#but VERY IMPORTANTLY i need to see the traveler’s reaction

[lanternlightss]

sometimes i wish nameless bard somehow were still alive because i would do anything to see other characters’ reactions to him casually saying “my venti”

[it-happened-one-fic]

Hours in the Moonlight: Guileful Nightfall - 9. Chained

Summary: A stroll with Jamil through the Scarabia clan after what had happened the last time was certainly daunting. But it was also an opportunity you might not come across again. Who knows what you might be able to learn about the strange young man with just a little conversation.

Series Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Vampire AU/ series/ romantic/ angst/ angst with comfort/ fluff/ sfw/ platonic interactions too!

Trigger Warning: Vampire

Word Count: 2249

Hours in the Moonlight Master-List

I followed Jamil back to the library in silence, my mind rolling around various plans for what exactly it was I needed to do.

I wanted to figure out exactly what it was he wanted; I needed to figure out more about this entire insanity business with vampires and do the job Crowley sent me to do, but finally, and most importantly, I needed to keep myself safe while also making sure Vil, Rook, and Epel stayed out of this ordeal. Because heavens knew that if they involved themselves, this definitely would turn into even more of a mess.

My gaze flickered up so that I was looking at the young man’s athletic looking back. I supposed it was best to start the source.

I didn’t get to say anything before Jamil spoke though, his voice low and tinged with curiosity, but with a distinct undercurrent of measured self-control. Like he was trying to keep me from catching on to some sort of secret he held, “You said Kalim had made the Al-Asim clan seem like a wonderful place. What did he tell you?”

I felt my eyebrows rise at his words, but I answered him nonetheless. Slipping forward so that I stood alongside him and could better watch his reactions, “He described it as a fun place and said that your family was part of the clan, just like his.”

Jamil’s expression remained fairly neutral, and his eyes stayed on the path ahead of us as people shifted out of our way as I watched him closely. 

A few vampires paused, staring at me for a little bit too long, but they would look away the very moment Jamil’s gaze shifted towards them. A slight frown crossing his face in a subtle warning that I wouldn’t have caught if I hadn’t been watching him quite so closely.

After a brief moment, I continued softly, pondering the fact that Jamil, of all people, was warning others off me with a single glance even though he was the one who’d hypnotized me.

 “Kalim also mentioned that the two of you left to see the world. He said you’d always wanted the freedom to travel and that, after his dad agreed, the two of you had left and come here.” 

Jamil’s gaze slid my way this time, a wry smile flickering across his face before he nodded, “Yes, I did….”

He looked away, but I frowned at the undertone to his voice that had me almost speaking again before I halted, barely catching his bitter words that were whispered under his breath, “I still do.”

I frowned in confusion, shaking my head slightly. I wanted to question him, but something told me that he hadn’t intended for me to hear his words. He would probably slither right out of my grasp if I openly asked him anyway.

Unlike Kalim, who seemed to be open about everything, the more I puzzled over Jamil, the more secrets he seemed to have.

He also seemed cunning, though. I highly doubted he would slip up and let me know just anything without having been caught in some sort of situation where he had no choice but to speak up.

Or…. Perhaps I could play at his game and ease him into telling me what I wanted to know.

I tilted my head as I glanced over at the young man, “There is something I’m still curious about though.”

Grey eyes shifted back over to where I walked beside him, and I resisted the urge to look away and break eye contact. 

If I started determinedly avoiding eye contact, he might get suspicious. I would just have to take my chances and pray I could predict when he was about to hypnotize me and look away from him then.

“If the Al-Asim clan was so wonderful…. Why did you want to leave it and travel to the point of agreeing to make another clan and living away from where your family is?”

I was careful, letting worry seep into my tone so that he wouldn’t suspect anything. 

I was just a casually concerned individual. Someone who wanted to help. Because something told me that the only way he might let something slip would be if he underestimated me. 

Besides, there were so many reasons for why Jamil might have wanted to leave. 

And I was sure it had to have been Jamil who had wanted to leave the Al-Asim clan. Because it was obvious from the way Kalim had talked, the way his eyes had glimmered so brightly when he’d spoken of them, that he had been happy at the Al-Asim clan.

Jamil though… He’d apparently wanted the freedom to travel and still did. So what was he wanting to get away from? And did it have something to do with his odd behavior?

At odds with my expectations, a smooth and distinctly cunning smile slid across the young man’s face, and he turned to look fully at me as we came to a stop just in front of the door to the library, “Sometimes when you're in a place of comfort, you can’t grow.”

His words weren’t entirely untrue, but something about them rang hollow. Like it was a well-recited excuse that he didn’t truly believe himself. Something more like an excuse rather than the genuine truth. 

An excuse that he veiled well with a handsome smile and unwavering eye contact that sparkled with a confidence that spoke of his own belief that he was wholly in control.

I held his gaze, though, before nodding with a quiet sigh, “Sometimes doing the uncomfortable does result in growth…” I trailed off, stepping closer to the door and turning to enter the room, my voice softening as I thought of my own experiences. 

How delving into the world of vampires had been beyond uncomfortable but had resulted in my understanding of vampires growing. Couldn’t there have been a better way though?

I shook my head slightly, a smile slipping across my face. Jamil probably wasn’t talking about anything similar to my experiences, but I couldn’t quite keep the words from slipping out of my mouth, “But sometimes that isn’t the best way for a person to grow.”

I grasped the doorknob, but I was stopped before I could even hardly think about opening the door when Jamil’s hand reached around and covered mine, halting my motions. 

I felt myself tense at both his proximity and the cool touch of his hand as he leaned around me. Holding me in place as he spoke in a quiet voice, “So you’ve experienced being chained down as well?”

I turned my head only slightly to look over at him, finding his face mere inches from my own as he stared at me, and I did my very best not to quail at how close he was. 

For all I knew, this could be some sort of elaborate ploy to gain more control over the situation.

Jamil did strike me as someone who liked to be in control after all. But his question….

 Had I experienced what it was to be chained? Evidently enough, he felt that he had, and maybe that was the real reason he’d wanted the ‘freedom to travel.’ But perhaps more importantly, maybe he still felt that way, and that had something to do with whatever was going on here at this clan.

I swallowed slightly, looking away from him and back towards the intricate carvings on the door, as if they could serve to calm my swirling mind despite the way my voice wavered, “Maybe?”

I shook my head, feeling steadily more confused by the second, but something told me it wasn’t hypnosis this time. I didn’t have that same sleepy, relaxed feeling. Instead, I was totally aware. It was just that my mind was swirling with the possibilities.

It could be argued that I was slightly chained by the fact that pretty much I had to do whatever Crowley wanted, but I hadn’t ever really thought of it that way, and I didn’t think that was the sort of chains Jamil meant.

Jamil’s grip on my hand shifted as he twisted the doorknob, his hand still covering mine the entire time as he pushed the door open. 

The door opened silently, and I felt his hand on my back, urging me forward and lightly pushing me into the room in one smooth motion.

I stepped into the room silently, glancing back at the young man as he followed me, turning only to push the door shut and blocking the line of vision of those who looked towards us. No doubt questioning exactly what was going on.

After all, from their perspective, it probably looked like Jamil had blocked me against a door. And I supposed, in some ways, he had. But it hadn’t felt exactly like he was trying to wall me in. Instead, it felt like he hadn’t wanted people to hear or see what we were discussing.

The door shut with a quiet click, and he turned, looking my way once more. His gaze swept over my frame, like he was sizing me up the same way he had the very second he’d first seen me.

I stood tall though. Facing him fully, determined not to shrink back even though I had no idea where I stood right this second as I swallowed thickly. Because it was perfectly obvious that Jamil was making some sort of decision right now. One that, if I wasn’t horribly mistaken, would probably have quite a bit of say about how things went over moving forward.

He at last spoke; his eyes snapping up to meet mine in an oddly abrupt fashion. As if he’d reached his decision, “Is it Vil?” 

His words confused me at first before I put two and two together. He was asking about who might have made me feel chained.

I shook my head hurriedly, my eyes widening at the mere implications of his words. Putting his words with what Leona had told me about thralls and what the vampires had assumed about my and Vil’s relationship, his meaning was obvious and perfectly horrifying.

“No! Never. Vil would never do something like that. We’re… he’s an ally of mine.” Jamil’s eyebrows rose at my words. But then, to be fair, it was a rather vehement rejection of what he’d said.

He only tilted his head though, causing his hair to slide in the same direction in a wave of glossy black, “Crowley then?”

His tone was flat and I stilled, causing him to let out a slight snort before I nodded, frowning slightly as I spoke, “I hadn’t ever really thought of it in exactly the terms of ‘chains’ but yes, I suppose you could call it that.” 

I crossed my arms, my stare turning more pointed as I held Jamil’s gaze from across the room, “What about you?”

His brows furrowed at my question, and he crossed his own arms before glancing off to the side with a scowl, “The Al-Asim’s.”

I felt my eyebrows rise, a subtle show of surprise as I uncrossed my arms and walked over, claiming a seat as I continued to watch him.

He glanced back my way, a bitter smile crawling its way onto his face, “You’re Crowley’s ‘Hunter,’ and executioner of sorts, I suppose?”

I nodded, confirming his words, and he straightened, his eyes narrowing, “I’m the Al-Asim’s servant. My entire family is.”

Everything seemed to come to a screeching halt as he continued in a soft, but perfectly embittered voice, “I’m Kalim’s guard, his caretaker…and his servant.”

I felt my eyes widen before I could stop myself from visually reacting, and, for a brief moment, I really didn’t know what to say. His words certainly explained things, such as his longing for the freedom to travel, but they definitely weren't what I’d expected from the way everyone here seemed to respect him.

“Then the others…” I trailed off, not even sure of exactly what I wanted to say as Jamil walked across the room.

He pulled a book off a shelf, scowling at it before he started stacking the volumes he selected in his arms while simultaneously speaking with a bitterness that only seemed to grow as he continued, “They respect me because I’m the one that handles running the clan. If I didn’t, we’d have to go back to the Asim’s. At least here I do have some freedom.”

I twisted in my seat, turning so I could keep my eyes on him, “And Kalim?” 

I felt a distinct growing worry for the young man who, from what I’d seen, didn’t seem to know anything about the bitterness that this young man, whom he thought of as a friend, held towards his family.

Jamil’s motions paused, and I could see the frown on his face. It wasn’t the same bitter expression. There was something more there. Something almost frustrated.

“Kalim is… Kalim.” He at last spoke, faltering slightly in the middle before he finished, and I frowned.

Did that mean he had mixed feelings towards Kalim? 

I watched him as he approached, setting the stack of books down in front of me. And his mask of an efficient young man slipped back onto his face as he drew closer to where I sat, “These books all hold information about the Al-Asim clan. You should be able to find some sort of evidence here.”

If you would like to read more:

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[fallout4-reacts]

How would the companions feel about a SS with a really slow reaction time, like taking a moment to get a joke, having trouble avoiding hits from weapons, etc

It certainly took me a long time… (I had a slow reaction lmfao) I admit that, unlike many others, my creative side suffers when I live too many things… not fun. I persist, though,  I don't let you down, which is why I maintain the Masterlist up to date. So this is a slow reacting Sole. Nick may have something here.

Cait : It was manageable as long as they stayed close to the Boston ruins.

In general.

Cait was conscious that Sole seemed a little light at times, but nothing too significant. Anyway, a few psycho shots here and there, and Cait had lost interest.

But things didn't always go as planned. A gunner with a happy trigger and Sole looks left and right before understanding they're being shot. Or the raiders who mocked Sole for 10 minutes before Cait grew mad. And Sole remained there, attempting to comprehend what had just been stated to them, before exploding with wrath as if they had only recently arrived in town.

"Eh! You are not business owners! You are thugs attempting to rob me!"

Cait palmfaces herself before smashing the last with her baseball bat.

"They didn't put an Assaultron's processor in your terminal, did they?"

Sole offers her an empty stare. Then the realization dawns on them: "Oh, you did notice?" They appear to be embarrassed by it.

Cait places a confident hand on their shoulder. "No need to fret, I've got the quick deals covered from here on out. But ya, listen up. Pull out the weapon if I tell ya it’s spurts. Otherwise, I reckon the Commonwealth ain't gonna have enough stimpacks to handle whatever you decide to catch as a bullet."

Cait's words appear to have encouraged Sole. They make the decision to blindly believe the fighter. May the Gods help the commonwealth.

Codsworth : It's nothing new for the butler. Nate had done an excellent job of preparing him. It's a tragedy to request Sole for an addition by adding a division. It's better to also remove the nuances. The innuendo? The greatest way to see them on the mat for two days, contemplating what they had missed.

He travels with Sole in this post-apocalyptic world, attempting to get rid of any problems of this kind. "They shoot at us, mother/sir." - "This man offends you, Sole." - "They ask if you don't have some caps so he can eat."

Then they save this wretched detective. Things are getting really complicated now. This synth has a habit of speaking in Innuendo and Sole bugs so frequently that the domestic robot ends up takin the other apart for a little talk.

"Very well, let us establish this clearly. It's not the swiftest contraption on the circuit, sir/madam. But they are not imbeciles, and you must cease treating them as such."

Nick appears astonished. "I ain't one who regards 'em as fools!" He exclaims.

"Do kindly cease with the innuendo and diminutive inside jests, if you please. Most importantly, I hear you say once more: "Well, I shall conduct a diagnostic while you ingest this serpent’ I assure you, next occasion, I shall procure an authentic serpent to compel YOU to ingest."

Nick appears to be growing increasingly surprised. He has not a reputation for making fun of others, and he didn't feel like it. He would make a remark or two about the speed with which Sole absorbed the information, but he didn't think he'd been impolite. He assures the butler that he would pay more attention in the future, attempting to discover the simplest and most direct method to communicate with Sole.

Curie : Curie had plenty of time to think about it before finally releasing her truster from her century-old jail. Every piece of information appears to take ten years to gather. Surprisingly, it does. It reminds Curie of one of those terminals that always appears to take longer to digest the information than the others, but at least it gets in. Curie recognises that she must be patient. Then, as they make their way to the vault, one of the damned molerats who escaped them leaps upon Sole's neck. Curie reacts quickly and extracts it from the poor human, burning it to ashes. However, it is too late. Sole is most likely contaminated.

"Oh, dear, what shall we do, my good sir/madam?”

"How about a stimpack?"

"However, this affliction! There was but a solitary opportunity! Only one dose!"

Sole frowns. They remain frozen for an extended period of time. Curie tries to assist them.

"The dosage that you shall administer unto the child.”

"The dose that...yes, I'll gave the child the cure." They appear enlightened, proud to keep up the conversation.

"But then, how shall you indulge yourself?”

"With the help of a stimpack."

"But, for the molerat's decease!"

"Ah!" Sole shrugs, "we have to save the child."

"Are you still committed to the noble cause of rescuing the child?"

"What would you do in this situation?"

"I remember you I am a Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer, impervious to any form of affliction.”

Sole scratched their head, trying to figure out how to connect the dots. Curie leads them forward, not wanting to loiter too long. "It matters not to comprehend it right now, for we shall ascertain in due course.”

Then, as they set up camp on the outskirts of Boston at night, Sole burst into tears unexpectedly. Curie hurried.

"Goodness gracious, what in the world is happening?"

"I have an incurable disease!"

Curie then experiments with what appears to be human irritation.

Danse : He encourages this civilian to come into the police station and get some equipment. Sole stands there, tapping their hands.

"Civilian, I have instructed you to ready yourself for our imminent mission."

"OK, OK. I'm getting ready...um, but what exactly do you mean by preparation?"

"We have surplus purified water, ammunition, rad-away, rad-x, take anything you might need."

Sole joyfully approaches the counter that shows Danse. They already know that this post-apocalyptic environment doesn't have many of these fortune, so it's a tremendous gift to be offered.

Then Rhys exclaims, "Catches fast!"

Sole receives a can of water behind their head before they can figure out what's going on. They revolve slowly while stroking their neck.

"But, but..."

And Rhys do it again with two others cans who attack them like missiles. To say that Danse is catastrophed is an understatement.

"Rhys!" Heylan chastises. "How dare you?"

Rhys appears perplexed. "Wait, they don't have reflexes?"

Sole, embarrassed, picks up the three water cans that have fallen on the ground. Danse approaches his man.

"In any case, these circus act manners have no place in the Brotherhoods of Steel. And you should have known better than to continue after the first can."

Rhys lowers his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, Sole, but I won't do it again." He doesn't like this freelancer, but he also doesn't want to harm them.

Danse rumbles a little more before turning to Sole. "Are you all done?"

Sole puts their water in a bag. "Here it is, the water is tidy."

Danse raises his brow. "I mean, to prepare you."

"Oh!" Sole returned to the counter and grabbed whatever they believed might be useful. "Here it is, everything is tidy."

"Certainly…"

Danse walks to the door, thinking that a least, Sole have courage and a fine aim when it comes to killing abominations.

Deacon : "Oh, I do love self-deprecating humor, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at it." Deacon then busted up laughing.

Sole gives him an unsettled glance. "It's unfortunate for you not to be good at something you love."

"Oh no, wait, you don't understand." But Deacon, as brilliant as he is at making jokes, is uncomfortable explaining it. "What I meant was… that's what you see, self-deprecating humor…it's…"

"Oh, I just figured it out!" Sole laughs, "Oh, she's good!"

Deacon wipes his brow with relief. When it's too subtle, leave a cool-down. Got it.

Dogmeat : The good dog is ecstatic to be following his new master. Then the New Master and him gets at Concord. The New Master approaches one first raider as if it were a stroll through the park.

"Eh!" they exclaim. "Are you the one who threw sticks at my butler? That's not very nice!" 

Sole is shot by this first raider. They takes the round into their arms and, shocked, notices the injury. The dog leaps upon Sole's shoulders and slams them to the ground behind a low wall.

"But they're shooting at me!" Sole finally understands.

They then pull out their revolver and don't bother asking questions, much to Dogmeat's relief. Because they don't have a crumb of it, the good poop swears to devote all of his instincts to his New Master.

Elder Maxson : “…so I ask you to go down to the island and clean it up for me.”

“It’ll take more than a day! It’s ruins!”

Maxson looks at Sole in astonishment, to say the least. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you mean, kill every stray! Okay, at your command."

While Sole turns their heels to the vertibirds, Maxson glances at Danse and whispers, "Good luck."

Danse nods. Fortunately, Sole is a good shooter…

Hancock : Sole remains frozen for an extended period of time. Nick is no longer harassed by the butler, but he recalls his admonition.

"Uh Hancock, meets Sole." He's attempting to figure out how to get things going.

"You just killed him?" Inquire the newbie.

“Yeah, he threatened me," the mayor replies.

"He made a threat against the mayor. And you invited him to come talk to you. And you murdered him."

"Sole, uh? You know who I am?”

"A ghoul that talks?"

Hancock shrugs his shoulders and casts a glance at Nick. He grins. "My young friend, I am the Mayor."

"Oh!" Sole appears to have finally grasped the concept. "So, yeah, killing him was preferable. I get it now."

"Oh, if I get it right, they didn't bother putting a ten speed in the damn box,” Hancock observes.

"But he's not stupid!" Stated Nick swiftly. "All you have to do is... give the information time to get to it. Even if the information is as deadly as a bullet in the back."

Hancock offers Nick a shocked expression. "Sorry?"

"When it shoots around, it's better to let Sole know, because if you expect a reflex, it's going to bleed."

"You're talking about me!" Sole said.

"Just the usual recommendations," Nick insists. "This world is… hard… and it often goes very fast."

"Too damn fast," Hancock grumbles. Sometimes, movin' at a pace that's just too damn quick for my likin'.”

"Oh, I can understand it so much!" Exclaims the newcomer. "It always seems to move too quickly for me."

Hancock gasps in laughter and hands them a Jet inhaler. "Listen up, brother/sister. 'Cause I gotta be honest, I already feel like I'm fallin' head over heels for ya. Grab this here, and if your can's hollering at ya, pop a solid dose. Ya gonna start noticin' that ya movin' faster than this here rock we call home, catches me?”

