two days.

He had lied about this, this which was a pretty big part of him. So what else did he lie about?

Once I had found the power to move my limbs again, I ran off. I was certain David had seen me, I was certain he would follow me. I couldn't care less. I was pissed, I was scared and - as I ran I realised this - I was beyond happy that he hadn't yet visited my new flat, because now he wouldn't be able to get in even if I left the doors unlocked.

So, that's where I was now. In the kitchen, a half made sandwich in front of me as I tried to wrap my head around the things I had seen that night.

Tap tap

I looked up, noticing a third stone hitting my window. I growled angrily, stomping towards the window, opening it as I stared down.

"Go away!"

"Not before you tell me what's wrong!"

"You lied! I can't trust you. So fuck off!"

"Can we talk?" He called back, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Why, so you can tell me you truly didn't mean to kill so many people?"

"What?"

"Or that you must missed their neck and therefore ripped them in pieces?"

"Shit, you saw that?"

"You won't even deny it, will you? You fucking prick!"

"No, because I did!" David called back. "And I want to give you space but I won't make ti back to the cave in time."

"Find somewhere else to sleep!"

David shook his head. "The sun is already rising!"

I sighed, an annoyed grunt leaving my mouth before I could stop it. Was me being angry with David enough reason to shut him out? To let him burn?

With a sigh I shook my head, glaring at him.

"Come in, please. I'm mad at you, but I don't want you to burn to crisp."

Within seconds David stood in my living room, closing the curtains. "Thanks."

"I'm still mad at you."

"I get it," David shrugged. "I didn't think you could handle the truth."

I glared at him. "That is not for you to decide."

"Maybe it is. You aren't like us, like the boys, so I didn't think you'd like to see them after a scene like that."

"How about you stop thinking for me and let everyone decide, hm?" I glared at him.

David nodded, moving to light a cigarette but stopping when he saw my disapproving look. "It won't happen again. "

I looked at him, sighing. He sounded sincere enough, and he definitely seemed sorry. "Fine," I looked at him. "But you are sleeping on the couch. I'm still mad at you."

He chuckled, nodding. "Figured. Night, babe."

[aching-tummies]

Circumnavigating on an Empty Stomach

Had an interesting experience that I think people here will appreciate.

Transit in my city took a major blow a day or two ago. My city is large enough to have train lines running through it as well as bus routes. Likening it to anatomy, the train lines are basically like major veins or arteries while the bus routes are little capillary vessels or whatever, often intersecting with the train lines to ferry people all over the city.

A couple of days back I had to be on-campus for a few of the classes I am taking. I usually have to take 2 buses to get from my place to the right train line to get to my campus (there are multiple train lines running through my city and getting on the wrong one could take you to a random quadrant of the city). I ate breakfast around 8AM, found out through checking my emails that a couple of my classes were cancelled, resulting in me getting undressed and tidying up my house for about three hours until I decided to get ready to attend the remaining classes for the day. I headed out for the buses at noon, expecting to get to my campus by around 1:30PM or so and giving me roughly 90 minutes to heat up a packed lunch and eat it before attending a 3PM class.

Buses got me to the station--no problems there. I live diagonally across the city from campus, so it's usually 15 minutes on each bus and just shy of an hour on the train. About two stops since I got on the train, our train came to a screeching halt. Standing passengers got air as they clung to the hand-rails and poles along the train. Backpacks not secured literally soared 6 or more feet over. Loose thermos containers and water bottles went rolling. It took 25 minutes to get an explanation, and part of the explanation was that we would be stalled where we were for at least another 15 minutes. So…45 minutes of my 90 minute buffer disappeared only 2 minutes into a 55 minute train ride.

By the time I got to campus, there was no time to heat up my packed lunch. I just booked it across campus to my class and committed to paying attention as best I could and trying not to think about how it had been seven hours since I'd eaten anything. Breakfast was a distant memory.

