#but if you're dealing with achilles

[ozzgin]

pls pls pleas please Please PLEase PLEASE *PLEASE*!!!!!!!!!!! 🥺🥺😘😏😋🥺💞🙏😞😭🥜🥜🥜🫣🫡 Yan! Teacher x reader? It can be uncannon and not connected to the rest of the story but PLEASE..

I gen/ have a lady boner for this elegant yet horn dog of a man. I just *KNOW* he'd treat me better than any of the young and foolish classmates in that school.

Yan!teacher : (sweating buckets, trying to hold back while also being taken aback)

Me, who broke into his house to get a smooch: Uh. You come here often?

Yan!teacher : This.. is my house.

Me : And this is the house of my dreams, Baba grill. I want you to bend me over tonight, tell I'm good, then take me out to dinner, marry me the next morning, buy a quaint cottage in the country side, make me pregnant, adopt a dog who we will name Bartholomew Chungus Roofus Goofy Achilles Pedro Pascal, open a bakery, then I go into labour and give birth, afterwards we'll renew our vows and go on a grand vacation at Italy where you'll feed me gelato and panacotta as I rock our triplets to sleep and play with the dog

Yan!teacher : I'd love to bu- wait what?

Me : 👁️🫦👁️

I'll tell you what, I've always wanted to write a Yandere Professor. He'd be a theoretical physicist, teaching standard courses at the local university. Terribly passionate about his research, sometimes to awkward extents. He's surprisingly flirty and cheeky for someone of his age and status, but he's quick to remind you what kind of nerd you're dealing with.

The only reason I've been postponing it is because I wanted to dust off my own knowledge, so it can be as authentic as possible.

[sushiyuzu]

a fake relationship

nanami kento x reader

a/n: interested to read more? click here to read the book!

the school bell rings, echoing through the hallways as students spill out of classrooms, chatting, laughing, and groaning over the latest assignments. you're in no particular rush, meandering through the crowded corridor on your way to your locker. most of your friends have already left, probably heading to the café nearby or the library. but you? you have a different kind of problem to face—one that's been plaguing you all semester: math.

you open your locker with a sigh, tossing in a textbook and pulling out your crumpled math test results. a large, angry red 48/100 glares back at you from the paper, and you wince. it's the third failed math test this month. no matter how hard you try, no matter how many formulas you attempt to memorize, numbers just don't seem to click in your brain. you stuff the paper into your bag, muttering under your breath.

"great. just great."

you're not dumb—far from it. you're a pretty solid student in most subjects, but math? math is your achilles' heel. and you can already picture the conversation with your parents at dinner tonight. they've been on your case about your grades, and if they find out about another flunked exam, well... that's a disaster you're not ready to deal with.

as you slam your locker shut with more force than necessary, you catch a glimpse of nanami kento. he's standing at his locker not far from yours, his face set in that calm, unreadable expression he always wears. neat, composed, a little too perfect, really. you've never spoken more than a few words to him in class, but he's hard not to notice. he's the kind of guy who seems like he has everything figured out—top of the class, disciplined, never flustered by anything.

you're about to turn away when a shrill voice rings through the hallway.

"nanami-kun!"

a group of girls is lingering nearby, one of them stepping forward with a bright, flirtatious smile. "are you free after school? maybe we could study together?"

the girl's voice is sweet, her smile almost rehearsed, like she's done this a hundred times before. it's no secret that nanami is one of the most sought-after guys in school, and girls are always trying to get his attention.

you pause, pretending to fix your bag as you watch out of the corner of your eye, already knowing how this will go.

without even looking up from his locker, nanami replies, "i'm busy."

his voice is polite but detached, and the girl's smile falters. she quickly tries to recover. "oh, well... maybe another time?"

nanami doesn't respond, continuing to organize his books like she's not even there.

the girl fidgets awkwardly before giving up, walking back to her friends with a disappointed shrug. you can hear them whispering and giggling as they retreat down the hall. you almost feel bad for her—but at the same time, it's no surprise. nanami has this way of effortlessly deflecting attention, and yet, that only seems to make people more interested in him.

you snap out of your thoughts, turning to leave, but as you sling your bag over your shoulder, you feel a presence beside you.

"hey."

the deep, calm voice startles you, and you turn to find nanami kento standing right next to you. your heart skips a beat. you're not used to him being this close, let alone speaking to you directly.

"uh, hey?" you reply, trying not to sound as confused as you feel. why is nanami kento talking to you of all people?

he glances around briefly, then lowers his voice, his expression serious. "i need to ask you for a favor."

your eyebrows shoot up. a favor? from nanami? you're intrigued, to say the least. "what kind of favor?"

he hesitates for a moment, his eyes flicking back to the group of girls still lingering at the end of the hallway. then, with that same calm composure, he says, "i need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."

what?

for a second, you're sure you misheard him. "excuse me?"

"a fake relationship," he clarifies. "it'll be temporary."

you blink at him, completely thrown off. this was not the kind of favor you were expecting.

"okay..." you say slowly. "why would you need a fake girlfriend?"

nanami's eyes shift toward the group of girls again, the faintest hint of annoyance crossing his features. "lately, i've been getting a lot of unwanted attention," he explains, his voice low but steady. "it's distracting, and i don't have the time or interest to deal with it."

you take a second to process his words, your mind still trying to catch up. the most composed, serious guy in school needs a fake girlfriend to fend off admirers? it almost sounds ridiculous. but then again... you look at him—stoic, serious, perfectly put-together. you can see why people would constantly try to break down his walls.

"and you think this'll work?" you ask, crossing your arms skeptically.

nanami's expression doesn't change. "yes. people will lose interest once they see i'm already in a relationship."

you chew your lip, still unsure. "okay, but... why me?"

he turns his gaze to you, his eyes steady. "because you're not caught up in that drama. you're not the type to spread rumors, and you're not interested in unnecessary attention."

he has a point. you've always kept a low profile, and you don't really involve yourself in school gossip. but still...

"and what's in it for me?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

nanami doesn't hesitate. "i'll help you with whatever you need—homework, projects. you need help with math, don't you?"

your stomach flips at the mention of math. of course, nanami would know that. he's in your class, after all, and you've failed more than enough tests for it to be common knowledge by now. but still, hearing it from him—someone who probably never struggles with any subject—stings a little.

"how do you know that?" you mutter, crossing your arms defensively.

nanami raises an eyebrow, unfazed. "i've seen your test results. you're not bad in other subjects, but math is holding you back."

you're about to snap something back, but you stop yourself. he's right. you've been struggling in math all semester, and it's been dragging your grades down. if you fail one more test, your parents will lose it.

"and you're offering to tutor me?" you ask, the skepticism still clear in your voice.

nanami nods. "in exchange for this arrangement."

the offer is tempting—really tempting. it's not like you have any better ideas for improving your math grades, and having nanami, the top student, help you? that could actually save your skin. but at the same time, agreeing to a fake relationship with him? it's crazy.

you glance at nanami again. his expression is calm, composed, but there's something else in his eyes—something genuine. he's not asking for this because he wants attention or drama. he just wants peace.

after a long pause, you sigh. "fine. i'll do it."

for the first time, nanami's expression softens just a little—a flicker of relief, maybe. "thank you."

you smirk, a little more at ease now. "but if you flunk me in math, this deal is off."

nanami chuckles lightly—something you've never heard from him before. "you won't."

as you walk down the hallway together, the weight of the deal you've just made starts to sink in. you're about to dive into something completely unexpected, and who knows how this will all play out?

but one thing's for sure: your school year just got a whole lot more interesting.

[yanderefarm]

Ok there's vampire ares, but what about vampire or even pet Achilles, sadistic vampire reader who holds very popular "parties" where all the guests drink, have sex, and watch reader torture humans and vampires alike, maybe even add a casino element with people placing bets on who will scream loudest, last the longest without passing out, etc

cw;; blood drinking, blood, dehumanization, torture, needles, drugs

i was possessed to write this. i love this whole concept so much.

some vampires are kind to humans, they remember their own humanity and treat humans with care like domestic animals. some vampires have either forgotten or abandoned their original humanity in favour of making the weak suffer. and with modern technologies it's easier to push these humans to the absolute breaking point.

you're not so cruel as to hate humans, they make you money and entertain you after all, but you do enjoy hearing a human's will break. that's why you have your nightclub, an underground place where deranged perverts go to torture humans. human pets who were abandoned, human uprising activists, a greedy blood bank employee, a misbehaving human cattle, anything you wanted could be found right here. it was a demon's slice of heaven and the humans pit of hell.

you were enjoying the screams of the damned from your vip seat, blood wine in hand and two of the most sadistic female vampires you knew on your arms. they knew staying near you would mean they got a taste of the best humans to break. one of your usual suppliers approached your seat with 3 humans following behind him. two of them were clearly pets, numbers written on their faces to signify lot numbers, while the third and most beautiful wasn't marked or scarred he looked out of place.

"this was their last day on the auction. no one wants em so-"

"what about him."

the other vampire looks back at the pretty boy and sighs.

"he's a return. his owner complained he doesn't talk, doesn't scream, doesn't even get afraid."

your eyebrow raised in curiosity. you took his chain from the man, yanking the beautiful man closer to you.

"what's your name?"

"i told you he doesn't talk, sir. dunno how mu-"

"achilles."

his pretty voice was like honey. your supplier looked at him shocked while a smirk crossed your lips. you sat up fully intrigued by your new beautiful guest.

"achilles~ how come you're here and not being pampered and adored by one of the nice guys?"

"because I'm too beautiful to waste on them."

you laughed at that, the other vampires sheepishly joining in. as your laughter died you pulled him down to your level by his chain. your cold fingers gently brushed some of his pretty red curls out of his face.

"is that what the one who abandoned you said? or do you really believe it?"

it was amusing how naturally his stoic face leaned into your gentle touch.

"he told me that. he also said beautiful things, like me, look best when we're screaming and crying."

as if to punctuate his cold delivery you could hear a harsh thwack followed by a human's sobbing screams. you ran your thumb over his soft skin down to his pretty lips.

"that's why you didn't scream for him right? wouldn't make a noise, wouldn't cry. no, not you. you won't let these sick vampire bastards win. am i close?"

"i need to get home to my family. nothing he did to me was so unbearable that i couldn't endure for them."

your sadistic smirk turned to a genuine smile as you looked him over.

"... I'll make you a deal. you show me your worth and I'll protect your family."

he remained quiet contemplating it for a minute.

"if my worth is screaming and being in pain i don't know how well i can preform."

you let out a huff in amusement.

"don't worry I'll take care of your suffering if you agree to this."

"i would like to talk more about the terms but i just have to prove to you i have some value? is that correct?"

"that's correct."

"will any value be sufficient even if it's not what you're picturing?"

"hmmm... yes. even if your only value is your blood or your good looks. i still hope you'll endeavor to show me more than that, though."

"so i succeed by simply agreeing. you just hope to motivate me to be pushed to the edge?"

"yes. that's right. so, do you agree?"

"i agree."

you paid the supplier for all three of them, leaving the lesser two to the female vampires by your side. they both went about feeding on their new toys first while you sat achilles in your lap.

after a short while of just sitting there a waiter came up to you with a silver platter. in the middle of the platter was a syringe filled with a hot pink liquid. achilles eyed it, clearly intimidated by the sight but there was nothing he could do to stop you from picking it up. your other hand grabbed his jaw roughly, forcing his lips to purse.

"open."

he hesitated before he opened his mouth.