While Nick scolds, Sole pockets the gift with a wide smile.

"Not sure it's a good idea to fuck up the gray cells on top of that."

Hancock dismiss with a "pfff" sound. "It'll be a real sweet deal for 'em. And if the light's gone, I've got Mentats.”

Gage : "The water gun's stashed away in that there locker!"

"But how will a water gun help me against a power armor?"

"I done told ya it was a blasted power armor with one of them fancy electrical systems. Sending water is gonna fry those circuits faster than a molerat in a radstorm."

"Oh, I understand!"

Not too soon, Porter reasoned. He witnessed them in the Gauntlet when this dude/girl took shots like they couldn't feel pain, but if they were to play hot hand, Gage would surely want to take on them. He'd almost certainly win.

MacCready : "I take 200 tax caps when walking in irradiated water pools."

“I understand,” says Sole. Then they frowns and replies, "Wait a minute. Why would I pay you 200 caps extra for a wad of water you have to walk over every day?"

Mac chuckles. He will have attempted. They must not be taken in. Sole may be slow to get the point, but they can rationalize. Meanwhile, Mac's rifle has their back, and the person, they're not too bad of a boss.

Nick Valentine : He is relieved when the Butler announces that he is returning to Sanctuary and leaving Sole in the care of the detective. This robot has something threatening that he dislikes. Perhaps a tad overprotective for this poor soul, but it puts him on a tightrope. Nick realized what was going on pretty fast with Sole. You don't make little ironic jokes, or they will lose track of the subtlety. But he's genuine. He wishes to assist Sole. Sounds like a fine person who has seen too much in too short.

He swiftly takes the beat and realizes that when the balls start whistling, his priority is to put Sole away until the bug learns and pulls out their gun. Aside from that, after all the data is in, they are incredibly fine-tuned. If we give them enough time to think about it, they might make a great detective. They found this damned hit man's lair because, with all Nick threw at them as information, Sole drew out a profile that would impress colleagues.

"Some are in the box. Perhaps too much, which would explain why there are traffic jams?"

"Are there traffic jams? But there isn't a working vehicle, is there?"

Nick waits with his arms crossed.

"You mean in my head? Yes, I confess it. Thank you; this is the first time anyone has understood."

Nick gives a small smile. He genuinely likes Sole.

Piper : "I'm not a trader. Right now, I'm just trying to... understand and survive." 

Piper eyes widening.

"Shut! Just play along, I ask! Please!"

Sole gives the reporter a blank stare. "Play to what?"

Danny becomes impatient in the speaker. "Piper, what are you doing?"

Sole is now getting it. "Oh, I'm a trader from... Quincy? Yes, Quincy, I have a lot of... supplies."

Piper casts a glance at Sole but manages to improvise and eventually grants them admission. She moves her gaze to the new as the door opens.

"You're really something, eh? But thank you for participating."

"Yeah, sorry, sometimes I take a little time to understand…all the time."

The journalist's grin broadens. "No worries. Now that I know, come with me and I'll filter. Thank you once again."

With that, she finally enters her city, where she is met by a rather dreary mayor.

Preston : They must be a moron. They are standing there, about to be shot. Definitely an irradiated bulb moron.

Preston notices a dog rush on the newcomer and rescues them. He knows who Dogmeat is. He had no idea Dogmeat was taking desperate causes.

Then, whoa!

The new one returns and destroys everything! Some argue that you shouldn't make snap judgments. This individual is proof. The treats are down in less time than it takes Preston to fire three shots.

"Damn! Slow at first, but after... Hey! Over here, on the balcony!"

Strong : “Puny human strong. Puny human doesn't react to bullets”

“What bullets?”

“Puny human amazing! Puny human doesn’t feel pain?”

Sole suddenly seems to realize that they are being shot. They scream, turn to the mutant who targeted them, and burst his brain.

“Puny human… funny… Strong likes it."

For his part, Rex seems to think they are a simple mind. He tries to explain his mission to them, and the new one just stares at him with an empty expression. Then suddenly, the light was there.

"Teaching super mutants art! That might be a good idea."

“It could have, but it’s not.”

“But you convinced Strong.”

“In a way, yes.”

“Strong wants to find milk of human kindness.”

Sole looks at Strong for a long time, then nods.

"We’ll try, my friend. We’ll try."

Strong love Sole. 

X6-88 : "Why a recall code?"

"In order to... completely erase Gabriel's memory, I explained it to you."

"Yes, but why?"

With a heavy sigh, the Courser grips the bridge of his nose.

Standing up, Sole widens their eyes. "Oh! Because he defied the Institute, and you don't want that to happen again!"

"Indeed."

"I understand now!"

"It seems…"

He exhales another breath. Okay, left them time for some downtime. Every. Single. Time. X6 is capable of this... He'll have to do it one way or another.

[stagkingswife]

Do you know of any good ways to communicate with spirits beside tarot reading? I feel like I need to change the way I communicate for whatever reason but I'm having a hard time finding alternatives (maybe I'm not googling correctly?) so I was wondering if you had any tips? since in your pinned post it said your interested in spirit work.

There’s lots of options besides tarot!  I can’t remember the last time I used tarot for spirit work, I mostly use it for readings for IRL friends these days because it’s my most “accessible to normies” divination method, so let’s brainstorm some alternatives!

Direct Input:  I call this the Sight, other people use the “clairsense” terms.  This is probably one of the harder methods to discern, because it all has to filter through our minds.  It can be hard to distinguish what is actual input from an outside source and what we are generating ourselves.  Let’s say you want to receive a message from one of the spirits you work with, and then you start having thoughts that are kind of like how this spirit “talks.”  Is the spirit really communicating with you or is your mind manufacturing what you want? Same thing with dreams - was that dream with mysterious imagery a message from a spirit or a natural psychological reaction to your day time activities?  Environmental Signs: Signs and omens are a classic communication tool, but another one that are easy to misuse/misinterpret.  A natural environmental occurrence, like seeing an animal in its natural habitat is just a natural environment occurrence, but if you ask spirits for specific signs, and are careful to ask for signs that would truly be unique or unusual, you can set up a pretty good call and response communication system.  A bad example - Deer are very common where I live.  Seeing a deer is not a reliable sign for me, even though they are strongly associated with my divine spouse.

A good example - Birds are very common around my home, but not birds of prey, which are also associated with my divine spouse, so if I wanted to know if he approved of something I could ask him to send a bird of prey to my home as a sign. Usually I would also request a time frame (within a week, for example) so you know whether or not you got your sign and you aren’t just waiting indefinitely.  

Otherworldly Travel:  This is another one that’s a slog to master, and it’s not at all necessary, I just find it adds a nice depth to some spirit relationships if you can go visit them “at home” in addition to them coming to you. For the spirits that don’t have something that represents them in this world I feel like I get to know them better when I see them in their “natural habitat” like a spirit David Attenborough. That being said, spirits have an advantage in the Otherworlds, I find that it’s much easier for them to manipulate their appearance, presentation, and our perceptions of them in the Otherworlds.  If planning to use Otherworldly Travel in spirit work I highly recommend taking your time and really verifying all of your experiences with other methods. Other Divination Methods:  And most importantly - Tarot isn’t the only divination method!  I know it’s very popular and very easy to find materials and resources on, but it’s not the end all be all of divination. I firmly believe that you need some sort of external verification system to be confident in your spirit work, otherwise you’re just relying on those methods above which can all be subject to well meaning imaginations.  Experiment with other divination systems and find something that works for you that you can be consistent with that is hard for you to manipulate, consciously or unconsciously, to give yourself the results you want.    Instead of Tarot I like oracle decks, I have built my own osteomancy method, and my keyboard divination method - when I do it for myself - are all great for double checking my other experiences. 

[bdzonthareel]

Wonka

Cynicism: a belief that ideas are motivated purely by self-interest; this was my thought process going to the origin story of Willy Wonka. I have more than my fair share of soulless cash grab backstories long before starting my career as a film critic, so I came in to this with a heavy amount of skepticism.

After seeing the first trailer I groaned in a manner similar to an allergic reaction, I came into this movie prepared to be underwhelmed. Funny thing about expectations, sometimes they surprise you.

Wonka is the origin story of the future enigmatic candy mogul, Willy Wonka; he travels to the legendary Gourmet Gallery with only is suitcase and his dreams of making the world’s greatest chocolate in his very own shop.

This movie was a much needed shot of serotonin, and I don’t use that statement lightly.

I guess I should get the negatives out of the way first, because they were few but absolutely need to be pointed out.

I can’t stand the “white savior” trope, and there is a subplot where it’s used and I could have done without it.

Timothee’ Chalamet, is an amazing actor as the title character, but he’s a milquetoast singer. With the exception of “Pure Imagination” I was not impressed by the songs that he led.

His more emotional scenes felt disingenuous at times, the performance while trying to combine the energy of Johnny Depp and the late great Gene Wilder, leaned more towards the former which was a disservice to the character.

All that aside, everyone in this cast gave entertaining performances regardless of my complaints.

Chalamet’s Wonka performance while somewhat derivative was overall delightful, adding a level of charm and whimsy that the character is known for throughout every incarnation.

Hugh Grant brought his dry salty wit as Lofty the Oompah Loompah.

The trio of Patterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Matthew Bayton were hilarious as the bumbling trio of antagonists Slugworth, Prodnose, and Ficklegruber respectively.

Callah Lane, was delightful in role as the precocious Noodle.

Olivia Colman and Tom Davis as Mrs. Scrubbit and Mr. Bleecher reminded me of characters from Annie and Les Miserables which is not a negative, but it definitely left an impression.

Keegan Michael Key brought his comedic charm and timing to the role of the chief of police. Some of the gags involving him could have been disastrous, but I was pleasantly surprised by how tasteful they were.

The visuals were as colorful as the sweets from Wonka’s factory, the settings were magnificent In their diversity, Director Paul King has an amazing eye for mood and setting.

The music composed by Joby Talbot and Neil Hannon, was a spectrum of emotion. The songs were all toe tappers, and I highly recommend copping the OST.

And the choreography is just as solid, sadly I could not find the credits for it as of this writing.

Most importantly Willy Wonka’s mystique is left fully in tact. Paul King and co-writer Simon Faranby, understood what a lot of prequel writers don’t, not every question needs an answer. Willy Wonka just is, and I love that they understand that.

I couldn’t stop smiling as the film continued, it’s warm cup of hot cocoa on a winter’s day and I highly recommend checking it out this holiday season.

Wonka gets a very solid 4 out of 5.

[hwadam-stories]

| College Student Empress (Light Novel) - English Translation (MTL)

| Translation Tool: Chat GPT

| Chapter 6: So, You Are The Rival...

| Notes: Italics / Bold pink texts is meant for character thoughts.

Perhaps Wolryeo was worried, keeping in mind that the emperor and empress already had a bad relationship, and the emperor left in a bad mood.

‘No need for that.’

Haesol smiled inwardly. Given her extensive experience with romance stories, she believed the relationship between the emperor and empress couldn't get any worse.

‘Even if the emperor was upset by my joke, if he was going to send an assassin, he would have done so already. If not, he won’t do it now.’

Pretending not to notice Wolryeo’s mouth twitching as if she had a lot to say, Haesol called out to Myeongwol.

“Oh, by the way, Myeongwol, I finished all the books you got me yesterday. Could you find some more?”

This time, Wolryeo staggered and muttered, “Myeongwol...” but Myeongwol just laughed, amused by the address.

“Did you already read all those books?”

“I'm still reading...”

As Haesol laughed awkwardly at the admiring tone, Wolryeo smiled proudly, snapping out of her shock over “Myeongwol.”

“Losing one's memory doesn’t make a person suddenly stupid, it seems. You were very clever since you were a child, Your Majesty.”

As someone who raised the empress from a young age, Wolryeo seemed proud of even the smallest good behavior from her.

‘Come to think of it, was the empress originally an avid reader?’

When Wolryeo and Myeongwol left the room, each carrying a stack of books, the waiting court ladies opened the door for them.

“Human automatic doors...”

Watching the closed door and the silhouettes beyond, Haesol yawned and sprawled out on the bed.

###

For the next few days, Haesol’s daily routine consisted solely of reading books.

Although losing her memory meant she could act dumb and just say, "I don't know," and people would explain things to her, some explanations still left her confused. Moreover, constantly asking people questions was tedious for Haesol herself.

She wanted to at least have a basic understanding to make the explanations more effective.

‘Of course, reading a travel guide to Europe doesn’t mean you can live like a European all at once.’

It was about six days after the emperor’s unexpected night visit.

As usual, Haesol was sitting at her desk, surrounded by piles of books, when Wolryeo brought unexpected news.

“Your Highness, how about paying a visit to the Empress Dowager today?”

Haesol looked up from her book and asked, “A visit?”

###

She had seen visits in historical dramas before. In her mind, she envisioned those sitting at small desks the size of keyboards, filling the narrow camera frame.

She remembered stern old ladies in traditional hanbok saying things like, “Produce an heir, Your Majesty,” and kings with beards nodding and fanning themselves beside them.

“Oh, so the Empress Dowager is alive.”

“Y-Your Highness!”

“No one mentioned her, so I thought she had passed away...”

Wolryeo stamped her foot, unable to cover Haesol’s mouth in time. Haesol stopped mid-sentence, gauging Wolryeo’s reaction, and then awkwardly smiled, realizing such words shouldn’t be spoken.

“My apologies, Your Highness. It was my oversight not to inform you in advance.”

Seeing Wolryeo’s worried expression, Haesol smiled awkwardly. Wolryeo asked again, looking concerned.

“If you’re still feeling unwell, shall we postpone the visit?”

“Do I have to visit every day?”

###

“Once every two weeks should suffice.”

It seems dramas are just dramas. Of course, Yeonryeo isn't Joseon, so thinking based on Joseon standards is strange. Relieved that she didn't have to visit the unfamiliar Empress Dowager daily, Haesol stood up.

“Then, I'll go today.”

If she had to go, it was better to get it over with sooner. Despite her concerns about meeting the woman who raised that bratty emperor, avoiding it out of fear wasn't an option.

Most importantly, didn’t the empress gain her position by earning the Empress Dowager’s support against the emperor’s opposition? So, she shouldn’t be treated too harshly.

“Wolryeo, when should we go? Right now? Or after more preparations?”

“…Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“Some high-ranking people purposely use formal speech with their subordinates. It's fine if you continue to address us respectfully, but... I’d appreciate it if you could stop using ‘-ssi’ with us. It might feel awkward now, but you'll get used to it.”

***

#6

"Empress! Please, come in."

Haesol’s expectation that the Empress Dowager wouldn't mistreat her was spot on.

“Greetings to the Empress Dowager.”

Before coming to the Empress Dowager’s palace, Haesol had hastily practiced court etiquette with Wolryeo and a eunuch, but in her rush, she ended up clumsier than when she mimicked it half-heartedly. Her steps were awkward, and her bow was crooked. Even after the eunuch sighed several times, the Empress Dowager greeted the Empress with a smiling face.

“Oh, my, how have you been? How’s your health?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty, I am much better.”

“You still look very thin.”

“I apologize for causing you concern.”

Haesol answered relatively smoothly, carefully recalling the words the eunuch had repeatedly taught her. Fortunately, it seemed to work as the Empress Dowager nodded and spoke with concern.

“It’s not your fault, Empress. Though I gave birth to him, I simply cannot understand the current emperor. He is truly foolish. How could he not take better care of such a lovely and delicate Empress?”

Clicking her tongue, the Empress Dowager appeared genuinely fond of the Empress, at least on the surface. Relieved, Haesol felt a sense of inner peace.

As long as the Empress Dowager favored her, it wasn’t difficult for Haesol to show her respect. She had been accustomed to treating seniors and elders with utmost respect since her days at the physical education department. Haesol decided to regard the Empress Dowager as a strict coach or perhaps an investor or director who held her survival in their hands.

“Seeing Your Majesty makes me feel relieved.”

“?”

“Since waking up, I’ve had no memories, couldn’t move, felt heavy, and everything seemed awkward. No one could explain things properly… I was really frustrated. But now that I’m here talking with Your Majesty, all that frustration has vanished.”

As Haesol eagerly rattled on, the Empress Dowager, who had been listening intently, burst into laughter. The Empress Dowager overlooked occasional slips and lapses in etiquette, accepting whatever Haesol said with a tender smile. Naturally sociable, Haesol continued chatting enthusiastically.

Wolryeo, standing behind, was taken aback by this new side of Haesol, but seeing the Empress Dowager enjoying the conversation, she couldn’t intervene.

Of course, even if the Empress Dowager was upset by Haesol’s words, Wolryeo wouldn’t have been able to stop her.

However, things were going smoothly when suddenly—

“Your Majesty, Consort Kong is here.”

At the mention of “Consort Kong,” the Empress Dowager’s face, which had been showering the Empress with praises—talking about how they should give her herbal medicine, how her natural elegance shone through even without memories, and how she became even more charming—froze instantly.

Haesol quickly closed her mouth and observed the Empress Dowager’s now-angry expression.

“Let her in,” the Empress Dowager commanded, raising her voice towards the door, clearly displeased.

Wolryeo gave a subtle signal for Haesol to scoot over, so she did, sliding closer to the Empress Dowager as the door slowly opened. Excitement bubbled within Haesol at the thought of finally meeting the famous Kong Lin.

She had heard stories about Kong Lin not only from Wolryeo but also from Myeongwol, the eunuchs, and other palace maids.

Though the opinions varied, filtering out subjective emotions left the following narrative.

The emperor wanted to make Kong Lin, who was a court lady, his empress, but because of her humble family background, she couldn’t become the empress. So Haesol thought that if this place were a romance novel, drama, or movie, Kong Lin would undoubtedly be the main character.

And she became curious. What kind of woman could make an emperor with such an unpleasant personality so infatuated? Maybe she was even more skillful than Haesol, who had been a playboy in a past life. Or perhaps similar.

Squeak.

Then, as the doors opened on both sides, a woman's figure appeared in the center.

Haesol's eyes widened.

The woman walking in politely looked exactly like a lady from a noble family. Considering she had a humble background, was a former court lady, or had deliberately seduced the young crown prince, Haesol never thought she would be the demure type.

Contrary to expectations, Kong Lin was a refined and elegant beauty with delicate features. Her facial features were small but distinct, giving her a doll-like appearance without being overwhelming.

The most beautiful aspect was her black, innocent-looking eyes. She wasn’t a striking beauty, but she was the kind of familiar beauty that became more endearing the more you looked at her.

"Wow…"

Haesol's gasped. Although appearances and true nature don't always align,, but at least Kong Lin's appearance didn’t suggest she was a woman who would wield power from behind the scenes just because she had the emperor's favor.

‘Oh. Well, just because she has the emperor's favor over the empress doesn't mean she has to be a terrifying woman.’

After all, palace intrigue can turn everyone into snakes, even if the empress and consorts are all saints, so long as the emperor has a foul personality.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager."

Kong Lin's voice was so soft that Haesol couldn't help but think of a gentle friend from her piano department. This friend had hobbies like painting traditional art, raising orchids in her room, and wearing hanbok on weekends. She was so much like a lady from a noble family that although she didn’t fit in with most people, everyone would still admire her.

Kong Lin reminded her of that friend.

“You arrived later than the ailing empress.”

But since there were many gentle women in the court of Yeonyeoguk who painted traditional art, Kong Lin’s willow-like demeanor didn’t earn her any extra points. Kong Lin, intimidated by the empress dowager’s cold voice, answered meekly.

“I apologize.”

“If you’re sorry, you should change your behavior.”

Seeing Kong Lin's hands tremble as she clutched her abdomen, Haesol realized that she was completely intimidated by the Empress Dowager.

As a rival, it was no wonder that the eunuchs and maids spoke ill of Kong Lin.

She... looked truly timid.

