#arguing is a lot more fun when he's not actively dying

[bonesrot]

"ah shit."

he might heal quickly, but it still hurts like hell. the older he gets the easier it is to shrug most of the pain off, but even a metal spine knocked out of place is going to mess him up for a hot minute. the moment tony's pulled him up, logan's legs give a wobble, and as much as he hates to show weakness, he's still grabbing onto the man's armored forearms so he doesn't faceplant in the middle of the street.

the moment passes, the piceces of shrapnel have all made their way out of his body, and the pain subsides. his only discomfort now lies in the blood that's drying on his skin. well that and the look tony is giving him.

"i handled it, didn't i?"

there's going to be a lot of clean up that he supposes stark industries will have to write a big, fat check for, but that's never been a concern of his.

"bad guys are dead, i'm not. another day in the life."

@what-the-stark from x

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

How the kings would react to the shipping of them and MC

Satan

He was hanging out with his nobles, just talking gossip like normal people

But Paimon was just staying on his phone through half the conversations

"Paimon! What's so important that you're not interested in seing Sitri's baby pictures?"

Sitri was dying in the corner while Zagan was rubbing his back

Paimon takes his eyes out of his phone and giggles.

"Oh, I was just arguing with some people onlineeee"

Satan puts down the pictures of baby Sitri on the table (which Astaroth swiftly takes for himself. This will make such great blackmail material) and sits next to Paimon curiously.

"What are these dumpass arguing about now? Don't tell me Leraye started sending death threats to Barbatos over the weather again."

"Noooooo, it's better than thaaaaat. People are arguing about who the child of Solomon would dateeeee"

Satan takes Paimon's phone and starts to scroll through the comversations.

"And I'm winning, right? I mean MC has a pact with me, I was the first to meet them, it's obvious that I'm the one they'll choose"

"I know, riiiiiight?"

Satan would become the most active person in the shipping forum, just spamming it with pictures of him and MC

It's a way to assert his dominance over the whole thing.

Gamigin almost started a war between Paradise Lost and Gehenna when he started insulting Satan under his photos of MC

Mod Jjok had to work overtime to stop the harassment everyone in Gehenna was throwing at Gamigin for that

Lucifer had to send a formal apologise on behalf of his son to stop the situation from escalating further.

Mammon

Recently Eligos asked him to try on different fashion styles

At some point Mammon asks Eligos what this is all about

"The child of Solomon mentioned that they are interested in gothic fashion, so I'm trying to see what clothing would fit you and abide by goth fashion rules."

Mammon chuckles and ruffles Eligos' hair before telling him that he is already to his master's liking

"But there are a lot of people that claim that MC would be more interested in the other kings. We can't have that! Just yesterday Amon was bragging that MC and Beelzebub went on a date!"

"I'm glad they had fun with Beelzebub, but Beelzebub is mine and I am MC's. They can have fun with anyone they please."

Eligos' jaw drops to the floor. He gets flashbacks of all the arguments he had online about this and how he bought bots to mass report any Mammon x Mc slander

Eligos constantly tries to convince Mammon that the shipping wars are a big but Mammon doesn't really care.

At most he sends pictures of him and MC cuddling to Satan to spite him like all good friends do with eachother.

Leviathan

Leviathan is a lurker through the forums

It's where he got most of his information about you before kidnapping you

Probably reports all posts that aren't for the ship with him and you for false information

He would constantly post pictures of you and him doing mundane things with captions like "Living life perfectly", "Greatest day of my life", "Me and my wonderful significant other"

Makes everyone in Hades like his post and floud it with compliments

He'll make an account for you where he roleplays as a version of you that's madly innlove with you

The most likely to start an actual war between Hades and whatever ship is trending that morning

He sometimes doesn't sleep and just scrolls through the forums, refreshing constantly to see if you're having fun with someone else

King of all doxxers

No VPN will protect you from Leviathan's wrath

Beelzebub

Beelzebub was tied to his office chair with Bael glaring at him

"Go on, look at the complaint. What does it say?"

"I should take a vacation. I'm already burned out. You know, overworking is very bad for your health."

Bael glares at him with not an ounce of amusement behind his eyes

When Beelzebub skims through the files, something catches his attention

"Threat of war from Hades? I don't remember going to Hades recently, what happened?"

"While you were away having fun with the child of Solomon, Amon posted pictures of you two going at it on a forum. Next thing I know, his majesty Leviathan declared war on Avisos. I had to talk him out of it, but we now have to write a report about what happened and send it to the other kingdoms to tell them that it was resolved without any casualties."

Beelzebub was laughing his ass off while Bael was question his life choices

Beelzebub asks Amon to show him the forum which the younger devil does happily.

He sometimes go through it often, but he uses it as a way to find out where you are.

He's chiller about the whole thing, finding it kind of funny that so many people are so invested in your love life

Lucifer

Gamigin won't shut up about it.

If Lucifer took a shot every time Gamigin complained about the shipping wars, he'll dethrone Beelzebub as the king of Gluttuny

Lucifer is a softer lover, only being intense in more private parts of your relationship

So even getting him to kiss you in public (or outside the bedroom) is very hard.

This makes Gamigin's job as a shipper very hard

Lucifer finds the shipping war situation absurd

Why would anyone do this? What is it accompleshing? Why does he suddently get embargos from Hades or Gehenna after he goes on a date with you?

He'll probably have to sit Gamigin down and tell him to stop calling the other kings rude names just because they hang out with you.

It really depends on your reaction to everything as well

If you like being in the spot light, than he'll try to be more open with his affection, giving Gamigin more oportunities to gush about you online

If you want to keep your relationship more private, than he'll make all cameras fracture when pointing at the two of you

[another-lost-mc]

Omg a fellow F1 enjoyer here!! I absolutely love all your works, but I especially loved that one even more! 🥺 can I request for the dateables and side characters too pleaseee? 🫣

a/n: I'm glad you liked it! the demon bros were more like mc's little crew and it was such a cute idea. I think the others would still support mc in their own way too.

➤ when MC is a professional F1 driver | the dateables + mephisto

1.3k words | sfw | gn!reader | fluff & slice of life shenanigans

cw: developing relationships with the other characters (except for baby brother luke who is strictly platonic and mc's #1 fan).

related versions: the demon brothers

Diavolo

— He's thrilled that you're forging your own path in the Devildom and that the demon brothers are involved.

— He's impressed by your abilities but he still worries about your safety.

— Every morning when Barbatos brings him his morning paper, he scans the front page and sports sections for articles or photos about you or your latest race.

— He saves clippings of all your newspaper/magazine appearances and keeps them in a scrapbook.

— His original intention was to give it to you as a gift when you finished your year in the exchange program. He ends up making copies for everyone who wants one and keeps the original for himself.

— He has his own impressive vehicles. your excitement is palpable when he shows you the collection in his garage. When you go out together, he offers you the keys and hopes that you'll take the wheel. (He can't explain why he likes it so much.)

Barbatos

— He's a skilled driver himself even though he rarely needs to drive. Portals are so much simpler.

— The Devildom racing league tightens up its safety and security measures when you join. Barbatos personally oversees that their lax approach to rules and safety are amended. He argues that there's a fortune to be made for having the novelty of a human world driver on their track. He promises with fake smiles that their license and investments will suddenly be forfeit should anything happen to you due to their negligence.

— Barbatos doesn’t have a lot of free time to watch your races in person, but he follows your Devilgram account and watches the highlight reels that Asmo posts when he is done working for the day.

— He receives your fan club's newsletter. He's also purchased some merchandise as well, including a coffee mug he uses when he drinks tea privately in his chambers

— The Little D’s are some of your biggest fans too. Some of them make zoom-zoom noises as they race each other in the halls of the castle. (Little D Number 2 has tried to "borrow" Barbatos' fan merch, several times, but always gets caught.)

Simeon

— He's not sure why humans are so fascinated in sports or activities that look far too dangerous. He admires your passion and hates it at the same time.

— He’s a little nervous the first time you offer to take him out for a joy ride, but later he admits it was surprisingly enjoyable. (Anything with you is enjoyable, though.)

— He and Luke go to your races and both of them have a small collection of your fan merch.

— He’s very concerned about your safety. He knows humans are less durable than demons are and he watches from the stands with the pent-up energy of a bird about to take flight. If something happens, he's going to be out of his seat and flying to your side to help you.

— He secretly hopes you’ll retire from this career sooner rather than later because he’s terrified you’re going to get hurt (or worse) one day.

Luke

— He’s fascinated by the sport and how talented you are. He thinks it's a little scary how fast the race cars drive and he reminds you before each race that winning isn't important, as long as you're safe and having fun!

— He makes cupcakes and other yummy treats for you to celebrate your big wins. The cake and icing is dyed the same bright colours as your racing car.

— He loves it when you give him a chance to visit you behind the scenes at the track: exploring the pit, letting him sit in your car with your too-big helmet teetering awkwardly on his head.

— The others get a little jealous when you show Luke special attention, like when you wave to him in the crowd before a race or hug him when he runs up to you after.

— Luke likes sitting shotgun when you drive him and the others around town or for little day trips. Mammon even gives you permission to take him for drives in his own car sometimes. (Mammon lets Luke sit in the front seat with you if the three of you go somewhere together.)

— Luke talks about you constantly with his roommates in Purgatory Hall. He also mentions you a lot to Michael and even offered to send him some of your fan merch.

— (Michael grows more curious about you with each story or photo Luke shares with him, but he won't admit it to himself or anyone else.)

Solomon

— Solomon doesn't have an interest in most human sports, but when he meets you, his interest in the racing world is piqued.

— Whenever he wants to go out somewhere, he insists that not only should you go with him, but that you should drive, too.

— (There's something about your cool confidence and quiet joy behind the wheel that makes him feel things.)

— Your fan following in the human world is almost as impressive as your growing popularity in the Devildom. He goes on a little shopping spree, buying up the various official and fan-made merch that was sold during your rise to success.

— He keeps his favourite items for himself but lets the others have their pick. You think it's embarrassing how he even managed to find some of this junk (really, who has a pristine copy of an old racing calendar?). The demons and angels divide it all amongst themselves without too much arguing—at first. (You leave when someone suggests Rock, Paper, Scissors to settle some of the arguments over the most coveted items everyone wants for themselves.)

— Solomon rolls his eyes when Mammon claims loudly that this stuff is gonna sell for a fortune in the Devildom, but he knows the Greed demon has no intention of selling any of it. (Asmo confirms later that Mammon keeps everything he claimed, including the little collectible figures of your old racing car, on a shelf in his bedroom.)

Mephistopheles

— He's completely unimpressed with you when you first arrive, and he really doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. So what if you're human? You're completely ordinary and boring and unremarkable, so why should he care?

— The revelation about your human world profession, and your dramatic debut into the Devildom racing scene, changes his mind. Professionally, anyway.

— It's hard to refuse his next assignment when the prince himself takes such an interest in you. Mephisto is the RAD Newspaper Club representative tasked with covering your career and setting up interviews and photo-ops that the rest of the school are clamoring for.

— Mephisto really underestimates your popularity. He grits his teeth when Asmo cackles on the other end of the D.D.D. and informs him that he'll be added to the list of news outlets that want an interview with you.

— Seriously???

— (He refuses to be affected when you admit bashfully that interviews are something you'll never get used to, and that maybe if he's feeling generous, can he be kinder than some of the human world reporters used to be?)

— He gets special access, along with one of the Newspaper Club photographers, to the front row staging area so they can capture the best shots of you before, during, and after each race. He hates your bright smile when he grudgingly hands you a photo afterwards. Don't get the wrong idea, either: it's for his younger brother. Mephisto couldn't care less.

— (His brother is over the moon when Mephisto gives him the signed photo later. If he's smiling, it's only because his brother is happy!)

[killergirlfuria]

So I may or may not be working on a tiny little very self-indulgent crossover thingy. Will this go anywhere past this pic? We'll see.

The gist of this AU; year is 2029. Prototype and AC1-3 took place in 2012, Resident Evil Village in 2015. Alex and Desmond have been together for 17 years. Through legally sound and morally questionable means, Alex and Desmond ended up as legal caregivers of Elijah, Pariah/Michael, and Rosemary Winters.

From left to right; Desmond, Alex, Elijah, Pariah/Michael, Rosemary, Dana.

Stuff about it under the cut.

While they are messing with Abstergo and Brotherhood in Europe, they befriend one Ethan Winters and, after his death, Mia entrusts them with Rose as she can't take care of her in her deteriorating mental state. And, realistically, they're probably best equipped to giving Rose as normal life as someone as her could get. She grows up happy, aware and accepting of her powers. Hard not to, when out of her two dads one is effectively a demigod and the other is eldritch sentient plague. Being a sentient mold isn't so weird in this setting.

Later when raiding Abstergo bases they find Elijah held there. Desmond, now aware that he has a kid obviously refuses to leave him. They kill Juno as a father-son bonding activity, visit Elijah's mother grave. Cry a bit, argue a bit (he is a traumatized tween) but figure it out. It forces Alex and Desmond to slow down a bit; they do want to give their kids a stable childhood, after all. They thought they had more time, since Rose was barely a toddler, but with Elijah on board they reevaluate. Somehow, Alex ends up being his favorite dad. Desmond is only a little jealous, but he gets it. He likes Alex a whole lot, too.

They have a little break, a little wedding, they wrap up the Templar mess as well as they can for the time being. Desmond takes the Mercer surname and so does Elijah, because Bill does not deserve his name to be carried on.

Desmond becomes a Mentor somewhere in the middle. He's determined to drag the Brotherhood back into functionality whether it likes that or not; no more Bill sending people to die for nothing but his ego. Bill doesn't take it well, of course, but who'd care about him at this point? Desmond has three lifetimes worth of Mentor memories and the scariest dog on the block for a husband.

Alex does science, because he likes it. He's the kind of person to find writing dissertations fun. He may become an university professor; college students tend to be the most agreeable and most entertaining breed of a student. He does photography too. It's a memory-making thing.

They tackle Blacklight properly; find Pariah. Pariah, as it turns out, is actually somewhat unstable, hibernating most of the time, and stuck physically and mentally at 8 years old. Alex offers Blacklight to stabilize him; Pariah accepts. Purges his DNA of irregularities, replaces what's missing with Alex' DNA and the Blacklight. It's a little weird, to retroactively make him Alex' child when he was born before Alex, but that's what they're dealing with now. Pariah is still 8 in every way that matters. Greene named him Michael, which he gladly accepts (he never had a name before), and then he's a Mercer too.

It's 2020 by then, so plague jokes abound.

Dana in the meantime does what any girlboss does, gets her journalist career going, writes a book or two. Is instrumental in orchestrating the public downfall of Abstergo and Blackwatch. Adopts two cats. Struggles to find a girlfriend because things are never boring with the Mercers, but their kind of excitement oft comes with threat of bodily harm, cults, and shady corporations being hunted for sport. She's also kinda sorta infected with a dormant strain of Blacklight because it was either that or dying to whatever Greene infected her with.

In 2029 Desmond is 42 years old, Alex is 46, Elijah is 24, Michael/Pariah is 17 (chronologically 60), Rosemary is 15, and Dana is 38.