"tongue out."

his pretty wet tongue slipped out of his mouth giving him a slutty look there in your hands. pretty boy. you released his jaw but he kept his mouth open like a good boy. you tapped the syringe twice before bringing the sharp tip to his outstretched tongue. you didn't hesitate even as he flinched, plunging the whole thing into his tongue.

one of the girls looked at you both with wide eyes. "the whole thing??"

you gently removed the needle and placed it back on the silver platter, dismissing the waiter.

"what was it...?"

"if he's going to be amusing he'll need the whole thing. now get up and strip."

achilles hesitated again, his body actually frozen as he stood there brow furrowed. you let out a heavy sigh and began to unbutton his shirt.

"what... was it...?"

"it was something that will make you feel good. it makes your whole body sensitive."

you pulled his shirt down over his shoulders and discarded it to the side.

"is it dangerous to use all of it..."

"no. it'll just hit you really hard. it's ok, I'll take care of you but you do need to do exactly as I say. now take your pants off."

he stood up doing as you ordered with his cold face. he went to sit in your lap again but instead you lead him to the side of the couch and told him to stand there with his hands behind his back. he could feel everyone in the club staring at his naked body and you noticed his soft cock twitch slightly. you smirked before giving him a quick kiss and returning to your seat.

it took about 20 minutes before you finally heard a sound from achilles. you'd just been sharing one of the other pets, indulging in the free blood, when you heard the softest sluttiest whimper you've ever heard. you looked over to see your forgotten game with his entire body flushed and his cock stiff and leaking. he was clearly trying to stand still but even the slightest bit of breeze made him squirm and flinch. your eyes widened and your hunger that had been successfully satisfied so far tonight was like a fresh tidal wave. you needed to sink your fangs into him. you needed him screaming.

you got up abandoning everything too transfixed on your pretty toy to care. your breath was hitched when you reached inches from his wanting body, your fingers hovered over his skin. he looked over at you his stoic face now red and his eyes had hearts in them. he was like a masterpiece of want and desire you didn't even want to touch him for fear of ruining his perfect body. you hesitantly ran your fingers over his soft pink lips and a sultry moan flowed from his lips like honey.

everyone in the club was staring at you both now. everyone wanted this pretty piece of ass. you felt an odd twinge of jealousy and possessiveness strike. you pulled your hand away from your toy's lips instead grabbing his wrist roughly. god he let out another slutty moan. you couldn't stand that everyone could hear him. you started dragging him forcefully to your private room. as you did you noticed his feet struggling to keep up with your quick steps. you surprised yourself when you slowed down and matched his pace.

god you were already whipped for this pretty human.

as soon as you were in the private room you shoved him into the door, your mouth swallowing his slutty moans with a passionate kiss. his whole sensitive body twitched and jerked as his cock spilled cum onto his stomach. fuck. you pulled away to look at his mess leaving him gasping for air. he looked down as he tried to compose himself and the sight of his stomach covered in cum made him whimper. fuck.

you slammed your hand over his mouth hitting his head against the door.

"you're gonna fucking scream."

[longagoitwastuesday]

Anyway, if anyone is interested, Borges' "Pascal's Sphere" plays with a few of the topics/motifs I saw in the moment in which Gojo first extends his Domain that made me rewatch the same five minutes of that one episode over and over for days, like a broken watch rewinding but unable to move on. It's also just a few paragraphs long

Every day I am haunted by the fact JJK could be amazing but it will be just idk Bleach or something

[sky-is-the-limit]

It's pretty simple, really. Don't get romantically involved with a fellow soldier. The task force is a unit, a second family. Any other relationship developing could create unnecessary, dangerous complications and you know damn well you cannot afford that. You worked hard to fit in, you worked hard to prove that you, a woman, can do as much as the next man in line for the job. Hell, in your case, even better.

"Weakness."

CW: F!reader x Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick +18/NSFW/F!Masturbation

P.s I'm not a writer!

Rules, rules, rules.

Your Captain's words ring in your head every time one of these unwanted thoughts creep into your mind. "One of the best sniper shooters I've ever got to work with." You're proud of your accomplishments, of your resilience and brain when it comes to work, always giving your best self to get the task done, to make sure you have your team's back, to never let anyone down and above all, yourself.

No one can be perfect though, right? Everyone has an Achilles' heel, a weakness strong enough to take the bravest man down, to make someone forget all the important attributes that make an obedient soldier and that's exactly what he was to you. A weakness. The name that answers to all your desires, a thought engraved permantently in your brain, never disappearing no matter how hard you've tried. And you have.

Countless nights when you had given in the advances of a drunken stranger, hoping that it will be enough to forget him, to get lost in the moment with someone whose name or face don't even matter. The only reason you let another man kiss you, taste you, touch body.. is so you can feel something real. Something that isn't your imagination where he's the only one always present.

The worst part of this? It's not just you indulging into this madness. Perhaps if it was one-sided, it'd be easier for you to bury it in the depths of your mind. Only allowing yourself to feel it late at night when you're alone in your bed, the only witness to your secret being your fingertips and his name leaving your mouth softly, like a desperate prayer for salvation. It's not just you though.

/ / /

"That blondie over there is practically undressing you with her eyes, Garrick."

There it is. That uncomfortable feeling in your stomach that makes you want to disappear from the surface of the earth. It happens every damn Friday when you and the boys hang out at the nearest pub. Always the same scenario, always a different girl, never you.

You should be used to it by now, and yet the way Soap nudges him to go over and leave with someone else tonight still stings. You want to punch that smirk off of Johnny's face but it's not his fault. You wish for that woman to fall on her ass, embarass herself but it's not her fault. You crave for him to finally snap, forget about the rules and drag you back to his car so he can fuck you with all that desperation that has been building up inside both of you. He won't though and it's not his fault.

"Nah, not my type mate." Any other woman would feel relieved to hear this. Hear the man she wants so badly turn down the chance to leave with a pretty girl for the night but not you. Maybe it'd be easier if you got to see him flirting with a stranger, his hand finding it's way to her waist, flirty whispers foreseeing a promising night between them.. Maybe something would crack, maybe jealousy would work it's trick and get you to stop thinking about him. Not Kyle though.

He spits out that sentence like it's no big deal, his piercing brown eyes staring into yours, never breaking eye contact as the words leave his mouth. If Soap wasn't so distracted, mumbling with frustrated jealousy that Gaz always gets the attention of the prettiest girls, he'd be able to see why he always turns them down.

He knows damn well what he's doing. Like there's an unspoken bet between the two of you, of who's gonna break first and he has to win it. The look in his eyes, confirming your suspicions that he also thinks of you when he's alone, the way his lips part slightly every time you stand up to go get another drink, the sight of your barely covered thighs right in front of him.

He wants you and that's the worst part. Just like every night, this one ends the same. With you two parting ways in the cold corridor, your only company his presence in your thoughts. At least his room being next to yours could mean that you fall asleep facing each other and that's adds some sense of comfort to your loneliness.

/ / /

Another sleepless night finds you alone in your sheets, the moonlight being the only thing illuminating your room as the soft sound of the rain pours down outside, reminding you that Autumn is finally here. It has become your habit, a lonely, desperate routine where you just lay there, thinking of him. Quite frankly, you don't even care that his room is right next to yours, that if the walls are thin enough maybe he can hear you touching yourself to the thought of him.

It's a deluded way to cope with all the desire filling up your body, feeling your core pulse and twitch as your fingertips find their way down to your clit and you wonder. How would his touch feel, how would he do it..

"Fuck, Gaz" a soft whine escapes your lips, your movements picking up the pace, making your hips back up and down against the bed, craving friction, craving him.

Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick is a passionate man. Whether it's a mission, a workout, hanging out with his friends.. He always lives in the moment, full of energy and a tremendous thirst for adrenaline. Always so eager for action. There's no doubt in your mind that that's exactly how he'd do you.

"I need you, fuck-" You admit to yourself breathlessly, sucking on your own finger before slowly bringing it down to wet your nipple, sending a shiver down your spine as you drag your fingertips through your own slick arousal.

You're a mess. Suddenly the cool temperature of the room turns into unbearable heat, sweat dripping down from your forehead, hair messy against your pillow as you buck up your hips against your palm, biting down on your bottom lip in an unsuccessful attempt to be quiet but as you get closer to your climax, you can't control it.

"Gaz-" Your mind travels back to earlier in the afternoon when you walked in on him working out at the gym, a pair of black shorts hanging low from his hips with a matching bandana on his forehead to keep the sweat from dripping down on his face. He caught you watching, your eyes were glued on his defined arms, occasionally wondering off to his chest then down to his abdomen. How can you not when he looks like that?

"Alright there, Y/L/N?" God, that smile will be the death of you, the sight of his fangs driving you insane that you can't help but wonder what they'd feel like sucking down on your neck. It'd be funny to think that you could ever scarcely deal with the attraction you feel towards him.

Suddenly it's hard to breathe, your thighs start to tremble whilst your fingers stroke your clit faster, you can feel it coming. God, his hands, his fingers.. The thought gets you to bring one finger back to your mouth, wetting it with the tip of your tongue. Would he do that? Stuff his fingers in your mouth while he's buried deep inside of you? A soft moan fell from your lips at the thought of it, pinching your nipple as your eyelids flutter to the sensation.

You're so lost in pleasure that you can barely hear the first knock on the door, thinking that it's your imagination playing tricks on you. The second one is louder making your hand jolt away from your thighs, a swell of embarrassment rising inside you.

"Shit." You mumble quietly before throwing on the oversized t-shirt that you normally sleep in before checking the clock on the wall. It's way too late for social calls unless it's an emergency. Another knock on the door snaps you out of it and without making sure that you're presentable, you open it.

"Gaz?" He doesn't look distressed, quite the opposite with his arms crossed over his chest, head titled to the side as he takes in the sight in front of him with the same smirk that makes your knees want to give in every time. So, no emergency then.

"It's late, what are you doing here?" You try your best to appear as if you were asleep, that would justify the-

"God, you're a mess Y/N." He may have his usual playful look on his face but his tone suggest something different. He's not teasing you for your state, not this time. It's like he's trying to catch his breath, eyes travelling down to your bare thighs and back to meet yours before he takes a step forward, leading to you taking one back.

"You're not as quiet as you think you are." Oh.

"I don't know what you're talking about." You mumble quietly, trying to avoid his gaze. Though your alone time was cut short before you could finish what you've started, the anticipation and thrill fill your body once again, like you never stopped touching yourself. This is what he does to you.

"Thing is, Y/N.." Kyle takes another step towards you, closing the door behind him without breaking eye contact like his life dependent on it.

"When you start a game.." His hand reaches out to caress your wrist softly before taking it into his hand, lips parted as his suggestive voice spreading a warm heat on your cheeks.

"Be brave enough to finish it."

[moonstruckme]

i love almost everything about rainy days and i was wondering if you could write something where reader is lying in the grass while sprinkles of rain are drizzling over them bc it makes them feel calm and remus finds them is confused but either joins in or maybe sits next to them with an umbrella while they do their thing

Thanks for requesting lovely! This got very sappy haha but I hope you like it <3

Remus Lupin x fem!reader ♡ 661 words

The earth never smells as sweet as when it rains. Even when it’s only drizzling, like now, everything about the world seems soothed. You can practically feel the grass underneath you perking up, the flowers gulping eagerly, the earthworms relaxing into newly softened soil. 

You’re enjoying the cool sprinkling of raindrops on your face, having resigned yourself to having to wash the mud out of your hair and clothes later to lie on the ground, face tipped reverently towards the weeping sky. 