Classes ended a little early for me that day and I got word that the train line issues had been resolved, so I headed to the train platform around 5:30PM. I managed to avoid the temptation of buying food on or around campus because I didn't want to justify buying a meal for a day where I went all the way to campus just to attend a class and a half. I was miserable, hungry, and feeling like I had been cheated out of my entire day because classes canceled or ended early without much notice. I spent more time trying to get to campus than I did actually on campus. In my mind, campus had taken my time and my rage--I refused to give it my money too for what I felt had been a day not-so-well-wasted.

Thirty minutes on the train platform with no trains before we got an answer. The incident that had stalled my train earlier had been resolved, but a new one had just occurred on the other side of the line, essentially grinding all train service to a halt. The platform was packed with 5 train cycles full of passengers. Even if a train had showed up, less than a fifth of the people on the platform would have been able to squeeze on. With trains expected to arrive once every half an hour, if at all, we'd be looking at three hours standing on the platform before any hope of catching a train.

I took a detour. I was miserable, frustrated, angry, and hungry. I had zero interest in standing on a crowded platform for three hours.

I wound up walking to a bus zone about twenty minutes (on foot) away from the train platform to board a bus. Unfortunately, from that part of the city my route home would require 5 different buses to get back to my quadrant of the city. Imagine that Campus is about as far to the West as you can possibly plot it on this quadrants thing. My home is just a bit north of the farthest Eastern point of the city. In order to get back home without relying on the failed trains, my trip home was twenty minutes on foot to the farthest Western point (campus is around it, but not directly on it). Bus 1 would take me deep into the SW quadrant of the city. From the heart of the SW, Bus 2 would get me to the city centre. From the city Centre, bus 3 would get me into the SE quadrant. From there, Bus 4 would take me to the eastern point and from there I'd have a choice of Bus 5 or a 20 minute walk up a steep hill to get back home. My alternate route essentially took me on a round-trip through my entire city. (I have altered the quadrants in this telling--what order they appear in to avoid potentially doxing myself, but circumnavigating my entire city on multiple buses on a 3.5 hour, untested route home was 100% real).

I stumbled into my home just after 9PM. Unfortunately, I was so anxious over the experimental alternate route home and making sure that I did not miss any stops that I was pretty tense throughout my journey home. No growls or grumbles 'cuz I guess I was too tightly wound for anything of the sort to happen. There was just this annoying hollow sensation sitting like a ball of led in my gut starting around 3:30 and not budging until I got home and basically face-planted into the patch of floor just within my front door.

[aishangotome]

Alfons Sylvatica: Chapter 4 Premium Story

Chapter 4

♡———♡

After the play, Alfons walked me back to my room.

--But on the way back, I was struck by a strange feeling.

(What is it? This sense of discomfort...)

I felt like I didn't take the usual route back, even though I was returning from a theater I'd been to many times before.

(And I can't remember going to the theater with Alfons and Ellis tonight...)

The discomfort gradually grew, and by the time I returned to my room, it was too big to ignore--

Kate: Um... Alfons?

Alfons: What is it?

(It's strange to ask this... but)

Kate: ...Was what I saw really a play?

(Ah... that)

The moment I asked the question, something snapped in my head, and I came to my senses.

Kate: It wasn't, was it? That wasn't... fake blood.

(That's why I was scared.)

(That's why I was so anxious and wanted it to end quickly.)

(It's because that was--)

Alfons: Have you already woken up?

Alfons: You have a surprisingly strong sense of self.

When I looked up, his eyes were narrowed as if he was exasperated.

Kate: That was reality.

My own voice echoed heavily in my ears.

(People were really being killed, and a real knife was trying to kill Alfons.)

Kate: And I...

I was watching it as a play.

(--Simply, peacefully.)

That fact was more shocking than anything else, and I was speechless.

(It's true, I couldn't bear to watch it.)

(I was scared and wanted to escape from that terror.)

It might have been better than panicking and doing something stupid.

(But...)

(I--that scene...)

