#but those are definitely spoilers no matter how I crop them

[cinlat]

Now that I’ve finished the Diablo 4 storyline, I wanted to offer some of my favorite non spoiler reactions/screenshots from the playthrough. I love everything about the way my girl Fynta looks.

[shinsorokiri]

The Rockstar and The Farmer

Sam x Reader

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: language, spoilers for Sam’s 8 heart event, friendly Sebastian slander

A/N: Okay, so, I said a while ago that the wildest thing happened to me while played Stardew Valley, and it inspired me to write this. It’ll be two parts for sure, maybe three??? Depending on how I feel lol. But I LOVE Sam and this was pretty fun to write, hopefully, the second part will be out tomorrow/later this week. 

part 1 [2] [3?]

You opened your eyes, hearing your rooster scream as your own personal alarm clock. You lay in bed for a moment, reaching out and petting your pup, laying right next to you on your full-sized bed. The morning sun is shining in through your window and warming you up through the glass. These mid-summer mornings on your farm reassure you that you made the right choice in taking it over. You smile to yourself, sitting up and stretching out before getting up and beginning to get dressed for the day. You hear the pitter-patter of your dog’s feet as you prepare yourself a light breakfast, knowing you only need to supervise your crops since the newest gadget you’d made to water them. Honestly, those sprinklers are lifesavers.

You eat what you made, quickly slipping some additional food to your pet, and placing your dishes in the sink. You grab your gardening gloves and throw your bag across your shoulder, ready to go check your crops and animals. You throw open your door, looking down at your dog running out, only for you to hear a soft grunt. You look up to be met with the big eyes of Sam. His hand is up in a knocking position, telling you he was about to make his presence known before you opened the door. And the way he’s regaining his footing tells you your dog bumped into him while running out of the door. You giggle. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hi, farmer… guess what? My band is playing a show tonight. In Zuzu City,” he says, recovering quickly from the awkward start of this interaction, and quickly becoming excited again. “Sam, that’s great!” you say, and he nods, smiling. “Yeah! And you’re invited!” he wiggles his arms above his head in a dancing motion, causing you to laugh. If you were paying closer attention, you would have noticed the blush dusting his cheeks and the fond smile that formed on his face. After all, he did just hear his favorite sound. “Meet me at the bus stop around 12:00 this afternoon to leave for the show. You better be there!” he says, starting to walk backward off of your porch and pointing at you, a smile still on his face. You smile and nod. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, rockstar,” you tease, slightly, and see his expression get even brighter somehow before running off in the direction of Marnie’s ranch. He must be telling everyone in town about it.

Knowing that he got up early just to come let you know about his show makes your heart beat faster, but since he’s telling everyone, you were probably just a stop in the road. Nothing to dwell on… right? Your pup’s noises bring you out of your daydream, noticing them at their empty water bowl. “Okay, okay! I’m coming!” you say, stepping out onto the porch and reaching to your right to grab your watering can, only to notice it isn’t there. You glance behind you, spotting it next to your house plants, recalling that yesterday was watering day for your indoor plants. You walk in, your door closing behind you. As much as you love your grandfather’s old cabin, Robin was right, it’s definitely janky in some aspects. One of these aspects being that your front door will NOT stay open no matter how much you will it to. You grab the can and take a moment to check over your plants inside, making sure none mysteriously began wilting throughout the night, when you hear a knock at your door. Your eyebrows furrow, wondering who else would need to talk to you at this hour. You open your door only to see the mother of the person who just visited you. “Good morning, Jodi,” you smile at her and she grins back, clutching her side and letting out a large huff of air. You notice she has to catch her breath before she speaks, and because of it, she places her hand in front of her mouth, chuckling a bit. Probably an attempt to cover it up. “…hi, (Y/n)!” A pant. “Whew… that was quite a workout, walking all the way up here,” she says and you nod. “It can be a lot, especially first thing in the morning.”

She nods, standing up straight and taking another breath before speaking again. “Anyway… I came by to ask if you wanted to have dinner with us tonight! With Sam’s show and his birthday in two days, I figured it would be nice to have a fancy family dinner and since you two are so close, I figured he’d enjoy having you there too,” she says, and you grin. “Will Seb and Abi be there too?”

“Oh, maybe, you know them, never giving a solid answer to anything. But, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, don’t feel obligated I know it’ll be a hectic day. If you do decide to come, though, could you please bring a largemouth bass with you?”

“The lake one? Not to be confused with the smaller variety of the same fish found in rivers?” you say, making a bad fishing joke. Like, really bad. Like, that might not even classify as a joke and could just be a thing that you said, bad. Willy is rubbing off on you. But luckily, bad jokes (if you can call it that) are Jodi’s favorite. She laughs, nodding. “That’s right. One of those big, slimy fish from the lake. I need one for the casserole I’m making,” she explains and you nod. “That is absolutely doable, Jodi.”

“Okay! Well… it’ll be at our house around 7:00 pm tonight… don’t forget the largemouth bass! Okay! Bye!”

With that, she starts her trek back to her house. You quickly run to your well, filling your watering can and rushing to fill up the water bowl. You have to go to the lake and fast. If you want to look good for Sam- er… good for the band, you have to set aside some time for you to get ready, and now you need to catch this fish. Luckily, you know exactly what type of bait this type of slimy guy likes, so it shouldn’t take too long. But still. You want to look nice and maybe not smell like a body of water. You do the time math in your head and quickly run around your farm, checking everything and making sure your animals look happy and healthy. As soon as you’re done, you run off to the lake. You silently curse at yourself, realizing you forgot to check the psychic on the TV, meaning you had no idea whether the spirits are happy or upset today. Would you have luck? Who knows. Well, someone knows... just not you. You wave and smile at Linus, who returns the wave with a grin, before settling next to the lake and putting bait on your rod. You toss it out and wait. While waiting, your thoughts wander off to Sam.

You couldn’t deny the feelings you’ve formed for him in your time here. He was constantly inviting you to things with him, Seb, and Abigail throughout your first month, and he would make sure to talk to you at least once every day. Not to mention he would send you memes and jokes all the time. The two of you are, in fact, very close. Some could even consider the two of you best friends. And you were fine with that until about a week and a half ago when you went to visit him in the morning. You figured you’d stop by and say hello and let him know you were heading up to the mines. It’s good to have someone know where you’re going, and you would get to talk to your bestie. Win-win, you know? Since you had such a great relationship with Jodi, you’re allowed to just let yourself inside their house, so you walk through the door, careful to kick your boots off as to not dirty Jodi’s floor. You know how hard she works on that. You sigh, knowing that you’re about to drip on the floors (which she assures isn’t an issue, it’s just the mud from your boots she worries about) and you walk through the empty living room to the kitchen. “G’morning, Jodi,” you say, and she glances behind her, smiling at you. “Good morning, (Y/n).”

“(Y/N)!” Vincent yells your name, running towards you from the hallway into the kitchen. You laugh and crouch down, grabbing him from under his armpits and lifting him up, spinning him around. He lets out a little giggle and you smile up at him. “Hey there, big guy, did you sleep okay?” you ask, placing him back down and he nods. “I had a dream, and you were in it! You, me, Sam, and Jas were all adventuring into the scary barred gate we saw that one time and you were protecting us from the monster!” he starts recounting his dream when you hear a chuckle coming from the hallway. You glance up from Vincent and your eyes land on Sam. He’d just woken up, so his hair wasn’t all styled and you could see how unruly his mullet actually was. But with the morning sun shining on him from the back and the front thanks to the wonderful placement of the windows in his lovely household. It literally made him glow. His green eyes were lit up, even though you could see the exhaustion in them. And has his smile always been that pretty? Or is the sun playing tricks on you? And you could swear there was a light blush on his face. Was that always there? You blink a couple times, realizing you’d been staring, and turn your eyes back to Vincent. “Sounds like you had fun in your dream, huh Vince?” he says, and you notice that not only is his voice deeper in the morning, but you could hear a bit of his Zuzu City accent coming through. And honestly, you wouldn’t be upset if you heard him talk like that every morning. Vincent nods, and Jodi places a plate of eggs on the table, causing him to jump up into his seat and eat his breakfast before going off to play with Jas. You turn your attention back to Sam, and grin, giving him a small wave. “Morning.”

“G’morning. The spirits must be happy today if you decided to visit us first thing,” he says, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. You feel your neck to your ears start heating up, but you give a small laugh. “Well, you know me, your good luck charm.” You proceeded to walk with him to his room and talk a bit before letting him know where you were heading. You could swear you saw his smile falter, but you were probably just imagining things. He made you pinky promise to come knock on his window after you were out (knowing that you stay in the mines decently late), and then you left. But ever since that day, you’d noticed just how… beautiful Sam actually was. And how much you enjoyed being around him and hearing him play his guitar, and sing his songs, and all his cute little quirks and how his city accent sometimes comes out when he’s drunk or too excited or angry or tired and- YANK!

You’re pulled out of your thoughts when you get a bite. You start reeling the fish in, a short but fierce battle before pulling it out of the water. To your surprise and delight, it’s a largemouth bass. And not only that, it’s a GREAT quality largemouth bass. You immediately toss it in your cooler and start to walk back to your farm. You check the time and walk faster. It’s 10AM, giving you about two hours to get ready and head to the bus station. That’s more than ideal, and you feel the excitement start to seep into you as you hurry home. It takes you about an hour and forty-five minutes to get all ready, making sure you look great. And you do. You double-check your animals and crops before hurrying to the bus station. You walk up to the bus, watching as Shane walks on. Sam, who is right next to the bus with Sebastian on Abigail on either side of him, looks around at everyone with his eyes narrowed and jaw set. He looks nervous. Like he’s searching for someone, and then his eyes meet yours. You can see him physically relax and a small smile stretches across his features. “Hi (Y/n). Thanks for coming,” he says as you approach him. You don’t notice the knowing glance that Sebastian and Abigail share before they slowly walk onto the bus and give you two some privacy. “I told you I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Sam, you don’t need to thank me. I’m always gonna be Goblin Destroyer’s number one fan.” You swear the look he gives you makes your heart skip. The fondness in his eyes causes you to smile and look down, too flustered to continue looking into his eyes. You both hear a loud noise, and he turns his head, seeing Pam give him a thumbs up. “Well, our gear’s loaded already. Looks like everything’s set,” he says, grabbing your hands and beginning to bounce up in down in excitement. You giggle and bounce with him as he glances around, using his “loud voice” to grab everyone’s attention. “Alright everyone… let’s get on the bus!”

Everyone starts loading on, and you can’t help but notice Sam doesn’t let go of you to let you get on by yourself. And next thing you know, the two of you are seated next to each other. The two of you just talk for a while, when you notice his leg start bouncing and he’s drying his hands off on his cargo pants. “Sam? You okay?” He gulps. “…I’m starting to get really nervous,” he admits, looking at you with a frightened expression. “Hey, you’re gonna do great! I’ve heard you rehearse so many times and I know how talented you are, okay? And nerves are just misplaced excitement when it comes to things like this. You just care so much, it makes sense that you just wanna do your best,” you assure him, and he gives you a small smile. You reach over and grasp his hand in yours, giving it a little squeeze. “And I’ll be in the front row, so if you start feeling like this at any time during the performance, just pretend it’s us in your room.” He smiles down at your hands and squeezes back. “…Thank you, (Y/n).” He doesn’t let go of your hand for the rest of the trip until the bus slows to a stop and Pam announces to everyone that the bus has arrived. The show was an early one, and they were the opening act of sorts. Of course, you would be staying for the other band's full performance, though. He glances at you, giving you a small grin. “Okay, here we are… wish me luck!”

Everyone gets off the bus, and you go over to Jodi and Vince, talking with them for a while. You also approach Shane, Emily, Penny, Maru, Elliott, and Leah before Seb, Abi, and Sam walk onstage. You hear the crowd clap and Sam jumps in surprise at how many people there are. You see him glancing around the crowd, before clearing his throat and speaking into the microphone in front of him. “Hi everyone. We’re from Pelican Town… er… and we’re called Goblin Destroyer!” More cheers, including yourself. Sam smiles and glances down at you before continuing. “This first song is about farming, mining, and chopping wood.” With that, Abigail starts counting them in with her drumsticks before they start playing. You’ve heard the lyrics a million times now, but you can’t help but smile and jump around with the melody the whole time. You do for every single one of their songs. Their set finally finishes, and the crowd cheers for them. Sam hypes up the main act for a while and lets the crowd know that their demos are for sale before they leave the stage, and come down to meet everyone else. Everyone crowds around them, yelling their praises. “Woooh! That was great!”

“Nice work, guys!”

“I really loved that heavy breakdown at the end.”

“Thanks, everyone,” Sam says, and then smiles at you, “But you really should be thanking (Y/n)! Without their help, we’d never have decided what kind of music to make in the first place!”

Penny turns to look at you with a pleasant expression on her face. “So you’re like an honorary member of the band then?”

“Damn right they are!” Sam exclaims, pulling you into a side hug. You have to pretend like you don’t want to be swallowed up by his arms right then and there, but luckily the main act begins playing and you all start vibing to their sound.  Though you can’t help but notice that for the rest of the performance, Sam’s arm barely ever leaves your waist.

By the end, everyone starts piling back in the bus again, and you take your seat next to Sam. He’s practically buzzing after his performance, and you can’t help but stare at him for a bit. He looks good. And, yeah, okay, he always looks good but he looks GOOD right now. You can practically feel the happiness exuding from him, and it shows. Not to mention he’s still a little sweaty from performing, and his hair has lost a little bit of its sticking up with gel style. To others, it probably looked like he needed a shower but to you? He looked absolutely breathtaking. “What are ya staring at, farmer?” His voice has a teasing tone to it, and you quickly look away. You clear your throat and glance back at him, only to see a smug smirk on his face. Seems like performing brought his confidence back at least. You awkwardly point toward his head and mutter out, “Your hair is a little messed up…” in a pathetic attempt to make it seem like you weren’t staring at your best friend because he looked hot as hell. He glances upwards, chuckling and running his hand through his hair. “I’ll fix it later… you did like the show… right?”

“Of course I did!” you reassure him, and he smiles. “Good. You know… I wasn’t lying when I said you were a huge help...” he brings his hand to the back of his neck and you grin at him. “All I did was suggest what type of music you should play,” you insist, and he shakes his head. “And help me with lyrics, and help me with song ideas, and sat in my room with me and helped me figure out what sounded good and what didn’t, and-”

“Okay. Okay, maybe I did help a lot.”

“You did,” he assures, gently knocking his shoulder into yours. A smile breaks out on your face and you glance over at him. “Seriously though, thanks for coming. Guess you really are my good luck charm,” he jokes and you smirk. “Obviously, who else would be?”

“Sebastian.”

“Um, excuse me? The forlorn wizard who is too scared to ask out his childhood crush,” how hypocritical of you to say, “and laments in the rain while petting frogs would be a better good luck charm? You know, I play wizard in The Solorian Chronicles, too, Seb always just beat me to it, and every time he’s the wizard I can’t help but notice he isn’t a very good good luck charm for you,” you huff, and Sam starts laughing. Hard. “Woah, woah, woah, calm down there mage. You’re right, it’s not him, it’s definitely you. We should really do something about getting them together, though, now that you mention it.” You nod and make an approving noise. “Fuck yeah I’m your good luck charm.” Cue more giggles from Sam, making a smile break out on your face. Little did you know, this whole time the two of have been talking, Jodi has been observing you. She’s not blind, especially when it comes to her son. She can tell that there’s something more than a best friend relationship between the two of you, and maybe, just maybe, she also is holding on to that idea because she’s also good friends with you. While, yes, she did just want you to come over for dinner tonight, she really was hoping tonight would be the night that you turned from her little boy’s best friend into his partner. She can tell that it’s getting consistently harder for him to pretend that he doesn’t like you romantically. He’s lucky you were too busy playing with Vincent to see the lovesick look he had on his face when looking at you the morning that Vince’s yells and giggling woke him up earlier than usual. She knew at that moment that the chance of you becoming her in-law was a high probability. Okay, maybe she’s getting a bit carried away here, but she can tell that there’s something going on there. Especially when she notices Sam not so subtly throw his arm around your shoulder and instead of responding negatively, you just lean into him further and lay your head on his shoulder. Jodi could practically die right then and there.

The two of you remained that way for the rest of the bus ride, formulating a plan to get Seb and Abigail together. “We could maybe do something tonight if they come over for dinner,” you suggest, and Sam raises his eyebrow. “I didn’t realize mom invited them over for dinner,” he says and you cock your head to the side. “Well, she invited me, so I just assumed she would invite them too, since... y’know… Goblin Destroyer and all…” you say, and Sam shrugs. “They didn’t mention anything to me, and neither did mom… but that’s fine! We don’t need to do it tonight… you said she invited you though, yeah?” he asks, his voice sounding a little nervous. You nod, “Yeah… yeah she came over shortly after you this morning. When we get back I’m gonna go grab the fish she asked me to get and then head over to your place and help her prepare.”

“Cool… cool, that’s great! I didn’t realize we’d be spending all day together, but… hey, I’m not complaining,” he says and you smile. “Me either.” Conveniently, you feel the bus come to a stop, signifying you’re back in Pelican Town. Sam reluctantly takes his arm off of you, and you can’t help but notice it seems a little colder without it there. “Seb, Abigail, and I are gonna unload our gear, so I’ll see you in like… an hour? Or so?” You nod. 

“Yeah, see you then.”

[daisychainsandbowties]

Oh Casper: 4, 5, and 9 (🥺)

4. what are some themes you love writing about?

fascination is definitely one. writing about characters who are captivated by the world and touch it very reverently both physically and with language.

most of my ocs are like that, and i also explore it through ava and beatrice in different ways. for beatrice it’s often physics and the raw mechanics of the universe; for ava it’s the texturedness of things and how laden with meaning the smallest part of the world can be.

then there’s fascination in a romantic sense. love as fascination. it’s definitely woven into the fabric of how my characters look and think and feel about each other. it’s all driven by curiosity because i find that an interesting way to approach love; a person as a puzzle and then the knowing of them and the being known. to me that feels very much like love. an edge of it, maybe.

obviously violence, trauma, grief, and survival are themes i touch on constantly. i find it personally rewarding to explore what it means to survive a terrible thing (or to not-quite survive it, to be changed by it). what it means to live with the scars of that.

how people respond to violence is also a big theme for me, and with that you get themes of trauma, especially the challenge of depicting trauma in prose. there’s an instability inherent in most trauma narratives because of the thing itself. because trauma ruptures time; it unmakes sense of it.

it’s non-linear and often defies any attempt to capture it in language. it’s fear scattered over time and it’s often a specific event that has already happened but is happening now. the again and again and again of bad things, of that which is over, and over, and not.

probably that’s why non-linear narratives are so attractive to me; trauma doesn’t care what’s happening in the story. it’s a winged shape and it’s shapeshifting and it has visitations. it’s a ghost and it’s the monster come to eat you.

and it’s also quiet, aching, helpless. often it refuses speech and cannot be expressed. so the challenge of writing about it and having it as a narrative theme is very appealing to me. it’s an important thing to be able to represent because often it doesn’t let us speak until we adhere to the shape of its telling.

those are obviously just some of the themes i like to write about, but maybe the main ones at this moment in time.

5. what inspires you to write

you know? i really have no idea. part of it is how difficult it is. especially poetry leaves me feeling both drained and also incandescent. i think creating is just such a high and so satisfying - maybe it’s the dopamine chase of “i made a thing”? maybe also a desire to express things i can't get out in any other way

9. a passage from a WIP

from ligaments 8

//

your eyes resect her from the darkness, picking shade out of shade until there is the curl-cropped oval of her face, her hands below brighter than shadows, wrapped around an antique sword she has obviously pried from the cold marble hands of a statue. strange sense tells you that the blade is rust-pitted and weak, that you are twenty feet from her and faster, that her eyes are searching for you in the evacuated dark and there is a gleam of light on your blood, the curling trails of it cast over the flagstones.

you wonder, as pain lights a match in the pit of your stomach, if she will follow that blood to you. if it will take her home, or to her death.

you wonder if she can smell it. the faint, sweet rot that lurks inside the copper tang of your blood. can she feel how space is stretched and uncomfortable in the places where [redacted for spoilers]

beatrice once told you about closed-systems and you hardly believed her, but there’s an ache in the world around the places you dredged the demon out. frayed strands of matter fluttering around the spot where you pushed camila away, where she looked at you as the mouth of red fire swallowed her, and she could not have been safer if you’d taken her in on your tongue.

but the world is wounded, raw, the shadows threaded with stretched tissues. as ever you can only describe it in terms of flesh, as if the universe has anything so tender holding it together. and yet with a hand you can push through it, dip the backs of your knuckles into the scraping wind of the empty desert that is becoming your second home. it’s as easy as breaking the surface of water; it’s as easy as breaking a bone.

but it hurts. you are astonished by this mostly because you can tell the difference between your pain and the blunt thermodynamic pain of the world.

you always wondered what shannon meant, those times when she stood in a place where wraiths had ruptured through, staring up at the walls, tracing her fingers over the churned-up dust on the floor. on one occasion she listed onto her feet after examining a totally unremarkable section of the floor, glancing at you with an atypically maudlin expression.