[24hrfrog]

!! w/ the top gun au x pjo theyre all baby teens, i think its more fun to mirror how percy was in the first book (yes i literally grew up on this series i will put top gun au in the very beginning ✊🫡) also no the pjo characters (literally everyone minus the gods and Charon) dont exist in this au theyre basically replaced with these four

idk the actual ages of mav, ice, goose n slider so heres a guess thats prob v wrong of their age gaps irl (like to the actors actual ages) but canon in my little au lol

Slider:

+ 15, got to camp when he was a baby bc no one wanted him 🧌 he grew up there and survived, he stayed with the hermes kids until he was 10 when he was claimed :( zeus sucks.

+ has abandonment issues which is why he is stuck so close to ice as they have a strong connection, tries his best to always succeed due to fear of disappointment to zeus, tries to be mature but ends up crying and needing comfort (sad kid bro, too much stress, is being forced to grow up basically which is why mav is such a nice balance helping him be childish/immature whenever they argue— its all out of endearment)

Ice:

+ 14, met slider when he was 9– is the reason slider got claimed in the first place when slider ended up discovering he could blast people saving ice from monsters chasing him up the hill, campers steered clear of slider after that due to the “ohh hes the son of zeus” effect so ice had slider and slider had ice, ice was claimed just a few days into camp life

+ bosses people around but its bc he knows and plans things they dont and never reveals why he tells ppl to do what until after the fact which can be kinda annoying but u just gotta trust ice— even if he tells u to stab him or if he betrays u for a second (lol). he finds patterns in peoples personalities that helps him guess what their reaction to different scenarios will be so he doesn’t get surprised by a lot of things and can defuse a situation with just words in a snap

Mav:

+ 13, youngest lil baby, got to camp just a few weeks ago basically and got too many enemies when he helped his team win in capture the flag— immediately got claimed by ares after that especially when he fought dirty and took out slider mid game which pissed off the winner who had a streak going

+ naturally gifted, his adhd is a bit more intense than other demigods making reflexes and senses more heightened (a blessing and a curse) he prefers to sleep outside in a makeshift tent he has pitched up a little farther into the woods since he prefers nature more over other peoples company (minus goose) a lot of energy but a bit of a loner if no one he’s rlly close to is around— came from an foster family that adopted him that is apart of the demigod protection group, hasnt seen what campers like ice and slider have seen yet in the demigod world (friends dying, quests where no one comes back, parents being dead beats, etc)

Goose:

+ 15, older than slider already has a crush (carole, a girl back in the mortal world he sees every summer, shes 16 and they were paired up as a pianist and singer for a performance which started off their relationship), got to camp when he was 13 and prefers non fighting activities, got claimed when he and the campers had a sing along

+ never rlly talked to slider or ice until mav got to camp and wouldnt stop pestering the only zeus child if he could shoot lasers out of his eyes, goose and ice get along fine tho ice sees a loyal comrade with goose which he admires, occasionally has sleep overs with mav in his tent outside whenever mav wants the company or a tranquilizer to sleep, gets too many migraines from shenanigans to the point he always has a thermos with a soothing tea and a case of Tylenol

[nesting-dreams]

i see the memes of entp and infp all the time online of infp cartoonishly hating entp and entp being cartoonishly creepy, but a healthy entp and infp relationship is so much more fun to watch in my view. Entp’s and infp’s always have a rough start of misunderstanding, but if they can be mature and look past that. It’s a nice dynamic. I want to use fictional works as examples for this cuz it’s just easier.

I shall give 3 different examples. There is more, but these are my favourites. Marriage: Clara and Doc from back to the future 3. He saves her from dying and they fall for each other, he comes across as the mad doctor in the old west and she is intrigued, and it turns out she was supposed to die, so instead at the end, he offers her to live in time limbo with him so she doesn’t ruin the timeline, but she doesn’t die either. Clara risks dying on a train to be with him by walking on the outside of it to stop him from time jumping without her, he thought it was the best for her to leave her at first, but changed his mind when he saw her do that. She gives off the impression of being this sweet little thing, but her crazy matches his crazy with that train shenanigans and them hanging out throughout the movie. Doc even realised this after that stunt that she’s not normal. He is very happy about it. (Doc’s closest friend is a very mature esfp, who is the only one who really takes him seriously when it’s needed out of most people).

Crushes, but stay friends: Laetitia and Lupin the 3rd. Lupin the third the first. They meet from her throwing a punch at him after he stole from her after she set the cops on him, so she could steal this book that the Nazi’s wanted, and also again when she assaults him with her shoe later on. He makes her genuinely angry at one point and he realises he pushed the wrong button, what she got mad about was he told a lie about someone she admired and she fact corrects him and gets annoyed with him for trying to make her feel stupid. He got upset with her cuz she poked him back as a retort, but she backs off too when she realised she upset him. She dreamily wishes to solve ancient mysteries for the romance and fantasy of it. He wants to solve it for profit and the romance of it. After the suspicion has died down, They start out arguing looking for some ancient technology, the arguments don’t actually last long. It is not mean spirited arguing. Lupin’s really sweet to her for the rest of the movie. It is not often in the series he shows a sweet side like this. He tried kissing her and both developed a crush on the other. Laetitia loves the arguments and she also playfully sasses to his naughty comments. They both smirk at each other a lot knowingly. Because she looks like a puppy, he denies that he falls for it and makes fun of others for falling for it but he takes one look at her when he at first does not want too and he basically does anything she asks. He helps her out by going behind her back and using trickery to help her and others. She is more authentic and genuine and up front about helping him and others. She Cries when failure happens and he cheers her up, by showing her that he will back her up when she fails, and they help each other reach a common goal. They bounce ideas of each other, she shows her knowledge on things and he does the same. Both have different knowledge that helps each other to their common goal. She is genuinely impressed outloud with his smarts while he does not say it out loud, he gets excited for her when she gets passionate. He actively encourages her to use her head more. Later in the movie, he had jumped out a plane without a parachute for her to save her. Normally he thinks things through, but he didn’t for that one. He does sometimes have bursts of stupidity inbetween the genius. She does not hide her worry for him whenever he gets hurt or she thinks something bad may happen to him which I think does make an impact of him being gentle with her. He doesn’t usually hang around such soft people. both have the same idea when it comes to ending a disaster that happens. She tries blowing up this plane with her in it to stop it being used in killing people, but it does not go as planned. He tries the same thing later cuz while he did want to use it for himself what was found, he realised it was too much trouble “human’s aren’t ready for this yet”. He had a backup plan unlike her to escape before he would get consumed by the explosion. (Other people Lupin became friends with who he had a rocky start with (by rocky start I mean that they also tried to beat him up cuz he was insufferable first meeting: estp, Esfp, Infj, istp (out of these he is softest to the infj. I think it’s that introverted feelers that makes his fe want to take care of the introverted feelers people like Laetitia and Goemon. It’s nice seeing how gently he treats Goemon and Laetitia. He does show his sweet side to Esfp, but at some point he stops because Esfp does not take it seriously. I think he wonders what is the point in showing it to her and he reverts back to his usual attitude). Other people he got along with right away: Intp (he sees her as a niece cuz she’s 14). Who he respects yet he always messes with him: Estj. (Laetitia respects an estj called Zenigata and he is really nice to her. It’s nice seeing the stereotype of an infp and estj hating each other thrown in the trash like that computer meme).

Goemon knows how to roast, he has dark ideas and take jabs, but Lupin never really takes it too far with him. He pokes and prods, but not as much as he does with the others. The infj and infp respond positively to him being nicer, so he keeps doing it. They are his moral compass. Meanwhile, his istp friend tends to keep a distant to help and emotions. Lupin is best friends with the istp, he’d jump into a running bus for him, istp would do the same, but they don’t often have a heart to heart. Their play is more rough and they can take the more serious pokes and jabs at each other. (Lupin healthily boosts Laeitita’s Te to the surface which has her notice when she is being manipulated and to be more practical and to use her head in finding out more information on the person manipulating her (she is an adult infp so she actually is good at using it on her own, he just helps her use it even more and in a more practical sense). both connect with their si and Ne, honestly the nicest parts of the movie is when they’re just talking with each other quietly and not moving the plot forward. He also boosts up Goemon’s Se which has Goemon experience things more in life on a whim, he also helps Goemon notice when he’s being manipulated, but if Goemon has noticed he is being manipulated, he usually is not sure what to do if his usual methods don’t work, so Lupin helps him out of that situation. Meanwhile, both Laetitia and Goemon boost Lupin’s Fe to the surface and make him a nicer person in a healthy way. Meanwhile, with others he can be callous at times and not listen to them. He does not like to see Goemon and Laetitia sad and does his best to make them smile even at his own expense. He acts like a cheerleader for both in a way).

Mentor and student: Dazai, entp mentor, Atsushi, infp student. Bungou stray dogs. Dazai had saved Atsushi from homelessness with the usual trickery behind his back thing. And Atsushi is grateful and just stayed with the detective agency. At first, Dazai tries to keep a distance emotionally, pushing buttons. Atsushi becomes more confident and sassy because of Dazai, and Dazai feels like someone cares about him for once in his life so he softens. He gets in trouble and most of the people in this series just shrug it off, but Atsushi’s almost the only one worrying about him (Dazai got taken away by the mafia and Atsushi started worrying where Dazai has been for the past couple of days while the others don’t worry about it). Dazai loves that his student is so willing to listen to him, even his silly little antics, yet sass him back. Atsushi feels the most comfortable around Dazai aside from Kyoka. Dazai’s incredibly sweet to his student. These two have moments where they can talk about stuff with each other that they can’t with others. entp in mentor roles to infp always feel like that disgruntled dad adopting a stray puppy who’s looking for a home, at first the dad doesn’t want it, but he’s not going to throw the puppy out cuz that’d be cruel, but then he will throw a table if you even insist on finding the puppy a new home or suggest putting it down, eventually. Meanwhile, infp’s are just in general protective of their love ones right away. (Who Dazai was close to who died: Infj / someone he is friends with but won’t admit it: Entj/ Atsushi works with an estj who he respects greatly, they’re not friends or close, but both respect each other. You don’t see that happen often, but it can happen. It’s nice seeing the stereotype not being around for once in fiction / Kyoka is an isfp). Bonus cuz I’m not writing more cuz I’ll just keep repeating myself. Family: Edward and Alphonse from full metal alchemist. Yuta and Gojo from Jujutsu kaisen (Gojo is also his mentor). The family dynamic is a lot like the student and teacher I wrote with entp always being the oldest sibling or oldest distant cousins.

For Entp and infp to work, infp needs to have a bite to them from years of life experience and entp needs to soften from years of life experience. Most infp’s and entp’s in reality do mention being fond of the other. They always are great together in fiction too. I’m not sure exactly where these memes come from of them only hating each other, obviously there will be some infp and entp who dislike each other, but I hear more good than bad. Only an infp (and infj) can apparently make Entp feel this “strange protectiveness” over them that does not really come out for other people. (Side note. I also love seeing enfp/intj and intp/enfj together. they really do bring the best out of each other without overshadowing the other and putting them in a box. They all start out annoying each other, but can’t deny being drawn to each other).

[lu-is-not-ok]

Thanks for the analysis post! It's neat to see your interpretations, and is definitely helping me sort out my own(I was struggling with wording mine). I'd like to share my take/understanding on passives/supports, because I think characters who use different resources depending on whether it's passive or support are really, really interesting. (Plus I am still staring directly at Outis' LCB and G Corp needing Sloth. I want to know what is going on with that old woman)

I think passive/support sins mesh with the actual passive/support's mechanics themself and are meant as an explanation for why this occurs. Character analysis wise, I think it could be used to specify and solidify motivations for certain actions the character takes.

The best example I can use for this is Gregor, since 3/5 of his IDs heal HP. To abridge all of my understanding of the specific sins each ID needs for their passive/support: LCB Gregor's s1 Gloom has to do with, as you mentioned, his experiences of being a war vet, G Corp's s1 Gluttony has to do with his endless will to survive and continue fighting, and RB Gregor's s1 Lust is all about how impulsive this Gregor can come off as when it comes to food.

So like, all three of them have the same passive, with LCB Gregor's costing 3 for both passive and support, while G Corp's and RB's cost 4 for passive, G Corp costing 4 for support and RB 5.

So like. Why does Gregor heal in the first place? I think it's cannibalism for all three of them, with G Corp being much more aggressive about it when he's afraid of dying, and as such healing after clashes, not at combat start.

However, all three of them have a different reason for doing so- LCB's passive is quite literally labeled 'Forced Survival,' after all, and I think it's rather self-explanatory for his Gloom. G Corp's is gluttony because it's specifically the 'survival' gluttony- G Corp Gregor has resigned himself to the war, but he still wants to live. And finally, RB Gregor is lust because of his impulsivity and his want to make good food, to try the ingredients.

I think passive/support activation costs have a similar meaning to EGO cost as well? Because I'm sure RB Gregor really doesn't want to support Ryoushuu, but if he's convinced by his lust enough, he will. As much as LCB Gregor might hate it, he doesn't tend to resist things that happen to him and could fall to gloom and habits from his days as a soldier easily.

I also wanted to touch on characters who passives/supports did different things, but are fueled by the same sin- for instance, TingTang Hong Lu's Gluttony. Either way, he gets something out of it to satisfy his want for something interesting, though how he goes about doing it is different depending on if it's for himself or for someone else. But yeah. Sorry for the ramble in your ask box, just wanted to share a fun thought I've had.

(I've been also trying to figure out the EGO weaknesses for a while and I remember seeing an interpretation of them, but I can't remember what it was atm- something to do with being literally weak to that type of emotion, I believe?)

I think that you might legit be onto something here! No, yeah, all that you're saying here makes sense! The one thing I would argue is what LCB Gregor's healing passive represents - I think it has more to do with his bug arm constantly regenerating even against his will, which I think still makes it fit under the Gloom category, considering how his arm's behavior can be interpreted as an allegory of his PTSD.

But no, yeah, this all makes sense to me. Thanks a lot for sharing, my brain was running on fumes by the time I got to actually explaining how Sins work with Identities and E.G.O, so I didn't have the energy to actually take a moment and think about how all of that could apply properly.

When it comes to E.G.O Sin Resistances, I think the main point I want to figure out is whether they represent a Sinner's outward resistances or inward resistances, if that makes sense? Like, does it represent how they react to other people's actions fueled by those Sins, or does it represent how they react to the internal influence of those Sins?

So, if you don't mind me hijacking your own ask to talk about Sin Resistance quirks, I'm gonna just. Talk about them and see if we can figure some of these out together. Under cut cause... it got long.

EDIT: APPARENTLY THE SOURCE I WAS USING FOR REFERENCE ON SOME OF THIS WAS JUST STRAIGHT UP FUCKING WRONG SOMETIMES???? Anyway I'm fixing some of the accidental misinfo.

For one - the amount of Fatal/Endure/Ineffective resistances depends on the threat level of the E.G.O.

All E.G.O thus far have two Fatal resistances. All Zayin E.G.O have one Endured resistance. All Teth E.G.O have one Ineffective resistance (except for Red Eyes Ryoshu, which follows the pattern of Zayin E.G.O). All He E.G.O have both one Endured resistance and one Ineffective resistance.

Here are some other patterns I've noticed.

All Zayin E.G.O Endure Sin damage of the same type as that E.G.O's Sin affinity.

Most Teth E.G.O work the same way, just with having the resistance to their own Sin affinity be set as Ineffective instead. However, there are actually some exceptions here!