You hear the squish of footsteps coming towards you, but you don’t open your eyes until Remus speaks. “Dove, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I think,” you tease him, “that if I lie here long enough, I’ll grow moss.” 

He chuckles. “You’ll get sick, is what’ll happen.” 

“That’s an old wives’ tale.” 

“Hypothermia isn’t.” 

“Remus.” You reach up, wrapping a hand around his ankle. Your fingers are delicate around his achilles’ tendon. “C’mon, it’s beautiful out.” You close your eyes and inhale deeply, imagining you can feel life blooming in your lungs. 

When you open them again, Remus is looking down at you like you’re a particularly pretty puzzle, half befuddlement and half fondness. 

“You should try it,” you encourage him. “Lay down with me.” 

Remus mutters something about you both catching cold, but a moment later you're shoulder-to-shoulder and hip-to-hip, the only warm parts of you where you’re touching him. You lie in silence, listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the earth and the susurrus of the trees as droplets fall from leaf to leaf. You feel the weight of the clouds over you like a blanket, pressing you gently into the soil as it shifts about to make room for you. 

“Isn’t it nice?” you whisper after a while. 

He hums in reply, and you know that he’s feeling the lulling effects of the drizzle. After a moment, the rain stops, and you open your eyes to find Remus leaning over you, his head shielding yours from the rain even as it drips from his nose and the ends of his hair onto your face. You look at each other for a moment, and you admire the way water droplets have caught in his eyelashes and slickened the contours of his face. He seems to be doing a similar perusal of your features, because a tiny smile graces his lips before he touches them to yours. 

You tilt your chin slightly upwards to meet him, but there’s no hunger in the kiss, no desperation. Only a mutual adoration and a sense of shared understanding and gratitude for the fact that you get to experience this world together, at the same time, in the same place. That you’ve found each other in time to lie on the grass on this rainy day. 

Remus’ mouth is warmer than yours and the rainwater is sweet on his lips. Soon you’re smiling too, uncontrollably, and you have to break the kiss before your teeth can clank against his. 

“What’re you giggling about?” he asks fondly. 

“I just—” you laugh, shoulders shaking against the earth “—it’s such a thing, you know? Kissing in the rain. It’s such a cliche.” 

“I think what you mean to say,” Remus says, leaning down to peck you once more, but giving up when you only descend into giggles again, “is that I’m a classic romantic and you love it.” 

“I do,” you say sincerely, grinning up at him. “You are.” 

He rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “I’ll make you a deal. We lie here for a couple more minutes, and then we go inside, shower, and you let me make you some tea.” 

You have the urge to grab Remus by the collar and press your lips to every inch of his face until there’s nothing left of him but rainwater and kisses. But there’ll be time for that later. “If you insist,” you say, and he smiles as he lays back down beside you. 

[astraystayyh]

You and I

In which you wrongly lash out at Hyunjin and have to mend it back. Human character who makes mistakes and apologizes for them.

You've always envied the people who seek others' warmth when they are feeling down. They seem to become almost translucent, allowing their sadness to seep away from them as their loved one comforts them- as their words and touch wrap around them, leaving no room for sadness or anger to exist anymore.

You, however, are quite the opposite.

Whenever an emotion overwhelms you, you instantly withdraw yourself, refusing for anyone to approach you. You can't let anyone touch you or talk to you, not when the feel of your clothes against your skin irritates you, and you swear you can hear the sound of each blood droplet rushing through your veins, unbearably loud.

Hyunjin doesn't know this.

How could he know? How do you tell someone you've been dating for one month that something as simple as regulating your emotions drains you? That you need to hide, for a couple of hours, sometimes days, just to feel a semblance of normalcy again.

So, you kept it hidden, trying your best to still your feelings; akin to the surface of an undisturbed river. It was easy to do so when being with Hyunjin brought you immense joy. It almost lulled you into thinking that you'd stay this way forever- happy, content. But you are human, and you can't escape the very essence of it- emotions in their rawest form.

You wish you could have told him- that you'd prefer being alone and that you'd talk to him when you're feeling well again. But it isn't time for regrets now. Not when the thoughts in your head swirl chaotically, making the world around you blur. You're overwhelmed, by your studies and a voice in your head that never truly quits down. And you can feel Hyunjin looking at you from the corner of your eye.

He's been worried about you all night, asking you if you were okay and if there was something he could do to help. But every question seemed to drive you over the edge, pushing you closer and closer to the brink of exploding.

"Baby, are you sure there is nothing I can do?" he asks for the umpteenth time, placing a hand on your shoulder. His concern is evident, stemming from a genuine place of care. And you want to slap a hand on your mouth to stop the words from tumbling out, but you don't.

"You know what I need Hyunjin? For you to leave me alone. Is that so hard to understand for you?" you question, looking straight ahead. You sense him physically recoil at your words, hand swiftly retracting back near his side. "I already told you what to do, and you're just making it worse. I can't deal with this right now."

A low chuckle emanates from him, it sounds cold and distant- nothing like you've ever heard from Hyunjin.

"Deal with this? You mean, deal with me?" he stands up abruptly, hand running angrily through his hair. "You know what? You've made it abundantly clear what you needed from me. I'm just fucking stupid for being worried." He grabs his jacket, as his words pierce you like a bow shot by Achilles himself.

Really now? You brought this on yourself and now you're feeling sad? Did you expect him to apologize, beg for you? The voice in your head taunts you and your own gets caught in your throat. 'Im sorry, stay, I didn't mean to lash out' You want to plead, but you remain silent as if someone's robbed you of your ability to speak.

"I'm sorry for making it worse for you, you don't have to worry about it ever again," he sounds angry, but you can sense the underlying sadness in his words. Your eyes meet his and the look on his face tears you apart. You've never seen him so... stricken, so severely affected; by your own doing none the less.

Hyunjin slams the door behind him, as an ugly sob escapes your lips. You've hurt him, badly, you aren't sure how to fix it when you can't even fix yourself.

....

Two days have passed. Forty-eight hours of trying to sort out your thoughts, only to have them tangled even further. The reason why you were overwhelmed in the first place fades into the back of your mind. The only thing you could think of was Hyunjin.

He hadn't called or texted, not that you expected him to. He said you didn't have to worry about it anymore, so he's giving you space, lots of space at that. Isn't that what you wanted? It was, but not like this. Not at the expense of hurting him.

You look absolutely disheveled as you knock on Hyunjin's door. It's 5:47 pm, an odd time for reconciliation, at least that's what you hope will happen as Hyunjin opens the door.

He's seemingly taken aback at the sight of you. His eyes swiftly narrow, and you take an unconscious step back at the animosity in his gaze. "What do you want?"

"Can we talk, please?"

Hyunjin scrutinizes you for a moment, his expression guarded. He looks far better than you, but there are newfound dark circles under his eyes. You hope you aren't the cause behind him.

"Come in," he steps away and you enter, uncertainty hanging over the both of you like a heavy fog.

Hyunjin settles on the couch but you remain standing, pacing back and forth as you try to organize your thoughts. Everything you wanted to say seemingly vanished you when you needed it most.

"Sit down. You're making me dizzy," he finally says, rubbing his eyes tiredly. You oblige quickly, heels now tapping furiously on the ground.

"Would you like some water?" he asks after a while, and there is a timid softness in his words, one you clung to so you'd be able to breathe again.

"No, thank you." You lick your lips nervously. "Hyunjin, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you that way. I was mean and rude and I understand that I had hurt you. But it wasn't my intention. It's never ever my intention to hurt you. I care about you too much for that."

"People you care about shouldn't make things worse for you," he points out, refusing to meet your gaze.

"You aren't... I mean, it's not you. It's me."

"Really?" he arches an eyebrow at the stereotypical sentence and you groan, frustrated at your inability to articulate your regret properly.

"Look, I got overwhelmed and when I'm like this, I need to stay alone. It has nothing to do with you, or how I feel for you. And I feel for you a lot, and I'm so scared I'll lose you and I can't seem to speak well-" tears trail down your cheek and you wipe them away angrily. You brought this on yourself, you shouldn't cry on top of it.

"I'm so sorry, immensely sorry, Hyunjin. if you still want me, I promise you I will never do this again. I won't lash out at you, you don't deserve that and it was uncalled for. I'm really sorry."

His silence is deafening as you nervously pick at your cuticles, scratching them over and over in your anxiousness. Why isn't he saying anything?

"Okay, um..." you chuckle nervously, as the bulge in your throat threatens to swallow you whole. "I'll let you think of it. I'm so sorry again. And I'm sorry for coming before asking you if you were busy. I'm sorry to bother you and I'm- I'm sorry I'm this way." You hurriedly stand up, heading towards the door when a warm hand wraps around your wrist, stopping you in your tracks.

Hyunjin's arms circle your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder, anchoring you in place.

"When I'm sad or angry, being near you makes me feel better. It really does. I thought I could do the same for you. That's why I insisted on staying. But I shouldn't have. You and I are different, doesn't mean it's bad," he mumbles onto your neck, tightening his hold on you.

"You've hurt me a lot, but I forgive you because I want us to do better next time. No yelling. No harsh words, okay?"

"Okay. I'll do better. I'm so sorry. So sorry, Hyunjin, you have no idea."

"It's okay. We're good now."

"Really?" you turn around, clutching his arms tightly. "I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you, stop apologizing," he giggles softly, wiping away the tears trailing down your face.

"I'm sorry, I swear I won't do it again," you apologize again, burying your face in his chest. your tears dampen his shirt but you can't move away. Not that you could in the first place, since his hold on you only tightens further.

"I believe you. Stop crying, please."

"Okay, I'm sorry. God, I'm sorry for saying sorry."

"Shh, baby. No more crying. I missed you," Hyunjin admits softly, placing a gentle kiss on the top of your head.

"I missed you so much more. More than you know."

"Maybe we should start telling each other exactly how much, hm? Not leave it up to imagination."

"Okay, I will. I want to work on this with you. If you want."

"I want to. Couldn't sleep without you."

"I'm so sorry," it slips from your mouth before you can stop it, guilt overflowing from you in waves.

"I thought I told you to stop apologizing, hm?" he questions as he picks you up and spins you around, as a laugh escapes your lips, morphing into full-blown giggles. It is only when a genuine smile graces your lips that Hyunjin puts you down once again.

[blossom-works]

Mommy and Daddy Bear

"Chris! Claire!" Leon calls out to his friends. They are locked inside two Alcatraz jail cells. The Redfield siblings are pale, gritting their teeth from whatever is hurting them. The DSO agent tries to force the cells open, but they are locked shut.

"Look behind you, Leon." Claires points. Her arm is shaking, but she is determined to make her friend look behind him. Following her finger, Leon spots someone else in the cell behind him. The entire room is dark, so he turns on his flashlight.

"Babe!" Leon drops his flashlight and crawls to your cell. Like the Redflields, you are gritting your teeth in pain. Your skin is pale too. Leon reaches inside the cell to cup your cheek. Through his gloves, Leon can feel your rising temperature.

"What are you doing here? What happened? Where are the kids?"

Drowsy, you try your best to answer him. "They...They're with Helena. Some woman tried to ambush us but I managed to hold her off." Your wheezing worries Leon even more. There are two times Leon has seen you in a similar state. Both were when you gave birth to his children.

"Help! Get us out of here!"

Leon turns around and in Claire's cell is Leon's target.

"Antonia Taylor...I'll deal with your ass later." Screw his mission. His wife is more important than bringing in some rouge scientist. He needs to get his wife home to their kids.