Seeing her as a cowering white rabbit, Haesol felt an inexplicable urge to protect her and clicked her tongue internally.

The emperor, that bastard. Does he always like such pure and delicate women?

‘No, that can’t be. The real empress is also said to have a gentle and delicate personality. Moreover, her face is also soft and fragile, right? Regardless of the emperor’s preference, maybe that’s just the typical personality in Yeonryeo.’

Suddenly, Haesol wondered if she should try to mimic that gentle willow-like demeanor and shuddered at the thought. It would definitely not suit her and would look awkward and ridiculous to anyone.

[kelp-person]

you know, i see a lot of genshin sagau fics/headcanons featuring the creator as some divine being who is either a.) from our world, where genshin is a game to them, or b.) an already immortal being who just vibes in the background without their worshippers knowing. and while i understand that those concepts have a charm and appeal to them, what about ...

᯽ a creator who hides away on the dark side of the moon in a large workshop, where they spend their days over an anvil with a giant hammer in hand as they craft something, anything that their heart desires. perhaps it's a new world, or maybe it's a weapon to gift to their creations, or maybe even a new animal for them to send off to see how it fares and how their other creations react to it.

᯽ a creator who does not bleed gold, or anything for that matter, for why would a being made of nothing need such mortal things to thrive? with this, the creator can be recognized by one thing and one thing only: the black markings that decorate their body - especially the upper half of their face, which also holds sparkling eyes of white pupils and vibrant, space-like colors of sclera; so bright that they glow even in the darkest of places.

᯽ a creator who has each world that they've carefully crafted on a pedestal, where they can watch their creations thrive and progress through their lives and take note of how they choose to live ( because even if the life they choose is one of darkness and cruelty, their creator will always love them, because after all: each of them were made with a spark of them inside their souls, although the creator highly doubts they'll ever know that ).

᯽ a creator whose ears are long and pointed and fingers are clawed, looking as if they had been dipped in pools of tar with the blackness that covers them. and if that fact alone doesn't seem monstrous enough, imagine a mere mortal's reaction when they see that their creator's hands can shift into anything they desire, such as a blade or - their personal favorite - a hammer.

᯽ a creator who looks on in pride behind their round goggles ( because although they are an immortal god, getting stuff in their eyes as they work is still a pain ) as two of their most recent creations ( who had given themselves the names of "lumine" and "aether" ) travel through the many worlds they had created and discover the many promises and gifts that lay beneath their surfaces.

᯽ a creator who, after witnessing the world-traveling siblings' separation, snarls in anger as one of their fellow gods dare defy them. the rage they hold for this act alone is enough to make their entire workshop shake and make the small stars that explore the place and peek through cracks shiver out of fear.

᯽ a creator who sends one of their stars ( named paimon ) down to the land of teyvat to act as a guide for the traveler as they help them search for their sibling ( along with the very god who dare cause this mess in the first place ).

᯽ a creator who is, most importantly, not a being of light, but a being of darkness. not because of what morals that lie within them, though, but because of the fact that they are willing to be known as the black sky of the night so that their creations - their moons and stars - can shine the brightest in front of them.

[powdermelonkeg]

So, BO2W Breakdown

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

Here we’ve got Ganon’s...energy taking over Link’s arm. Ordinarily, I’d call it Malice, but based on what it turns into, I’m just going to be calling it corruption. We don’t get much information from this scene besides this expression:

Link’s grabbing the corruption with his other hand, and wincing. It looks painful. I personally think it’s for cinematic effect that it was included, but it COULD be a gateway into a Phantom Hourglass sort of mechanic--Link has to function on a time limit, or using the corruption’s power could drain his life.

Next we’ve got a closeup of Ganondorf. F in chat to the rehydration theorists.

And the closeups of his jewelry. The only significant thing I can see is his necklace, which looks like a cross between the Gerudo symbol and a Fleur de Lis:

But what I’M most interested in is this tie on his belt:

For one, it’s WAY bigger than it needs to be, and that’s deliberate. Ganondorf’s got a jewelry aesthetic he’s already hit above; everything else is gold, why not this bit?

Most importantly, you can barely make it out, but the designs either look Sheikah or Zonai--they’ve got that same kind of swirly busy pattern to them. The red tint and tan-ish lines in it makes me think it’s possessed Sheikah tech.

Next, we’re shown Zelda falling. This looks like it happens right after these two caps from the first trailer:

So we reach for her as the ground collapses, and evidently, we fail to pull her back up. So my next question for that scene is going to be what the in-game reason is for us not diving in right after her. Maybe we won’t get one, since the appeal of the original BOTW was that you could fight Ganon whenever you wanted.

Up next, we’ve got a skydiving shot:

The first thing to notice is that Link’s pose while skydiving is just about identical to his pose in Skyward Sword:

Second is that, yes, he’s falling towards a floating island, and that in itself is noteworthy, but he’s FALLING. There’s something either above him that he jumped off of, or a force that carried him high enough TO fall, and I doubt Nintendo’s encouraging magnesis flying.

So, there’s a few options: Loftwings making a return (which is unlikely, but a hope I have), something like Revali’s Gale boosting Link up for a cinematic shot, indicating that the corruption arm has that kind of power, or islands higher than the one shown here.

Now the island itself:

In Skyward Sword, Skyloft looks like this:

And (spoiler alert) we loose this island here over the course of the game:

Now, it’s not a PERFECT 1:1 match, as most things between games aren’t, but a quick rotate and overlay shows it’s got the same kinds of shapes between the two. The same “W” shape along the eastern side, the same tiny island off the northeast point, the same relative edges.

Now, I don’t know what happened to the plaza at South Skyloft, or the Knight’s Academy isle, but it could very easily be drift away from the central island.

The presence of other islands through the clouds seems to support that theory. Now let’s look at Link here:

The outfit is new. We haven’t, to my knowledge, seen one of this design in other games. My gut reaction to this image was “oh, we go back in time and we’re the first hero now!” because it’s vaguely reminiscent of Tapestry Hero.

But upon closer inspection, that theory’s null and void. Under Link’s tunic in the image above, you can see that he’s still wearing the shorts he woke up in in the first game. So either Sheikah boxers haven’t changed in 10,000 years, or it’s taking place in present day. Jokes aside, I’m curious to know if the outfit he’s wearing is modeled after Tapestry Hero.

Next thing to point out is the obvious:

Link’s arm here looks less prosthetic and more...withered, I almost want to say. The corruption here’s made his hand look frailer, and armored them up with Zonai patterns before it fades out at his shoulder. Based on how the tattoos look, I think they’re an artifact of the corruption taking hold.

Also, the belt here:

Aesthetic purposes, or specific function? The presence of the second, smaller one on the side reminds me of Skyward Sword’s adventure pouch, which could be how the new game handles inventory size:

Next we’ve got another flying shot:

It seems like he’s flying towards Ruined Skyloft, and you can see the bottoms of islands above it, possibly meaning that the sky serves as more than just a hub world like it did in Skyward.

Now let’s look at the paraglider he’s using. It’s new.

This is how the paraglider looks in the original BOTW. It looks like we still have the Rito symbol in the center, but other than that, there’s a LOT of changes here.

First off is the color. We’re now blue and gold. The shade of blue makes me think of the Kochi Dye Shop’s navy blue:

So, possibly a dyeable paraglider?

The new pattern surrounding the Rito symbol makes me think that it’s combining the paraglider with Skyward Sword’s sailcloth:

Other than that, there isn’t much else to say about the paraglider besides the handles looking like they’re made of bone. Craftable paragliders? God, I hope not.

Back to Link:

Here we have him in different gear than the last shot. He’s wearing the snow boots, he has a shield with a stylized Eye of Truth looking upwards, and he looks like he’s carrying a traveler’s sword and an unknown bow. The presence of the bow makes me think that the shield here is a lower tier item, rather than this game’s Hylian Shield equivalent.

Now, let’s get a better look at the horizon:

The trees here look a lot like the smaller trees you can find in Akkala, but there’s a distinct lack of red among them.

Then it looks like we’ve got some ruins at the furthest isle.

Whatever the rock formations are over there, they don’t LOOK natural.

Another thing I noticed is the bottoms of the islands.

These look a little too geometric to be natural, too. Now, this one, I’m a little muddy on, because it COULD be a stylistic choice. But it also reminds me of the Shrines if you clip out of bounds:

And a little bit of the dormant Gate of Time from Skyward:

My money’s on the cube-like nature of the islands’ undersides being deliberate, rather than just a far-off render.

And then there’s this thing!

What is it? It doesn’t look broken at all; look how nicely the roof(?) is kept. The ribbing on the sides makes me think it might be a Zonai thing, but the shape makes it difficult to figure out. A giant temple? An airship? A sloped coliseum? This thing haunts and vexes me.

Our next shot is presumably from one of the islands, based on the color. Here we can see that there are definitely ruins all over the place. Link is in the same gear as before, so I won’t touch on him.

This, however, has my interest. The design here has more geometric patterns--Zonai ruins?

We’ve got another one off in the distance here. Sky checkpoints, like Sheikah towers?

Now this guy here. There’s a LOT to look at. First off is the eye design, it’s the same sort of upward looking one that Link has on his shield in the previous shots.

The energy that’s pulling this thing towards its base looks like the same green energy that surrounds the arm holding Gan in place in Trailer One:

This stuff. That, plus the fact that the robot has to be pulled into its base rather than just existing, implies that either A: Link activates it himself, like a trial thing, or B: that the green energy here functions in the same way Malice does in the original BOTW.

This pattern at its base is intriguing, too. I don’t recognize the gold symbol in the center, but the green around it reminds me of the portals from Twilight Princess.

Which, yes, everyone’s already said that the Twilight Princess patterns look like Zonai things. But another thing this weird dial thing reminds me of is from Lanayru Desert:

On top of that, the color palette of this guy looks like that of the Lanayru Robots from Skyward:

BO2W robot on the left, Lanayru robot on the right. Given that Skyward is a lot more vibrant than other non-Toon Zelda games, I think this is a fair enough comparison to draw similarities from.

And then we get a closer view of the sky ruins from the last shot. I don’t know if the geometric pattern in the corner is a deliberate carving, or wear from time, but since the pattern looks ALMOST mirrored around the corner, I’m going to go with the former.

A better shot a few frames later. The robot has HANDS, which I do not like in any way shape or form. However, we get a better look at the sky ruins.

We haven’t seen this style of stairs before, to my knowledge. The pedestal out front looks like a light source, and it has the same floral egg thing the robot above has on each shoulder; the eggs could easily be a power source for Zonai tech. And at the top of the stairs, we see a pedestal, backing up the theory that these ruins function as our new Sheikah towers.

This is our next shot. Which...

Unikoblins. Can we talk about that? UNIKOBLINS.

Anyways, Link is here again in his old clothes. This is a very early game shot, because his right arm isn’t corrupted yet; this means we get to explore Hyrule before we embark on the main quest. Which gives rise to a question: Where’s Zelda?

The hopeful side of me wants to say that she’s a tutorial companion, like Navi or Tatl, at least for the beginning here. The pessimistic side of me thinks that she’s waiting for us at a predetermined location, and this is just part of getting to her.

Now the unikoblin structure itself is built on a Talus, meaning that the dev team at least intends to have more inter-monster interactions. But if you kill the Talus, does that mean that the base falls apart, or does it just drop down as a separate entity?

Also, what are these background ruins? The one on the left looks like it’s a distinctly different style than the one on the right. It looks almost like a giant guardian arm.

Our next shot is Link’s arm getting corrupted. Which, first of all, the effects look beautiful.

Now, we can see a corner of Link’s hip here, and we know that this is his right arm. So Link’s lying down here. Unconscious? Knowing how Zelda games like to start with Link waking up, probably. Although it looks like at least part of his shorts got an update.

We can see what looks like circuits here. It looks a bit like the electricity puzzles you can find in the Divine Beasts and Shrines in the original.

Then we’ve got these strange symbols.

Whatever this circular stone he’s lying on is, it looks a lot like the Zonai puzzle from the “A Fragmented Monument” sidequest.

This one that everyone thought was the Mirror of Twilight for years.

Our next shot is Link using the corruption powers against enemies:

The spike ball itself looks solid; the question is, is this a duplication power, or a visualization of how the spike ball is set into motion?

We see it barreling over a poor Unikoblin or two, but I’d like to turn your attention to the Moblin and the background.

The moblins here have helmets, and the bases, while they carry the same design, look like they have more cause and effect in mind. The left base’s rock, for instance; that’s a lot bigger than the rocks we got to play with in the last game, and it looks like we can barrel anything in the screen over with it.

The helmet, though, concerns me a little bit. It looks natural rather than forged; like it’s the moblin’s horn, just very much deformed. Does it mean a harder enemy, or is it just for flavor?

Our next shot is this strange flower thing. Note that Link’s right arm is perfectly fine in this shot, meaning that it’s still early game.

This is what Link’s flamethrower looks like. And this:

Is Zonai art.

So the question is, what IS the flamethrower? My first thought was that it’s either a new item in its own, or it’s a Sheikah Slate upgrade. The latter might sound a little far fetched, but Link in this game is right-handed, and in BOTW, he always held the slate in his LEFT hand when using it.

We have more of the weird faded designs that we saw on the Sky ruins:

And we’ve got some kind of pedestal or stage behind the ground flower thing:

It looks like it’s either an altar or a grave, from what I can tell. The stairs aren’t the same design as the ones in the sky, and there aren’t any patterns on it.

More importantly, though, is that this place is underground. This could be a part of the game you’re required to go through, in order to get to Raisin Gan.

A few seconds later, though, we get our answer to what the flamethrower is!

It’s a shield!

Off to the left side, we can see pillars with more weird scribblings towards the top. These match the Sky ruins’ pillar shape, with a narrow base and a wider top.

Our next scene is...weird.

We see a puddle splash in reverse. It’s hard to tell if it’s actually water or not, but the design on the ground implies that it’s either been there for a long time, or that that’s a dedicated splash spot. And the quality and zoom makes me think that this is part of a cutscene. Return of the timeshift stones?

We then see Link...surfacing out of the island? I don’t know how else to describe it. However, his arm is changed again, and glowing, meaning that this is a corruption power. And the “water” he rises out of here looks a lot like the puddle in the last clip.

We get a good look at the Zonai Lights:

A Sky ruin that looks like it contains a room:

And a glimpse of other isles’ ruins in the far distance.

And then as the camera zooms out...

We can place a location!

We’re right over Thundra Plateau!

We also get a mildly better look at the back wall of the sky ruin, which looks to be some kind of table:

The next scene is Hyrule Castle:

The ground shakes and it starts to rise up. However, notice that the columns surrounding the castle are now missing.

We’ve also got red sparks in the air, like we would have in a blood moon. However, due to the sky color, we can assume that this is a conscious decision by Gan himself, and that he isn’t drawing power from his surroundings.

We then see that power bleeding out of the ground. It’s MUCH more red than Malice is, which has always been a kind of burnt pink-ish color.

However, even though Ganon lifts the castle up, he doesn’t lift it very high.

The castle’s about triple the height it was. But since we’re talking Skyloft levels of floating islands, this is still pretty ground-level. What’s interesting to me, though, is that in this shot, despite the game now being about sky islands that we should be able to see from ground level...there aren’t any here. This, to me, means that there’s going to be a sudden appearance of the isles in the sky, rather than them simply being accessible now.

And that’s the whole trailer! I have many questions.

My blog! If you have any opnions/questions/theories, feel free to drop an ask!

Part 2 is up! We missed a lot!

[cinnamonest]

I actually have more thoughts on note of the last Dainsleif post: Imagine if you as the traveler actually were a tease. Like, you know a man desperately in need of relief when you see one, you know how repressed he definitely is, and you think it's cute. And more importantly, fun to tease... not that you actually ever plan on putting out, no. You just coo and aw and reach up while he's talking, cup a hand under his jaw and rub your thumb against his cheek. Poor thing, you must be so exhausted... and you take immense satisfaction and amusement in seeing the way he stiffens up, how his face on takes a pinkish tint. It's funny, watching someone so stoic get so flustered... and getting that reaction is the only goal you intend to achieve. But you know what would be even funnier? Seeing just how far you can push the poor man. The second time you see him, you hug him, as if you were close enough that such a thing would be appropriate when you know it's not. Same thing as before, he goes stiff, even takes a step backwards as an involuntary reaction... but he doesn't shove you away. You squeeze him tight and squish your chest against him to the best of your ability. He won't look you in the eye, he turns his gaze everywhere all around you except directly at you. But you keep you gaze fixed on him, and you're certain he can feel it. At one point, you even hear his voice crack -- quickly fixed by clearing his throat and acting at if it didn't happen. But what would be the cutest, funniest thing, you think, is to push right to the brink of the edge, make him think you're just about to give him the first night with someone he's had in well over 500 years. Wanderer as he may be, he still has to find places to stay every now and then, and you propose that interrogative in the most casual way you can -- are you staying somewhere nearby? -- and when he answers in the affirmative, you make some comment about how you would love to discuss the matters of everything you've been talking about with him more, how you hate to see him go so quickly, you really wanted to spend a bit more time with him... he stutters for a second, his voice sort of cracks again, but he says you are welcome to come stay there for a while if you wish. Which you accept... and you even manage to get Paimon to go stay with someone else for once. It's cute, you think, how this grown man who has been alive as long as he has is so awkward and clearly tense about it all. There's a little table in his room at the nearby inn, he sits down and pulls out a second chair, but by the time he turns his head back up to look at you you're already sitting on the bed instead. And you do actually talk about everything that's transpired, truly, but you make sure to raise the pitch of your voice, you puff your chest out and subtly tug at the dress to make the neckline come down as low as possible, you bunch up the skirt part of it to show as much thigh as you can without going too far. You giggle and smile and tell him that you would have loved to have seen him back in the day when he was in the Royal Guard. You have the line and hook and you can tell from everything in his voice and face and body language that he's bitten on hard. And finally, you go for the last little touch, what you assume will be the thing to earn a rather cute disappointed act. Maybe even get him to be vulnerable and beg for you to stay? It would be pathetic, but adorable. So you stretch, yawn, stand up, shift towards the door. Oh, well, it was nice seeing you, I hope we'll meet again very soon... But you don't get the chance to walk off, you barely finish your sentence before you're snatched by the wrist and your body whipped backwards so hard you bounce in the air when you hit the mattress. You don't even get time to yelp, the movement knocks the breath out of you so hard. Your head is still spinning, rendering you immobile as you feel the mattress shift again, and his shadow looms over you, hands planted directly beside your shoulders. His voice is not at all the pathetic vulnerability you were hoping for, no, it's a low growl, all that frustration bottled up finally cracks, his narrowed eyes barely visible in the low lamplight. No, you're staying right here.

[hey-michael-young-history]

This post is about appreciating myself 💗

I was looking for something I wrote and got caught up re-reading stuff 😅 Man, I’m so proud of myself! I wish the April-July Michael could have stepped back and appreciated this body of work.

I was supposed to go to bed at 9pm and ended up reading past midnight. I’m looking at some of it like, “I wrote this??”

So anyway, I stumbled upon “Sweet” which I wrote for @mcbethins I adore this because it’s soft and sweet and I’ve never written restraints and that post about Kenshi sparks something in my brain.

No, I still haven’t finished “Spicy” 😅

Sweet

Hanzo Hasashi knew that what he was doing was wrong.

As a leader, he had an obligation to serve as a role model to his clan, to be the epitome of what he expected from all Shirai Ryu. As an Alpha, he had a similar duty, to walk with dignity, protect his people, and perhaps most importantly, demonstrate for younger Alphas that the old ways of hyper- aggression and dominance were no longer relevant in partnerships. Even with no witness to this particular transgression, he was still responsible for doing the right thing.

He should have let Kuai Liang sleep.

Since their bond, Hanzo had done everything possible to present his Omega as an independent and satisfied person, someone beyond his relationship status. He was the grandmaster’s Omega, but he was not a helpless being who needed his Alpha with him to navigate life.