Those notable exceptions are: - Red Eyes Ryoshu (who Endures it like a Zayin) - Sunshower Outis (Sloth is Ineffective against her, while Gluttony is Normal), - You Want To Get Beat? Hurtily? Meursault (Pride is Ineffective against him, while Envy is Normal) - AEDD Heathcliff (Wrath is Ineffective against him, while Gloom is Fatal)

Most He E.G.O follow the pattern of Teth E.G.O, having the resistance to their own Sin affinity be Ineffective. Just like Teth E.G.O however, there are some exceptions.

Those are: - Sunshower Yi Sang (Gluttony is Ineffective against him, while Sloth is Endured) - AEDD Gregor (Wrath is Ineffective against him, while Gloom is Fatal)

Another pattern is that E.G.Os of the same Abnormality of the same threat level always have the exact same Sin resistances.

When it comes to E.G.Os of the same Abnormality but different threat level, usually there is still some overlap in resistances.

Specifically: - Sunshower share their Fatal resistances (Wrath and Lust), while different in their Ineffective resistances (Sloth for Outis, Gluttony for Yi Sang). Notably, Sunshower Yi Sang Endures Sloth, the Sin that's Ineffective against Sunshower Outis. - Fourth Match Flame, Capote and AEDD all share both Fatal and Ineffective resistances between their Teth and He counterparts. - Ryoshu's two Red Eyes E.G.O have only one overlap, that being Fatal to Pride.

Notable overlaps between the Sinners' Base E.G.Os and their other E.G.Os: - Yi Sang's Base E.G.O Endures Sloth (Sunshower, partially Wishing Cairn which has Sloth as Ineffective) and is Fatal to Gloom (Wishing Cairn, Fourth Match Flame) and Envy (Dimension Shredder). - Faust's Base E.G.O Endures Pride (Telepole) and is Fatal to Lust (Hex Nail) and Gluttony (Telepole). Notably Fluid Sac has no overlap, instead having some resistances as opposite to it (Fatal to Pride, Endures Lust). - Don's Base E.G.O Endures Lust (Fluid Sac, partially Lifetime Stew which has Lust as Ineffective) and is Fatal to Wrath (no current overlap) and Gloom (Lifetime Stew). Notably Fluid Sac has an opposite resistance to it (Gloom Ineffective), while Telepole has no overlap. - Ryoshu's Base E.G.O Endures Lust (Red Eyes) and is Fatal to Gluttony (Red Eyes) and Envy (no overlap). Notably both Red Eyes (Open) and Fourth Match Flame have no overlaps, instead both having some resistances as opposite to it (Red Eyes (Open): Endures Gluttony, Envy Ineffective; Fourth Match Flame: Endures Envy). - Meursault's Base E.G.O Endures Pride (Pursuance, partially You Want To Get Beat? Hurtily? which has Pride as Ineffective) and is Fatal to Lust (Pursuance, Capote) and Gluttony (Pursuance). Notably Capote has an opposite resistance to it (Endures Gluttony), while Pursuance is a near-perfect match. - Hong Lu's Base E.G.O Endures Gloom (no overlap) and is Fatal to Wrath (Roseate Desire, Dimension Shredder) and Envy (Dimension Shredder). Notably all his current E.G.O share Fatal resistance to Wrath. - Heathcliff's Base E.G.O Endures Envy (partially Telepole which has Envy as Ineffective) and is Fatal to Lust (no overlap) and Gluttony (Telepole). Notably AEDD has no overlap. - Ishmael's Base E.G.O Endures Gloom (no overlap) and is Fatal to Lust (Capote) and Sloth (Ardor Blossom Star). Notably Roseate Desire has no overlap, and all her non-Base E.G.Os have opposite resistances to it (Roseate Desire: Lust Ineffective; Capote: Fatal to Gloom; Ardor Blossom Star: Endures Lust, Fatal to Gloom). - Rodya's Base E.G.O Endures Pride (no overlap) and is Fatal to Gloom (Fourth Match Flame) and Envy (no overlap). Notably Rime Shank has no overlap, and all her non-Base E.G.Os have opposite resistances to it (Rime Shank: Gloom Ineffective; Fourth Match Flame: Endures Envy). - Sinclair's Base E.G.O Endures Gluttony (no overlap) and is Fatal to Wrath (no overlap) and Pride (no overlap). Notably none of his non-base E.G.O overlap with it, and Impending Day has an opposite resistance (Wrath Ineffective). - Outis's Base E.G.O Endures Pride (no overlap) and is Fatal to Lust (Sunshower) and Envy (no overlap). Notably Ya Sunyata Tad Rupam and Ebony Stem have no overlap, instead having opposite resistances to it (Ya Sunyata Tad Rupam: Lust Ineffective; Ebony Stem: Fatal to Pride). - Gregor's Base E.G.O Endures Sloth (no overlap) and is Fatal to Gloom (AEDD) and Envy (no overlap). Notably Legerdemain and Lantern have no overlap, and both Legerdemain and AEDD have opposite resistances (Legerdemain: Fatal to Sloth; AEDD: Fatal to sloth, Endures Envy). Another interesting note is that Legerdemain and Lantern overlap with each other in being Fatal to Wrath, and partially overlap in their resistance to Gluttony (Endured for Legerdemain, Ineffective for Lantern).

What does any of this mean...? Shrugs. I gave you the info, do whatever you want with it I guess.

[ratcandy]

What are some of those zote mischaracterizations that you've seen? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm just very curious.

Well I mean. Ok let me explain. rant ahead because of COURSE it is

I've got a history of liking mean little bastard characters. Favorite archetype ever is when a little guy is mean. More specifically, when that little guy is mean and arrogant. That's just fun for me to play with!

And well. Zote is both of these things! Hence why I latched onto him so easily The mischaracterizations I've seen are mostly just... erasing. Either of these aspects. Suddenly he's not mean, or not arrogant, and it's... Huh. How did you get there.

I've seen Zote characterizations where he'll be snappy but back off if someone shows they're offended. I've seen this man APOLOGIZE in situations where he would NOT do that.

He is mean!!! Zote is mean!!! He calls Ghost names and threatens to "cut [them] down" for "stealing his prey" (when he was actively dying), and doesn't even Hesitate when thrown into the Colosseum. This guy refuses to thank you for saving his life. TWICE. He is NOT going to apologize for hurting feelings.

And if Bretta's writing is to be believed, he went and told the whole town (or just Bretta) that Ghost was some sort of horrible monster. For kicking his ass in Colo. Even if Ghost spared his life, which is decidedly NOT a thing that most bugs do in the Colosseum. He sucks!! My guy is an asshole!!!!!

Like yeah he's incompetent and there's argument to be had about him being all bark and little bite, but if you write him Soft or Polite or the type to back down from an argument, then. That's just not my guy. That's Not him.

If you argue that he's gone through some sort of revelation and changed for the better then that's one thing, but if you just suddenly have Zote there, decidedly being rather level-headed, not self-centered, and showing a weird amount of care for people around him, it just feels. Off

Zote is Mean. Zote has a Big Ego. Yes, I rummaged through that man's psyche and fucked him up real good to make him deeper than he seems, but I did NOT get rid of the Mean and the Arrogant. At least not the fronted mean arrogance. Like I'm totally good with the interpretation that it's all a front to mask insecurities (considering what I wrote of him, lmao) but you can't just. NOT have the meanness. You can't get rid of the grandeur and pretend it's not there

And he's got other flaws I've seen people try n erase too! Like lying! Zote is a liar, that is a thing he does pretty plainly. To Ghost's face, even. To think he's not because of that one precept saying "Speak Only the Truth" would be taking a lot at face value for a character proven to be unreliable. He's also got a precept saying "Respect Your Superiors." Do you think he does that. Like genuinely

Anyway all I'm saying is that you can like a mean character without trying to get rid of the meanness. Please don't sandpaper my guy ...And honestly listen I like the idea of soft Zote moments as much as the next Zote liker, in fact I LOVE that idea, but there needs to be proper Set Up. u cannot just tell me he's like that and would be like that how he is canonically. I need to Believe it

[truegoist]

💘 + RIN x ATLAS

OMG </3 long post so

where they first met and how

Probably at a school gym, i mean im in a basketball team and hes in football soo fight over who gets to use the room first

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved

HELLA LONG bc he’s petty and like “oooo i will never be that low to actually fall for that guy” etc etc

who fell for who first ( if applicable )

okay so I’m going to go ahead and say him first bc even in irl relationships I’ll flirt and shit w everyone but it takes me a hell lot of time to actually swoon

where their first date was and what it was like

PICNIC PICNIC PICNIC was pretty fun except turns out bringing dogs was not such a good idea <;/3

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )

me obvi, probably started out w someone going “oo u two gay” and me being ye

who proposes first

rin this time he plans every single step to it

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away

Not exactly single but rin doesn’t wants rest of the bllk guys to know bc they’re annoying

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )

after his match def frfr

if they adopt any pets together

nope i have enough pets already

who’s more dominant

me B)

where their first kiss was and what it was like

Totally normal moment except his first automatic reaction was to go “Ew”

if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? )

NECKLETS & PIERCINGS

how into pda they are

rin like %0 and me %100

who holds the umbrella when it rains

Him solely bc i always forget to bring one

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )

my or his house

who’s more protective

Rin def

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )

like a week lol. Mainly bc i love crashing over at even just friends houses

if they argue about anything

everything always doesn’t matter what I love arguing and he’s just petty

who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. )

💪

who steals whose clothes and how often

I’d say rin only does so when he confuses it w mine (bc yk similar size both men’s shit both emo) and then refused to acknowledge it’s mine

how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? )

probably either spooning or me just on top of him bc i love body slamming ppl

what their favourite nonsexual activity is

arguing </3

how long they stay mad at each other

not too long he’s way too in love for that lmao loser

what their usual coffee / tea orders are

rin orders whatever he wants for both of us and I just go along as long as it’s cold

if they ever have any children together

physically impossible but also I want children so adoption

if they have any special pet names for each other

loser, etc

if they ever split up and / or get back together

nah i don’t think so

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )

oh I’m a pro at cleaning houses so very very clean 💪💪💪 I’d say rins part of the house is very minimalist and mine is just full of decorative shit and photos and all

what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like

i dont celebrate any of those stuff BUT MATCHING COSTUMES FOR HALLOWEEN

what their names are in each other’s phones

rin to me > headache.

me to him -> bbg

if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? )

ye collecting news articles together

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first

He wakes up first bc yk football shit and I fall asleep first

who’s the big spoon / little spoon

interchanging

who hogs the bathroom

me </3 (putting on piercings + dyed hair shit)

who kills the spiders / takes them outside

i do !!

[voiddemon]

I don't mean to sound rude, I love your skirfluff content, but why does kirby seem so jealous of their relationship? wouldn't he be, at the bare minimum, a little supportive?

TUMBLR.COM DELETED THE ENTIRE RESPONSE I WROTE ON DA WAY HOMEEE okay here we go again. This one's much shorter and not super in depth. btw ur not being rude by asking i loveee to talk about my headcanons.

Kirby isn’t jealous of their relationship, kind of! It’s a whole complicated mess. To clarify before I begin I am an Aro-Kirby truther and many of my headcanons have been robbed from the Kirby guy(Kaissauce) who u can find easily 99% of the skirfluff posting were my post and his.

TLDR: Kirby is upset at being 'replaced', doesn't understand why Shadow Kirby 'deserves' Prince Fluff, and Shadow Kirby is still being an asshole to him.

I won’t go into all of it but Kirby, before they start dating, sees Skirby as a lot of things. An insociable, rude, blunt, ungrateful, hateful, self-loathing clone of himself. Big emphasis on CLONE OF HIMSELF. He thinks he has it easy since nothing is actively threatening the mirror world, and the only thing he really has (from his view) to be sad about is DMK dying. But he was super evil anyway so yeah. Skirby also hates him in turn, and they kick each other’s shit in every other month or so.

Prince Fluff is, however a dear friend of his. Not his closest but he's definitely important to him, especially since Prince Fluff is also kind of a lonely guy with not a lot of friends like Shadow Kirby.

So when they're friends at first he's kind of happy for them, until they start getting actually close. Seee here's the thing. While Kirby can handle not being someone's top priority, or that someone wouldn't go to him for certain things, he can't handle that happening with Shadow Kirby. It makes him absolutely confused and angry, since what does Skirby have that he doesn't? In his mind he's automatically a better friend than Skirby, especially for Prince Fluff, since they have a lot more in common.

Also having to essentially share Prince Fluff's time when he tries to get them to get along is agony, since when he and Skirby inevitably argue/fight and Prince Fluff often takes Skirby's side. Before they start dating the fact that it's Prince Fluff is barely a factor, it's just Shadow Kirby having a similar role in one of his friend's lives.

HOWEVER once they start dating everything gets wayyyy worse. It comes with a lot of fun confusing questions and new wounds. Here's a list:

Why can Skirby feel romantic feelings when he, the original and REAL Kirby, can't. (Is he faking it for since he doesn't want to hurt Prince Fluff, or (he doesn't really think this, but it crosses his mind) is he just playing Prince Fluff for the benefits? Is something wrong with Kirby for not feeling romantic feelings?)

What does Skirby have that makes him more worthy of Prince Fluff's time than Kirby's? Why does Shadow Kirby get to be a bigger priority in Prince Fluff's life? (He's also taking away Kirby's time with him, since Fluff is naturally going to spend more time with his boyfriend than his friend)

Shadow Kirby and Prince Fluff dating makes them a team, often poised against him as they don't take kindly to people trying to get between them or split them up.

Skirby basically stumbled into dating a very nice Prince who could do a lot better without going through any trials or tribulations. While Prince Fluff has to put up with so much for little return.

Skirby is actively rubbing salt in his eyes by shoving their relationship in Kirby's face.

Also edited to add he, in a way, feels entitled to Prince Fluff since he's more real in a sense than Shadow Kirby. Also they've known each other for longer, and Skirby didn't safe Fluff's life. This isn't something Kirby has fully realized himself, since if he did even he'd realize that's fucked.

Shadow Kirby is replacing him. While he and Prince Fluff weren't romantically involved, he was one of the most important friends in Fluff's life. Kirby isn't used to being replaced by anyone, let alone Shadow Kirby.

SO essentially their relationship causes a lot of problems for him. And every time he sees them happy together it reminds him of those stinging, open sores. Even though he probably is happy that Prince Fluff is happy, it makes him envious.

Also a tiny tiny part of it is, for Prince Fluff's sake, Shadow Kirby starts acting like the bigger person. Which is usually Kirby's thing when they have disputes. He also generally starts developing a healthier view on their relationship as being a clone/not clone, while Kirby is stuck in the past thinking of Shadow Kirby the same way because it's easier to him.

Them being homogay directly challenges his views on the mirror world, his friendship with Prince Fluff, and his own identity. So yeah while he's probably a little supportive sometimes and can look past his issues with Shadow Kirby to be happy for Fluff, those times are the exception and not the rule.

He gets better with time but it takes. YEARS of avoiding the problem and making things worse by arguing with and killing Shadow Kirby (i just ended a 2 year relationship don't worry it wasn't mine).

so yeah kirby suffering on patchland and in the mirror world until he. gets over himself??? idk best way i can put it

[tacogoats]

I keep thinking about this.

so I need to test this on another char to see what happens too as I am in the middle of doing another redeemed Durge run, but I find it super fun (but wait there's more) how my pro-bhaal durge got a different narrator bit in the Orin confrontation, But my redeemed/rejecting bhaal one got a much longer one. the video looks like it was cut fast because I noticed it was different IMMEDIATELY. more under cut. rambling.

This is where I start ranting despite being happy it was different.