Leon rubs your warm cheek as an act of comfort. "I'm gonna get you out of here, sweetheart. Don't worry."

Suddenly, the lights flicker on. Jill and Leon pull out their guns and point them in opposite directions. The man in charge, Dylan Blake, introduces himself and his insane plan to the entire group. One of his bio-drones stings Leon in the back of his neck, weakening the man. From your line of view, you see the same woman who tried to take your children jump down from the floor above.

"You bitch." You groan out. You wish you had your gun on you so you could shoot the woman between her eyes. The woman disarms your weakened husband and kicks him to your cell. Reaching your hand out, you squeeze Leon's shoulder.

"I get it now. The attack. The virus. You got them from Arias. That's why she's here." Leon wheezes out. The virus is coursing through his veins, slowly shutting his body down.

"Leon," You exhale. "That's her. That the bitch that tried to take the kids."

Dylan's voice echoes the large, empty room. "You killed poor Maria's father. It was only fair for her to take away your family, Leon. Unfortunately, we underestimated your wife's condition. Even at three months post-partum, she was able to put up a fight. Left a bruise or two on Maria. I've got to say my friend, you have yourself quite a catch."

"Screw you, you bastard!"

"My kids and wife are innocent! You had no right to go after them!"

Dylan goes on a tangent about how everything the BOW fighters have fought for was a lie. They are nothing but pawns for powerful people to use. Dylan nit-picks at each of them, even you.

"And poor Mrs. Kennedy...I feel bad for you the most. You married a man who is tied down to his endless, grueling job. He even got your family mixed into his mess. What kind of a man does that to his family?"

You defend your husband through your gritted teeth. "Leon didn't do shit to our family. You're the one who endangered our family, asshole! My husband does everything he can to protect us so kindly fuck off!"

Leon has always questioned his ability to protect his family. He is constantly gone throughout the year and for an unknown amount of time. Your husband tries his best to be there for his kids and for you, but work gets in the way. He even worries about being present in their early lives. Leon does not want to miss out on their important firsts. He never wants to end up as the dad who misses out on his kids' school events, games, and recitals. Dylan is good at hitting a man in his Achilles heel.

Maria grabs onto Jill's hand, making her drop her gun from the pressure she applies. To protect their only chance at survival, Leon pulls out a flash grenade and tosses it in the middle of the hallway. When the flash clears, Maria steps onto Leon's chest. The more pressure she uses, the more her heeled boots dig into his skin.

"Leave them, Maria. They're all about to turn anyway."

Reluctantly, the woman obeys. She haughtily looks down at you who is glaring at her. Cursing the woman for going after your family. Silently proclaiming your revenge.

All week and terrified, Leon does his best to distract you from the pain. "How are the kids?"

"They should be fine. Helena was with me when Maria decided to drop by. She took the kids while I stalled Maria." You grip your side in pain. "Man that bitch packs a mean kick."

"She," Leon groans. "She knew where we lived?" You nod. It astonishes you too. Everything about your family is classified thanks to DSO's protocol. Information about their agents and their families is pretty much untouchable with the exception of a few.

Being the angel she is, Rebecca shows up with her vaccines. "Thank goodness I made an extra." She tries to give Leon the vaccine first, but he rejects it. No way is he going to get better while his wife is still sick. When everyone is vaccinated, you all know the battle is almost over.

Picking up Jill's gun, you turn around to face your husband. "Let's go get that bitch."

---

The fight between you, Leon, and Maria is an exhausting one. It takes the two of you a while before your full strength is back. Something must have been injected into Maria because she is what you describe as a "super soldier". Maria is a good fighter, but she fucked with your family. She broke into your home. She tried to go after your precious kids and use them as leverage. The woman fucked with the wrong set of parents. And she put her nasty ass foot on your husband's face! So not cool!

When Leon regains his strength, he double-kicks Maria. His last kick is about to send Maria to her death, but you want to be the one to do it. You take the disheveled Maria and shove her from behind with your foot while bending her body down to a certain level of height. The metal rod sticking out, pierces through Maria's head, killing her instantly. You and Leon have peace of mind knowing that the woman after your family is dead.

Leon drags you away from Maria's body and brings you into his chest. Your hug only lasts a couple of seconds because the control room starts to shake.

"We are so going on vacation after this." You say.

Leon laughs and nods his head in agreement. You guys are definitely booking a trip when you get home. He hopes that Eri will not remember whatever happened in your home. Levi is only a few months old but his sister is two. Leon does not want Maria to be one of Eri's earliest memories. Leon can only hope that your maternal instincts protected Eri from early childhood trauma.

---

The fight on Alcatraz Island is over. The six of you sit outside as you wait for backup to arrive.

"Well...I know what I'm taking away from this."

"What's that?" Rebecca asks.

"Prison tours suck." Leon's dorky remark makes everyone laugh. You lightly shove him to the side before he swings his arm around your shoulder. "So, where we goin' for vacation, love?"

"You were serious about that?" Chris asks. Leon announced that he and his family were going on vacation after this mission, but the BSAA operative thought Leon just said that in the heat of the moment.

You hum. "France? I've always wanted to see the Palace of Versailles and I'm sure Eri would love to go to the Disneyland there."

Claire raises her hand like a kid. "OOO! I wanna go too!" As much as she travels because of one thing or another, it is never where she wants to go and do what she wants to do (besides survive of course).

"France sounds good. Jill? Rebecca?"

Jill shrugs her shoulders and Rebecca says that she could use a vacation after this week.

"Wait a damn minute, It's a family vacation. Kennedy only." You slap your husband's arm for being rude to your friends.

"C'mon babe, these guys are practically family. Besides, free babysitters."

Hearing "free babysitters" immediately changes Leon's mind. He loves his children, but having the chance to have their mother to himself is just too good to pass up. Eri is an easy kid to watch, she just needs to work on her potty-training skills. Levi is formula fed so he does not need to be on your boobs every two or three hours. This means that mommy and daddy can have some uninterrupted "mommy and daddy" time.

"Alright, fine but you guys are paying for yourselves."

---

Story inspired by "Family Matters" by @not-another-leon-blog

[st-el-la-luna]

Syrupy Sweet: Nasty Baker! Soap x Reader

tumblr deleted the orgininal for whatever reason. Luckily I tracked down a reblog. Edited and added some new stuff (love tumblr for deleting my most popular post, rip my 600+ notes 😔)

NSFW 18+

Soap is forced into an early retirement. He gets a job at a small bakery. And that's where he meets you

➔ gn!afab!reader (described as having boobs & wearing a bra), creepy soap, pervy soap, obsessive soap, lust at first sight, non/dub-con cum eating, dirty thoughts, fantasizing, humping inanimate objects, coming in panta

After so many years working in the military, serving his country. Protecting the people of the world from danger. The last thing Soap expected waas tyo be discharged so suddenly and with so little warning.

Too much time working with explosives has affected his hearing. A bad knife wound, or a torn Achilles tendon. A bad break that never healed right. A couple of head injuries too many. 

"An early retirement," they'd called it. Forced retirement more like it. They won't even tell him why, just that he's, "no longer fit for active duty," and that he should be grateful that they, "got him such a nice deal. That he gets to keep his pension."

He’s bitter about it, understandably, He likes his job. He’s good at it. They can’t be serious about this! His performance hasn’t been hindered. 

Regardless of the reason, in spite of his arguments, Soap is benched, permanently. Price is apologetic, Ghost is... Distant, though that's to be expected. Gaz promises to keep in touch. And he does keep in touch, they all do. 

But it’s ot the same. Soap still feels lonely. Bored. He doesn’t know what to do with himself or all the time he suddenly has on his hands. Doesn’t know how to operate without the adrenaline rush, without something to occupy his hands and minds. He figures that, maybe, he should get a job. A civilian job. Not one of those cushy desk jocky jobs Price had offered him out of pity, Soap wants a job far removed from the military. Really reintegrate himself into normal, civvie life. 

After a bit of searching along the drizzly cobbled Glasgowian streets, Soap finds a little coffee shop and bakery nearby. A tiny, quaint little thing, run by a sweet old woman who just doesn't have the energy to keep the doors open on her own. 

The place is situated on a street corner, tucked away from the busy traffic-filled streets. A soft bell jingles when the door opens. The sign is hsand painted. The place, though clearly aged, is well looked after, loved. The wood floors and counters shine; the tables and chairs, though antique, are comfortable, well made; plants hang from the ceiling; and a couple bookshelves line a wall, a leave a book take a book community library. 

Soap applies for the position and despite his lack of experience, he gets the job. Something about him reminding the old woman of her own son. 

At first, Soap worked there with her. Learning the ins and outs of the trade. How to make meringue and bread and macrons and creme brûlé. It's not easy, not at first, but with practice and time, he gets the hang of it. 

He figures it's because of his experience with explosives and chemistry. Baking is... Kind of the same thing. 

Eventually, he's left to tend to the day-to-day affairs of the bakery. The woman still writes all the recipes and makes some of the breads. But he's the one managing the front of the house. 

It's where he meets you. 

Sweet. Kind. Polite. Breathtaking. Irresistible. Sexy. You. 

You come tumbling into the warm bakery on a day when the weather is particularly bad, even for Scotland. Strong winds, cold rains threatening to turn to hail, thunder rumbling in the distance. 

You're soaked to the bone. Hair dripping. Shoes leaving puddles in your wake as each of your steps is announced by a wet squish. Your full cheeks bitten by the cold, fingertips numb, you offer him a blinding smile. 

He's more focused on your tits though. And your bra. Visible through your thin, now see-through, shirt. Black lace. He can see how your chest rises and falls with each breath you take. He can even see a small mole, or maybe a birthmark, on the swell just above the cup of your bra. He wants to sink his teeth into you. Wants to suck that mark into his mouth, chew and lick at it, make it bigger. Make it his. Make you his.  

He's drooling a little, he realizes absently. 

"Hey," you say softly, wiping at your nose with your sleeve. Hands curled into adorable little sweater paws as you try to wipe your wet hands off on your equally wet pants. 

Soap just stares at you, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Shell shocked. He... He’s never... You’re so... He... Holy fuck. 

Eventually, he clears his throat and manages a smile, stepping a bit closer to the counter so he can hide the growing tent in his pants. He forces himself to meet your eyes, rather than stare at your chest. 

But they’re staring at me, his innermost thoughts whine, wanton and airy in his mind. So desperate for attention... for love... ready to be suckled and bit and groped and pinched... 

Johnny leans forward, elbows resting on the counter and chuckles, flashing you an easy, charming smile. "Hey... Looking for something to warm you up?" 

Please say you've already found what you're looking for. Please say you want him to warm you up. With his hands. His mouth. His cock. Please say– 

"Yeah... Do you guys do hot chocolates?" 

"It's not on the menu, but I've got my own stash in the back," he says as he looks you up and down. But how could you blame him? What with your... everything! This is your fault, honestly. Dirty, dirty, little thing, wearing a white shirt in the rain. You know what you’re doing. Something sinister and heated bubbles in his gut. A thick, molten, syrupy desire, a primal need. A sort of instinctive pull, a fish lured in by the soft glow of an angler fish. A moth to a flame. Helpless but to stare, slack jawed, and fighting back drool, as you stare up at him expectantly, He smiles, his lips spreading further as he notices your flustered state, how you shift under his stare, biting your lip as he looks you up and down. Logically, it’s a nervous reaction. But, in Soap’s quickly spiraling mind, it’s a clean indicator that you want him too. "I'll make one, special for you, darling." 

Your eyes sparkle, your smile tears the breath from his lungs. "Really? Oh my god, thank you." 