“you’ll see it one day, lil.” she sounded very certain of this, though her eyes darted back away from you as she spoke, preoccupied with the cracked sections of the world that the halo laid bare for her.

“it takes time, but eventually you start to see the fractures. it’s… i guess it’s kind of like a poorly-set bone.” she winced, fingers reaching up towards her arm without meaning to. they aborted the gesture before it could happen, but you were thrown back nonetheless to the image of shannon braced against a wall, mary pressing her forehead into her shoulder.

they didn’t quite slot together exactly, and in fact the position seemed a little awkward to you from where you stood, white-knuckled. gripping the bumpy, unnatural texture of shannon’s forearm where the halo - in a panic, perhaps, or out of necessity – had reset the bone in a twisted approximation of itself. the flesh sat mutilated, lumpy with misplaced muscle. you had not, until that point, realised that the halo could make mistakes.

you stood as an off-kilter image of mary, one hand up high on shannon’s shoulder, pressing it into the wall. bare brick, or something equally – it felt, in that moment – cruel and uncompromising. your other hand gripped her forearm and she gripped yours back on its underside; the soft slope from wrist to elbow.

mary lifted her face away from where it had sequestered itself against shannon’s broad shoulder. her face set into an expression that made you want to look away, to go away and leave the pair of them alone with their pain.

you remember how she screamed, when mary twisted and twisted until her arm fell apart all over again, light from the halo spilling and crawling and writhing up along the brickwork. shannon, her mouth hanging open in shock, or horror, or something as simple as pain, watched the flow of light as it flickered off into nothing. it struck you as it did, on occasion, that what beatrice said about closed systems could not be true, or accurate. if that light came from God, was there more of it now in the world than there had been?

had shannon, a girl, split the world wide open with the breaking of her body?

“there she goes,” shannon said, and slumped forward into mary’s arms.

which were, as always, waiting for her.

you could not help the comparison then between mary with her body supporting shannon’s and those pictures you’d seen of Christ being taken down off the cross. the ease of that departure, nails slipping easily out of his upper wrist or the ball of his hand. he wouldn’t have cried out at all, or even sighed.

shannon did. both sounds roughshod in her mouth, tangling with each other like two people having sex. on instinct you tried to step forward, to bear the weight, but a look from mary set you in stone. you were not welcome. to mary, perhaps, you were the cross.

so you just stood and looked at them. how they slotted together better in that blood-and-light instant than they ever had before.

[tkpuke]

do u have any tickle headcanons about the hargreeves sibs? 🥺😭😭

hell YES I do! my absolute babies, who can never get a break from the world ending </3

slight season 3 spoilers for those who still haven’t finished it !

LUTHER

I saw this one hc that I unfortunately forgot who made it but when Luther’s original body comes back like we saw in the last ep of season 3, he’s 10x more ticklish than ever

Because he f o r g o t what tickling even use to feel like

Boy, will his siblings make sure he won’t forget

Luther definitely always ends up restraining his sibling’s hands to keep them still whenever they drag him into their playful fights

He doesn’t mind, as long as he’s involved in their shenanigans which brings a smile to his face, you won’t ever hear him complain

Luther likes to sometimes pick his siblings up and flip them upside down, then skitter around their stomachs

It drives them NUTS

I can see Luther having a really ticklish back, where you can’t even innocently give a massage to without him squirming all over the place

His underarms? That’s murder. You’ll murder the poor boy

No matter what, he’ll try to purse his lips together to contain the bubbling laughter in his throat

But the farthest he’s gotten successful with that is literally two seconds before his giggles is to be heard around the academy

DIEGO

Diego Hargreeves would respectfully throw a sucker punch to anyone that thought it was a good idea to tickle him

It seems like his siblings, especially Klaus, think half the time it’s a good idea

Diego HATES being held down when getting tickled he just won’t allow it

He sees tickling as something that makes you look weak and vulnerable

So don’t count him a fan

Although when you do tickle him? Prepare for this man to literally scream

Get his ribs if you wanna pull a snort from him

Diego turns into a puddle of goo whenever fingers get ahold of his most ticklish spots

Most he will do is push your face or sputter out giggly protests

“Not so much Mr. Tough guy now, huh?” Do you wanna die?

Diego will make anyone regret their ticklish attacks on him

He will spring back onto his feet and grab at you for his revenge

He would suggest you running, but only because it entertains him more

Nothing wrong with a good chase

I have a feeling Diego doesn’t really understand how to “properly” tickle

He’s one of those people who just roughly scratches any patch of skin and think it tickles like hell

More hurts than anything, you’ll have to let him know

But once he does learn a thing or two on how to get you cackling? You’re in for a ride

ALLISON

Let’s not be dumb, she would DEF use her powers as a advantage when it comes to tickle fights

“I heard a rumor you can’t move” then goes to town

Allison’s personal fav way of tickling somebody is using her nails

C’mon, it brings the best reactions

Allison can be very observant on what exactly gets you to break faster and what spots you just can’t handle for more than a minute

She remembers ALL her siblings worst spots

She reminds them daily she hasn’t forgotten

Tickles the snot out of her brothers if they ever annoy her or to keep them in check

Her laugh is the best you can’t tell me otherwise

Allison isn’t much of a squirmer, she kind of enjoys the sweet bonding act so she’ll let you have your fun

I can see Allison using baby talk to only embarrass her brothers, and also to give herself a good laugh since she can’t take herself seriously when doing so

KLAUS

You can’t punish this guy with a good time

He doesn’t mind getting tickled to pieces at ALL

His go-to’s are usually Diego or Five because they promise revenge right after getting absolutely wrecked

Klaus wears crop tops and ripped jeans for a reason

But he’ll never admit it

My man just straight out CACKLES

No giggles in the beginning, solely loud cackles to be heard a mile away

Thank you to God for blessing us with canon ticklish Klaus in season 3

You saw how Luther BARELY grazes his fingers on Klaus’ knee

So yeah, I’d like to announce that his knees are probably on his top five most ticklish spots list

Along with his stomach, of course

Don’t mind his protests, he says to stop or beg to not tickle there, but he doesn’t mean it

If he starts to wheeze then it’s safe to say he may need a breather

His favorite victims to go after are Five and Diego

Their reactions are priceless to him

The man loves to be a little shit and tease, or sometimes act stupid as if he doesn’t understand why his brothers are laughing so damn much

“I’m trying to go somewhere else, but you’ve trapped my hands in your underarms. Guess I’ll stay here.”

“Very rude of you to not tell me what’s so funny!”

Hugs his sibs from behind then when they least expect it, gets surprised with fingers squeezing their sides

Tickle hugs are his speciality sorry not sorry

FIVE

Every grump deserves tickles

I don’t make the rules here

Five swears on his life he’ll murder you in his sleep if you even DARE to touch him

“Sleep with one eye open.” Yeah yeah, you kind of secretly enjoy it old man

Okay yes his knees may get him to thrash crazily when you squeeze rapidly, yet he never rolls his socks high enough or wear pants to cover them

But have you tried the top of his ribs? No? Trust me on this one

It tickles so bad he sometimes teleports somewhere around the house without realizing it

Other than that? He can’t focus enough to really teleport on command whenever he’s getting tickled to tears

He’s so giggly where there’s no point to even threaten his siblings because they won’t take him seriously

His dimples are the best part of it all

An adorable little shit tbh

His revenge game is strong though

Whatever his sibs did to him? He will do it right back but 10x worse

Mercy isn’t found in his vocabulary

Won’t stop till he’s completely satisfied, which ends up with them being breathless most of the time

He thinks doing that will get his brothers and sister to learn their lesson to not drag him into tickle fights, but he’s still gonna get wrapped up in them one way or another

BEN

Ben, this poor poor angel

Back when they were kids they targeted Ben the most of their tickle onslaughts

His reactions were too cute for anybody to handle

His smile could light up a room instantly

If you wiggle your fingers in the air directly at him? Forget about it, he’s already pleading his case for whatever he did to deserve this mean torture

Tickling Ben is something anybody would do if they get bored

Ben wasn’t exactly the happiest when Klaus kept the tradition going of tickling him out of the blue all thanks to his powers

Gentle tickles works better with him

He can’t handle it give him a break

You see, he tries to get his sibs back, he really does, but it only takes a single poke to his side and he’s crumbling

If you go for his stomach, you’re responsible for his funeral

All due to his power of the tentacles from another dimension coming out of his stomach got him to be veerrryyy sensitive around that area

VIKTOR

Viktor isn’t ticklish in most common places for people

Ears, hips, and neck would receive a good laugh from him

Place hands on his shoulders and slightly squeeze around his neck area, your fingers are getting squashed from Viktor trying to protect the spot as much as he can

He taps out in two minutes tops

Stick with gentle tickling, he prefers it more

Never getting involved with the playful fights his siblings had when they were kids, always forced to watch from afar or be sent to practice on his violin

Caused Viktor’s eyes to light up whenever he sees a tickle fight brawl out and his siblings asking for him to lend a helping hand

He accepts in a heartbeat, loving to feel so included

Five gives him a few pokes here n there as a playful retort

Klaus is Viktor’s number one tickle monster

Viktor never minds the affectionate act

He volunteers in anything if it’s to bond with his lovely siblings

More on the receiving than on the giving, because of hearing tales on how ruthless his brothers and sister can get if you tickle them long enough

If he finds a pretty bad spot? Don’t worry, secret safe with him

[levisgirll]

what would life with levi be like post 139?

𝐀𝐎𝐓 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧(𝟐)

𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣 ♡♡♡

warning: mention of some spoilers about levi but not major ones as I wont be going in depth about ch 139.

A lot of really cute fluff that I’m sure will warm your heart-

Thanks for sending a question! I'm glad I got another one and ngl this is actually fun to discuss and share my thoughts and ideas with you all :,) I am guessing you are asking about what life y/n would be with Levi after the war and ch. 139 correct?

To be honest, the first thing that comes to mind is that Levi would be actually more relaxed, soft, and happier especially if he is with y/n. After losing some of his comrades, y/n there being by his side would literally make him sometimes during night go emotional and get really clingy to you and he would be extra affectionate and loving. He wants to feel your presence, wants to know you are still there during the night, and wants to definitely hold you. So y/n living with Levi, expect to have some emotional midnights with him and I feel like it would be really deep and he would share his thoughts or maybe talk it out and then he would go on and say he is thankful you are here, by his side and that he would say "Just remember, you mean a lot to me, Y/N. Don't forget that." He has a hard time trying to find the right words to express how much you mean to him but you would get the message either way from his actions and body language. Also, during those nights, he would want a shoulder to cry on and probably just hold on to you and sob a bit on your shoulder (covering his face) because after the war and he has finished serving his duty, he would think about the past and all the people he cared about and his old close comrades and friends, and since Levi is emotional he would just would want y/n to remind him that you are here and you would make him feel so special just by being by his side! hugging him, letting him speak what is in his mind, accept what has happened, and especially showing him love since this man is a bit hesitant and he would want you to do it.

Another thing I think would be like for y/n living with Levi is that to expect a lot of, sight seeing, exploring new places, he would definitely wake you up so damn early to go for this nice café and that they sell fresh baked pastries and he would get bread with you on the way back, holding your hand and keeping you really close to him. When his legs heals, expect also walking in big open green fields, and even hiking! He would only do this with y/n and if they are there and when you both went there, you realized he was really loving to you, and cared for you through his actions asking if you were okay, if you were having a good time with him and....if you were even happy with him! "Are you....happy staying with someone like me?". It breaks Y/N to hear this from him and I think after the war and everything, he would sometimes look down on himself and probably feel self conscious about his scars on his face and he thinks he is 'uglier'. You are now the one who would shut him up even if he says negative things about himself. "Do you think I-" before he even tried to finish his sentence, y/n would go and cover his mouth with their hand. "If you say it one more time, I'm going to smooch your whole face to shut you up." He would then actually laugh every time you do that and finds you adorable, and proceeds to kiss you on the lips, "I love you." He would say that so sweetly, deep and full of emotions while his eyes looking at you filled with love and lust and he would just say that so suddenly and he has been doing that quite often after you started living your life with Levi after the war and it makes you get butterflies every time (also you both are blushing like hell!) He would ask you when he is self conscious if he still looked attractive to you (this is usually when you recently got close with the other neighbors and they loved you and Levi and he would look at the young man talking to his partner, and seeing his face with no scars. He would think that y/n deserved a more better looking guy sometimes) and he would say that he wished he had his other eye to see you more clearly because you become even more beautiful to him and wants to grasp every time he looks at you really clearly, so when you go out he still thinks of you.

He would have a car and he would be pretty good at driving and he would want to take you to the places he would search up and he would literally plan the day the next day without you knowing. so expect surprise trips too! But, he wouldn't want to use his car to be honest and instead using the train for long rides! That's because, he would want his partner to be near him, let them lay on his shoulder or even lap, prepare some sandwiches for y/n and gives it to them just to see them eating the sandwich happily and he finds it really cute. Basically, he wants every interaction with you no matter what.

It would be a simple, but such a loving, warm-hearted, affectionate and basic romantic life that you both would be sooo loved and really happy together <3 he would want to make you laugh every time and he would start laughing too, would take care of you a lot, mentally, physically too even though you always told him you would do some chores instead but he insists "No love, you did enough. Just rest up for today. let me do it okay? And after this I'm taking you out." Also, he would still worry about you a lot and be protective. SO when you go out, he would still message you and wait for you and he get sad when he can't tag along. Once he didn't reply for 30 mins and he was ready to interrogate everyone to find his partner.

I feel like Levi would brag about you quite often to people he would see and talk to, such as you and Levi's neighbors and he would see them in the supermarket early morning (in some mornings you wont be with him cause you were so tired and he gave up and let you sleep in and went instead). He would be buying a bouquet of flowers (he does that every once a while) for you to surprise you when he is back and he would see his neighbors and he would literally talk so highly of y/n, and say such loving things. "Oh Levi, you actually really love Y/N. They are lucky to have you!" and he would stay slight and think. "It's me who is lucky. my whole life I have been unlucky after everything I went through, but meeting y/n. they changed my life and turned it to a better way. they understand me and love me. I love them so much....I don't want them to leave yet." He would say to them and they would encourage him to say it to you but he is kind of shy. SO! he decided to write it in a letter he was secretly hiding it from you and giving it to you for your next anniversary <3 Would defiantly learn how to bake for you, cook new things every week, buy new books that reminds him of you and read it and then he would talk to you about it for hours while drinking tea with him, would take you to shopping and buy you clothes that you would like. and behind closed doors, he wont miss a chance not to show you love, he would hug your waist from behind for soo long (its his favorite) and keeps his head on your shoulder and breathe in your beautiful scent and kiss your skin gently. "Y/N. please, just stay here for another 5 minutes." That 5 minutes was half an hour of smooching and cuddling in the coach and with some hickeys he would leave you on your shoulder (and he lowkey would want you to give him one too- and he would just give you that look saying as if he would want one right now or he wont let you go. so like I said before, clingy soft man? yes. defiantly after everything and since nothing is in his way he would do this and now you can clearly see his loving and soft side that he gives you daily.) Following that, you both would spend the evening, at the balcony, stargazing and he would look at you instead of the stars, while giving a small smile and placing his hand on the side of his cheek. That's because he really thought you were the star, sunlight and bright flower that blooms beautifully which is filled with love and happiness.

Finally, I feel like he would probably be less grumpy and not showing much of his usual stoic expression but instead, his expression would show he is finally relaxed, calm and actually happy inside because living his life with y/n after the war really helped him and made him realize that this. this is how love and life felt like, living with your true soulmate, the connection, emotions you both would share, feelings understood without being explained much, such strong emotional attraction and you were the perfect person to him. this is what changes him and makes him the most soft man out there that if the people from the survey crops where alive such as Erwin and etc. they would be shocked but extremely proud and happy of him because he really deserves it.

I hope this answered your question and this is what I would guess! Anyways, this really warmed my heart answering this and ahhh just imagine this all like, how beautiful and amazing that is? I just wish we all could give Levi a hug. He really is a great man. please feel free to send another question or anyone out there who has one! I hope you and everyone has a good day and let me know if you liked this by leaving a message anywhere, like or a reblog 🥺 ♡ ♡

[stillness-in-green]

Ask Roundup (Todotalk Ver.)

Regarding this post.

I had to go dig up some alternate translations to see what you meant by the last line there, and fair enough that they sound much more ambivalent about Endeavor there than in the Viz. Still, though, even with the insults thrown Endeavor’s way, Kido says he’s there following Endeavor’s orders because he chooses to be, while Burnin’s got that whole thing on Endeavor’s accomplishments/getting the job done, and they just feel so unnecessary to me.

Dabi doesn’t care about why you’re here, Kido; he definitely doesn’t care about Endeavor’s glowing hero track record, Burnin’. Why not just say they’re there to support Shouto and leave it at that? Or say that, as heroes, they can’t just let a murderous arsonist run loose no matter how tragic his backstory is? There’s no need to pad out their dialogue with this defensiveness about why they’re still doing Endeavor’s work, unless it’s just that: defensiveness.

Their personal reasons for not walking away after finding out about Endeavor’s abuse are personal; they wouldn’t owe those reasons to Dabi even if he asked. Even if you read his line calling them Endeavor’s aides/merry helpers to be a personal dig at their moral fiber for shrugging off Dabi’s accusations, I would say it’s kind of unprofessional to feel the need to rise to the bait.

—

—

Going back over the material for the ask above, I notice that the way Dabi refers to the Sidekickers kind of feels like he’s noting them as the three of Endeavor’s sidekicks, not just any three random people who work at the agency. I really do kind of wonder if Flaming Horse Man was just kind of included on a whim but never materialized into anything in particular. It would fit his absence since, though it’d be a shame. Here’s hoping he crops back up somewhere before the end!

—

—

I don’t generally devote enough brainspace to the pros to give this one a really detailed breakdown, but Best Jeanist is probably a fairly good model.

Whatever his feelings on it, the fact of the matter is that Dabi is still out there willfully endangering peoples’ lives, and the heroes don’t have the numbers or resources to be stripping the Number 1 Hero of his license at the present time. They’re also not the police or the justice system; strictly speaking, it’s not their job to do anything about Endeavor if he’s not actively in the process of hurting someone with his quirk. Also x2, no one is going to get any answers about how Dabi survived and became what he did while he’s still at large;* any closure on that matter is going to require getting him in custody.

This is all, of course, exactly the kind of reasoning that allows “distortions” like the League to form to begin with—villains are putting others at risk so we have no time to try to reason with them; we have to think about the greater good; our only job is dealing with villains—but there’s a reason it’s not going to be the Old Guard to change the system. Really, the professional front sounds good on paper, but taken to its logical extremes, it’s kind of where the HPSC wound up: no flaws or weaknesses are allowed to show, because The People Need To Believe In The System.

(* Spoilers for Chapter 350, but at least until they just go ask Ujiko about it, apparently. Think of all the time that could have been saved if someone had just done that at the start. What, is Tsukauchi the only police officer that has had the novel thought of questioning detainees?)

Thanks for the asks, anon(s)!

[oftenderweapons]

Not sure if this counts as a Drabble I’m not really familiar with it sorry! So you can ignore if you want but maybe you can do a list of BTS and the OC’s favorite kinks

[A/N: this took a very long time coming, mostly because it was a lengthy job. Sorry for the wait nonnie, I hope it’s worth it 🥴😉]

Okay! I sort of assembled this as a mix of short headcanons (there are six to eight each — also I got carried away with Jk, he’s got eleven but some are like, are more lowkey). They’re divided couple by couple and I’ve tried to be as realistic as possible, which means that some couples have some kinks in common, especially since I stayed on more well-known kinks and fetishes that represent each couple’s go-to. I do think they explore less popular kinks other than the ones I listed, however they might not go there that often.