Like, having done my redeemed durge run first it's kind of insane doing the evil-er route and seeing just how much the game lacks in content for an evil run. I've seen ye olde 'but Larian said evil players would get rewarded materially!' and oh my god that is a fuckin' lie. You get way more goodies for doing quests with surviving NPCs most of the time lmao. I apparently will not get an epilogue with this dark urge in the above video because I plan to do the evil ending as well. I get why, but it still sucks the evil runs are basically given nothing.

Coming from SWTOR (Star Wars: The Old Republic) it kinda drives me nuts with how some games tackle morality systems - SWTOR also fell victim to the same thing sometimes, but overall I liked seeing what the writing team noted as 'evil' and 'good'. Even when it was just plain weird and frustrating it was fun to pick at.

My most favourite examples are the Black Talon flashpoint.(flashpoints are basically dungeons - so instanced areas that you play with others. Black Talon is also the first flashpoint for Imperial players.)

The jist of Black Talon is that you are on a ship (named the Black Talon lol) that is a transport ship, but you are called upon by the Grand Moff (basically big naval military leader) to board a Republic ship and capture a defector who is going to spill lots of beans. The Moff basically doesn't leave you the option to refuse, and the crew doesn't like this at all. You fight your way to the bridge and can commandeer the ship by a) killing the captain who disobeyed the Moff's order or b) basically telling the crew and captain to listen Or Else

This is obviously a dark/light option but it's not the one I'm about to pick at. The one I want to pick at is after you've basically ripped your way through soldiers boarding the Black Talon, AND boarding the enemy ship yourself, you find the defector.

He is a high-level military leader (simply named 'The General' by the Moff. The name is apt as he tells you he was a general once) who defected because he's 'seen too much' and realized both sides in this war were going to destroy each other. He gives you a lot of cryptic words about and even adds if you'd seen what he's seen you'd understand. He thought that he would perhaps be able to cause a stalemate, but it's too late, actually. He is also actively dying.

He tells you he won't get to an escape pod in time with his stomach bleeding out, so what will you do with him and his cybernetic implant full of secrets? (This is important for later!)

You have two choices.

a) Take him into custody. Where, he remarks, 'I'll be tortured and executed" and if he's lucky, he may instead live the rest of his life in a cell.

b) you can kill him.

Guess which side is the Dark, and which is the Light?

There are options that happen sometimes where you are performing a mercy-kill, they're rare, but they happen. This is not one of them lol.

I would really argue that taking him prisoner is the much worse option here. The more you play of the game, the more you learn that handing him off to Imperial Intelligence (which is basically secret service of the Empire) is the worst possible thing you can do to someone. You learn this especially quickly if you play as an Imperial Agent, one of the four starter classes SWTOR's Imperial faction offers.

If you know anything about Star Wars - even if you just know the movies - you know the Empire is pretty brutal, but honestly it's a whole different degree of insane when you go to Old Republic era because you get all that additional context *playing* as someone part of it. You see what your own Dark vs Light decisions are and what tools are available to Imperial Intelligence.

Remember I said the cybernetics was important for later? In the Agent storyline you come across a young man who has cybernetics, and you have the option to basically crack them open and grab what you need directly from his brain. This is after you bring him near to death and he very briefly begs you not to; but... someone else who just wants the job done - a man who used to work with Intelligence and was subsequently discarded by them - just wants you to do it because it's quicker and he can do the hard work, anyway. He will actually say that it's lucky they found a cyborg.

Dark options are often 'do bad thing, get reward faster' in SWTOR. Sometimes they'll make your job harder because you did a stupid thing, but usually it's the former.

Anyway, it's absolutely horrifying how you can literally just jam a USB into this guy's *brain* and basically grab what you need - all the while the victim is in excruciating pain - and it does so much damage you basically turn his brain into mush. Again, you can leave him like this or mercy kill him. I have to go back and look because I don't remember what was Light or Dark in this. IIRC, your companion is very unsettled by it. (Kaliyo, the companion, is a violent anarchist and is very 'Dark' leaning but IIRC this upsets her.)

So knowing this; and knowing the General has cybernetics... The Light option being to spare him sounds bizarre, doesn't it? The Moff actually gets very annoyed at you when you simply kill him, but overlooks it because at least the military secrets aren't in enemy hands, and he's in a good mood so why not.

SWTOR often has the ye olde "Save someone's life so it's the good option" but rarely takes into account the morality issue of prolonging their death - which is interesting, because obviously there's the whole question of someone *asking* to die or not, which is probably part of it honestly.

Situation two also has to do with cybernetics and is a bit juicier.

Once again in the Imperial side of things: you are tasked with storming a rogue Sith's compound to find a missing unit of soldiers on the capital world of Dromund Kaas. The sergeant pleads with you to find them, and she adds she's quite close to 'her boys'. She wants them home safe.

You do not find them in any thing resembling being able to come home 'safe'.

Grathan, the rogue Sith, was conducting experiments on them. Specifically, stuffing their brains into cyborgs - and he had succeeded. I have a video of this I myself recorded (11 years ago, wow):

You find the last of the unit, somewhat alive. He has also been shoved inside a machine and remarks he can see his corpse across the table. He explains to you that despite having no will of their own anymore (which he stammers out between fighting the programming trying to squash whatever is left of his free will), they are all very much *awake* and aware; so you are given two options as always. Light: Kill them. Dark: Have them be taken by the Empire and used as soldiers anyway.

So this is a mercy kill for obvious reasons - and the remaining soldier *asked* you to put an end to them. The sergeant later will be upset but thanks you for not letting them suffer if you do this. If you do the dark option, she is also upset but for different reasons and remarks she will have to contact the families.

So these are just two options in a massive, MASSIVE game but I find it interesting that BG3 kinda follows the same idea of 'do bad, get quicker reward' but the reward is. just. moving to the end of the game faster. I really can't think of many instances where the 'Bad' option nets you a better reward than the good option either, except like... Getting the +2 STR potion for making Astarion bite Araj, or letting Ethel live if you choose to confront her. Or the Slayer form, I guess. Which isn't that great depending what class you are anyway...? (I definitely don't need it on a cleric lol)

Also let's look at Minthara for a second. You are trading Halsin for her, and if you continue doing Evil route options - you also lose Jaheira and Minsc. It's weird. BG3 makes me feel like I'm having a shorter, less content filled run by playing evil - and while SWTOR's morality is mostly on par, it never made me feel like I was missing out on content by doing the evil run stuff.

Part of that is probably due to it being a MMO but man.

I've been hammering this out at work so I may add more to it later but I am really itching for games to tackle morality systems with more branching options than this. KOTOR 2 did some fun things with turning your allies to the Dark side but it was still very 'I kick puppies' levels of evil choices.

If you have suggestions please leave any :)

[macgyvertape]

D2 Season of the Deep thoughts

Gameplay:

The seasonal bonuses seem to be the start of the pivot to weekly challenges and no pinnacle grind. I'm glad the power cap wasn’t raised this season and won’t be again next season.

What’s the point with creating a hidden mechanic that requires the whole team to initiate it in a matchmade activity?! I never ended up doing a Tier 7 pressure trial, because matchmade with random people it never worked out and doing it with LFG or friends we never got past tier 5. 

Deep dives with ingame matchmade were toxic af after the release of the exotic quest and a waste of time, because there was often someone trying to do the exotic mission then leaving when no one else joins them. It really bad design to have the matchmaking mode set like this when people are trying to do it 3 different ways, and I don’t know why it was designed to not have backfill from the beginning. 

I like specific exotic armor focusing, new fun form of gambling and the stats are very generous. At the same time getting new seasonal exotics still feels like you waste a lot of time.

Being able to buy past season Iron banner armor makes me actually want to grind Iron Banner more in the future. 

Should be easier to get focused fishing, I never ended up finishing all the fishing challenges. Overall I thought fishing was fun at the beginning of the season when I could do it and chill with my friends, but I found the lack of obvious audio cues meant it wasn’t fun to grind out by myself when watching a show.

Deeply appreciate how you could skip so many seasonal challenges this season, that way I’m not grinding out hours spent in playlist activities and then burning out on the game. At this point I’m one of the people burned out on the seasonal model, the less I have to play things I don’t want to do to get my pile of bright dust. the more I like Destiny.

Speaking of not spending time in playlist activities, I didn’t reset any vendor rank twice and Vanguard I only reset once because I farmed Sepiks GM during double loot week. Deeply ironic that Gambit is officially not a dev priority considering that I find it the least aggravating playlist to grind. 

I knew I didn’t play as much this season but wow “27 minutes underwater” 

Story:

Opening mission: Fun to watch Saint lose his shit when Xivu-Arath mocked Sagira’s death. Her line about being the hand around my throat, I hope all those who are into the Hive enjoyed this season

I’ll really be upset if Sloane dies this season, I never really cared that much about her until Arrivals and when she stayed behind so I’m enjoying she gets to be the focus of a season (glad she didn’t die making it 3/3 focus characters dying)

Really appreciate Zavala, Drifter, Sloane, and Saint as a cast of characters who haven’t really interacted much onscreen but who have history getting to interact.

Drifter’s radio message about The Nine and Gambit felt more like pre-WQ Drifter, I have a lot of thoughts about this has been some of my favorite onscreen Drifter writing since Arrivals & Beyond Light and feels like the missing arc he should have gotten in Beyond Light to reconcile his views in Arrivals vs Plunder 

Week 2: Saladin and Saint arguing about who is being overbearing to Sloane was great; a sense of how do these characters get along, how do they react to a circumstances, both voice actors seemed to be having fun with it

Week 3: I feel very much like a floating camera but the cutscene with Drifter and Saladin was fun and is the pinnacle of what I’m enjoying about this season in terms of “these two people are some of the oldest guardians and have kept crossing paths in lore” so we finally see them in a scenario in game

Week 3 Drifter: enjoying the heavy implication that Drifter’s ears are doing the Hive are whispering at me bleeding thing.

Week 4 Drifter: “they didn’t go so quite not until I shut them up” … “I did what it took to get offworld now I’m here” …”somethings you carry with you forever” DAMN where was this writing for Drifter in Season 18 vs wacky woohoo gambit man

This season really cements that while I might not have the plot around why Saladin became Valus Forge, I really like him being in the story with fresh things to do other than rehashing the Iron Lords Legacy yet again

As Immaru’s #1 fan excited to see Saladin mention him by name, hope next season is Immauru vs Saladin as rival tacticians

[despair-to-future-arcs]

I think my favorite aspect of the shelter subplot so far has been Hitaru's part on it because it's just so interesting to see how he goes about taking an active role on a mission. I know there was ASOOT'S All eyes on me arc, but I'd argue she and her siblings had a supporting role in the mission rather than an active, seemingly main?, role like the one she's having here.

She's surprisingly calculative when it comes to her approach in the situation and I'm impressed with how she's been able to keep herself calm while always try to work out a solution alongside the others, it's a side of her i didn't expect her to have and I'm very much enjoying it.

-Critic anon

//Yeah thank you so much as I had fun writing Hitaru here on this blog and honestly she really has grown into her own character. I think a reason she felt more like a supporting character in AEoM arc is because her biggest issues is that she's a doormat and has learned helplessness but I think due to surviving the tragedy and getting away from her parents with her siblings and even with Akemi dying, she and Jiro work on continuing to live on even if their younger sister has passed away.

//I think given Hitaru's past with Kota and she's started to learn a lot of things she wasn't made aware of, I think she now isn't scared of him anymore but knows he's not a good person so I think Hitaru along with Jiro were influence by Akemi and you will see how she had influence the 2. ^^

[maroonghoul]

Horror Movies I watched: August 2023

Bodies Bodies Bodies Well, if Rian Johnson had a plan to make the next Benoit Blanc mystery a take on And Then There Were None, he might as well scrap it now.

I'm sorta in the middle of an Agatha Christie kick, so this was extra fun, even though, mild spoilers, it almost plays like a deconstruction of her mysteries. Also, despite having a young cast with a somewhat similar premise, this movie also plays like the Anti-Scream. In that franchise, we follow a group of friends; one coming in with baggage and the others gaining them the longer they survive. Only to find whatever problems they're dealing with this time is "solved" by removing the bad apples of the group when they reveal themselves. That might be why the first one, and the fourth one to a lesser extent, are still considered the scariest; the culprits there are someone Sidney knows longer then in any of the other movies, so the betrayal hits harder. That might sound like a slam, but to be fair, a reason why Scream had such a great track record on this is that it's killers are, more often then not, a different variety of compellingly written privileged assholes and all the returning cast are portrayed likable enough for us to consider them good people.

But here, it's not so simple. The good friends don't outnumber the bad this time. Heck, the two newcomers you can make the argument are the only ones who come the closest to being innocent by a wide margin. All the trauma and hurt this group has concocted up until the events of the movie were not gonna go away by ousting the worst one. (They even literally tried that and it didn't stop anything). The best solution would've been to dissolve this friend group completely, at least for a while, but that was not on the table.

Getting back to the Christie comparisons; sure in her stories, everyone has a secret and somewhat of a reason to kill, but once the one who finally acted on that is revealed, everyone else spontaneously gets a happy ending, regardless of all previous deaths. Granted, And Then There Were None's original ending was an exception, but in a strange way, revealing the mastermind to the audience at least left them leaving satisfied regardless of everything else.

But here, once again, these characters don't even get that. It's bad enough they don't have a Benoit Blanc, Hercule Poirot type to make this easier for them (Though I would love to see what an earnest Gen Z version of that archetype would be). To make it worse, all of them are actively trying to be that, but failing miserably because they're all, except Bee,

1. coked up

2. paranoid

3. inexperienced

4. sick of their friends

5. did I mention coked up?

With the final killer reveal being a textbook example of being completely satisfactory by being completely unsatisfactory. The grand reveal was anything but. Actual parodies of this genre wish they could've nailed this.

You would think with how I described all this, I would hate this move or think less of the murder mystery type stories it's mocking, but far from it. It's not my new favorite movie, but I'm glad I saw it. Sure, there's a lot of skewering Gen Z, but I could argue you could've told this story with any generation, with a few tweaks. It's because it's main point is, well, the cozy locked room mystery unfolding in today's world would not be nearly as neat as Christie made it look. It could be fun, but it's not a solution to all your problems. If anything, it's the exact opposite because, well people you know are dying. And it's even worse when reality ensues.

It's a good deconstruction. Though that doesn't mean it should be the end of the genre. It's something the genre can build up from and consider. Maybe either discourage from getting too realistic or to do so with a point.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter Like Haunted Mansion, this is another horror film that's not fit to release in Summer! Sure, it's release date is close to when these events took place in the novel (August), but given the tone it went for, closer to Autumn would've felt appropriate.

Here's a tangent. I know I watch horror movies all year long and my enjoyment of each of them doesn't hinge too much on what time of year. But I have a theory that certain types of horror movies do well or are more successful depending on what time of year are released in conjunction to what type of movie they are. From what I observe, I would think the type of horror movies that do well in the summer evoke more summer imagery, like outdoor recreation, wilderness, lighter tone. Jaws and any of the Friday the 13th movies are a good example. This movie, while set mostly at the sea, has a far darker tone than anything considered fun, especially when compared to what the layman would think they'd get from "Dracula on a boat".

And sure, while going goofier like Renfield might've helped it's mass appeal, I appreciated that it honed more to the book's dour doomed tone. (And besides, we already got Renfield this year, so our bases are covered).