Soap grabs a mug from the shelf and twirls it around his finger. He pulls up his sleeves, bunching them around his mid biceps. He flexes, purposefully, showing off the hard-earned muscles in his arms, the scars, the prominent veins, his big, strong hands. Hands that would look so perfect around your neck. Or holding your wrists. Or deep between your shaking legs reaching deep and good, far past anything you could reach on his own. He wonders if you’re a crier. He hopes that you are. 

Soap notices the way your eyes fall to the newly exposed skin. The way your jaw drops a little. The way you close your mouth. The way you glance away before quickly looking back. The way your throat bobs when you swallow... 

Holy shit. 

He can give you something else to swallow if you'll let him. Please let him. 

He rolls his hips against the counter and lets out a stuttering breath through his nose. His lips part. His tongue feels thick and leaden in his mouth. 

A moan bubbles in his throat, he disguises it as a cough. "Can..." He swallows another noise as he shifts his stance, achingly cock pressed against the teeth of his zipper. He makes a show of dusting the counter off, acting like he's tossed something into the bin so he can adjust his pants. "Can I get you anything else?" 

Your eyes, gorgeous eyes, scan the menu and the display. "A cinnamon bun?" You ask, pointing to the delicacy through the glass case. "Please and thank you." 

"You're in luck," he says, rutting against the counter again, as quick and harsh as he can without drawing attention. A part of him thoough, a sick, twisted, part of him that quickly spreads his mind like a weed, corrupting and poisoning, wants you to notice. Wants you to catch him. To punish him. "Just made a fresh batch... I've just got to head back and ice them." 

"Oh, I'm fine with one of them from the display, you don't need to trouble yourself." 

Oh, and how sweet you are... 

You keep chewing on your bottom lip. Part of him wants to stop you, tell you that that’s his job. Wants to bite your lips until they’re raw and swollen. 

He's fucked. Well and truly fucked. 

He smiles. You’re blissfully ignorant of the darkness lurking in his eyes. "No trouble at all... It's my pleasure." 

And it is his pleasure. Very much so. 

He comes out a bit later, a little out of breath. A little red in the face. A couple buttons undone on his shirt. 

"Hot in there," he says with a smile, setting the mug and a cinnamon bun on the counter in front of you. He sets another little plate down, a doughnut. Chocolate frosting with a cream filling, the sticky white substance still pouring from the hole. 

"I uh, I didn't order that," you say with a little, awkward laugh. "The doughnut." 

"I know you didn't, sweet thing... It's a new recipe I've been trying out. Trying to get right... Mind telling me what you think? It's free of charge, promise." 

"Oh," you blink, staring up at him with those wide eyes. God, how he wants to see those eyes watering. How he wants to see those eyes tearing up as you choke on his cock. How he wants to see you cry as he fucks you. You smile. "Thank you!" 

You pay for your drink and dessert and blink up at him from under your lashes. Your smile turns shy as you chew your lip. Stop it. Stop it. You’re going to make him lose his mind. You have to know what you’re doing to him. You have to. "Keep the change." 

He smiles. "Thanks." 

You find a seat in the corner and settle in the corner with a book. Soap keeps an eye on you the whole time. Watches you as much as he can without attracting unwanted attention. 

His cock throbs in his pants when he sees you take your first bite of the cinnamon roll. When you wipe at the icing with your thumb and lick it clean. He watches with delight as you eat and drink, rolling his hips against the counter in time with the bobbing of your throat as you swallow. 

Soap watches you with rapt attention as you enjoy the desserts. His lips parted, jaw slack, drooling. He wonders if he could convince you to lick it away. He is so glad that he stopped by the office to record the security footage. He’s going to be watching this over and over and... Fuck! 

With a final grind of his aching cock against the counter, his boxers are flooded with a wet, sticky warmth. He mourns it going to waste like that. His cum belongs in you. Your tight pussy, round ass, past your full lips. 

"How was it?" He asks, breathless, when you return your dishes to the counter. He shifts his stance, hiding the wet spot in his pants. He's not embarrassed that he came in his pants just from watching how your throat moves as you swallow. At watching the way that you lave your tongue over your fingers, licking the thick glaze away with a spit-slicked tongue. 

He just doesn't want to weird you out. 

"It was amazing," you say. "I really liked the balance of the sweet with the salty... Sometimes the sugar is just... Too much." 

"I agree," Soap says, breathless. He swallows a lump in his throat. "I agree." 

You become a regular from then on. He always gets you freshly baked items, from the back. No matter how busy. 

He's not supposed to alter the recipes. But he doubts the lady will mind that he made a change. All he did was put a little love into the recipes. A little bit of himself in the sour cream glaze. 

Keep your eyes peeled for a part 1.5 involving what soap did in the back room!

Comments and reblogs help motivate!

Masterlist!

[randoimago]

I see you’re doing Hades again! Could you do something with Zagreus x Reader where the reader is a smith in asphodel who offers to make Zagreus armor (maybe as a payment to get out of a contract of some kind?) and over a bunch of escape attempts they fall in love? Bonus points if reader is friends with Eurydice and Eurydice is So Done with the pining and obliviousness (it’s not like Zagreus shows up randomly, he picks which doors to open)

Mutual Pining

Fandom: Hades

Character(s): Zagreus

Note(s): I had a lot of inspo with this request so I hope you enjoy what I wrote <33

The first time he stepped through your door and saw you instead of Eurydice did cause some surprise to appear on his face. But he still greeted you politely. You introduced yourself and when he learned you're an armor smith, well that intrigued him.

And then he found himself visiting you more, bringing nectar as thanks for the upgraded bracers or shoes or whatever armor piece he chose when you gave him the options. He learned more about you and in exchange talked a bit about himself.

Then one day, he's going through the door in hopes to meet you. But then he sees Eurydice instead. It shouldn't surprise him too much since the doors don't exactly have the faces of who he'll be visiting. But he can't help feeling a tad let down. Zagreus still puts a smile on because he does like Eurydice a lot. She still sees through it and asks him about it.

Eurydice can't help but visit you after Zagreus leaves, you explaining that you were very busy and that's why your door wasn't available for him. But she sees through that to the fact that you're sulking too. She is very intrigued to see where this relationship goes. Only for it to go nowhere because you're both too shy or scared of whatever excuse you both have.

"So the kid visited you again?" There's a hint of smugness to Eurydice's voice as she asks you this question. She knows that Zagreus visits you often. He's mentioned it a couple times when he has visited her because your door wasn't around (it was amusing to see the prince sulk a bit).

You already know where she's going with her question, but she continues before you can say anything. "Look, I get it. Love is scary, you don't want to admit you're in love. I will spill everything if I have to deal with you both sulking because you haven't seen each other the next time he runs through."

While Eurydice is the sweetest lady you know (the only one really besides the few that Zagreus has told you about), she can be very scary when she starts threatening. So you, reluctantly, promise that you'll at least attempt to say something the next time he comes through.

Of course, what you don't know, is she gave this same speech to Zagreus before. He had said he was trying to find a nice gift in exchange for all the armor you give him. Something that isn't the same nectar and ambrosia. Eurydice gave him a list of things you like and he has been doing his best to find some of the items.

Zagreus had personally asked his father if he could do something so that your room showed up in Asophodel. While he tried to dodge any questions thrown his way, he saw his mother giving a knowing smile and she helped persuade Hades for him. Zagreus was relieved to get out of that situation and now his heart pounds as he feels the blistering heat around him with the icon of the door that leads to you.

Zagreus did bring some nectar for you, but he also has another gift. What he didn't expect is to see you having something more than armor for him. He takes the bracers from you before sitting down as you present him with some food. You explain that Eurydice helped you make it and that you hope he likes it. And of course he does, as he hands you a gift from Elysium, his own explanation being that Achilles and Patroclus helped him pick out something worthy enough for you.

While it's not quite a confession from either side, it's obvious that the feelings are there and there's more than just pining. Zagreus promises that you both will go fishing for his next run when he looks like less of a mess. He isn't expecting the kiss you give to his cheek, but his bright smile lets you know that he very much enjoyed it.

[cainsau]

Just Between Us || The Boys Imagine

(Platonic) Hughie Campbell x GN!Reader (Platonic) Kimiko Miyashiro x GN!Reader

Summary: Set in S4E4. Hughie and Kimiko arrives at the office thinking it would be empty. But there you are, wondering where they've been and whose blood are on their clothes.

Warning: Spoilers for S4E4, ankle injury

Ever since you became a part of The Boys, you find yourself watching news on the TV more often. The people they put on the screen are not reliable most of the time. The information they share differ from what truly happened, but that's what makes it entertaining, the fact that you know they're blatantly lying through their teeth.

The TV lights up the office with its flashing, but dim colors. You don't even bother turning on the lamps, because you don't plan to stay there long.

As the presenter moves on to talk about a recent incident with Firecracker and Starlight, the door to the office opens.

Kimiko and Hughie enters, their arms supporting each other up. Kimiko's shirt is ripped off, and Hughie has a makeshift cast on his ankle. Both of them have blood on their faces and clothes, looking like they just got hit by a car or something.

You immediately get up from your seat, hurrying to help them. "What the hell happened to you two?"

As you help Hughie to a chair, Kimiko sits down and takes out her phone to type. 'We met A-Train, then got attacked by Shining Light.'

"A-Train? Are you serious? What were you guys doing with him?"

Kimiko glances frustratingly at Hughie, who is sitting on the chair next to her. He's oddly quiet. Then, she types on her phone again, 'He made a deal with him.'

"What deal?" You ask him, but he looks away.

Instead, Kimiko types, 'Getting a compound v.'

"I just-" He finally speaks, "It's the only way i can save my dad, okay?"

You let out a sigh, unable to argue. If you could save someone you love by turning them into a supe, you totally would too. At this moment though, you can't really say that out loud, so you decide to just get a medkit and patch them up.

'Treat him first. He can't heal like i do.'

"Alright." So you grab a chair and place it near him. Sitting down, you open the medkit, then gesture to him, "Give me your injured foot."

He puts his foot up, resting it on your lap, while Kimiko cleans herself beside you.

"Did you do this?" You ask Kimiko about the splint. She nods with a small smile. You return the smile, "Nice."

Carefully, you start cutting the tape of his DIY splint, then takes off his shoe and sock, revealing his bruised ankle. It's blue and a bit swollen. You take out the elastic bandage from the medkit and ask him, "Do you know how to properly wrap a bandage around your ankle?"

"No, uh, i don't..."

"Alright." You assure him, "I'll teach you right here so you can do it yourself later. Pay attention, yeah?"

He nods, and watches as you start with the bridge of his foot, around the bottom, then to his achilles tendon, and back to the bridge, which then you repeat until the roll is out. Lastly, you put the two clips on, and ensure they don't fall off.

"It feels so much better now, thanks a lot." He says, "How did you learn to do that though?"

You shrug, "I've sprained my foot before. Couldn't walk properly for a few weeks."

"You're telling me, i won't be able to walk for a few weeks?"

"Not really. You could walk a bit, earlier, right? So i'm guessing your injury is not as bad as mine. Just don't put your weight on it, and also, it would be better if you position it above your heart to let the blood flow."

He let out a breath, "Alright." Then moves the foot to a desk.

Kimiko pokes your shoulder to get your attention, then turns around, pointing to a spot on her back that has blood on it.

"You want me to help clean it?" You ask, to which she nods. "Of course."

The injury on that spot has already healed, but not completely. From the shape, you guess it was a gunshot. You shake your head. Sure, she's a supe who can regenerate, but it must've been painful to experience all that.