I couldn't believe that I had been watching it so casually, so I closed my eyes tightly and covered my ears.

Then, warm hands embraced me.

As if scooping me up from the dark, cold bottom of the water.

Alfons: It's not your fault. It's all my fault. Isn't it?

Kate: But it's true that I watched that scene without thinking...

Alfons: A normal person wouldn't be able to handle that kind of scene unless it was fiction.

Alfons: On the contrary, I thought you might enjoy it if it was fiction...

Kate: ...

I remembered myself believing it was a play.

(I was so impressed that I even applauded. Even though people were dying right in front of me...)

(I have no right to say anything about him.)

As I hung my head, a voice tinged with pity fell.

Alfons: You really do insist on facing reality, don't you?

Kate: ...Because if I don't look closely...

Alfons: Because it's your duty as a Fairytale Keeper?

Alfons: Screw that job you were forced into by a freak accident, right?

(Because it's my duty... Of course, that's part of it.)

(If I don't do my job, I might be killed. But--)

Kate: That's not all... If I don't face reality, I won't be able to notice important things, right?

Alfons: For example?

Kate: Like why such horrible things are happening...

Alfons: You won't figure that out even if you carefully observe the scene.

Kate: Or if there's anyone still alive... who can be saved...!

Alfons: Haha, rescue in that situation? You'll just get caught in the crossfire and die.

Kate: But... even if Alfons or Ellis were stabbed, I...

Kate: I might not have gone to help them, thinking it was a play...!

Alfons: .........

Kate: That's scary...!

My vision blurred with the surge of emotions.

I didn't know if it was from the fear of that scene, or the fear of being the only one protected in the illusion.

Alfons: .........

Alfons looked at me in silence for a moment, then gently stroked my hair.

Just like a real lover would.

Alfons: Even though you're so soft and vulnerable... you try to face reality without running away.

Alfons: ...You're a fool.

Alfons: When I see such a foolish person, I can't help but want to spoil them.

His fingertips slid smoothly down the nape of my neck.

(Ah,)

By the time I thought, "No, wait..." – it was already too late.

Alfons: So – let's play together again tonight, "my sweet lover."

A light, pleasant floating sensation washes over me.

With just a gentle push, my body leans into his arms.

(This feeling, from somewhere...)

As I think this, his voice drowns out my thoughts.

Alfons: It's alright now. See... I'm alive, aren't I?

Kate: Nnn..., Hm... Alfons...

Alfons: ...You don't have to look so greedy.

Alfons: Ending on a child's kiss right now wouldn't be right... open up.

Poking my lips with his fingertips, Alfons whispers to me.

Alfons: Come on... don't be shy.

Kate: Nnn, ah...

I open my lips as instructed, and his wet tongue slips in.

Kate: Yes... ah, ah...

Alfons: Hmm... hehe, kissing feels good, doesn't it?

Deeply intertwining our tongues, I feel my mind melting into a blissful state.

(No... something)

(I feel like I'm forgetting something important...)

(It feels good...)

Before I knew it, my body was at the mercy of his familiar tongue, and I was sinking into the bed. My rational mind had been consumed without a trace and I could think of nothing else but making love with the lover in front of me.

Kate: Ah, Alfons... I... my body is hot.

Alfons: ...Where on your body?

Kate: ...You know, so don't ask.

Alfons: No... Please tell me properly.

Alfons: Where do you want me to please you, that pretty mouth of yours?

Kate: Ah...!

The ribbon behind my neck is untied and my loose blouse falls off.

When I tried to hide the bare skin spilling out from under it, my hands were sewn into the sheets.

Alfons: Why are you hiding it? Show me your body.

Alfons: Here... is where you want to be tortured?

Kate: ...!

Kate: ....All....of it...

I was so embarrassed that I turned my head to the side.

Alfons: All of it...?

I hear a sneer and a light kiss falls on my burning cheek.

Alfons: --greedy.