The ending's a bit weird. On one hand, I'm weirdly glad it didn't pull as many punches as to who would make it and who wouldn't as I thought they would. On the other, I'm not sure how the character who survives would factor into the next chapter of the story if at all. Would he take another characters place? Get killed off within 5 minutes? We divulge from the book even more? Then again, that's assuming there was ever a sequel in mind here, box office results be damned. So even my problem here isn't even an actual problem.

It's a simple fact that in the original, Dracula was not a sexy seductor with a silver tongue, but more of the creeper in the back you don't see most of the time. In a weird way, nakedness aside, this might be the most true to the book version of the character I have ever seen. Honestly, it's to the point where, while I'm fine with sympathetic, human vampires depicted in movies, I kinda want, if are more depictions of Dracula the character, more versions of him where he's the exception to that again; an unsexy, perverted, entitled, bastard. The type of vampire no other vampire would want to associate with, because they think he's a creep. Like I said, cover all our bases.

Wrong Turn (2021) I haven't seen any of the other movies in this franchise. It never really looked like my thing. Still, I heard good things about this one so I was curious.

As an avid nature walk visitor, this is pretty much my worst nightmare about what would happen if I ever leave the trail. Booby traps, Territorial cults, regressing to a more animalistic state; it's all here.

I'm not sure about it's attempt at class commentary; only one of the city folk comes off like an asshole, and only one of the mountain cultists, any who's not an extra, seems to not be evil. And the former is the white guy and the latter is the little girl, i.e. the exact one's you'd expect. I preferred how Pumkinhead handled this myself. Not only was the inciting incident a bit more morally grey in that it was an accident, but it was clear even some of the mountain folk in that one thought the retaliation went too far, even if they couldn't do anything.

It's a shame that the part where Matthew Modine being guided through the mountains by those two guides was so short. I would've loved a whole movie if that was our main plot. It was a bit refreshing.

Pearl Toldja I was planning to watch this after X last year.

First off, Man I miss saturated colors in film. It easily makes any shot look more visually interesting, even when it contains the most mundane things. Sure, it shows up in a lot of recent films I watched, but usually in films also set in dark place, so there's a lot of black too. Yeah yah, makes what color is there pops, but I missed when more then half the screen popped. Course I guess that makes me a sucker, because that makes when this film gets grosser as it goes along even worse. Now you can see every maggot on that pig!

If you put this on after X, without knowing exactly what type of horror movie it was going to be, what you expect? Another slasher? But that only really made sense because the previous movie was made in the style of the kind of horror movie fit for that setting. That would be out of place in this WW2 setting. Supernatural? Could fit, if you took hints from Dracula or Frankenstein (the latter one you can argue it sorta did, but it clearly wasn't the main inspiration). But a supernatural element wouldn't have added to the themes Ti West was tackling. Going for 1918 specifically could seem arbitrary, aside from a reason why all the extras had to have masks. But of course, once the audition started being a plot point along with the scarecrow scene, made it clear what West and Goth had in mind for this film alone, and not just as part of the trilogy as a whole.

Not only was the a complete dark inverse of the Wizard of Oz and psychological horror structurally like May or Taxi Driver, it's a sad commentary that even when filmmaking was new, when Hollywood was just starting up, the myth so many young folk, especially women, believed over the decades that if they could make it into movies, all their problems would be over. The movie offers the horrible idea that none of these dreams never had a chance, no matter the time, not even when Hollywood was new. Even before the idea of a "Star" was a thing or a gimmick, men like the ones holding this audition was looking for their idea of one rather than actually help someone become one. This wasn't a good dream gone bad; it was always been a con. There's never been anything over the rainbow.

I have more to say, but I think I'll save it for MaXXXine when that comes out, so I can say it about the trilogy as a whole. Of course, now the question is what kind a movie would that be. As affecting as this was, is it strange to say I'll be a little disappointed if it was just this movie again, but in the 80s? I don't think West and Goth would've made a trilogy if it that's all that would happen.

Well, that's all for now. We're now pretty much in spooky season, so my yearly marathon is coming up real soon. It's going to be exciting!

[secretmellowblog]

So much internet analysis of media feels like……. if people were trying to criticize Chick-Fil-A, but refused to talk about anything other than the quality of the sandwiches. All that mattered was whether the product was good. So people just debated endlessly over whether the products were Good or not, and no one discussed how Chick-Fil-A donated to conservative homophobic hate groups.

“Is this Disney product Good and does it have good gay representation?” Does Disney still donate to homophobic republican politicans!!!??? Do they still actively censor any queer content during production, cancelling gay projects and actively forcing their writers to cut gay content, to the point where every sad scrap that makes it onscreen is a miracle? Can you meaningfully make any statements about “gay rep at Disney” without bringing in that larger context?

It’s not a perfect analogy— because art shouldn’t be a product, and a movie is theoretically trying to Say something in a way that a sandwich is not. But Idk I feel like the reason we fixate so much on media analysis is because it is Fun. It is fun to talk about lord of the rings and the owl house and Steven universe. It is not fun to talk about the horror and exploitation that is baked into the “entertainment industry;” it’s not fun to research and analyze the systems that created the horrifically expensive movies you love.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because amazon is releasing the most expensive tv series ever made, a spin-off series based on lord of the rings. I have no interest in watching it despite my lifelong love of lotr but the thing is—

I have no doubt the series will be good! It will be fine. Lots of money has been thrown into it, and I have enough friends in the entertainment industry to know that on every massive corporate product there are hundreds of writers and artists sincerely trying their best to create good meaningful art. The Amazon series will be Fine. It will be good.

But my question is: Does it being good actually matter? Does it matter if a chick-Fil-a sandwich is good? Does it matter if this vile evil horrible media monopoly run by a villainous CEO that works its employees to death creates a good product?

I feel like I’m going crazy when most of the criticism of Amazon’s lotr is conservatives and people who act like conservatives ranting on about how “I can’t believe they gave Blorbo GenericElf a personality! That’s so out of character—he didn’t have a personality in the book! Tolkien, our lord and savior who we must worship as an authority, would be infuriated (because we still are bound to submit to this dead guy’s opinion apparently!) Everything would be better if everything stayed exactly as it was in the past, in the Sacred Original Canon. Any attempt to transform Tolkien’s work is morally reprehensible and a sign of the fall of the civilization.”

Sometimes I just want to shake those people and say “PEOPLE ARE DYING! people are dying in Amazon warehouses, and you’re treating your petty fandom opinion about blorbo genericelf’s personality as if it has this laughably enormous moral weight.”

I know that’s unkind, and that people can care about more than one thing; but I don’t know. I used to have this really naive idea that adaptations were a conversation with the original work, and every reinterpretation was a beautiful addition of meaning. I still believe that on some level. I think every author should be free to reinterpret stories however they want, should be able to argue with the original author and set their work on fire if they need to. there’s a lot about Tolkien’s work specifically that deserves to be disrespected, like his vicious racism and sexism. I LOVE transformative work—especially transformative work that meaningfully argues with the original author.

But like….you really can’t talk about these big media franchises without talking about the systems that created them.

Yes, people can sometimes create great beautiful sincere emotional art within these exploitative systems! I love the original lotr films and books. The new Amazon series is so expensive that it will be perfectly Fine.

But creating good art doesn’t change the fact that these giant media monopolies do so much real, constant, tangible harm. Warner Brothers caused massive harm to New Zealand while making the lotr/hobbit films, essentially strong arming the country’s government into changing their film industry laws to benefit massive foreign corporations. And Amazon is a vicious violent exploitative mega monopoly that is literally overworking its underpaid employees until it kills them.

It’s hard because I believe that good art can be very meaningful to people, and that media analysis can be important and valuable.

Its just that— not to swing a bat at a hornet’s nest— sometimes I wish people would stop hyperbolizing about how [petty fandom opinion] will cause lasting harm to the world, while not engaging with the things about the media property that are causing immediate tangible physical objective harm.

[btssavedmylifeblr]

Tongue Tied (M)

Genre: SMUT, fluff, crack, demon au (sort of), idol verse, established relationship au, pwp with a side of minor relationship angst

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Word Count:12k

Warnings: explicit sexual content, oral sex, orgasm denial, masturbation, squirting, sex toys, dirty talk, degradation, bladder desperation and brainwashing

A/N: So… this is porn. Apologies to everyone, especially Park Jimin. Blame my anons who goaded me into it. Love you all! Stay hydrated.

Jimin's tongue trails a warm circle around your erect nipple.

"Stop teasing," you groan, threading your fingers through his dark hair and tugging him closer to you.

Jimin obliges, spreading his tongue across the perky bud, sucking it into his mouth, massaging with his lips. Flames of arousal rush through you. His fingers move from your hip to your lower folds, dipping into you, checking how wet you are. He releases your breast and smirks, holding up his fingers to show you the translucent strings stretching between them. "So eager.”

He laves kisses across your throat. His tongue alternates between firm and soft, sucking just to the point of pain, then soothing it away. He moves downward, sliding you up the bed as he works his way toward your swollen center. Every place his tongue touches burns with desire.

Your core throbs as he draws closer and closer to it. Despite dating for six months, Jimin has never gone down on you. The place you most want his talented tongue is the one place it has never been. In the beginning of your relationship, you had assumed oral sex was something he had accidentally overlooked. But now it was starting to seem deliberate.

Jimin sucks a hard kiss onto your hip as he slips his finger back between your folds, spreading your arousal up to your clitoris. He draws a slow circle around the sensitive nub, laughing softly against your belly when you moan out loud.

The closer he gets, the more your desperation builds. You tighten your fingers in his hair to coax him farther down. He pushes your folds apart with his hand, bringing his face in close to inspect your swollen cunt, chuckling as it clenches. Your clit pulses as you wait for him to bring his mouth to it.

But then he's pulling away from you, sitting back on his heels. "I'm going to fuck you now.” He holds you open with one hand and strokes his dick with the other. You bite your lip to hide your disappointment and nod.

There's nothing disappointing about Jimin's dick though. He knows how to use it well. It's not until you're both sweaty, sated and lying in each other's arms that you remember your earlier disappointment.

"Jimin?" You trail a finger over his chest. "Can I ask you a question?"

He gives a soft murmur of assent as he presses a contented kiss to your forehead. His hand strokes lazily up and down your arm.

"Why do you never go down on me?"

His hand stops moving.

You press on. "I blow you all the time, but you never go down on me."

"I don't know.” He shifts underneath you, his eyes not meeting your gaze. "Just like other stuff better."

"Well, sure," you reply, kissing his chest. It had never been your favorite activity either, always making you a bit self-conscious. But it was quickly becoming the thing you most wanted, simply because he wouldn't let you have it. "But it's always fun to try new things."

He continues to duck your gaze as he unwraps his arm from you and scoots away from you over to his side of the bed.

Maybe he was insecure about this particular activity?  You slide in next to him and kiss his shoulder. "I bet you'd be really good at it.”

He shifts away from you again, frowning as you continue to chase him across the bed. "I just don't like it, okay?"

Your mouth falls open in shock. It’s such an un-Jimin-like reaction. He's always so generous with everything in your relationship.

"Why?" Did he have some terrible previous experience he didn't want to discuss? What kind of traumatic cunnilingus backstory would leave him this turned off?

"I don't know." He rolls over so his back is to you. "Can't you drop it?"

"No, I'm not going to drop it!" You sit up and nudge his shoulder. "Are you saying you'll never do it?"

He turns back over to face you, licking his lips. "Would you break up with me if I was?"

"What?"

"How big of a deal is it?"

"I don't know." It never occurred to you that you might face a relationship ultimatum over oral sex. You’re madly in love with Jimin. He’s the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. Surely that matters more than how much time he spends between your legs.  

"Is there something wrong with me?" you ask. Did you taste bad? Smell funky?

“No!" Jimin's eyes widen and he shakes his head. “No, no, it’s just...” He sits up, sighing as he leans back against the headboard. "I was waiting to tell you this until we'd been together a bit longer." He runs a hand through his hair as he gathers his thoughts.  

What secret has your boyfriend been keeping from you all this time? Does he have some weird STD that is only spread through oral? Is he allergic to vagina?

"My tongue is cursed." He rubs the back of his neck, sighing as if relieved of some terrible burden.

You laugh out loud. Of all the explanations you had concocted, none were as ludicrous as this.

"Don't laugh." Jimin frowns, kicking the bed.

"Your tongue is cursed?" It's impossible to not laugh when you say it out loud. "Like by a witch?"

"No, not by a witch, don't be absurd." He squirms and pulls his knees up to his chest. "I'm part demon."

You snort in laughter again. But Jimin looks so hurt by the sound that you bite your tongue.

"My great-grandfather on my father's side was a demon,” Jimin elaborates, staring down at his hands.

“Wait, are you serious?” You arch an eyebrow, afraid of appearing to actually believe him just for him to tease you.

Jimin groans in frustration, twisting the bedsheets in his hands. "I didn't believe my mom when she told me either. But it's true. My grandmother swore it was true."

"Let me get this straight." You sit up a bit straighter, eyeing him skeptically. "The reason you won't go down on me is that you are one-eighth demon, and your tongue is cursed."

He bites his lip and nods.

"Jimin, that's ridiculous."

His shoulders slump as he curls in on himself. You're still waiting for the "gotcha!" you think is coming, but he looks sad and embarrassed.

"Fine," you sigh, willing to hear him out. "What kind of demon?"

He picks his head up and licks his lips. "An incubus."

"Your great-grandfather devoured the souls of women through sex?"

Jimin shifts back and forth, rubbing his hands up and down his legs. "Grandma said he was very handsome."

Your boyfriend is very handsome too. But that doesn't mean he's part demon.

"He didn't hurt anyone." Jimin tries to defend his clearly fictional demon great-grandfather. "He just, you know, hooked up with a lot of women."

You sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. "So which parts of you are demon then?"

"Just my tongue."

"Be serious."

"I am being serious! Look!" He sticks his tongue out as far as it will go. It's very long, reaching all the way to his chin. And it's pointy. But it seems to be a perfectly normal tongue.

"It doesn't look cursed to me."

"It's so long though," he mumbles, having difficulty pronouncing the words with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Yeah, but not like supernaturally long." You argue, leaning in closer to inspect the potentially cursed muscle. He wiggles it back and forth as if that will convince you there's something unusual about it. "What does that even mean, a cursed tongue?"

Jimin draws in a deep breath, as if about to reveal a deep, dark secret.

"Any girl that I get off with my tongue…“ He pauses for dramatic effect, narrowing his eyes, “can never come again."

His proclamation hangs in the air of your bedroom, as he waits for you to gasp in shock. You raise an eyebrow instead. "Ever?"

"Except!" He holds up a finger. "On my tongue."

You can't hold back the laughter this time. "So is there some horde of perpetually horny women out there, dying to experience your tongue again?"

He shakes his head and chews on his lower lip. "I've never done it with anyone before." He begins twisting the bedsheets in his hands again. "I didn't want to risk it being true. My mom was really serious when she explained it."

"That's an awkward conversation to have with your mother."

Jimin finally laughs. "Yes, yes it was."

His change in demeanor brings you some relief. But it can't be true. There's no such thing as demons.

"You sure you're not making up excuses to not reciprocate?"

"I'm not making it up!" Jimin smacks the bed in emphasis. "I'm dying to go down on you!"

"You are?" Your earlier arousal knocks between your legs again.