"You said you were attacked by Shining Light people," you say as you use a wet cotton on her injury, "What were they doing over there? I thought you were just making a deal with A-Train?"

She picks up her phone, and types, 'I killed a bunch of them, and they came for me.'

"Wait, you killed them? When?"

'A while ago.'

"You mean, that time when you left with Frenchie?"

She nods.

"I see."

You finish cleaning her injury, then tidy up the medical tools as Hughie also finished patching up a cut on his thigh by himself.

He then speaks up, "I'd really appreciate it if you don't tell the others about today."

"To be honest, they'll probably know sooner or later." You reply, which causes Hughie to look down in guilt. Then, you continue with a reassuring smile, "But yeah, don't worry, i'll keep this whole thing just between us."

[vacillantvoid]

branzy and clownzy webweaves as @mcyt-halloween gift for @zeteri-art! hope you like them :)

nervous systems @doglets (deactivated) - situations @screenshotsofdespair - you're desparate @screenshotsofdespair - misery @thatsbelievable - sucker @adjpngs - The Fall, Albert Camus - chapters @screenshotsofdespair - film frames @adjpngs - abyssal choice @screenshotsofdespair - Purple Flowers, Morgane Le Breton - knives @s4dpngs - heart bandaid @adjpngs - 0/2 good decisions @screenshotsofdespair

paper scraps @adjpngs - How Festive the Ambulance, Kim Fu via @geryone - Brute, Emily Skaja via @geryone - occupation @screenshotsofdespair - Deal with the Devil, Wikipedia - because you love @screenshotsofdespair - you might enjoy @screenshotsofdespair - heart dice and drawings @adjpngs - heart @adjpngs - I love you and it's getting worse, Joseph E. Morris - paper label @adjpngs - The Winner's Kiss, Marie Rutkoski - Stigmata: Escaping Texts, Hélène Cixous - holding hands @adjpngs - vulnerability @achillics - Untitled, Louise Bourgeois

[babyrdie]

random question but i recently saw some yuri patrochilles…in your opinion what would the genderbend version of them be like?

- 🍓 yes i stole the idea from 🍇 anon

I won't criticize you for stealing the idea from grape anon lol feel free to identify yourself while remaining anon I guess! Also, sorry for taking so long (one week!!) to respond! In my defense, I was dealing with issues that really involved recovering physically, so I thought it would be best to distance myself from social media. You see, in theory I’m STILL distancing myself from the networks, but that is because I’m focusing on other things in life. But well! Now I can respond. To the others who sent me asks and I didn't respond, IT WILL TAKE A LONG TIME! Especially those who asked me questions that involve long explanations.

First of all, some details:

I'm assuming you're referring to the Myth Patrochilles because that's what I assume when someone doesn't specify.

I'm not going to genderbend everyone. I'm going to genderbend the Patrochilles because you asked for it.

When it comes to genderbends, I like to think about how gender affects the character's life, and so maybe this genderbend isn't exactly what you'd want.

Names

I'm going to give names to the genderbend versions because it's easier than saying, for example, female Patroclus. So here we have:

I'll call Achilles Pyrrha because that's his fake female name in Skyros. I had heard that the feminine name for Achilles is Achilleia, but I'll keep Pyrrha;

I'm going to call Patroclus Cleopatra because it's the feminine form of Patroclus and even has the same meaning. Yes, Patroclus and Cleopatra are theoretically the same name. And yes, Phoenix did indeed tell Patroclus the story of a woman in his position and with the same name begging an angry hero to return to war. And yes, Patroclus did indeed repeat Cleopatra;

The other characters keep the same names, as their genders have not been changed.

Appearence

I have an opinion that seems to be unpopular (at least, judging by the fanarts) when it comes to the appearance of genderbend Patrochilles, because I don't think Pyrrha would be extremely feminine. My reasoning: if the male version of Achilles is androgynous, then naturally the female version of him is also androgynous! If a Patrochilles man has Achilles being the one with the most considered feminine appearance, then Patrochilles woman has Pyrrha with the most considered masculine appearance. On the other hand, if Patroclus is typically masculine when it comes to physical appearance, then Cleopatra is physically typically feminine. This, of course, speaking in terms of physical appearance and not the association of certain personality traits with gender roles.

As a result, I imagine Pyrrha as a woman with shoulder-length hair AT MOST, as was more typical for men. On the other hand, Cleopatra has waist-length hair, as was typical for women. Pyrrha also has fewer curves and smaller eyelashes compared to Cleopatra. My Pyrrha's jaw is still well-defined, because my Achilles got that jaw from... Thetis! Who, mind you, is a woman! So, well, I've already drawn women with defined jaws before, I don't need to change Achilles as Pyrrha. And my Thetis is also drawn with few curves and my Achilles' body is based on hers (in terms of shoulder-to-waist proportion. Yes, my Thetis has relatively broad shoulders, I just didn't have the chance to draw it in a way that makes it noticeable), so once again it makes sense that this would be Pyrrha's body type.

I also think Pyrrha would like to wear short tunics (Myceneaen tunics, I mean), while Cleopatra would prefer dresses. I'll keep the height of both. Not only do tall women exist, but Pyrrha is a demigoddess, so she could have simply taken after Thetis (like my Achilles is actually tall because of Thetis). I made Patroclus the same height as Achilles because of the armor, but I'll keep the height the same here because I don't like Patrochilles with height differences (sorry, guys). So yeah, two tall women (1,90).

Prophecy

Realistically speaking, I don't think Pyrrha would be the "child of the prophecy", because, at least from what I understand, the prophecy about Thetis referred not to a child, but to a son. Like, it only works with Achilles, it wouldn't work with Pyrrha. At least, that's how it seems in the translations I've read, I don’t know if it has the same meaning in Greek. Some examples:

Io What! Shall Zeus one day be hurled from his dominion? Prometheus You would rejoice, I think, to see that happen. Io Why not, since it is at the hand of Zeus that I suffer? Prometheus Then you may assure yourself that these things are true. Io By whom shall he be despoiled of the sceptre of his sovereignty? Prometheus By himself and his own empty-headed purposes. Io In what way? Oh tell me, if there be no harm in telling. Prometheus He shall make a marriage that shall one day cause him distress. Io With a divinity or with a mortal? If it may be told, speak out. Prometheus Why ask with whom? I may not speak of this. Io Is it by his consort that he shall be dethroned? Prometheus Yes, since she shall bear a son mightier than his father.

Prometheus Bound, 757-768. Translation by Herbert Weir Smyth.

[...] when Zeus and splendid Poseidon contended for marriage with Thetis, each of them wanting her to be his lovely bride; for desire possessed them. But the immortal minds of the gods did not accomplish that marriage for them, when they heard the divine prophecies. Wise Themis spoke in their midst and said that it was fated that the sea-goddess should bear a princely son, stronger than his father, who would wield another weapon in his hand more powerful than the thunderbolt or the irresistible trident, if she lay with Zeus or one of his brothers. [...]

Ishtmian Ode 8. Translation by Diane Arnson Svarlien.

Afterwards he married Thetis, daughter of Nereus, for whose hand Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals; but when Themis prophesied that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than his father, they withdrew. But some say that when Zeus was bent on gratifying his passion for her, Prometheus declared that the son borne to him by her would be lord of heaven [...]

Library, 3.13.5. Translation by J.G. Frazer.

[Hera's line] "[...] Themis declared to him the whole truth, how that it was thy fate to bear a son mightier than his sire; [...]"

Argonautica, Book 4. Translation by R.C. Seaton.

Therefore, if Achilles were a woman, then she wouldn’t be the son described in the prophecy. Not being the son described in the prophecy, she wouldn’t be destined to be great. Pyrrha, therefore, wouldn’t need to hide, since the Greeks wouldn’t come after her motivated by the prophecy. She also wouldn’t need to choose between Troy and Phthia, since she wouldn’t really be destined to die for glory.

But if Pyrrha isn’t the child, who is? Well, there is a chance that Thetis had another child and that this one was the child of the prophecy, which would perhaps make Pyrrha somewhat neglected (because Thetis would be focused on protecting the son destined to die young). Some traditions indicate that Thetis had other children besides Achilles, but accidentally killed them while trying to immortalize them (I think the earliest record of this is Hesiod), so it's not so fanciful that she had another child. However, I won't consider this idea. Reason: it implies the idea of ​​Thetis possibly being abused again and again and I really don't want to pursue that idea. So the prophecy didn't follow through because Thetis had Pyrrha and tried to immortalize her out of fear of having a mortal daughter, but Peleus accidentally interrupted her and this angered her to the point where she abandoned Phthia and returned to the sea (this version actually happens in the myth, as shown in Book 4 of Argonautica). With Thetis living in the sea, no more children. That's it. The child of the prophecy never existed. There is a version of the myth of when Athena was born that includes Zeus swallowing Metis precisely so that she would not give birth to a son after a daughter, as Gaia had prophesied that the son would surpass him (e.g. in Library 1.3.6). No children were born afterward and the prophecy was averted, so I guess it's a possibility.

Theoretically, Achilles doesn't need to exist for the Greeks to win. Like, yes, he was certainly very important and did a considerable amount of the work, but the prophecy didn't say that Troy would never fall if Achilles didn't agree to participate. One of the prophecies simply said that Achilles would be very strong, while the other said that he would either have glory but an early death in Troy or live a long but obscure life in Phthia. There's no such thing as "if you don't go after Achilles, you'll never conquer Troy”, it's just that it was known that he was very strong, and logically it was concluded that having him in the army was an advantage. So I don't think that the prophesied son not going to Troy necessarily changes the result, although it certainly changes the process. Of course, Pyrrha could still choose to go to Troy. After all, the Amazons helped the Trojans! However, I genuinely don't think she would. I don't imagine Cleopatra being a warrior (I'll explain why), so Pyrrha couldn't take her along and I can't imagine her being willing to abandon Cleopatra in Phthia.

Pre-relationship

I still imagine that Pyrrha would be raised by Chiron. But not by Peleus's wish (as stated in Iphigenia in Aulis), but by Thetis's wish. I still imagine Thetis wanting to keep her daughter alive, even if the daughter isn’t tragically prophesied because... her daughter is still mortal! And while Thetis's logical way of keeping her son alive was to keep him away from the war by hiding him among girls, Thetis's logic in keeping her daughter alive is to ensure that she knows how to defend herself. Basically, if she made her son weave (a typically female activity), then she made her daughter fight (a typically male activity). Therefore, I still imagine that Pyrrha would be an excellent fighter, she just wouldn't be the great child prophesied. It's not like she needed to have a prophecy to be strong, just look at Penthesilea. Penthesilea, by the way, was the one who really put the Greek men to flight in Posthomerica and was only killed by Achilles, who we know was the strongest of them. Before him, no one was able to face her on equal terms. So yes, while I think Pyrrha not being prophesied prevents her from automatically being the strongest of them all, I don't think it would prevent her from being one of the strongest at the very least. This also fits with my idea of ​​Pyrrha being androgynous.

