#apparently I draw best under other pressure

[luludeluluramblings]

Socialite!BatSis!Reader x Yandere!Bat Family

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Part Two

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

A/N: Hi! I don't know where the fuck this came from. But, it has plagued me for months. Inspired by Labour and the Fruits by Paris Palmoa, Please Don't Cry for Your Daughters Eve by Lydia the Bard, and Curses by the Crane Wives. This my attempt at being dark, so either this fucks you up or I fucked up. Apologies for both.

Warnings: Fem!Reader, Implied assault, neglect, yandere themes at the end

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

You got the Wayne looks, the Wayne charm, the Wayne name, but you’re fragile. Bruce would tell you. Damian would tell you. (Not so kindly.) Everyone in the manor would tell you.

But, charm and good looks still have their uses. And, everyone in the family despises all the galas they need to attend.

So, when Bruce offers to take you to one, you up the charm, you dress your best. You use your finest manners and all the proper ways your Momma raised you to your advantage. And, you flourish.

You can tell from the slight smile Bruce has on his face on the way home. The hint of pride in his eyes at your job well done.

You can’t help your family or Gotham as a Bat. But, you can help them as a Wayne.

The socialite. That’s your roll. Not a bird, not a bat. A little social butterfly. Drawing the public attention away from the things that go bump in the night.

You like your role. Sure, you're not bounding over the Gotham skyline saving people from muggers and insanely themed villains. But, you're helping your family, and that's what matters to you.

At least, that's how it starts.

It was special to you in the beginning. Going to charity gala's and events with your father, Bruce. No one else in the family enjoys going to these events. It was your own personal father and daughter bonding time, in a way.

But, as you got older the pressure started and the distance between you and the others grew.

You were a music box ballerina. Spinning in place to the same tune over and over again while sitting on a dusty shelf. And, Bruce would wind you up to dance every time he need his social butterfly to charm Gotham's public.

Soon you had a whole team of faceless people picking out your dresses, changing your style, cutting your hair. You couldn't be anything less than a vain air-headed heiress, because that was your role. Brucie needed someone to follow in his footsteps, not Batman.

The dresses got more expensive, the flashes got brighter. The diets got stricter.

And, the distance grew farther.

And, then Bruce stopped going with you to the galas.

You weren't upset the first time. Or, the second time. Or, even the third time.

It was the fourth time that things started to crack.

Sure, Batman was needed. Sure, there was Justice League business. Sure, there was a patrol that ran late. Sure, there was a breakout at Arkham.

But, the fourth time, when you found him and the rest of the family laughing in the cave, it really didn't feel like they were focusing on the good of Gotham while you were struggling to smile sweetly at men twice Bruce's age wanting to take you home.

Still, you powered on. Kept doing your part. You were making the family proud afterall.

Right?

It was the ninth time it happened that you broke.

The nineth time you had gone to a gala alone in an expensive dress you didn't pick, one that showed off way too much skin. One that seemed to tell everyone in that grand ballroom that you were up for the taking. One that just barely hid the bruises from their fingers and palms under the fabric.

You wore that placating smile and that dress all the way home. With a driver you didn't know at the wheel of the car Bruce sent for you. The backseat empty even if you sat on it.

When you got home, you walk in on something that made each cracked piece of you ache.

Apparently it was game night. Everyone that mattered was playing Mario cart of all things.

"Look at that Cinderella’s back from the ball." Jason was the first to notice you standing in the doorway of the room. And, his words burned.

Cinderella. Cinderella. Back from the Ball.

"Hey, glad you’re back. Hope you had fun." Dick didn't even glance at you as he spoke, took focused on beating Stephanie who had her tongue sticking out as she concentrated.

"God, those galas are so boring, I don’t know how you do it." Duke says in passing. It would be meaningful if he hadn't said the same thing the last six times you had come home.

Tim and Damian were also playing the game, with Tim occasionally nudging Damian to mess him up. Like typical siblings.

Barbara was in the room as well, a book on her lab to read. Only you could tell she hadn't read much, judging from where her book mark was located.

"Good job." Bruce says absentmindedly. You can't even tell if its directed at you or at the blueshell Damian just managed to hit Dick's racer with.

Words don't even leave your lips as you exit the doorway, pieces of you falling to the floor as you wobble to your room.

Cinderella. Cinderella.

The clock striking twelve in your mind as you feel the rotten pumpkin sinking in your gut and the magic wearing off.

You don't notice that Cassandra seems to hear it too as she watches you. Like she can hear the shards falling to the ground. And, she's unsure if she needs to warn the family that something just broke down the hall.

As you enter your room, taking in the fancy decor. It feels disgusting. The magic is gone. It's all rotten and you want it gone.

Cinderella. Cinder. Cinder.

Your tear the fabric of the dress as you take it off. Tears falling down your cheeks s you struggle against the fabric and clasp. Expensive gemstones falling to the floor as your finally rip it free.

There bruises under your dress. Finger prints on your bones. And, you're choking on air as the fabric rubs your skin as it falls to the floor. The fabric ripples like water and you hate it. You want the opposite of cool rippling water. Water drowns, and you need air.

Your skin feels to hot and each bruise burns.

Cinder. Cinder.

You're Cinderella and you crave ashes. You need air, but smoke will do instead.

Instead of letting it lay on the ground like it's dead, you throw open that grand window in your room and chuck it out the window. Watching as it flutters and falls to the grass in a heap, the breeze doing nothing to cool your anger on and underneath.

It’s not enough. Not enough. It's not going to be enough.

More. Cinderella. Give it more.

Your closet door was cracked when you left for the gala tonight. Now you break it the rest of the way and grab each hanger carrying a pretty dress in a bag and throw it over the ledge.

Still not enough. Needs more ash.

Cinderella. Cinderella.

You break you dresser as you rip out the drawers. The wood splintering as you throw it out the window and on to the pile of dresses on the night dew covered grass.

You want to throw more, but you chest is heaving and your hands are shaking. Instead you stumble out of your room with just the bruises on your skin and towards the kitchen. You don't even hear the pans and cabinets doors slamming as you search for the matches.

Before you can find your light, you find a bottle of fancy wine. One that reminded you of the smell of this night.

You grab it, not caring that another bottle falls and shatters by your feet. Drawing attention, but not yours, as you finally find the matches and wobble out the door towards your pile of soon to be ash.

Cinderella. Cinderella.

You're laughing as you shatter the bottle on to the fabric. Lighting up a single match and then throwing the entire box at it the pile.

It catches light quick and the air around you finally matches the heat under your skin.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” You can barely hear Bruce's voice from behind you as your laugh. Turing to face him and the rest of the family's horrified faces at the sight of you.

You can barely restrain the giggles.

“I’m Cinderella. Cinder fucking Ella.” You spin like the little figurine you are. Like the pretty paper ballerina before she burst into flame.

Bruce rushes towards you, words spilling from his lips as terrifying thoughts fill his head at the sight of the bruises illuminating your skin.

“What happened tonight?”

“You would know if you had been there. But, you weren't. You never are.”

“Listen, you said you liked the galas-“ Excuses, excuses. You made enough for him and the rest of them in your own head that you don't want to hear more spoken out loud.

“I did! I did! But, that was when I had my father there to keep me safe.” You mock, spinning out of reach and looking at the flames.

They don't last long. The wood from your broken dresser drawers the only thing keeping the fire going. The expensive fabric not lasting long at all. Pretty things rarely ever do.

“But, no. I’m just another little one of your pawns in this family. Only you didn’t fuckin’ train me on how to fight off wandering hands. You taught me that I just had to grin and bare it.” Bitterness trips from your lips as you wipe of that sweet tasting wine from the night off your mouth.

“What happened?” His voice almost shakes. Almost, but not quite. You were the fragile one. The paper ballerina. The little Cinderella of the family.

You weren't suppose to break under his care.

But, was there any care if he let you fall from the shelf after he so haphazardiously placed you on it between uses?

“I’m not a whore.” You whisper to yourself. Words that had been dying to say to the hands that touches to tonight. Words that you wanted to shove down the throats of the strangers that pinched your skin, that gripped you too tight and too close.

“I’M NOT A WHORE!” Instead you scream it at him. Uncaring if you don't look pretty and perfect while doing it. Uncaring if your voice cracks from the way the emotion bubbles from your chest.

Startling enough, Bruce wraps his arms around you. Like he was trying to shield you. Like he was trying to keep you safe. Like he should have done. It feels awkward and tight. Your arms pressed tightly to your chest at an awkward angle. Your legs giving out at you sob and scream at him.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you touch me. Let me go— I don’t want you to touch me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m— I’m so sorry.” His whispers over into your hair as he clutches you close. So close that you feel more bruises forming on your skin.

Cinderella. Cinderella.

“I’m not—" Your voice breaking as you wail. Like the child you are in his arms.

Through your tears you watch Dick turn away, followed by the others. Cass lingering to brush your hair back as Bruce holds you tight.

You don't see his fist clench so tight his knuckles turn white.

You don't hear the silence in the cave as Jason changes out the bullets in his gun.

You don't feel the chill in the air as Damian scouts out the fancy house.

You don't feel the fear of God that Tim puts into grown men as that watch their wealthy drain to zero before their eyes on screens.

You don't watch as Barbara makes a few calls and plants evidence of crimes that can't be covered up.

You don't see Stephanie ripping out teeth.

You don't see Duke letting Gotham go dark as terror reigns for that one long night and day.

You just see Bruce, holding you close and apologize over and over again while Alfred puts out the flames behind you.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

A/N: Yeah, I love the thought of Reader being the one to be the Socialite Wayne while everyone does vigilante stuff. But, interacting with Gotham’s elite would suck so much and so many things could go wrong.

A/N: Apologies if I missed the mark with it or if it’s all over the place.

A/N: I just really loved the imagery of standing in front of a fire of expensive burning dresses while screaming at Bruce naked as the day you were born much to the rest of the family’s horror.

[urlibragirl]

summary : you and eren were childhood friends, but you guys drifted apart. One day, Eren decide to stick the pieces back.

warnings/content : mdni!, fem!reader, jealous!eren, eren is a virgin, little bit of angst, p in v intercourse, unprotected sex, oral sex(m receiving)

word count : 1271

Sighing heavily, Eren rubbed his forehead as he tried to recall the events leading up to your falling out. You guys had been inseparable during childhood, always playing together and sharing secrets. But somewhere along the line, things changed. 

He remembered the day clearly, it was after Jean had joined your group of friends. There was something different about you, you seemed happier, more confident. And yet, at the same time, she seemed distant too. Like there was part of herself that kept hidden even from him.

Grinning widely, you clapped your hands excitedly as you talked to your friends about the tv-show you watched the night before. Your laugh echoed through the hallways, drawing attention from everyone around you.

You may have been known for being somewhat wild and carefree, but there was no denying that people enjoyed being around you. Even though Eren preferred quieter gathering, he couldn’t help but admire your ability to light up any room you entered. Watching you interact with others made your heart ache just a little bit more. 

He wished things could go back to how they used to be, but he knew that ship had sailed long ago. Instead, he forced himself to focus on his studies, hoping that one day he might finally gain control over his feelings. Little did he know, your paths were destined to cross again under unexpected circumstances.

One fateful evening during winter break, Armin hosted a party at his place which included most members of their original friendship circle. Despite initially declining due to personal reasons, Eren eventually caved in under pressure from Mikasa and Jean who insisted he needed some time off studying. Reluctantly agreeing, he arrived at Armin’s house.

As the night wore on and the party reached its peak, Eren found himself drawn to you, despite the animosity that had grown between you two over the years. With a determined stride, he made his way through the crowd until he stood in front of you, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Hey," he said, trying to keep his voice casual despite the butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

You glanced at him, “Oh, hey Eren,” you answered “It’s been a long time.”

You guys stood in awkward silence for a moment, the weight of your unresolved issues hanging heavy in the air.

“Look, I didn’t mean to ignore you or act like a jerk. It’s just that seeing you with Jean made me realize how much I missed having you around. We were best friends since forever, and suddenly, you were gone. I tried to move on, but my heart wouldn’t listen. So yeah, maybe I acted immaturely sometimes, but deep down, I was hurting too.” 

Your eyes widened in surprise as you listened to Eren pouring his heart out. You hadn’t expected such honesty from him. For once, he sounded vulnerable instead of aloof. “There’s also something I need to tell you,” you began, your voice barely above a whisper. “Something I’ve been wanting to say for quite a while now…” You paused for effect, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“The truth is, I’m in love with you. From the moment we met all those years ago, I knew there was something special between us. And as time went by, that feeling only grew stronger.” you finally said.

“But what about Jean?” Eren asked with a surprised tone. “Oh, with Jean it wasn’t anything serious,” you said. “It’s going to sound horrible but both of us needed someone to forget about the friend they were in love with, me with you and him with Mikasa, but apparently it wasn’t really effective”

“So why didn’t you say something?” he asked. “Well, I could ask the same thing to you Eren?” you answered, teasing him a little bit.

“I guess I was just scared,” he admitted sheepishly. “ Afraid that maybe you really had moved on without me – I’ve missed you Y/N,” he confessed, his voice shaking. “More than you’ll ever know”.

As your faces drew closer, the world around you seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of you in a bubble of intense emotion. Your hearts raced in unison, beating wildly against your chests as you prepared yourselves for whatever laid ahead.  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, your lips met in a tender, passionate kiss.

It was as if all the pent-up frustration and sorrow from your tumultuous past had suddenly vanished, replaced by a powerful wave of desire and affection. Time stood still as you were both lost in the moment, savoring every second of your long-awaited reunion. 

When you guys finally pulled apart, you gazed into each other's eyes, lost in the depths of each other's souls. "I love you, Eren," you whispered, your voice shaking slightly with emotion. "And I love you too, Y/N," he replied, his voice equally strained.

As your lips parted, Eren found himself struggling to catch his breath. This was new territory for him; he had never experienced such intense passion before. He looked into your eyes, wondering if she felt the same way. 

To his relief, he saw a mix of lust and tenderness reflected back at him. Gently guiding you towards the nearby bedroom, he led you inside and closed the door behind you. The room was dimly lit, casting eerie shadows across the walls. 

Undressing each other slowly, you were revealed in the sight of each other's naked forms for the first time. Despite being a virgin, Eren couldn't hide his excitement or nervousness. You sensed his apprehension and decided to take charge. 

Kneeling down beside him, you ran your hands up his thighs, stopping just short of his erection. Looking into his eyes, you gave him a reassuring smile before taking him into your mouth. Eren let out a moan as you teased him expertly, sucking gently on his cock while running your tongue along its length. 

Overwhelmed by pleasure, he reached down to touch your hair, encouraging you to continue. As you worked him over with your skilled tongue, he couldn't help but wonder how lucky he was to have found someone like you. 

Meanwhile, you moved up to straddle Eren's lap, grinding your hips against him suggestively. You wanted this to be special for him, and you intended to make sure it was. Slowly lowering yourself onto his hardened member, you gasped as you felt him slide inside your wet folds. It was tighter than he expected, but in a good way. 

You began moving up and down, meeting his thrusts halfway as you both sought release. The sounds of skin slapping against skin filled the air, punctuated by gasps of pleasure from both parties involved. Eren grabbed hold of your hips, pulling you closer as he buried himself deeper inside your warmth with each stroke. 

Your rhythm became faster and more urgent as you neared climax. Just when it felt like neither of you could take another moment, you both cried out in ecstasy, your bodies shuddering together as you reached orgasm simultaneously.

"Oh god," Eren groaned, his voice hoarse from exertion. "That was incredible." He pulled you closer, burying his face in your neck as he savored the scent of your skin. "I don't think I've ever felt anything like that before." You smiled contentedly, tracing gentle circles on his back. "Oh don’t worry, we're just getting started." 