"Yes!" He pushes his hair off his forehead. "Every time I get down there, all I want to do is suck on your needy little clit." Your core clenches and you squirm on the bed next to him. He eyes you up and down and smirks. "To make you fall apart with my tongue." He wraps his arm around your shoulders and pulls you in close enough to whisper in your ear. "To be surrounded by you as you come on my face."

"Would it be so bad if we tried it?" you ask, squeezing your thighs together to cope with the tension building between them.

"You'd want that?" His eyes widen and he licks his lips in excitement. "Even if the curse is real?"

"Yes, I'd want that." He's so excited that you don't have the heart to tell him that there's no way the curse is real.

Jimin giggles with delight, gathering your hands into his. "You know I love you right?" He kisses each of your hands. "I love you so much."

"I love you too Jimin," you reply and he pulls you in for a long kiss. His reaction would make you think he'd asked you to marry him.

"We can't do it tonight though," he mutters, frowning. “I’m leaving tomorrow."

Shit. The boys are leaving for their world tour tomorrow. A fact that has slipped your mind in the whole your-boyfriend-might-be-a-demon discussion.

"What better way to say goodbye?" You whisper, leaning in and planting light kisses up and down his neck. You're not going to let some weird family legend stand in the way of your boyfriend getting you off one more time before he disappears for a month.

"You sure?" Jimin raises an eyebrow. "A month is a long time to go."

"I think I'll survive." You've dealt with Jimin's absences before. You don’t like them, but you can’t admit to him how much they bother you. And curses aren't real.

Jimin's whole attitude changes, a dangerous glimmer in his eye. "Yeah?" He kisses your neck as his hand sneaks down between your legs. You're still sensitive and wet and you flinch when he slips his fingers into you, your arms breaking out in goosebumps. "Is this where you want my tongue?" he teases as his index finger brushes against your clitoris.

"Jimin, please," you whine. He pulls his hand back, but you slide your hips forward, chasing after him. You've been waiting for months and all he wants to do is tease.  

"So needy..." The smirk on his lips and predatory gleam in his eyes have you almost believing he is a demon. "It's like you want to give me all your orgasms."

"Curses aren't real," you gasp as he sucks a long kiss into your neck.

"Maybe you don't care if it's real." He trails kisses downward. "Maybe you want me to claim all your pleasure for myself." It's embarrassing the way more arousal drips from you at the idea. "Maybe you want to be alone and desperate, unable to satisfy yourself without me."

It's probably your mind playing tricks on you, but his mouth feels hotter than usual. It burns everywhere he touches you. He pauses his trail downward to suck on your nipple and you arch your back to press into him further.

"I like that idea," he says, releasing your breast and continuing his burning trail downwards. "That no other man will ever be able to satisfy you." He slips his fingers back inside you and you moan. "No toy, no dick, not even your own fingers will be able to bring you relief." His tongue inches downward, interrupted by lingering kisses. Your core is so swollen with arousal, the ache inside you so desperate. He smiles as he curls two fingers upward, so slowly that your thighs begin to tremble. "Every single one of your orgasms will belong to me."

"Please, Jimin." You're going to lose your mind if he keeps teasing like this. You roll your hips against his hand, trying to get his fingers in deeper.

"Is that what you want?" he asks. His mouth is so close you can feel his warm breath on your sensitive swollen skin. "Do you want to give me all your orgasms?"

He looks so serious when he asks, it almost makes you believe. But curses and demons aren't real. It's just a game. A game you’re both enjoying.

"Yes," you whisper. "I want you to have them all, Jimin."

"Good girl." He closes his eyes and exhales, then finally - finally - brings his mouth to your clitoris.

The surge of heat on the swollen bud almost has you coming the moment he takes it into his mouth.

"Holy shit," you groan, rocking your hips upward.

"Easy..." Jimin soothes, placing a firm hand on your hips to hold you down. "I'll take care of you." Then he buries himself between your legs.

His tongue alternates hard and soft as it strokes your clit. Any reservations he had about this have disappeared with the way he relishes you. He slides his fingers inside you and pairs each stroke of his tongue with internal pressure from his fingers. You pulse with arousal inside and out. You wind your fingers through his soft hair and he groans a deep satisfied rumble.

"Please, please," you beg, tugging him against you as you get closer and closer to the edge.

"That's it." He pulls off one last time to catch his breath. "Let me have it." His thumb rolls slowly over your clit as he watches you from between your thighs. "Come for me. Be mine."

He dives back in, the pace of his fingers curling inside you matching the figure-eights his tongue weaves over your clitoris. Heat radiates from his tongue, burning and tingling, so pleasurable it's almost painful. Warmth spreads through you, flowing into you and flooding up your spine and down to your toes. You tug harder on his hair. The groan he releases sends vibrations throughout your core, pushing you over the edge.

"Fuck, Jimin, I'm coming," you gasp. Your muscles clench around his fingers and your hips rock against his face as waves of pleasure cascade through you. It lasts for an eternity as he keeps stroking you, perfectly in time to the rhythms inside you. He keeps at it until you finally whine and squirm away, everything becoming too much.

"That's my girl." He smiles as he places a soft kiss on your inner thigh and chuckles when your skin trembles in response.

Minutes pass as you recover your breath. Jimin's head is still between your legs, trailing soft kisses up and down your inner thigh. It tickles and you try to squirm away, but his grip on your hips is too tight.

"Jimin," you whine, wiggling beneath him.

He ignores you, trailing his wet fingers up and down your leg.

"You know," he says, resting his chin on your thigh. "If the curse is real..."

"The curse is not real, Jimin.”

"If the curse is real,” he talks over you, pinching your inner thigh and making you jump, “then that was your last orgasm for a month." He looks so pleased with himself, dark eyes full of mischief. Your skin tingles under his hungry gaze and you begin to heat up again. "Seems a shame to leave it at that."

"Jimin," you sigh. "I'm not sure I have another one in me tonight."

"Oh, come on." He dives back into you, bumping his nose into your clitoris and causing your whole body to jolt. "I can't leave you with just one." He nuzzles against you. "How will you manage?"

A slight pang of pain hits you that he’s going to be gone for so long. But you don’t want him to see it, so you play sarcastic. "I have a vibrator."

"You do?"

"How else do you think I deal with your touring schedule?"

"Dirty girl..." He nips playfully at your inner thigh. "Where is it?"

You blush. "Under the bed."

"What?" His eyes widen in surprise. He swings his head over the side of the bed, inspecting underneath it. "There's nothing but shoes down here," he says as he hangs upside-down searching for your vibrator.

"In the Adidas box." You hide your face behind your hands as he climbs off the bed.

"Look at you," he teases. "Hiding sex toys in shoeboxes. You are dirty." He laughs a delighted laugh when he opens the correct box and you curl in on yourself further. He climbs back on top of you, pulling your hands away from your face.

You laugh when you see him, a small bullet vibrator hanging by its cord from between his teeth.

"I want to see it," he says as he drops the vibrator into your hands. "Show me how you get yourself off, if I'm not around to do it."

You laugh, rolling your eyes. "Two is kind of my max. I don't know if I can."

"I believe in you, sweetheart." Jimin sits back on his heels to watch you, keeping his hand on the controller connected to the vibrator in your hand.

Your heart beats faster as he stares at you. His semi-erect dick dangles between his spread knees.

"Go on," he encourages, turning the vibrator on.

You move the vibrator down between your legs. It makes a spluttering sound as it encounters your wet folds.

"Listen to that." Jimin smiles and scoots forward on his knees, licking his lips. "Listen to how wet you are. I bet you can come again."

The vibrator does feel good against your sensitive skin and watching him watch you fills you with an arousing mix of embarrassment and confidence. The pleasure builds quickly, everything still wound up from your previous orgasm.

He increases the speed on the vibrator. "Are you getting close?" he asks, his own erection rising as he watches you.

You groan and nod, rolling the vibrator in circles across your palm, grinding it into your clitoris. The sounds of the vibrator, the sloppy wetness of your arousal, and your panting breaths fill the room as Jimin waits to watch you come.

But the closer the edge of your pleasure gets, the more distracted you become. He's just sitting there waiting, with that smug grin on his face. What if you can't come? What if he thinks this stupid curse is real? You just came, it's perfectly reasonable that you might not be able to come again right now.

The further you get into your own head, the further your climax drifts away.

"It's not working, is it?" He strokes his now fully erect cock and wiggles his eyebrows. "Need some assistance?" He turns up the vibrations to their maximum setting.

The drive to come surges back as you press harder against yourself with the vibrator and watch him stroke himself. He shuffles forward on his knees, until his dick is right next to your face.

"Suck my cock," he urges, nudging your cheek with his erection. "Do a good job and I'll let you come."

You want to roll your eyes at the suggestion that he has any control over whether or not you come, but his erection is too tempting. You sit up slightly and draw him into your mouth.

"That's a good girl," he groans. "My desperate little cockslut."

He's so hard on your tongue. You let go of the vibrator to angle yourself better. He moans when you sink down so far that your nose bumps into his pubic bone.

"Fuck," he exhales and his hands tremble as he caresses your cheek. "You take it so well." He picks the vibrator back up from where you dropped it onto the bedspread and positions it back between your legs. You jolt and moan, sending vibrations through his dick. He threads his fingers into the hair at the back of your neck, easing you up and down his cock.

You hover at the edge of coming, so debauched and needy and desperate to please him. He rolls the vibrator faster around your clitoris and you're so close. "Can you come for me?" he whispers, stroking your hair. "I want to see you come with my cock in your mouth."

You groan and rock your hips back and forth against his hand, chasing the edge as he guides you up and down his dick. But you can't quite get there. Every time you reach the tipping point, his cock bumps into the back of your throat and you gag.

"You can't do it, can you?" he teases, pace increasing as he gets more and more excited. The vibrator drops to the bed as he uses both hands to grip the back of your head. "You're mine now. All your orgasms are mine," he chokes out as he loses control of himself and comes down your throat, holding you to him and forcing you to swallow his whole release.

His thighs tremble as he sinks down onto the bed. "I love you," he says, kissing your cheek. He folds his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and sighing happily. Your core aches, but Jimin looks like he’s about to fall asleep.

“Hey!” You poke him in the ribs. "You can't leave me like this."

He opens one eye and laughs. "You admitting that you need me?"

You pout, not wanting to admit anything, but really wanting to get off one last time before bed. He's leaving tomorrow. Just because you want him right now doesn't mean you're cursed.

"Please, Jimin." You nudge the vibrator back into his hand, core clenching again when he takes it from you. "Help me."

"Of course." He smiles and kisses you again, before scooting down the bed and positioning himself between your legs one last time.

"So wet and swollen," he teases, as he traces a finger up and down your labia, chuckling as it twitches.

"Quit teasing," you groan, smacking his hand in irritation.

"Yes, dear." He brings the buzzing vibrator back to your clitoris and your hips buck upward to meet him. You're so close to coming you cry out, reaching out for him and grabbing on to whatever you can reach. One hand grips his shoulder as the other tangles into his hair. "That's it," he murmurs. "Come for me."

His warm wet tongue slides in next to the vibrator and you shatter into a million pieces.

Your fragmented mind floats above you as you tense in pleasure, every muscle contracted as it all becomes too much. You sob as your third orgasm of the night is ripped from you. Jimin massages both the vibrator and his tongue against you, pulling every last drop of arousal from you.

You collapse into a pile of jelly. "Fuck," you breathe out. "That was amazing."

"Glad you enjoyed it." Jimin beams from between your legs, giving one small kiss to your pubic mound before sliding back up and cradling you in his arms. "Hope it was worth it," he mumbles, kissing your forehead as you close your eyes.

You nuzzle into his warm, muscular chest. It certainly seems worth it right now. But curses aren't real. It's the last thing you think before you fall into a deep satisfied sleep. Curses aren't real.

______

You roll over the next morning to find Jimin’s side of the bed empty. Running water in the bathroom tells you he’s already up and getting ready to leave.

There’s a tingle between your legs, an echo of the night before. Your legs and crotch are slick with a mix of saliva, arousal and sweat. It should be disgusting, but it makes you smile mischievously. Memories of last night replay in your mind as you slide your hand down between your legs and contemplate how you got so messy.

The bathroom door is closed. You wiggle over to Jimin’s side of the bed and pick up his phone. It’s 5:30 am. Do you have enough time to talk him into coming back to bed? Your core pulses and you run a teasing finger around it. It’s so sore that it almost hurts to touch it. Almost, but not quite enough to stop you. You miss the heat of his mouth, the possessive way he talked, his groans of pleasure as he consumed you.

“Jimin,” you call out, unable to wait for him any longer.

The running water stops. “Yeah?” he calls out, not opening the door.

“Are you almost done in there?”

“One second.” The water switches back on briefly before he shuts it off and opens the door.

Jimin is shirtless, patting his face dry with a towel. You lick your lips at the sight of him, the tingle between your legs escalating to full ache.  He’s dressed in only black slacks, hair wet and tousled from his shower. Your core pulses as you watch a drop of water from his hair drop onto his chest and trail down the muscular planes of his stomach.

His eyes rake over you, making you feel naked despite the covers. You pull your hand away from yourself, embarrassed. Your possibly demonic boyfriend smirks.

“Last night not enough for you?” He crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe, looking all too pleased with himself. “Greedy girl.”

You want to scoff at him, but your pussy clenches traitorously instead. His dark eyes burn even hotter, as if he knows.

He chuckles. “I’d offer to help you out, but I just washed my face.”

You roll your eyes and squirm under the covers. “There are other ways to help me.” You don’t need his tongue. His fingers or his cock would do just as nicely.

“Yeah?” He raises an eyebrow as he walks over to his nightstand and picks up his phone. “I’ve only got ten minutes before the car arrives though.”

The pang of distress at his leaving returns. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

“I thought you could use the rest.” He laughs and kisses you on the forehead. “I didn’t want to wake you earlier than I had to.”

It feels especially hard to say goodbye today. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I bet you will,” he replies, striding across the room to fish a white button-down shirt from the closet, still smirking. “A month is a long time to go.”

“I like more about you than just the sex.” You cross your arms and pout. “Won’t you miss me?”

Jimin laughs brightly as he buttons up his shirt. He sits down on the edge of the bed next to you. “Of course, I’ll miss you.” He takes your hands in his, squeezing gently. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” It doesn’t feel like enough to convey how much you’re going to miss him. But you don’t want to be that needy girl who begs her boyfriend to stay.

He smiles and picks up your hands, lifting them to his lips and kissing the back of each. Then he pauses and sniffs. He can smell the arousal on your hand and you are mortified. His eyes flick back up to your blushing face and he cocks an eyebrow, pleased smirk on his lips. "You sure you don't want my assistance one last time?"

You clench your thighs together and squirm under his heated gaze. "I wouldn't want you to be late." You can always get yourself off after he leaves.

"Yeah," he replies, glancing at his watch. "I should get going." He cups your cheek in his palm, tilting your chin up to give him a kiss goodbye.

You pour all your unspoken longing into your last kiss. His mouth is warm, his lips soft, and when his tongue enters your mouth, your whole body breaks out in droplets of sweat. You thread your fingers into his damp hair, pulling him closer as you moan against his lips.

He laughs as he pulls away from you. "So needy," he teases, wiping his lips with his thumb. "I like it." You want to scoff at how patronizing he sounds, but then he places a soft kiss on your forehead. "Be good for me," he whispers and you can't help the whine you emit as he lets go of you.

What is the matter with you? You've always prided yourself on being a mature adult who was respectful of his schedule, not some hormonal teenager who can't live without her boyfriend. You must be horny. As soon as he leaves, you can solve that problem and go about your day as usual.