And if Patroclus were a woman, she wouldn't be Helen's suitor, so she wouldn't be forced to go to Troy because of the Oath of Tyndareus. HOWEVER, her killing Clysonimus would be an even more... well, an even more alarming situation. Don't get me wrong, Patroclus killing Clysonimus was already a crime and certainly had a touch of drama in it, but a girl doing it? Well, it's really something. Just think about how, although both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are reproved for their actions, Aeschylus reinforces how Clytemnestra is "manly" for being the one who carried out the violence while Aegisthus is "effeminate" for being the one who obtained benefits from the violence without actually carrying it out (more specifically, he obtained these benefits through his erotic abilities, which only reinforces this idea). In Lycophron's Alexandra, one of the ways to discredit Achilles is to paint him as effeminate (and therefore not an ideal man), which includes having him willingly pretend to be a girl because he was afraid and consequently fled from the violence (instead of making Thetis the one who was afraid, as is usual). In Epithalamium of Achilles and Deidameia, attributed to Bion of Smyrna, Achilles is presented in a hyperfeminine manner, although here not in a negative sense but in a positive one. And one of the ways to do that is to make him interested in eroticism rather than the glory of war, which includes the idea of ​​violence. So yes, violence was considered a primarily male trait. Cleopatra doing that has a different impact than Patroclus doing that, although neither case is positive. While in The Iliad Patroclus is known for being gentle (one of his epithets is actually gentle), I think Cleopatra would end up being remembered for the idea of ​​being a girl who not only committed violence but committed violence early and towards a boy. That’s not to say she wouldn’t be gentle, just that she wouldn’t be as well known for it as Patroclus is. Because Patroclus's gentleness set him apart from male warrior characters in the same way that Cleopatra's violence (even accidental) sets her apart from ideally non-violent female characters.

By the way...this may be a shocking idea, but I don't think Cleopatra would be the fighting type. Yes, Patroclus is an excellent warrior, but that's because...well, he received a masculine education in Opus and was a therapon to the guy destined to be a great warrior in Phthia. Cleopatra has no reason to be trained in Opus (unlike Pyrrha, who has Thetis) and she also has no real motivation to train in Phthia, since I think she would be a lady-in-waiting and not a therapon. She wasn't raised among the Amazons and she's not a hunter either, after all. However, of course, I think she would still have a strong personality and would be able to deal with Pyrrha's volatile temper and still be wise. It's an essential part of the Patrochilles dynamic that Achilles honors Patroclus as an equal, after all. It has to be the same with Pyrrha and Cleopatra! Furthermore, I think that, more than ever, Cleopatra would have to be particularly intelligent and wise since that would really be her main skill. It's not like a woman being intelligent and/or wise doesn't arouse similar admiration as a man being a good warrior, just look at Penelope, Hecuba, Arete and even female deities like Persephone. Cleopatra is still admirable.

Relationship

Eventually Patroclus is sent to Phthia and here I imagine that more than ever Menoetius was motivated by the fact that he is related to Peleus (I'm going by the version from the Olympian Ode where Menoetius is the son of Aegina, who is Peleus' grandmother). Something like "hey, I know my daughter did some horrible shit, but take care of her! Please? I don't know what would happen if I kept her in Opus" and Peleus is like "okay, man!". Naturally, Pyrrha would also return to Phthia and meet Cleopatra and they would become close. But Cleopatra wouldn’t be a therapon/squire, but one of those trusted lady-in-waiting that princesses and queens usually have.

In Phthia, I imagine Cleopatra would be concerned about her reputation. While Patroclus clearly cares about the consequences of rash actions, Cleopatra worries about the idea of ​​remaining known for the accident with Clysonimus. As said, it's bad enough for Patroclus, but it would be even worse for Cleopatra. Because of this, she would probably try to be an exemplary person in order to overshadow the rumors. The kind of girl seen as ideal: sweet, modest, skillful, hard-working, delicate. And just as Peleus saw Patroclus as an advisor to Achilles, Peleus would see Cleopatra as a way to balance out the way Pyrrha clearly doesn't fit the social mold of femininity. Something like "I gave you a home in Phthia. In return, influence my daughter positively," and so Cleopatra as a lady-in-waiting would be Peleus' choice. It worked in the sense that Pyrrha would no longer be so impulsive, but it didn't work in the sense that it changed who Pyrrha is. Peleus simply learned to accept reality. He still loves his daughter.

As a lady-in-waiting, Cleopatra would have to accompany Pyrrha in her daily activities. She would take advantage of these times to receive the same high-quality education as Pyrrha in things like dancing, weaving, housekeeping (including finances), how to organize events, necessary social skills (e.g. about other kingdoms)... basically, a typical education for a high-class woman. And she would do well in these activities, as she would be putting in immense effort to ensure that Peleus would not regret his decision to help her. She would also have to accompany Pyrrha when she went hunting or training, but she wouldn’t practice together. I imagine that, having become extremely negatively known because of the incident with Clysonimus, Cleopatra would have a tendency to have an aversion to forms of violence. She doesn't mind that Pyrrha enjoys these things, but she isn’t interested in practicing them herself. At most, she would polish the spears for Pyrrha and make sure all the arrows were in the quiver, things like that. Despite not practicing, she would still have some knowledge of hunting and fighting from watching Pyrrha and having her enthusiastically explain things to Cleopatra. Just like in The Iliad, I still think Pyrrha would have taught Cleopatra what she learned about healing from Chiron just as Achilles taught Patroclus.

I think that, like Achilles, Pyrrha would still care a lot about being honest and therefore wouldn't be the type to use clever tricks. Not that she would be dumb, I think she would be as well educated as Achilles is (because no, Achilles isn’t dumb as much as some people think so), she just wouldn't play mind games because Achilles doesn't either. On the other hand, Cleopatra... oh, I think she would be a bit cunning, yes. Her weapon is her intelligence, that's all she has. She doesn't have the option to fight like Patroclus, as already said. So yeah, I think Cleopatra would quickly become very good at dealing with social situations through the knowledge she has because of her education and through calculated behavior.

I also think their romance would have to be more discreet. While romances between men weren't really 100% approved of, they were certainly much more tolerated than romances between women. But considering how little it was expected for women to be interested in women, I don't think it would be hard for them to keep a low profile. Like, yes, they’re close, but that's because they’re friends! You know how women always have secrets together! Stuff like that.

I had other ideas, but they involve Deidamia (who I imagine to be man here) and Neoptolemus/Phyrrus (unlike Achilles, he is literally essential to the destruction of Troy. There's a prophecy about it. He has to exist), but since you asked specifically about Patrochilles I imagine that wouldn't be of interest to you! Anyway, remember that this is all obviously just headcanon and you don't have to think the same way!

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

Hey, if you're interested in another idea, would you like to write the reactions of the various characters to the dyslexic MC? (and therefore low self-esteem) ❣️❣️❣️

HLC REACT TO DYSLEXIC MC

It's not that MC couldn't read, they just had to do it slowly. Sometimes they'd have to stare at a sentence for several minutes before it made sense. Some days were better than others. While sometimes it would just be a letter or two out of place, sometimes it would be entire paragraphs looking like someone spilled alphabet soup on the page. They prayed to any higher power that would listen that they would never have to read in front of the class. It was bad enough to struggle doing homework reading assignments.

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: He reads like a Timelord, so he'll struggle with the idea that someone just can't read words sometimes. He'll be interested to learn about their condition, but MC will still have to remind him to be patient. If MC really struggles with learning something new, he'll gladly help them, for a price. He likes having friends in his dept.

OMINIS GAUNT: He learned how to read relatively late in life because of his blindness, so he still has to take his time. Don't even get him started on writing. Even with his wand, writing in a straight line with a quill is challenging. And POTIONS, UGH! Needless to say, he relates. Misery loves company.

ANNE SALLOW: She's not as voracious with reading like her brother, so she's far more compassionate in encouraging MC to take their time. The professors give lots of time when they're reading assignments usually and they shouldn't fret about it. If they have real concerns in the class, just talk to the professors. She is sure they'll understand.

IMELDA REYES: She genuinely believes MC can't read for the first couple months of the year. Did MC expect to just learn through osmosis by staring down their textbooks? Even after an explanation, it just sounds like excuses to her.

NATSAI ONAI: She's more of a doer than a reader herself, so she relates a little bit. She offers to help MC through their assignments by doing the reading for them and then explaining it verbally or through demonstration. She's not going to let her bestie fail just because their brain sees books as word jumbles.

GARRETH WEASLEY: He understands, but more under the pretense that he just has a hard time focusing because his brain is constantly elsewhere. Trial and error is the best way to learn anyway. If you don't understand it, wing it. It's worked for him so far.

LEANDER PREWETT: He can't help but poke a little bit of fun at the fact that MC actually does have an Achilles heel and is not perfect at everything. If this genuinely bothers them, he'll apologize. Reading's not all it's cracked up to be anyway, just about everything at Hogwarts can be learned verbally. They shouldn't stress about it too much.

AMIT THAKKAR: He's quite the avid reader, so while he's sharing his favorite books and lessons, he may accidentally come across as condescending. MC Just has to tell him once what they're dealing with and he'll offer to help. He can easily break down many of the professors reading lessons down into more simplified paragraphs to make them easier to read.

EVERETT CLOPTON: He doesn't have perfect vision, so while he's not dyslexic, he can relate to MC's esteem. Kids can be cruel to those they think show weakness. He has a sack full of dung bombs for anyone who bothers MC about their dyslexia.

POPPY SWEETING: She believes MC just needs a nice calm environment for their reading. No distractions or loud noises to bother them while they're focusing. The vivariums are perfect! The beasts never judge how quickly someone reads if MC would like to practice reading out loud.

ELEAZAR FIG: He knows early on they have trouble reading. Not to worry, he's dealt with this sort of thing before, comes with the territory of being a professor. He's very patient with them and lets them read at their own pace. When he can manage it, he'll try to keep lessons verbal and with illustrations instead of written words.

[ladyniniane]

The worst Greek mythology retelling?

Unless you live in a cave (lucky you), you can't have escaped the wave of Greek mythology retellings. Some are bad, some are good and most of them are mediocre. Among those I've read, one was particularly bad and cringe and we are going to dissect it today.

PSA: As you can see, I didn't include the book's title in the post, nor use specific tags. This post is primarily aimed at me and my mutuals. If you disagree, feel free to block me and mask my username. You're the master of your ship and the only one who can curate your internet experience. Rude comments will be sent to the Tartarus blocked. And I mean, you aren't going to change my mind anyway so don't bother trying😎.

Now that we are done, let me introduce you to this book.

I already see some of you in the back rows being like "But Niniane, why did you bother with this? It's obviously going to be bad!". Well, sometimes I need things that are light and easy to read. Everyone needs to turn their brain off from time to time.

And besides, it looked inoffensive. The idea of modern women being isekaied during the Trojan War is fun. As a writer and enjoyer of OC fanfics, I absolutely love new takes and dynamics with existing characters.

Except that...it wasn't fun at all! Let's dive! And I hope you're prepared because it's gonna be a ride.

-So it starts with the goddesses being fed up with the Trojan War and male egos (Lego des Zhommes if you're French). They decide to find a way to stop the war. So far, so good.

-And their solution is to...send modern women back in time. Yeah, because they think that ancient-era women are too weak and meek. Only independent modern women will be able to handle those strong warriors:

"modern mortal women are different from ancient women [...] they're independent and smart and not used to bowing down and taking orders [...] maidens from the ancient world are not equipped to handle such a man, but I know that modern mortal women are different ---stronger, smarter, more independent."

Yes, you've read correctly.

First of all, it reeks of victim-blaming. If the Trojan women had been more assertive, they could have stopped this. It could have prevented them from being raped and enslaved! They just had to lean in and...Stop, stop. And I'm sorry but those ancient women are more equipped with dealing with that sort of men because they live with them every day. Idk the goddesses could have just...empowered the Trojan women so they could resist? Send the Amazons to help (with more success than in the original myths)? Give them a safe place where they could be protected?