With renewed energy, you two began exploring each other's bodies once more, lost in the heat of the moment. Every touch sent waves of pleasure coursing through you, heightening your senses and deepening your connection. 

a/n : i wrote this at 2 a.m, so there might be grammar mistakes sorry

[im14andivebeen14foramonth]

ADHD CURTIS BROTHERS HCS PLEASEEEEE 🙏

YESSS I FUCK WITH THIS HEAVY

Ponyboy

pony's most apparent symptom is his inattentiveness. his head is always up in the clouds, and he spends a looot of time daydreaming

very very very forgetful, mostly about his own needs. he'll go days without brushing his teeth if darry doesn't remind him

pony has a bad habit of zoning out while looking directly at people, so they just look over and his eyes are like wide and glazed over and staring into their souls. it especially freaks steve out for some reason. "QUIT STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!!" "huh?"

he can't get himself to do his homework in a timely manner. he works best under pressure and so he'll just procrastinate it until the night before it's due and then he locks in

when he does lock in like that, he's practically dead to the world. bro forgets to eat and drink and move his body for like hours at a time until darry or soda makes him get up and he's just like "ow. ow. ow. everything hurts"

he's still hyperactive though and it drives darry crazy sometimes. when he's with the rest of the gang is when it really spikes, and he'll start running all around the house with them. darry can tell though when he needs to get his energy out because he'll just start following darry around the house and bounce around or drum his fingers on every single thing he can. when he gets like that, darry will ask him if he wants to go for a run or play football or smthn so that he can get his energy out

bro WILL hyper fixate on every single thing he's interested in, his consistent ones are books and movies, but sometimes he'll just spend hours a day thinking about one specific book or drawing one character from the latest movie he's seen

it's always a 50/50 on whether he's going to have lots of fun or get super overstimulated in different places. like in grocery stores, after a half hour he's ready to start crying and he'll usually just get quiet and not leave darry's side until they leave. but he thrives in other places like fairs and festivals, and enjoys the bright lights and loud music

he doesn't have great control over his temper. he gets frustrated super easily and will get snappy over the smallest things, but almost every time without fail it ends with him crying and feeling bad

Sodapop

this man may just be the most hyperactive person ever

he will NOT stay in one place for more than five minutes at a time. he's always running around the house, and when he does stay in one spot, he's shaking/bouncing his leg the entire time

like pony though, he gets his moments where he locks in and they're the only times that he doesn't break focus no matter what. he'll go from talking nonstop to just being dead silent as he tries to fix something on a car at work and it freaks steve out

he's so bad with rejection :( even if it's something as small as someone saying they don't like his favorite car, or they're not in the mood to talk about horses, he'll get so sad and feel like his interests are stupid

he cries a lot no matter what he's feeling. if he gets frustrated, angry, or scared, he'll start crying and his energy goes through the roof

soda is easily the most forgetful person any of the gang has ever met. he'll forget what day it is, to put shoes on, to take food out of the oven, everything. it's mostly a short-term memory issue. however, his memory will be really good for oddly specific things. steve: "remember that time I got a cold or something in like elementary school and-" "oh yeah that tuesday in october in first grade when you were wearing that red shirt and you kept sneezing during story time :)" "why do you remember that??" "I dunno"

when he gets overstimulated it's BAD. it doesn't happen often, but when it does, he'll break down in tears and refuse to speak to anyone. darry's the only one who can ever calm him down

he stims a lot, usually by playing with the hair on the back of his neck or rubbing whatever shirt he's wearing

Darry

although it may not be as obvious, darry's also on the hyperactive side. he loves football, running, swimming, anything that's high intensity and lets him get his energy out. when he doesn't have a chance to do those things, he'll usually just pace around or do a quick workout

he will drum his fingers every single time he's thinking, he's even worse than pony with it. and if he has a pen in his hand, you better believe he's clicking it nonstop. the amount of dirty looks he got in school for it was crazy

even though he gets on pony for it a lot, darry also zones out a lot. he's usually better at hiding it though, like people will be having full conversations with him and they don't realize that he was zoned out the whole time until they ask him something and he just goes "huh?"

his biggest hyper fixation has always been football. he could talk for hours and hours about any player, team, or game if someone lets him

he did great in school, but he always had to find obscure ways of remembering things for tests and quizzes, he especially did a lot of those acronym things. whenever someone asked him how he did something or remembered something, he would explain his weird system and they would be even more confused

this poor man cannot cope without a schedule. that's a part of the reason why he gets so bothered when pony isn't home at the right time, because it throws off his schedule and then his whole day is ruined

whenever he reads, he can only focus if he sort of murmurs the words the whole time, and he almost always plays with the edges of the paper to keep his focus

when he gets overstimulated, he gets snappy and loud and doesn't want a single person to touch or talk to him

he's big on vocal stims. he hums or mumbles to himself or makes random noises whenever he's trying to focus on something

[iamamythologicalcreature]

What the WIP Wednesday am I doing?

Okay, sooo apparently everyone is doing WIP Wednesday, today. (Okay maybe not the entire internet, but you know, there's a lot of wipsday action, today.) I thought, "Okay. Sure. I can get lost in this crowd. It's a good crowd."

So, I say to @alexalexinii, @monbons, @prettygoododds, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @mooncello,

@blackberrysummerblog, @fiend-for-culture, @shrekgogurt, @bookish-bogwitch, @noblecorgi,

@drowninginships, and @artsyunderstudy (who is the devil on my shoulder today apparently XD)... You are all to blame for this. Yup. Your fault. Peer pressure! (Thank you for tagging me though, I look forward to seeing what all you have happening in your creative minds. <3)

Cause. Well. I don't usually post art in progress. I'm far too anxious a person to do such a thing. It's fine if it's a sketch that's like... finished as a sketch. But in progress? *gulp*

Well, here goes.

This is what I've been working on, usually when I'm supposed to be working on something else:

Mermay!

(sorry for the low contrast, my eyes are delicate orbs that shy away from bright light...)

I did three sketches. One of which I will endeavor to color and make all nice and pretty. I've already determined it's not going to be the first one. The other two are neck-and-neck and it will likely come down to who has fins I like better. Which will it be? Tender snowbaz or playful snowbaz?

(Either way, I'm very determined to give Simon mermay wings. So that's going to happen come hell or... high water... *ahem*)

Honestly, I just really love merpeople. I'm surprised it's taken me this long to attempt this. The very first thing I ever learned to draw as a little bittle babe was a mermaid. (My teachers did not appreciate my dedication to anatomical accuracy the way I did.) Soooo Mermay? Mermay is a THING? Well, twist my arm, guess I have to snowbaz it.

(Oh, and shoutout to another guilty party, the SSCoNE server. They put the idea in my head. OH, and @cutestkilla. For general encouragment. And @hushed-chorus. For general encouragment and writing a gorgeous fic with merman Baz in it. )

Even more tagged people under the cut:

HELLO OUT THERE! @rimeswithpurple @run-for-chamo-miles @youarenevertooold @whatevertheweather @that-disabled-princess

@arthurkko @raenestee @facewithoutheart @emeryhall @agni-ashes

@skeedelvee @thewholelemon @supercutedinosaurs @tender-ministrations @bazzybelle

@ic3-que3n @imagineacoolusername @valeffelees @roomwithanopenfire @ileadacharmedlife

@aristocratic-otter @best--dress @technetiumai @brilla-brilla-estrellita @onepintobean

@palimpsessed and anyone else who wants to join in/say hi.

(I love getting tagged, because I tend to miss out on things if I don't get it stuffed into my notifications. Feel free to hit me up on Discord, too, send links. I just can't often browse tumblr as I wish. Not if I want to draw and... read... I need to do some reading...)

*Pitch Manor is still happening, I'm just taking a break to draw fish boys in between doing a few too many other things. I like being busy.

[medeaft]

OC Deep Dive: Kai

Tagged by @porcelainseashore and @essie-essex. Thank you! <3

I have decided to do this with Kai (mine, not Porcelain's, of course), who is the Tremere Sire of my Bloodlines self-insert, and who was executed not nearly as permanently as some would expect (but that's a story for another day). I don't feel quite right calling it a deep dive, it's hardly that, but they are interesting questions, even if it does not nearly describe him wholly; and since this is apparently the name of this ask game, I'll leave the title as it is.

The picture is a portrait of him I painted earlier, it links back to the original post. I'll put the questions and answers under the cut, since it's long.

. ⋆ ˖ ⁺‧ ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽˖⁺✩⋆◯⋆✩⁺˖☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ ‧⁺ ˖ ⋆ .

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

He actually doesn't have many; not ones that stick around at least. To be sure, he'll be afraid when he can see a bad outcome threatening; but that will pass as the situation is handled. He is prone to worrying about his loved ones however, and his Sire, Emmeline, might be the one he worries about with the greatest frequency.

Do they have any pet peeves?

He has very little patience with intrigue. Especially people trying to get his cooperation in conspiracies without telling him the truth of what they are trying to involve him in. If anyone comes to him saying something like "there is no need to tell [trusted ally] this, it doesn't merit their attention/would only worry them/they already know", he agrees to nothing and immediately makes sure to tell [trusted ally] all of it first thing, even if he doesn't understand what they actually wanted and doesn't personally see the harm in it. There probably was going to be harm in it somehow. He's not here for the conspiracies, he's here for the magical studies, which are a much better use of both cloak and dagger.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

3 items? There are 3 000 000 items in his bedroom, and you can't find even one of them… Only he knows where he ever put anything, but he remembers exactly. These include, selected for no particular importance:

A Rubik's cube

A compass (the orientation kind)

A compass (the drawing kind)

What do they notice first in a person?

Behaviours; to wit, in context rather than by themselves. (Sitting on a bench at a train station and looking upward at the arrivals-departures display, sitting on a bench at a park and looking upward at the swaying flowering branches, and sitting on a bench in front of a house and looking upward at the lit windows are distinctly different behaviours.)

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

4. He'll get through it if he has to, but he is very aware of the function of pain as a warning of something that should not be that way, and he will not make it a point of pride to needlessly go through harmful things, he will remove himself at his earliest convenience.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? (or freeze and fawn)

Flight. That's not a permanent solution though. He might not articulate it this way (unless he is asked), but he is aware that if someone is engaging him unexpectedly (whether that be openly framed as a battle or not), that makes it a battleground that the other chose, and that consequently favours them, even if he doesn't know yet why; this fact informs his instinct that if there is any uncertainty, he would rather remove himself and choose a different time and battleground of his own liking, one where his opponent is the one surprised and, if possible, at a disadvantage.

What animal represents them best?

From an outside perspective, a cat. He looks attractive, non-threatening, charming even, socially presentable to have around; but you'll eventually find him doing atrocities, and he won't feel even a little bit bad about them; and then he'll rest peacefully sitting in weird positions, possibly draped across his friends' laps. A lot more loyal than many expect, because he's simply not very hierarchical about his loyalties. Also enjoys his hair being petted, but naturally only those he is close to are aware of (or have permission to do) this. From his own perspective, a scorpion. He likes them and thinks they are cool, and if he had a different form, he would want it to be a scorpion.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Cute young guy, friendly, probably into metal, what with the symbols and the piercings. A bit creepy, but probably harmless.

Do they have any hobbies?

Reading comic books and watching television are certainly hobbies he has. He also likes puzzles he can solve by manipulating objects physically (the Rubik's cube is a good example here, but there are many others). He doesn't consider learning new things to be a hobby; as a Tremere, that's his main vocation and goal in unlife.

. ⋆ ˖ ⁺‧ ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽˖⁺✩⋆◯⋆✩⁺˖☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ ‧⁺ ˖ ⋆ .

I had to redo this because there was something wrong with the post originally. Sorry about that to anyone who sees it twice.

Tagging @master-of-shenanigans, for when you are ready to return; @viiihouse; @ridiculus-mus (I know you do too have characters you wrote, they don't have to be VtM ones! I want to know more about them!! :D), and tagging back @porcelainseashore in the hopes that you do this with more characters!

[mabelstone]

This is pulled straight out of my drafts (didn't feel creative enough to follow through with the idea) but something public with Remer would be hot, but like he's being noisy about it and you have to keep him quiet but he's STILL managing to be loud😁 (love you bae I believe in you)

thanks baby cakes hope i did your idea some justice xx

Be Quiet

doug remer x f!reader

CW: public (ish) unprotected intercourse, consensual slapping (just once), kind of orgasm denial? well, reader is a teeny bit mean but they make up for it

Remer was known to be obnoxiously loud in bed. Even if meeting him for the first time, you’d instantly pick up on the fact. He was also very secure in his sexuality, many of his most effective psyche outs involving his dick in someway or another, whether he was pretending to jack off on the field, or telling someone from the opposing team that he wanted to “feel them deep inside” him.

He had the tendency to get you all riled up in public spaces; rubbing you through your panties under the table at dinners, sending you unspeakable pictures/texts during important meetings. Tonight, you were out at dinner with the Beers team and their respective plus ones, dining at a high end restaurant to celebrate their success of the Denslow Cup.

Remer was currently running his fingers along your inner thigh, looking up and talking to the group as if nothing was happening under the table. You were growing more frustrated about this apparent kink he had by the day, always trying to get you hot and bothered in public then denying you anything further until you got home.

You'd just about had enough, squeezing your thighs around his hand for some sort of relief. He looked absolutely delicious tonight, an ambiguously patterned shirt, black slacks that were a faux leather material, all complimented by his signature glasses and unruly curls. You felt like a dog on heat, attempting to subtly grind down on his fingers the best you could, him digging his nails into your inner thigh to let you know he understood what you were up to. His fingertips dragged across your panties, applying enough pressure in the right spot to make your breath hitch in your throat. He still looked around the room and joined in conversation, playing the perfect innocent act while you continued to throb beneath his touch.

He slipped a finger under your panties and over your heat, barely touching you, yet collecting a decent amount of your slick, wiping your arousal onto your thigh subtly. He looked down at it with a smirk, seeing it glisten under the lights before drawing his hand from you completely. He grabbed out his phone and shot you a quick text, before pocketing it and turning back to the group.

You frustratedly pulled out your phone, the text reading, "so wet over nothing."

You stood up from the table, grabbing him by the wrist and yanking him up with you. "Excuse us for a minute," you smiled to the table, tugging your inconsiderate boyfriend to the nearest bathroom you could find. He was so surprised that he couldn't even form his usual smart ass comment, just blindly following along wide eyed, before you roughly grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him into a stall.

He stared up at you wide eyed as he sat on the lid of the toilet, almost in shock at how out of character this was for you - well, in public anyway.

"Uh, what are you do-" he laughed, cut off by your hand covering his mouth. You slipped your underwear off with one hand, the other keeping Remer quiet as you instructed,

"Take your pants off." You kept your heels on, your panties getting caught around your ankle. Not that you cared though, you needed to feel him inside of you within the next 10 seconds or you'd go insane. He obliged eagerly, a muffled "yes ma'am," vibrating against your palm. You helped him pull them down around his ankles, roughly shoving his back against the wall as to say, 'don't worry about it.'

Without a second of hesitation, you lined him up with your entrance, removing your hand from his mouth to see his typical mischievous grin. You gave him his first and final warning, dark desperate eyes that were so serious about the words to follow;

"Don't. Make. A Sound."

With that, you lowered yourself down onto him, the delicious stretch causing the faintest gasp to escape your lips. He groaned loud, gripping your hips tight as he threw his head back. Your eyes widened as you slapped your hand over his mouth again, moving inches away from his face to shush him, "you need to be quiet or I'll stop." His eyes were apologetic, nodding in understanding as you began picking up your speed. He did his best to be quiet, staring at you with the sluttiest expression you'd ever seen on a man.

"Good boy," you praised quietly, rolling your hips rhythmically, feeling his cock hit your sweet spot with each selfish movement. Satisfied with his behaviour, you began picking up your pace again. Removing your hand from his mouth, your roughly gripped his shoulder, using the advantage of having heels on to push yourself up and down his length. You bit your lip to stifle a moan, the soft sound of the skin of your thighs slapping together and soft breaths echoing through the bathroom.

"God, Remer," you moaned as quiet as you could, both of your pants starting to accelerate.

"Fuck," he groaned, using his thighs to bounce you, hands moving to your ass, digging his nails into your skin hard. He slapped your ass with all his force, a big red welt forming almost instantaneously.

You gasped loud, striking him across the face, ripping a loud, girly moan from him. He always loved when you hit him in the bedroom, though it took some time for you to come around to it.

"Remer, quiet," you tried to warn, but it came out in a strained whimper, your hands pulling his hair roughly.

"Sorry, baby," he laughed breathlessly, brining his thumb down to circle your clit.

"Shit, fuck," you whimpered, Remer now bringing his spare hand up to your mouth this time. You gripped his shoulders harder to stabilise yourself, grinding harder and faster now.

"I'm gonna cum, Doug," you panted against his hand, his pressure on your clit more meaningful now.

He moaned almost pornographically at your admission, the sound causing you to come undone above him, slapping your hand over his mouth to dually shut him up, but also to hold yourself steady as you continued to ride out your high.

It was exhilarating really; bodies coated in a light sheen of sweat, both of you covering the others' mouth as you tried your best not to scream out in pleasure.

Just as you could tell he was about to finish, you lifted yourself off of him. He whimpered at the loss of contact, shocked that you were denying him for the first time... ever.

"What? No, what are you doing?"

"Giving you a taste of your own medicine," you whisper shouted, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss to his lips. You bent down to pick up your panties, only getting them just over your ankles when suddenly, Remer's strong hands pulled you up, flipping you around so roughly that your cheek smacked against the stall door. He grabbed your hips, sliding into you frictionlessly. You gasped at the invasion, your fingers instantly finding his soft curls.

He wrapped his hand around to the front of you, rubbing at your overly sensitive clit again. He breathed heavily in your ear, the heels making it easier for him to fuck you from this position.

His thrusts grew sloppier, your second orgasm approaching as he continued to assault your g-spot. You could tell he was close by his change in breathing pattern and the quiet, pitchy moans falling from his lips.

"Please cum in me," you whimpered pathetically, always ending up putty in his hands, even when you wanted to hold back from him.

And so he did without a word, but rather a loud groan, biting into your shoulder in a poor attempt to suppress the sound. The mix of pleasure and pain, accompanied by those angelic moans of your boyfriend nearly tipped you over for the second time.

"I'm gonna-" you warned again, nearly crying out when he pulled his cock out of you.

"Remer-" you whined, cut off by his lips pressing gently against yours.

"Shhh, someone might hear you." He mocked, bending down to pull you panties up for you before doing up his own pants. You stared at him gobsmacked. He simply opened the stall door, taking your hand and leading you back to the table without a word.

When you sat down, everyone turned to face you both, all conversations dying down.

"What'd we miss?" Remer grinned while you sat there mortified.

"Remer, you moan like a chick," Coop laughed, pulling the same reaction from everybody but you and your boyfriend.

"I told you to be quiet," you whispered to him.

[mania-sama]

find a time machine and take me back to when i was six

Nate - NF

➼ information ❧ Genshin Impact ❧ Pairing: Kaeya & Klee ❧ Tags: angst, hurt/comfort, gratuitous descriptions of pain, character study ❧ Summary: The story in which Kaeya is affected by the events of the quest, "Requiem of the Echoing Depths." ❧ Word Count: 938 ❧ Cross-posted from Archive of Our Own ❧ Original post date: 18 April 2022

It started as a pull in his chest. Kaeya ignored it in the beginning, figuring it was a simple spike of anxiety from the close quarters of the confinement room he and the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius were trapped in. Klee took his mind off of it as she told an incomprehensible story about Dodoco and Inazuma.