You’ll be seeing some of these soon ;) [ILLICIT AFFAIRS WON I AM CRYING]

Uhm. Obviously there’s a lot of stuff I have to include in the trigger warnings, so bear with me. 

This is obviously 18+

TRIGGER WARNINGS: discipline (brat taming, sub training), impact play (spankings, paddle, flogger, riding crop; both on ass and breasts), marking, dirty talking, choking, masturbation (male and female receiving; mututal), squirting, several fetishes (uniform, shoes, feet, voice), cock worship, breast worship, powerplay (DDLG, daddy kink; domination; mommy kink; Primal/predator-prey dynamics, pet play), orgasm control and deprivation, role play, food play, cum play/cum eating, pain kink, sensation play, temperature play, edging and overstimulation, phone sex, cyber sex, bondage, torture play/forced masturbation, tickling, anal play (buttplugs, strap on, rimming, penetration), degradation kink, corruption kink, voyeurism and exhibitionism, outdoor sex, cockwarming, oral sex (male and female receiving; facefucking male receiving; mutual), sex toys (nipple clamps, dildo, vibrator)

Not exactly kinks, more like attitudes: experimentalism, intimacy, sapiosexuality

Check out my masterlist here 

Enjoy 💜✨

Namjoon and Vixen

Daddy kink; brat taming

I think it’s sort of a given, but it also needs to be included. Vixen’s first relationship was when she had just turned nineteen, with a man quite older than her. They were together for a couple years and he significantly shaped her needs in terms of intimacy and sex. Her parenting figures were really weak and she grew up with a nanny who taught her her second language, French. Namjoon — being always a very responsible very nurturing figure within the group, and somehow having the role of a mediator — is used to stubborn, hot-headed people and would probably be a bit bored with someone incapable of giving him a bit of attitude. This said, it comes quite natural that Vixen (although she is a very smart, very elegant young lady) looks for guidance in her partner, and after the responsibilities that come with her career, she looks for someone who can take decisions for her and even control her private life a little, like check that she eats and what she eats, or pick what she’s going to wear for the day. On the other hand, Namjoon likes being taken care of in other ways, namely cuddles and homecooked meals, which Vixen offers profusely. Her childlike, unconditional affection is exactly what makes Namjoon baby her, and such behaviour on his behalf encourages her to rely on him even more, letting him pamper her and spoil her. And in terms of bratting... Well, Vixen likes seeing him lose his cool — because a sick part of her (she knows it’s sick) gets horny seeing Namjoon angry. And Namjoon in returns gets even more cool and composed the more she gets feisty. He calls the shot, may she like it or not. The point is that with some cuddles, soft words (and a few good spanks) he always manages to tame her.

Spanking

Vixen likes getting spanked. And Namjoon is obsessed with her ass. He is an ass and thighs man. Fight me on this one. Nothing turns him on more than seeing her flesh quiver after the impact of a good spank. Vixen likes it simply because it condenses three of her favourite things, discipline, punishments and pain kink. Spanks are delivered both as a reward and as a punishment, and Namjoon knows how to make a distinction between the two cases, although he much prefers delivering them as a reward, since he hasn’t got much of a pain kink, and painful activities are a soft limit for him, both in terms of giving and receiving. He approves that kind of pain that is simply aimed at enhancing pleasure. Vixen really likes spanks delivered with the bare palm of a hand, since those are the one that she perceives as the most “educational”; however she also likes the paddle, the hairbrush and other more tricky devices (that you will discover soon *wink*).

Marking

Namjoon is crazy for marking Vixen. He is very jealous of her and their relationship staying on the low means that he can’t actually claim her publicly. They both try to protect their relationship for as long as possible, and I can quite see him deciding to keep it private until he’s been married to her for a while. But he’s gonna mark his baby, especially in spots that are only his and hers to see. His absolutely favourite spot would be her hip tattoo, of course, where he always places the first hickey of the night; next her inner thighs, her crotch and her breasts (lovely tiny cherries, he loves them the most). When she allows him, he also leaves hickeys on her neck and chest. Obviously her butt too. He also likes biting, especially her ass (until he leaves bruises and/or actual indentations) and her inner thighs — the softer parts. Vixen also marks him when he’s not on a schedule, when they’re on vacation and they can let loose a little. He especially likes it when she leaves scratches on his back and shoulders, but he also enjoys hickeys on his chest and thighs when she’s on her way to giving him head.

Sapiosexualilty; dirty talking

We all know these two have filthy tongues. They’re sapiosexuals, so they’re turned on by mind games, smart use of language, verbal sparring etcetera. They’re both readers and intellectuals, which means they enjoy a polished, often obscure use of language. They’re the most likely to send each other texts (or even emails) where they simply wax poetic about fucking each other. They can literally send a text at nine am about some spicy play they intend to do later that night, let excitement build all day long and — as soon as they get home — they wait and see who’s the one that surrenders (spoiler: usually Joon because Vixen is a brat and brats are tough eggs to crack). In bed, Vixen loves listening to Namjoon’s voice, no matter if he’s talking about how good it feels to be inside her or if he makes romantic love declarations in midst of a rowdy fuck. Also they might argue while they have sex or pick stupid fights just to release some tension (totally the type to start a discussion as they choose the mirror for the bathroom, Vixen picking round while Namjoon picks rectangular, embarrassing the shopping assistant as they get into hard bickering heavy with sexual tension).

Choking

This is a new one, to both of them. Vixen had never toyed with it before, since she risked drowning when she was a child so she’s not a fan of anything that involves breath control. Still, she didn’t imagine she could be turned on by choking her partner. The first time Namjoon grabs her wrist and brings her hand to his neck she freaks out a little, but then she gets a grip (haha) and realises that seeing him that fucked out, and hearing him moan like that is something most definitely turning her on. Namjoon has a sensitive neck and chest, so having Vixen touching him there makes his soul leave his body; furthermore, the level of trust required leads us right onto the next kink.

Intimacy

I realise this is not exactly a kink, however it is a necessary condition for things to get sexy between these two. Namjoon and Vixen need special closeness for things to work out. Talking, flirting, but also sharing physical closeness and affection, occupying the same mental space. They don’t need to be making love for things to be very emotional. Even the angriest, rowdiest of fuckings to them is actually a very fond way of saying ‘I love you’. I think that out all the kinks this is the most difficult to explain. I suppose this is what makes them incredibly talented even at good ol’ plain vanilla.

Mutual Masturbation

I think these two just do that a lot. They’re extremely comfortable with having the other watch as they touches themselves. I think it started with Vixen being her shameless, teasing, kinky self and Namjoon being incapable of holding back, and then it naturally evolved into both him and her openly touching themselves for the other to see. I think they learn by watching so observing the other and seeing how they do it is how they master their technique.

Lingerie and shoe fetish

Namjoon is obsessed with Vixen’s sexiness, how she carries herself, how much charisma and self confidence she can muster when she is almost naked. I’ve always seen Namjoon extremely attracted to Vixen’s body and seeing it there, with the bare necessities covered by expensive and lush lace and silk, or even in funny cotton drawers with innocent prints is a ticket to Nirvana for Namjoon. I bet you can imagine Vixen lounging on the bed, provocatoriously clad in black lace as she reads a book, and Namjoon entering the room, ready to pounce on her with predatorial intents.

Jin and Angel

Cockworship

We all know that Jin comes from several vanilla experiences, during which he always kept his basest instincts at bay. Once Angel gives him the green light, he’s not letting go. Angel loves celebrating his virility in all ways possible, showing how much she appreciates a part of him that he has felt ashamed of, in some ways. And Jin gets extremely turned on by the simple view of Angel kneeling before him, looking at him as he touches himself, begging to touch and/or kiss his cock. He gets wild with it, especially if you sum that up with Jin being especially interested in discipline. Watching Angel worship his cock with her hands, mouth, tits gives him that sense of power and authority that enhances his dominance and turns him into a cocky, power-hungry beast, ready to do anything to quench his thirst, fulfill his desires and almost entirely ignore Angel’s needs — don’t worry, she actually gets off to Jin getting what he wants on whichever terms he deems necessary.

Power play

Jin likes having power. Being more powerful than Angel is one of the mental tricks he uses to keep himself from going vanilla. The powerful position is what allows him to call the shots, choose what to do and actually claim what he wants and needs. Watching Angel kneel in front of him, with her eyes low until he calls for her attention is one of his biggest turn-ons. And Angel is way more than okay with this: watching Jin take control and knowing that she is pleasing him, that any activity they’re getting into is bound to make Jin loud and messy and fucked out, is the strongest aphrodisiac. When in a vanilla mindset, Jin can’t quite understand (yet) what pushes Angel into pleasing him and how much his pleasure means to her, as they’re still at the beginning of their sexplorations. The more they get familiar with each other’s roles and needs, the more Jin finds pleasure in ruling over Angel and watch her stare at him with her big, beautiful, hungry eyes.

Orgasm control/deprivation

Jin’s need for power manifests in different ways. The fact that Jin comes from several years of vanilla and self control, and Angel has gotten used to their calmer approach to intimacy and sex, makes them both quite good at sexual deprivation. He can easily deprive her for weeks, or deprive himself: when he’s depriving her, his favourite activity is having her kneel on the floor, naked and touch himself until he cums on her breasts; when he’s depriving himself he likes eating her out for at least two or three rounds, until she’s begging for him to fuck her, completely desperate and on the verge of tears when he denies her. Regardless of who is being deprived, when she gets whiny and emotional, he always makes sure to reassure her and remind her when the period of deprivation is going to end, telling her what he plans to do to her as soon as he allows himself to. About orgasm control — Angel needs training. And a very stern one at that. She is not used at that level of control, mostly because she’s used to a very loving, very attentive Seokjin who wants her pleased and pampered all the time. Orgasm control is most definitely the thing she hates the most out of all her training; the only factor keeping her from truly hating it is how Jin turns soft once she manages to complete a task successfully, praising her and letting her have more control — either turning the scene into vanilla lovemaking or letting her turn the tables and ride him until she’s happy and sated.

Role play

Jin sometimes needs help getting into an aggressive, authoritative mood. Luckily, he is a great actor and he know exactly how to get into character. He would often assume a role out of the blue, letting Angel choose what position to occupy — although his all time favourite is teacher-student. It allows him to get into the strictest, harshest forms of impact play, having lots of fun watching sweat, drool and cum stain Angel's uniform, or watching her breasts burst out of her schoolgirl blouse. On a minor note he loves using a paddle or a riding crop on Angel, making her bend over the edge of the bed and flipping her skirt up, spanking her until she's begging, only to sit on the bed and put her head between his legs, tugging at her pigtails (but never letting himself go too deep — he has no interest in seeing Angel gag on him, it's his own hard limit before being hers). Other types of roleplay he likes are doctor-nurse or doctor-patient, landlord-maid, pilot-hostess and obviously chef and waitress, which leads us right to next prompt.

Food play

Angel loves Jin's cooking. She loves watching his wide shoulders in front of the stove, she loves hearing him hum when he tastes something good, she loves him leaning over the table and offering her some food from his fork. She especially likes seeing him so passionate and dedicated, and she loves showing enthusiasm for a hobby that is so dear to him and on which he puts so much effort. Food play is mostly a way to set the tone for passionate, steamy lovemaking, where he worships every inch of Angel's body with his lips. Angel has developed an involuntary reaction to seeing his special cookbook on the small prop by the stove. Wetness coats her thigh as soon as she sees his messy handwriting on the page, signaling that he is indeed preparing a sauce or cream for kinky play. He really likes playing with frozen fruit and ice cream or watching Angel squirm as chocolate sauce tickles her while dribbling down her breasts. He is wicked. And also awfully gluttonous. Angel spoils him and is spoiled with this specific kink of theirs. It was the first kink they explored even when their relationship was still vanilla.

Pain kink

Not much explaining to do. Jin goes absolutely wild with riding crops and paddles. There’s nothing more exciting than watching Angel push her chest towards him, trying to convince him to remove her nipple clamps as she writhing underneath him.

Cum play

There’s nothing more exciting for Jin than watching his cum stain Angel’s breasts, or pulling out at the very last second to cum on her belly. Another thing he loves is to jerk off and make Angel wait with her mouth open, ready to welcome the head of his cock as he finally reaches his climax and spills inside her, telling her not to swallow and open her mouth to show him how much she loves the result of his pleasure before closing her mouth and swallowing, and showing that she took every single droplet of it.

Yoongi and Kitten

Sensation play

Kitten is a bad bitch. She gets off at having Yoongi moaning, squirming, whimpering and groaning underneath her. And Yoongi is so sensitive. It would be a shame not to toy with that. She likes giving him head and edging him, putting him through the absolute worst. He gets weak whenever Kitten blindfolds him, pours warm massage oil on him and procedes with the most relaxing touches and caresses. He gets whiny and desperate whenever she chooses to bring ice cubes to the bedroom and he gets absolutely wild whenever her bullet vibrator is aimed at him instead of her. Kitten is a menace — and maybe a bit of a sadist — but it always feels so sweet once she finally offers him release. Yoongi might consider it torture, but in the end he really, really loves that.

Choking kink

There’s not much difference: choking... being choked... both are okay with giving and receiving. Kitten has a sensitive neck and chest, which means any action there is a huge turn on. Her sensitivity there means she usually covers her upper torso, since it being even slightly exposed makes her feel vulnerable; plus she often needs to hide hickeys and bruises anyway.

Oral fixation; face fucking

Kitten loves giving blowjob, Yoongi loves placing his mouth anywhere on Kitten, especially on her lips, her chest and between her legs. Yoongi has given hints about... Uhm... Oral skills. I think he'd be glad to spend hours between Kitten's legs, and since she wasn't entirely confident with receiving oral sex (her ex was a prick), he is more than happy to take things slow and help her rebuild enough confidence to literally have her climb him while he's laying on the bed, and unashamedly sit on his face and ride it.

Voice fetish

When Kitten and Yoongi met, both were attracted by each other’s voice and throughout courtship and dating they both loved listening to the other talk. Yoongi knows his voice is attractive, and he is incredibly attuned to Kitten’s slightly deep, very soft and quiet voice. She has a velvety timbre that is so relaxing and exciting at the same time. He could get wild at her whispering in his ear, feeling her lips graze against the shell of his ear. However, Kitten would be equally weak if he did that to her.

Phone sex

Since they both enjoy listening to each other’s voice, and since Yoongi travels a lot, they are really into phone sex when they’re too far apart, or when Yoongi needs to stay at the dorms or if they feel extremely needy in the middle of the day. Even when he’s on tour, they prefer phone sex to kinky video calls.

Breast worship

This kink, paired up with Yoongi’s oral fixation, Kitten’s sensitive chest, and cumplay just explains how much exploring there is toward this direction. There are no limits: sensation play with ice cubes or warm massage oil, wax play, food play, boob jobs, a lot of nipple teasing… Kitten is open to experimenting and Yoongi is more than aware of what could feel nice and what would be utter torture. And he wants to try it all.  

Cumplay and Cum eating

Yoongi is not afraid of things getting messy. He likes having Kitten’s juices all over his face, licking them off his lips and fingers: he doesn’t need her to taste like watermelon or smell like rainbows and unicorns. He wants a woman, real and messy. He loves the salty taste on his tongue, and he can tell when she’s close to her period for how the taste of her changes. Plus, he loves cumming on her breasts, especially if his semen accidentally marks her pretty, lacy bras. 

Hoseok and Giggles

Handjobs; squirting

Hoseok’s hands are a blessing. But his fingers are a gift of the devil. They were made to sin and torture. Giggles is very sensitive on her own account. That paired up with Hoseok’s skills makes for wild nights of soaked sheets — luckily enough they buy an impermeable blanket pretty much at the beginning of their relationship.

Impact play; flogger

Not only Hoseok’s hands are a blessing, but those wrists are stretchable. Fluent. They’re perfect for cracking a whip. Or a flogger — he is a bit afraid of using a whip, and it takes a lot of space… However, floggers? He smiles wickedly whenever Giggles gets close to him on Thursday or Friday and casually sits on his lap, hooks an arm behind his neck and leans in close. “I don’t have my Monday shift… Do you think we could… Play with the flogger?” She asks, a bit insecure. He usually plans scenes for Saturday night, so he can have all the aftercare equipment ready and he can spend all Sunday taking care of Giggles. If he can comply to her request, he hugs her close to him and reassures her as they start planning more details.

Bondage

By now it is canon that these two have taken lessons, that they have personalised ropes that Giggles had to prepare personally. Although she’s more precise and diligent in knots, Hoseok is also very attentive and prepared; they often discuss bondage scenes, even over dinner, talking about how the scene will play out, which types of knots to use, how to secure the rope, et cetera.

Experimenting

As I said, they are both absolutely okay discussing stuff they want to try. It isn’t uncommon for them to be watching a movie and suddenly something appears — even something as banal as a clothespin or a makeup brush —  and suddenly one of them is going: “We could use that in bed”. It isn’t uncommon for them to discuss kinky stuff during the week, planning scenes over dinner, or while they’re chilling, or whatever.

Torture play; Overstimulation; tickling

Hoseok likes seeing Giggles writhing and tossing underneath him. He likes torturing her with overstimulation, giving her orgasms back to back or making her squirt so many times that she passes out — it only happened twice and he made sure she drank almost two litres of water afterwards to make sure she didn’t get dehydrated. He also loves her laugh and her nickname comes from the lovely, happy sounds she makes when he coaxes a laugh from her. He loves tickling her to tears, her silvery voice erupting in chuckles that fill his heart with joy.

Shifting positions; multiple rounds

Hoseok has stamina and flexibility. He can go for three rounds without even blinking. He’d manoeuvre Giggles in and out of positions, directing her, helping her put her body in place, following her movements as she shifts. She’s not always happy with all the moving around, especially when she finds a good position and Hoseok decides he wants to change it; however, he can be extremely convincing and he happens to remember all her favourites, putting them in a smooth, easy sequence whenever he wants to reward her — which is at least twice a month because Giggles is the most perfect little bubble.

Jimin and Princess

Exhibitionism

Jimin lives to be watched. His mannerism and elegance make him a performer, even in the plainest tasks. When Princess is watching him, he only exists for her eyes and her eyes only. Nothing gratifies him more than the loving, passionate glances she throws at him when with their friends, or the obscured and raptured ones when she’s dominating him, or the desperate, imploring ones when it’s his turn to call the shots.

Pet play

Jimin is a huge switch. He likes following his whims and is overall a brat, who just does whatever he likes. So, when Princess comes out of the bathroom before bedtime and finds him lounging on the bed naked with a pair of cat ears, his collar and her riding crop waiting on her bedside table, she knows exactly the kind of treatment he’s trying to get. Nevertheless, when in that mood he turns into the most obedient little kitty, so vulnerable and frail that Princess knows she shall treat him with velvet gloves (haha). Literally.

Edging and overstimulation

Princess likes it when Jimin gets messy and whiny and loud. She likes listening to him whimpering and whining while she uses her vibrator on him and makes him cry. It makes her feel powerful. It also makes her ten times softer afterwards and she just loves it when he hits subspace so bad he starts calling her mommy and begging for her to make him cum.

Anal play

Both Princess and Jimin are okay with giving and receiving. Princess is especially in love with double penetration. Jimin is very okay with rimming and putt plugs.

Spanking

Jimin has never really had the courage to try getting spanked before. He had his first experience with Princess, directing her thought the scene. He had learnt basic directions in case he ever needed to teach his partner, but he never thought it would actually happen. From there he and Princess get more comfortable with spankings and get even more involved in impact play, still spankings stay Jimin’s favourite.

Degradation

When in dom mode, Jimin can be vitriolic in his remarks, praising Princess with the dirtiest taunts. Some name calling happens, but Jimin never lets that get too deep. He usually opts for a patronising behaviour that questions Princess’ ability to live without him, and usually avoids anything outright insulting.

Breast worship

Jimin loves Princess’ chest. He likes touching her breasts, more than anything else, but this doesn’t mean he won’t slap them, suck them and fuck them every now and then.