-So, anyway, the heroine is transported in the body of a Trojan princess. But there is another problem. The heroine's friend who transmigrates with her is black. And she gets turned into a white woman. The reason? "Jacqueline’s lovely dark skin would be too hard to explain among the golden Greeks"(sic.). Here, we can see that the author didn't bother doing her research. Many stories regarding the Trojan War have an African king come to the Trojans' aid. The ancient world was furthermore interconnected. So yes, it would have been f*cking easy to explain. And to add insult to injury, our black woman turned white becomes the servant of the main character and is treated as her property.

-So anyway, MC becomes Achilles' war prize. And being a war prize is such a cool and fun life! You can wander around the camp, with no fear of being sexually assaulted!

-MC is a therapist and wants to try to help Achilles. She thus practices hypnosis on him and decides to have sex with him while he's still in that state. So, she basically rapes him. The worst thing: she knows it's wrong, but she does it anyway and she isn't sorry.

-Then, Achilles tells the MC that he has frequent bouts of berserk rage and that he even raped a woman. But he didn't mean to do it. Poor meow meow.

Needless to say, I stopped here. This wasn't fun, this was downright insensitive. The ending is predictable: MC ends up with Achilles and MC's best friend with Patroclus because no one can stay single!

Anyway, that was, imo, the worst Greek mythology retelling.

[chaos0pikachu]

Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition

So, if we're doing this we're doing this, so buckle in baby.

I'm gonna focus how the opening scene below, uses two narrative devices and one film technique to build out the scene as a whole: in media res, misdirection, and the long take.

Okay so to begin, we have to start at the beginning, or well, the middle lmao

In Media Res

I saw a post in the tag that said something to the effect of how The Sign starting with no context and providing no information at the beginning was strange, with the implication it was bad writing. I disagree, fundamentally, because The Sign is using a very common literary device called 'In Media Res'. And in my opinion, uses this device very well.

If you're familiar with basic storytelling terms I ain't telling you anything new, but for folks who may not know, in media res is a latin term that means "in the midst of things" and lots of stories - both prose, comics, and film - use this device.

The most famous is The Iliad by Homer, which if you've ever read - and you should it's glorious also it'll give some context to Song of Achilles - you know it drops you full-on no context into the middle of things. The beginning will differ in verbiage depending on the translation you pick up, this free version starts with:

THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON. In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighboring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles.

Right off the bat the story drops four character names and the setting with no real context. Who are all these people? Why is there a war? Well, keep reading to find out! It also starts the story with an action aka an argument - nay A CONTENTION!! Achilles and Agamemnon are such bratty bitches lol

Other (more mainstream) examples include:

The Dark Knight

Lost

28 Days Later

Mission Impossible (pick one)

Fight Club

Full Metal Alchemist (both)

MDZS

Inception

And, The Sign.

"In contrast to linear storytelling, which starts at the beginning and moves sequentially, in medias res is a nonlinear approach that can make stories more dynamic and immersive.

It's a technique that challenges the audience to make sense of the narrative puzzle, often revealing essential information about the characters and their motivations gradually." (source)

What's described above is exactly how The Sign, starts it's story, in the middle of things, specifically to create a puzzle for the audience to figure out gradually. If you watch the above scene, what's happening?

We get a (well done) overshot of an island (establishing setting), we see a group of soldiers (establishing the characters we'll be following) we see them doing military things (okay these are their skills, and they're on some sort of mission), their drone spots a group of people inside and a character says the dialogue "Listen up, you only have 15 minutes" (this establishes stakes, okay there's a time limit to this mission) "Team A will rescue the hostage" (okay now we know what the mission is and informs these characters are on a rescue mission).

Who is speaking here? We don't know yet, but a safe assertion would be this character, since they are the first character who speaks on screen, will be important.

And we'd be right because it's Phaya speaking, one of our main protagonists as well soon find out.

All this happens within the first minute; the show provides an interesting set-up. It deals out information in tidbits - setting, characters we'll be following, situation set-up, stakes - but not enough information for the audience not to ask questions.

I want to iterate that at this point, the goal isn't to "care" about the characters yet, so much as create an intriguing set-up based in action that will showcase various information about the tone, setting, and skills of the piece that will engage the audience. To make the audience ask questions, to engage with them.

When you open up on MDZS the protagonist, Wei Wuxian is dead and we have no context for this. Everyone is just in the middle of celebrating his death and we, the readers, do not care that he's dead or why he died. The story could have started in a more linear way, with him arriving at Cloud Recesses arguably the beginning of his journey, but would that have been as interesting? As engaging?

I like how this article breaks down the why of starting your story in media res is a powerful and often used device:

This is what The Sign is doing in this opening part. Starting the action of the series off with action and creating that immediate engagement. The scene also ends with a plot twist which connects to that final point about information control.

This isn't a technique I've seen often used in BL because BL is a sub-genre of romance and most romances are told in chronological order, rather than non-linearly - there are, of course non-linear romances, but most mainstream romances, and by extension most BL aren't told in this way - BL shows don't often have actual physical action. A majority, especially in Thailand, are grounded, closer to slice-of-life, coming-of-age, and comedy dramas - though we are starting to see a change in that trend.

So starting in the middle of things, like chepa the middle of what? Two dudes walking~ to Engineering class?

The goal of this opening scene is to pull in the audience, make them wonder and ask questions: "who are these characters? will they rescue the hostages? who are the bad guys? who is this character who's having visions?" and so on and so forth. It's a way to engage in the audience without having to slow down the narrative with a ton of exposition, or build up stakes slowly, rather it grabs the audience immediately and sets them in the middle of the tension asking them to engage with what's happening.

The Long Take

You've probably heard about "the long take" but to break it down, a long take is one continuous take without any edits/cuts. The film 1917 was famously filmed to "look" like one long take. One of the most cited and well known long takes is from Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón:

Now if you watch this movie you can tell why there isn't a lot of BL long takes because, god damn, they built a new type of car just to get that one scene. [read here for more on long takes]

So, The Sign. It's long take starts at about 2:08, following Phaya - again, we the audience don't know this is Phaya BUT since the camera is spending specific time with him we assume he is An Important Character and he is! Set up and payoff! Funny how that works - and ends at around 4:27.

[Sidenote I love that the take ends, not with a cut but a transition. Which I'll cover in another post but in the land of Thai BLs which favor cuts so damn much transitions were so refreshing to see]

During this long take, we establish that these characters are competent at what they do. We understand that they're military trained, in both hand-to-hand combat and firearms. We also get these two mid-close ups, which signifies these will be Important Characters:

And they are, the first shot is of Phaya, Khem and Thongthai and the second is Tharn and Yai.

This also sets-up the character dynamics; Yai and Tharn are already close and know each other so they are drawn to each other while on the mission, while Khem and Thongthai have a pre-established relationship but are still supporting behind Phaya.

This type of shot also allows for the audience to better see and follow the fighting that's happening on screen. Filming fight scenes are their own beast, and while there's no one school of thought on how a film scene "should" be filmed, there are techniques that that place some fight scenes above others.

The first video showcases some techniques on how to film a fight scene, while the second one at the 8min mark talks about the long take in John Woo's classic action film Hard Boiled.

This long take in Hard Boiled really showcases why long takes are so powerful in filming a fight scene specifically. They pull the audience further into the action and create a palpable energy that just works better than a scene with lots of quick cuts.

There's a reason one of the biggest criticisms of Mortal Kombat (2021) was that all the fights were edited to pieces while John Wick (2014) was a refreshing jolt to the industry.

The Sign takes a page out of John Woo's book, and places the characters, and the physicality of the scene front and center, pulling the audience along with the camera in one long shot.

Long takes are hard, I can't really emphasize this enough, if you watched that video on Children of Men you can see all the intricate work that went into scenes that amounted to maybe 5mins of actual film time. Likewise this long take in The Sign is only about 2mins of actual time in the show BUT it's effective, it's engaging, its ambitious.

Which is why, I gotta give The Sign it's roses because of that ambition. Long takes are a lot of hard work, time, effort, blocking, rehearsals, on top of incorporating the fight chorography that's a lot and it looks good.

Now is this the best~~~ long take I've ever seen? lol no god but it's well done and ambitious especially for the sub-genre of BL.

Misdirection

Misdirection has more in common with in media res than the long take as it's a literary device and not a filming technique.

From Gotham Writers:

"In fiction misdirection can be either external or internal. That is, the author can be using the story as a frame to misdirect the reader, or a character in the story may be misdirecting one or more of the other characters. Or, of course, both." (source)

Misdirection is often used in thrillers or mystery narratives, Hitchcock used misdirection a lot in his films.

In Psycho the audience is lured to believe that Marion, the character the film opens with, builds up, and essentially sets up as our protagonist, is in fact our protagonist. She's not, she's murdered and her sister, Lila, is the actual protagonist of the movie. Sorry if this is a spoiler for an almost 70 year old film lmao

Misdirection is often used to set-up plot twists down the line. A good misdirection will leave clues for the audience when they watch back and go, "oh! I can't believe I missed that!"

In film The Sixth Sense is a good example of this, where the plot twist at the end doesn't weaken the film once you know it but rather, it enhances the film itself on a rewatch. Another good example of misdirection in film are both Knives Out and Glass Onion, where Rian Johnson will set up a non-linear story and then slowly unravel the information for the audience.

Take the scene where Marta, in Knives Out, finds Fran's body and hears Fran say "it was you" at least to audience ears. Then stands up looming above Fran's body. The scene cuts, and the audience is led to believe Marta has let Fran die to protect herself (since we the audience also have been led to believe Fran is dead) only to find out later that Marta didn't let Fran die, she is alive, and she knew Ransom was the killer.

The Sign uses misdirection in a much more simple way. It sets up an expectation: Phaya is going to die, upping the stakes from "must save hostages" to "must save a comrade" aka the character we, the audience, have been following for the last 11 minutes. It sets two characters, Chart and Phaya, as opposing against each other, for reasons we don't know - is Chart one of the villains? Why is he trying to kill Phaya? etc - and the audience is led to believe this is a life or death situation.

Then, plot twist. The reveal happens that this was all a training exercise, and there was never any "real" danger whilst also keeping the audience on their toes. And like in The Iliad, now we have context for the mission, and then the story is able to step back and explain.

It's not like, the best~~~ use of misdirection but there was a purpose to it. It sets up an expectation, and subverts that expectation of the audience - but in a good way not a Game of Thrones way. While also pulling the audience into the show by starting in the middle of the action rather than slowing down the story with exposition or giving their hand away to much that this was a training exercise.

If you knew it was a training exercise, suddenly the stakes feel less intense because none of the characters are in any real danger, but not knowing that, withholding that information until it's relevant, ups the stakes of the scene.

The opening scene of The Sign imparts a lot of information without using a lot of dialogue and I find that impressive. We learn which characters will be relevant to the story - Phaya, Tharn, Yai, Khem, Thongthai and now we know, Chart is also important - that they are skilled combat fighters, knowledgeable in firearms, there's a fantasy element to the story via Tharn's visions, they're on an island which the setting for right now, and the tone and aesthetic of the show itself.

It's actually a fun scene to rewatch again with more context because I appreciated it even more. Which is just good film making.

I didn't talk much about the camera work - needless to say it's notable and fun - but maybe I'll save that for the next post. What other shows or scenes would be fun to breakdown? Drop me a line but heads up I don't actually watch a ton of shows so idk if I've seen xyz show lmao

Later chepies ✌️✌️

Other posts in the series:

Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI

[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]