Even when he was at his most unstable, Kuai Liang fought to maintain his dignity, his strengths, the respect he had earned in his time presenting as a Beta. He knew how to protect himself in vulnerable moments and could become absolutely vicious when needed.

Kuai Liang was a magnificent man. Hanzo reasoned that being born an Omega was a restraint imposed by the gods - if he was an Alpha, he would be absolutely unstoppable.

He definitely would not let Hanzo get away with what he was doing now.

Kuai Liang was on his side, facing away from Hanzo, still asleep, or doing a very convincing job of pretending to be. Hanzo watched as his Omega’s side rose and fell with each breath. Relaxed. A steady rhythm. He ran his finger along Kuai Liang’s flank. The only thing separating their skin from connecting was the thin undershirt he wore. Hanzo appreciated this barrier. Perfectly fitted, it clung to him, pronouncing every part of Kuai Liang that he loved - the curve of his back, the descending arch where his waist defined the silhouette of the rest of his body.

He moved closer and slid his hand under the shirt, palming Kuai Liang’s stomach and beginning a slow massage with the comforting heat of his fire.

Kuai Liang’s body tensed immediately and ice spread from his core, traveling across him indiscriminately and trapping Hanzo’s hand. It was a reaction that he was always dismayed to see. Hanzo Hasashi’s Omega should never have to feel unprotected or constantly on alert. But Kuai Liang lived his own life before even meeting Hanzo, and these were years of defenses that couldn’t easily be shut down.

“Calm yourself,” he whispered, releasing soothing pheromones. “You are safe.”

He was offended by the ice, the first time Kuai Liang used it to run from him. That’s how he saw it. Now, Hanzo had the burden and benefit of knowing exactly why his first instinct was to run from Alphas who got too close.

Kuai Liang’s shoulders relaxed and the ice began to melt, making his shirt translucent as it clung to him, leaving every muscle, every angle, every surface that Hanzo could see, oh so pronounced.

“That’s my good Omega, my Kuai Liang.”

He was not quite awake. Hanzo didn’t mind. Kuai Liang had decided to take charge of managing the previous day’s Harvest Festival, to occupy himself and help reduce his Alpha’s workload. Hanzo was impressed that he would try his hand at planning a social event and was even more impressed at how flawlessly he executed it.

As with all social obligations, it wore on him. Matters of Kombat, he handled with no issue. Saving the realms, reversing the gods’ follies, he participated with no complaint. However, being an active member of his new community was still physically and mentally taxing.

he was as composed as ever during the planning and execution of the festival - so much so that Hanzo wondered if he was just projecting the turmoil on his Omega. That’s why Hanzo was impressed by the level comfort and confidence his Omega displayed.

But then, at the festival, he saw it.

Kuai Liang was holding an ice cream cone. A small child - who he immediately greeted by name - had approached him and asked him to hold it while she tied her shoe.

Hanzo was behind them, basking in the high spirits. The child finished tying her shoes and reached for her treat. Kuai Liang leaned down to hand it to her and the back of his neck was briefly exposed.

Red.

It was beaded with sweat and he saw where Kuai Liang had been scratching. Hanzo had to stop himself from inspecting it more thoroughly but he didn’t need to. Now that he saw, he could smell. His Omega was releasing weak pheromones, pleading for his attention.

Otherwise… Kuai Liang seemed fine. His scent covered the low amount of pheromones he was releasing and his face did not betray the need he felt. He smiled at the girl as she skipped off.

Whatever troubles Kuai Liang was feeling, he kept them to himself. Time loomed around them as he was pulled in all different directions throughout the day. Hanzo stayed near, making sure his Omega stayed hydrated, comfortable, cared for. He was thankful that Kuai Liang kept their contact minimal - every muscle in Hanzo’s body was screaming for him to get him home.

And now, his patience was finally paying off. He had Kuai Liang all alone, in the privacy of their nest.

Hanzo kept his hand steady as he moved closer and rested his face between Kuai Liang’s shoulder blades, melting completely against the heat rising from his normally icy sapphire.

“Xiǎo tián tián.”

“Say that again,” Hanzo murmured into his love’s neck.

“Wǒ yào nǐ.”

These words were different but the deep, melodious purr in which they were spoken…

Kuai Liang didn’t speak Mandarin very often. He reserved it for arguments with his brother. On very rare occasions, he would grace Hanzo with these words, spoken tenderly and hesitantly. As though they didn’t belong to him. As though he has no right to speak them.

“Wǒ xiǎng zuò ài.” The warmth that Kuai Liang blessed him with was soaking into Hanzo’s skin, shooting energy throughout his body. His pheromones had grown dark and smoky, a recent development that Hanzo was all too happy to encourage.

He gently tugged Kuai Liang’s shoulder and guided his limp body, pulling him onto his back.

A strong blush graced his face - no, not a blush. Hanzo cupped his cheek and chuckled as the cryomancer immediately opened his mouth. His face was just warm, overheated. Hanzo could imagine that his mouth was just as hot and that was the thought that convinced him to rest his thumb in the corner of Kuai Liang’s mouth.

His tongue curiously greeted Hanzo, before greedily pulling him in, sucking slowly and forcefully as he grazed his teeth under the the sensitive skin of Hanzo’s finger.

It was almost enough to make him lose it right there.

Kuai Liang didn’t waste any time filling the air with satisfied sighs and airy soughs. Music that he only shared with Hanzo and only matched by his seductive purrs.

Heat was mounting in his core, mixing with his hellfire and spreading throughout his body. It was too early to get so close. His Omega has been working hard and he now needed Hanzo’s full attention.

He pulled out of Kuai Liang’s mouth and whispered, “Do you need my help, my love?”

“Tiǎn wǒ.”

“Tell me what you need from me.”

He was trying to open his eyes now, his fluttering eyelids reminiscent of batting eyelashes. He got them halfway open, only for those beautiful eyes to roll up, forcing him to close them once more with a soft sigh. His head rolled towards Hanzo and he said, “Shǎ guā.”

He leaned his face against Hanzo’s, cheek to cheek. The Alpha laughed and gently pushed him back. As he removed his pants, he murmured, “I am aware of what that means. You are quite fortunate that I am indeed a fool for you.”

Kuai Liang smiled. He was pressing against Hanzo’s body and the heat was simply intoxicating. Feeling this kind of warmth coming from another person, especially the person who was supposed to cool his fire made it hard to contain his desires. He was completely erect, though still contained by his underwear, and it happened to lay upon Kuai Liang’s perfectly luscious thigh. His Omega was encouraging it by slowly shifting his leg, rubbing against him and using the resulting friction to bring Hanzo ever closer to the indignity of losing control before things even began.

In one swift move, Hanzo mounted his Omega, hiking up his leg and sinking his pelvis into the inviting warmth awaiting. The heat was everywhere, consuming them both as though fire had swallowed them. Kuai Liang couldn’t stop the low gasp that escaped.

Now he wanted to be docile and submit.

Hanzo leaned forward, grinding his still clothed erection against his partner’s and commanded in a deep, low voice, “You have no idea how coveted you are. Every Alpha feasts upon your very presence.”

Kuai Liang whimpered at that and Hanzo basked in the sound. Omegas were not averse to whining, whimpering, and keening to get what they needed but Kuai Liang absolutely refused. The only way to hear these divine sounds was driving him to this state.

He blindly reached for Hanzo, who pulled away. “Kào jìn wǒ.”

“I see that keeping your hands to yourself will be an issue,” he scolded, easily grabbing Kuai Liang’s wrists. He looked around before letting go and getting off the bed.

Once he felt the bed relieved of extra weight, Kuai Liang began grasping and trying to get up. “Liú xià lái.”

The urgency in his voice was painful. Painful for Hanzo to hear his Omega calling for him, painful to interrupt this exploration. But it would be worth it. He just needed to show Kuai Liang.

He crossed over to the closet, ignoring the pain of frustrated arousal, where he found his target almost immediately.

With the headbands in his grasp, he dove back into the bed, pinning Kuai Liang down as he allowed himself the satisfaction of the warm mouth he previously denied himself.

On top of Kuai Liang, Hanzo put an arm under his back, sliding it up to his head to hold him in place while he kissed him, taking in the sudden gasps and moans that his Omega shamelessly released. He could feel Kuai Liang desperately trying to get as close as possible. With his other arm, Hanzo kept Kuai Liang in place as he slowly rutted against him, amazed at the heat their bodies produced together.

He ended the kiss and laid Kuai Liang back down, greedily soaking up the panting and the disappointed groans.

“You are my Omega. Others may covet you, but only I may please you,” Hanzo announced, grabbing his wrists and tying them with the dark blue headband. “Though I will concede that I am not happy about other Alphas coveting you. When I think of the lust you inspire…”

Fire spiraled up his arms and sealed their hands. “I saw many eyes on you today. Admiring your grace. Your poise. Your beauty.”

Kuai Liang squeezed his eyes and grimaced. Hanzo knew to be careful here. If he lavished too much praise, however truthful, it would embarrass and fluster him. Hanzo happily indulged in Kuai Liang’s quiet desire for positive attention but his poor Omega never knew how to accept it.

“They know enough to not touch you. Though you continue to grace the world with your presence, there is one thing I have over them. You choose me. And that means only I can satisfy you, the way you need to be satisfied. To be held, to be loved, to be fucked in the ways that you require.”

Kuai Liang’s eyes began to flutter again. He lifted his arms, now bound at the wrists, and tried to pull off his shirt.

He was more interested in this garment than Hanzo’s words. His focus needed to be adjusted. Hanzo placed a hand on his abdomen and tried to ignore how warm his Omega was. Tried not to think about how this warmth was a direct result of Kuai Liang trusting Hanzo with his body - the only person he trusted in this way.

The shirt was incinerated almost as soon as his hand touched it. As he brushed away the ashes, he looked down at Kuai Liang’s navel.

Red.

Whereas the rest of his body was pink, his belly button betrayed a distinct red ring. Hanzo gently lifted Kuai Liang’s head - gaining an undeserved but much appreciated moan - and opened one of his eyes.

Gold. Eyes trying to hold his gaze, trying to focus but drifting, drifting, drifting.

Kuai Liang lifted his arms and hooked them around Hanzo’s neck, trapping the Alpha against him. “Wěn wǒ.”

This was also a phrase that Hanzo was quite familiar with. Kuai Liang was under him, bound by both the headband around his wrists and his own Omega impulses telling him to be good.

“Do you know why I claim you as my ‘treasure’?” He asked, trailing light kisses asking his partner’s jaw. “You are the most precious treasure in all the realms. I deserve nothing, but in you, I have everything.”

Kuai Liang’s low groan and the way he tried to shift his body away forced Hanzo to tighten his grip. He had gotten smaller since being with Hanzo… two years ago. Yes, two years ago. And now he was set to marry this man. Two years ago, he wouldn’t have dreamed of taking on another partner, let alone him.

Hanzo dragged his nail through the indentations of Kuai Liang’s abs, smiling and sucking on his neck when his ice prince gasped. A lifetime of being punished for expressing himself had left Kuai Liang silent and stoic. It wasn’t the worst of the Lin Kuei’s sins, but an unforgivable one all the same. They had stolen his sweet purrs, his sudden moans, his desperate groans, this language they shared.

Hanzo would never forget how ashamed Kuai Liang looked, their first night together. Even after all of the growth he had shown, he was still so sensitive about how vulnerable he had been that night.

Suddenly, the arms around Hanzo’s neck yanked him up into a kiss. Hands were in his hair, frantically ripping it free of the tie. The hair fell over Kuai Liang like a curtain as their foreheads met. He held them in place with a secure grip on Hanzo’s neck and wrapped his legs around him when the Alpha tried to move off of him.

So determined. So driven by his lust that even with his wrists tied up, he would not allow Hanzo to get away. An atypical Omega - he had to learn to be aggressive, surviving in a place where his presence was preyed upon.

The fire raced through him again. The thought of anyone preying on his Omega… before Hanzo could stop that train of thought, he growled. Kuai Liang let him go and tilted his head back, exposing his neck completely. Hanzo rested his entire weight on the body below him and kissed his neck, biting, then sucking on his voice box. Kuai Liang tensed and started writhing again.

“You will remain still,” Hanzo commanded. He ducked from under Kuai Liang’s arms and pulled them up. Restraints were a new territory but he had gotten a headboard for exactly this reason and excitement ran through his vessels like an undercurrent as he hooked the ties around Kuai Liang’s wrists to one of the decorative loops.

Amber eyes fluttered again, dipping his head back to look up and see why he couldn’t move. Hanzo smiled when he started purring and trying to pull free.

“I suspected that you would try this. Do not worry, my love, I have a solution.” He grabbed the other headband, a worn yellow cloth, and carefully wrapped it around Kuai Liang’s eyes. He turned his face away but Hanzo gently held him in place as he tied it.

With his eyes covered like this, he bore a small resemblance to Kenshi Takahashi. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself before he voiced that observation. Kuai Liang’s jealousy and possessiveness rarely revealed itself but Kenshi Takahashi was a very, very delicate trigger.

The purr that he loved so deeply. It was growing louder as Kuai Liang rested his head back against his pillow. Hanzo returned to his place against his lover’s neck, taking a moment to allow the sweet scent of his Omega to fill him entirely.

Kuai Liang was always the forbidden fruit.

An attraction he couldn’t deny but a denial that could never be spoken. From the moment Hanzo saw Kuai Liang, he questioned himself. Inappropriately so, considering that that the young man had declared his intentions to murder him. He could only see those heavy blue eyes, couldn’t smell him at all, though drawn to his touch. Even if that touch was violence. He deserved the violence for not being able to control his desires when he hadn’t even started grieving his family. He was an Alpha, a protector Alpha who exclusively preferred Omegas. Uninterested in other Alphas or Betas yet…

The man he thought was a Beta, Hanzo couldn’t get him out of his head. He spent so much time thinking of the look on the second Sub-Zero’s face when the Cyber Lin Kuei came for him. The absolute terror. Eyes darting back and forth looking for someone among the many present to help him. Someone had to. The guardian of Earthrealm, a god, couldn’t allow any harm to come to an Earthrealmer. The previous Grand Champion was here - surely he would help. Shao Kahn was the one who was holding this tournament, he had to step in for the integrity of this tournament.

But no. No one. The Lin Kuei realized it. Sub-Zero realized it.

Hanzo would never forget the resignation in those blue eyes as they finally landed on him.

“Nǐ zěnme kūle?”

The question rolled out with the dying purr. Hanzo lifted his head from Kuai Liang’s neck and was surprised to see that it was damp. He felt his own face.

Tears.

Kuai Liang was facing him and trying to unhook his wrists.

“I cannot understand you, my love,” Hanzo said, wiping his eyes.

Kuai Liang followed the sound and resumed purring. Hanzo laughed and ran his nails down his Omega’s sides, relieved to hear the sudden gasp and moan as Kuai Liang shuddered and curled his fingers and toes. “Wǒ zhǐ shǔ yú nǐ.”

When Hanzo placed a hand on his partner’s chest, he could swear that he saw steam rising. He could definitely see Kuai Liang growing more aroused. The shallow panting, the random tightening of his stomach muscles, and the unmistakable growth that his jeans shamelessly revealed, protruding from his groin.

“You have been so patient,” Hanzo said, kissing his forehead.

“Ha… Ha…”

Hanzo laid next to Kuai Liang and slid his hand lower. He left a red trail along his abs and stopped right before his jeans. The cryomancer let out the breath he had been holding and arched his chest to try to force Hanzo’s hand lower.

Hanzo pressed his lips right against his ear and whispered, “So strong, Kuai Liang. I am so proud of how hard you are working to stay present. Be a good Omega and say my name. That’s all I need.”

“Ha… Han…” Kuai Liang turned his head and met Hanzo’s lips. He opened his mouth and pushed against Hanzo until he finally opened his.

His moan betrayed his relief as Kuai Liang eagerly kissed him. Hanzo slipped a finger into Kuai Liang’s waistband gods, this was almost his favorite part. An area that was all Hanzo’s, an area that was to be explored by only Hanzo Hasashi. Kuai Liang’s skin was tender here, heat emanating as though he was trying to say, I’m ready. Hanzo could savor every movement of his hips, every anguished huff, pant, and moan as his Omega bucked against him, telling him, in words that he couldn’t properly express.

I’m ready.

Hanzo dipped his finger in, past the underwear. He lightly ran his nail to the base of the waiting flesh below. It immediately jumped at the stimulation and the air was blessed by a rough groan. Kuai Liang tore himself away and pushed his face into the pillow, still groaning and purring. His captive arms were twisted and his wrists were uncomfortably red.

Hanzo nuzzled his hair and whispered, “I know that speaking is difficult right now. I only need one word. One word to tell me what you need from me. And I will not disappoint you.”

Kuai Liang lifted his head and even with the headband covering them, Hanzo could feel his eyes, bright, intense, unwavering.

“Ha... Han. Zo. Hanzo.” Kuai Liang took a breath and smiled. “Hanzo.”

“That’s my good boy,” Hanzo said, cupping the back of his head and kissing him.

As they kissed, his hand resumed its exploration, disappearing past the waistband of the final barrier. When Hanzo grabbed his prize, it was sticky, damp, and still leaking. He moved down a little further and confirmed that the underwear was absolutely soaked from precum and slick.

He smirked in the kiss and squeezed, forcing Kuai Liang to stop and groan. He was purring louder than ever and tugging at the headband holding his wrists up. Blindfolded, tied up, and in a mild heat. He was completely at Hanzo’s mercy. Kuai Liang trusted him with his body, his pleasure, the last of his faith in Alphas.

Hanzo almost let go completely.

“Hanzo. Hanzo.” Kuai Liang said it with such serenity and desire. More than Hanzo deserved.

“I will not keep you waiting any longer, my treasure.”

He moved on top of Kuai Liang and then slowly made his way down, kissing all the while. He got down to the jeans and those too, disappeared into ashes. He could hear Kuai Liang tugging on the ties again.

“Hanzo.”

“I am still here,” he promised. He settled between spread legs before leaning forward and grabbing Kuai Liang’s chin.

He must have felt Hanzo’s hair before his hand because he leaned into the kiss so easily. Hanzo could feel Kuai Liang’s mouth opening as the Alpha ground his hips, rubbing them together. The tugging became more urgent and the headboard began knocking against the wall.

When Hanzo moved down to his chest, Kuai Liang started yanking his arms harder and twisted his body away.

“There is no escape. Get over here,” Hanzo demanded in a low, rumbling voice.

He reached up and held his arms still. Kuai Liang remained rigid, clenching his teeth and baring them. Hanzo kissed his collar and let go of his arms. He flicked his tongue over Kuai Liang’s nipple, chuckling as the man thrashed under him.

“One day, you will thank me for pursuing this.”

Kuai Liang groaned and tried to pull his arms down again. Hanzo chuckled and took the entire nipple in his mouth, stroking his erection all the way down to the base.

“Ahhh, mmmm.” He pushed his chest up, shoving as much of himself into his Alpha’s mouth as possible. When he retreated, Kuai Liang emitted a broken moan.

“You have been patient this whole time,” Hanzo said as he stroked Kuai Liang’s hair. “You will be rewarded so greatly, my treasure.”

Their underwear was off in an instant. Hanzo wasted no time sliding against his Omega, closing his eyes and giving himself into the sensations of himself against the crease, rubbing over the hole with an increasing frequency.

“Hanzo… oh…”

Kuai Liang was still saying his name. Hanzo had never felt this much slick, it covered his cock and blanketed the air in a warm, sweet musk. He positioned himself.

But he wasn’t expecting to slide right through, getting a sudden tight squeeze as the muscle allowed entrance.

They both groaned in a deep harmony. Kuai Liang arched his back as far as his restraints would allow and was clenching every muscle he had. His cock was against him, trembling along with its master.

Hanzo could see Kuai Liang’s skin turning red under his grasp. He held on to the cryomancer’s waist and whispered, “Relax, my love.”