Kate: Ah...!

Alfon's face moved closer to my chest as he sucked the colored tip into his mouth.

Kate: !...Oh, oh... nn---!

The tip of his tongue played with it again and again, lighting a fire inside my body, and a numbing sensation spread from the tip of my breast to the bottom of my stomach, making me rub my knees tightly together.

Alfons: Mmm.. do you want this too?

His fingers trace the inside of my thighs, slowly approaching the space between my legs.

Kate: Alfons...ah....oh my god!

His fingers push aside my underwear, teasingly caressing the dripping wet spot several times, then slowly entering, making a squelching sound.

Kate: Ah....ah.....ahh....!

Alfons: ....You're so wet. Can you hear it?

Kate: Oh my god, oh...

Alfons: Have you always wanted me to touch you?

As if in affirmation, the spot where his finger was sunk twitched sweetly.

Alfons: You don't have to squeeze so hard, I'll make you feel good.

Kate: Ahh---!

His fingers move more vigorously.

As he rakes my insides, the pit of my stomach stirs and clamps down hard on his finger.

My weak spot had already been discovered on the first night, and his fingers, well used to playing, knew how to make me go crazy.

Kate: Ah, ah....Alfons...!

Alfons: Hehe, are my fingers not enough for you anymore?

Kate: ....!

Even though we're lovers, I'm too embarrassed to accept it because I think it's indecent, and Alfons laughs again as if he can't stop himself because it's funny.

Alfons: Come on, tell me. Are you okay with this? Even if I keep teasing you with my fingers like this?

Alfons: If I tease you here, you'll probably come right away.

Kate: Ah, ah, ah, wait...

Kate: ...Not with fingers...

She couldn't say anything more.

Alfons: ...You are truly a lovely person.

He pulls out his fingers, which had been stirring violently inside of me, making my hips jump in response.

I was breathing heavily as I heard the sound of clothes rustling.

When I looked up, Alfons was about to take off his tie.

Just that gesture made my stomach churn with anticipation.

Alfons: .....

After undoing his belt, Alfons looked down at me and smiled gently, as if gazing at a kitten.

Alfons: Let's get so messed up that we forget everything...

His desire caressed my lower abdomen, sinking in deeper than where his fingers touched.

Kate: Nnn, ah, ah...Alfons....!

He pounded me with intensity, and a sweet cry escaped my lips, echoing through the room.

I cling to his back, my whole body trembling with the pleasure that hits me again and again.

(Being held like this, our skin touching, sharing warmth deep within our bodies...)

Everything feels so good, I can't think of anything else.

(Right now, I want to stay like this...)

I want to drown in his arms, in his warmth.

Because the arms that hold me are so gentle.

Because the look in his eyes, full of pity and compassion, feels strangely comforting––.

.

.

.

.

.

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Chapter 5

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[wyked-ao3]

Hellooooooooooo my dear ,

I'd like to know what are the inspirations for TPKODR.

I know that is a big project and something that you had in mind for several years.

What was for you the first idea, input, the origin of it?

If there is one, or multiple ones

Thank you!!

so I suppose I'll go more in depth this time...

The pirate's cursed god series (TPCG) started at least to me as a fantasy world which is why the fae might be just a little more developed lore wise than the pirates...at times.

TPKODR was the missing link of how to start it all—so I was not tossing people into the deep end of the lore.

My fascination with mythology and pirates is probably what inspired most of it that didn't come to me in nightmares and or odd dreams caused by fevers...

The spirit fae and the gods were the first to be created in a way...then came alo g the earth and fire fae...air and water were the last to be made really culturally wise.

What exactly was the first idea...of the series well it's been scrapped as it didn't work so well with everything else going on and that was the tree people being a more active participant of the story. Yeah I couldn't figure out how to blend the lore and that smoothly without throwing a it's magic with no explanation so it was the first part to be erased as I wrote the first book.. eventually y'all will get to meet a few but they don't like to wander to far from the places they live.