[Sorry if I didn’t write much, honestly I’m still figuring these two out. I think it has a lot to do with Jimin being just so... mercurial. I can’t find another word. He is the least “steady” character in my head. I don’t know. I’ve always had problems with understanding Libras. He’s just so moody and so... It’s frustrating. I just have so many vibes coming from him it’s too much.]

Taehyung and Lace

Voyeurism; exhibitionism

While Jimin lives to be watched, Taehyung is all about the art of watching. Taehyung needs to watch Lace. It doesn’t matter if she’s putting on her lipstick or washing the dishes or brushing her teeth or sucking his cock. He will study her like a painting hung in a museum until he can close his eyes and imagine her exist like a hologram in his head. He loves watching her during sex and he indirectly loves being watched by her too. Lace has never felt so beautiful. 

Outdoor sex

I think they wouldn’t mind trying outdoor sex: the lack of available locations in Seoul initially discourages them, but as they start going on holidays together, geographic remoteness and private outdoor spaces start becoming characteristics these two actually look for in their ideal resort. Yes, they’re the type to fuck against a tree in the woods — or maybe on the beach, under the stars (with Lace taking the utmost care in making sure nothing goes wrong in terms of safety both to their healths and Taehyung’s career).

Cyber sex

With Taehyung travelling because of his job, it isn’t uncommon for him and Lace to become cyber sex experts. Not only he has videos of her safely stored away in a memory card he has basically stitched to his skin — he is hyperaware of it and they are extremely careful of anything that could possibly link the video to the two of them — but he's more than willing to plan videocalls where they can get carried away in front of the camera for the other's viewing pleasure.

Cockwarming

There’s nothing more relaxing and intimate to Taehyung and Lace than being physically connected after sex. After being so close, so together even for a rough, brief quickie, it is traumatic for them to part too suddenly, so usually Taehyung stays inside her for at least a bunch of minutes.

Oral fixation

Both Taehyung and Lace like putting their mouth on the other. Lace could live with Taehyung’s cock in her mouth, while he especially loves to bite her flesh, pretty much anywhere, or stare at her face while he suckles her breasts like a little boy. He could literally fall asleep while they’re facing each other, on their sides, suckling at her nipple while she handcombs his hair, the pressure slowly decreasing until he lets go completely, sound asleep.

Foot fetish

Both Taehyung and Lace are new to this and they're more than willing to explore. Expect Taehyung to grow increasingly addicted to them playing footsie underneath the dinner table, but also to get exceedingly turned on by having Lace's feet laying on his lap or crotch.

Squirting

Taehyung knows exactly how to touch Lace, massaging her after a long day, relaxing her whole body before his fingers end up inside her. His strong, sinewy fingers seem to be programmed to please her. Nevertheless, he is not prone to use this as a form of torture; he'd much rather use it to amplify Lace's sensitivity and help her reach further states of pleasure.

Anal play

I think Taehyung aims at possessing every inch of Lace's body, and of course he wouldn't mind one bit to rim, finger or fuck her ass. He'd be absolutely fine with buttplugs and double penetration. And don't think he would mind wearing a butt plug himself — I think he's the most likely to wear a tail-buttplug, probably. I also think he is by far the most comfortable with the idea of getting pegged: he knows his power and he knows it could never be undermined by Lace fucking him with her strap on.

Jungkook and Candy

Predator play

May it be playful or absolutely ruthless, Jeongguk loves hunting Candy inside his apartment. He loves playing hide and seek, he loves the rush he feels when he spots a hint, and he loves even more the adrenaline coursing through his body when he chases her down the corridor and picks her up, throwing her body over his shoulder — oh, and most of all he loves ripping her clothes off and taking her whenever he manages to catch her.

Corruption kink

Jeongguk’s predatory instincts get even louder when Candy is acting innocent, being her happy, playful, bubbly self. Go figure when she’s sleeping and her face is so soft and young and she has a slight pout and squishable cheeks: Jeongguk can feel his blood flood to all the right places, arousal and adrenaline mixing up, while his brain tries to stay calm, wake her up gently and ask for her consent.

Marking

It’s not that big of a thing to him, he might leave hickeys down Candy’s chest, but that’s mostly it. He’s shy and he’s not all that comfortable with other people seeing them. However, I decided to place this kink right here because bunny wants to be marked. He loves indentations and scratches coming from Candy’s medium-short nails. His all time favourite are scratches down his back, and small crescents on his shoulders and ass. Also lowkey scratches down his abs and thighs. He might go crazy the moment he’s not promoting or shooting and he can finally let Candy cover his chest in hickeys.

Degradation

When absolutely fucked out, Jeongguk starts rambling the most saccharine, degrading sentences to Candy. He has a rich collection of dirty pet names, sometimes with a patronising or humiliating undertone. He doesn’t do it coherently, he’s just not thinking and it feels that good. Of course he always apologises afterwards, but Candy has no shame whatsoever. He might apologise for calling her his fuckdoll, but she’s not ashamed of it, that’s exactly what she is. Hearing him speak those nasty words always gets her going since it shows how fucked out she’s getting him.

Praise

Jeongguk wants to be praised. His ego bursts when Candy praises him, openly or not. Candy whining while he hits the spot is one of the strongest praises she can offer him. He direly needs to be praised when in sub mode, matching the encouraging words with soothing touches and loving glances.

Mommy kink

Yes. They’re exploring a few things after it turned out Joengguk wanted to try. Apparently he’s enjoying way more than he expected. Especially when he’s playing chase with Candy and she grows tired, stomps her foot to the floor and gets her harsh tone on. He starts obeying in seconds. Overall a well.behaved baby, if a little lively and energetic.

Breast worship

Another great fan of boobs. He really loves fucking Candy’s tits, especially while she’s laying down and he’s sitting on top of her, straddling her ribs. His obsession worsens once she gets a nipple piercing: it becomes his favourite place to put his hand on before sleep.

Oral sex

Candy is the absolute grandmaster of blowjobs. She’s the non plus ultra. Blowjobs become Jeongguk’s favourite reward, especially when paired up with her cunt grinding against his face. He could die a happy man like that. After helping Candy get rid of her insecurities about being eaten out, Jeongguk decides he’d do that at least three times a week, almost planning a schedule to make sure he didn’t skip a day. He lowkey asks Yoongi for tips, trying to find new positions to test Candy’s resistance.

Cockwarming

Jeongguk gets very emotionally vulnerable after sex. He needs to talk about his insecurities and doubts, since he always feels so connected to Candy right in the aftermath. At the beginning, cockwarming is actually a consequence of him not realising he hasn’t pulled out as he rambles about everything that is going on inside his mind; however, as he gets used to that, he begins to do it willingly, feeling too naked and cold without staying inside her.

Multiple rounds

Jeongguk has a very high stamina. He can last two to three rounds — four if he’s going wild —, then go for some food, some water and/or a nap and be ready for more in a few hours. Candy is absolutely okay with it: he’s usually the one moving her like a puppet, so even if she’s exhausted, she doesn’t need to worry, he’ll do all the work.

Rough/animalistic sex

Jeongguk is not exceedingly into powerplay: any kind of power imbalance comes naturally, without any kind of planning or negotiating and what the others express in more niche activities, they simply express in very rough, very intense fucking. Especially when Jeongguk has just come home from the gym. Rather than using fancy toys or sophisticated practices, they much rather jump each other bones and fuck like rabbits (haha).

[notepadsandtealeaves]

Damian Wayne x GN!Reader in: His Favorite Helper Elf

12 Days of Batmas || Day 4—Wrapping Presents

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT || 18+ ONLY ||

↞ previous: mall madness || getting lost at the mall

|| ao3 version | 12 days m.list | batboys tag | main blog ||

|| dick day 4 | jay day 4 | tim day 4 ||

Damian once told you that he falls in love with you all over again, several times a day, every day…

He falls a little deeper every day…

↠ Requested By: Not a soul lol ↠ Reader Gender: Neutral ↠ Content Type: SFW fluff ((but my blog’s 18+ if minors want to consume my sfw stuff while still respecting my wishes of them staying out of this space, they can head over to my AO3)) ↠ CWs: None ↠ Betas? Nah, we don’t do that here. ↠ Total WC: 1.7k~

Headcanon || WC: 1.1k~

🌟 Damian is v. good at wrapping gifts tho this doesn’t come as a surprise because Damian is good at literally everything lol.

🌟 But seriously, stuff like this is right up his alley as he really likes activities that require precision and-or a lot of detail work.

Tbh he’s pretty anal about things, though once again this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Dames is a perfectionist—it doesn’t matter how small or inconsequential the task is, there is always a proper way to go about things.

Those corners? Sharp. Edges, laid. Tape? It’s on there, but you can barely see it. How he manages to secure things with such a small amount is truly mind boggling.

((Spoiler: That tape is double-sided. That’s it, that’s his secret lol))

🌟 As far as aesthetics go his tastes tend to be more austere. There’s just something about plain brown paper and twine that he finds utterly charming. In fact if given his way he would do the whole of your home’s decorations in this rustic, minimalist style.

🌟 Of course he knows this isn’t everyone’s thing, and he’s more than willing to adapt to the recipient’s tastes.

Well now, at least. I can definitely see Damian’s younger self being a little shit that didn’t much care about making nice.

The way he saw it, he was already being v. generous in even giving you the gift in the first place, at the very least he should get the enjoyment of wrapping it to his liking. And you should just be glad you’re getting something when you could just as easily be getting a whole bunch of nothing.

…Yeah, kid had some issues that manifested themselves in a lot of misplaced anger that would crop up over the most random things.

Birthdays esp. rubbed him the wrong way because why is this person being celebrated for being born—a thing which they had no say in or control over—and subsequently surviving? They’ve literally done the absolute bare minimum and yet here people are making a big fuss over it and he just?? Doesn’t get it???

As he got older and began to sort out his trauma he realized that the true cause of his ire was a vicious form of jealousy mixed with resentment. He never had those things growing up under his mother’s care, and once he was taken in by his father he actively shunned them as he’d been taught that such indulgences bred weakness (a big fucking load, that, given the lavish lifestyle Ra’s leads, but double standards and such).

Growing up as he did the laws of nature, specifically survival of the fittest, were held up as standards. Because of this expectations were high and things thought to be worthy of lauding were all but nonexistent. Even his most astonishing feats barely got more than a nod of recognition because “You don’t get a pat on the head for doing what you’re supposed to do.” So for people to go all out over living to their next year—esp. when they had normal, cushy lives—yeah, no.

With the motivations for his reactions discovered, he was adamant about doing everything in his power to turn things around as he hates the thought of allowing anything from his past to further taint his future. The process has been a slow one, and honestly sometimes he still looks at things through jaded eyes, but he’s healing.

The League wanted him to be an unfeeling killer, his mother a pawn, but those who truly care for him have always wanted so much more. Because of this he strives daily to be a man worthy of you all as well as the hopes that you have for him.

🌟 But this is getting too heavy and we’re not really here for that so let’s move on!

🌟 Looping back around—as far as wrapping paper goes, he’ll pick things that compliments the person’s personal tastes and-or the event.

They’ll still be on the plainer side tho (i.e. solid colored paper and toppers), but like really classy. He uses good quality materials and it shows.

If it has a glossy finish then you’re gonna be able to see your reflection in that shit, if its matte then it’s going to have a nice texture to it, and if it’s metallic then it’s definitely got legit gold/silver leaf on it.

Though it’s kinda contrary to what’s been said thus far, he really loves elaborate toppers. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bow or ribbons or whatever else—that’s always gonna be the most ostentatious part of the packaging.

🌟 Lessons will be provided upon request, but this is Dames we’re talking about, so… Procced at your sanity’s risk lol.

He’ll go a little easier on you because you’re his baby, but still.

He’s about on par with Jay when it comes to his teaching methods, so expect a legit workshop-type experience.

Given the fact that he personally works best when left to his own devices he’ll be a bit more hands-off unless you prove to need assistance, but this doesn’t really help matters because he’s just standing there on the opposite side of the table judging your every little move—and yeah, nah, I’m good bro lmao.

But for you he allows himself to be far more adaptable than he would otherwise be, so all it’ll take is for you to tell him what you need from him as far as instruction/observation goes and he’ll be quick to switch it up.

🌟 It should also be said now that he will never use a gift box or bag. Ever. Don’t try to fight him on this, you will just die mad and tired.

Same goes for letting so-called ‘professionals’ wrap things for him. Like Jay, he feels that his skills are equal, no better, than what those people could ever hope to achieve.

And ya know what? He isn’t wrong, and maybe he should say it lol.

🌟 Tho he puts a lot of work into his wrapping, he absolutely loves to see you rip it to shreds.

There’s just something about the childlike glee that overtakes your face when you do this that just hits different.

Does it have something to do with catching a glimpse of the childhood he never got to indulge in and is now reliving through you in this small way? Mayhaps. But he’s not actively looking that deeply into things, he just wants to enjoy this moment with you…

But omg if you guys have kids it’s so on. He’s gonna get them a grip of gifts just so there’ll be more things for them to unwrap and squeal over. Definitely the type to have a whole damn tribe if you let him, but that’s a HC for another day…

His Favorite Helper Elf || WC: ~600

“May I borrow your finger, beloved?”

The inquiry makes you smile. Damian hardly needs your help to tie the bow—you’ve seen him create shapes far more elaborate, and frankly verging on the impossible, without any assistance—but it’s nice of him to want to include you even in this small way.

Fairly early on into the gift wrapping session you had decided to leave things in his overly capable hands as by comparison your efforts looked like those of a toddler’s. Of course your man was far too enamored with you to say as much, but you’re positive that he was thinking it. But it’s all just as well as Dames has always enjoyed such tasks and you enjoy watching him unwind, so really it’s a win-win.

You place your finger in the indicated spot only to remove it some odd seconds later as deft digits continue to manipulate the length of ribbon until it’s properly coiffed and secured. You take the finished gift and add it to the ‘done pile’, though when you go to reach for the next unwrapped item you come up empty.

“Looks like we’re, or well you’re finished,” you comment as you look over the culmination of his hard work.

Long, toned arms secure themselves around your middle and you find yourself being pulled back into an equally muscled chest. You lean into the embrace, sighing a bit when soft lips brush against your temple.

“You played your roll,” he assures you as he rests his chin against your shoulder, “and beautifully at that, my love.”

Your huff of laughter is totally disbelieving. He’s being far too generous, you only wrapped two gifts total, both of which are for some out of town loved ones—currently they’re tucked away in boxes waiting to be mailed so at least they won’t have to be displayed alongside his masterworks—and when you tell him as much you can feel him shrug.

“Still, you stayed and kept me company. This wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable an endeavor without you. You’re the perfect little helper elf.”

Your brow arches at the title even as you laugh. “If I’m a helper elf then what does that make you? And you can’t say Santa because he’s not about that wrapping life. Plus that’d also make Mrs. Claus your main squeeze and I’m not about that side piece life.”

The fact that you’ve gotten him to laugh so hard more than makes up for almost having your eardrum blown out by his initial bark of laughter.

Still chuckling, he turns you so that you’re facing him. The jade of his eyes sparkles with a mixture of mirth and love-fueled warmth as he looks you over, though it soon shifts into something deeper. Damian once told you that he falls in love with you all over again, several times a day, every day—the soft sweep of a calloused thumb over the swell of your cheek leaves you with the impression that this is one such moment.

There’s no fire behind his kiss, just a heart-aching affection that leaves your knees weak and your lids fluttering close. He lingers in your space long after the kiss is broken, forehead braced against yours and eyes shut. There’s a small smile pulling at his lips, one born of pure contentment, one that says there’s no place else he’d rather be than right here in your arms…

Up Next: 🌟 Day 5: A Most Discerning Customer || Ugly Sweaters

“Well the ugliest sweater gets a prize… That, uhh, that makes the pain worth it, right? At least a little bit?”

“Beloved, I think that the best prize to be had is the retention of our dignity.”

He makes ‘bad’ look oh-so-good…

© notepadsandtealeaves, 2021 || Please do not repost, translate, or otherwise alter or distribute my works without my express permission. And for the love of god keep it away from Youtube and TikTok lol…

[danteinthedevildom]

A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 4 (of 7)

We’ll skip over the Jenga scene for now; there’s nothing I really want to add on from it, and typing up another post is going to kill me. Instead, we’re going straight to the next activity - and a fairly major split between choices. 

This Devilgram is absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes (ironically) to choices - and each one brings about something new to learn. You can consider some of these latter parts joined up, then; I’ve just grouped together different route options for sake of reading. 

Of course, we’re deep into the Devilgram now, so all territory covered is locked behind Story Keys! This is your cursory spoiler warning. 

Here we begin, back to our regular schedule of Diavolo angst. 

There’s a potential you thought “watching a movie together” was bad enough to write on a list of things Diavolo’s never experienced before, and wants to share in this rare moment of time he’s managed to attain alone with you. Perhaps you even thought “playing Jenga” was worse. 

Neither of those activities, however, have anything on the concept that Diavolo actually, genuinely wrote down, on his list of things he’s always wanted to do with you, “lazing around, doing nothing at all”. 

This is, I think, the biggest indicator that he’s just... never had an actual, genuine, casual friendship before. He’s never had someone willing to spend time with him doing nothing. 

Which - well. We already knew that. He’s told us before (as I mentioned in part 1) that he genuinely struggles to remember he can just invite you over without having to trick you with “event planning”. He forgets you’re willing to be around him. 

But there’s a difference between “oh, I forgot - you actually don’t mind spending time with me” and “I’ve decided that I want to schedule actual time to just do something so simple and basic, it usually happens when most people hang out, but I’ve never been able to experience it before and I think I’d enjoy that time with you more than anything.”

It hurts to realise most demons won’t spend time in his presence without reason, but it’s actively worse to realise this reaction means he cherishes the ability to do nothing with you. To just savour the fact that you’re there, you’ve stayed, and you really would be happy doing nothing at all. That someone can enjoy just being in his presence, nothing important going on, because they have nothing else to do but focus on him and they don’t mind. 

It’s proof that he’s really enough. Proof that, despite how reluctant others may be to put up with him, you see something in him worth enjoying. He doesn’t need to take you out anywhere, or do anything special. He doesn’t need to make it perfect. He doesn’t need to awe and wow you to stay by his side. 

He can just sit around, nothing planned, and you’ll stay. 

The only times he’s been able to keep demons at his side, he’s had to tie them down with oaths and pleas. These demons have expressed annoyance, at times, when he’s tried to spend time with them - admittedly because they are busy demons, and they don’t quite enjoy the same things as Diavolo, but that doesn’t exactly make the rejection feel much better. So it’s very possible that Diavolo struggles to recognise his own self worth.

It’s very possible that he doesn’t think himself a good enough reason to enjoy a night in. Most friends can say - and often do - that they happily spend time together just hanging out. Talking, lounging around, relaxing, but not really doing much more than basking in the other’s company. Yet Diavolo can’t. Experience tells him “Diavolo’s company” isn’t enough to make someone stay. 

That’s why it’s important to him to schedule this time in, despite how natural it should be. It’s not natural to him. It’s exceedingly rare, actually, and thus an activity he wants to enjoy when he has the opportunity for it. 

But it’s also a reminder - proof - that at least to you, “Diavolo’s company” means something. That, to you, he means enough on his own to be worth spending time with.  

Moreover, this time with you is likely dear to him due to how busy his usual schedule is. After all...

How much free time does a prince get? 

How much time can he spend doing nothing, especially with you - someone so desired, people actively fight over your time and attention? 

There is no better way to savour the fact he - for once - has all your time and attention, no pressing matters to attend to, than to do nothing. He can just sit there and enjoy you. No interruptions. No distractions. Nothing to fret over or worry about. Just the two of you, content in each other’s company. It’s a reassurance. A moment of, “wow, this is really real, isn’t it?”

More importantly, however, is the fact that it’s you. He’d love “nothing more. Together with you, that is...” 

He doesn’t want to be on his own. That’s not the point of the activity. It’s not that he wants to do nothing, that he wants to just sit there and read or eat some fruit as if those things are significant on their own. He doesn’t just want free time because he’s busy and overworked and doing nothing is fun. 

It’s specifically because you’re there. Because he’s not alone. Because these things he maybe does in his free time feel different when he’s doing them with you.    

Of course, if you noticed, there’s two choices he gives you above: read, or eat fruit. I’ve gone for the reading option for this post series, as the fruit open mostly gives a romantic lead and not much development otherwise. 