That was the thing about little kids– they don’t have a great sense of understanding of the world around them. When something happens, it’s hard for them to retell it back to an adult in a manner that makes sense. Klee was no exception to this rule, no matter her title and position within the Knights of Favonius. Kaeya found it entertaining nonetheless. At some point, Yoimiya had helped Dodoco draw a picture… he thinks. Sometimes it was better just to nod and agree as if he understood what was going on.

The ringing in his ears became apparent suddenly without warning. Kaeya couldn’t hear Klee anymore, only able to watch as her mouth moved in continuation of the story. The stone walls seemed to start to move inwards, closing the already tight space of the confinement room. He tried his best to hide his growing panic from Klee, although it was clear he wasn’t doing a good job of it. She looked worried and said something, but he wasn’t able to read her lips due to his blurry eyesight.

Gloved hand pushing against the stone wall, Kaeya attempted to stand up from his previous sitting position in the corner of the room. His muscles instantly began to burn, pulling him forward and backwards at the same time. It felt like all of his internal organs, his flesh and bones included, were trying to burst out of his outer layer of skin. He groaned involuntarily, gritting his teeth against the biting pain.

Kaeya’s knees hit harshly against the floor as he collapsed forward. He could barely see Klee as she was undoubtedly shouting at him or to someone else. His head buzzed like a swarm of bees, effectively shutting off all his senses outside of the feeling. All of that, though, was being occupied by his nervous system.

He pulled at his hair, willing for the pain to stop and for his body to remain still. He was not aware of where he was in the room anymore, his uncovered eye squeezed shut as if it would help reduce his agony. Now, instead of combusting in on itself, his body seemed to want to go downwards. Kaeya didn’t know what was down, other than the damp cave systems already explored and unnoteworthy.

The palms of his hands pushed against his temples, and his breathing had become a pattern of uncomfortable hyperpnea. His entire being still wanted to go down, down where the ground would not give under his weight, so his body was retaliating against the pressure.

It got worse, somehow, when he felt the stinging of his covered eye. A thousand needles prickled against his eye, yet his two hands were already occupied protecting his head. Kaeya couldn’t apply pressure even if he wanted to. 

He was convulsing as he suffered nothing short of torture. Kaeya wasn’t sure how long it went on; it could’ve been a few minutes, an hour, a day. It was all the same to him as his soul tried to break apart every cell that held his body together and tried to scatter the stardust that made up his core being. It was with complete certainty, though, that he did pass out cold in the confinement room. Whether that be during the process of torment or after was of no difference. What mattered was the dreams of a distant life Kaeya’s mind supplied him during his time of unconsciousness.

Kaeya did not have many memories of Khaenri’ah. He was six years old when his life turned upside down, or rather, rightside up. He remembered the destruction the archons had caused as they laid waste to his homeland, but not the halls of the castle he once roamed. It was only during the times of sleep that he could recall what he once had before he was ultimately abandoned.

The past was the past, though. His eye was the only remnant of Khaenri’ah he still retained. Home was not the decimated nation– home was the little girl crying in his arms when he woke up in a comfortable bed. Klee took notice of the consciousness of the Cavalry Captain and immediately launched into a story recounting the events. Unfortunately, he remembered the agony all too well, and phantom pain prickled against his skin.

Home was the red-haired bartender, a man Kaeya still believed to be his brother, looking at him with a completely blank stare in the doorway. Home was the acting grandmaster sitting in a chair by his bed, making unsuccessful attempts at pulling Klee off of Kaeya’s extremely exhausted body. Home was the chief alchemist in a snowy land miles outside of Mondstadt, studying the alchemy that Khaenri’ah once excelled in.

Home was not Khaenri’ah, and Kaeya was okay with that. It did not explain why his body suddenly broke down and his soul attempted to flee his body. It did not explain why his unconscious brain only thought of the nation after the torture. However, not all things need an explanation. Kaeya was content with this information– if he received more in the future, then so be it. If he didn’t, then that was fine as well. As long as he could remain home, nothing else, especially not Khaenri’ah, mattered.

[wordtotherose]

"Is there a reason we've stopped to block the doorway?" Astarion drawls, taking notice of the building attention they are gathering as the weird group taking up the entrance to the brothel. "It better be a good one if you're looking to continue in this. People tend to get antsy when you block them from their evening's entertainment, you know."

He's stood practically plastered to Elizia's back having not expected her to stop dead at the door of Sharess' Caress. Gale and Shadowheart are behind him and behind them a small line is beginning to form. His lover has got the same tense posture, and he'd be willing to bet expression, that he has previously only witnessed when she has stepped onto a pressure plate trap before he's disarmed it. Part guilt, part embarrassment, and a whole lot of trepidation. He does, just in case, take a quick look at her feet to ascertain that this is not what has happened. The top step is clear of all nefarious meddling, as expected. Which has him returning to his question.

"Well?" He prompts.

She looks over her shoulder at him and he's pleased to know he would have won his bet. "Is there, at all, any way you can think of to get the other two to leave without asking questions? Any fucking way at all, I will only draw the line at murdering them permanently."

He lowers his voice to match her hushed volume, leaning in slightly. "Unfortunately not right now. Gale has been muttering his way through their lunch menu since we started heading here. I mean, I could kill them and stash them until we get back to camp if you don't mind making more of a scene than we are already but that's the best I've got at such short notice."

A shake of the head accompanies a deep sigh. "I thought that might be the case. This is going to fucking suck."

And with that she's pushing the door open and striding in with her head high. Astarion follows, curiosity thoroughly piqued. The Caress is the same as it has always been.

Continue Reading on AO3 or under the cut

Plush, deeply coloured furnishings, wait staff dressed skimpily enough to entice but not scandalise the casual lunch goer. There's even familiar faces working the bar and not so terrible singing coming from behind the velvet curtain separating the ground floor into two. He follows Elizia as she leads them up to the bar, watching her closely. He's not sure if it's his mind playing tricks or if she really has started to sway her hips more, and has she actually plastered on a mask of a flirtatious smile or is she grimacing? It's hard to tell when they're not alone or in camp. He barely can tell the differences still and she flirts with him daily on their travels.

"Well, well, well!" A silky voice interrupts his train of thought and he gets a delightful view of Elizia straddling one of the bar stools instead of sitting down like a normal person. "Look what the cat dragged in. It's been a while, wildflower, you certainly are a sight for sore eyes."

The barmaid, possibly the owner of the place if he remembers correctly, lounges over the bartop, the cut of her dress leaving very little to the imagination. Elizia, to Astarion's absolute horror, leans forward herself to provide her cheeks for two loud kisses from the woman before sitting back. It's like he's walked into an alternate reality where Elizia is apparently friendly and charming rather than sarcastically helpful and abrasively short-tempered. There's a sour feeling in his stomach as he stands over her shoulder, completely ignored by this human woman who kisses Elizia in greeting. Without getting a scowl or punched or any sort of repercussion at all. The others don't seem to notice anything out of the usual, instead claiming a table further in to wait out Elizia's apparent gods damned reunion.

"As are you, Ruby," Elizia says, sly and with an actual honest to gods wink, it takes everything Astarion has to not say anything lest he start squawking in indignation, she's never winked at him! "I take it business has been going well?"

The woman- Ruby- waves a hand from side to side. "Good enough. Not as good as when you were around to bring in the hordes but well enough, well enough. I have a room going spare if you're looking for one? Same split as before and all, better if your gentleman here is pitching in."

Astarion chokes on air he doesn't even need. Elizia recovers for him, a much more familiar edge to her voice now. "Not for sale, I'm afraid. I told you years ago, I'm done with it. I don't need the money anymore."

Ruby nods, pushing a glass of wine towards Astarion as he gets his wheezing under control. He takes it gratefully, swigging it down in one despite the taste.

"Yes, you did. I don't think I said it then but I am truly sorry for your loss, flower, he was a gentle one, that kid. Didn't deserve the hand fate dealt him, neither of you."

It takes a second before it clicks in his head. A conversation in a dead field plays out in his memory. Elizia's demeanour barely shifts but he knows her, or at least knows her tells, well enough to jump in at last, steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Are you going to introduce us, darling, or am I to stand here like a particularly fashionable accessory whilst you two catch up?" He keeps his tone light, teasing, and is relieved when she takes it as the lighthearted jab it is.

"I don't know," she teases back, flashing that falsely carefree smile at him. He decides he hates it. "You are just intimidating enough to be an incredibly attractive bodyguard."

"Oh you'll need one of them if you're sticking around," Ruby says with a chuckle that has Astarion looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"And why is that?" He asks.

Ruby nods subtly to a number of guests scattered across the room. "I still get enquiries after you, kid. You are apparently rather hard to forget."

"Oh good," Elizia says through gritted teeth.

Astarion leans in close to her, voice low as possible so only she hears. "Say the word, darling, and we are gone. Or, if you'd rather they go, I will be more than happy to oblige. With great relish if you don't object."

She kisses his cheek and reassures him that she'll be fine, no spilt blood necessary. He backs down reluctantly.

"Dangerous indeed," Ruby muses. "If you're not here to work, what are you here for after so long?"

"Can't a girl just come to visit?"

"Are you paying for this visit?"

"I'm paying for lunch, surely that's good enough?"

Ruby shakes her head. "You know that ain't where the real money is. What about you, you've been here before, haven't you? Hard to forget a face like that."

Astarion looks between the two women, wondering when he'd lost all control of his day. "Um. Hi. Yes. And no."

"You sure about that? We got plenty of types to suit your every fancy, all of them I'm sure would be happy to spend time with the two of you, or just yourself if I've read you wrong."

"No! I mean- yes, we are but no, thank you, to your...types." he splutters his way through, hands waving to really add to his overall look of idiocy, if he could blush he'd be red as the carpets. None would recognise him now as the irrestible seductor he was.

"We're sure," Elizia says, swiftly saving him from further rambling. "We've got business to attend to, I'm afraid."

It's only when Elizia has steered them away and down through the curtain into the adjoining room that he realises she still never introduced him to Ruby. He's lengthening his stride to catch up and quietly ask her when Elizia is suddenly not on the ground and is being spun around in a circle by a very handsome, very happy drow. Who is wearing very little. Elizia is laughing, crying to be put down weakly as she gets spun round and around. Astarion, on reflex, has a blade out ready to take his first opportunity to defend Elizia. Finally letting her go, the man hands Elizia off to a very similar looking female drow who wraps her arms around Elizia's neck and kisses her. For a good time longer than is socially respectable between close friends. The male drow has a hand on Elizia's back still, terrifyingly low and very, very, familiar with her. Astarion stows his blade as Elizia gently pushes the woman back, saying something he can't quite make out.

There's greetings again and another hug between them all and then Elizia is stepping backwards into Astarion, deliberately slotting her back against his chest and covering his hands with her own when he wraps them around her stomach. He props his chin on her shoulder, all too aware of her slight shaking and the tension she normally would have lost from being in his hold by now. He takes deliberately steady measured breaths in the hopes she'll follow his example. She does, thankfully, and the shivering lessens gradually even as she makes introductions.

"So, you two are related and yet offer yourselves up as a package deal? My, you have rather more incestuous friends than I expected, my dear," he tests the waters with a quick kiss over the perpetually bruised bite mark on her neck, she doesn't shy away but doesn't relax any either.

"We are twins, yes, but we are not so corrupt as you are no doubt picturing. Should both our services be called upon we may kiss for their pleasure, and coin, but that is all." It's aggravating how pleasantly the drow responds to his jab, how easily he brushes off Astarion's less than gracious judgement.

"I take it you worked together then, dearest?" He asks Elizia, stamping down on the stupid prickle of jealousy trying to scorch its way up his throat.

"From time to time," Elizia says, not a hint of her discomfort to be seen or heard. "The younger ones tended to go for these two and I often had the elder, something to do with looking young and only being a half elf compared to their hundreds of years."

"Plus she looked absolutely delectable every night. Could charm her way into anyone's gold purse this one," the sister says, clearly thinking it a compliment but Elizia's shift further back into him said enough. "But I take it you know that already," she carries on with a wicked smile, "is he the reason you left?"

"Alas, no," Astarion answers before Elizia can, "I haven't had the pleasure of her company for much longer than a couple of months. Right time, right place, and we've been travelling together since. We've only come back to pass through, won't be staying long, I'm afraid."

Elizia pinches the back of his hand subtly.

"Or maybe we will!" He rushes to add. "Who knows! The whims of fate and the Gods and all."

"Well..." the twins share a look before the female drow, he really didn't pay any attention to their names, continues, "that's...lovely. I'm sure."

"It is," Elizia agrees before extracting herself from Astarion's hold. "It's been lovely catching up but our friends are ordering food and I'm the one paying so we should go make sure they aren't going mad. I'll try and come see you again soon. It's been too long."

There's another round of hugs and then Elizia is taking his hand and leading them back to the others.

"That was far less painful than I expected," she murmurs to him as they approach the table.

Gale is already tucking into a bowl of something steaming, a book spread out in front of him. Shadowheart is methodically picking apart some sort of pie looking bored. He does feel a bit of pity for her, the wizard is not the best dinner conversation. They slide into the chairs left opposite the two, glasses of identical red wine ready and waiting. Astarion starts inspecting it whilst Shadowheart leaps at the chance to have an actual conversation rather than sit in silence. For a cleric she is not best known for her patience nor comfortable relationship with her own thoughts. He supposes he isn't much better but certainly he's less desperate about wanting his due attention.

They've barely been sat down for five minutes before the first of them comes over. Completely uninvited, a tipsy, giggling kaliodescope of a bard is swinging herself into Elizia's lap without so much as a by your leave. Astarion watches, jaw dropped, eyes wide in dismay, as the frankly horrifically dressed tiefling boldly exclaims how much she has missed Elizia these past few years before sticking her tongue down her throat. Gale casts sleep on the girl quickly and that's the first one disposed of. Elizia applogies to them with a world weary look in her eyes and nary a blush to her freckled cheeks. Shadowheart accepts the apology and their conversation continues as if nothing has happened.

The second assailant nearly has Elizia and Astarion's blades through their neck when they approach on silent feet to clap their hands on Elizia's shoulders to shake her in excitment. They don't kiss her at least. Astarion desperately wants to touch her in any number of possessive, and some deprived, ways to put a stop to it all but with every unexpected touch Elizia tenses further and further so he can't. He keenly knows the hunted look in her eyes and he doesn't want to add to it. So he keeps his hands and thoughts to himself as they eat.

The third, and final, person is a human man who looks for all the world like a perfectly decent type until he's crowded Elizia into an alcove on her way back from the bathroom. He watches, empty wine glass cracking under his grip, but doesn't intervene. Won't intervene until Elizia gives him a signal to because she is her own woman, his equal in strength and loyalty and if she can trust him to flirt his way through every conversation then he can trust her to handle herself how she wants. This is all beautiful, wonderful growth that he is sure he will look back on with pride until he smells her blood.

Things happen rather fast at that point.

Shadowheart shouts an exasperated "For fuck's sake, Astarion" as his chair clatters to the ground loudly but he's not listening. He is, as it happens, across the room throttling the man and spitting threats into his face until he runs out of creative ways to describe cutting off his fingers. He lets go and the man bolts. Elizia is stood, seemingly still processing everything.

"Where did he hurt you? Can I touch you, love?"

She nods slowly, eyes following his hands as he inspects her forearms and wrists then tilts her head from side to side to check her neck.

"You're bleeding, Tavaril, I need you to tell me where because I'm quickly running out of places to check that won't have me tracking him down and gutting him in an alley."

A flash of recognition crosses her face and then she's catching his hands in her own, drawing them up to her left ear. His index finger comes away with a small drop of her blood on the tip, her earring was pulled, that's all.

"You've gotten very sensitive about my blood, haven't you?" She sounds like she's mocking him but he can hear the quiver of nerves too. "You didn't do a thing when everyone else was feeling me up but as soon as someone else spills a tiny bit of my blood..."

He pulls away, unhappy with the bitter twist of her lips, the dip in her brow.

"I think you'll find that the first couple of times I was seconds away from feeding them their own tongues. Ask either of the other two, I've practically been twitching the entire time."

"That's a lot of restraint for you."

He shrugs, smiling down at her. "What can I say? I trust you, darling, and I didn't want to make things worse. A first for me, I know."

Her eyes soften and she holds her arms open. "You won't make it worse."

"Mm," he hesitates a moment longer before stepping into the offered hug, tucking his face into her neck to breathe her in. "I can't fault them their adoration for you, I suppose. You are magnificent, after all."

He feels more than hears Elizia's laughter.

"Would you like me to, shall we say step in, next time? Should there unfortunately be a next time."

"Only if you don't mind, I just... it's exhausting and they're more likely to back off quickly if I have a dashing companion to cut in."

He pulls back to check that no actual damage has been done to the tip of her pointed ear. "Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear. I will gladly make a nuisance of myself for your honour. What was that man even doing to tear your piercing like this?"

She rolls her eyes and brushes his hand away to feel it herself. "He never liked my ears, reminded him that I was half-elven and he had some history or some such with elven neighbours and long story short he would cover the tips when he wanted to look at me. He's an idiot and I didn't often let him have his way but when my brother was especially bad, in the winters especially, I had little choice. He paid at least."

There's a fair few things he'd like to say to that but what's done is done and Elizia looks more comfortably herself than she had and he doesn't want to ruin it. Instead he lifts her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the backs of her knuckles.

"I happen to love your ears, my sweet, my half-elven love."

"Oh really?" She asks, teasing properly this time. "I hadn't noticed, what with your fixation with them every time we slept together. Also, laying it on a little thick there."

Astarion groans, dropping his forehead against her still lifted hand. "Do you have any idea how many filthy things I want to say to you right now? You're torturing me, Elizia."

She pats his cheek with her free hand. "You can tell me all about your innuendos later. Gale is about to be propositioned by a man I know has a thing for scholars of all things and I want to see how long Gale takes before he realises he's basically talking dirty to him by telling him about his book."