You watch Jimin leave, admiring the way the tight black pants show off his best assets. "Hurry back!” you call after him. He blows you a kiss, and then he's gone.

The moment he's gone, you feel colder and emptier. You slide back down under the covers, drawing them up over your shoulders, and sighing broken-heartedly. It's dramatic, but no one is around to see you, so you let yourself wallow for a moment.

The tingle between your legs recaptures your attention. You glance over to the nightstand where your vibrator waits. Your pelvic muscles twitch in excitement. You scoop the vibrator up and sneak it under the bed covers.

You take your time easing into your arousal. You're still sore and sensitive from last night, so you don't go straight for the maximum setting. You tease yourself slowly, like Jimin would. His kiss lingers on your lips. Your fingers miss his soft hair. The vibrator echoes the burning, tingling pleasure of his tongue.

Just as you reach your plateau, cranking the vibrator to the highest setting and settling in for the home stretch, your phone buzzes.

Today 10:35 am

Jimin: What are you doing?

You: Nothing...

Jimin: Nothing? You sure about that? You sure you're not fingering that needy clit right now?

You: I am doing no such thing.

Jimin: You've got the vibrator out then.

You: Fuck. How do you know that?

Jimin: You seemed pretty needy when I left. ;)

You: Where are you?

Jimin: Pulling into the airport.

You groan out loud. The idea of him texting you filth while surrounded by his members made you flush with heat. You ignore him for a moment as you ride the wave of pleasure that surges through you at the thought.

Jimin: You going to answer me?

You: I have the vibrator.

Jimin: Dirty girl... Did you cum?

You: No, not yet

Jimin: Can't get it done without me huh?

You: just taking my sweet time. thank you very much. curses aren't real

Jimin: prove me wrong then. cum for me

Your clitoris throbs as you lower the vibrator back to it, buzzing excitedly. The edge of your orgasm hangs just out of reach. You read back Jimin's command and press the vibrator harder against yourself, rocking your pelvis up and down. It's right there. You ride the edge for a moment, then breathe out and let yourself tip over.

Your whole body goes numb. All feeling disappears, as if you are floating in mid-air, all sense of time and place gone and you feel nothing. Your pelvic muscles contract rhythmically, as if you’re having an orgasm, but you can’t feel it. You feel nothing.

Blinding pain rips through you. The vibrator is a curling iron pressed to your clit. The sheets burn everywhere they touch you. You cry out in shock and fling the source of pain away from you. You tear the bedcovers off as the vibrator clatters into the dresser on the far side of the room.

What the fuck just happened? The pain disappears as quickly as it appeared and you are the same, cunt still pulsing with arousal. You lie in a pool of sweat, panting.

You look over at Jimin's message. Should you tell him what just happened? What if he thinks it's the curse?

You shake your head. No. Curses aren't real. It must all be in your head.

Today 10:42 am

You: did it

Jimin: really?

You feel a slight twinge of guilt as you lie to him.

You: really

Jimin: oh...

Is he disappointed? Did he want you to have an ancient demonic curse? He told you to come for him. You watch typing bubbles appear and disappear several times, but no messages come through. You feel overheated and overwhelmed. You get up out of the bed, ignoring the ache between your legs, deciding to have a cold shower instead.

Jimin: getting on the plane now

You: okay, have a safe flight! I love you! Call me when you land!

Jimin: yup, will do

No "I love you too"? Was he mad at you? Upset? You frown as you stand in your bathroom and watch his flight take off on the flight tracker app on your phone.

_____

It’s a long eleven hours as Jimin flies to Los Angeles. Every time you think about him, the slight tingle between your legs returns. You make the shower ten degrees colder to try to calm yourself down, but it provides only temporary relief. You are on edge and restless all day, but too afraid of the strange thing that happened this morning to try masturbating again.

By the time midnight rolls around, you are very tired and very frustrated. You should go to bed and talk to Jimin in the morning. But as you watch the plane get closer and closer to landing, you can’t fall asleep.

His plane lands and you wait for him to text you. Five minutes go by, then ten, with no message. You can’t take it anymore.

Today 12:18 am

You: Did you arrive safely?

Jimin: Just landed

You: Can you talk?

He’s only been gone half a day, but it already feels too long. You’re annoyed with yourself for feeling this needy.

Jimin: Not right now. Maybe in a couple of hours

You: I have to go to bed…

Jimin: You should go to bed then

You frown. Usually he would plead with you to wait a little longer, or ask if he could wake you up when he was free. You’ve had many whispered conversations at 4 am because it was the only time he could talk.

You can’t let on how much you already miss him though. You don’t want to be one of those girls who becomes a burden. This was the trade-off to dating an idol.

You: Okay, good night then

Jimin: good night

You frown at your phone again, before finally giving up and setting it down on the nightstand.

You stare at the dark ceiling of your bedroom wishing he was here with you, instead of halfway around the world. You roll over and hug the pillow next to you. It smells like him. It triggers a deep knock of the same arousal that’s been haunting you all day. Maybe it would help you sleep if you got some relief.

You slip your fingers down into your underwear and find yourself already wet. You trail your fingers through the sticky wetness curiously. You are not usually this wound up so quickly. It’s ridiculous that the smell of him alone can get you this excited.

You bury your face in his pillow and inhale again, amazed as you feel another burst of wetness gush from you. God, you miss him. How do you miss him this much when he’s been gone less than a day? His arms, his hands, his tongue, his lips are all you can think about.

You sigh softly as you trail a damp finger up around your eager clitoris. You close your eyes and imagine the hand belongs to Jimin instead. He’s here with you. His lips on yours, his hand curled into your hair, whispering how you belong to him.

“That’s it, baby girl,” he whispers in your head. “Make yourself wet and desperate for me.” You groan as you pick up the pace of your hand. “Good girl, you’re doing so good.”

“Jimin, please,” you plead into the silence of your empty bedroom.

The Jimin in your head laughs. “You know it’s hopeless right?” he teases, smirking at you in that self-satisfied way where he knows he has you exactly where he wants you. “Every one of your orgasms belongs to me.”

You feel the edge of pleasure begin to slip away. You speed up your hand and chase after it, but it’s no use. The pleasure fades aways and you are left numb, empty and wet.

“Told you I was cursed,” imaginary Jimin teases. You huff in frustration, unwilling to give him the satisfaction, and roll over away from the pillow that smells like him. You shut your eyes tight. Curses aren’t real.

_______

Your dreams are full of Jimin. Jimin’s hands, Jimin’s chest, Jimin’s tongue. Over and over, he teases you toward your climax in your sleep. Always pausing, always stopping before you get to your end. By the time you wake up in the morning, you are swollen and dripping with need.

Your alarm sounds. It’s Monday. Work starts in an hour. You reach down and confirm how wet you are, more wet than you have ever been before. Your thighs slide past each other, slick with arousal. You can’t go to work like this.

It’s time to break out the big guns.

You lean over the side of your bed and fish out the other shoebox. The one you couldn’t tell Jimin about. The one that contains your dildo. Sometimes the vibrator alone wasn’t enough. Sometimes you needed a bit more. Sometimes you needed to be filled.

“Won’t do any good,” imaginary Jimin whispers in your head. You ignore him.

You slide the toy through your folds, slicking it up with your excessive wetness. The sides of your entrance tingle with heat as you stroke over them.

“Imagine it’s me,” Jimin teases. The fake cock heats up in your hands and you can almost believe it's his.

“Please, fuck me, Jimin” you beg, even though Jimin is thousands of miles away.

“Would if I could, sweetheart,” he answers. You picture him running his tongue over his plush lower lip. “But that’s not what you really want.”

“No such thing as curses,” you urge as you slide the dildo into you. “Fuck…”

Being finally filled again scratches an itch you hadn’t been able to before. It’s a pleasure and a relief all at once. The toy slides in easily with how soaking wet you are.

You pull up some porn on your phone and prop it against a pillow before grabbing the vibrator. You’re done fucking around. You need to get off right now and then go to work.

The porn isn’t very interesting though. The only thing you want to think about is Jimin. You close your eyes, listening to the audio but picturing your boyfriend. It doesn’t take long before you feel the pleasure crescendo. You let out a sob. It’s happening, it’s finally happening. You aren’t cursed.

The phone rings.

“Fuck!” You throw the vibrator down in frustration.

It’s Jimin. If it were anyone else, you would let it go to voicemail. But you really want to hear his voice. You turn the vibrator off so he won’t hear it, but keep sliding the silicone cock in and out of you.

“Hey babe,” Jimin’s voice is a little raspy. “I thought I could catch you before work. What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” you lie, sliding the dildo further inside yourself and biting your lip to conceal a groan.

He chuckles. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. Getting ready for work.” You refuse to give him the satisfaction of admitting that you’re actually naked in bed, dripping for him. “What are you doing?”

“Finally made it to the hotel,” he groans. You can picture him stretching his arms over his head as he spreads himself across his big empty bed. “Was thinking about you. Thought you might be thinking of me.”

Does he know? How could he know? Does he have magical “knows when his girlfriend is horny” demon powers”?

Shit. No. Jimin is not a demon. There are no such things as demons.

“Did you just call for phone sex?” You want to sound irritated, but your pelvic muscles clench traitorously around the dildo.

“Can’t stop thinking about yesterday.” His voice gets lower and you can hear the slick sounds of his hand moving over his dick in the background. “You were so needy for me. I liked it.”

A sharp blade of anger slices through your fog of lust.

“Jimin.” You pull the dildo out of you, setting it to the side. “You can’t ignore me all day yesterday and then expect me to talk you off like nothing happened.”

“Aww, come on, we were so busy. I called you as soon as I got here,” he whines. “I’ll make sure you get off too.”

You aren’t sure he can. Not with his voice alone. You need him here with you. But you’re not going to admit that.

“I have to go to work.” You are rapidly running out of time.

“Don’t you miss me?” he asks. You can practically hear his pout through the phone.

“Do you miss me?” You want to know why he hadn’t called earlier, but you don’t want to seem too needy.

“Of course, I do, baby. I love you.”

The tension in you eases slightly. Maybe you had been making things up.

“Miss you so much,” he continues and you can hear the sounds of his jerking off pick up speed. “Miss that sweet little cunt.”

It’s just about sex. He doesn’t miss you, he just wants to get off. “I have to go Jimin.”

“What? No! Don’t go.”

“I’m going to be late for work.” You hang up on him, feeling a vindictive victory. Your core is still wet and aching, but your anger powers you long enough to get you up and into the shower.

______

One cold shower and a hot cup of coffee later and you are on your way to work.

The commute sucks. Your lingering arousal refuses to abate. Your mind dwells on Jimin. Sitting down on the subway has you springing to your feet as the train starts moving, vibrations from the rails threatening to have you soaking through your underwear. Memories of Jimin commanding you to orgasm echo through you as you fight to calm your breathing.

You haven’t heard from real Jimin since you hung up on him. He probably fell asleep.

At work, you shift uncomfortably at your desk. You try to answer some emails, but every few seconds your core pulses, forcing you to reposition yourself. Your clothes itch. Everything is too hot. You shrug off the cardigan that you usually need to cope with the building’s air conditioning system. But then you rush to put it back on when you notice how hard your nipples are, poking through your bra and shirt.

The only thing that can distract from the tingling all over you is the buzz of your phone.

Today 10:22 am

Jimin: I’m sorry :(

You: Go on…

Jimin: I’m sorry I ignored you. This whole thing has me a bit thrown off.

You: How so?

Jimin: I was just so sure that the curse was a real thing, you know? I felt pretty stupid that it wasn’t.

You bite your lip and shift uncomfortably in your seat, pressing your legs together. Should you tell him? No… curses aren’t real. You’re just missing your boyfriend. That’s okay.

You: It’s okay, Jimin. Thank you.

Jimin: Is it bad that I kind of wanted it to be real?

You: You did?

Jimin: Well, it’s pretty sexy right?

Sweat trails from your hairline down your neck.

You: I have to be able to live my life Jimin. Can’t be sitting around waiting for you.

Jimin: I’m sorry we’re gone so much.

Shit. Now you’ve made him feel bad for his work schedule, something you swore you’d never do.

You: It’s okay. I’ll be okay.

I’ll be okay. Curses aren’t real. I’ll be okay. Curses aren’t real.  

You repeat the mantra under your breath until you make it to the end of the work day.

_______

The rest of the work week passes in much the same way, days of jaw clenching and sweating until you can rush home and lie in bed with the vibrator. You edge over and over, afraid of the pain you experienced last time, until you pass out exhausted.

You manage to make it to Friday. There’s a big meeting at nine. Your whole office, crammed into one conference room. At least this way you have an excuse to linger at the edge of the meeting, rather than sit leaking all over an office chair. It’s the first time you’ve had to be around this many other people at once.

“Do you think they can tell?” demon Jimin whispers in your head. “Do they know how wet and desperate you are right now?”  

You teter at the edge of the room. You clench in horror as a drop of something begins running down the inside of your leg. You’re too far gone to tell if it is arousal or sweat.

A colleague next to you leans over to ask you a follow-up question on something your boss just said, but you cannot hear them over the buzzing in your head.  They look at you in confusion. “Are you alright?”

No, you are not alright. You’re becoming dumber with each passing moment. Sweat beads up on the back of your neck. You mutter something about not feeling well and run for the restroom.

You slam the door to the stall behind you, ripping off your cardigan and undoing several buttons of the blouse underneath. You can’t breathe. You need air. You need relief. You slip your hand underneath your skirt. Your fingers are cool against your burning core. It’s a relief to touch yourself again.

“God, you’re a mess.” Jimin whispers in your head. You want to cry from how humiliating this is. “Can you imagine if they knew what you were doing in here?”

“Jimin…” you plead, unable to stop yourself.

“Shhh… ” he chuckles. “Don’t let them hear you.”  

You bang your head back into the stall door in frustration. If you could just come, if you could just get five minutes of relief. Maybe the pain would be better, at least it would be a different sensation. You speed up your hand, chasing any form of relief.

“Such a dirty girl. Getting yourself off in the bathroom to the mere memory of me. What are we going to do with you?”  

Your fingers slurp through the slick leaking from you. The noises fill the small office bathroom. It’s disgusting and debauched and you can’t stop yourself.

“Listen to that.” Jimin whispers. “You’re so hopeless.”

Your orgasm dances tantalizingly near, but your hand is starting to cramp up.

“Don’t stop now.” Jimin urges. “Keep rubbing. That’s it. The more desperate you are, the more control I have.”

“Fuck…” you curse.

The bathroom door opens, noises of chatter and typing pouring in from the larger office. “Everything okay in there?”

Your face burns with humiliation and your back drips with sweat. “I’m okay!” you call out, even though you aren’t, not even a little.

You’ll never get relief here. It takes all your strength to pull your fingers away from your swollen cunt. Especially with Jimin whispering in your ear to keep touching yourself.

You adjust your skirt and rebutton your blouse as best you can.

“Sorry,” you mutter as you emerge from the stall, not looking at the colleague who has come to check on you. “Stomach bug.” You hope your excessive sweating sells the idea that you are actually ill.

“Go home!” your colleague insists, waving their hands at you. “Don’t be spreading your norovirus around here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I think that is a good idea.” You nod, rinsing off your hands and patting a damp cloth on your face.

Imaginary Jimin grins, his dark eyes burning in your mind’s eye at the idea of having you all to himself again. “I think that’s a good idea too.”  