He didn’t relax. The sweat covered his body and his head was back as far as his neck could take it. But he managed to utter a single word.

“Ha… Hanzo…”

Kuai Liang was still here, still wanting. His cock was throbbing and Hanzo could see clearly now - he was waiting, ready to climax with his Alpha.

So he obliged.

He took his time, holding Kuai Liang firmly in place as he slowly moved forward, searching for that special gland that would cause Kuai Liang to hand himself over completely.

He concentrated on finding it and not on how this felt, the long gentle strokes that shot pleasure through every single nerve in his body. He adjusted his hip and sank back in.

Kuai Liang felt it before Hanzo did.

His entire body stiffened and he shuddered as he tried to pull away. When he squeezed Hanzo, the Alpha groaned and tightened his grasp on his Omega’s waist, imprinting his hold in bright red marks. “Hanzo.”

He still tried to deny himself of this pleasure, a self-flagellation that Hanzo would never understand.

They needed to override it.

“It feels good,” Hanzo cooed, picking up the pace. “There is nothing wrong with enjoying this, Kuai Liang.”

He went deeper, leaving no time to rest but making sure to drag over that little bump that made his Omega writhe and moan.

Every gasp, every groan, every moan, every shudder was building within Hanzo that ached. Every orgasm that Kuai Liang blessed him with allowed him to be reborn into a fool who was somehow deeper in love. He pulled out, just enough to feel the head of his cock slide through the smooth muscle.

A sudden snap caught his attention but before he could react, Kuai Liang arms were around his neck, dragging him down, belly to belly as he kissed Hanzo feverishly and demanded, “Don’t stop.”

Even if he wanted to, Hanzo wasn’t sure if he could. He wrapped his arms around Kuai Liang and lifted him into his lap. Hanzo could feel the heat bellowing through their bodies, connected in every way they could be and when Kuai Liang dug his nails into Hanzo’s shoulder, he knew that it was happening.

Kuai Liang shoved his face into Hanzo’s collar while desperately grasping at him. He was still panting, a thunderous sound that left him as love drunk as feeling his body seizing and seeing him throw back his head.

“Hanzo, I- I’m…!”

Hanzo held onto him and closed his eyes. “Cum for your Alpha, my beautiful Omega.”

The sound he made was raw, anguished, but free and relieved. A loud groan accompanied the eruption happening between them, painting Hanzo’s abdomen and forcing him to stop his thrusting as the cryomancer’s body seized around him and jetted him right into his rebirth.

Kuai Liang dropped his head but Hanzo pulled him into another kiss as he reached his peak and came, sheathed by his beautiful Omega.

They were both quiet, save for the heavy breathing. Hanzo finally laid Kuai Liang down and pulled the headband off his eyes. He was cooling down but his eyes were red and he was sniffing.

“Are you hurt?” Hanzo asked, as he kissed Kuai Liang’s swollen wrists.

A thin layer of ice covered the raw parts. He shook his head and whispered hoarsely, “I didn’t tell you. I apologize.”

“You are shaking.”

“Thirsty. Tired. Cold,” he answered, burrowing into the bed.

“I will take care of you, my love. First, we will get you warmed up,” Hanzo said, embracing Kuai Liang and spreading a blanket of warmth over them.

Letting Kuai Liang sleep would have prevented the need to care for him, but… Hanzo was a protector Alpha.

It was his honor and his duty.

[lokiondisneyplus]

'Loki' takes over: Tom Hiddleston on his new TV series and a decade in the MCU

Ten years after Hiddleston first chose chaos in Thor, Marvel’s fan favorite God of Mischief is going even bigger with his time-bending Disney+ show.

Tom Hiddleston is Loki, and he is burdened with glorious purpose: After playing Thor's puckish brother for over a decade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, no one understands the mercurial Asgardian God of Mischief as well as the actor. He can teach an entire seminar on Loki if given the opportunity — which he actually did during pre-production on his forthcoming Disney+ show. In conversation, Hiddleston quotes lines from his MCU debut, 2011's Thor, almost verbatim, and will playfully correct you if you mistakenly refer to Asgard's Rainbow Bridge as the Bifrost, which is the portal that connects Loki and Thor's homeworld to the Nine Realms, including Midgard, a.k.a. Earth. "Well, the Bifrost technically is the energy that runs through the bridge," he says with a smile. "But nine points to Gryffindor!" And when he shows up to the photo shoot for this very digital cover, he hops on a call with our photo editor to pitch ways the concept could be even more Loki, like incorporating the flourish the trickster does whenever magically conjuring something. The lasting impression is that playing Loki isn't just a paycheck.

"Rather than ownership, it's a sense of responsibility I feel to give my best every time and do the best I can because I feel so grateful to be a part of what Marvel Studios has created," the 40-year-old Brit tells EW over Zoom a few days after the shoot and a week out from Thor's 10th anniversary. "I just want to make sure I've honored that responsibility with the best that I can give and the most care and thought and energy."

After appearing in three Thor movies and three Avengers, Hiddleston is bringing that passion to his first solo Marvel project, Loki, the House of Ideas' third Disney+ series following the sitcom pastiche WandaVision and the topical The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Led by head writer Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Heels), the six-episode drama sees Hiddleston's shapeshifting agent of chaos step out from behind his brother's shadow and into the spotlight for a timey-wimey, sci-fi adventure that aims to get to the bottom of who Loki really is. "I wanted to explore slightly more complex character questions," says Waldron. "It's not just good versus bad. Is anybody all good? Is anybody all bad? What makes a hero, a hero? A villain, a villain?"  

Even though Loki — who loves sowing mayhem with his illusion magic and shapeshifting, all with a major chip on his shoulder — has never been one for introspection, the idea of building an entire show around him was a no-brainer for Marvel. When asked why Loki was one of the studio's first Disney+ shows, Marvel president Kevin Feige replies matter-of-factly, "More Hiddleston, more Loki." First introduced as Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) envious brother in Kenneth Branagh's Thor, Loki went full Big Bad in 2012's The Avengers. That film cemented the impish rogue as one of the shared universe's fan favorites, thanks to Hiddleston's ability to make him deliciously villainous yet charismatic and, most importantly, empathetic. The character's popularity is one of the reasons he's managed to avoid death many times.

"He's been around for thousands of years. He had all sorts of adventures," says Feige. "Wanting to fill in the blanks and see much more of Loki's story [was] the initial desire [for the series]."

The Loki we meet on the show is not the one who fought the Avengers in 2012 and evolved into an antihero in Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok before meeting his demise at the hands of the mad titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Instead, we'll be following a Loki from a branched timeline (a variant, if you will) after he stole the Tesseract following his thwarted New York invasion and escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. custody during the time heist featured in Avengers: Endgame. In other words, this Loki hasn't gone through any sort of redemption arc. He's still the charming yet petulant god who firmly believes he's destined to rule and has never gotten his due.

Premiering June 9, Loki begins with the Time Variance Authority — a bureaucratic organization tasked with safeguarding the proper flow of time — arresting the Loki Variant seen in Endgame because they want his help fixing all of the timeline problems he caused while on the run with the Tesseract. So there will be time travel, and a lot more of it than in Endgame. As Loki makes his way through his own procedural, he'll match wits with new characters including Owen Wilson's Agent Mobius, a brilliant TVA analyst, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Judge Renslayer. The question in early episodes is whether Loki will help them or take over.

"One of the things Kevin Feige led on was, 'I think we should find a way of exploring the parts of Loki that are independent of his relationship with Thor,' or see him in a duality or in relationship with others, which I thought was very exciting," says Hiddleston, who also serves as an executive producer on the show. "So the Odinson saga, that trilogy of films, still has its integrity, and we don't have to reopen it and retell it."

Yet, in order to understand where Loki is going, it's important to see where he came from.

Hiddleston can't believe how long he and Loki have been connected. "I've been playing this character for 11 years," he says. "Which is the first time I have said that sentence, I realize, and it [blows] my mind. I don't know what percentage that is exactly of my 40 years of being alive, but it's substantial."

His time as Loki actually goes a bit further back, to 2009 — a year after Robert Downey Jr. big banged the MCU into existence with Iron Man — when he auditioned for Thor. It's no secret that Hiddleston initially went in for the role of the titular God of Thunder, but Feige and director Kenneth Branagh thought his natural charm and flexibility as an actor made him better suited for the movie's damaged antagonist. "Tom gave you an impression that he could be ready for anything, performance-wise," says Branagh, who had previously worked with him on a West End revival of Checkov's Ivanov and the BBC series Wallander. "Tom has a wild imagination, so does Loki. He's got a mischievous sense of humor and he was ready to play. It felt like he had a star personality, but he was a team player."

Hiddleston fully immersed himself in the character. Outside of studying Loki's history in the Marvel Comics, he also researched how Loki and the Trickster God archetype appeared across mythology and different cultures. "He understood that he was already in something special [and] it was a special character in a special part of that early moment in the life of the Marvel universe where [he] also needed to step up in other ways," says Branagh, who was impressed by the emotional depth Hiddleston brought to the part, especially when it came to how isolated Loki felt in the Asgardian royal family.  

There was a lot riding on that first Thor feature. For one, no one knew if audiences would immediately latch onto a Shakespearean superhero movie partially set on an alien planet populated by the Norse Gods of legend. Second, it was integral to Feige's plans for the shared universe. Loki was supposed to be the main villain in The Avengers, which would not only mirror how Earth's mightiest heroes joined forces in 1963's Avengers #1 but also give Thor a believable reason for teaming up with Iron Man, Captain America (Chris Evans), and the rest of the capes. Feige first clued Hiddleston into those larger plans when the actor was in L.A. before Thor started shooting.

"I was like, 'Excuse me?' Because he was already three, four steps ahead," says Hiddleston. "That took me a few minutes to process, because I didn't quite realize how it just suddenly had a scope. And being cast as Loki, I realized, was a very significant moment for me in my life, and was going to remain. The creative journey was going to be so exciting."

Hiddleston relished the opportunity to go full villain in Avengers, like in the scene where Loki ordered a crowd to kneel before him outside a German opera house: "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation," says the Machiavellian god. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

"I just knew that in the structure of that film, I had to lean into his role as a pure antagonist," Hiddleston recalls. "What I always found curious and complex about the way Loki is written in Avengers, is that his status as an antagonist comes from the same well of not belonging and being marginalized and isolated in the first Thor film. Loki now knows he has no place in Asgard."

Loki did find a place within the audience's hearts, though. Feige was "all in" on Hiddleston as his Loki from the beginning, but even he couldn't predict how much fans would love him. Feige recalls the reaction at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con: "Did we know that after he was the villain in two movies, he would be bringing thousands of people to their feet in Hall H, in costume, chanting his name? No, that was above and beyond the plan that we were hoping for and dreaming of." It was a dream Feige first got an inkling of a year earlier during the Avengers press tour when a Russian fan slipped past security, snuck into Mark Ruffalo's car, and asked the Hulk actor to give Hiddleston a piece of fan art she created. "That was one of the early signs there was much more happening with this quote-unquote villain."  

Despite that popularity, the plan was to kill Loki off in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, but the studio reversed course after test audiences refused to believe he actually died fighting the Dark Elves. Alas, he couldn't out-illusion death forever. After returning in Taika Waititi's colorful and idiosyncratic Thor: Ragnarok, Hiddleston's character perished for real in the opening moments of Infinity War. In typical Loki fashion, before Thanos crushed his windpipe, he delivered a defiant speech that indicated he'd finally made peace with the anger he felt toward his family.  

"It felt very, very final, and I thought, 'Okay, that's it. This is Loki's final bow and a conclusive end to the Odinson saga,'" says Hiddleston, who shot that well-earned death scene in 2017.  

But, though he didn't know it yet, the actor's MCU story was far from over.

Credit: Charlie Gray for EW

When Hiddleston returned to film two scenes in Avengers: Endgame in 2017, he had no idea where Loki portaled off to after snatching the Tesseract. "Where'd he go? When does he go? How does he get there? These are all questions I remember asking on the day, and then not being given any answers," Hiddleston recalls. To be fair, it's likely the Powers That Be didn't necessarily have answers then. While Feige can't exactly recall when the writers' room for Endgame first devised Loki's escape sequence, he does know that setting up a future show wasn't the primary goal — because a Loki series wasn't on the horizon just yet.

"[That scene] was really more of a wrinkle so that one of the missions that the Avengers went on in Endgame could get screwed up and not go well, which is what required Cap and Tony to go further back in time to the '70s," says Feige. Soon after that, though, former Disney CEO Bob Iger approached Feige about producing content for the studio's forthcoming streaming service. "I think the notion that we had left this hanging loose end with Loki gave us the in for what a Loki series could be. So by the time [Endgame] came out, we did know where it was going."

As for Hiddleston, he didn't find out about the plans for a Loki show until spring 2018, a few weeks before Infinity War hit theaters. "I probably should not have been surprised, but I was," says the actor. "But only because Infinity War had felt so final."

Nevertheless, Hiddleston was excited about returning for his show. He was eager to explore Loki's powers, especially the shapeshifting, and what it meant that this disruptive figure still managed to find a seat beside the gods in mythology. "I love this idea [of] Loki's chaotic energy somehow being something we need. Even though, for all sorts of reasons, you don't know whether you can trust him. You don't know whether he's going to betray you. You don't why he's doing what he's doing," says Hiddleston. "If he's shapeshifting so often, does he even know who he is? And is he even interested in understanding who he is? Underneath all those masks, underneath the charm and the wit, which is kind of a defense anyway, does Loki have an authentic self? Is he introspective enough or brave enough to find out? I think all of those ideas are all in the series — ideas about identity, ideas about self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and the difficulty of it."

“The series will explore Loki's powers in a way they have not yet been explored, which is very, very exciting.”

The thing that truly sold Hiddleston on the show was Marvel's decision to include the Time Variance Authority, a move he describes as "the best idea that anybody had pertaining to the series." Feige and Loki executive producer Stephen Broussard had hoped to find a place for the TVA — an organization that debuted in 1986's Thor #372 and has appeared in She-Hulk and Fantastic Four stories — in the MCU for years, but the right opportunity never presented itself until Loki came along. "Putting Loki into his own procedural series became the eureka moment for the show," says Feige.  

The TVA's perspective on time and reality also tied into the themes that Waldron, Loki's head writer, was hoping to explore. "Loki is a character that's always reckoning with his own identity, and the TVA, by virtue of what they do, is uniquely suited to hold up a mirror to Loki and make him really confront who he is and who he was supposed to be," says Waldron. Hiddleston adds: "[That] was very exciting because in the other films, there was always something about Loki that was very controlled. He seemed to know exactly what the cards in his hand were and how he was going to play them…. And Loki versus the TVA is Loki out of control immediately, and in an environment in which he's completely behind the pace, out of his comfort zone, destabilized, and acting out."

To truly dig into who Loki is, the creative team had to learn from the man who knows him best: Hiddleston. "I got him to do a thing called Loki School when we first started," says director Kate Herron. "I asked him to basically talk through his 10 years of the MCU — from costumes to stunts, to emotionally how he felt in each movie. It was fantastic."

Hiddleston got something out of the Loki school, too. Owen Wilson both attended the class and interviewed Hiddleston afterward so that he could better understand Loki, as his character Mobius is supposed to be an expert on him. During their conversation, Wilson pointedly asked Hiddleston what he loved about playing the character.

"And I said, 'I think it's because he has so much range,'" says Hiddleston. "I remember saying this to him: 'On the 88 keys on the piano, he can play the twinkly light keys at the top. He can keep it witty and light, and he's the God of Mischief, but he can also go down to the other side and play the heavy keys. And he can play some really profound chords down there, which are about grief and betrayal and loss and heartbreak and jealousy and pride.'" Hiddleston recalls Wilson being moved by the description: "He said, 'I think I might say that in the show.' And it was such a brilliant insight for me into how open Owen is as an artist and a performer.'"

Owen Wilson as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in 'Loki.'| Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

Everyone involved is particularly excited for audiences to see Hiddleston and Wilson's on-screen chemistry. "Mobius is not unlike Owen Wilson in that he's sort of nonplussed by the MCU," says Feige. "[Loki] is used to getting a reaction out of people, whether it's his brother or his father, or the other Avengers. He likes to be very flamboyant and theatrical. Mobius doesn't give him the reaction he's looking for. That leads to a very unique relationship that Loki's not used to."

As for the rest of the series, we know that Loki will be jumping around time and reality, but the creative team isn't keen on revealing when and where. "Every episode, we tried to take inspiration from different things," says Waldron, citing Blade Runner's noir aesthetic as one example.

"Part of the fun of the multiverse and playing with time is seeing other versions of characters, and other versions of the titular character in particular," says Feige, who also declined to confirm if Loki ties into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and/or other upcoming projects.

Making Loki was especially meaningful to Hiddleston because they shot most of it during the pandemic, in late 2020. "It will remain one of the absolute most intense, most rewarding experiences of my life," he says. "It's a series about time, and the value of time, and what time is worth, and I suppose what the experience of being alive is worth. And I don't quite know yet, and maybe I don't have perspective on it, if all the thinking and the reflecting that we did during the lockdown ended up in the series. But in some way, it must have because everything we make is a snapshot of where we were in our lives at that time."

While it remains to be seen what the future holds for Loki beyond this initial season, Hiddleston isn't preparing to put the character to bed yet. "I'm open to everything," he says. "I have said goodbye to the character. I've said hello to the character. I said goodbye to the character [again]. I've learned not to make assumptions, I suppose. I'm just grateful that I'm still here, and there are still new roads to explore."

[v-hope]

omg the love confession no.3 w tae would be adorable 🥺

forgot to add the scenario but just hella tension between the two and a misunderstanding? sees y/n with someone else but she does it to get a reaction?

pairing: kim taehyung x reader

genre: fluff, slighttttt angst, f2l

word count: 1.5k

prompt: “I love you, okay? I love you!”

a/n: thank you so much for requesting! i feel like i’m still lacking when it comes to writing but i loved writing this. also, y/n didn’t do it to get a reaction out of him in this one but it still did the job lol. i hope you enjoy, love!

To say Taehyung was fuming was an understatement.

Never in his entire life would he have thought he’d be jealous of one of his hyungs. Not only that, but he would have never imagined the cause of that growing green monster inside of him would be you.

He should’ve seen it coming, though. After all, he had brought it upon himself.

Drawing his eyes away from you and focusing them on the rest of the people on the dorms to try and forget about the way you were ever so happily laughing with Yoongi at their homecoming little gathering, he found himself staring back at you not even three seconds later — his eyes locking with yours this time, as you had just looked his way as well.

And then you smiled. Sweetly, lovingly… the same way you had done with your eyes closed when he had kissed you the night before leaving for tour.

The same smile that had been quickly erased when he had panicked right after and told you to forget about it so the two of you could go on with your lives being the best of friends you had always been.

It was on him. He had been the one to ruin his chance with you. And so now, he had no right to feel jealous over you enjoying your night with his hyung.

But he did. Fuck, he did.

It was his first night back in Seoul after four long months and, instead of being attached to the hip to him like you always were, like he had been aching for you to all that time, you were right in front of him with someone else.

“Why the long face?” your voice brought him back to reality, having been so immersed in his own feelings that he had missed the way you had excused yourself to Yoongi and walked over to him instead.

Taehyung didn’t answer, a shrug of shoulders being all you got from him instead.

“Are you mad at me or something?” you wondered.

He bit the inside of his cheek, avoiding your eyes. “Why would I be?” his eyes travelled from Yoongi on the other side of the room to you. “It’s not like you’ve been ignoring me all night to hang out with hyung”.

Your jaw fell slightly open. “You’re serious right now?”

There it was again, another shrug instead of a proper answer.

“I literally spent nearly an hour next to you although you were barely even speaking to me and only went to talk to Yoon a few minutes ago”.

“Yoon” he mocked snarkily.

“Seriously, what is your problem?”