In this scene, Diavolo’s reading a book to you. It’s actually a single poem from an anthology he loves - from the Human World, once again. 

(The Human World seems to mean a lot to Diavolo. It recurrs a lot. When he’s given the opportunity to pick something, it’s almost always media from the Human World. Whether this is because he hopes it’ll help you two bond over common ground or he just idealises the Human World, or maybe even a bit of both, is uncertain. Interesting, however, that it’s cropped up twice now; even more interesting that the only things he chooses that are Devildom-themed are games and food - things that don’t reflect human culture as much, unless you know more of the context behind them.) 

The poem Diavolo reads is called “The Greatest of All.”

This poem is extremely significant for Diavolo. It’s a huge part of his characterisation in this chapter, and one of the more overt scenes at that - because he’s exceedingly clear that this poem didn’t make sense to him before. He makes it utterly transparent that something has changed - in him, in his life, in his understanding - to suddenly reveal the meaning to him. 

And it’s all because of that final point. 

“Only those beloved by their peers truly rule the earth.”

Diavolo’s a prince. He quite literally rules the Realm he was born in. As far as he’s aware, that’s all there is to ruling; be the monarch, and you’re there. It couldn’t possibly be more literal than that. 

So what does that final line really mean, to a prince? What does it mean to someone who really is the literal definition of “ruling the earth”? 

Almost nothing at all. It’s baffling. It’s nonsensical. How more truly could you rule than to physically be the demon in power?

Of course it would never click for him before. 

He’s never been beloved before you. 

It’s only recently that he’s understood the poem. Only recently has the Exchange Programme been in action, and only recently has he actually gotten closer to you - moreso in the much later Lessons. 

Diavolo has spent much of his life in power, but completely alone. He’s had almost no connections, no friends, no love or intimate, personal attention; no-one he could say he understood like the back of his hand, who understood every aspect of him in turn. 

He has power and wealth but he’s never truly ruled - not until someone who made him feel alive came into his life. 

Because that’s the point of this poem. It’s not about wealth, or power, or bravery, or support - it’s about being loved. 

You could have everything in the world, but you’d still be nothing compared to the person with little to their name expect the love of their friends. 

Only someone who can say “I have friends who’ll stand beside me through thick and thin; who love me as much as I love them; who see the qualities in me even I didn’t know exist; who bring out the best in me and make me want to be better” is truly great. Only they can say that they have achieved the greatest potential in a fulfilling life. 

Diavolo’s realised how empty his life was prior to you appearing in it. He’s realised just how little he had - how much he’s missed out on, how much he wasn’t getting from the other people he considers friends - and how much happier he is now you’re there. How much bigger he feels. How much stronger. How much greater. 

You are the change that helped him make sense of the nonsensical. You, in befriending him, have utterly changed the way he exists; how he feels, how he experiences, how he thinks. You’ve brought to the table things he never would have considered before - things he never would have been able to consider, because he needed a friend to help eek them out of him; a friend he could love, and cherish, and whom loves and cherishes him just as much - and quite suddenly, he realises why having no-one limits a person no matter how much they own materially. 

This poem is, very likely, the reason he understood how much you mean to him. At some point, he re-read it, reached that final line, and pictured you. 

Which is an incredibly poetic way for Diavolo to show just how much you mean to him; how much you’ve improved every aspect of his life. Without having to say your name, or overtly connect you to the poem, it’s clear that it’s about you - that you’re the reason for his understanding. 

Becase this poem means a lot to him, and you’re the person he wants to share it with; the one he wants to know he’s changed for.

Which perfectly leads us to this next part...

You’re his greatest person. He’s still dancing around it, but there’s really no-one else it can be - not with this description. 

Diavolo has spent - if not his entire life, then a good portion of it, wondering who the most important person to him would be. There’s no way to quantify something like that - to know who’s the greatest person in your life, to find the perfect fit for a list of requirements - because everyone needs something different from the people around them. But what would that person look like for him? What would the most important person look like for a prince?

Someone as royal as he? Someone who supports him, bound to his service? Someone who has no choice but to help him in every way?

Or would it look like a human - a plain, simple, ordinary human - brave enough to tangle with demons and kind enough to befriend them, even when they don’t deserve it? 

Someone willing to spend a night with him doing things others might find boring or rudimentary? 

Someone who makes him feel like more than a title; like more than the “Prince of the Devildom”?

Someone who’s changed him - however many thousands of years old he is - in such a very short span of time?

When you think about it like that, really, it could only have ever been you. 

+++

And thus concludes part 4! A middling one this time, I think; a bit long, but that final part was a little shorter than I had anticipated. Still, I hope you enjoyed it, and that it was easy enough to read!

Next post, we’ll be going over the concluding parts of the Devilgram - for the romantic route, at least. It’ll initially go over the scene that preceeds the choice between romantic and platonic, but then dive straight into the romantic aspect of the chapter. 

So, if you’d like, please head over to part 5!

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Gavin’s Delightful Search Date (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date (觅趣之约) which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

This wholesome date graced the CN Server in early January 2020. It comes with an event, which I’ve included as a prologue 🌸

[ PROLOGUE ]

The proposal Kiki just sent me is displayed on the screen. After reading it carefully, I shift my gaze away from it.

The evening has already set in. I stare out of the window, towards the ink-blue sky, and my mood suddenly dulls. 

The glow of sunset sweeps across the calendar at the side--

MC: It’s tomorrow...

I mumble softly, unsuppressed disappointment in my voice.

As I’m just about to get up, my phone suddenly rings. The name flashing on the screen happens to be the person I’m worried about. 

I hurriedly press the ‘answer’ button.

Gavin: MC, are you still busy?

I take a deep breath, trying my hardest to channel a big smile so that my voice would sound full of vitality as usual. 

MC: I’m more or less done with today’s work. What about you? 

Gavin: There’s still one more suspect to interrogate. 

After saying this, a pause lingers in the air.

There’s a faint crackle of electricity. Just when I’m about to speak, Gavin broaches the subject first.

Gavin: Tomorrow...

Originally, Gavin and I had agreed to go on a trip tomorrow. This was a trip I had been looking forward to for a very long time, but...

Yesterday, Gavin told me that because of a sudden mission, he has to remain in Loveland City, and can’t leave.

Our planned trip had to be cancelled. 

Gavin: Tomorrow, which street do you plan to start from? I’ll accompany you.

MC: Huh? Wait... h-how did you know?

A soft laugh comes from the other end of the line. Gavin doesn’t respond directly to my question. 

Slightly shocked, I look at the proposal which is still displayed on my screen. 

This is a new program the company is planning to do - it’s a program involving searching for oddities. 

I have to scour through the streets of Loveland City to look for various strange news and amusing incidents, then let the audience pick the “King of Weirdness”.

MC: What about your mission? Wouldn’t it be affected?

Gavin: It wouldn’t. It’s fine as long as I’m on standby in Loveland City. If a situation suddenly crops up, they will contact me. So, I will accompany you tomorrow. 

I can’t prevent a grin from appearing on my face, and I can hear my erratic heartbeat.

Deliberately concealing my happiness, I bite my lip and ask him softly:

MC: ...only tomorrow?  

In the next second, I hear Gavin’s faint and familiar laugh. His tone seems to become more gentle.

Gavin: I’ll accompany you over these few days. I’m really sorry about breaking my promise regarding the trip. Fortunately, I have an opportunity to make up for it. It should be very interesting to explore the streets of Loveland City with you.

No longer suppressing the happiness in my heart, I nod excitedly. 

MC: Mm... see you tomorrow then!

Gavin: All right. I’ll pick you up at 9am.

After hanging up, I walk over to the window. When I lift my head towards the pitch-black sky, I only see the twinkling stars.

Tomorrow will definitely be a bright and sunny day. 

-

[ DATE ]

The date begins with MC’s final day of exploring Loveland City as part of preparing for the new program

While MC and Gavin walk around, they chance on a beautiful fountain 

MC: Why have I never noticed that there’s such a beautiful fountain here! Come to think of it... even though we were bustling around for the sake of collecting materials, we discovered many different things. Not only did we discover a different Loveland City, but also...

I pause and turn around, watching Gavin as he walks up the stairs towards me. 

On this winter afternoon, fine and clear sunlight falls on his hair and shoulders, making him look as though he’s emanating a faint amber glow. 

I purse my lips and speaks softly. 

MC: I also discovered a different you. 

Gavin stands beside me, looking as though he’s thinking about something. 

Gavin: If you have nothing on tomorrow, we can continue doing this. 

My eyes widen. 

MC: Continue with this “walking around”?

Gavin: Mm, continuing this different date. 

Gavin looks at me, a warm smile in his clear eyes.

Gavin: I was also looking forward to the trip for a very long time. Having to go back on our agreement... and that I didn’t have a choice, I’m still very apologetic. I’ll spend more time with you next time. 

My eyes crinkle into the shape of crescent moons, and I nod forcefully as I respond.

MC: Why don’t we walk around the vicinity of Sunshine Alley tomorrow then?

Gavin: All right. 

While I speak, I take a step forward. Failing to notice the stairs beneath my feet, I step onto an empty space. 

MC: Ahh--!

The pain I anticipated doesn’t arrive. A strong and powerful arm encircles me. 

Warmth emanates from Gavin’s palm, seeping into my skin, and also seeping into my heart. 

MC: That was close. I almost fell on my face. 

Gavin: That wouldn’t happen. With me around, you won’t fall. 

The tenderness of his gaze also embeds within it certainty and confidence. 

Gavin: There’s no need to worry. No matter what happens, I will always catch you.

Our eyes meet under the marble stone stairs. When he says this, both his tone and his gaze hold the same resoluteness.

Blushing slightly, I scratch my head, trying to make myself look stronger. 

MC: Actually... the probability of things happening like they did just now is very, very low! I’m usually not this reckless...

Perhaps realising that my words aren’t that persuasive, my voice subconsciously trails off. 

Gavin stands to the side and looks at me, his smile carrying with it a teasing glint.

Gavin: Mm, got it. But you’ll be even safer with me around. 

His words dissipate under the sunlight, and he offers his hand to me. 

Gavin: Let’s go. 

The afternoon sunlight seems to bring with it a certain tipsy spell, causing my cheeks to heat up slightly. Our hands are tightly entwined as we walk towards an unknown destination.

They head towards some lively sounds, and discover a park which has a running track. It’s packed with crowds who are dressed in sports apparel

MC asks a random person whether an activity is behind held, and the person informs them that a relay race would be commencing soon

Hearing his words, I turn towards Gavin, deliberately wearing an expression of deep contemplation. 

MC: I remember that in high school, Senior seemed to be an excellent athlete!

Gavin: High school...

Gavin is stunned for a moment, then he reaches out to rub his neck. 

Gavin: Yes, there was such a thing. I also remembered that you fainted during a sports meet...

MC: Stop--!

Without waiting for Gavin to finish, I hurriedly stand on my tiptoes and reach out to cover his mouth. Through my gaze, I signal that he isn’t allowed to expose my “dark past”.

Gavin looks at me, his eyes crinkling. He nods gently. 

Just as we prepare to leave, a participant suddenly calls out to us.

He looks to be in his forties, and has a frantic expression on his face. 

Citizen C: Sorry to bother you, but I heard that you’re an excellent athlete? 

Gavin: ...is anything the matter? 

The uncle is carrying two sets of sports apparel, wiping sweat off his forehead. 

Ah Tu: I’m Ah Tu. The other two members in our team suddenly couldn’t make it... If I can’t find replacements, Ah Yuan and I will be disqualified. But this competition is a promise I made to my daughter, so...

Another man standing at the side nods along with the uncle’s explanation, and he follows with a question.

Ah Yuan: So we wanted to ask if you could help us, and participate in the relay race with us? 

The two uncles look at us expectantly. This sudden invitation feels as heavy as a gigantic mountain.

As a good-for-nothing when it comes to sports, even if I really wanted to help, I subconsciously prepare to reject them. 

MC: No, I can't do it...

I toss Gavin a pleading glance, seeking for assistance as he stands beside me wordlessly. 

Gavin: Please give us a moment.

MC: Huh? 

Before I can react, Gavin pulls me to a corner.

Seeing that nobody is around, I open my mouth and swing my arms, my words coming out in a slight garble. 

MC: Gavin, you know that I... I’ve always been terrible at sports. I can’t do it for sure...

Gavin holds onto both of my hands. A concerned and reassuring smile flashes across his eyes.

Gavin: MC, what are you worried about? 

He targets the crux of the issue directly.

I lift my head slightly, my heart palpitating slightly as I meet his eyes. Sunlight streams through the leaves on the holly, creating specks of shadows on the ground which sway with the breeze.

MC: I... I'm worried that I’d run too slowly. I’m worried that I’d not pass the baton to you successfully. I’m worried that I’ll be a burden... to you, and to those two uncles who are looking forward to the race. After all, I made a big fool of myself at the sports meet before, and this competition is so important to that uncle...

Lowering my head, my voice becomes softer and softer as my confidence falters. 

Actually, ever since I fainted during the high school sports meet, I’ve developed an unpleasant association regarding sports meets, and always feel like I’ll never be able to complete them successfully.  

In the next second, however, I feel a warm breath on my face. 

I bury my head into Gavin’s chest, and I can hear his powerful heartbeat at my ear. The warmth at my back rhythmically calms my restless emotions.

I hear his voice from above my head, but it feels as though it’s coming from his chest. 

Gavin: I said it earlier. No matter what happens, I will catch you. These words are applicable even now. 

I lift my head from his arms, opening my mouth and wanting to say something. However, the words are lodged in my throat. 

Gavin: As for “being a burden”... With me here, you don’t have to worry about it at all. As for the baton, as long as you hand it to me, I’ll definitely catch it. This way, are you still worried? 

On this winter day, the warm sun hangs in the sky. On ground, our embracing shadows are short. 

Encircled in his arms and hearing his incomparably resolute and confident words, my worries and fears unwind in an instant. 

A breeze courses past, blowing some stray hairs onto Gavin’s cheek. 

Gavin reaches out to brush my hair aside gently. 

As though he sees the hesitance and struggle in my eyes, Gavin doesn’t rush me, and instead smiles patiently. 

Gavin: It’s all right, don’t force yourself. I’ll tell them.

He’s just about to take a step while speaking, but I pull him to a halt.

MC: Eh, wait--! I... I’ll give it a try! We’ll give it a try! Together!

I emphasise three times consecutively, as though pumping myself up. Then, I tilt my head to the side and grin at him.

MC: We have an agreement - you must definitely catch me!

Gavin’s eyebrows arch slightly, and he releases a light laugh.

Gavin: No problem. If I can’t do it, I’ll promise you anything you want. 

MC: All right! It’s a promise!

Since the decision has already been made, I carry a decisive and unhesitant attitude, even walking in front of Gavin.

[Note] I translated “decisive and unhesitant” from the original idiom used, 壮士断腕 (“zhuang shi duan wan”), which refers to how a warrior cuts off his wrist when he is bitten by a viper to prevent the poison from spreading throughout his body. It’s meant to describe someone who acts decisively without hesitation.

The familiar and intense gaze behind me gives me an unending stream of strength and confidence. 

When Gavin sees the girl’s head turn back to flash him a faint smile, with the wind causing her hair to swish gently, there is an overlapping of that expression and the warmth from his memory. Subconsciously, the corners of his lips lift upwards. 

-

After changing into their attire, MC stands in position on the track

He stands 100m in front of me. I shoot him a “all the best” hand gesture, and he wordlessly mouths “don’t worry”.

At this moment, a blank is fired! The relay race has begun!

My heart starts beating rapidly, and I’m nervous beyond compare. I stare intently at the uncles and watch as they utilise all their strength to sprint forward.

Seeing the second uncle about to reach me, I hurriedly stretch out my right hand, my body acting on its own and shifting slightly. 

When I grab the baton, all my earlier worries and distracting thoughts are tossed to the back of my mind. 

I look towards Gavin, who is waiting at the final leg. Without a care in the world, I run towards him. 

The intense sprint makes me gasp for air. Air rushes into my lungs, and my throat feels dry and rough. 

I grip the baton tightly in my hands, my gaze focused entirely on Gavin--

It happens to be around 2pm, when the sunlight is at its best. The brilliant sunlight pours over his entire body. His brown hair and amber eyes are bordered by a layer of gentleness and a gilded edge.  

He is already prepared to take off. His head is turned to the side, his eyes on me, his right hand outstretched behind him. 

In that moment, a wave of immense strength and courage fills every fibre of my being. My pace quickens subconsciously. 

Closer, even closer-- 

Only two steps away from Gavin!

MC: Gavin, catch!

The fleeting touch in the air, the warmth of his fingertips, and the emptiness in my hands relieve me of a heavy load...

It’s as though a gust of wind breezes past my hand. Our hands touch for less than a second, but Gavin quickly and accurately takes the baton from my hand. 

For an inexplicable reason, a wave of heat suddenly surfaces in my heart, causing my entire body to feel cosy and warm. 

MC: Gavin, you can do it! Gavin, all the best!

Watching as Gavin lunges forward, I shout and cheer. 

The two uncles have also walked over, and are shouting alongside me. 

Uncles and MC: All the best! Gavin, you can do it!

My line of sight remains on Gavin’s figure. I take a shortcut, brisk walking towards the goal.

Afar off, I see Gavin being the first to reach the finish line! Amidst the cheers, vibrant, colourful streamers are sprayed into the air, scattering in all directions. 

Immense joy blossoms in my heart, and I can’t help but jump up in happiness. 

MC: Gavin, you’re amazing!

I cheer as I run towards him. He’s standing near the finish line, and I catch my breath. 

Seeing me, a slight smile appears on Gavin’s lips. There are tiny speckles of joy in his eyes.

MC: We won first place!

Without realising it, I hold onto his arm, swinging it happily. 

Having been “maltreated” by sports meets for so long and so mercilessly, experiencing success for the first time makes me repeat myself. 

MC: Gavin, I actually didn’t hold anyone back. We won first place!

Gavin: This first place was the result of our combined effort. 

Gavin watches me quietly, his gaze tender. A cool breeze brushes past, lifting the corner of his shirt, and also wafting his refreshing scent in the air.

Not far off, the leaves of the holly rustle softly, the branches swaying with the wind. 

Hearing Gavin’s voice amongst these sounds, my heart starts to clamour with emotions.

I open my mouth and am just about to say something when the two uncles rush over, covered in sweat, their faces flushed with excitement.

Ah Yuan: Young man, you can run really quickly!

Ah Tu: Thank you so, so much. First place... I didn’t even dare to dream about it! Initially, we were just thinking along the lines of “it’s the effort that counts” and fulfilling a promise to my daughter. I never expected to give her the trophy for first place!

Seeing that they’re coming over, I loosen my grip. The moment my hand falls, Gavin’s encases it with his. 

Gavin: This is the result of everyone working together. No need to thank me.

The two uncles remain overwhelmed with joy, patting Gavin’s shoulders in gratitude. 

Ah Tu: There’s free water at the grandstand. We’re heading over there now. Remember to take it too!

Watching the two uncles walk away slowly, I lift my eyes to Gavin.

His eyes are lowered, his gaze on me.

Facing the light, his face is bright. His fringe, drenched with sweat, sways with the breeze. 

Gavin: Why did you let go? 

He suddenly holds up our entwined hands, his brows arched slightly.

I’m stunned for a moment, then tilt my head to the side and respond, eyes crinkled. 

MC: To give you an opportunity to hold onto me! 

Gavin is left dumbfounded for a while, as though surprised by my response. After that, he lets out a soft laugh. 

The surrounding temperature seems to climb upwards, and the air is reminiscent of a budding hyacinth on a winter day, sweet and fragrant.

MC: How about this - you can take a seat at the grandstand, and I’ll bring you a bottle of water.

Gavin: No need, let’s go together.

-

Holding a bottle of water, Gavin holds my hand as we walk over to the grandstand and sit on the steps.  

MC: It’s just a bottle of water. Actually, I could handle it on my own. Also, I’m no longer tired.

Gavin: [coughs]... I was worried that there would be repeat of what happened in high school. 

Gavin: I feel more relieved if we’re together. 

Sensing the meaning in his words, I let out a relieved laugh.

MC: It might sound strange to say this, but I once thought that I’d never be able to overcome this. But once I actually gave it a try, I realised that this obstruction is fine once I stepped across it. Gavin, thank you... for “stepping across” it with me. 