"Torture. Elizia. Torture. You are a devil in disguise."

"Just a bit of a professional whore," she says, tugging him to the awaiting disaster.

He intertwines their fingers fully, allowing himself to be led. "The best of us are."

[thenixkat]

ive got 23 chapters left and i'll be caught up on what's out of Kaiju no. 8

kaiju no 10: stop fronting and admit you like fighing just as much as me so we can kill my younger sibling

using swords is more fun than shooting things heh

imagine finding yer platonic soulmate and its a big bloodknight dragon that just wants to fight fuckers and maybe eat you too

of course yall tied a sword to yer tail. 3 swords

that;s what happens when yer fighting two fuckers and dont pay enough attention to teh support

the vice captain and no10 sacrifice their tail to win the fight kaiju no 10, after everything: Cool we beat my younger sibling. That was fun. We should fight your teammates too

the vice captain apparently shut his older brother out of his life years ago for trying to demotivate him and not supporting him

so teleportation is a thing that kaiju can do

…Mina's going to ride her pet tiger into battle against the teleporting monolith and just carry her bfg

the tiger still isnt cool. The exotic pet ownership and animal endangerment is just distracting. AT least put some armor on yer cat also yikes the legs on that tiger are janky

so kafka failed the exams for 5 years b4 Mina was able to take them. Which given he's 5 yrs older than her makes sense

but also sir you failed a test 5 years in a row and then kept trying for another 7 yrs b4 presumably aging out of being able to try until they raised the max enlistment age at the beginning of the story

and then Mina decided to be mad at Kafka for just not being able to pass and leaving her to fight monsters alone breaking his promise to always be there but like he tried for over a decade. some people arent built to join the military

and because she turned out to be talented for taking out big targets she got pushed to having to be perfect by the one the only shitty rich dad who gives everyone issues who he decides to train to be the future of the nation's defense

we just keep finding out that this asshole just traumatizing so many people for teh greater good

oh you have some talent? lets throw you onto the front lines and inform you that if you fail yer risking the lives of yer comrades and civilians

ma'am I doubt Kafka being there would have changed shit other than you'd talk to him more often. Like he would have been at the bottom teir of shit if he was an officer, they'd have his ass on support and evacuation at best if he hadn't have become a kaiju that was deemed useful local high stress career was not good for her mental health

pls dont put everything on one person's shoulders. That's a great way to break them or have them burn out young ma'am Kafka being in the Defence Force would not mean he'd be allowed to be at yer side in situations like this. Yer mad at him when you should be mad at yer superiors for putting all this pressure on you

its easier to blame Kafka than her superiors apparently

good fucking lords that tiger's anatomy is bad damn brah practice drawing animals pls

damn my guy Kafka really busting his ass to achieve his dream, rekindle his friendship with his childhood bestie, and uphold his promise to her when she just decided to use him as a scapegoat for all the pressure she's under that her superiors put on her and decided to freeze him out for not being able to meet the military's standards for enlistment even tho he tried for over a decade both of them just need to find other friends hot damn

like sometimes yer childhood bestie isnt a major badass like you and can't accomplish the thing you both want him too. Getting mad about it is kinda fucked

[yeehaw-in-magic-space]

Session 6b Recap: Part 4/5 (AKA, The Ballad of Barley)

(this section of the recap is comprised exclusively of the drunken monologue that Bandit King Alexander Barley went on to explain to the party where he had come from)

“You probably won’t be surprised to hear this, but I came from a family of barley farmers. For generations we planted barley and gave it to our Baron to be distributed out to soldiers across the Sovereign Kingdom—at least, I imagined so. We didn’t exactly keep tabs on it after it was loaded onto a ship. My family was loyal and well liked, so my grandfather was made sheriff. He was responsible for administration and disbursement of goods to our Baron at the end of every month, a responsibility he passed down to my father when I was young.

The Long War had already started by the time I was old enough to look up at the stars and wonder what was going on out there. It had been good for our rulers, but not so good for the people in their territories. Things were tense, which meant my family was under a great deal of pressure from all sides hoping that they’d strike a deal in favor of either the farmers or the nobility trying to sell off crops as fast as possible.

My parents kept me out of business, but I remember when certain kids I knew weren’t allowed to visit my house for weeks when their parents were fighting with mine. I didn’t pay it too much mind, though. It would all work itself out and before anyone knew it my friends and I would be playing knights in the woods again.

Eventually, I ended up in the military academy. My parents wanted bigger and better for me than a town that was moments away from starvation or uprising. So they cut a deal, and I was sent into the stars to become a soldier and win glory for my Baron, my Count, My Duke, and of course, my Prince. 

They called me Barley there. Anyone who entered the officer academy without a last name was given one. It was to keep things even, I think. To make it clear that we all had an equal shot, whether or not it was true. I scrapped with young men who were clearly destined for command. They would be colonels, generals, rangers, and I hated them for it. Some of them were richer than me, others were simply better. I was lucky to be named captain at my graduation. Apparently I ‘showed potential’ and my ‘ambition for leadership had grown’, though it probably didn’t hurt that our instructor liked me best. I learned from my parents that it was more important to be liked by your betters than your neighbors. Your betters could get your son into the officer’s academy, your neighbors could only promise not to draw blood next time you argue over scraps.

Yes, I’d realized what my parents had done by then… and I loved them for it. I applied myself in their honor. I became an academic, a strategist, and a halfway decent fighter. I wasn’t uniquely brilliant at anything, but I was all around competent and I had a good eye for opportunity. I wasn’t going to blow the one shot I had. So I played teacher’s pet, I made a big fuss about the nobility, and I learned to stop scrapping with those destined for greatness and to start fighting those who competed for the same seat as me. I assume that’s how I really made captain, but I always felt it was proof of my growth as a strategist.

Anyway, long story short, I fought my way up during the Long War. I killed and burned until I was introduced to my Prince and offered the position of ranger. It was the proudest day of my life, and it would have been the proudest of my parents’ if I’d ever bothered to tell them. 

I didn’t know then how useless it would be: that no one could promise land or income until they knew if they’d have any holdings themselves. I was saddled with more and more danger and the opportunity to plunge myself further into the jaws of death, and in exchange I might one day get to control a city slightly larger than the one my parents had gained control of by organizing fucking barley shipments. Still, I fought. I fought until I had taken this world and all of its moons. I fought until my men had dragged the prince of this world before my Prince, and then executed the poor boy at his behest. I had taken it all, while my Prince had been struggling to keep what his other rangers had managed to resecure. It wasn’t going anywhere, but I was.

We got as many men as we could, stole as many ships as we could, and took back what we had already taken once. The months after that were hard, but the people of this world pulled through. We’d all heard about Bandit Kings, and although we didn’t have a crime lord around, it seemed easy to make one out of thin air… so we did, and Alexander Barley rose from a knight three centuries too late to a king born from the thinnest imaginable window. I made nice with those who came after my Prince was struck down, and here we are.”

[octopuscityblues]

The Octopus Hunter

August 2024 Update

Rustday, Newt 7, 244 Day 13 of the Containment Experiment

Played poker with Dr. Fidge and the others. Vermin was obviously cheating but Walls kept jumping to his defense. I don't know what she sees in a sleazy creep like him but I suppose it's none of my business.

Dr. Fidge said that the experiment is going well and the Field is holding. He tried to explain it to me again, but it went in one ear and out the other. All I got is that the experiment is now part of the prestigious Tiny Teams conference and that's apparently a really good thing? Woohoo, I guess...

Fleaday, Newt 8, 244 Day 14

Stuck on guard duty with Stutter again. There's not much to talk about. Vermin and Walls finally finished synthesizing and animating all the required "graveyard sprites": visual attachment points to draw the ectoplasm entities into the Containment Field. "The sprites make the Field come to life and feel like a real ectoplasm habitat", as Walls put it.

I have a terrible headache and can't sleep. Wonder how Mom's doing...

Smogday, Newt 9, 244 Day 15

Dr. Fidge asked me to gear up and enter the Field. Not the best way to start the day, but it's not like I have a choice. Today they were demoing the experiment to a group of military commanders. How many times do we have to update the experiment's parameters for these demonstrations?

We did manage to correct a long-standing fault in the Field's boundaries that occasionally prevented it from responding to the controller's input, so it's not all bad.

Gruelday, Newt 10, 244 Day 16

I had a medical checkup with Dr. Henrietta today. She said there's nothing wrong with me physically, but gave me some sleeping pills.

Something's definitely wrong with Dr. Fidge. Stutter asked him about the experiment's end date and Fidge got visibly upset. "We're all doing our best here! I'll have a date for you soon enough". I wonder what's eating him?

Mossday, Newt 11, 244 Day 17

Apparently they extracted part of the ectoplasm and packaged it into a miniature field with its own dedicated page on the Steam academic publishing platform. The marketing folks even recorded a new "trailer" for it, like it's the latest summer blockbuster.

Walls and Dr. Fidge keep arguing. She thinks the ectoplasm extraction will weaken the Field's structural integrity. Dr. Fidge said he's under a lot of pressure and had to give the Ghost in a Bottle shareholders something to market.

Oh, and the pills worked. I slept like a slime baby, although I still feel terrible.

Rustday, Newt 17, 244 Day 23

No time to update this diary. Really sick and also dealing with the Containment breach. We laid Vermin and Walls to rest today. This isn't what I signed up for...

Smogday, Newt 19, 244 Day 25

I woke up feeling funny. Another tooth fell off. Stutter, Dr. Fidge, and I are quarantined. Dr. Henrietta says it will be alright, but I don't trust her.

Gruelday, Undead 5, 244 Day ??

They're all dead. Dr. Fidge was the last one. I'm sorry. Too hungry. The Field is unstable. Rips in the universe...

I'm coming home, Mom...

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 11.2 extra

I just want you to know I’ve been trying to be my best self and do good in the world and if there’s something that ends up keeping me from coming back to you guys I hope you know that at least.

this bit is incredibly sad to me. "If I died, I died doing the right thing" is actually a pretty good ending, but coming from a kid it's just bleak

All the not listening you did and the ignoring me and everything? I forgive you for that and I think I understand

I wonder how this will feel going on? I imagine that even if Avery is glossing over this a bit for her parents to not feel guilty, she must have done some final sour searching to reach this point. It must be weird to come to terms with everyone in your life, be prepared to not leave regrets behind, and then get to keep on going with the clean slate

Sheridan, you had my back when it counted and I can’t tell you what it means to me, or how it changed the idea of what family is in my head. You get so down on yourself but you’re so so so much better and cooler than you think you are.

oh... that;s really sweet

A beautiful woman once told me I was on the cusp of losing my connection to humanity.

lol at specifying beautiful

no comments on the rest of Avery's letter to Ms. Hardy because I'm tearing up

If I can escape the chaos do you want to hang? We can hang out with Sir and chat art orrrr We could hang out and you can take your shirt off and I can draw you orrrrrrr We could hang out and we both take our shirts off and we can pretend we’re confused about who is supposed to be painting who before finding something else to do

smooth

I told Lucy and Avery and a woman called Miss to pass on a password for a gallery I sent you.  You’re my designated replacement if anything happens and that gallery has the big rundown.  Yep, you thought you were getting to know me?  That was all the tip of the iceberg, buddy.

I'm picturing Jeremy opening this, reading it, and realizing that a girl who was a pretty new friend in his life had no outside contact closer than him

On that note? I’m writing this under the assumption that they’re there. Avery Kelly and Lucy Ellingson. No other end result is okay in my books.

oh Verona

Care and Feeding of Lucy Ellingson and Avery Kelly: I liked the headline but because I wrote it I gotta let you know the feeding part: Lucy gets into stuff like pepperoni sticks and sour foods and things that make you go WOAH (except garlic and onions apparently) and it’s all intense and crap but when you get down to it I think she likes sweet and savory stuff most.  Avery is a vegetarian and she can eat next to anything you could call food, now, but I think what matters is that it comes from a place of care. She likes fruity flavors and mellow stuff. If Lucy’s down and out and needs nourishment to get back in the game then a chance to have a savory home cooked meal or a sweet treat she can spend a bit enjoying would do it for her.  For Avery, just the fact that you notice she’s down and out is important and then you can hand her a sports drink or something and she���ll be up for more.

aww, funny and cute that she's leaning into this bit, deeply touching that she knows this about them

[Tash is] about three years older than us she’s super cool enough I wouldn’t blame you for getting a crush on her. 😉

... yeah that's fair! Don't know how Jeremy would feel about the eyes, but I love that it's not a factor for Verona

If you bring me back as a composite echo and someone wants to take me as a familiar to help clarify me further then I’m down.

what the hell. I mean a good backup plan! But a hell of a lot of pressure to drop casually at the end of this letter

If not or if that’s weird then don’t sweat it.  Thanks for being a friend.

or don't resurrect me if you don't want! wild.

I got lucky because home was the place I could come back to to unload the small things, instead.  This was pretty close to perfect. Except I haven’t come home to unload this time, if you’re reading the letter.

yeah tearing up again

Zed has agreed he’ll fill you in if someone needs to.  He knows most of the story and it’s easier for him to answer your questions than for me to explain everything here.  Imagining you going through my stuff and uncovering it all with a terrible look on your face is making this too hard to write.

Interesting to me that Lucy is the only on who leaves information for her mom to take action, I guess because neither Verona or Avery feel that their parents are particularly useful

As a last ditch effort if the cops fail and Avery and Verona are gone you can contact a man I listed on the sheet. His name is Samaniego and he organizes people who hunt monsters like one of the ones I’m about to fight.

damn that's a nuclear option. But I suppose if all the girls are dead there's no point in playing fair or easy

I don’t want this to end without there being justice.  If I was capable of accepting any other answer then I think this might be the point I gave up.  I could let Edith win, I could choose the option where I didn’t risk me dying and you having to find this letter. I can’t.  I can’t let the people who would do that get what they want and take any more power or get any more influence.

Lucy... I love how much her principles come through in this. Avery may be the soft heart in the group and Lucy all business in her letter, but peel back the focus and drive and you get this moral determination

This can’t end without justice of some sort.

[decepti-thots]

re: meta again. first, thank you for the long answer! you have a lot of interesting points, e.g. how fandom spaces influence how you interact with media: my first fandom space was restricted to teenagers who mostly knew nothing about media analysis (and it was also animanga haha), and then I moved onto tumblr, where - in my memory - most users were slightly older teenagers but still didn't know much about media analysis. there probably was meta somewhere (apparently on LJ?), but I didn't see (or notice?) a lot of it. which possibly also was because I changed fandoms a lot more quickly, and I feel like many others did, too. there's a book fandom where five years ago, the general sentiment about an antagonist was 'well fuck him' and now people write extensive posts on why he did what and what that means for the story and why it mirrors the protagonists arc etc, which maybe means that sometimes fandoms need time to get past the initial excitement of new things to give more attention/time to meta?

I very much agree that tumblr makes interactions/discussions harder. especially re: reblogs - its so easy for someone to disagree with you in a reblog and some of their followers to take that as a hint to hate on you - I've seen this happen mostly related to "shipping the wrong things", but why wouldn't it happen for drawing the "wrong" conclusions in a meta post? I feel like the general tumblr user is older than they were 10 years ago so maybe I should hope that they've grown up as well and are more reasonable about this to be fair

what I also noticed regarding the book fandom and TF is that TF fans - depending on your specific bubble probably - seem to be more aware that writing meta is a thing, because they're more likely to call it that.

re: elitism - it's important to me that the things I was referring to can feel elitist, not that they are, if the distiction makes sense? maybe it also wasn't the best/fairest choice of words, sorry. the sentiment isn't meant towards e.g. the people complaining about headcanons that have become accepted in the fandom but have zero relation to canon. its more frustration that theres seemingly infinite canon material and you can't really join any conversation without interacting with a good chunk of it, while (seemingly) everyone else has already done that already.

and finally, wonder if part of who writes meta and who doesn't is fandom "socialization"; there seem to be a few people for whom it appears easy to express their thoughts online, and then a much larger amount of lurkers who don't, and I've never really figured out the cause.

god tumblr does really let me put as much text as I want here, I'm a bit sorry for the long message. If you have any further thoughts I'd be happy to hear them but no pressure

First of all: no apologies for the long message! I love it, I will put my thoughts under a cut for everyone's dashes but we LOVE an in depth fandom meta-meta discussion in this household. I started this blog to RAMBLE and rambling is WELCOME my friend.

You make an EXCELLENT point about how longevity can influence fandoms here, anon. Especially for fandoms where there isn't a constant drip-feed of NEW canon, I absolutely think fandoms living on and people going back and re-engaging the source material to look for new ways to engage it can gradually make meta a larger part of the fannish space sometimes. (To give my own book fandom example, I was on the periphery of book!Good Omens fandom back in the day, and the amount of time people had spent with just that one single book meant that more and more discussion of the ways you could read and work with that one book meant there was some very in-depth meta going on there.) (…as you can imagine, the last few years have been a hell of a wild time for me with the show fandom becoming the Hot New Major Fandom, LMAOOOO.)

There's definitely also something there about the old "if someone I follow clowns on a person, my (para)social relationship with them means I feel like I'm doing a social faux-pas by not choosing a side" you mention here too. Tumblr really makes visible the idea of social networks in a way I have to admit I overall find uhhh. Kind of not great. "If I follow someone who follows someone my mutual hates, do I need to perform my support of someone here", that kind of thing. (Answer: no, that is some Panopticon shit, bring in the Foucault. I am only half joking.) Even over an objectively inane Transformers headcanon take, it's the social mechanism more than the content that brings in the pressure I think. Again. Web 2.0 wants everything pushed at everyone all the time to encourage More Interaction, and reducing any sense of wider social circles being removed from you personally is a part of that I think. It's all equal on The Endless Timeline, innit.