“You,” he hastily blurted out. “You are my problem”.

“Excuse me?”

Taehyung laughed under his breath, shaking his head in a way that showed no remorse whatsoever. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about”.

“I really don’t?” your tone, although confused, became stronger.

“You and Yoongi hyung?” he raised one of his eyebrows.

“What about it?”

“Come on, Y/N” his eyes faintly squinted. “I see the way you’re laughing with him. And don’t think I don’t know about you guys talking on a daily basis while we were on tour”.

“So?” you crossed your arms over your chest. “He’s a good friend, I like talking to him”.

“Maybe a little too much” he bitterly pointed out.

You stayed silent, analyzing his factions and trying to figure out what the hell was going on and why on Earth was he making a scene over something so meaningless like you talking to one of his friends.

And the only conclusion you could come up with, you couldn’t believe. Yes, you two had kissed the night before he left. And yes, you had felt like your heart would explode right then. However, it was late at night, and you guys were sleepy… and the atmosphere was just right. He had let himself get lost in the moment —or so had he told you—, and he had made it very clear you guys were nothing but friends.

So, the way he was acting this very moment, seemed to have no ground whatsoever.

Unless…

“Is this about you fearing he’ll take your place as my best friend?” you asked what you thought the problem was. “Because if that’s the case, Taehy—”

“Fuck, Y/N” he threw his head back in frustration. “That’s not it at all!”

“Then?” you questioned.

This time, he was the one to stay silent — lips parting ever so slightly as he tried to find the courage to say what he was dying to, yet ended up saying nothing at all.

You shook your head in disappointment. “You know, I’ll just leave” your words caused his heart to skip a beat in utter panic. “Talk to me when you know the reason why you’re so upset over me talking to someone else”.

Watching you turn around and go get your jacket, saying a quick goodbye to all of the people present at the dorms before you headed to the door, he felt his chest hurt. And it was after you closed it right behind you when he finally snapped back, not letting another second go by before he ran to the front door as well.

“I know the reason” he blurted out before he could fully come out of the apartment.

You stopped in the middle of the hallway, hesitating for a few seconds before you turned around.

“What?”

“The reason” he repeated, closing the door behind him. “Why I am so upset over you being so close to Yoongi hyung, or to anyone else for that matter. I know it”.

That had seemed to catch your attention, taking one step towards him. “And what is it?”

Taehyung took in a shaky breath. He had kept his feelings to himself for too long now and had been stupid enough to deny them to you even after you had kissed him back. He needed to say it for once and for all.

“I love you”.

And so he did. In a whisper.

A whisper so low that it had not managed to reach your ears.

“What?” you asked once again, eyebrows furrowing as you took yet another step towards him.

Only it wasn’t necessary to be close to him in order to hear him anymore, for he earned up the courage to finally, confidently say: “I love you, okay? I love you!”

You gasped, feeling your heart beating so hard against your chest you might as well had just been running a marathon. “You’re joking”.

Taehyung sighed, biting his bottom lip as he made his way over to you — feeling his heart ache when you took a step back from him. “I have never been more serious in my life” he stated. “I love you, Y/N”.

“And what it took for you to realise it was me talking to someone else? Because let me tell you, Taehyung, that is—”

Your words were cut off by his soft lips gently pressing on yours, the same way they had done four months ago. The same way that had taken your breath away and forget about the world.

“What it took for me to realise was kissing you back then” he murmured, wet lips brushing faintly against yours.

You shook your head in disbelief, an almost inaudible scoff escaping your mouth. “That is bullshit. You said you had got caught up in the moment and that you didn’t want our friendship to change because of it”.

“I was stupid” he was quick to admit. “Kissing you felt so good, so… right. I panicked. You’re my best friend, I was going on tour the next day, I…”

He sighed, sheepishly shaking his head as he did not know what else to say, how else to explain he had just been an idiot to deny his obvious feelings for you back then.

You, on the other hand, bit the inside of your cheek as you silently stared at him, trying to understand his motives and, more importantly, trying to figure out whether he was being genuine or not.

When you decided he was, you smiled sweetly. “You’re an idiot”.

“I know” he mumbled with lowered head.

“And I should be so mad at you right now for making me feel so shitty when you said those things right after we kissed”.

“I know”.

“Because I love you, too”.

“I kn—”

His eyes snapped up to fix on yours, searching on them for any kind of a cruel joke being displayed on them. “What?”

“I won’t say it again” you warned him.

He bit his bottom lip. “So you and hyung…”

“I told you, we’re just friends” you rolled your eyes. “Am I not allowed to have other friends?”

“You are” he nodded, taking your hands in his and pulling you closer — just enough so he could press his forehead on yours. “Just not ones you love the way you love me”.

You shoved him away in annoyance, only to be pulled right back to him. “You are insufferable”.

“Yet you still love me” he laughed lightly.

Shaking your head as an amused smile curved up the corners of your lips, you didn’t have time to neither agree nor deny his cocky statement when his mouth was back on yours.

After all, all it took for him to know his feelings were reciprocated, were your lips moving against his and your hands wrapping around his neck.

[kissyhyuck]

touch (m).

pairing: jaemin x fem!reader

genre: smut

warnings: explicit sexual content, orgasm denial, begging kink, praise kink, mirror sex

word count: 1.2k

“Does that feel good?” Jaemin asks tauntingly, his sickeningly sweet voice pouring into your body as his touch grows increasingly desirable. He’s so close, so close to giving you exactly what he wants, but so far away all at once. His teeth graze past the flesh of your neck, eliciting a whine from you. “Want more?”

“Yeah. Yeah, f-fuck, want more p-please.” You practically whine, watching Jaemin’s fingers smooth over your skin teasingly. They pinch lightly at your inner thighs, making you whimper and throw your head back in exasperation. “Please, please, please touch me. I need you to touch me, please, Jaemin.”

“Oh, aren’t you pretty, baby? Look at you, already a mess for me all over my bed. You like it, don’t you, angel?” His voice coos in your ear, but all you can focus on is how his fingers inch closer to your throbbing, aching core, brushing ever so slightly close to your more sensitive part. You whimper loudly, and he clicks his touch in satisfaction. “So desperate, baby. So, so pretty.”

Your back slumps against Jaemin’s chest as he spreads your legs apart further, running his palms down the expanse of your thighs and relishing in the way you squirm, whining for any sort of pressure. He enjoys it, however, watching the way you twist your face towards him and plead with your eyes. God, you could drive him relentlessly crazy with just that.

“No, no, look at yourself, baby,” he whispers with deepening eyes. “Go on, look at what a mess you’re making.”

You do so, finding yourself face to face with your own reflection and the intimate parts of yourself on full display. It makes you flood with sudden arousal, from the way you zone in on Jaemin’s hand rubbing sensually close to your core. He chuckles, pressing his lips to your cheek.

“So impatient, aren’t you, princess? Show me how you want me to touch you, baby. Go on, don’t be shy.”

He pulls your hand away from gripping his sweatpants and places it on top of his, watching your reaction carefully in the mirror. You inaudible gasp, curling your fingers around his wrist immediately and meeting his eyes. He gestures silently, and you oblige, dragging his willing fingers to rest just over your core.

Your hand immediately drop his at the touch, moaning much louder than you expected you would and buckling your hips up towards him. He watches in awe as you savor the minimal feeling, growing incredibly aroused at the sight of your desperation. He whispers into your ear again. “I said show me, baby.”

“I can’t,” you breathe out, filled with utter embarrassment as you crane your head back, meeting his eyes once again. “Please Jaem, please touch me, please. I-I feel like I’m going crazy, I need you so bad. Want you to touch me so bad, want you to fuck me like I deserve. Please, please.”

“Fuck you like you deserve, huh?” Jaemin watches as your eyes glisten, almost filled with tears of frustration. Smirking, he wills to further them. “You’re so good at begging, aren’t you, princess? Already so pretty and laid out for me. Just need me to take care of you, sweetheart, right?”

You nod feverously, sinking your fingers back into his thighs. Hissing, he pulls both of hands to your inner thighs, slapping them gently to fall apart further before drinking in the sight that the mirror offers. His hands travel up and down your skin, though his eyes never leave your gushing core; he brushes the very edge of your folds momentarily, just to see your reaction, and you whimper loudly. He curses.

“So sensitive,” he experimentally brushes a hand over your folds, a fleeting touch that has you almost breaking in sobs. You whine loudly again, begging with every breath. “Oh, baby, so desperate. It‘s so fun to tease you, though, princess. Look at you falling apart when I go like this.”

His fingers do the same motion, but linger on your folds for a moment, applying almost no pressure. You let out a sob. “And what if I go like this?” His mouth peppers kisses down your neck as two fingers rub slowly down your folds, making you lose your breath. Unsatisfied with your reaction, he presses insistently into your core, smiling when you buck your hips into his touch. “And what if I do this?”

Gathering the wetness pooling between your legs, he drags his touch up, maneuvering to the bundle of nerves that he immediately presses into, circling around slowly. You all but melt into his touch, lolling your head back on your shoulder in absolute bliss. Jaemin watches your reaction when he speeds up the pace momentarily, cooing affectionately when tears spill down your cheeks in relief.

“So pretty baby,” he murmurs, lost in his own world. You look the most beautiful like this, your legs spread wide and limp for him, your head resting against him in pleasure, and your mouth shaped in a silent ‘o’, unable to say anything coherent to him. He speeds up even more, indulging in the moans that spill from you immediately, loving the way you screw your eyes shut to his touch.

Jaemin basks in the pride of making you feel good, watching with a smile as you clutch helplessly at his clothing, opening and closing your mouth in a warning that you’re gonna cum, you’re gonna cum, you’re gonna cum. He realizes at the very last moment that you whimper out in broken moans, that he doesn’t want this moment to end so soon, and he slows down his fingers, never forgetting to see your reaction. When his hand moves away from you completely, the hardness in his pants only intensifies at the sight of your pleading eyes asking him to let you cum.

“You’re so pretty like this,” he responds, obliging to your consistent begs and rubbing at your clit again. You clasp a desperate hand over his wrist as he continues, whispering under your breath that you’ll be a good girl for him. He thinks, at that moment, you must look the most beautiful at your highest point. And you do.

Your hands lose their grip on his sweatpants, moving backwards to dig into his clothed shoulders, scraping up the skin. High-pitched moans fill the air, coming deep from your throat without a second thought, Jaemin’s name spilling from your mouth repeatedly. Your hips buckle up into his touch, legs clamping shut to prolong the feeling of pleasure coursing through you. And most importantly, your eyes roll back for a split second, lips parting with an initial sigh gasp of air until whines follow. Tears stream down the sides of your face, wetting Jaemin’s shirt below, but it’s okay. You look absolutely gorgeous.

You look absolutely gorgeous when you’ve reached your high.

[gwendolynnderolo]

the 911 fandom and female love interests: a controversial hot take

here is my hot take of the day that will probably piss off a lot of people but it’s just my opinion on how the fandom has reacted to female love interests for buck and eddie, specifically ana, and how members of the fandom have been reacting to those reactions.

i’ve seen a lot of posts saying stuff like “you only dislike ana because she’s coming in between buddie” and i’m here to say: so what?

now, i would like to preface this by saying i don’t dislike ana as a character and have a massive crush on gabrielle walsh, but to be completely honest i don’t have much of an opinion on ana except for that i think she’s pretty and i don’t like her and eddie together.

do you want to know why? because she does not have a personality outside of her relationship with eddie and her connection to christopher. there is literally not enough information about her as a character to even develop a strong opinion on her. the only substance we have that we can develop a strong opinion on is how she impacts the main characters.

here is a list of the things we know about ana:

she was christopher’s english teacher

she’s latina

she has a family member named edmundo

she told eddie that christopher has limitations and that there are things he won’t be able to do

she got her doctorate and is now a vice principal

she’s a good cook

she’s dating eddie

that is the extent of what we know about ana flores. is any of that worthy of hating her? no. but is any of it worthy of being really emotionally invested in her? also no.

now here is a list of things that have happened with other characters as a result of ana flores:

christopher fell off the skateboard (not directly her fault but it was made very clear that eddie blamed her and yelled at her about it)

christopher got mad at eddie (on two separate occasions)

eddie didn’t notice his own son sneaking out of the house

eddie acted like a completely different character for an entire episode

don’t get me wrong, i think she’s had some good impacts too, but those are the things that the story has highlighted. not to mention the fact that eddie now has a canon significant other and it is less likely that buddie will become canon any time soon.

now, are any of those things worthy of hating her? no, mostly because the majority of those things were not her fault, but the way that the storylines were written, they were directly connected to her influence and presence in the story as either christopher’s teacher or eddie’s girlfriend.

the fact of the matter is that ana has gotten zero development as a character and currently has very little substance outside of being eddie’s girlfriend. and this is not a new thing that the writers have done. see: ali.

ali is introduced not as a love interest but as an emergency victim. we see her interact with buck and eddie for two episodes, don’t see her for six episodes, then see her in the last episode of the season only for her and buck to break up. her sole purpose as a character was to be buck’s girlfriend for half a season and then break up with him.

here are the things we know about ali:

she designs hotels (i think? something like that)

her boss sexually harassed her

she was trapped in a high rise during an earthquake with buck and eddie

she dated buck for an unknown amount of time

she travels a lot for work

she helped buck find an apartment

she broke up with buck after his leg got crushed by the ladder truck

none of those things really merit any kind of a strong opinion on her. i don’t even think she was mentioned for the majority of season 2B unless it was plot relevant that buck had a girlfriend.

love interests that are not main characters are not well developed characters because they don’t need to be. they’re not people, they’re plot devices for main characters to develop or for storylines to progress in a certain way.

look at the actual well developed romances on the show: bathena, madney, henren, even buck and abby although it was just one season. all of these relationships are between two main characters or a main character and a prominent supporting character. henren slightly less so, but they’re established as a couple at the beginning of the show and get their fair share of storylines, so they still have development.

it’s very difficult to be invested in a relationship between a complex well developed character and a fairly one dimensional undeveloped or under developed character, and it’s also difficult to be invested in a character that has a very one dimensional personality.

ana has basically no flaws outside of the skateboarding incident, so what else would people be disliking her for if not for that she’s coming in between buddie? and if people are disliking her for coming in between buddie, then that’s completely valid. i’m very emotionally invested in buddie and really want them to become a couple, so i’m kind of annoyed that they’re bringing in a female character who has no personality except ‘love interest’ and making her be eddie’s girlfriend.

now, i’m not saying that means it’s totally okay to say “ana is a horrible person and i hate her because she’s coming in between my ship” because all evidence points to her not being a horrible person and it’s definitely not okay to say that. but it is completely valid to say “i really don’t like this character being on the show because they’re not developed and are coming between a ship that i’m very passionate about” and that doesn’t make you sexist or racist or whatever else people are saying, as long as that’s genuinely why you don’t like her.

these are fictional characters, not real people, and it’s valid to not like a fictional character because they’re preventing a storyline from happening that you really want to happen.

most importantly: THIS DOES NOT GIVE YOU ANY RIGHT TO ATTACK GABRIELLE WALSH. she is not a writer on the show, she did not write ana this way, she did not choose to have ana be eddie’s girlfriend, she is not the reason why buddie is not together. she is an actress who was hired to play a role and she is doing an amazing job with what she has been given. if you’re going to dislike any real people, dislike the writers because they’re the ones who are writing the story this way.

to sum up a ridiculously long post: if you love ana flores, great! if you hope her and eddie are endgame and have a very long and happy relationship, then you do you. if you’re kinda eh on ana and don’t feel strongly either way, that’s totally fine! if you really don’t like ana, that’s also totally fine! if you like ana as a character and think she has potential but you don’t like her and eddie together, awesome! if you’re secretly praying for lena to come back and for her and ana to be girlfriends (like me), then please come talk to me because i would be so here for that.

you are entitled to your own opinion, but that does not give you the right to insult other people or call them names for their opinions or to harass the actress who is just doing her job. respect other people’s feelings and decisions and remember that these are fictional characters whose sole purpose is to create an interesting and entertaining story, and if you dislike a character because you feel like they’re getting in the way of an interesting and entertaining story, you’re 100% entitled to that.

so please, stop attacking other people for their opinions and for the love of god, do not attack the actors. thank you for coming to my ted talk feel free to send me pictures of gabrielle walsh or scream at me about 911 whenever you want!

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Curious Travels - Geralt of Rivia x (f)reader

- reader is part of my Of Monsters and Men series

Summary: Yet again has your humble bard dragged you and Geralt to another kingdom for whatever reason, though as the snow falls outside, you know just how to keep warm.

Warning: fluff, SMUT, some actual plot

Masterlist

Jumping off of your own horse you’re immediately greeted with the soft crunch of snow under your boots. Your pack of three mighty adventures have traveled all this way to the wintery mountainside kingdom of Turga for, as Jaskier would say, “food, festivities, and fun times to be had”. Not being one to ever walk away from such intriguing tidings, you’ve made it a point to accompany Jaskier on his trek to the kingdom.

Geralt on the other hand could absolutely not be bothered in the slightest to come for such “fun times to be had” but he loves you and begrudgingly decided to follow the two of you anyways.

The whole ordeal of traveling had taken about a week, through forest and fields, streams to pass and bridges to cross, until finally at last your horses had reached snow. And more importantly the wooden post naming the direction of said mountain kingdom, causing your bard to become even more chipper and talkative then usual.

Much to your amusement and Geralt’s silent moody frustration, though he would have liked to smack the bard across his head or quite possibly snap that lute in two. Watching your face light up at Jaskier’s jokes and stories from before he met both you and Geralt, so far has kept the grumbly Witcher to himself, just being able to see your beaming face is enough to make this trip all the better.

Though he’s still doubtful anything fantastic will actually come out of this journey in any way, considering most travels with the two of you end rather poorly.

You’re eyes grew big once they spotted the snowy glowing city of Turga sitting comfortably atop a silver hill in all her beautiful glory. Jaskier wasn’t fooling, this place is absolutely magnificent, it’s like a true winter wonderland.

Great evergreens stand tall at the large wooden gates of the town, two guards dressed in silver armor and a red sash over their breast greet you three with generous smiles of welcome tidings that take you more off center then you’d ever expected. How strange it is not to be looked down upon, or scrutinized by people who always tend to think the worst.

Jaskier simply grins, clearly knowing something you and your grouchy Witcher do not, but what could that possibly be, then again it isn’t exactly abnormal. Following closely behind, you and Geralt lead your horses along the snow covered streets as Jaskier leads the way to the stables.

The whole time your eyes have been wide in awe at the beautiful surroundings of the town, lanterns held up by steel chains hang in a line above your heads. Dashing evergreens keep watch from their various positions in the square. Oddly enough the stables look cozy, decorative pines are hung at the front doors, and from the opened windows you can see on the inside that there are rafters kept along with ornamental little flags of a hundred colors.

Soon enough the face of a dirt smudge stable boy races out of the wooden door, a wreath on the back of it jostles at the quick unexpected movement. Although on further inspection you realize he is a sylvan once you notice the two hooves peaking out from under his oversized cloak, he smiles brightly at the three of you while his big shimmering eyes shine a soft pink as he shuffles through the snow to Jaskier’s steed.

“Vallo Vaskier! Hove yuv bveen!” Exclaims the boy in a peculiar accent with a smile that could light up a room.

“Oh you know..” Shrugs the bard, “A bit of this a bit of that. But here’s something....I have made some loyal companions on my travels, they’re a real time, it’s been great honestly...although a tad bit dangerous at times but eh I’m still breathing.” He laughs, “So anyways, when’s the grand feast at the lady of winters hall?”

The boys face turns into a thrilled grin, “Are you performing?”

Jaskier glances to you before turning back to the kid, “Of course I am. Didn’t just travel all the way up here for nothing. So uh, when’s the feast?”

“Oh, right the veast. You hev to be invited first. But I vouldn’t vorry to vuch, vord alveys spreads vhen you’re here Vaskier.” States the stable boy with a curt nod.