I turn around to look at him, streams of emotions meandering across my heart, reminiscent of the clearest, purest thawed ice of early spring.

The railings of the grandstand reflect the sunlight, scattering mottled light on the ground. 

In the mottled light, I see Gavin twisting off the cap of a bottle before handing it to me. 

Gavin: I can’t really drink now. You can drink first. 

His breath is still slightly unsteady, and his hair is clearly drenched with sweat, tufts of hair drooping against his temples. 

I take the bottle, but place it at the side. 

Wintry wind wisps past. I hold up the towel near my hand, and try to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. 

MC: What if you catch a cold from the wind... Or you could put your coat on? 

Just as I make contact with his forehead, a warmth encases the back of my hand, mingled with the dampness of sweat. 

The warmth, along with a hot flush, seep into my skin. My ears redden involuntarily. 

Gavin: I’m all right. [coughs]... I’ll do it myself. 

[Cheri’s thoughts] The disjunct between the sprite and what he’s wearing in the CG is so jarring but I’m not complaining. JUST LOOK AT THAT GLORY:

Gavin takes the towel from my hand, and quickly wipes his forehead. After that, he wipes off the remaining traces of sweat on his face. 

The wind blows up his fringe. Light is reflected in his eyes, making the amber colours even more bright and limpid.

He turns his head to the side, lifting his eyes to look at me, his gaze warm. 

As the warmth grows deeper, I see the certainty, firmness, and trust that have remained all this time, from before the race till now.

Recalling his words from just now, my heart is infinitely convinced that when he said he would catch me no matter what happens, he definitely will. 

As long as I’m with Gavin, I can set my mind at ease and leave everything to him.

MC: Gavin, I will always remember what you said!

Despite my lack of clarity, Gavin quickly understands. His determined, well-defined side profile turns gentle in an instant.

Gavin: All right. You must remember them all, including this.

He reaches out to pat my head. In this moment, I see a radiance even more scorching than the sun, and a warmth even more moving than a breeze in spring.

-

After resting for a long time, Gavin and I change back into our clothes, and tactfully decline the two uncles’ offer to split the prizes. We walk towards the exit of the park slowly.

The closer we get to the exit, the stronger the wind becomes.

However, perhaps due to the running we did just now, my body feels warm, and even our intertwined hands are warm - they even seem warmer than before. 

After taking in a deep breath, I release a sigh.

MC: Running and moving about from time to time feels great! Right now, I feel warm all over.

Gavin: It’s good that you like it. If there’s a chance next time, want to participate together again? 

I smile slyly, deliberately elongating my words. 

MC: I’d consider it! Come to think of it, why were you hoping that I’d participate in the relay race? 

Curiosity is etched on my eyes as I lift my head. Gavin looks at me, then averts his gaze.

Slowly, several images surface before his eyes... the high school sports meet back then, the tartan track, and the slender figure who fainted because she didn’t have breakfast.

A gentle laugh escapes from Gavin’s lips. Perhaps, apart from allowing her to have more faith in herself, it was also to make up for his regrets in high school.

Not being able to participate in competitions with her, and not being able to tell her personally that he was the one who had immediately brought her to the infirmary back then.

MC: Gavin? 

Gavin: ...no particular reason. I just wanted you to exercise a little more. You’ve been busy with work lately, so you need to take care of your body.

Is that all? I’m still slightly unconvinced. Gavin has averted his eyes, staring at the gates of the park, which are only a few steps away. 

Without the shelter of trees and buildings, intense sunlight pours on this patch of land.

Under the glow of sunshine, Gavin’s face seems to have a gilded edge. He once again turns his head towards me, his gaze filled with everything I’m familiar with.

In an instant, my heart feels full.

MC: The weather is great today, and the people we met were amiable and interesting. I’m going to properly cherish today’s fortuitous encounters!

Gavin: As long as I’m with you, everything we do is worth cherishing.

The sun hangs above our heads, and the cooling breeze is behind us. On this winter day, the most beautiful view is this very moment, right before my eyes. 

-

🎐 MOMENTS: First 🎐

Gavin’s Post: After exercising, the heart feels content. 

MC: It actually feels pretty good to run occasionally! 

Gavin: We can do it more often next time.

-

Gavin’s Post: After exercising, the heart feels content.

MC: Losers at sports have expressed that it’s very difficult to experience such a feeling...

Gavin: I’ll bring you out for a run tomorrow to give it a try.

-

Gavin’s Post: After exercising, the heart feels content.

MC: Actually, I’m pretty interested in sports other than running!

Gavin: All right, we’ll try something you like another day. 

-

🎐 MOMENTS: Second 🎐

Gavin’s Post: To replenish stamina, is it better to choose a sports drink or plain water?

MC: It’s not a bad thing to occasionally have sports drinks~!

Gavin: All right, I’ll try it next time. 

-

Gavin’s Post: To replenish stamina, is it better to choose a sports drink or plain water?

MC: I know! Plain water is the healthiest!

Gavin: Mm, that’s what I think too.

-

Gavin’s Post: To replenish stamina, is it better to choose a sports drink or plain water?

MC: If it were me, I’d pick milk tea~

Gavin: ...didn’t you say you’d quit it yesterday?

-

🎐 TEXTS 🎐

[ First Scenario ]

Gavin: Do you have anything on during the weekend?

MC: Sounds like Mr Gavin wants to make an appointment with me?

Gavin: Mm.

Gavin: I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. Are you free? 

MC: Could it be another physical training session... can I say no!

Gavin: Don’t worry, it’s very relaxing this time.

Gavin: Walking along the beach and enjoying the breeze.

MC: Sounds good!

Gavin: Mm.

Gavin: It’s a stroll, just like the time we went around collecting materials. You should like it. 

Gavin: It’s settled then. See you tomorrow.

-

[ Second Scenario ]

Gavin: Do you have anything on during the weekend?

MC: I haven’t decided...

Gavin: In that case, I have a suggestion.

Gavin: I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. How’s that?

MC: Mm... I’m quite busy this week, so I want to spend my weekend doing “lazy people activities”!

Gavin: All right.

Gavin: We’ll go for a walk on the beach. How does that sound? 

MC: Mm... why did you plan this trip to the beach? 

Gavin: To fulfil my promise of “spending more time with you”.

Gavin: Of course, it’s also because I want to spend the weekend together.

-

[ Third Scenario ]

Gavin: Do you have anything on during the weekend?

MC: Nope, I'm prepared to spend two days lying down at home with my phone!

Gavin: 

Gavin: I’ll pick you up tomorrow.

MC: Sure! I heard that a new shooting gallery opened. Want to take a look?

Gavin: ...

Gavin: Or do you want to go for a walk along the beach?

Gavin: You’ve been working overtime recently, so it’s best not to engage in any intense exercise.

MC: Oo, as compared to the beach, I’d prefer going to the Wetland Park.

Gavin: All right, let’s go to the Wetland Park then.

Gavin: As long as I’m with you, anywhere is fine. 

-

[tragically-broken]

Nessian Librarian/Professor Part4

Ship: Nessian  Type: Librarian/Professor AU  Rating: T Word Count: 1,439

Hey, y'all!! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been working on my own WIP and found it far too difficult to be in multiple worlds in my head at once, so I had to pause on my fic writing. Fortunately, I just finished my skeleton draft of my book and I am now taking a break to let it marinate before I dive into truly editing. This means I get to spend time on my fics again! YAY! Hopefully, I'll finish this full series soon but I won't make any promises. Hope you enjoy <3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 

AO3

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

Nesta was rearranging the study desks in the Quiet Room when Cassian came sauntering in.

“Hey, gorgeous!” He made his way to her, kissing her on the cheek. Nesta blushed and batted him away, eyes darting towards the door.

“Don’t let Amren see you!” She tugged him away to the corner where she knew the security cameras wouldn’t reach, and most importantly, where Amren couldn't see. She checked the doors one last time before she guided him to pin her against the corner wall.

“Someone is eager today,” Cassian smirked, less than an inch from her lips.

“Shut up Cas.” Their moment was heated, electrified, and definitely not library-appropriate.

“I could get used to this,” Cassian muttered against her lips as she smiled up at him.

“What are you doing here anyway? You’re supposed to have one more class.” She reached up to twirl a strand of his hair that must’ve come loose from his bun during the day.

“Keeping tabs on me are you?” She pinched his arm playfully in response.

“Hey, hey!” Cassian laughed. “I canceled my last class since they did so well on their test last week. Their reward is a free day.”

“Lucky me.” Nesta beamed.

“Lucky us.” Cassian dipped down to kiss her again, bunching her skirt in his fists. Desire licked her skin as the fabric of her skirt was roughly dragged against her thighs and his tongue slipped deeper into her mouth. She moaned softly against his lips before remembering where she was. She reluctantly pulled away from him.

“Amren will notice my absence.” She breathed, lips lingering an inch from his.

“Better get going then,” he spoke softly against her lips. She never wanted to leave. She leaned in for another kiss and then backed away quickly, teasing him as she moved back into eyeshot of the security cameras.

“You little minx!” She laughed and made her way to the door when she was met with gold piercing eyes, not at all happy to see her.

“Hi, Amren. I just finished rearranging the desks.” Nesta brushed a stray hair behind her ear.

“So it seems.” She wasn’t looking at Nesta with those deadly eyes, she was looking at Cassian.

“Evening Amren.” Cassian nodded in her direction.

“Yes, how wonderful to know you can tell when the sun is going down.” Amren's face gave way to nothing but pure annoyance as she stared him down.

“Nothing gets past you!” Cassian smiled, completely unaffected by Amren.

“No. It doesn’t.” Amren’s eyes bore into his. Cassian seemed to decide that he preferred to be alive for the time being and leave immediately.

“Well, I’ll get out of your way and let you ladies finish up here.” Nesta could tell he resisted the urge to touch her as he passed but decided against it given their particular audience.

“How kind of you.” Cassian nodded at Amren and snuck behind her to get to the door. Only when he left completely did Amren look at Nesta.

Cassian mouthed “sorry” outside the glass door and then darted for the double door exit.

“Careful with that one. Many have tried, and none have succeeded.” Amren hadn’t moved an inch since she walked in, but somehow she overpowered any energy in the room.

“We’ve only just begun dating.” Netsa stuffed her hands in the pockets of her dress, feeling awkward talking about her personal life to someone she barely knew.

“Yes well, that seems to be where the trouble usually starts.” Was Amren even blinking?

“I appreciate the heads up, but I have everything under control.” Nesta tried to reassure her with a smile.

“Hmmm” Amren hummed to herself, not at all convinced as she eyed Nesta. “You have exceeded even my expectations since you arrived here to take over this position. Seeing as it’s the weekend, why don’t you head out early today. I can finish things up here.” Nesta looked at her in shock. Quite frankly, she had no idea what Amren thought of her. She was all sharp looks, judgmental glances, and blank stares. It was hard to get a read on her.

“Thank you Amren. I’ve enjoyed my job here and hope to continue doing so.”

“Very well.” Amren’s short heels clicked in a steady beat as she walked out before Nesta could wish her a good weekend. Her first instinct was to pull out her phone and text Cassian like a love-sick teenager, but she decided not to read too much into it.

N: Amren set me loose early!!

C: THE FIREDRAKE SET U FREE?! I was half-convinced she’d chain u there forever.

N: She’s more bark than bite.

C: I’ll take your word for it.

Nesta gathered her keys and wallet, shoving them in her purse to get ready to leave.

C: What do u think about staying at my place this weekend?

Nesta stopped in her tracks, staring at his message.

N: All weekend? Like, overnight?

C: Just an idea! Thought it might be fun.

Nesta hadn’t spent the night at a man’s house well, ever actually. Every Time she’d stayed at Thomas’s place, she’d wake up at sunrise and scurry home. She never felt comfortable living in his space. That should have been the first clue that he wasn’t the one for her. She’d made excuses and ignored her gut. Never again. She listened to her instincts now and her gut felt...fine? She found herself a bit nervous about morning breath and her early morning grumpiness, but other than that the idea of spending the weekend with Cassian sounded wonderful and all kinds of sinful if things went the way she thought they would.

C: I promise not to leave the toilet seat up :p

N: You better not.

C: Is that a yes, princess??

N: It’s a yes. Unless of course, I change my mind.

C: Challenge accepted. Not even you can turn down my killer breakfast skills!

N: We’ll see if you can put your money where your mouth is.

C: Oh, I can guarantee my mouth is more than capable. See you tonight ;)

Butterflies fluttered in Nesta’s stomach at the thought of sleeping under the same roof with Cassian let alone in the same bed. Her cheeks heated at the thought. Suddenly, a million thoughts crossed her mind at once about what she should wear, what she should pack, and whether or not it would be considered rude to bring a book with her. Her palms started to sweat as she walked outside and towards her car. Should she bring something sexy to wear or would that be too obvious? Did it matter? Come to think of it, she didn’t think she even had a scrap of lingerie anymore. She burned every memory of Thomas and that included all of her sensual attire. Nesta sighed as she turned the key to crank her car on. There were so many decisions to make that overwhelmed her, but then Cas’s face popped into her head. Suddenly, she realized her desire to know him, to be close to him, outweighed any nervousness she had. She smiled to herself as she started to drive home. The feeling in her chest was so unfamiliar to her. Was she falling in love with him? That couldn’t be true. It had only been a few weeks. Yet, she felt that feeling surge in her chest. And then the panic came.

She didn’t have time to fall in love. She had too many things she wanted to do first, things she wanted to be. She spent too long in her previous relationship putting her life on pause. She wouldn’t do that again. That decided it then. She wouldn’t tell Cas how she felt, she’d try not to get any more attached, and she’d do her best to appreciate the moment for what it was and nothing more. She refused to think about the future, or what could be. She would never again put her life on the back burner for someone else. She pulled up into her driveway, hustled into her house, and packed quickly without putting too much thought into her choices. She looked to her full-length mirror, overnight bag in hand, wearing workout spandex shorts and an oversized crop top. She took a deep breath. She could do this. She could have fun with a sexy professor without getting too attached and ruining her life. Right? She didn’t wait to answer her own question. She got back in her car, typed his address in her phone, and began to drive, hoping she wasn’t making another life-altering mistake.

_______________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think, but please not ACOSF spoilers!!! I know I'm horrible and haven’t read it yet ajdhgkajdfh

[irelise]

Yassen Gregorovich - Books vs TV

With the excellent new Alex Rider tv show out, I thought I would make a comparison post for one of my old favs, Yassen Gregorovich, who has a somewhat different feel in the books as compared to the show! This post will largely cover the first book Stormbreaker and should theoretically contain no spoilers for the potential future arcs of the show, since the events of Stormbreaker are presumably non-canon now. (Spoilers abound for the episodes of the show already out, though!)

If there’s any interest, I’ll put up a second post covering Eagle Strike and some parts of Russian Roulette that delves deeper into Yassen and his complicated relationship with Alex. Just let me know!

Much like the show, Yassen was the one who killed Ian Rider. Unlike the show, however, he’s known to be active on the field and the first time we “encounter” him is prior to Alex’s first mission, where Mrs Jones gives Alex a warning:

She took out a black-and-white photograph and laid it on the table. It showed a man in a white T shirt and jeans. He was in his late twenties with light, close cropped hair, a smooth face, the body of a dancer. The photograph was slightly blurred. It had been taken from a distance, possibly with a hidden camera. “I want you to look at this,” she said.

"I’m looking."

“His name is Yassen Gregorovich. He was born in Russia, but he now works for many countries. Iraq has employed him. Also Serbia, Libya, and China.”

“What does he do?” Alex asked.

"He’s a contract killer, Alex. We believe it was he who killed Ian Rider.”

There was a long pause. Alex had almost managed to persuade himself that this whole business was just some sort of crazy adventure…a game. But looking at the cold face with its blank, hooded eyes, he felt something stirring inside him and knew it was fear. He remembered his uncle’s car, shattered by bullets. A man like this, a contract killer, would do the same to him. He wouldn’t even blink.

[…]

“Why are you telling me this now?” Alex asked. His mouth had gone dry.

"Because if you see him, if Yassen is anywhere near Sayle Enterprises, I want you to contact us at once."

“And then?"

“We’ll pull you out. It doesn’t matter how old you are, Alex. If Yassen finds out you’re working for us, he’ll kill you too.”

I always thought this was a pretty good introductory scene -- Yassen has a very deadly reputation in the books, which is established at once then hammered in over and over again. Other traits which come up again and again include his coldness and his dancer’s body which is totally something I’m into, gotta love those “elegant and deadly assassin” tropes

(also, yes, Yassen is blond in the books and definitely not a brunet or even a redhead as in the movie. he also doesn’t have a distinctive facial scar!)

Yassen doesn’t actually have many scenes in Stormbreaker, although the shadow of his presence looms pretty darkly over the narrative. Alex only runs into him twice on the mission: once from a distance -- A lean, fair-haired figure dressed in black detached himself from the assembly line and walked languidly toward a door that slid open to receive him -- and the other encounter also occurs from a distance, when Alex is spying on a mysterious delivery at the docks in the dead of the night...

And then the tower opened and a man climbed out, stretching himself in the cold morning air. Even without the half-moon, Alex would have recognized the sleek dancer’s body and the close cropped-hair of the man whose photograph he had seen only a few days before. It was Yassen Gregorovich. Alex stared at him with growing fear. This was the contract killer Mrs. Jones had told him about. The man who had murdered Ian Rider. He was dressed in grey overalls and sneakers. He was smiling. He was the last person Alex wanted to meet.

[…]

Meanwhile, the guards from Sayle Enterprises had formed a line stretching back almost to the point where the vehicles were parked. Yassen gave an order and, as Alex watched from behind the rocks, a metallic silver box with a vacuum seal appeared, held by unseen hands at the top of the submarine’s tower. Yassen himself passed it down to the first of the guards, who then passed it back up the line. About forty more boxes followed, one after another. It took almost an hour to unload the submarine. The men handled the boxes carefully. They obviously didn’t want to break whatever was inside.

By the end of the hour they were almost finished. The boxes were being repacked now into the back of the truck that Alex had vacated. And that was when it happened. One of the men, standing on the jetty, dropped one of the boxes. He managed to catch it again at the last minute, but even so it banged down heavily on the stone surface. Everyone stopped. Instantly. It was as if a switch had been thrown and Alex could almost feel the raw fear in the air.

Yassen was the first to recover. He darted forward along the jetty, moving like a cat, his feet making no sound. He reached the box and ran his hands over it, checking the seal, then nodded slowly. The metal wasn’t even dented.

With everyone so still Alex heard the exchange that followed.

“I’m sorry,” the guard said. “I won’t do that again.”

“No. You won’t,” Yassen agreed, and shot him.

Largely a reaffirmation of what we saw from the photograph scene, this time in person: Yassen is generally quiet, understated and deceptively relaxed -- up until the point he murders somebody without blinking. I think the show does a good job capturing that aspect of Yassen, with scenes like Ian’s death and Dr. Greif in the car coming to mind in particular. Gotta love that pairing of Yassen’s generally calm demeanour with the bursts of restrained yet lethal violence!

Some other minor but interesting character notes: despite being one of the most highly-paid and successful assassins in the world, Yassen is perfectly comfortable doing grunt work (passing boxes, dressing in shitty grey overalls). Similarly, despite being (presumably) more comfortable working alone, he’s also at ease with giving orders and coordinating large groups of people.

Now, moving onto the last time Yassen shows up in Stormbreaker. This is right at the end of the book after Alex successfully foils the plot of the big bad (Herod Sayle), only to get kidnapped by him while his guard is down. Sayle takes them to a rooftop where a helicopter is coming to whisk Sayle away, but first he wants to have some revenge...

"That’s my ticket out of here!” Sayle continued. “They’ll never find me! And one day I’ll be back. Next time, nothing will go wrong. And you won’t be here to stop me. This is the end for you! This is where you die!”

There was nothing Alex could do. Sayle raised the gun and took aim, his eyes wide, the pupils blacker than they had ever been, mere pinpricks in the bulging white.

There were two small explosive cracks.

Alex looked down, expecting to see blood. There was nothing. He couldn’t feel anything. Then Sayle staggered and fell onto his back. There were two gaping holes in his chest.

The helicopter landed in the center of the cross. The pilot got out.

Still holding the gun that had killed Herod Sayle, he walked over and examined the body, prodding it with his shoe. Satisfied, he nodded to himself, tucking the gun away. He had switched off the engine of the helicopter and behind him the blades slowed down and stopped. Alex stepped forward. The man seemed to notice him for the first time.