Braith, Jade, Adoh, Solace and Kieran (some were recently named) were my first OC's to come to me a bit over seven years ago...but some of the lore was created well before that lol.

the shadow realm was the next part crafted along with the swords.. and then the crafting of my own twist on the Davy Jones lore.

A lot of the lore was crafted when I was in a mythology phase (I haven't left that one btw) but sometimes it will have symbolism that has to do with trees or fae or herbology....

I hope that answered your ask and here is a bonus answer

What inspired me to write my original story versus just letting the story remain in my head to be tweaked to death when I was bored or trying to go to sleep.....well that would be the friends I made while writing fanfiction... You @gioiaalbanoart as well as @lillybaaaka and @the-golden-comet along with several others who will be acknowledged in the dedication... Y'all inspired me to give it a try— especially when y'all were actually interested in the few plot points I mentioned ....y'all were kind and supportive even when it was some subpar fanfiction that I was writing and each of you have taught me something different that has helped pave the way. 🫂

So In a way the fanfiction writing led to this ... It taught me a lot even if I'm still pretty far from good especially with run on and fragmented sentences and I still probably overuse dialogue tags (I have acknowledged that's a weak point for me)

But we each have our own journey and process to writing and I think all author's are learning something new as the go.

A special thanks to my beta readers for pointing out things I was blind too mainly due to knowing everything that happens or what I meant by a line...🫂

Honestly I never really intended to write it out...but alas here we are and to save people some sanity I broke it up into the main storyline being 4 books versus it being one book about 2000pages long 0_o (my brain hurts at the thought of editing that)

Tagging the tag list Incase they were curious

@thatuselesshuman @gioiaalbanoart @lychhiker-writes @thecomfywriter @evilwriter37

@saebasanart @the-golden-comet @mauannacreates @kind-lion @alinacapellabooks

@kuebiko-writing @kaeru483 @theink-stainedfolk @unstableunicornsofasgard @mysticstarlightduck

@demon-sneeze @fromthenortheast @smellyrottentrees @honeybewrites @the-letterbox-archives

@illarian-rambling @paeliae-occasionally @leahpardo-pa-potato

[tgrailwar-zero]

(despairingly) ... lack of funds...

... it's not even like we're overly wasteful... haven't blown money on luxuries at all... it'd be so nice... uff... seriously, why is it so hard to settle our cash...

NERO: "Well, you are right that the Bout is rather promising in terms of funds."

MUSASHI: "Speaking of the Bout, my match is coming up. We've gotta go-- you too, managers! Let's get moving!"

Heading to the arena, you found yourself in the locker rooms, speaking with JAGUAR MAN.

JAGUAR MAN: "Normally, it'd just be our lovely Samurai running solo... However, since she's a Servant and Moby Dick is considered a 'final boss-tier enemy', I figured you could come along. If you want to keep things legit, you can just sit back and watch instead of helping."

It seemed like you were allowed to come and help this time around.

Really. With JAGUAR MAN running things, the rules were more akin to 'suggestions', weren't they?

JAGUAR MAN: "Anyways, don't die! You acted as a real promising heel during the match with the Fairy Guy, so I'd like to see more of you! Bye!"

Wasn't killing banned? Did the Moby Dick program understand that?

Before you could ask any other questions- you were suddenly warped into the 'battle zone' along with MUSASHI. You were falling from quite the distance, the samurai flipping in the air and swooping towards you, clutching you in her arms and holding you to her chest as she touched down onto the ground, her boots skidding against rock and gravel.

She put you down, looking around. You saw a drab-looking coastline, surrounded by dark waters and heavy cloud cover.

MUSASHI: "...Phew... let's do this, Managers!"

It was quiet. You heard the sound of the waves crashing, before a transmission echoed over the zone you had been transported to.