“Boy you got any taverns close?” He snaps his head up to you, curls bouncing in the process as he gives a shy smile before nodding.

“Of course mviss. Vaskier knows ver they are.”

A smirk plays at your lips as you find the bards gaze, “I should have know.” You mutter, turning your head to find Geralt, “Now to find that tavern.” You add suggestively with a quick wink. Causing your man to hand you the smallest of smiles in knowing acknowledgment. 

“Alright, Finn. Take this pretty lady to her home for the night. You’ve got two others who’ll need a stall.” States Jaskier as he nods to his horse, “And uh, the one with the scary face and white hair, be good to his mare. She’s very special to him, more then the half-vampire that rides with us and..Oh! Oww! Y/N don’t hit me woman!” Stammers the bard as you fold your arms across your chest.

A smirk upon your lips at his flustered reaction, “What was that about Roach being more special then me? You didn’t finish what you where going to say.”

“Well I would have if I wasn’t assaulted first.” Assures Jaskier, turning back to the kid, “Anyways, we’re ready to find our stead’s a place for the night. Well perhaps a couple nights, we may be here for a few days give or take.”

“A few days? He never said anything about that?” Grumbles Geralt in that familiar gravelly voice of his, “Y/N did he mention a few days?”

Grasping your horses leather reigns in one hand, you rest the other on Geralt’s broad cloaked shoulder, “Oh where’s your festive spirit? Come on love this is gonna be fun. I can feel it.”

Turning to follow Jaskier and the stable boy into the barn, Geralt tugs for Roach to start walking, rolling his golden eyes as he watches you swagger into the large pine rimmed entrance. Though a small tinge of excitement rushes throughout his body when remembering that subtle wink you shared with him only moments ago.

Your crimson irises light up at the colorful flags and cozy barn atmosphere, perfect for the tired horses that so desperately could use a good rest. You’re never this impressed by such festive decorations most times, but it’s been a long while since you’ve bared witness to such things. It feels rather nice, and anyways, another adventure with your boys is always welcomed.

The stable boy quickly takes Jaskier’s horse to get settled for the night, leaving yourself to find your own stable and Geralt to do the same. You turn, leading your own mare into a hay covered stall and doing what you can to help her feel more comfortable.

Taking off her saddle, you lay it off to the side, going now to brush her brown back, smoothing her fur down as you do. While so lost in your own little world you can’t help but begin rambling about your thoughts to the patient horse.

“Now since it’s come to mind...I think this place isn’t too bad, ya know? I haven’t really met any of the townsfolk so my true impression of the people here have yet to be determined. Although I’m not really getting a hostile feeling coming from this place so that’s good.” The mare snorts in reply, or at least you think she does, causing you to chuckle at the horses timely reaction, “Yes, my friend that’s exactly what I was thinking but you already new that and now I am talking to a horse.....and Geralt is standing right over there isn’t he.” You rush, whispering the last part to your horse.

Geralt leans his large frame against the wooden stalls door, a small amused smirk pulling at his lips as he watches you brush the mare. “Not strange at all. I think they understand, in their own way.”

“Maybe it’s because I travel with you too much, look at me, I’m talking to a horse.” You mutter with a small laugh, “Though I guess their company can be better then an actual persons. I have a feeling you know my meaning.”

He smiles again, looking around the barn until his golden eyes find yours once more, “Better then most.”

You gently tilt your head in a small nod, brushing the last of the mares ruffled hide before setting the brush down. Then reaching for your belongings that are hanging from a metal hook inches from Geralt.

He politely steps to the side as you take your cloak and sheathed silver dagger from off of the hook, bundling them under your arm you take a step forward past him, stopping for a moment to not-so-subtly trail your eyes up to his handsome face.

“See something interesting?” He muses, eyeing you up just the same causing a swarm of butterflies to make themselves know in your stomach. 

Biting your lip you refrain from pushing him against the wooden wall and kissing him like your life depends on it, deciding to instead hug your things tighter and give him a small fangy smile.

“Oh, you have no idea.” Is all you can whisper out as you swiftly turn on your heel to go and find Jaskier before you change your mind and pounce on your Witcher like a cat to her prey.

It doesn’t take long to find him, the bard is casually seated on some blocks of hay as he gently strums on his lute while the stable boy brushes his horse for him. Jaskier is so caught up in his own world of playing that he neglects to notice when you’re standing directly in front of him.

“Jask!” You vocalize loudly, causing the entranced bard to jump and just about drop his prized lute if not for the strap.

“My gods Y/N, warn a man would you.” He sputters, setting himself a bit straighter once again as he gathers his bearings, “I could have dropped my dear lady just now.”

Taking a couple steps backwards towards Geralt, you chuckle, “In that case, I’ll try harder next time.”

Jaskier sends you a silent dirty look, causing Geralt to slip a couple hushed snickers out from behind you. “Alright bard..” Starts your Witcher, “where’s the nearest tavern? Considering it’s late and we’re all hungry.”

Jumping to his feet, Jaskier nods, “Right. Right. Of course, a tavern would be nice. Well my friend...and Y/N...let’s go find one.”

“Yes let’s.” Mutters Geralt, annoyance lacing his voice as Jaskier practically swaggers past the two of you, lute tightly in hand.

You turn to follow, nudging Geralt’s shoulder as you step past him, “Come on my White Wolf, let’s find that tavern. I could use a good rest, how about you?” The wink you send him is all but enough to fill his mind with wondrous thoughts for how his evening may truly end.

His heart admittedly fills with warmth and excitement as he watches you trail Jaskier out of the barn and into the wintery night air. Soft cool snowflakes kiss your warm skin as you stand in the silver wonderland, waiting for your Witcher to catch up.

A pleased smirk shows itself upon your face as you turn your head up to the dark clouds, enjoying the feeling of the small ice crystals as they float all around you. The night is absolutely divine, as you enjoy the small white puffs of air leaving forth from out of your mouth and nostrils.

You feel no chill from the harsh winter air, though you’re surprised when a certain someone unexpectedly attempts to throw a snowball at your back. Hearing the ball of ice swishing in the crisp air, you step inhumanly quick to the side.

A burst of laughter falls forth from your lips when the snow crashes into the shoulder of Jaskier as he looks from house to house trying to remember where the tavern is. He jumps back, his blue eyes wide as he snaps his jostled attention over to you, and the snowy haired man smirking from behind you.

“That was—was....Y/N!” Grumbles the bard with an angry pout before he begins to smile and eventually shake with laughter as well.

Chuckling still, you turn a raised brow to Geralt as he simply shrugs, “Couldn’t help myself.”

“Yeah okay, Sir. I-Didn’t-Even-Want-To-Come...” Suddenly your eyes narrow causing Geralt to loose his amusement, “You tried to hit me with a snowball, you fucker.”

Geralt takes a cautious step closer to you, a pleading look crossing his features, “And now I know how well your reflexes are.”

“You already know how well my reflexes are.”

“Yes. But...” He pauses for a moment, trying to think of what to say next as you await an answer, finally he takes another step closer, bringing his hand to tilt your head up with the tips of his fingers. His face so close now you can feel his hot breath against your skin, “I’ll deal with your wrath all night long if that’s what you’d wish.”

Gently removing his hand away from your face, you lean in even closer, your lips practically brushing past his own, “I think that is a deliciously appealing proposition, my love.”

Geralt has no time to answer before you swiftly shift away from him, leaving the man with his thoughts and slightly tighter pants as he watches you walk over to Jaskier once again, knowing exactly what you’re doing to him.

It took about a good fifteen minutes to actually track down the tavern of Jaskier’s choice, an admittedly large and homey hall appropriately called The Silver Faun Inn. Quite the name for quite the tavern, as per usual when walking into anywhere on the continent in a place like this.

Your marry band of three was immediately greeted with a multitude of cautious glares and many other intrigued excited glances. Though to your relief, no one dares bother either of you while you make to find a quiet corner for the late hour of the darkening evening.

Soon fresh food and tasteful ale is to be had, filling the three of you up just enough to be satisfied for the night, but not too much, you’ve got plans for later. Plans that are so obviously unnoticed by the titular bard who’s now decided the tavern is in desperate need of entertainment.

Leaning into Geralt’s strong side, a lazy smirk upon your face, you watch in amusement as Jaskier joyously strums his favorite lute. “Don’t think I’ve heard that ballot before.” You whisper.

Your quiet Witcher hums in reply, earning him a light friendly squeeze to his forearm that rests on the table next to yours, “The enthusiasm radiating off of you is just, astounding.” You chuckle, burying your face into his shoulder.

Geralt smiles affectionately at your adorable reaction to his less then impressive one, his heart swells with more silent joy when you pull away once again. Only to stop yourself from speaking, your scarlet irises so caught up in your lovers humored face.

You remain quiet for a moment, your face stoic though your eyes crinkle with mischief before you finally break out into a large beaming grin. Without a second thought, Geralt leans in to gently press his plush inviting lips against yours for a beautiful moment of love and lust.

He feels so lovely, you can tell just how much he truly wants you, but all to soon does he pull away, “I think we should find that room, what do you say Y/N?”

Biting your lip, you stare longingly into his golden eyes, “Fantastic idea. I got the keys so let’s get outta here.”

In a heartbeat do the two of you slip from the taverns quiet corner to wander past your oblivious bard as he belts out another marvelous tune that sends the crowd into fits of song and laughter. Soon all is forgotten and left to the back of your minds as you lead your Witcher up the steps and down to the end of the hallway where your room just so happens to be.

Quickly going to unlock it, you’re bewildered when the little metal key won’t turn left, huffing in frustration you try and force it as gently as you can muster. Geralt leans an arm against the doorframe doing nothing to help you focus on your new task at hand.

“Y/N just turn it left.”

“I am turning it left.”

“More gently.”

“I am turning it gently.”

“How much did you drink?” He chuckles.

Snapping your head to him you playfully make a face, “Same as you idiot, now if only I could fucking get this bitch open then we could...” Errreck. Crack. “Oh fuck me.” You deadpan.

“I’m trying.” Muses Geralt.

Smacking Geralt against his arm you take a step away from the broken lock, “Dammit. I broke the fucking key....and I think the lock too.”

“Can you open it now?”

Sighing in annoyance you raise a brow at your man, “Well uh, guess we’ll find out.”

Turning towards the thick wooden mahogany door with its freshly broken lock, you nervously reach a hand up to turn the golden door handle, sucking in a breath you twist the knob only to be met with resistance.

Pursing your lips together you lean your head against the door, “Whoever made these shit locks I’ll fucking cut their hands off cause apparently they don’t need them anymore with whatever kinda fuckery this is.” You growl.

All you wanna do is get it on with Geralt, this is not helping.

“You could just force the door.” Suggests Geralt.

“I’m not forcing the door love, I really don’t need a bounty on me for breaking a knob.”

“Well, guess we’ll just have to sleep in Jaskier’s room tonight then.” Replies your Witcher with a shit eating grin, he knows just how much you want him right now. And so help you god if you don’t get what you want when it comes to a night with Geralt of Rivia.

“No! No! I can handle the fucking door!” You sass.

Taking a step back into the hallway, he folds his arms over his chest, “Alright then. Open the door Y/N.” Smirks Geralt, urging you to create some chaos.

Huffing, you take a step back, readying yourself to charge the grand mahogany door. The smirk on your Witcher’s face is admittedly smackable or kissable, you just can’t bring it in you to focus on anything else but opening this door. He watches in anticipation as you charge, hands out and ready to force open the closed entrance as you make hasty steps for the tavern room.

Without warning the giant door swings opens, taking you off guard as you fly through the new opening and into the grand room before falling to the hard floor with a grunt. Your chin smacks the wooden floorboards with a thwack sound, your opened palms doing just the same when you land.

“Ouch.” You mutter, lifting yourself up from the ground, turning when your nose catches the scent of someone new.

Snapping to your right, you’re caught with big brown fearful eyes of a young maid, “Oh, uh....your room is ready miss.”

Not aware of the less then friendly grimace adorning your face, Geralt steps into the room before you decide to shove the girl out yourself, “Sorry. The lock wasn’t working, I think we may have broken it.”

Quickly snapping out of her frightened trance, the girl turns a nervous eye to your Witcher, “Um, that key you have there...it’s not the right one. I’ll just uh....leave then.” She whispers, her eyes never leaving yours as she hastily slips out of the room and down the hallway.

Geralt gently closes the door, shoving a chair under the handle to create a makeshift lock while you take a couple steps forward over to the large mattress, resting a hand on the bed. He turns to you, “Well that was...”

“Entertaining much?” You scoff, rubbing your split chin, “I think I’m bleeding....no yeah, I’m definitely bleeding.”

Geralt hums, nodding before walking over to find a small spare cloth on the nearby table, “Sit on the bed I’ll clean you up.”

Doing just as directed you sit, watching as your silver haired lover walks across the room to seat himself next to you, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Rolling your eyes you pout, “Funny is it? The things I do for you, and now my fucking chin hurts.”

Suddenly his eyes go soft, though there still remains a tinge of humor in them, “Y/N, you’ve already healed and the pain will die soon enough....here, let me just clean the blood away.” He mutters, reaching his arm up to press the pale cloth against your blood smudged skin.

Fine, ignore my pain you ass.

Though you’re still annoyed, the feeling of being tended to by Geralt is enough to dissipate away all your recent frustrations and brewing anger. Sending you into a blissful minute of staring lazily into your mans pretty golden eyes like a dazed lover.

Once he’s confident all the blood is gone, he sets the pink cloth in his lap, saying nothing as the two of you stare deeply into the eyes of one another, the sexual tension of the room rising by the second. You slip out a soft breath, the tiniest of smiles pulling at your lips.

“This is the part where you kiss my pain away. Right here.” You point at your chin, just below your lips. His golden eyes dart down, following your directions.

Ever so meticulously slowly does he lean in closer, the blood smudged cloth left and forgotten as it falls to the floor when his large hands go to touch your face. His lips press softly onto your chin, then cheek, then the other, and another two over your jawline. Earning a satisfied hum of approval from you, much to Geralt’s satisfaction.

Your own hands grasp onto his thick forearms, the rest of yourself feeling rather warm all over as Geralt kisses all over your face, slowly as ever.

“You know..” Kiss, “Geralt, mhmm....my lips are right here...” You mutter, just as he presses a heated one onto the preferred area you’ve asked. He tastes so sweet, like the ale he drank earlier in the evening, but this is admittedly much better then any ale you’ve ever drank.

Soon his hands fall to your waist and arm, then to many other places as he decides to explore your body with his calloused hands. Not being one to hold back, you do just the same, earning a low husky moan from deep within his throat when you palm him just to see what’s going on down there.

Fortunately he’s decently hard, the fabric of his dark pants are nicely stretched out from what pleasantries await you soon enough. Leaving him be for the moment, you gently break away from his sweet lips.

“Oh don’t give me that look.” You chuckle at the annoyed expression adorning his handsome features, “I’m just, rather wet down here and I’d like to get things rolling. Though don’t get me wrong I could kiss those lips of yours all fucking day.” You add, deliberately doing your best to give him your bedroom eyes.

He pauses for a second, his eyes trailing from your clothed nether regions all the way up to your shimmering lust filled gaze, “You’re already wet?”

Rolling your eyes you reach out to pull him further up the bed, “Oh fuck off, you’re already harder then a frozen ice cycle and that was before we even got into this room so shut uh uhh mhmm...” Is all you’re able to ramble out before he’s attacked your neck again with those beautifully plush lips of his, the rest of his body hovering just above you as he rests a knee between your parted thighs.

His lips leave a wet trail all the way down your throat until they reach the edge of your tops laced fabric, where a clear V is had that reaches down to the area between your breasts. He kisses once on the lace and exposed skin on your sternum, then another further down.

He’s just about driving you wild with the frustratingly grand lack of friction in certain areas that are so desperately craving such attention. Done with his teasing you lightly tug at his long white hair.

“Geralt just fuck me already.” You mumble, sucking in a quick breath when he gently squeezes your breast without warning.

Kissing your cheek, his face remains mere inches from your own as he stares mischievously into your crimson eyes, “We may need to take some clothes off first.” He chuckles, planting a quick kiss to your lips before sitting back on the bed.

Laying there, body hot and pulsing with pleasure unreleased, you hastily sit up and fumble as fast as you can to remove your grey top. Flinging it to the floor as your eyes find Geralt’s once again, though this time he’s completely shirtless.

Drinking up every last little piece of your muscular Witcher, you bite your lip as he smiles at you, “And that’s a sight I could look at everyday.” You just about swoon at his quick witted words, no doubt feeling a bit heated the longer he stares at you.

Winking at him, you swiftly shed the thin dark material calling itself an undershirt, a playful gleam in your eye as you watch Geralt quickly find your two exposed breasts. Beautiful and soft, your nibbles perked at the arousal coursing throughout your entire vessel.

Wanting to be bold, you wiggle a brow at him before confidently standing, your eyes never leaving his. He watches with an intrigued curious gaze before you begin unbuttoning your black trousers, earning another blissful smirk across the mans face.

Soon enough are all the buttons finally undone, with a spectacular dramatic bow do you then go to shimmy out of your pants, kicking them to the wooden floor in a rush as you’re now left in nothing but your small whole filled and slightly ripped underwear.

As to be expected, Geralt reaches a hand out to touch your exposed legs, getting nothing but a quick playful kick to his hands as you hum in disapproval. Instead you go to set a hand on your hip, nodding your head for him to remove his own concealing attire.

He hums in reply, standing to his full height as you unabashedly watch him fully undress himself, tossing his pants and undergarments to the floor ever so dramatically. He stares you down with those big beautiful golden eyes of his, you keep your sights locked onto them and painfully ignore his now exposed member that’s hard and dripping with pre-cum.

Biting your lip, you try your absolute best to keep from smiling, “Fuck me I love you so much.” You speak breathlessly, your eyes turning more serious again, “Now sit, please.”

Geralt hums, seating himself upon the soft billowy mattress just as directed, deciding to lean back on his arms and let his body lay open and ready for you. Blinking slowly you finally reveal a pleased smile down at him, just about mirroring the same one that he’s handing you so freely, just like his body.

Slowly you walk forward on the bed, your legs held firmly to either side of his lower waist as you kneel down, hovering your soaked womanhood right above his glistening member. You let out a breathy chuckle, resting your palms against his broad shoulders as he does the same action but with your bare hips.

“May I?” You politely ask, leaning your head against his as he gently squeezes the flesh of your hips in reply.

“Of course.” He mutters, low and gravelly in your ear as he patiently awaits your body, his very heart about to explode with how much he loves you right now.

Parting your legs wider, you remove one hand from his shoulder to quickly grasp his thick cock, “Alright let me just...” Bringing it to your dripping entrance you line it up perfectly, “I’m coming in..” You laugh, “literally.”

“Y/N you don’t have to say it...”

Digging your fingers into the side of his shoulder you quickly tilt your head to shut him up with a kiss, “Yes, but you laughed.” Pulling back to look at your face, Geralt’s mouth opens to reply, though his words are left on the wind when you slowly slide yourself onto him.

The new welcoming warmth of your core sending his mind swirling with nothing but a colorful bliss. Yours about the same, he’s big as he sinks deeper and deeper into your body until finally he’s completely filled you up.

Closing your eyes, your face scrunches up in slight discomfort at the new thrilling contact, this feeling isn’t anything new it’s just he’s quite large and you need a couple moments to adjust before the real fun begins. Sensing your slight displeasure, he keeps still inside you, trailing a comforting hand over your cheek as he watches your brows furrow together as you adjust.

“I’m sorry Y/N, I don’t mean to hurt you.” Worries your beautiful Witcher as you open your glistening scarlet irises to find his concerned face.

Shaking your head you slowly roll your hips into his, “Never. Apologize for a big dick Geralt....you’re honestly about to work wonders so keep that pretty mouth shut and make me scream.”