I see what you mean about the "feels like" distinction on elitism, anon, now you lay that out- that makes sense. I do think TF fandom is sometimes a bit of a minefield in terms of like, even within certain subdivisions of canon there's so MUCH stuff (and the fandom has, IMO, a bad habit of not bothering to decide what is more or less "useful" in conversations; sometimes tertiary material is… you know. Tertiary. LOOKING AT ALIGNED FANDOM). I think those of us who are sometimes a bit more "canon completionist" do need to approach these things in terms of like- take IDW1 fandom. If someone posts meta about MTMTE based on just material from MTMTE, approaching that in good faith and not going "well it's in continuity with phase one, and THIS phase one comic says [xyz]", but instead seeing it as a perspective that takes that one text as a complete thing in itself? (And maybe considering how that perspective and how it differs from one which looks at the whoooole canon is interesting, rather than deficient, in its differences of opinion.) There are folks who get very snotty about people doing that in a way that is, at the very least, unproductive. (And the folks bringing in their Extensive Lore Knowledge TM by whining stuff from other continuities contradicts a take on a different continuity are just uhhh. Annoying. Those people can just Stop, Please, lmao.) I think understanding that different approaches to what "canon" even is can be interesting rather than something to be "corrected" might go some way to making it feel less… intimidating? Alienating? For folks working with what they like.

As for the confidence in sharing opinions thing… I can only speak for myself but uh. If I have a personal flaw it is unwarranted overconfidence, not insecurity, haha. Let me put it that way. I do think that cultivating a confidence in the idea "I have my own personal tastes, and those tastes are idiosyncratic and do not need to be compared to other peoples' taste, and they are Valid TM" is a skill to be honed and one I think is worth honing, and I think may be a big thing here from my anecdotal observations. I find that many people in fandom don't have a lot of confidence in the idea that you can express not just an argument for "objective" (lol) "quality" but a sense of personal taste? (This is not unique to fandom, at all, but I think fandom has a lot of it, if that makes sense.) Especially because often the things fandom centres around lack cultural prestige. It's why an appeal to being Real Literature TM is the go-to argument for why fanfiction is "acceptable". I think a similar thing can be true of opinions; to let go of the urge to have everyone agree with you 100% of the time and to be "proven" right, you have to feel confident enough to sit in subjectivity and be like. My opinions may be subjective, but that's fine. And you do have to cultivate that! But I think that's where the "I can express an opinion and not feel destroyed if someone flat out rejects it and I can't even disprove their argument" trick kinda lies, maybe. And maybe meta is easier if you've already internalized that, so the possibility people will be like "nope" is less scary?

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Report - Get Ready For More Pressure To Discount

Above - Slide 9 from Etsy's Second Quarter 2023 report. © Etsy

Etsy's second quarter 2023 results beat projections, but the outlook for the third quarter was weak, and that has led to a sharp drop off of the stock. No doubt investors were unimpressed that Etsy has no convincing plans to begin increasing sales and profits again. The call announced nothing truly new in that vein.

First, the resources for this post:

the press release

transcript of the conference call

slides from the conference call

video of the call (click on “Webcast” under "Latest Quarterly Results")

my summaries of the second quarter 2022, and the first quarter 2023 for comparison

The basic numbers (covering April to June 2023, compared to the same period in 2022):

Sales on Etsy were $2.6 billion, down 0.7% 

Total sales for all 4 marketplaces (Etsy, Reverb, Depop, Elo7) were $3.0 billion, down 0.6% 

Etsy’s revenue (including all 4 sites) was $628.9 million, up 7.5%

Seller service revenue was up a whopping 20.8% to $175.9 million, while marketplace revenue was up 3.1% to $453 million

Net Income was $61.9 million, down 15.3% (in part due to the impairment charge from the impending sale of Elo7)

Active buyers on Etsy alone stand at 90.6 million, an all-time high

Active sellers on Etsy alone are 6.3 million, the second large jump in a row compared to the previous quarter; numbers had been stagnant through the end of 2021 and all of 2022 [Note that “active” means one charge or transaction in the past 12 months; many “active” shops currently have nothing for sale.]

Sales where the buyer and/or the seller was not in the United States were 47%, up from 44% last year, but most Etsy buyers are still in the US

Sales on mobile are now at 68%, up from 66% last year [this includes both the buyer app and mobile browsers]

I'll cover the points of the biggest interest to sellers below, with my comments in square brackets.

Advertising (On and Off Site)

Etsy Ads (the onsite ones) again helped increase the services income. CFO Rachel Glaser mentioned that "XWalk, our real time retrieval engine" was now a part of the Ads algorithm. [It was previously introduced in search results, to help draw connections between multiple sets of data rapidly as someone is searching.] They are now able to show ads in more places, increasing site profit.

Offsite Ads (aka performance marketing) cost roughly the same in the quarter, due to testing which led to Etsy reducing money spent on some platforms.

From the press release: "We expanded performance marketing investments from 13 to 20 non-core countries, now including the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia."

Etsy Search

CEO Josh Silverman feels Etsy has made progress in search relevancy (Slide 6). Therefore, the next step is to "better identify the quality of each listing, so that from this relevant result set, we bring the very best of Etsy to the top. Our data shows that high quality listings attract a higher value buyer than our average listings, attract more repeat and habitual buyers, and most importantly, they often convert over 2 times better than other listings." No actual definition of "high quality listings" is provided. [This may be a refinement of the listing quality score.]

Etsy is training its machine learning software on "...a best of Etsy library, which is curated by expert merchandisers based on the visual appeal, uniqueness, and apparent craftsmanship of an item." (Slide 7) The models are then expected to find the best items out of large search results, and return those for searchers. [I hope these aren't the same human curators who supposedly selected the "Etsy's Pick" listings, as my only Etsy's Pick listing is a commercial pendant on my hand-cut chain. Totally Etsy-legal, and even appealing and well-made, but hardly unique - there are hundreds or maybe even thousands of these pendants on Etsy right now. (In my defense, there were a lot fewer when I started selling them.) Only my chain falls close to the realm of unique, due to the clasp.]

Etsy is also working on "collapsing" similar items on the first few search pages into sets, and offering shoppers several different sets to choose from, "showing you just the very best of each of a set of very different items". [I believe I have seen a test like this, where several rows of slightly different search results are shown for some queries. It could also mean an expansion of the "more like this" link under individual listings on the search page.]

[It appears to be time to accept that Etsy is not interested in being a site for niche searches any more; management only cares about the large searches converting. I understand what the engineers were trying to do with training the systems by adding more items in and letting the customers signal which results were good, but small and niche searches have only gotten worse over the past 3-4 years, and they've now effectively told us we can't expect any more improvement in this area. Search effort is now going to winnowing down large searches, not improving very small ones.]

Upcoming Promotional Plans & Focus

As usual, Etsy is focussed on retaining existing buyers as well as adding new ones. Hitting an all-time high in active buyers this quarter shows some progress in this area.

Given that "[t]here's no question this is a very promotional environment," we should expect to see more features around sales and discounts, as shown in Slide 9 at the top of this post. Those 3 boxes are part of a scrolling banner at the top of the Etsy home page in the US right now. [If you have tried to run a sale lately, you have already noticed that the lowest percentage off sale is 25%. You can enter a custom amount, but 25% is the default if you don't click for more options.]

They are already testing "a new price discovery functionality utilizing buyer demand data to help sellers think about how to price their items and when or how they might best use promotions as part of their mix." An example is shown in the top right corner of Slide 11 - see below:

[If this works as badly as the old tool from years ago - the one that compared hammered sterling silver pendants to plastic ones - then it will be a waste of time. And don't forget the tool that tells us our shipping for large heavy items is overpriced because it is comparing the listing to the shipping rates of the smallest items in the same category. The list goes on... However, many sellers would appreciate knowing more about what similar items are actually selling for, and it is possible Etsy heard that request, so we shouldn't write this test off before we see it.]

The new wedding registry has been doing well, with 14% of sales coming from first-time buyers. Etsy is opening a baby registry in August, and more categories may follow.

Silverman said that the Purchase Protection Program (PPP) "...reduced the issue resolution time for cases by approximately 85%". [I guess when there are rarely humans involved in adjudicating cases, that does tend to save time.] The site will soon mention this in even more places, to increase buyer confidence and bring them back more often.

Also on the way: "Buyers will see some new AI assisted ways to find crafted quality gifts for the loved ones at great value with even more confidence that these gifts will arrive on time." Gifting will continue to be a promotional focus.

Payment Reserves

Following the recent media attention to payment reserves, one analyst asked what the policy was meant to do in terms of benefiting the marketplace, and how the company is addressing the complaints. Silverman fell back on the "sellers not able to fill a rush of sales" example [even though that hasn't been the main reason for most of the recent reserves], and mentioned the previous day's announcement that reserves would be changing.

Depop, Reverb, and the Exit of Elo7

Etsy is selling Elo7, and is apparently taking a loss on it.

Depop's sales and revenue grew this quarter (year over year); new ideas and developments are detailed on Slide 16.

Reverb is still doing better than the general musical instrument market; details on Slide 17.

Miscellaneous

sales were down this quarter due to the month of April; May and June were both up, as was July [so the third quarter is up so far, but they noted the company traditionally has lower sales in August and September]. Silverman stated that the economy is in a down cycle, but that cycles change.

sales are declining in United States zip codes where the average household income is below $100,000 a year, and are growing in the zips above $100K a year.

the increase in marketplace revenue was partially due to having more non-US transactions, which usually have higher payment processing fees charged.

"advances in ML capabilities have enabled our enforcement models to detect an increasing number of policy violations." Slide 10 states they've "...removed 29% more listings for violating our Handmade Policy in 1H 2023 vs. 2H 2022". It's not clear if this includes all the ones they removed in error and later had to reinstate. [It's not just handmade takedowns that were mostly wrong. They caught my 2 "drug paraphernalia" listings earlier this year, as well as many top selling item from big shops, for no reason. As I explained in my coverage of the annual transparency report, only 5% of items Etsy reviews for violations actually need to be removed from the site. Increasing takedowns is a bad thing when they are almost all wrong, and especially when real and easy-to-find violations - such as boxes of commercial potato chip packages and actual roach clips - remain up. This initiative continues to get an F.]

almost 20% of vintage shops are choosing to use the new "Make an Offer" option.

Why Etsy Needs To Do More To Impress Investors

If you watch or read these calls every quarter, or even just read my summaries, you will note that there was very little new here, and certainly not much new that one would expect to substantially increase sales across the site. I think the upper brass recognized that, as the "challenging" times were stressed repeatedly, and they are still occasionally comparing numbers to the pre-pandemic stats.

Yes, it is great that Etsy has basically retained all of its pandemic growth; many other platforms - such as Wayfair and eBay - did not. However, analysts seem to be over that now, and are looking to future growth. Etsy's response seems to be that any substantial increase in marketplace sales will have to wait until the current uncertain world economic cycle improves. While they talk about incremental increases in sales expected from some current projects, their own projections for the third quarter aren't reflecting that growth, given Etsy now has more active buyers and sellers than ever before.

Have they possibly lost too many successful shops due to overreaching with payment reserves? Are buyers expressing concerns on that topic? Now that many more sellers can opt out of Offsite Ads, is that dragging down the company's income at all? Are they truly out of new ideas? These are questions that the analysts and the media need to be asking.

Perhaps Etsy is planning on another release that will lift marketplace sales, but right now they are keeping it secret. The company probably can't afford to wait on this much longer, though, if it cares about the stock price.

[miloscat]

[Review] Jaws: Ultimate Predator (3DS)

Jaws? More like snores... gottem

After Jaws Unleashed I was curious about other licencees and how they delivered on the shark action that you might imagine. This 3DS effort by n-Space—veterans in the “handheld companion game” space—was accompanied by a Wii release from a one-off studio which was apparently quite goofy but oddly bloodless. This one hews closer to Unleashed but is even more grounded, to a fault.

I was bemused by a PS2 game and a 3DS game being only five years apart, but Unleashed was late on its console and Ultimate Predator quite early. They end up looking pretty similar, although the draw distance is poorer here... perhaps the 3D visuals are meant to make up for that but as usual I tried them out for two minutes and turned them off. Art direction goes a long way, as demonstrated by the blandness of the environments here. The shipwrecks and occasional corals peppering the seafloor are a nice touch, but it’s just not enough.

The setting is Amity Island, again. Diary entries in between levels that are by implication from the perspective of Richard Dreyfuss’s character from the original film set the events in the game’s release year of 2011, with a new mayor following in the footsteps of the old and a new shark out to cause more trouble. This trouble mostly consists of biting or slamming a set number of boats until they sink and eating the hapless humans, while chowing down on rival sharks and the scarce handful of other edible sea life. A couple of levels are more interesting, like when the shark has to escape a semi-aquatic research base, or explore a cave system. Then there’s boss fights with another giant squid (or its tentacles, at least), an advanced submarine, or a big Coast Guard cutter. But so much of the content is rinse and repeat.

The experimental control scheme deserves a mention. Jaws automatically swims forward at all times, which is another way to interpret the idea that sharks must keep moving to stay alive, and makes the game feel a bit like a rail shooter, albeit in all-range mode. The L button slows you for more precision while all other controls can be done either with face buttons and R, or by using the touchscreen. This has a shark jaw in the middle around a sonar minimap, with three large touch panels around it. On their own these are a dash, a dodge, and a 180˚ spin, but Jaws has more advanced moves executed by sliding between the panels in one motion (including some in common with Unleashed, such as the corkscrew and flop). The touch interface facilitates these better than the awkwardly-timed button combo windows, so a combination of both works best. Neither are terribly responsive though and failing them in a pressure situation with lots of harpoons and torpedoes coming at you can be frustrating.

I just wanted the game to get a lot weirder. A realistic shark attack simulator isn’t done much justice by the underpowered 3DS, especially when it’s as barebones as this. The moments of whimsy were too few and too tame: finding treasure chests to unlock mini-challenges, all the submarines being yellow, the retry button on the Game Over screen being labelled “Revenge”. Knocking nautical mines loose to blow up a ship commanded by a rogue coastguardman with a vendetta sounds cool but in practice it’s about as tedious as the rest of the game, with the exception of the on-rails autoscroller sections which naturally are much much worse. With my playtime being under three hours it won’t take you long but there’s got to be better shark games out there, I’m positive.

[taegularities]

ruin you | kth & jjk (m)

Summary: “His eyes hold unfathomable darkness that lures you in, captures your very soul, steals any air you are trying to draw. And you know without a doubt that you’re on the path to utter and irrevocable ruination.”

When your boyfriend Jungkook first suggested a threesome between him, you and his best friend, all of this was definitely not what you’d expected.

pairing: Taehyung x female reader x Jungkook

rating: 18+

genre: established relationship, pwp, fluff if you squint?, so much smut

warnings: explicit sexual content, dom!taehyung, switch!reader (but mostly sub), switch!jungkook, blindfolding, some bondage (reader gets tied up), wax play, lots of dirty talk, oral (f. & m. receiving), fingering, kinda praise kink, rough sex, messy sex, unprotected sex (you know it folks, be careful), like one spank?, light choking, breast play, cuckolding/voyeurism kinda (yes - jungkook is into watching), swearing, y/n probably can’t walk the next day and she loves it, threesome (obviously)

word count: 11.9k (this got a little out of hand, folks)

a/n: I’M SO EXCITED TO SHARE THE FIC THAT HURT ME. as i said, too much taekook content results in something like this T_T again, a biiiig thank you to @monvante for this banner that i’m so in love with and to @illneverrecover, @voiceswithoutlips & @missgeniality for being the most helpful and amazing betas, i love y’all so muchhh!! OK ‘NUFF TALKING, enjoy!!!

⁂ part of the ruin you series

MASTERLIST | WIPS

Bliss.

That’s how you would describe life with Jungkook. Being with him is always a never ending, wonderful adventure, never as exhausting as it has been with your previous partners - the fact that he understands how to take care of you astounds you, making you wonder on multiple occasions how you’d gone so wrong with your past choices.

One example of such occasions are nights when you feel like you’ve reached the end of your patience; be it about your unorganized mess that your college is, your family, or your friends - Jungkook always knows what to do to lift your mood instantly. The best aspect of his method is that he never forces you to talk, never pressures you into opening up. He’s been with you long enough to know fully well that you tend to speak about your problems as soon as you feel like you need to.

Instead, he plans a nice and cozy evening, searches for a movie you like, cooks your favourite dish, or takes you out to a romantic date.

Then there’s the obvious love that sparkles in his big doe eyes constantly, not a day passing without him losing himself in you, telling you over and over again how much he adores you and everything involving you. Precious moments like these never fail to make your heart flutter, the wings growing around it almost achingly beautiful when he talks to you like that, assures you how he’d do anything, everything, to keep you happy.

In that sense, you are even more surprised at his suggestion as you lie under your blankets, his arms wrapped around you tightly and your naked bodies pressed into each other. You look up to meet his hazy eyes, the urge to sleep apparent in them, but his words indicate that he’s wanted to say this for quite some time.

“We should - what?”

He sighs into your hair, his fingertips drawing small circles into the skin of your back. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve been thinking and… I just feel like you should experience everything that’s possible. And maybe you’ll find something that you like - something we never do.”

“And that’s how you want me to find out? By having sex with your best friend?” you ask, eyebrows furrowed as you try to fully comprehend what you’ve just heard.

“Yeah…” he starts, a soft laugh escaping his throat as he shifts a little to face you, “okay, it does sound very weird, but I really mean it. He’s - well, quite different from me. At least that’s what I perceive from what he tells me about his sexual adventures.”