--

JAGUAR MAN: "Oh man, I know you've all been waiting for this! Two prime fighters! Moby Dick, our nigh-undefeatable oceanic behemoth! The Null Zero Samurai, our cold-blooded, beautiful rookie! And we have a rare guest, one of the few people who's bested Moby Dick- the mighty Jishnu has suddenly found free time during the Main Bout matches, so he's here to help with commentary!"

DURYODHANA: "Ha ha ha. Would you like to keep pouring salt on the wound, or can we get started?"

DURYODHANA: "Anyways, this is a rather momentous occasion. There aren't many fighters that I think will be able to even last 10 seconds against Moby Dick, but I have a feeling that we're seeing a fighter that will make it to the rare echelons of 'people who aren't obliterated instantly'."

JAGUAR MAN: "While Father Kotomine will be covering Adamant and the Man-Slayer, and Miss Cat will be guest-commentating on the Cuauhtli and Strong-Mask Bout, we'll be doing double-duty covering the-- huh? Hang on, the Wandering Blade just lost. That fast? Really? I guess we're just covering Moby Dick and the Samurai, then! Jishnu, do you have any last minute advice?"

DURYODHANA: "Not just anyone can fight Moby Dick. It takes a solid awareness of your surroundings, and ingenuity. Hardly anything ever works twice against that thing. But, the goal is simple-- either knock it out for 10 seconds, or get it to fully retreat. In other words, the resourceful tend to have better chances."

JAGAUR MAN: "And with that, fine people of the Solar Cell-- let's have ourselves a Bout!"

--

Once it ended, you found yourself back in the eerie atmosphere of the beach, the only noise coming from the waves lapping against the shore.

Off in the distance, you heard the sound of a whale bellowing. No sights of anything, however.

The first thing that caught your eye was a small dock, and a person standing on a large ship. That was probably used in the fight against MOBY DICK, to give people a nautical advantage.

The first thing MUSASHI saw was herself in the water's reflection.

MUSASHI: "Hel~lo there..."

...Right. The charm effect on the Mystic Code. She stood, looking at her reflection in the ocean water before a wave broke it up, MUSASHI blinking a few times before looking around.

MUSASHI: "Oh, sweet! A ship!"

SABER beamed, rushing over.

MUSASHI: "Yoo-hoo! Hi there, beautiful lady standing next to a beautiful ship!"

The person on the ship looked down, leaning over the railing with a disarmingly friendly smile.

PRIVATEER: "Hahaha, what an introduction! You can just call me the 'Privateer'. I was summoned for a more flashy purpose, but this and that happened, so I'm working freelance. Anyways-- 1500 PPT, and you have a boat set and ready to sail against Moby Dick!"

Oh, alright. That made sen--

--Huh?

Wait...

What?

1500 PPT?

MUSASHI: "Wait, you're charging us? Don't you work for the Bout? I thought it'd be free!"

PRIVATEER: "My contract with the Jaguar just requires me to have a boat available for any participating fighters. Which I do. There's a free one down there. Look."

She pointed at a run-down, wooden dinghy next to the ship. It looked… stable. In the sense that it could float. And it didn't really seem to be doing that very well either.

Did JAGUAR MAN know about this?

...Actually, knowing her, she probably approved it.

PRIVATEER: "But… A good boat, and maybe some extra help? That costs money. It's not like my price is steep, it's only 10% of the prize pot… and if you can beat Moby Dick, don't you have a solid chance at being the champ and winning all that cash anyways? Besides, I'm sure you've heard that Moby Dick is a 'final-boss tier' Enemy Program. You'll need everything you can get. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. So, whad'dya say?"

…Did you somehow find a person more shrewd (greedy) than PRETENDER? Still… it wasn't like you had to use it. It was a luxury…

…A luxury, that's all it was…

...You didn't NEED to have a good ship in order to take down Moby Dick, right?

[integra1127grimmreaper]

What Have You Done?! (Dave York)

Dave York Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Prev

Warning: angst and mention of murder.