Holding in his laughter, he decides to do just as you’ve asked, a second later do you gasp in surprise when both his hands dig into your hips. Pushing you down onto him even more as he pulls you with each roll of your hips against his. Creating a blissful synced rhythm that begins to bring a low pleasurable build into your soaked core.

He suddenly thrusts up into you as you bounce down on him over and over again, your chests rubbing against one another as you both attempt to hold each other’s gazes for as long as you can try. The room feels hot and sticky, the smells of sex, sweat, and Geralt filling into your sensitive nostrils that drives you mad with lust.

All that can be heard is the familiar slapping of skin on skin as you both move against one another in quick passionate motions. Without warning Geralt thrusts deeply into your sweet spot sending you into a flurry of moaned curses as he thrusts his strong hips into you over and over again.

Your body falls flush against his as you whimper and moan into his shoulder from the intense buildup of pure pleasure that he’s slowly filling you with by the second. He can tell you’re close and with that thought in mind you’re pleasantly surprised when he abruptly holds your back, keeping you against him as he quickly lays you onto the soft mattress.

You audibly moan at the new positioning, not being able to hold back any more whimpers of pleasure as he fucks you into the comfortable bedding like his life depends on it. You’re visibility sweaty now, the slickness of yourself and Geralt doing everything to increase your growing pleasure as he slides in and out of you like a crazed man gone years without a proper fucking.

Another moan escapes from your lips as Geralt bounds you into the mattress, hitting you with deep precise thrusts each and every time, leaving you with nothing to keep you steady but his bare back that no doubt is covered in fresh pink scratch marks.

He keeps flush against your body, his manhood buried deep within your parted thighs as he intertwines his fingers with yours, his lips so soft and inviting as they press against your neck and jaw. You can’t remember if you’re ever felt such pleasure from this man as he pulls you to the edge of oblivion.

He suddenly moans against your ear sending new waves of bliss deep into your core and just like that do you come, moaning his name over and over again as he relentlessly thrusts into you with all that he has left.

He grips your hands tight, his warm seed spilling into you a second later, causing you to squeeze your legs tighter against his, “Ugh fuck Geralt.” You moan, your lips brushing past his as he pumps into you for a few more blissful moments before he falls limp against your body.

Utterly spent with your heated love making session, you chuckle at his honestly adorable actions as he lays flush with you, his cock still buried deep inside. He may be a large heavy man, but you’re no common human woman who lays underneath this handsome Witcher.

It’s plain as anyone could see, though you���d cut the throats of anyone bold enough to take a peek at your secretive actions.

Humming in content, Geralt moves to lay at your side, bringing you along with him so that he can stay inside you for a bit longer. You smirk, holding him close as he does the same, “A little needy tonight are we?” You muse, placing a chaste kiss against his puffy red lips.

“Maybe I missed you in more ways then one.” He replies, his golden eyes finding your crimson ones, “It certainly doesn’t help that Jaskier is always with us when we set up camp. I never get a true moment to myself with you.”

Trailing a hand down his scar covered back, you smile once again, “Well you’re about to get a whole week with me if you’re lucky. And I’m looking forward to every single second of it.”

The way you make him feel cannot ever truly be expressed in Geralt’s mind, though you can tell he loves you deeply even when no words are said at all or perhaps when he gets flustered and stumbles on his tongue for the right ones. Though right now he seems to have you vexed, completely entranced and utterly opened and surrendered to him.

But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel the same, his eyelids close in content as you gently trail your fingers down his cheekbone, earning a low hum from deep within his throat that sends shivers down your spine even with something so innocent as this.

You break out into a grin, your fangs showing as you let out a couple chuckles once you realize he’s still inside you. His own lips curl into a tired smile, though he doesn’t open his eyes. “Y/N?” He mutters, wondering what on earth could be so funny right now.

Pushing a few stray hairs out of his face you blink, trying to contain yourself once more, “Oh nothing, you’re just being....dare I say, cute. And all things considered, you’re still inside me.”

Geralt shows you a lazy grin, “I like being inside you.”

“Yes and what if I have to relieve myself, or get a drink?”

“I see no problem when you’re lucky enough to be laying next to me.”

Fake scoffing you gently tug on his silver locks, “Geralt of Rivia you’re blessed enough I love you so much you ass.”

Finally he opens his eyes, the most adorable of smiles crossing his face, and only for you, “Well I guess someone has to.”

“Yes.” You smirk, “And I’ll make disappear the next confidant fucker who dare think to take you away from me.”

“So I’m assuming that last tavern wench we met a month ago went missing....not, under mysterious circumstances?” He wonders, a brow raised in humored accusation.

Rolling your scarlet irises, you give him a friendly pat over his bare shoulder, “I wasn’t appreciating that foxy look she was giving you, looked like a horny buck ready to pounce.” The look he gives you is enough to make you burst with laughter, “What? Don’t give me that face Geralt, I didn’t do anything adherently evil....all I did was leave her in the middle of the woods...near another town!” You protest, trying to make your little petty adventure sound less terrible.

 “Well, at least you were nice about it,” Muses Geralt, “though I’m not sure if that’s better.”

“Oh shut it, I couldn’t help myself if you’d like to know alri...” Knock. Knock. Knock. Three raps against the thick bedroom door immediately draws your attention away from Geralt. Propping his head up by his elbow, he turns a protective glare at the mystery person keeping themselves on the other side.

Wanting to snap at the hidden individual who dare break you away from your rather pleasant evening, you push away from the soft comfort of the mattress, quickly pulling out of Geralt, you maneuver yourself into a seated position. “I’ll see who it is, can’t be anyone with a personal vendetta against us, well.....at least I don’t think so.”

Pursing his lips together in slight apprehension, Geralt silently watches you slip from the bed with nothing but a thin white sheet to keep your nakedness from any prying eyes. Your steps to the barred door are swift and silent as an owl in flight, just the same when you remove the chair from the door knob.

With one hand on the golden knob and the other grasped tightly onto the bunched up bed sheet, you turn a curious glance to Geralt who’s now seated fully upright on the mattress, a thin sheet covering his previously exposed manhood.

Finding your sights upon the door once again, you turn the knob, swiftly opening the door where you’re both greeted with the nervous wide eyed face of a young elven boy, who looks only to be about fourteen, dressed in lord-like attire. A suspiciously high status pose about him that sends your brows furrowing in confusion for this strange unexpected intrusion.

Wearing a soft purple scarf over a pure white thick fur laced jacket, his green eyes shift warily from you to your shirtless Witcher then back to you again. His cheeks most certainly reddening the longer he stares, mouth slightly agape, clearly this kid was not expecting the sight before him.

Deciding to relieve the awkward atmosphere, you clear your throat, “Well you certainly don’t look like an assassin, nor do you appear to be ready with coin for a wanted killing. So, do relieve us of this suspense...I was kind of in the middle of something important.” You state, the tone of your voice appearing slightly annoyed even when you try and hide it.

His big emerald irises flicker as he blinks, swallowing his nerves, does the elven boy in the fancy coat and purple scarf stand a bit straighter, “Hello. I am Venemyr of Rorym, messenger to Queen Allira and her husband King Gabriel of this winter kingdom of Turga.” He stammers, eyes shifting nervously from Geralt to you, suddenly he pulls out a folded piece of white and gold craftsmanship in the form of a beautiful card.

His hand shakes slightly as he reaches out for you to take the concealed letter, finding no ill intent from the boy, you fearlessly accept. Once in your hand does he finally begin his explanation, “I come to ask the Princess Y/N of Alkatraz and the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, if they will accept this invitation to the King and Queen’s eldest son’s banquet as special guests of honor.”

Oh, now things have just gotten very intriguing.

Not positive on how to correctly respond to this large proposition, the young elven messenger nods, “My adversaries had been made aware of you two by a bard named Jaskier who is thought of warmly in this kingdom, then it appeared that the eldest prince became very interested in meeting a lady dhampir and a Witcher of Kaer Morhen.” 

Oh, Jaskier you motherfucker.

Smiling politely, Vesemyr watches with wide foresty eyes when he catches sight of your fangs, noticing his apparent change of demeanor, your face falls, “Uh, well, thank you for the message and this invitation? We’ll see to it soon, and without a doubt report back accordingly sometime tomorrow.”

“The banquet is in two days.”

“Is it now?” You reply in a knowing tone, your brows raising, “Good to know, now if you’ll excuse us...the hour is late and you’d better get to wherever you’ve come from before it gets any colder outside.” And with that said do you flash him a wink before slamming the door into his scared little face and high end attire without a second thought.

Looking down at the strange yet exquisite invitation placed in your hand, you turn it over and find the golden waxes seal of a house sigil. “Y/N come to bed, I think I’d like to have a look at whatever fuckery Jaskier has roped us into.”

Raising your attention back up to the naked man seated casually against the headboard, you smile, making swift steps to the mattress before launching yourself next to his side causing the bed to shift and creak at your jostling movement. Instead of finding his annoyed expression, you’re fortunately greeted with an arm pulling you flush against his side.

With the two of you wrapped up in the white bedsheets, leaning comfortably on one another does Geralt slowly take the parchment from out of your hand. He holds the letter up, studying it’s beauty in the side table’s candle light as you rest your head on his shoulder with one arm slung over his muscular waist.

His breaths are slow and calm, the rise and fall of his chest gently pushing you up and then back down again only ever so slightly while your Witcher carefully observes the golden wax of the houses sigil. “A stag, with a crown of leaves....should we open it?” Muses Geralt, fully aware of how much you want to see what’s inside.

Geralt I swear to god.

Gently giving his waist a loving squeeze, you nod, “If you’d be so kind.” Humming in reply, Geralt makes quick work of the letter, soon its cut open and pulled out for your eyes to witness its ink marked contents.

“Fuck.” Mutters Geralt dismally, “Guess that kid wasn’t fucking with us.”

“And I guess we’re going to a party.” You exclaim, much more excitement flowing through your voice then what Geralt could ever give.

He quickly turns his head down to you, “Y/N no. I don’t give a shit if this prince wants to speak with us, I have no interest in becoming involved in something like that.”

You lightly chuckle at his less then stellar mood before turning your face to press a chaste kiss to his bare shoulder, he sighs, meeting your crimson gaze once again, “Think of it, free drink and food, and this prince wants to see us....we’re practically the guests of honor and I cannot wait to see Jaskier tomorrow cause I’m gonna slap him for it...then I’ll thank him.”

“Ugh, fine.” Begrudgingly mutters Geralt as you press your lips to his.

-

Maybe a part 2 later on, idk we’ll see. Hope you enjoyed this :)

Tagged for series:  @seninjakitey​  @notahappytree​ @ashleyforeverareject​ @sokkasdarling​ @kmuir1​​@haleypearce @diegos-butt​ (@auds24 sorry idk why ur name won’t work) @a-girl-who-loves-disney

[illuminiscentboba]

TO NEW BEGINNINGS [daichi x reader]

❗️REPOSTED❗️ (due to tag complications)

genre: entirely fluff, a birthday drabble for our beloved captain

warning: fem. reader (mentions of girlfriend)

“I see you guys finally decided to show up."

Although you had a hand on your hips and took on a disapproving tone, there was a warm smile on your face as you greeted your boyfriend, daichi, asahi and sugawara a step behind.

"Hey," daichi smiled down at you as he stepped inside, stomping on the carpet to get the snow off his boots before pulling you into a kiss. It was brief and accompanied with a wink, that made all the false disapproval you had disappear.

A moment the two of you shared every year, 'our tradition' daichi called it. It was tradition for one of you two to pull the other into a kiss before asahi and sugawara noticed, the same way it was tradition for the trio to hang out on daichi's birthday. The same way you two used to back in highschool when the rest of the team didn't know you guys were a thing.

"hey birthday boy," you smiled and daichi smiled back, about to respond when sugawara bumped shoulders with him, peering down at you with a cheerful expression, "hey y/n!! I feel like it's been month's since I last saw you!"

You rolled your eyes playfully, "we saw each other last week, suga. But more importantly, what took you guys so long?"

Daichi glanced at his friends, wincing when he realized they were both staring accusingly at him. He nudged the ex. setter. "We were having a very serious guys only conversation." Suga coughed out.

After staring at the trio in turn Suga added, “we brought food, so could you...maybe think of it as our apology?”  

You finally gave in, “Whatever, come on in, the hot chocolate is getting cold."

They perked up at hot chocolate, following you to the living room. Sugawara and Asahi were talking about the recent volleyball game they saw their friends play in when Daichi broke away from the group, expertly tucking the gifts behind his back.

He was looking forward to this part of his day the most, seeing you, spending the rest of his birthday with you and your teasing jokes. That was all he really needed for his birthday.

He paused at the doorway, drinking in the sight of you pouring milk, humming softly as you brought out the snacks and he desperately fought the urge to wrap his arms around your waist and ruin the surprise. He quietly snuck over anyways, grinning.

“I got you a little something.” You turned around, finally noticing daichi and his arms half hidden behind his back. Usually when Daichi said he brought you a 'little something' it usually was a lot bigger than he made it out to be. He just couldn't help but get you gifts and your reactions made his heart full every time.

He produced a large bouquet of dahlia’s from one hand and a heart shaped tin of chocolates with the other, holding them out to you with a large grin on his face. This was definitely more than a little something.

You slowly took the dahlia’s and his grin widened when he noticed your blush and shy expression.

“With all the gifts I almost feel like I’m the birthday girl.” You joke and he finally comes around to wrap his arms around your middle, breath ticking your ear as you put the flowers in the vase as the centerpiece.

“It’s always a good day to go get my girlfriend a gift, it just happened to be my birthday today.”

When he noticed your gaze travel to the chocolates, with the design and flavors that made it obvious that he personally picked it out for you he added, “oh I saw those on the way and couldn’t help but buy it.”

“He’s lying,” Sugawara whisper shouted, and you two whirled around to where the two peeked around the kitchen entrance.

“Yeah, he dragged us to several stores because he knew that you didn’t like (least favorite chocolate) that all the chocolate stores were selling.”

When you glance up at Daichi he’s staring daggers at his friends, no, with how they betrayed him there's no way they're still his friends. You burst into laughter as Daichi sighs, practically leading and pushing them out the door, ignoring their indignant words and amused apologies.

“Wait wait, let them have their hot chocolate before they go.” You managed, trying so hard to maintain a neutral expression and it didn't take more than a glance for the rest of them to figure that out.

Still, daichi lets you take his hand and lead him to the living room as you bring the hot chocolate to the living room.

They chat enthusiastically, smiling as they talked about their lives this year and reminisced the past, though the pair stayed for less time than usual before sending winks and step out the door before you can even mention the cake.

Finally it’s the two of you alone.

“I’ll be right back.” You tell him, leaving your place next to him on the couch. You finally emerge with the birthday cake, grinning widely at Daichi who's eyes went from your face, then to the cake and your face once more as he took in the sight.

“You made me a cake?”

He said that he didn’t care for his birthday or cakes and he was sure he didn’t but seeing you beaming with a cake that had his name on it made it impossible to fight the growing smile on his lips.

“Happy birthday, dai.”

You set the cake at the kitchen table and he made his way over you at a slower pace, his eyes practically forming hearts at the gesture. It was his favorite flavor with a little too many candles lit to form a heart around a silhouette of...himself?

He couldn't help himself, “why is there so many candles?” You laughed, pulling out a chair for him and then yourself.

“That was suga’s idea.”  

“I should’ve expected that.”  He takes a deep breath, you swear there’s a boyish glint to his eyes as he tries to blow out all the candles. And with the soft halo of the flames dancing in front of his eyes you can't help but stare.

When all the mini flames are out, you're tackled in a big hug, his strong arms only loosening the plant a kiss on your forehead, and then your lips, as he gazes into your eyes.

“Alright, alright, I get it.” You laughed as he tried to plant another kiss on your face a competitive expression now resting on his face as you try to weasel out of his grip.

You meet him halfway this time, littering his face with your annual birthday kisses and finally you guys are eating the cake, the cake that was maybe a bit too big for just the two of you.

By the time you guys are done you two are beyond full and you shift to rest your head on his shoulder, you noticed him shut his eyes, releasing a jaw shattered wide yawn, rubbing at his eyes.

”You tired, baby?”

“Hm? Not at all.” his eyes are about to flutter shut again when he straightens. “Oh yeah, the lights went up today.”

“On the huge Christmas tree?” He nods and before you could worry about him being tired, he’s leading you to the door.

During Christmas, only half of the lights on the huge Christmas tree in the town square would be lit, but all the lights would go up on the 31st leading up to the new year countdown.

You loved seeing all the lights and daichi confessed to you under the canopy of the tree several long years back, another special place and memory among others you plan to hold onto beyond this year.

The boyish glint to his eyes makes it return as you two head down to the square and he can’t keep his eyes off your expression of wonder as you try to drink in all the decorations and lights strung on the railings of the path leading to the square, snow crunching underfoot.

His arm is wrapped around your shoulders as you two admire storefronts, and fireworks. Your faces are flushed but ever so lively as people milling around wait in anticipation for the beginning of the new year.

Though with the slow pace and nonstop conversation as pillowy white substances dance in front of your faces as you guys speak, it's clear that none of you two are ready for it to end just yet.

It’s when you finally reach the square that Daichi approaches a couple and asks them to take a picture and comes to your side that you realize that you are already smiling. You’ve been smiling the whole way and when he mentions his cheeks aching you realize he has been smiling the entire way too.

“Can you believe that in a few hours a new year still start?”

“and what if I said yes?” Ever the logical boyfriend. You swatted at his shoulder and he laughed, a beautiful hearty sound. He’s smiling a million watt smile when he catches your hand mid swat, lacing his fingers through yours, giving a light squeeze.

You squeeze his hand in return and Daichi wishes so desperately that the world would slow down, that it would pause for just a moment just once. You catch him staring and he can't help but want it to all stop with even more desperation.

God, your beautiful. So beautiful. And he'd be damned to not tell you that you were and ask you to be with you for next year, and the year after and the following...

You guys inch towards the tree as the countdown finally rings through the square. People begin to chant the numbers in unison and the smile on your face grows in anticipation. You turn to Daichi who is once more already staring at you, love swimming in his brown irises.

5,

4,

3,

2,

1, the numbers ring in your ears and just as you make out the number 1 his lips have already met yours.

The same Daichi who preferred to kiss you in the privacy and comfort of his home, kissing you so passionately that you almost feel dizzy.

You can practically taste the sweetness of the cake when he finally, ever so slowly and you realize he's trying to preserve the moment pulls away, seconds into new year.

“I can’t wait to spend another year and birthday with you for the rest of my life.”

With Daichi, there’s no doubt that another amazing year was on its way, and honestly there was no one you’d prefer spending it than with him.

And he realizes as you repeat his words, cheerfully adding your own input that there's no need to rush because you weren't going anywhere, and your special moments and memories will only continue on.

Its more than an hour past midnight when he lets out another wide yawn and his movements are sluggish as he turns off the light and joins you on the couch you were lying down on.

“Finally tired, my love?” You tease as you open your arms and he lays down next to you, wrapping his arms around you, resting his head on your chest. “I’m not tired…I’m,” he goes silent and soon his chest is rising and falling and you smile fondly down at him.

“First night of the new year on the couch?” You whisper and as if sensing the bullying he shifts a bit, stirring for a moment, “I love…you.” He mumbles as fatigue washes over you. “I love you too, dai.”

To a new year, more special memories, times you hope will last forever and embarrassing moments you tried to regret or think of as a funny memory down the line.

The new beginning marked after the clock passes on one special day to the next. And until the next beginning is marked, theres so much tiny and huge moments to experience. Together.

“Happy new year.”

a/n: hey hey hey besties, today is daichis birthday so I thought I’d do a Drabble for him & happy new year, wishing you guys the very best & thank you for both reading & coming this far in your day to day lives. I’m so proud of you 🥺💝. Good luck for what’s to come and lots of love from lumi <3 LAST POST OF THE YEAR LETS GOOOO-

request status: open !