“Jungkook, I-”

“Listen, I know you never expected me to suggest this in the first place, but I talked to him and he’s up for it. And baby,” he says, cupping your face before he presses a chaste kiss to your lips, “if you experience something with him that you like, we can both try it later.”

“I don’t even know Taehyung that well. And I can’t believe you can say all that without getting at least a little jealous.” You feel slightly uncomfortable talking about this. You’ve probably never properly talked to Taehyung, only meeting him once in a while when he comes over to play some games - while Jungkook has mentioned on multiple occasions that he wants you both to become friends, you never really got a chance to get to know him better.

“I know, but you don’t really have to know him to enjoy it. I’ve heard he’s really good,” Jungkook argues, his voice going a few octaves deeper as he emphasizes the satisfaction of others.

But for you, thinking of being naked in front of Taehyung, or even more unthinkable, having his dick inside of you - it feels so far away that it makes you chuckle lightly. “Let’s go to sleep. You’re insane.”

You settle into his chest again, pulling the blanket up to your chin as you ready yourself to fall into a peaceful slumber, only faintly registering Jungkook telling you to think about it. This is definitely a topic for another day and your brain certainly doesn’t have the capacity to fathom how real that moment is and how serious Jungkook is being right now.

So, there’s no need to worry about what’s going to happen in a couple of days, right?

It doesn’t take long before Jungkook addresses the subject again - in fact, you haven’t even eaten breakfast, running around in his oversized shirt and rubbing your eyes as he sips on his tea, eyeing your figure that has made itself comfortable on the couch.

“What if I joined you?” he asks, one eyebrow raised and you almost choke on your own saliva before you break out into a laugh.

“For God’s sake, Jungkook. Why do you want this so much?” You straighten up, folding your legs as you watch him approach you and sit down on the table in front of you.

Jungkook brings a finger to your chin, lifting your head a little before he says, “I want my baby to feel good. And to be completely honest…”

He twirls a strand of your hair around his index finger, pressing his lips together as you slowly realize what he is trying to refer to. Your eyes widen in surprise, mouth falling open as you ask, “you- you like the thought of having a threesome, don’t you?”

And when he doesn’t answer, you know you’re right, though you’re not sure if you should laugh or cringe. He nibbles at his lips as he avoids your gaze, an awkward smile appearing on his face. “I mean… only if it involves watching you… get fucked. I- I don’t need any other girl, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Jungkook has a voyeuristic kink, huh?

This is definitely not something that had crossed your mind last night, and to hear it from him now clears up quite a few things. Seeing him nervously fumble with his shirt, tongue licking his lower lip one too many times ignites something unknown in you and you slowly feel yourself crumble.

“Do you really want that so bad?” you inquire, trying to make him look at you as he runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek. He reaches out to hold your hand and grazes your warm skin with his thumb.

“You don’t have to. It’s wholly up to you.” His words are sincere, but to be completely honest, knowing that something like this would turn him on enough to join, you pressed between two bodies, both worshipping everything about you - the thought has you feeling hot and bothered, and suddenly, you are not completely opposed to this idea anymore.

You’re about to assure him that you’re ready to fulfill his wish, but before you get the chance to do so, his phone chimes, vibrating hard and noisily against the counter. Jungkook releases your hand, walking over to pick up as he chuckles softly. “Speaking of the devil.”

For some reason, Taehyung always decides to video call, a habit of his that you’ve never understood - maybe you can trace your dislike back to you never being much of a talking-on-the-phone-person in the first place. You always prefer texting over calling someone.

Taehyung’s deep voice sounds through Jungkook’s phone, gleefully greeting his friend as he tells him to finally move his ass to the office.

You sink back into the couch, an awkward feeling spreading through your body as you hear the two voices meld, the ones that will probably moan into your ears soon enough. The thought of muffled groans and hands on your skin makes your lower stomach clench, causing you to rub your thighs together to find some relief.

From the corner of his eyes, Jungkook detects the movement, his mouth twitching for only a second before he shamelessly addresses the topic head-on. “So, by the way, Taehyung, I, uhm… talked to Y/N. About you know - what we discussed the other day?”

A brief silence numbs your ears as you suddenly feel your heart pound in your chest, shooting a glare at Jungkook who doesn’t seem to give it a thought at all. Then, you hear Taehyung clear his throat. “Is she okay with it?”

God, could it get any more weird?

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Jungkook offers, and your eyes widen, your hands waving in panic in front of your face. He doesn’t seem to care as he turns his phone, coming closer to hand it to you as he sits down next to you.

You force your face to contort into an ingenuine smile, watching as Taehyung rests his arms on his shiny table, clearly having stabilized his phone against something. You see yourself reflect off his glasses as he breaks out into a boxy grin, greeting you with a nod before he chimes, “Hey! How are you doing?”

“I’m… good. Yeah, what about you?” you stutter and you feel immediate regret to have let Jungkook force you to this conversation. You feel the blood rush to your face, your insides churning as you hear Taehyung’s sweet voice guide you through your awkwardness smoothly, almost not letting show that he’s noticed it.

“Oh, I’m grand! Thought I’d call your man to finally make his lazy butt leave the apartment and keep me some company here. But I guess, you guys had some stuff to clear up?”

Unbelievable. His tone is still friendly, casual, as if you’re talking about nothing less than today’s rainy weather. He sounds so soft, so gentle - you cannot imagine what he can offer that differs from Jungkook’s actions in bed.

“Uhm, yeah,” you answer, gulping hard - and he notices. You don’t know that he’s, in fact, noticing every little thing, reading you like the open book that you are, and his mind already starts to whirr with ideas. The only thing that is left is your approval - and seeing the way you’re struggling to even look at the screen properly, he knows you’ve already given in before you confirm it. “I’d be okay with it, if you are.”

His face is close to the camera, and you swear you see his eyes flash with something dark as he looks at you before they turn soft, innocent again. As tense as you are, you can’t help but let your eyes wander over his dark hair, wanting to tug at it lightly. You see his full, pink lips, feeling the growing, strange urge to have them on the most intimate parts of you; the hand that is now cupping his face, the veins running along it making you question what it could do to you, how it could possibly make you feel.

You blink a few times to clear your head without drawing attention to your nervousness too much, smiling as he says, “Of course I am. I would’ve told Jungkook if I wasn’t.”

This feels a lot like sealing a deal with the devil - something about it intrigues, but scares you, your mind circling around the thought that Taehyung just can’t be what he’s pretending to be right now. The expression that’s decorating his face, the handsome grin and the line of his profile seem dangerous, something undecipherable about them intimidating you.

“Right,” you say, briefly nibbling at your lips as you feel Jungkook’s hand snake around your waist, almost as if to remind you that he’s here, too. “So, then we’ll see each other soon?”

“I sure hope so,” Taehyung sing-songs, your immediate reaction being to hand back the phone to your boyfriend as you stand up with the excuse that you have to use the toilet, wishing the man on the other side of the line a good day off-camera.

Locking yourself in the small, comforting space of your bathroom, you look at your figure in the mirror, surprised when you see your mouth twitch into a new kind of smile that you’ve never seen on your face.

Surely enough, the day arrives as soon as you’ve expected, clearly none of you ready to wait for too long for each other. You’ve prepared yourself thoroughly, shaving every single hair that you’ve deemed unnecessary to stay, taking your skincare up a notch, and even thinking of a safeword, should something happen that you’re not entirely content with.

As expected, Taehyung’s apartment lies in one of the expensive corners of the town, the building rising high and glass everywhere you look. As you gaze up into the sky, your eyes leaving the complex in front of you and focusing on the clouds instead, you feel Jungkook’s hand slide into yours, fingers intertwining and holding yours tightly. He kisses your cheek gently, reassuring you that you can still walk away, should you feel uncomfortable with all of this.

Shaking your head, you sigh, answering, “It’s fine. I’m just… curious, is all.”

Curiosity isn’t quite the right word to use, though. As you stand in the elevator, waiting for it to reach the twelfth floor, you don’t feel curious, no - much rather, your stomach is turning and twisting, your heart hammering against your chest as you choke on the feeling the nervousness is drowning you in.

And when you step out of the elevator, knocking on his door three times and seeing him open it, you swallow the annoying lump in your throat. He’s wearing a thin sweater whose sleeves he’s rolled up, one of his hands dug in the pocket of his loose sweats, and the glasses sitting perfectly on his even nose. His free hand motions you to come in before it brushes through his perfect pitch black hair, and you take in the place he lives in, seeing exactly what you’ve expected in the last days.

Right as you get in, you are greeted by the beautiful dusk of the evening that is fully displayed through the big glass windows, making you wonder if Taehyung ever feels uncomfortable or exposed in such a place. His living room screams office employee, everything decorated in a luxurious black and white that reminds you of stacks of money and expensive champagne.

Strange. Despite working in the same domain, Jungkook has never shown interest in such high-class things - but you’ve always been one to love his humble lifestyle.

“What can I bring you to drink?” Taehyung asks, closing the door as he tells you to take a seat on his red leather couch, as if you’re here to talk about business. “Scotch? Whiskey?”

Jungkook nods, showing a thumbs up while you say, “I’m fine with water, actually.”

Taehyung peaks his head out of the kitchen that you haven’t seen yet, a pretty smile on his face as he holds a fancy glass in his hand. “Are you sure? Might help you to calm your nerves and stuff.”

Shit.

You really have to get yourself together before you inflate his ego somehow - you weren’t going to show him what you’re feeling inside, but it seems as if he’s seen right through you the moment you stepped in, his observing eyes taking note of more than you thought.

You take a deep breath, chuckling slightly as you change your mind. “Alright, then. Whiskey, please.”

“Got you.”

Jungkook’s hand comes up to rub your thighs affectionately and he shoots you a reassuring grin to ease your tension - it’s weird, the fact that you’re an extroverted, outgoing person, and yet so stiff right now. All you can hope is for the whiskey to fulfill a wonder and bring your familiar confidence back.

And when Taehyung hands you the glass with some of the liquid, you chug it down in one go, not bothering about manners or shame as you wipe away the remnants of it from your lip, the alcohol burning in your throat and chest. Both men look at you in wonder as you exchange gazes before breaking out in a laugh.

“You’re a tough bunny,” Taehyung says with a tilt of his head, finishing his own drink quickly before he places his glass on the table, clapping his hands once. “Ready when you are!”

Now, that was fast. He doesn’t seem to like talking around a topic, getting straight to the point as he eyes your body from top to bottom, his tongue wetting his plush lower lip. Jungkook taps the couch lightly, his eyebrows furrowing. “Here?”

“No, you idiot. Of course not,” Taehyung scoffs, offering his hand to you. You look at Jungkook unsurely, still contemplating if he’s alright with everything that’s happening and about to go down soon. And when he nods in affirmation, you rest your palm on Taehyung's who pulls you up gently, nodding at Jungkook as he leads you to another room.

But stepping over the threshold of it, the mood changes completely, his bedroom the complete opposite of what you’ve left behind.

His sleeping place is dark, only lit by some candles that he’s planted in safe places; at the foot of the bed, he’s placed two or three things you can name, your mouth falling open in surprise.

Firstly, there is some type of cloth, silky and light blue from what you can tell from here, neatly folded and left in the corner next to some more unlit candles. Lastly, you recognize yet another cloth, this one less shiny and smaller than the others, seemingly woolen - however, you can’t figure out yet what he’s going to do with it, and you’re too excited to ask.

He takes a seat on the edge of the bed as he takes off his glasses, folding and placing them on his night table next to a bowl of water that has you tilt your head in wonder. “Before we start, I want to clear up a few aspects of all of this to both of you.”

Jungkook nods understandingly, signaling his friend to continue. “Things can get rough here. I’ve actually prepared some stuff that might help you, if it gets too intense. The water, for example. But what is most important is that you like what you’re feeling, that you’re okay with the things I do to you.” He pauses for a second, gauging your reaction briefly before he speaks on. “How much heat can you handle?”

Confused about the question, you search your brain for a good answer, thinking back to days when you’d curse at the blazing heat in the summer. “As long as it doesn’t hurt, I can cope with it, I guess.”

He nods, looking like a doctor who is explaining a diagnosis to you. “It won’t hurt, don’t worry.” Then, he raises a finger as if he’s remembering something of utmost importance before he asks, “Do you have a safeword?”

“I do,” you say in a firm tone, almost as if you’ve waited for this question, “skip.”

“Skip,” he tries out the word, nodding satisfied, “and when you’re okay, you just say exactly that, alright? Just an okay is enough. Or a no to my question of whether you need to use the word. Both of you.”

Jungkook is unusually quiet next to you, and you wonder if he’s changed his mind, wanting to step away from whatever he’s brought you into. But then, he says, “Alright. So, what exactly is going to happen now?”

“Yeah, about that. You won’t join for a while, if that’s okay for you. I’ll begin and tell you when you can come and do your thing. Again, there will be some things involved that you might not have done yet, and anytime you feel like it’s too much, speak up. Okay?”

“Understood,” you agree, eyes shifting to the extra material at his words. He follows your gaze and smirks but doesn’t address the topic anyhow. Apparently, it’s a surprise.

Jungkook rubs your back for a few seconds and whispers a small “have fun” into your ear before he takes a seat on the cushioned chair in the corner of the room. Unsure of what to do, you look at Taehyung, exhaling once before he motions you to come closer with a flick of his long finger. You obey, stepping to him, hovering right above him as you wait for him to talk, meeting his breathtaking gaze.

His hand reaches out to run along the hem of your shirt, his knuckles touching your warm skin under the fabric lightly before his fingers settle on your thigh gently. And then, he utters the first command of tonight.

“Take all of this off.”

You bite your lips as you watch him trail your body with his eyes, taking in every inch of you as you slowly grab your shirt, pulling it over your head. He brings his digits to your hip, his cold fingertips sending a shiver down your spine as you unbutton your tight jeans, sliding them down to your knees before he helps you out, letting you slip out of them entirely.

Taehyung knows he’s supposed to keep his calm, show you that he’ll be in control - but looking at your almost completely exposed body, he can’t help the desire rise up in him, memorizing each inch of your curves, edges, and smoothness of your skin. Thoughts of wrecking you completely put his head into a haze, the urge to throw you onto his bed and fuck you raw close to irresistible.

But you clearly aren’t here for him to use you - no, he will make sure that you leave with an experience that you’d always deem as memorable when you’d think back to it.

“That too,” he commands, tugging at your underwear.

Feeling the booze slowly kick in, you feel slightly light-headed, less anxious, and more excited to do whatever the man asks of you, ready to give yourself to both of them.

You look back at Jungkook. He has his elbow on the arm of the chair, his hand holding his jaw as he appears nonchalant - but the bulge that is already forming a visible, thick line in his pants, tells you otherwise.

Taehyung grabs your chin to shift your focus to him again, his hooded, dark eyes boring holes into yours. “Don’t look away. Keep your eyes on me.” He grabs one of the candles beside him along with a match box from his night table, waiting for you to obey him while he lights the candle before placing it next to the bowl of water and blowing out the match.

You roll your eyes at his tranquility, but listen to him anyway. After getting rid of your panties and bra, you step a little closer, his mouth perfectly levelled with your breasts, but he doesn’t reach out, doesn’t let them tempt him just yet.

Instead, he grabs your ass, squeezing and rolling it for a few moments before his hands wander to your back, standing up and using his grip on you to swap places. The back of your knees hit the mattress, your legs almost giving in before he steadies you, his long fingers grazing your sides until they settle between your thighs.

Using his index and middle finger, he touches your folds slowly, delicately spreading them as he observes your reaction. He isn’t touching any sensitive spot yet, and still, the sensation causes a gasp to fall out of your mouth.

But instead of doing anything at all, he softly pushes you onto the bed, telling you to place yourself in the middle as he climbs over you, still fully clothed. “We’re gonna have some fun now, okay?” Taehyung mouths, not giving you enough time to answer before he leans down to press his lips against yours.

You can’t see or hear what Jungkook is doing. And from what you’ve gathered, Taehyung doesn’t want you to know either - all you can hope is that he’s okay instead of disgusted or weirded out by the sight in front of him.

Taehyung doesn’t seem to care much. He moves his mouth elegantly, lips parting easily before his tongue soon asks for access that you grant him immediately, and you moan faintly as you taste the mixture of alcohol and sweetness, pleased by the scent of vanilla that he’s emanating.

Low sounds escape his throat as his hands press into the mattress deeper, kissing you harder and needier, and you bury yours in his hair. It feels just as soft and smooth as you’ve imagined - yet, there is not much time to actually enjoy the feeling of him before he slaps your hands away, his gaze darkening as he pants.

“No touching for now,” he commands, eyes shifting to Jungkook. “What do you think, Jay-Kay? What should I do so Y/N keeps her hands to herself?”

You allow yourself to use this as an excuse to look at Jungkook briefly. He’s still sitting in the same position, but his palm is resting on his hardened cock, rubbing it ever so slightly. “I think it’s something you’ve thought of already, but - I’d suggest you tie her up.”

Surprise crosses your face, your mouth dropping open - the last thing you’ve ever thought you could hear stumble out of your boyfriend’s mouth was such a suggestion. You wonder why you have never tried this before.

Acting on Jungkook’s proposition, you watch Taehyung grab the silken cloth you’ve noticed earlier, unfolding it to reveal that it is long, but not wide - and as it seems, perfect to - yes, his next words confirm your assumption. “Hands above your head.”

“You don’t look like you could do something like this outside of the bedroom,” you hear Jungkook say suddenly as he chuckles.

Taehyung laughs at his words, focusing on your hands as he ties them together tightly, skillfully, before making sure you can’t get out of your confinement. He uses the remaining length of the cloth to bind a tight knot around his headboard railing, holding your arms in place.

“You’re not going to let me touch you? At all?”