"You’re Yassen Gregorovich,” Alex said.

The Russian nodded. It was impossible to tell what was going on in his head. His clear blue eyes gave nothing away.

"Why did you kill him?” Alex asked.

“Those were my instructions.” There was no trace of an accent in his voice. He spoke softly, reasonably. “He had become an embarrassment. It was better this way."

"Not better for him.”

Yassen shrugged.

“What about me?” Alex asked.

The Russian ran his eyes over Alex, as if weighing him up. “I have no instructions concerning you,” he said.

"You’re not going to shoot me too?”

"Do I have any need to?”

There was a pause. The two of them gazed at each other over the corpse of Herod Sayle.

“You killed Ian Rider,” Alex said. “He was my uncle.”

Yassen shrugged. “I kill a lot of people"

“One day I’ll kill you.”

“A lot of people have tried.” Yassen smiled. “Believe me,” he said, “it would be better if we didn’t meet again. Go back to school. Go back to your life. And the next time they ask you, say no. Killing is for grown-ups and you’re still a child.”

He turned his back on Alex and climbed into the cabin. The blades started up, and a few seconds later, the helicopter rose back into the air. For a moment it hovered at the side of the building. Behind the glass, Yassen raised his hand. A gesture of friendship? A salute?

Alex raised his hand. The helicopter spun away.

Alex stood where he was, watching it, until it had disappeared in the dying light.

HOO BOY where to start! This is a longer scene compared to the rest but I love it so much, it’s probably the best part of Stormbreaker for me and obviously it’s fairly different from the show. I adore the last scene of the show since the tension was delightful, but this hit in a different way. Alex! And Yassen! Actually talking!!! It’s a sparse scene (like most of AH’s writing), but very atmospheric and loaded with meaning all the same.

Let’s start with the obvious stuff first - book!Yassen is fair-haired and blue-eyed (or grey, depending), and has a very measured way of speaking without any accent at all. He very much falls into the archetype of “inscrutable Russian assassin with a mysterious connection to the protagonist” and it’s delightful.

I do like the fact we only really see Yassen in person for two scenes in the entire book, and both times he kills someone ruthlessly and efficiently. (...yes, he did kill Sayle while piloting a helicopter) His reputation is well-deserved and I think the show does an excellent job with that too; every time we see Yassen on screen there’s a feeling that shit is about to go down and somebody is about to die.

The show also does a pretty good job hinting at the connection between Yassen and Alex (ughh Yassen’s expression when he sees Alex for the first time kills me every time). In Stormbreaker, Yassen does (initially) seem colder towards Alex, emotionless, just a man on a job. But even then, we get little hints of warmth shining through such as the way he smiles when Alex promises to kill him, and of course the salute! It’s pretty clear that Yassen has some measure of fondness for Alex, because no way an assassin would normally just let somebody go after they promised to kill him, even if that person is only a teenage boy (especially considering that teenage boy is driven by a desire to take revenge on his uncle’s killer). I also think it’s interesting that Alex reciprocates his salute. He’s clearly aware (even if only subconsciously) of the connection between the two of them.

Though I think what hits the hardest for me is the fact Yassen is the one to tell Alex that he belongs in school, that he’s a child and he shouldn’t be part of this world. Alex in the books is much, much lonelier compared to the show. There was no Jack or Tom there for him, since Jack was kept completely out of the loop and Tom doesn’t even exist in the book. Wolf and the K-Unit largely either ignored or bullied Alex. As for Blunt and Jones, Alex just saved thousands of kids in England yet the only thing MI6 tells him afterwards is that his actions can never be revealed to the public, his youth will make him useful for future missions, and then the only thing they give him is a doctor’s note(!!!) to explain his absence from school.

If that sounds all sorts of terrible and unfair, Alex agrees:

In the end the big difference between him and James Bond wasn’t a question of age. It was a question of loyalty. In the old days spies had done what they’d done because they loved their country, because they believed in what they were doing. But he’d never been given a choice.

Nowadays, spies weren’t employed. They were used.

And of all the people to point out how fucked up the whole situation is and how Alex needs to get out...it’s Yassen, the contract killer, his uncle’s murderer. And Yassen says it straight to Alex’s face instead of just making token protests about how wrong it is to send a teenage boy into danger and then doing it anyway. I think the moment had a fairly big impact on Alex, and I was sad it wasn’t included in the show, but ah well. Another time, maybe?

BONUS

OK i know this was meant to be a book vs tv show thing BUT I WOULD BE REMISS IN MY DUTIES NOT TO LINK TO THE LAST SCENE AS DEPICTED IN THE OLD MOVIE

‘2 minutes of questionable everything’ from the video description about sums it up. the violins. the closeness. the long lingering looks. “i’ll never forget you.”

Anyway, hope this was interesting and at least a bit informative! Do let me know there’s any interest in a part 2 of this post covering Eagle Strike and maybe a bit of Russian Roulette!

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

everyone on the carte blanche for the ask meme

everyone? oh boy this is gonna get long ajfhdsf

JUNO

First impression: i, like a lot of people who get into the podcast without knowing a great deal about it, was expecting at most an ambiguously bisexual angst machine with a closely-guarded heart of gold. juno being an explicitly bisexual genderqueer angst machine is perhaps the most pleasant surprise of my life. the angst machine heart of gold characters were kind of my type at the time, so i loved him right away

Impression now: every time i think about juno’s arc from depressed mess held together by bad coping mechanisms, safety pins, and a few good strong puns into someone who can talk about his feelings, feel comfortable about being happy, and recognise when he needs to change, i want to cry about it a little bit. the depth of my love for juno steel has only grown along with him

Favourite moment: juno has a lot of great one-liners and i’m still a big fan of the “on the other hand i wasn’t wearing a watch” bit and who can forget such classics as juno finally deciding to stop moping over nureyev and move on only for him to open the door to his apartment and find nureyev sitting in the dark dramatically, but honestly nothing will ever hit me harder than his sudden, pissed-off declaration of “i can’t die yet, i still have shit to do!” in promised land. god.

Idea for a story: oh i have so many and i want to write most of them so no spoilers, but juno accidentally kidnaps a baby during a carte blanche heist and shenanigans ensue

Unpopular opinion: obviously we all know he’s dummy thicc but i feel like a lot of people forget he’s an actual genius, like the stuff he notices and how he strings it together is sometimes so obscure and he’s almost always right. oh, also juno is not skinny and i will not be taking criticism on that

Favourite relationship: this is so tough because every dynamic is so good, but i think it has to be juno and rita. those two are so good! the best best friends in the world!! i’m really a sucker for any dynamic that’s ridiculously in-sync so i loved these two as soon as juno saw rita’s notes in prince of mars and went “makes perfect sense to me” (which it probably didn’t, because rita, but he trusted that she knew what she was doing which is the important part)

Favourite headcanon: this isn’t really a headcanon but i still think about how juno is (was?) deathly afraid of heights but when he heard rex glass coming he still attempted to climb out of the window. either his aversion to working with dark matters/other people in general was so strong is overrided his fear, or his office was actually on the ground floor. not sure which of these is funnier.

NUREYEV

First impression: we’ve all seen the memes about nureyev knowing juno steel for one (1) day and deciding to Risk It All by leaving him with his name, look at this Hopeless Romantic, this utter DISASTER of a homosexual. the fact the very next time we hear from nureyev (at least directly) he’s patiently waiting in juno’s dark apartment to surprise him with a heist definitely supports this image.

Impression now: even after literally being inside peter’s head, i feel like we didn’t get a real sense of who he is until man in glass, where we find out he aggressively compartmentalises everything that causes him stress. he’s also distinctly someone who’s had his heart broken before, i think, which makes those first appearances of his very strange. but it does remind me of what juno says about diamond, and how he decided to provide the trust first and wait for the trustworthiness to grow in (only to get severely hurt), and i think that’s exactly what nureyev did. i am also... very uneasy with how suspicious he’s behaving this season because obviously i want to believe he’ll sort it all out and not betray the crew but... oof

Favourite moment: the beginning of what lies beyond pt1 where he’s affectionately bullying juno into taking care of himself? cleared my crops watered my skin etc etc etc

Idea for a story: i’d love to hear more about his past as a young thief idolising buddy and vespa (i can’t actually remember if that’s canon or fanon but anyway i wanna read it!)

Unpopular opinion: i think people often cling to an image of him that more resembles his first impressions in season 1 instead of seeing the depth that we’ve been given about his character in season 3

Favourite relationship: him and juno but honestly it’s a close call between them and his budding friendship with rita. even though she learned it by accident, his name is still a point of intimacy and it’s one less secret to keep around her which has to be a weight off his shoulders, at least a little? they seem like they could be really good friends once ultrabots is out of the way. juno steel love (and also bullying) zone activates whenever they’re together

Favourite headcanon: i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - nureyev has never done a household chore in his goddamn life. he doesn’t know the water needs to be hot when you wash dishes.

RITA

First impression: honestly i’m not sure? i don’t remember having a big awareness of her in murderous mask but i remember loving her “note-taking” in prince of mars, i thought she sounded really fun and cute

Impression now: rita is really fun and cute, she’s also an extremely hardworking and dedicated woman who had the guts to throw in with a detective fired from the force and then invest all of her time and money into helping him help people.

Favourite moment: Rita Gets A Knife. enough said

Idea for a story: i don’t know honestly! i really struggle to write rita because her thought processes are so wild and i don’t think any story i could come up with would match mega ultrabots of cyberjustice.

Unpopular opinion: this shouldn’t be unpopular because juno steel himself shares this opinion but all future-jupeter headcanons are incomplete without rita also being a huge part of their lives

Favourite relationship: rita + franny 4ever obviously.. jk it’s juno & rita have you heard rita minute 3 they’re too adorable for this world. im still Soft over their conversation at the end of soul of the people when he said he couldn’t stay in hyperion anymore but he wouldn’t leave with the carte blanche if rita wasn’t coming because he was done leaving her behind, and she threw out all her hesitations on the spot and said call the big guy. speaking of, rita & jet are a close second. instant best friends i love them.

Favourite headcanon: i think this is basically canon now but rita being literally half the height of jet is so good

JET

First impression: “haha lorge funny man puts juno in the trash”

Impression now: jet sikuliaq is one of the dearest characters to me out of anything ever. he is a huge, menacing, polite, kind, sincere man who i would very much like to give me a hug. he’s the best aro ace in outer space and while being generally very levelheaded and straightforward, also takes every opportunity to fuck with juno because it’s very easy and very hilarious to him personally. he is everything my autistic acearo ass needed and i’m so glad to have him

Favourite moment: all of them every single one. him putting juno in the trash is of course a classic and every moment jet chooses to be funny makes my heart happy, but also every piece of genuine advice he gives. i’m a particular fan though of buddy recounting her years in the lighthouse and him saying he became concerned when she didn’t come downstairs at the usual time. “you took the door off its hinges.” “i was deeply concerned.” king of understatement

Idea for a story: again no spoilers for you but..... tools of rust time loop au

Unpopular opinion: this isn’t “unpopular” as much as it is unknown but jet is buddy’s queerplatonic partner and i will keep saying it until everyone believes it

Favourite relationship: jet and buddy,,, just everything about them. the way he suspects when she’s lying, the way she makes tea for him when she expects him to drop by. the fact he comes to check on her when she is 41 seconds late to the family meeting because it’s unlike her to be late and the last time she was late for something her brain was turning to radiation soup. but most especially the way she snaps at him to stay out of her business and he said he could not because he made her promise eight years ago to never stay out of the business of her health, no matter how many times she asked. they r literally in a qpr

Favourite headcanon: i don’t think this is true but i still think it would be funny if the ruby-7 used to be painted red but when jet got it he had it painted green because he Just Really Likes Green (as evidenced by his hovercycle). it’s very funny to me.

BUDDY

First impression: it’s been a minute since i relistened to time gone by but i’m pretty sure the first thing she ever says in the podcast is sliding up to depressed accidental whiskey thief juno and say “that’ll be ten million creds,” scaring the shit out of him, so needless to say i was in love instantly.

Impression now: my love for buddy aurinko has only grown and if it sounds like i already said that in this post it’s because i did about juno and it’s appropriate because the parallels are astounding. the heart of it all gave us such depth to buddy’s internal monologue and why she always sounds like she knows exactly what to say and what that’s like and honestly will i ever be over the heart of it all as an episode? unlikely. i think i’m gonna have a little piece of it in MY heart forever.

Favourite moment: everything she’s ever said is iconic as hell i especially like “in an impressive fit of hubris i’ve decided not to prepare my words for this vow” which made me laugh out loud but once again i must give it up for her iconic “I WANT TO LIVE” moment. honourable mentions to her taking rita out for ice cream and giving juno shooting lessons while she’s in her actual wedding gown. i love her

Idea for a story: buddy and vespa as sun/moon dieties.... that’s all

Unpopular opinion: stop drawing her with a fancy high-tech eye like the theia!! it canonically looks like garbage and it’s described in detail, please, i’m dying, also don’t minimise her scars you bastards

Favourite relationship: buddy and vespa invented romantic love and the entire carte blanche crew’s relationship to her is great but you know by now i’m a slut for buddy & jet out-of-this-world queerplatonic partners. the way she checks in on him during tools of rust to make sure he’s not relapsing and he comes to find her when she is 41 seconds late in the heart of it all to make sure she’s not having a heart problem!! it’s the trust,, the devotion,, the mortifying ordeal of being known

Favourite headcanon: she can sing. absolutely tears it up at karaoke. i’m right

VESPA

First impression: knife lesbian goes STAB. she will heal your wounds but she will be threatening to give you more the whole time

Impression now: she is extremely strong, heart-rendingly tender, and despite being in the older half of the carte blanche crew somehow has unmistakable little sister energy which makes her downright hilarious. i’m so glad she got to marry buddy and they’re official space wives now they’re so good for each other

Favourite moment: both from shadows in the ship, either “GUN!!” “KNIFE?!” (iconic) or when she clocks the dark matters drone pretending to be juno because it called her crazy and juno wouldn’t call her crazy. i’m always a sucker for “shapeshifter fails to fool mark because they Know Each Other Too Well” and it was just *chefs kiss* so good

Idea for a story: i really want to write something about when she was first staying at the lighthouse with buddy post-reunion, and getting to know jet and stuff. i think it would be cute

Unpopular opinion: i know vespa doesn’t canonically have lots of scarring but people who don’t draw her with scarring? cowards.

Favourite relationship: once again, although buddy and vespa invented romantic love, i just love the dynamic between vespa and juno so much. they’ve come so far with each other and their weird sibling dynamic gives me life. at the end of what lies beyond when juno says “we’re not gonna kill her, vespa” and instead of sounding full of Rage and Suspicion she’s like “whyyy notttt?” and he’s like “because i said so!” and that’s just good enough for her even if she’s a bit grumpy about it. i love it.

this took.. a hot minute to do! jshkfjsdgsa thank you dyl ily <3

[eurodynesass-moved]

Champion of the Streets

A brief look at V in the fight with Razor, before Vik takes care of her in his clinic and they... celebrate. 

Female V / Viktor Vector

Minor spoilers for Beat on the Brat.

Ao3

— — — — — — — — —

There was fire in her blood. There was a raging flame threatening to burst through her and she channeled it all into her bones and her muscles as she sat down in her seat. Having just walked away from Coach Fred's offer, V was trying hard not to let her anger consume her. After all this time, pumping her up for the final fight, the big fight, to tear her down with a coward's offer—it was pathetic and humiliating. To think that he never believed she could defeat Razor to begin with, it was infuriating—

"Easy now," she heard a familiar voice say. "You'll burn a hole through his skull before you even get a chance to fight."

She turned to see the man kneel before her, something along the lines of relief washing over her. Viktor. She could not believe that he was there. He wasn't the one that had directed her to these fights, but he knew about them and encouraged her nonetheless. Now, in the final moment when it mattered, he was right there. He wasn't the coach she had been speaking with, but she was certainly more interested in what he had to say right now than anyone else.

He must have seen how she looked, all halfcocked, nervous and angry, and he did not ask her why. Instead, he gave her a few tips for comfort, as well as pointers to defeat Razor. She could have kissed him for that if it weren't for the fact that they were in the ring right then and there.

When finally standing up from her seat and kicking it off the stage behind her—and looking good doing it—she remembered Viktor's words that rang in her mind. Don't let me down now, you hear?

Well, after he had asked her so nicely, she wasn't about to say no.

The bell rang and the fight began, V staying mobile on her feat and watching the large man in front of her. She was much smaller, in terms of height and muscle. She was able to quickly dash away from his charges and stay out of the way. Occasionally she could spot Viktor from the corner of her eye, away from the ring but keeping watch.

She then focused on Razor and dodged a swipe from him, ducking to give herself a decent angle for a strong right hook, right into his abdomen. The man stumbled backward with a grunt and she smirked, kicking off towards him.

—

It was almost as though she blacked out during the fight and woke up only when she stood above Razor, on her two feet, having emerged victorious. There, in the ring, she glistened brightly under the neon lights. Her sporty crop was soaked with sweat, blood and dirt, her braided hair had partly come loose and stuck to her face in tiny curls. Her nose was definitely bleeding still and something in her mouth kept burning and leaking.

Her chest heaved in quick, rapid breaths as she looked down at her own two hands. Hand wraps now red and brown, threatening to come away, her hands were shaking violently, and yet she was as confident in herself as she could have been in a very long time.

Stepping out of the ring, she ignored the crowd and glanced at Coach Fred, placing one bloodied hand on his shoulder and giving him a nod. She was still not okay with him trying to convince her to sell herself out, but he did bring her the opportunity to get this far.

Still, she did not linger. V scanned the crowd to find that familiar pair of eyes that she had looked into just before the fight, finding one smiling Viktor staring right back at her. V turned to the side, spitting out her blood out of necessity before deciding to get anywhere close to her friend.

Once he reached her, he held out his hand and she took it in a strong clasp. They laughed and pulled each other in for a congratulatory embrace. He held her for a second longer than she expected, not that she minded, before finally pulling away to look her in the eyes.

"You actually fucking did it," he grinned a wide, boyish grin, shaking his head slightly.

"Did you ever doubt I would?" she put her hands on her hips, raising a brow.

"Not even for a second, sweetheart," he assured her.

Before her mind could linger on that word again, a different voice caught her attention. She looked behind her as someone asked to take a photo of her, something about wanting to write about the fight. She did not pay too much attention to it, only wrapped an arm around Vik's shoulders as well as she could at her height, and made a peace sign with her other hand. Viktor, to her surprise, did not fold his arms like he normally liked to do. His right arm went around her, his hand now resting on her right shoulder and keeping her close.

Once the picture was taken, she looked up at him from where she was and did not pull away. "Thank you for believing in me, Vik. I wouldn't have made it without you."

"Nah, kid, you'da made it even further without another word from me," he shook his head. "That was all you, I just made sure you remembered that you had it in you."

Before V could say more, she cleared her throat and felt more of her blood pooling in her mouth. She made a gesture with her hand so as to tell him she needed a minute, before promptly spitting more blood out.

"Fuck," she cursed, wiping her mouth with her wraps.

"Let's get you back to the clinic for a quick look-see, shall we?" he offered, keeping a respectable distance from her.

She smiled and gave him a sheepish nod. "Yeah, maybe we should."

—

Walking into the clinic somehow felt more like a breath of fresh air than it did while being outside, pollution notwithstanding. V took her usual steps, plopping herself down on the chair while Vik brought out something to help with the pain and the daze. He also brought over a couple of glasses, pouring them a little drink to mark the celebration. He did not sit in his stool this time, instead stepping in rather close so that he could help clean her up. He set down a tray with the things he might need right beside her on the chair.

"Seeing you fight out there," he began, unwrapping one of her hands. "Made me wish I'd been there for the other fights too. You really got somethin' in ya, kid, that just does not quit."

"What can I say, I have all the right people in my corner," she chuckled, but melted a little at the smile he gave her.

"Well, the smart ones'll know to keep rootin' for ya," he replied, now unwrapping her other hand. After a moment, he examined her knuckles and fingers, finding a few scrapes and bruises but nothing too serious. With one gentle stroke of a calloused thumb against the back of her hand, he nodded. "Hands seem fine. Anything hurting in there that I should know about?"