_______

The first thing you do when you get back to your apartment is strip out of your clothes, leaving a trail of sweat-soaked clothing from your front door to the bedroom. You climb back into bed and grab the vibrator, hissing in relief as it clicks on, feeling like you can breathe for a moment.

“You know, you’re only going to make it worse.” Demon Jimin continues to taunt you. “The more you touch yourself, the more you’ll want me.”

“Please, Jimin, please,” you beg, even though there’s nothing your imaginary boyfriend can do for you.

“What will we do with you?” the demon smirks, tutting in mock disapproval. “Can’t even work a full day. How will you keep a job? I’ll have to take you everywhere with me, never too far away. My personal slut.”

“No, Jimin, please…” Everything hurts. Your folds are red and irritated. Your hand cramps from pressing the vibrator into you. But you can’t stop.

“It’s okay, my love. Keep rubbing yourself. Melt your brain away. Be mine. There’s nothing else you need to do. That’s my good girl.”

All conscious thought begins to slip from you. There is only aching burning need. Jimin’s voice echoes in your head, drowning out all your attempts to fight him.

“What an embarrassment you are. So wet and needy. Filthy girl. I won’t be able to take you anywhere. You’ll have to wait around my hotel room, begging me to take pity on you. My own horny little pet.”

Waves of desire roll through you, washing away any other aspirations. Just to be his. To be only his.

“Won’t that be easier? Nothing to worry about. No work, no chores. Your only job will be to stay wet and ready for me. And you’ll be so good at it. I’ll use you when I feel like it and only let you come once I’m satisfied. Every single orgasm will be mine.”

A groan rips from your throat, more animal than human. Tremors run up and down your spine.

“I’ll have to be careful not to let you come too often though,” Jimin teases. “I like you like this. All needy and desperate for me. Want to keep you like this. My brainless little fucktoy.”

You sob. He’s right. It’s all you’re good for now. Nothing but a shivering pile of desperation.

The only thing that saves you from drifting under the demon’s spell is the ring of your phone. Jimin is calling you. Real Jimin. Your only lifeline.

“Hello?” Your voice is raspy and parched. You click off the vibrator so he can’t hear it. But that only makes the need worse, so you replace it with your hand.

“Hello?” Jimin answers. “Are you sleeping?”

“No…” Should you be asleep? You have no idea what time it is.

“You sound weird.”

You switch the phone to speaker and rest it next to your head on the bed so he can’t hear your heavy breathing.  “I’m fine.”

“Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you all week.” He sounds a bit upset, and very far away.

You have no answer. No, things were not okay, but there was nothing he could do about it when he’s thousands of miles away.

“Beg him,” demon Jimin whispers. “Go on, beg him to let you come. It will be funny.”

“I can’t,” you mutter under your breath, groaning in frustration.

“What?” Jimin’s voice calls from the phone. “I can’t hear you. Are you still there?”

“I… I can’t do this right now Jimin.”

“Are you still at work?” His tone has shifted from upset to confused.

“No, no, I went home.”

“Are you sick?” Jimin asks through the phone. “Hello?”

A small sob bubbles its way up out of your throat.

“This conversation is boring,” the Jimin in your head insists. “Turn the vibrator back on.”

“I don’t have time for this right now, Jimin.”

“What are you doing?” Real Jimin sounds worried. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“Go on,” the demon whispers. “Tell him you can’t come without him. Tell him you belong to him now. Tell him his pathetic excuse for a girlfriend can’t live without him.”

“Jimin please!” you cry out. “I can’t do it anymore, please!” Tears are rolling down your cheeks. “Please let me come.”

“What? Are you playing with yourself right now?” he asks, incredulous.

Somehow the vibrator has turned back on and you rock against it, even as you wish you could stop. “I can’t help it,” you sob. “I can’t stop Jimin. I can’t stop.” You’re useless and pathetic. He’s going to leave you and you’ll never get relief again. “I’m sorry. Please let me come.”

“You can come! You can come!” he shouts through the phone, but of course, that does nothing to help you.

“I can’t come without you!” you sob. “You were right. The curse is real.”

“Huh? But, but... at the airport, you said you did.”

You groan, still chasing relief that isn’t coming. “I lied, Jimin, I’m sorry.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. “Why would you lie to me?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. But it’s real and I can’t… I can’t do anything without you. You have to come back.”

“I can’t come back. We have a show tomorrow.”

“ He’s not going to help you.” The demon is still there, waiting for you.

“Please, Jimin, please come home.” you beg. “I need you.”

“This is my job. I can’t leave.”

“What about my job, Jimin? What about my life? You can’t leave me like this!”

“It’s only been a week! Can’t you deal with it for a little longer?”

“Fuck you Park Jimin! You did this to me!”

“You said it wasn’t real!”

“He’s useless,” demon Jimin begins to drown out your boyfriend. “Come back to me. Be mine.”

“I have to go Jimin.”

“No, don’t hang up. We can figure this out.”

“You can’t help me.” You hang up the phone and toss it back onto your nightstand.

“Good girl.” The demon hisses in satisfaction. “Let it all go. Let your mind go.” You cry, still rocking against the vibrator, searching for relief that isn’t coming.

______

Your mind slowly leaves you over the next few days. You can get a few minutes of clarity if you’re willing to push yourself all the way over the edge, the searing pain providing you with enough mental clearness to call in sick to work or order food. But every time you do, it leaves you with even less with even less mental clarity.

At some point, you stop keeping track of the days. You stop sleeping. You stop eating. Eventually, even getting out of bed becomes too much work.

The bed sheets are wet, a mixture of sweat and vaginal secretions. You need to pee.

“God, you’re disgusting.” Demon Jimin laughs in your head. “He’s never going to want you now. Wet yourself like the animal you are and be done with it.”

You whine, hiding your face beneath your pillow and trying to distract yourself with the vibrator from the growing need to urinate.

The phone rings. Jimin is calling. He’s been calling for days, but you can’t answer him. You can’t let him know what you’ve become. He’ll never want you again.

There’s a loud banging on your front door. Who could that be? You haven’t ordered any food in a while, not really sure how long.

“Ignore it,” the demon instructs. “Lie here in this bed and piss yourself.”  

You wrap the pillow around your head, unsure if you are trying to drown out the pounding on the door or the demon whispering in your ear.

“Open the door!” A loud, frantic voice carries through the door and you curl in on yourself. You don’t know who they are, but you can’t let them see. You can’t let them know. The pounding stops, followed by a loud thud that rattles the door on its hinges. “Goddamn it!” The voice shouts. Then, a softer voice calls through the door. “Baby, please open the door. Please, let me in.” It’s Jimin. Real Jimin. He’s here.

The overwhelming drive for him is the only thing that could propel you up and out of the bed. You’re shaky on your feet, a bit dizzy. The world is not entirely stable. But you manage to make it to the door and unlatch the lock before collapsing in a heap next to the entry.

For a second, there’s nothing. The door stays shut and you are worried that you hallucinated the whole thing. Of course he’s not here. He has more important things to be doing than dealing with his pathetic girlfriend.

But then the door bursts open.

“Babe?” Jimin calls for you as he steps into the apartment, kicking off his shoes. He’s wearing the same white dress shirt and black slacks that he left you in. Maybe he’s a figment of your imagination.

“Jimin…” You reach out for him, unable to believe he’s actually here, needing to feel whether or not he is solid.

“Shit.” His eyes widen as he finds you crumpled up and naked on the floor. “Are you okay?” He drops his overnight bag on the threshold and kneels in front of you, cupping your face in his hands. “Tell me what’s happening.”

You don’t know how to answer him. You don’t know what’s happening. But his fingertips are cool against your feverish, sweaty skin. He brushes the hair out of your face so he can look you in the eyes. You only know you need him.

“Jimin, I need you, please.” Your hands reach for him, searching for more of his skin to cool yourself against. You’re untucking his shirt from his pants and trying to undo his belt buckle, but he bats your hands away.

“Woah...” He grabs your hands to stop you as you battle him for his belt. “Babe, slow down, talk to me.”

He doesn’t want you. He’s repulsed by you. The demon was right. He’ll never touch you again. You’re worthless. You’re repulsive. You burst into tears. “Please, Jimin, please, I can’t,” you sob, nearly incomprehensible.

“Shh, shh...” He runs his hands over your shoulders. “Shh… it’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you.” He scoops you up into his arms and carries you down the hall, back toward your room. “I was so worried,” he says as he cradles you against him.

You can only respond by nuzzling your face into his chest, the cool cotton of his white shirt absorbing the heat from your skin.

“Your work called and said you haven’t been in since last week.” He kisses the top of your head and inhales the smell of your hair. “Why haven’t you been answering the phone?”

You ought to feel bad, but it was hard to feel too bad when you had what you finally wanted, Jimin back here with you.  

“I thought something terrible had happened to you.” He pauses at the door to the bathroom, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s the curse,” you whine, covering your face with your hands. “I’m cursed. You cursed me.”

“I’m so sorry.” He set you down on the toilet, before turning on the shower. “I didn’t know it would be like this.” He places a soft kiss on your forehead and turns to leave the bathroom.

You panic. Where is he going? He can’t leave you like this. “Jimin, no, don’t leave.” You chase him out of the bathroom, catching him around the middle and clinging to his waist. “You can’t leave me.”

“I’m not leaving,” he chuckles, trying to unfasten your arms from around him, but you refuse to let go. “I was just getting undressed.” He sighs, picking you up once again and carrying you back to the bathroom. He tries to set you down again, but you whine, clinging to his neck.

Giving up, he steps directly into the shower, still dressed, cradling you in his arms. The white dress shirt turns translucent as the water hits it, clinging to his skin. The water runs down his torso and thighs and you groan with need. The water is warm, but it feels cool compared to how hot your skin is.

“Jimin, please.” You’re begging again. “I need you.”

“Shh, it’s okay, I’m here,” he answers. Your legs tremble underneath you as he puts you back on your feet.  He grabs the bottle of body wash and squirts out a generous dollop, lathering it up in his hands.  “I’m gonna take care of you.”

It’s all you can do to stay standing as he caresses you. He removes the shower head from its hook so he can follow each soapy caress with water to wash you clean.

He starts with your neck, then your breasts, then your stomach, gentle hands massaging over you. It only makes the ache for him worse.  He reaches the puffy and swollen labia and you gasp, legs trembling.

“Please, Jimin, please,” your endless chant of pleading begins again.

“Shh…. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He runs the showerhead over your aching core to rinse off the soap and your legs give out entirely. You collapse against the wall behind you, unable to support yourself.  Still dressed in his soaking wet clothes, he kneels in front of you. He spreads your legs, investigating your swollen folds with his soapy hands. Your clitoris throbs, hard and angry and red. You shiver as he runs the water stream over again. “Does it hurt?” he asks, watching your face as he strokes over your tender core with his fingertips.

“No, no,” you shake your head emphatically. “Not anymore.” The only pain now is the distance between you. “Please, please, please…”

He slides closer to you, brushing his dark wet hair back off his forehead and licking his lips. He picks up one of your legs and wraps it over his shoulder, then the other, carrying you on his shoulders as he buries his face in your core. You are so on edge, have been on edge for so long, that you’re already at the peak of your arousal the moment his tongue touches you.

Something monstrous is building inside you. A sensation like nothing you’ve ever felt before moves through you as he moves his tongue in slow broad strokes over your clit. Flames of heat lick at your extremities, beginning in your fingertips and toes and spreading upward. Rising warmth builds in your belly as you ride his face, hips undulating in time with the bobbing of his head. Fear floods you as the memory of the searing pain returns from those moments you’ve gotten this close in the past. You tense up, gripping his shoulders tightly, afraid to let yourself tip over.

“It’s okay,” Jimin whispers, pausing for a second to admire you from between your thighs. “It’s okay to let go.” His warm wet tongue slides over your aching clit as his fingers penetrate you. A massive tremor rolls through you as all the pent of tension releases at once and you’re coming. Every muscle in your body seizes over and over as you grind against his face.

Rhythmic muscle contractions seize you as a rush of fluid shoots out of you, spraying Jimin right in the face. You’re screaming, but not from pain. There is no pain, only release, only relief.

“Woah.” Jimin gapes at you, your release dripping down his face and off his chin. Then he breaks into a huge smile. “That was amazing.”

You laugh out loud, relief washing over you. Your whole body turns to jello and you collapse into his lap.

“Thank goodness we were already in the shower,” he says, wiping his face with his hand and chuckling.

The two of you sit, holding on to each other under the stream of water, laughing. Finally, the mental fog begins to lift from your thoughts.

“How did you get here?” you ask, yawning as you do so.

“On a plane.” He laughs, nuzzling against your neck, arms wrapped around you.

You hit playfully on his chest, still covered in his soaking wet dress shirt. “You know what I mean, what about the tour?” You yawn again.

He mirrors your yawn, stretching his arms and groaning. “I have to go back in the morning. They managed to get me out of the press junkets for today by claiming I was sick, but I have to be back for the concert.”

“Do they know?” Your eyes are already closing as you lean against his warm firm torso.

“About the curse?” Jimin asks. “No…” he laughs. “No, I don’t think they’d let me leave if I told them it was because my girlfriend really needed to ride my face. I told them I had a family emergency.”

“I’m sorry, Jimin.”

He shakes his head. “I’m the one who should be sorry.” He turns your face toward him and kisses you. “It’s my fault. I never should have left you.”

You sigh, head resting on his shoulder. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.” He squeezes your hand where it is entwined with his in your lap. “But we’ll figure something out.” He sighs, leaning back against the wall, finger stroking your arm. “But right now we should get some sleep.”

He turns off the shower, stripping off his wet clothes and leaving them behind before scooping you up. Your head is floaty as he wraps you in a warm towel. You lean against the counter as he strips the sheets from the bed and replaces them with fresh ones, then comes back to lead you back to the bed. The two of you collapse into bed together and sleep overtakes you almost instantly.

______

Your dreams are full of Jimin again. Not teasing demon Jimin, but your warm loving boyfriend, stroking your hair and holding your hand.

You are surprised to wake up and find him watching you.

“I have a solution!” He chirps excitedly.

“You do?”

“Yes! Apparently the curse is in my saliva. So here!” He thrusts the bottle of lube from your nightstand into your hands. You look at it in confusion. “I spit in it!” he proudly declares.

“Um…” You hold the bottle at arm’s length. “Thank you?”

“This way, if I’ve been gone too long, you have a way to get off without me.”

“How do you know it will work?”

He laughs sheepishly. “I, uh, called my mom.”

“Ugh, no…” You hide your head under the covers in embarrassment. “What did you tell her?”

“It was an awkward conversation.” He laughs again. “But I couldn’t let you go through that again. She swears this will work.” He glances down at his watch. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to test it out with you.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Think you can get it done before I get on my plane?”

“I suppose there’s one way to find out…”

Jimin disappears under the bed and returns with both your vibrator and dildo. “Better get going then,” he teases, before giving you one last kiss. “I’ll text you when I land. I love you.”

You stare at the assortment of sex toys and lube now spread out on your bed. “You’re just going to leave? I don’t have to go with you?”

“Do you want to go with me? I thought you had work.”

“Well, yeah, I mean, I do, but… I thought you were going to make me your personal sex slave.”

“Um, I wasn’t planning on it.” He laughs, then a more mischievous smirk spreads over his face. “Unless you want me to.”

You laugh in relief even as a lick of heat curls in your belly. “Perhaps that’s a game best left for when you are in town.”

He winks. “Looking forward to it.”