“For now, Y/N,” he clarifies, squeezing one of your tits before he moves to get the other woolen material, too. You meet his stare and your breath hitches at the sight - his eyes hold unfathomable darkness that lures you in, captures your very soul, steals any air you are trying to draw. And you know without a doubt, that you’re on the path to utter and irrevocable ruination.

You drown in his hypnotic gaze, but not for too long - suddenly, without any explanation or warning, he blindfolds you, robbing you of another sense as he lifts your head to tie the cloth behind it. “Safeword?”

“No,” you breathe, already anticipating his next moves, “I’m okay.”

“Okay. Hold on.” And then you hear him move away, the weight on the bed shifting as you wait. You dare not ask him what he’s doing, as you figure this is the sole purpose of the sensory deprivation. You’re supposed to let him surprise you.

And you are surprised indeed when you feel his presence on your right side, again lingering in front of the night table, as it seems. Honestly, you shouldn’t be stunned. You saw him lighting the candle before and you knew they’d come into play at some point - after all, the room is well lit already, so there can’t be much that he can do with these remaining candles.

Maybe, you think, he’s just checking if they have melted enough. Maybe you’re holding your breath, because you’re eagerly waiting for the feeling of thick, liquid wax on your sensitive body.

Although you’re not one to deal with heat and hot things well, even waiting quite a while until you drink your tea, your body squirms with some type of excitement, the feeling of a nearing, warm body causing you to let out a quiet whine involuntarily.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” you answer. And then you wait… and wait… and wait. But nothing happens. Stupid of you to think that wax would melt this fast - but why is he not doing anything at all?

“Taehyung?”

“Yes, baby. I’m here,” he says, and you feel your body go stiff. The nickname brings a new sensation into your stomach - not because of the word itself; it couldn’t sound any filthier out of his mouth, really. No, it’s entirely different from when Jungkook says it - there is no trace of sweetness or affection in Taehyung’s voice, but rather a shadow, a mystery that perfectly matches the endless lust you’re feeling right now.

And right before you’re about to cave in and beg for more, Jungkook suddenly beats you to it as you hear him plead, “Please, do something, Tae.”

The man in question sighs, and you can almost imagine him shaking his head. “Jungkook, I told you, you can be involved later.” You hear Jungkook shuffle in his seat, avoiding actual words as he hums affirmatively.

Taehyung laughs softly, the sound shifting from the right side to in front of you as he moves, and soon enough, you feel his hands on you again, slowly spreading your legs. You wet your lips, and your heartbeat increases tenfold when his fingertips run along the inside of your thighs, caressing your skin before then suddenly licking a stripe along the lines where his fingers had been a moment ago.

His lips suck on your skin diligently, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses and nibbling on your flesh alternately as he comes closer to your core. You already feel your pussy leaking, some of your juices running down your thigh as you press your legs together for one split second before he opens them again.

“Don’t make me tie these, too,” he warns, and you think you hear Jungkook sigh deeply in the background. You hate that he’s being so quiet, not uttering one sentence as you wait to get wrecked by his best friend. You wish you could feel your boyfriend’s hands on you, his lips on yours, his cock inside you; you wish he would just at least-

A wet, hot tongue against your center. You moan at the sudden feeling, your back arching as Taehyung repeats the action, the tip of his soft muscle lapping at your folds until he stops at your clit, circling it with an increasing pressure that has you whining.

“Fuck, Tae,” you moan out, hands curling into fists as you try to keep your legs as open as possible.

“Do you like having my tongue on you like this? Eating you up so good?”

You are so fucking hot. Taehyung really tries hard to keep his thoughts towards you neutral, just as he always does, fucking you for pleasure and nothing else - but you look so incredibly ethereal, your lips parted, hips squirming, back arched, and he feels himself spiralling more and more.

He realizes that it wasn’t the first time he’d thought of you in this way when he’d talked to Jungkook about it. He isn’t blind - your body and you as a whole aren’t something that he can ignore very well when he comes over to spend time with his friend.

“Fucking- hell,” you stammer, relishing in the feeling of his lips brushing your hard bud, “I do! I do…”

His lips enclose your clit and suck on it for a while before they move down again, starting to eat you out at a rougher pace while he moans, sending vibrations through your pussy that have you sink your nails into your palms. And before you know it, he indulges in a little game of varying between licking your folds and entrance dry and circling your clit, leaving one of these parts always aching when he neglects them.

You want his fingers to fuck into you, you want his mouth on your bundle of nerves - you want the whole package of stimulation, but you know he won’t give it to you this easily.

“So good,” you mutter, the sounds leaving your body almost not human - and Taehyung’s chest heats up instantly. “Don’t stop..”

His head is almost blank, making him wonder when he has felt like this the last time. All the women he brings home give him the sufficient satisfaction that he wants - but you? You are more than this, your scent intoxicating, your sweet taste blurring his thoughts; your body, softness, and sounds are putting him on edge so much that he forcefully has to resist to not bury his cock as deep inside you as possible.

He parts your legs wider, allowing him to sink deeper; his nails dig into the flesh of your thighs which has you moaning, whimpering as he makes out with your cunt. You feel your walls clench around nothing inside, your high nearing, and as your legs start to quiver, your moans becoming chipped and louder, he - suddenly removes himself completely.

“No!” you loudly protest, the volume of your voice unexpectedly high, and your legs come together - and this time, he doesn’t spread them again. “Taehyung, please.”

You hear a loud gasp from the corner of the room, and you know it’s Jungkook who’s just as deprived as you. His erratic breathing and the thought of him already, maybe, possibly being half-naked makes you shiver from desire.

“Patience, baby,” Taehyung cooes, you noticing that he is on your right side again, very close to you, “I’ll give you what you want. All in due time.”

“Be careful, Taehyung,” Jungkook suddenly says, his voice now firmer and steadier than his breathing had been a moment ago. The chair squeaks as you hear footsteps approaching you before he adds, “Try not to hurt her.”

He brings his body down and you feel his soft fingers brush your cheek gently. You lean into the touch, the warmth and comfort bringing a completely different feeling to your heart that you welcome gladly - but only, to be deprived of it soon after.

“I won’t, Jungkook. I promise, I’ve never hurt anyone,” Taehyung assures. “Sit back down. Make yourself comfortable - if it makes things any easier, help yourself.”

Your mouth widens at his words, imagining Jungkook sitting on his spot, stroking his length that you love so much at the sight of you. And as you think of this, longing spreading across your whole body, you hear Taehyung say, “This is going to feel different, Y/N,” before burning, hot drops land directly on your right thigh out of the blue, the thing that is clearly molten wax, already crusting on your skin.

It draws a sharp gasp out of you, having you whimper and tug at your restraint. And before you can calm down from it, you feel another hot bead of wax come down on your body, this time under your other leg, and a moan of his name threatens to ripple out of you.

“Safeword?” he asks, stopping his ministrations.

“No,” you pant, throwing your head back, trying to peek under the cloth, to see absolutely anything of what is happening.

A few seconds pass, and although you’re prepared to feel more wax touch your sensitive skin, it doesn’t come. Nothing comes until you open your mouth to ask why - instead, your words get stuck in your throat when Taehyung’s hand suddenly grabs one of your thighs, spreading your legs to give his fingers access to your drenched pussy.

His long digit caresses your folds, a lewd sound making its way to your ears as you cover him with your juices. You hear him moan faintly as he circles your clit before stopping at your entrance, only pushing his fingertip in slightly while gauging your reaction. You wiggle, your fingers intertwining as you try to hold onto anything at all, almost crying out when he finally pushes his whole finger in slowly.

But instead of moving it, he addresses his younger friend again, asking in a smug and amused voice, “what would you suggest I do next?”

Jungkook’s answer comes fast, without hesitation. “Make her cum.”

“Well… only, if she asks nicely. Tell me what you want, Y/N,” he says, his voice far away, his breath shaky. “Speak up.”

“I- I want to cum,” you breathe, his teasing making you go half insane. “Please.”

“Say that again.”

“Please, Taehyung, I-” you manage to whisper before he pulls his finger out and rams it into you again, starting to pump it at a delicate pace.

The mattress deepens near your legs again as he kneels in front of you, parting your thighs wide with his own as he adds a second finger, increasing the speed he’s fucking into you as the muscles of your stomach harden, your pussy clenching around his fingers.

You whimper quietly, suppressing screams as he spreads them inside you, scissoring motions having you press your lips together. He leans down, inhaling your scent before he remarks, “You can be louder. I want to hear you, baby. Show me and Jungkook how much you’re enjoying this. I’m sure he wants to hear you just as much as I do.”

Taehyung then adds another finger at the same time you feel the burning sensation of the wax drip onto your legs again, leaving a hot trail as his hand hovers above your hip and stops at your right breast. He watches in awe as you yell in pleasure, even after the wax has stopped trickling, and he feels his heart race at the sight of you.

By now, his three fingers are wrecking your pussy, his thumb coming up to your clit to rub against it deliciously, and right as you feel your walls clench again, you scream out, “I’m cumming! Taehyung, I’m cumming, don’t stop, please!”

But against your wishes, he does, and his action causes your eyes to sting, a single tear escaping them but getting caught on the blindfold. “Taehyung…”

“Taehyung, for fuck’s sake!” Jungkook agrees, but the mentioned man doesn’t pay attention to any of your complaints.

Instead, you listen carefully to what he is doing and you register the sound of a belt coming undone, clothes shuffling, something faintly thumping on the floor. And then, he speaks up again, “Y/N. Do you want to see what’s happening?”

Finally.

“Yes,” you mutter, eager to answer fast before he changes his mind. “Please.”

Taehyung climbs onto the bed and over you, reaching behind your head to undo the knot. At first, your vision is blurred, weird dots floating in the air as you try to adjust to the candlelight, trying to focus when you notice that he is almost completely exposed now, his shorts as the only piece of clothing covering his most intimate part.

The candle isn’t in his hand anymore and you look down to find several spots of you covered in the red material, already dried and sticking against you. He leans down to palm your tits, his tongue running along the skin of your neck before he inquires, “You want to cum?”

“Please,” you repeat, and right as the words leave your mouth, he slides his arm under you, shifting you so that your bind still holds, but your pussy faces Jungkook directly now. You have to admit, your limbs are getting sore above your head, hanging from the railing.

“Can I touch you?” you ask, your eyes glinting with hope, and he almost gives in.

“Soon, sweetheart.”

You look down at Jungkook who looks completely fucked out, his gaze wild. You notice that he has unbuttoned his pants and slid his hand under it, slowly stroking his cock as he takes in the view in front of him.

“Now you can take a closer look, Jungkook,” Taehyung says with a light chuckle, not giving any of you much time before he spreads your folds again, only running along them once before he inserts two of his fingers, starting at a harsh pace. You throw your head back in pleasure, back arching as you yell out.

Jungkook watches the way you take Taehyung’s digits so easily, the wet sound filling the room as you near your release. Each time Taehyung thrusts in and out, your hips move with his actions, rolling and struggling to stay still.

Taehyung soon silences you with a kiss, his tongue immediately playing with yours as you continue letting out muffled moans into his mouth, feeling his hard length press and rub against your hips through the thin fabric of his underwear.

And when he rolls his fingertip over your clit yet again, harder, faster this time, you break the kiss, your head falling to the side as a scream leaves you. The coil in your stomach builds up fast, all the tension and ruined orgasms catching up to you as your walls clench hard.

He continues finger fucking you, rubbing your bud skillfully as he watches your face contort in delight, finally cumming all over his digits and palm, your arousal running down your thighs and covering his sheets. Taehyung fingers you through your orgasm as you come down from it, panting hard before he pulls his fingers out to wipe your cum on your stomach in a sloppy line.

Your eyes are closed, your mind in a complete haze and you don’t understand first that he’s talking to you. He grabs your cheeks, his face coming close to yours. “Open your eyes, baby. That was nothing yet. I will completely ruin you.”

Ruin you.

Eyelids opening, you catch the sight of his lips first, turned upwards to a smirk.

“And from now on,” he starts, his finger tracing your cheek, jaw and neck, “keep your eyes on me. Only on me. Understood?”

You nod and he stands - and for the first time in your somewhat clear mind, you take in his lean body. His broad shoulders, beautiful clavicles, and toned skin make you gasp; his thighs are thick and strong. And then you see his erection hard under his shorts, standing there proudly, long and thick, just the perfect size. He pulls the remaining clothing down, and when you see his cock bounce against his stomach, you only stare in awe, drooling as you hold in the plea to finally enter you.

He leans forward, his chest barely touching yours and your gaze follows his. Seeing what he does fills you with excitement, goosebumps forming on your skin as he unexpectedly unties you, your arms falling down as you notice how numb they feel. You rub at your wrists and shake your hands before Taehyung pulls you up into a sitting position, placing a hand on the back of your head as he comes close, his hard cock directly in front of your face.

His free hand strokes his hardness and you subconsciously come closer. And when you notice that your face is only inches away, and that you could practically stick out your tongue and taste the tip, you look up at him, your eyes asking for permission.

“What do you want, baby?” he asks in his baritone voice, mouth parting as his hand moves up and down his cock.

You hesitate, gulping hard. “I want to suck you…”

“You do?”

A nod from you makes his jaw clench before he questions without looking away from you, “Should I let her, Jungkook?”

“You’re the conductor here, Tae,” Jungkook answers, panting heavily, his voice nothing more than a mere whisper.

Taehyung’s tongue darts out to lick his lips as he pulls your head in closer, and you automatically open your mouth, wrapping it around his swollen, reddened head with light pressure.

Carefully sticking out your tongue, your circle his cock, licking at the leaking precum as your eyes never leave his at his own order. Slowly, you take him in deeper, wetting his length with the saliva that has collected in your mouth, the feeling of his veins and smooth skin making you moan against him. The vibrations draw reactions out of him immediately and he briefly closes his eyes and bites his lips before he starts moving his hips.

Starting at a pleasant pace, he soon pounds into you, having you furrow your eyebrows as you try not to gag. Instead, you gasp around him, hands grabbing his thighs to hold on to something as his fist clenches around the bunch of hair tighter, matching the movements of your head with those of his hips.

“You’re such a good girl. Is she always such a good girl, Jungkook?” Taehyung asks in between pants, moaning as he looks at his friend.

“She’s perfect, Tae,” your boyfriend answers, and with a side look, you see that he’s barely holding on - as you know him, he just hasn’t cum yet, because he wants to do so inside you. And suddenly, this aching urge to have him near, touch his comforting warmth grows inside you again, your eyes tearing as you suck Taehyung’s girth, swallowing around him.

But the latter only shifts your focus on him again, his hooded eyes intense, and you find yourself getting lost in them. Again, you mewl, one of your hands wrapping around the parts of him your lips can’t reach, moving up and down as your mouth sucks him harder. You tighten the walls inside, causing him to groan, your tongue rubbing against his throbbing cock as you relish in the sound of his panting.

And then, he yanks your head away, his chest heaving as sweat glistens on his temple, his piercing glare feral, dark, filled with lust and impatience. As he brings himself down, he pushes you into the mattress, signalling that the moment you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived, the game between him and you advancing as he makes himself comfortable between your legs and aligns his cock with your hungry cunt.

“Tell me what you want, Y/N,” he demands as he hovers over you, looking just as fucked out as you feel. “Tell me.”

He opens your pussy with his cock, pushing it in just slightly enough to feel him, but not enough in the way you want him to. Your breathing quickens immensely as you try to formulate a sentence, your hands fondling with your breasts driving both of the men crazy.

“I want you to fuck me,” you finally breathe, the anticipation so intense, you feel your eyes sting.

“Should I?” Taehyung slides in a little deeper and you hiss, but he stops right where his head ends, most of his wet shaft still outside. He looks at Jungkook, and you follow his gaze, eyes widening as you see your boyfriend with his own cock out, the jeans and underwear pushed down to his knees. “Should I fuck her, Jungkook?”

The man in question exhales deeply, head tilting to meet your eyes before he mutters, “Fuck her. She’s waited too long now, Tae.”

“Don’t worry, Kook,” Taehyung reassures before he bottoms out, eliciting a surprised and loud groan out of you as your head snaps to him, “it’ll be your turn very soon.”

You grab the sheets under you when his gaze shifts to you, his eyes too unbelievably dark to be called human, but rather belonging to someone who’d swallow you whole - if he only could. In the light of the candles, only one side of his face gets illuminated, and his expression is wild, thirsty, eager to drink all of you.

And when you see it, you know he’s going all-in at last, unleashing whatever intense desire he has kept in himself all this time. He spreads your legs wider, taking only two seconds before he snaps completely.

“Shit, you feel way too good,” Taehyung states, his eyebrows furrowing from the sensitivity. He leans forward to press a chaste kiss against your mouth, his index finger touching your lips lightly before you part them and suck on his digit seductively.

Letting out a deep growl, his hips pull back nearly entirely before he rams into you with one quick thrust, having you yelp, your whimpers muffled by his finger on your tongue. Repeating the action a few times, he finally leans back again, shooting you a smug smirk before he shifts to get into the best position.

After all the preparation of tying you up, playing with wax, licking and fingering you, your pussy is a hot, leaking mess, ready to take whatever he’d give you now - he knows that as well as you. And he proves it to you when he starts at a merciless pace, not bothering to ease you in further as you’re already too far gone, too much in a headspace that wouldn’t allow you to be able to take slow sex anyway.

Between shaky breaths, you let out sounds you’ve never heard come out of your mouth before. Taehyung is holding your hips so tightly that he is probably bruising them, and his eyes have the hardest time deciding what they should look at: your bouncing tits that are moving so delicately? The picture of his cock pumping in and out of your throbbing cunt as he stretches you completely? Or rather your face that is twisted beautifully, so gorgeous to look at, your hair flowing around you as if it was liquid?