Summary: Pt3 of Isn't My Affair Anymore. It becomes quite clear that Dave has fucked up majorly. Inspired by - Keith Caputo & Within Temptation's - What Have You Done.

A/N: realized now only had the wrong Brian spelling, so fixed it in this one.

This entire moment seemed so surreal. It was only yesterday that you had spoken with Susan and now you were attending a memorial service for her. "Attempted robbery gone wrong", was what they said yet it didn't sit well with you. It was just too coincidental that she would be murdered whilst investigating the death of a DIA operative and you were praying that the direction your mind was going to involving her death was wrong. "You were wrong. You had to be wrong, right...?"

Arriving at the house before it became overcrowded with mourners, you find Brian alone in the study where Susan always used to work. "Hey", you greet him with a thin smile, and he returns it with a grief stricken one of his own.

"How you holding up?", you hug him tightly. Just as you expected, he doesn't answer, merely shaking his head whilst sobbing against your shoulder.

"I'm so sorry", you gently rub his back. "If... if only I had gone with..."

"No", Brian mutters tearfully shaking his head at your words. "It wouldn't have made a difference, you could've..." You silently watch as he battles to speak further, "they would've killed you too. Dave was with her over there and not he could prevent it."

Brian's hold onto you tightens as he grieves for his wife and the only thought you had was; you weren't quite that sure about Dave not being able to prevent Susan's death.

The house was stuffed to capacity with people who came to show their respect for the late Susan, and it was quite something to see the impact she had over so many people's lives. Susan had been a wonderful human being, one that didn't deserve the ending she got. It was a complete tragedy what had been done to her, one you prayed Dave had nothing to do with.

He hadn't made an appearance yet, something you were grateful for and were hopeful that you would be able to avoid him until leaving the gathering. But it was all wishful thinking when you had to run out for more refreshments as the mourners kept adding up.

Carry a snack platter in each hand whilst deep in thought, you stop abruptly in the kitchen doorway when seeing Dave standing in front of Brian with a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. In slow motion, you watch as Brian thanks Dave for the glass of water. Dave silently nods in response, giving Brian's shoulder a squeeze, turning your direction to exit the kitchen.

All motion around you seem to freeze as Dave's eyes widen at the sight of you and that was when it all became clear to you; the look in his eyes was actually one of guilt.

"What have you done...?"

Would you mind if I hurt you? Understand that I need to Wish that I had other choices Than to harm the one I love What have you done now?

I know I'd better stop trying You know that there's no denying I won't show mercy on you now I know I should stop believing I know there's no retrieving It's over now, what have you done?

What have you done now? I, I've been waiting for someone like you But now you are slipping away (What have you done now?) Why, why does fate make us suffer? There's a curse between us Between me and you

*

"He did it. Dave had been the one behind Susan's death..."

You had hoped, you had prayed, and you had been absolutely wrong.

"You had to get out of here! If he killed Susan, then there was nothing to stop him from killing you too. You had to get away from here, away from him and you had to do it now."

"Let me help you", someone offers, and you gladly hand the platters over.

Brian noticing your presence, steps around Dave to get to you, "thank you."

"It was nothing", you respond with a weak smile, "unfortunately, I have to be leave now."

With a silent head nod, Brian pulls you for a hug. "Take care, Brian...", you gently pat his back and unfortunately, your eyes make contact with Dave's once again. You blood runs cold then at the dark look in his eyes, "I... I'll keep in touch", you inform Brian, backing away from him to hastily make your escape.

Rushing down the front steps to hastily get away as far as possible, you don't take notice of the individual from across the street as he watches you flee from the late Susan's home.

"What have done, Dave? What have you done...?"

Would you mind if I killed you? Would you mind if I tried to? 'Cause you have turned into my worst enemy You carry hate that I don't feel It's over now, what have you done?

What have you done now? I, I've been waiting for someone like you But now you are slipping away (What have you done now?) Why, why does fate make us suffer? There's a curse between us Between me and you...