Whatever it is, it spurs him on even more, his mind going blank as his hips fuck you harder on their own sheer will, wrecking you, ruining you entirely. The sweat you see on his forehead, the darkness of the room, Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s pants, the cock twitching inside you - everything comes together and ignites a fire in you so intense that you let out another scream.

“Holy fucking shit, baby,” Jungkook breathes, his hand moving faster around his hardness as his hips thrust into it, his brain empty except for the thought of wanting to finally fuck you sore.

You turn to him again, your mouth open as you watch him jerk off, your arms grabbing Taehyung’s to steady yourself. You don’t get to look at Jungkook for long though before the man in front of you leans down to grab your face again, turning it to him as he growls almost angrily, “I told you to keep your eyes on me, didn’t I?”

He lunges in with two particularly hard thrusts before he pulls out completely, eyeing your messy state as he pulls you up, shifting you so that you find yourself on your knees somehow, your underarms pressing into the mattress when he pushes your torso down.

“But it seems you rather want to look at him - so have it,” he says through gritted teeth, his possessiveness leaving you speechless. Instead of answering, you look at Jungkook, your eyes rolling back when you feel Taehyung enter you once more, his thick cock being wrapped in your sensitive walls again.

And in this position, he reaches you even deeper, not stopping until his whole length is buried inside you before pulling back again, and when he repeats this action hard and fast, it has your body slip forward.

With one smooth motion and his hand grabbing your hips, he pulls you back again, your palms falling flat on the bed as you widen the gap between your legs, your stomach almost touching the sheets.

“Fuck,” you hear Taehyung mutter as he grabs the flesh of your ass, squeezing it hard, “such a good girl. You got yourself such a perfect girl, Jungkook.”

At the sound of his name, your eyes shoot open and you suddenly see him standing, approaching you before he kneels down near the edge of the bed.

Tears collect in your eyes, your body so overwhelmed and torn between love and pleasure that you whimper his name. And when he registers your tone, he grabs your hand with his own while the other cups your cheek affectionately.

“Jungkook…” you whisper again, and you see his doe eyes widen before they glance at Taehyung, signalling him something that you don’t understand.

You feel Taehyung’s pace falter a little, his breath almost heavier than yours as he asks almost panicky, “Safeword? I’m sorry, I got… carried away.”

You shake your head, your head dizzy and eyes falling shut as you clench Jungkook’s hand with both of yours, his name the only thing on your lips before you finally answer, “No. I just- I needed something to hold on to, and…”

Both wait for you to continue and when you don’t, Jungkook lifts your head, looking at you in worry. “And what, baby?”

“I want you, too,” you admit, a sudden, gentle but effective thrust of Taehyung’s hips drawing a moan out of you. “Ah - God, I- I want you both.”

“I know you do, baby,” your boyfriend says as he wipes the hair out of your face, leaning in to kiss you. Then, he looks at his friend again, and you reckon the latter must’ve given him some type of permission, because in the next moment you see Jungkook stand up, removing his shirt and pushing down his jeans and underwear completely.

You look at his swollen tip, the way his hands are stroking his length, twitching in his fist as he hears your lewd sounds again when Taehyung continues fucking into you hard.

“Do you want to take me, baby?” Jungkook asks, his free hand squeezing the shoulder that is not held by Taehyung gently.

“Yes. Please,” you plead, your tongue licking your lower lip as you already feel your pussy tighten. You know it won’t take much anymore to have you slipping off the edge again, to cum around Taehyung’s perfect cock and hear his moans again when you clench around him tightly.

Jungkook grabs one of your hands again before he brings his girth to your mouth, your lips spreading as your tongue darts out, licking away the salty pre-cum before he comes closer, aiding you.

And once his cock slides in as much as you can take, Taehyung starts pumping in anew, having your body jerk forward and Jungkook’s cock hitting the back of your throat. You try hard not to gag as you wail, wrapping your lips around his cock as you start to suck - well, in reality, you don’t have to do much at all. Taehyung fucking you raw has your torso move on its own accord, giving all three of you what you’re yearning for right now.

The rumbling around Jungkook’s cock has his throat let out low groans; his head falls back as his fingers squeeze your hand once before he lets go and buries it in your hair.

“Perfect, Y/N. You’re so beautiful… so hot... doing well - so well, baby,” Taehyung praises, and at his words, a new fire ignites in your belly, the coil tightening as you chase your high.

Your eyes shift to Jungkook’s perfect jaw, and when a loud, questioning sound escapes you, he looks down and pulls back, immediately asking you what’s wrong. And when you tell him you’re close, that you need to come so badly, the men look at each other briefly. A glance at the one behind you shows him grinning, his smile almost gentle and sweet, if there wasn’t this everlasting gloom in his features, the heaving of his toned chest and the sinfulness of his actions.

“You deserve to cum,” he drawls, leaning forward until he almost lays on you, and his lips ghost over the shell of your ear. Goosebumps forming, you feel one of his arms snake around you to grab your tits, pressing and kneading them until he starts moving again. While his thick cock picks up the pace, the long digits of his free hand brush over your stomach until they reach your aching and neglected clit.

Before you can scream again, you grab Jungkook’s cock, burying it in your mouth once again as he lets out a surprised gasp, his breath hitching and abs stiffening.

“Fucking hell, baby. The absolute fucking hell,” he whines when you take him in completely, the pressure on your clit robbing all your sanity as your and Taehyung’s moans become one single, unsteady melody. It seems as if all the light in the world has vanished, leaving back only blurry shadows and you three are the center of the black hole, sucking in all the dark desire in existence.

And at the unholy way your orgasm takes over your body in a blistering sensation, creeping up every inch of your skin as your mind goes blank, you bawl, your mouth drawing back from your boyfriend’s cock as your upper body falls into the mattress with Taehyung against your back. Your heated, fervent chest presses against the sheets, and he growls when he feels your walls clench and release around him, the pressure almost torturous as he bites down into your shoulder hard, fucking into you a few times more until even he can’t take it anymore.

“I- oh, oh God, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he only articulates as his arms start to shake around your breasts, his cum finally filling the deepest point of you, painting your velvet walls white, teeth still scraping your skin lightly. Barely registering Jungkook’s voice, your eyes open, noticing how Taehyung is pressing chaste kisses on your back before he pulls out.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asks from above as you roll to the side, your damp back hitting the dry sheets.

You’d agreed to a threesome - one that has positively wrecked you until now. But as you think about the past - what, minutes, hours? - you can’t help but feel as if something is still missing. Taehyung has given you all he could, his beautiful body, ministrations and skills throwing you over the brink not once but twice; yet this was a threesome, right? Sucking Jungkook’s cock while he watched most of the time didn’t seem fair - not towards you, him, or the definition of the term that had brought you here.

“I want you, baby,” you declare when he sits down next to you, still naked and unfucked. His eyes widen when your finger traces his buff bicep, following the veins in his arms as you await his answer.

Taehyung lets out a deep laugh. Still seated right beside you, he brings his hand to your sore clit, collecting the leaking cum before he stuffs it back into you, squeezing your folds shut as if this could prevent the liquid from running out. “Seems like she still wants more.”

Jungkook eyes you in a mixture of suspicion and worry, his head tilting slightly before he asks, “Are you sure you can take it?”

“I can always take you,” you answer promptly, knowing fully well that you won’t be able to walk tomorrow, your pussy already overstimulated. But why would you care with two gorgeous men by your side, living life in this tasteful and ferocious moment only? “I promise I can.”

And without needing any other invitation, his lips crash down onto yours, grabbing your face affectionately. Your body starts writhing immediately, hands palming his neck as you pull him down to you, pressing yourself against him tightly.

Watching the naked figures of you and Jungkook collide, your tits against his chest, your perfect ass sticking out with your back arched, Taehyung inhales deeply when he feels his cock twitch again. But no matter how much he desires you, he has to hold back now, giving you love doves the chance you haven’t had all night long.

Your tongue melds with Jungkook’s, your hand tugging at his hair until it elicits a moan out of him - and then, when he’s devouring you like his last meal on earth, you pull his head away, looking at his enchanting, shiny gems of eyes as you sigh in excitement, “I’ll ride you.”

And before he can protest, you lift yourself up, straddling him with all the strength you can muster as you sit on his wet cock, some of Taehyung’s cum still dripping out of you and onto Jungkook’s rock hard length. You run your hands over his thick neck, his firm chest, his chiseled abs. You lean down, pressing a tongue-less but hard kiss onto his lips before you back away again, feeling Taehyung’s presence right diagonally behind you on the bed.

You lift your body to align Jungkook’s girth with your longing pussy, rubbing the head against your folds a few times before you slowly sink down, impaled on his cock completely. After being manhandled for quite some time, you decide to take things in your own hands, fucking Jungkook the way you are used to - everything almost the same, except for the fact that his friend is right there. And damn your instincts, if he doesn’t join you both as you’re predicting, the thought spurring you on so much that it alone makes you moan out loud.

“I’ll make you feel good, sweetheart,” you whisper when you move your hips a little, feeling him fill you up just like Taehyung had a few minutes ago. Your burning pussy needs a few soft movements until it gets used to him, and you finally start moving up and down his cock, your eyes closed, your hand gripping one of your tits tightly as you bite your lip.

From where Jungkook is lying, his hands digging into your waist in pleasure, you look astonishing, your mesmerizing features and curves so perfect that one might think you’ve been carved by a professional, a perfect sculpture as it is described in books and seen in museums.

And feeling your hands slide down to hold onto his shoulders as you bounce as if in a fever, he can’t help but feel affection flood through him. “God, you’re so impossibly- mmh… beautiful,” he manages to express, watching the way you swipe your hair over to one side, licking your perfect lips in such a mind-blowing and sexy manner.

“I am?” you ask teasingly - but before you get a comprehensive answer, you suddenly feel Taehyung’s hands on you, palming your breasts from behind as his lips press against your neck.

You gasp in surprise, your head falling back onto his shoulder as he nips at your skin gently, a small smile forming against you before he says, “You truly are.”

Your breath hitches when you feel his newly hardened length poke against your ass and his nimble fingers grabbing your wrists before he pulls your arms behind your back, holding them there while you focus hard on riding Jungkook.

While your arms are - again - situated in place, your free fingers fumble until they find Taehyung’s cock, your mouth twitching into a smirk when you start pumping his hardness. He moans against your cheeks, the pulsating sound echoing in your brain as you fuck Jungkook harder, the man squirming and grimacing under you - and you can see he’s close, all the tormenting situations today probably having edged him enough.

“Hands away,” Taehyung practically orders, pulling his cock away before he positions it between your ass cheeks. Gasping at the contact, you turn to look at him and he immediately claims your lips, kissing you in an indecipherable impatience that wasn’t there before. This is different, his touch is another kind of possessiveness than when he’d started all of this.

And when he releases your lips, he grabs the nape of your neck to push you forwards, bringing your face close to Jungkook’s who has his jaw clenched, clearly trying to delay his orgasm as whines fall out of his mouth. You think he’s trying to say something, but only manages to communicate in vowels and nasal huffs, the words dying in his throat like they often do when he’s inside you.

Meanwhile, Taehyung is rubbing his cock against your slit crazily, obviously having lost all control, not even asking for the safeword anymore - not that you’d use it anyway. And when he removes his fingers from your nape to press into your neck lightly, literally taking your breath away, you feel new cum drool onto your body and down your legs as Taehyung reaches his peak once more, covering your and Jungkook’s skin.

A slap lands on one of your ass cheeks as he finally lets your arms go and as you scream out, you wonder if this was supposed to be a thanking pat or an actual spank. Either way, it tightens the knot in your stomach as you move on your boyfriend’s cock, your pussy feeling sore and your legs soon cramping.

“Jungkook…” you whisper as he removes the hair out of your eyes, cupping your face as his thumb runs over your sweaty temple. “I love you so much, Jungkook. You can let go, baby.”

Taehyung again starts rubbing hasty circles against your clit, all his sudden motions making you yell out in pleasure, and the fact that you don’t see them coming, makes your orgasm approach faster.

And while you’re the one cooing at Jungkook, holding his face, kissing his lips, muttering loving words as you gaze into his beautiful doe eyes that are now filled with thrill - it is also you who tumbles over the border first. The love for him, the passion between you, all the blissful moments catching up to you within seconds, accompanied by these delightful touches of the man behind you, turn your vision white and let you ascend into an unknown space.

“That’s right. Cum all over him, Y/N,” Taehyung says, his hand slowing down as he helps you ride through your orgasm before he pulls back completely.

“I fucking love you, too, baby,” Jungkook whispers against your plush lips, noticing the way you’re slipping into tiredness and consequently rams into you, hard, roughly, chasing his own high. “My precious baby. My gorgeous, beautiful, amazing girl.”

You lean your forehead against his as he continues thrusting up until he finally finds his release, his eyes closing and lips trembling, the firm muscles of his bicep and arms flexing hard. He digs his nails into your flesh, having you whimper in ecstasy when he too cums inside you, mixing his seed with Taehyung’s before he eventually goes limp under you.

His body relaxes under your touch, your fingertips running across his skin soothingly as you whisper love confessions and praises into his ear, telling him just how much he means to you. You don’t quite understand what he mumbles back as he calms down, but you know very well that his words contain more promises, answers to your promises and affectionate declarations.

And now, somehow, it’s over.

Whatever the fuck has happened today, it has eventually reached its end, ending in heavy breaths, aching limbs and all of you lying across the bed to wind down, Jungkook’s cock soft when you finally lift yourself off him.

You are done. Physically and mentally ruined, just as Taehyung had promised, your insides cooling down as you stare at the ceiling, the lights of the candles having become even dimmer now after all the time that has passed.

With your body half dragging itself, half pulled by Jungkook, you clean up with towels and hot water that Taehyung has provided you after you’ve declined to stay the night or use his shower. As much as you’ve enjoyed all of this, this man is dangerous - you can’t guarantee to not wake up to another fuck, another threesome that would absolutely and ultimately destroy you.

After all, you have work in two days.

And when you’re fully dressed, your vision still hazy, brain still foggy, you almost laugh at the way you talk to Taehyung. It’s nearly as if you’re saying your goodbyes to an old friend after hanging out at his place to play video games and watch movies.

His lean and tall frame rests against the white wall in the entryway while Jungkook holds your hand tightly, speaking to his friend about work and what they have to finish before Tuesday. Taehyung’s tone is nonchalant - it practically seems like he doesn’t give a single thought to the fact that he’s been inside you, done all these things to you.

However, as you open the door to step out, ready to talk about this night to Jungkook in detail, he shoots you a look as one of his eyebrows raises. “Come whenever you want. My door is always open for you two.”

You feel yourself gulp, chest tightening when you finally nod and wave goodbye, his stare still lingering on where you’ve stood long after you’re gone.

Your gaze is fixed on the ceiling and by now you’ve stared so long at the illuminated stars that Jungkook put there months ago, it feels like they’re burned in your eyes. And when he turns around to wrap an arm around your waist, moving the bed as a consequence, you blink, seeing the pictures of the fake plastic sky behind your eyelids.

“Why are you still awake?” he mumbles against your cheek before his lips press a soft kiss onto it, pulling you closer into him.

You sigh as you engulf in his warmth, slight goosebumps forming on your skin, although the room has been heated for two hours. “I was… just thinking. About today.”

He chuckles quietly before he asks, “Yeah? You really did like it, huh?”

“I mean…” you start, turning sideways to press yourself flush against him, “you kept saying he might do something different than you. Something you could learn. So, did it change anything?”

Jungkook presses his lips together and thinks, images of tonight coming back. “I guess so. Though, I’d find it hard in the beginning… all that wax stuff. It was fucking hot, but I’d be too scared to hurt you.”

“No need. It was hot. But also, don’t do what you’re not comfortable with, baby,” you tell him, brushing his nose with your own, lips just inches away.

“You are, though. I mean, for maximum effect we could just go back to Taehyung again.” He says it in such a serious tone, his voice steady, fingers ghosting over your skin, that you think he might not be joking.

“Are you joking?” you speak your thoughts, but he doesn’t budge, doesn’t grin, laugh or smile.

Instead, he shakes his head before he nibbles at the shell of your ear, goosebumps intensifying. “I’m not. It was sexy to watch - and you obviously had fun with both of us. From what I’ve seen, he was completely fucked out, too. So, why not?”

Most of the times, the positions had clearly been beneficial especially for Taehyung - you just now realize that you couldn’t quite see his face often enough to describe and confirm what Jungkook is narrating right now.

“Why? How? You don’t have a problem with this at all?” you ask him in surprise - agreeing to it once was one thing, but him wanting it again, after it has happened? After seeing what Taehyung is capable of doing? It astounds you.

He wipes the hair out of your face as he brings his lips closer to yours, kissing you passionately, but harmlessly before he answers, “It made you feel good. And all I want is for you to feel good. I know it’s me who you’ll stay with - and whatever Taehyung does to you, you’re mine.”

And that you are. There is no doubt about this and no insecurity in you that would say otherwise or deny his statement.

But as you start to doze off, filled with love that is targeted towards the man in your arms, you feel the ache in your thighs, in your wrists, in your stomach and in your heart - and the last thing you hear before you finally slip off, is the ungodly, deep voice of Taehyung, the whisper of the same five words that had hypnotized you, lured you in further today.

“I will completely ruin you.”

tagging: @biaswreckme @ttaechwita @sugasbabiie @baepsaesbae @merakiiverse @hoebii @ressjeon @levantelux @xiaokoo @jungkooksbroski @imyourhobiii @chateautae @venusiangguk @quyennie @clevercoley @jimidol @taestycake @h0eforhyunjin16 @cloudteawrites @thatdamselinsolace @mwitsmejk @mellygallagher​ @kookie-chimchim​ @iwishselena @rayasunshine33 @ppeachyttae​ @jiminza @hantaev​ 

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