[lilacmuse]

On Finding Beauty in a Burning World || May 2024

Sometimes, when the world is especially full of chaos, i almost wish i could slip away and live inside an Ivan Aivazovsky painting for a while. I wish the blues of the ocean could wash over me, drenching me permanently in color and serenity; that i could kiss the sky like brushstrokes tenderly kissing a canvas, get utterly lost in the unimpeachable tranquility of nature as captured through the eyes of a man madly in love with the beauty of creation. Aivazovsky, too, witnessed atrocities in his time that broke his heart, including the massacre of his own people. But despite the horrors he saw, they say he had the ability to look at the ocean once and capture its beauty entirely from memory, as though his heart could somehow remember exactly how the light would hit the water, and which shades of blue would most perfectly capture the ethereal essence of the sea.

I'm the girl who is known for writing about beauty, but my words have been scant lately; beauty becomes difficult to express in a world where genocide is unfolding with seemingly no end. I've been wanting to write for weeks about how much i love my baby nieces- how their smiles and the sun are indistinguishable in warmth and brightness, how we occasionally look at each other and instantly erupt into giggles so uncontrollable, we fall into a heap of silliness- but then i think about the mothers and fathers in Gaza and Rafah who have watched their children starve and burn to death, and my ink runs dry, and i find it difficult to speak or write.

I've always reveled in the process of finding and creating beauty- my raison d'etre since childhood- but these past eight months have been exceptionally heavy. There's a genocide raging in Palestine, famine looming over Sudan, and never-ending horrors unfolding in Congo that have kept me up at night since i was 17... At times like this, i rest my head on my prayer rug and tell God that it's His turn to speak about the beauty; my fragile heart is tired, and there's no one i can talk to but Him about how much it hurts to be alive to see such things.

His answers come in the form of soft mornings spent planting kisses on my newborn niece's tiny feet as she coos and stares up at me with the sweetest eyes i've ever seen, sitting my vivacious 2-year-old niece on the counter as we make breakfast together and she babbles excitedly in her signature blend of baby Urdu and gibberish, or rubs her nose against mine to express affection like a cat. Some days, the answer lies in making my nieces laugh, and feeling my heart become reborn through the sweet music of their giggles. Or wandering through a forest rustling with the sounds of mysterious creatures at twilight, marveling at the sight of burgeoning waterfalls pouring into a gleaming river, then gazing up at a sky full of stars in pure, astonished wonder with my equally awestruck brother.

It isn't sustainable to spend every moment ruminating on the unbearable pain of the world, so i try my best to assuage my grief like this as often as i can: with a balanced diet of wonder, joy, and reverence for every instance of beauty i can find.

While i was still in Arizona, i watched a few episodes of Virgin River, which seemed like the ideal dose of wholesome sweetness my mind has needed lately, and oh my goodness... The scenery is so, so beautiful- i think i could watch the entire show on mute just for the scenery alone. If i could move to a beautiful little town near a lake nestled in the mountains, i don't think i'd ever complain again; i'd look out my window every morning and live out my days in a never-ending state of gratitude and bliss. But i know what God would say to that: it isn't about where you are in the world, or what the scenery is like- it's up to you to make a place beautiful. He endowed us with that power when He made us His khulafa on earth. An open heart perceives beauty everywhere; a willing heart creates it.

Every day, my heart awaits the era when all the oppressed people of the world will finally be free. If i live to see that day, i'll have to invent a new language to convey my joy, because my heart will finally be free to experience the collective bliss of humanity's happiness, instead of its pain. Before i die, i dream of being kept awake by the world's joy instead of its anguish. I experience a taste of that feeling every time i'm with the people i love most, but my own happiness isn't enough- i want joy for everyone. I don't know if i'll be alive when that time comes, but i will never stop praying for and waiting for it. I'll never stop rebuilding my optimism and rekindling the fires of my hope, and i'll never stop thanking Him for the rare moments of beauty still to be found in this wounded, burning world.

x r