V was finding it extremely hard to look away from him at that moment. "No, just the knuckles."

"Good," he muttered, setting her hands down in her lap before tilting her chin up a little. "Now for that nasty cut on your cheek," he spoke softly. Viktor stepped away momentarily, moving about his clinic and coming back with a rag and a bowl of water. He slowly began to wipe away the dirt and blood off her face and neck, taking extra care with the area around her wound so that he could disinfect it and patch her up.

In all that time, his touch and gestures were gentle, soft. His eyes were laser-focused on every inch of her. Her mouth ran dry at the thought of all that attention he put toward helping her.

He himself wasn't entirely lost on the looks she'd been giving him. It was no secret that they cared about each other, but to what extent she cared for him, he didn't know. He had a hunch, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be wrong or right. He said nothing about it though. She needed to clean up, he was there. That's all this was.

"Your nose," he observed. "Definitely bruised, popped a few vessels, but thankfully it's still intact."

"I'm told it's one of my best features," she joked, slightly wincing at the touch.

"Hmm," low laugh rumbled from him, tingling her insides something fierce.

She could tell he wanted to say something more, but had probably chosen against it. Shame, she thought. Maybe if he had, she could have told him some of her favorite parts of him. V then had a thought. Sitting there, in the safety of his clinic, after the night she'd had, to celebrate it by his side was the best thing she could have been doing.

There may have been more that she wanted. It was a night of achieving the impossible, after all. Maybe... just maybe...

"Alright, V. That's you all set," he told her, ready to step back as he cleared his throat. "Unless you've got anything broken or sprained that you haven't told me about," he added in jest.

An idea sparked. "Actually, I think I took a few good hits in my ribs. Can you check those?"

She could see the freeze in Viktor's stance, but he moved closer once again, giving her a quick nod. He observed her skin, motioning her to lean back a little so that he could see better under the light. "Nothing looks bruised. Does it still hurt?"

V watched him as he studied her, his fingers gently poking at each rib to see if there was anything broken or cracked underneath. He'd find nothing of the sort, but she couldn't help herself anymore. Sitting there, slightly leaning back with him hovering just over her, V decided to take a leap of faith. She looked him in the eyes as she moved her leg slightly, letting it brush slowly against his. Viktor did not look down, but he did make eye contact with her again.

There was a visual bob in his throat as he watched her carefully, seeing that she did not blink even once while doing this. V slowly straightened herself up again, and the more she did so, the closer to him she got—he was not moving an inch. His hands remained where they were, at her sides and with his fingers slightly tracing her ribs.

Viktor thought about speaking, stepping away, doing the right thing. He wondered if he was seeing it wrong, or if she really was looking him in the eyes so intently that his heart might give in. Looking her over right then, busted cheek and lip, bruised nose and body, chaffed hands—she really did remind him a lot of himself, and had a live, wild spirit within her that he could not deny he was attracted to.

So he stood, frozen and uncertain as she moved herself closer and closer to him. Little could have prepared him for what came next, not even the times he had spent imagining that very moment.

V pushed herself up, her cheeks flushed pink merely at their proximity, and kissed Viktor. She grazed her lips gently against his, as though she were inviting him to join, and that he did. She felt him return the kiss with passion, hands now pressed flat against her sides.

Swinging her leg around him, she attempted to nudge him to step between her legs, but he had a different idea. His hands grabbed her by the hips, sliding her body closer to him in the position that she had been hoping for. She pulled away from the kiss with a small gasp just to look at him.

"Huh," he breathed, a smile teasing the corners of his lips. "Who woulda thought..."

"What?" she uttered.

"That you woulda ever wanted to go for someone like me," he admitted.

Her heart broke a little inside. "There is no one like you," she moved her hand to his cheek.

"V..." he murmured, but had no time to say more when he felt her soft lips move against his once more. He sighed into the kiss, holding her and giving in to the taste of her. There was a hint of metal from her lip, something that made him chuckle.

His tongue pushed against her lip and she happily obliged, letting him in and tasting all of him. The drink he had set out for them before could still be tasted on him, something absolutely irresistible in that. V then let her hands roam across his shoulders while he held her tight. A small nudge of her legs to move him closer had his crotch digging against her, making him groan into the kiss.

V smirked at that and kept her legs wrapped around him to steady herself while she slowly ground her hips against him. She let out a soft moan, forgetting how much easier it was to feel things through loose sweatpants. She felt his grip on her tighten and his breathing quicken. He cursed against the kiss and pulled her up off the chair, making a small squeak of a gasp come out of her—a sound he'd never heard from her before.

He looked at her and grinned just as she broke into a quiet laugh, and slowly, Viktor walked them around the clinic, accidentally slamming into one of the tables along the way. He groaned, feeling the metal corner bang right into his thigh. Vik cursed at the table all the while V tried to suppress her quiet giggling. He raised a brow at her.

"You find that funny?" he asked her, right before the two of them fell into the couch. Another yelp sounded from V, and then a soft grunt and a thud at the impact. Her hair was now all over the place, her braid slowly but surely coming loose, so Vik decided to help with that. He reached over and tugged at the hair tie that kept it all together, threading his fingers into her hair to set it all free. He then carefully, slowly stroked all the strays out of her face, leaning in again to kiss her.

Gentle fingers gingerly plucked at whatever buttons still remained done on Vik's shirt, slowly pulling it free and down his arms. As he got up on his knees, she pushed herself up to join him, continuing on with his tank top. The years of heavyweight training and boxing had continued to show their mark on the curves and creases of his muscles, making V let out a low whistle.

"You been holdin' out on me, Doc?" she asked him, her voice low and sultry.

He smirked at her, "Only leavin' the best for last."

"Well it's only fair I return the favor," V purred, tugging at the hem of her tight crop.

As she began to pull it, his fingers caressed her ribs in an instant, burying themselves under the fabric to help push it up and over her. As his hands roamed up, his thumbs grazed over V's breasts rather slowly, until finally they helped take her shirt off completely.

On her knees in front of him, hair a mess around her shoulders and just above her breasts, which were ample and inviting, Vik could feel himself twitch in his arousal. "Fuck, you're so beautiful sweetheart."

"Y'know I always secretly loved it whenever you'd call me that," she confessed.

"There is so much more I could call you, if it'd make you happy," he sighed, his lips on her body in an instant.

She plopped onto her back once more, Vik above her without missing a beat. He took in her scent, the remnants of the fight still lingering and mixing with whatever sweet soap she had used that day. His lips trailed with sweet kisses down her neck and onto her chest, her breasts fitting nice and warm in his mouth. A moment later, he was grazing her nipple with his teeth, turning one of her sweet moans into a sharp gasp.

He moved on to the other breast, sending his right hand down her belly and to her abdomen, resting it there for a moment. The sheer warmth of his palm made her ache, her mind suddenly extremely aware of where that was headed. Vik looked up at her just in time to lead his fingers down, lower and lower—missing the spot and roaming down her thigh instead.

"Fuck you," she whispered, tilting her head back in frustration.

His left arm had been keeping him propped up, but he shifted in place so that his hand could reach her hair. Burying his digits within the long, soft locks, he looked her in the eyes and watched. Watched as he slowly brought his hand back up her thigh, watched as his thumb poked at her folds, then watched as it pushed against her clit, circling it nice and slow.

He then continued to stroke her through the fabric of her sweatpants, once, twice, a few times more until he could not take it anymore. He couldn't look away while she looked him in the eyes and stroked his jawline with her thumb, while she traced that long scar on his chin and moaned against his touch. Vik bent down to take her lips in his, swallowing up those delicious sounds of hers in a sweet kiss just before he could move completely away from her.

There was a small sound of protest from her, but he motioned her to follow. Once they were both on their feet, he reached for the underside of the couch, pulling on a metal bar that unlatched with a tug. Seconds later, they were looking at a rather spacious pull-out bed and they wasted no time returning to their previous position.

This time, Viktor tugged at her pants with a sharp pull, nearly pulling her along with it as he undressed her. God she was absolutely stunning, and completely naked before him. How he had managed to keep his hands to himself for this long, he did not know. Seeing her reach her hands out to him, he moved over her and smiled.

"How's my Champion of the Streets doin'?" he asked her, fingertips teasing the trail to her apex.

"She's about to lose her damn mind, Doc," V urged, one of her hands gently squeezing his forearm to go further.

Who was he to argue?

His fingers now touched her without any obstruction, feeling just how wet she was for him. He ran a single finger along her slit, just barely pushing past it before rubbing along her most sensitive spot. The strokes began nice and slow, but he soon moved with purpose as one of his fingers sunk into her. She was hot and welcoming, her back arching as those little nerves, both inside and out, were slowly and steadily stimulated with the gentlest touches. He inserted a second finger into her, feeling her, focusing on her, her little gasps, her breathing, the colorful variety of emotions displayed on her face.

Viktor had seen enough of those emotions to know just how evocative she was when it came to feeling strongly about something. Never had he imagined he'd start to see a picture painted in his mind of just how she felt about him, how he could make her feel. Her hips began to sway and thrust along with his motions the more he teased her, and he watched as she shut her eyes and began to bite her lower lip. It took everything in him not to bite it himself, just wanting to see her free in her own world when he'd make it explode.

And explode, it did.

He pressed the length of his fingers against her when he thrust them in, making sure they stroked against her clit with each and every move. Occasionally, he'd thrust them deep and let his thumb do the work on her, only to then focus on her insides once more. Eventually, her body couldn't handle it anymore. Her legs pressed tightly against one another, her lower body twitching and throbbing against his fingers. The sweet song that had become her moaning became louder and raspier as V could no longer care about what kinds of sounds she was making. Her chest heaved along with her breathing, making her gorgeous tits rise and fall just beneath him.

Vik leaned in to press a kiss between them, then one right at her throat, until she captured his mouth herself, her moans now turning into tired hums and huffs. He gave her a moment to catch her breath, to wind down a little from her high, before he could even think about continuing. She thought of it before him, it seemed, as he suddenly felt one of her hands stroking along his hard length through his pants.

He shut his eyes, sounding a quiet breathy moan in response to the pleasant surprise. V wasted no time pulling at his pants, so he helped her kick them off immediately. She had to take a second to appreciate just how turned on he was by just kissing and touching her. With gratitude in mind, she took him with her hand, slowly feeling every inch of him with every stroke, readying him for her.

She could hear his pleasure through how heavy he was breathing, through the bobbing of his throat, through the tightening of his fingers around her hair. V smiled at him and whispered, "Let me return the favor."

After a few more seconds of reveling in the pleasure, Vik finally looked at her again and shifted in place. "Maybe next time," he told her. "Tonight's about you," he muttered just above a whisper in a voice that sent a shudder through her body. Pushing off from beside her, Vik reached out for a nearby cushion to tuck it underneath her. He lifted her—without any effort, she noted in excitement—and tucked it comfortably underneath her ass.

Her legs rested around his waist while her hands laid on her own stomach. He took them in his, kissing each of them once and letting go so that he could settle in between her legs. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders and she pulled him in for a sweet kiss while she felt his hand guide his cock to her. He did not enter right away, still lubricating himself by way of teasing her entrance, nice and slow. As much as he loved what it was doing to her, he was driving himself crazy in the process.

"Vik, please," she breathed. "I want you inside me."

The throb in his cock at those words ached. He did not hesitate, pushing himself slowly past her folds and deep into her. Vik cursed out a moan, mumbling something about her being so tight around him. V must have agreed as she gasped and dug her nails into his back. After settling inside her a moment, he slowly pulled himself out to the tip, then back in, over and over until they grew accustomed to each other.

In the matter of a few minutes, Viktor had one hand at her leg to keep her steady as he thrust into her harder and faster. V began to pull his hips into her with each trust, holding onto his back and shoulder for dear life as he hit that spot of hers, over and over. Somewhere between being overcome by the pleasure, and between losing herself in his hold, she sent one of her hands to her clit to aid in that regard. It took very little when accompanied by him and his motions to send her into yet another wave of release.

Her walls tightened and throbbed around his cock, he became certain very quickly that her next release might just be the end of him. Partway through his thrusts, he wrapped his arms around her back and pushed himself up to a seated position with her on his lap.

V let out one loud moan, feeling him sitting so deep inside her. She ground her hips back and forth, feeling him push against her core over and over when she moved at just the right angle. When he began to thrust along to that rhythm, V buried her head into his shoulder. What was intended to be a kiss turned into a nibble, which turned into a bite. Vik groaned in either pleasure or pain, she couldn't quite tell, but she did leave a mark from the intensity of what she felt.

Suddenly, Vik was holding her rather tightly, keeping her steady as his cock pounded into her. He was getting closer and closer, she could feel it. His breaths were shorter, more vocal, his fingers digging into her body in his grasp.

"Viktor," she moaned, nibbling his earlobe before she called to him again. "Oh, Viktor."

He let them fall back against the bed as he thrust into her—hard—calling her name as he released his load right into her, letting ecstasy take over his senses. His hips slowed to lazy rolls while he rode the waves of his orgasm, his arms doing everything they could not to let his body slump over her.

Though, he wasn't entirely sure she couldn't simply toss him aside, after the severe round of ass-kicking she showed off in the ring. Vik laughed breathlessly against her skin, remembering what had lead them here in the first place. It seemed so surreal to be laying with V, of all people, in his little makeshift den, of all places.

When he pulled away to look at her, V was flush with sweat and had pink all across her skin, but particularly her cheeks and nose. She moved some of Viktor's hair out of the way and kissed him once again, a tired sound of contentment humming in her throat.

"Only took you the better part of a year to finally do that," she grinned, looking at his face in her hands.

"It only took you beatin' Razor's ass outta that ring tonight for me to realize how stupid I was to wait this long," Viktor shook his head. "Truth is, I... I didn't wanna ruin a thing."

"And is it?" V raised a brow. "Ruined, that is?"

"Like I said," he smiled at her. "I was real stupid."

V could feel her heart almost implode at his smile. She pushed herself up so that her lips grazed against his only slightly.

"Then I guess we gotta make up for lost time."

[unexpected-possibilities]

*pounces on the Fic Friday event because your commentary/analysis waters my crops* Where do you think Douxie picked up his nurturing instinct? He takes to "parenting" (for lack of a better word) Nari rather quickly in "Saudade." Is it all from Archie, or do you think there was another period in his life where he had to take on that role? Also would I be asking for spoilers if I asked how Zoe and Nari get along? ✨

Oooh, delving into some fun stuff! So, a little bit about me, I’m the eldest sibling of 5, and I wrote Douxie as a youngest of 3, so not really the same thing going on here. I actually pulled my psychology class from last year into play a little, lol! Theres a lot of studies about youngest children, among them being that they’re often a bit coddled by their parents, and while I don’t think this was the case with Douxie at all, he shared the other traits quite well. They’re usually very persistent, much more likely to be risk-takers, more out-going, not really the strongest or the smartest in a room, often considered natural charmers, lol. So Douxie fit the bill.

Archie is a character I really want to explore just because of the way details from his life are presented. I don’t believe that Archie was originally a very good parent to Douxie — I’d be willing to bet he was often confused, anxious, and downright spoiled or let Douxie walk all over him. It seems that Archie had just a father figure in his life and no mother in the picture, too, not really sure about all that. But as Archie himself matured, he took more away from his father’s parenting in retrospect and sort of developed his own style that worked for him. But Archie at the same has to be his brother and companion; he wears many hats, and not just in the sense of being a shapeshifter.

But Douxie is sort of a mix of both his childhood, Archie’s parenting, avoiding Merlin’s methods, and just being a bit of a people watcher. Douxie honestly longs and aches for what he could have had in regards to a family. Everyone talks about just how important it is, and that stings for him. “Closest I ever had was [Archie].” And he doesn’t mean that in a rude sense, he just...hurts. And when naive, confused, uneducated and generally (previously) unloved Nari comes into his life, this is like his big chance to send a message(one involving a particular swear that he rarely uses) to the Universe. If he couldn’t have been loved and had a (healthy) family/relationship with parental figures, Nari sure as hell would have one. Archie has his hands full keeping track of Douxie most of the time, and Douxie just assumes the role of Nari’s new parent because someone has to adult. Douxie is determined to give Nari everything he never had because it’s the least he can do. He’s the sort of person who no matter what cards he’s dealt, will always try to be good to others. I’d like to think that over the years Douxie has also grown a fondness for those younger than him physically because he can often relate to them more than the actual adults do and generally goes through similar things. Douxie probably would really love to be a dad; but an adoptive father. He can empathize with all those kids out there going through similar things and Archie and Zoe and the law are probably the only things stopping him from adopting them all and giving them the love they deserve.

I’ve ever so vaguely touched on Nari and Zoe’s relationship in my published works, so it’s not really spoiler-y that much, but consider this answer a little treat lol. Nari is the younger sister Zoe never knew she always wanted. Zoe spoils her much like she spoils Arch, but then again everyone spoils Nari. Zoe doesn’t really like kids in general, mostly because of the maintenance and Douxie is more than enough, but Nari is like a game changer to this view, lol. Zoe “moms” Doux all the time because Archie is too likely to encourage dumb things as he is to stop them, and sometimes none of the three of them have the brain cell so it’s a huge disaster lol. But Zoe doesn’t quite “get” Nari’s naivety at first. She basically assumed she was on par with everything because she’s, yknow, a demi-god or something. Zoe also (very) unintentionally has the unfortunate tendency to upset Nari with her bluntness about situations because she’s not really on the empathy level that Doux is (this comes up in the next Chap of Saudade and briefly in my final Halloween fic). She definitely doesn’t mean it at all, and Nari has a hard time interpreting Zoe’s emotions/magic and aura because she’s closed herself off a bit and often shuts down when she feels emotions rising. I’ll get into this later, but as a hedgewitch with harder to control magic, Zoe has EXTREME emotional regulation ability so that she doesn’t accidentally hurt someone. It’s volitile magic. Ultimately they do tend get along really well, despite this, and I think once Zoe opens up to her a little bit we’ll see the softer side of Zoe. But as I stated in my earlier analysis she still has lots of lingering trust issues, unfortunately, and so walls are that much harder to bring down. Nari does her best to observe how Douxie handles Zoe’s emotions so that in turn she can be of comfort like the good little sister she wants to be.

Phew! That was unintentionally really long lol, but it was a lot of fun to write out!!

[streetlightsky]

*tries to physically restrain myself from asking literally all of them* 1, 3, 8, 10, 18, 19, 22 <3

ohhh, this post got long, whoops. but literally this is why i rejoined tumblr again. thanks for the ask, lovely! 💖

fic ask game

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what's it about, how's progress, what do you love most about it?

i have two (~and a half) wips lined up. the one i intend to finish and post next is a 5+1 fic. sebchal, of course; set in the normal racing world with a twist! finished the first section and am almost done with the second. i'm currently in my post fic writing hiatus, though, so progress has been halted a bit. what i love most about it, though, is writing a trope i always wanted to but never got the chance to really flesh out with any past fandoms/ships. even better, i get to write this trope literally six different ways with the 5+1 format, so i'm excited to get these unique but similar ideas out there. no spoilers, sorry!

the other wip is a longish au i started last year, but it needs a lot of work and might be a series, so i've put it on the back burner. but i love the idea of this one--again, writing another trope i've never gotten to publish before. i guess you could say my favorite part of writing these is shoving sebchal into different situations/scenarios/aus to see if their original dynamic will sink or swim and then building an entire fic around those that pass that mental test of mine.

3. What is that one scene that you've always wanted to write but can't be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

THERE'S A LOT. a lot of scenes that just exist in my head without the benefit of an actual storyline; a lot of ideas from my 'fics i'll never write' tag that come to me in that moment but probably won't be much more; outtakes from my posted works or even former ideas that i thought i would write but were abandoned; etc.

there's a slightly nsfw scene for a sebchal model!au that i will never write where seb is doing an obligatory photoshoot for a team sponsor and model!charles just happens to crash it, and after, model!charles drives seb to his italian villa or whatever and they get to third base outside on a balcony, 😉.

then, there were two extended epilogues to roots on the rooftop that i ended up abandoning. the first was going to be sebchal house hunting in monaco for a new place together, and they tour some swanky new place, and the bathroom lights are on the floor again, but there's a rooftop, and seb kind of just shrugs when charles asks if he likes it because it doesn't matter to him as long as they're together. and then the second one would be them together in switzerland. i had this written:

He had followed Seb to Switzerland like an idiot. But it was okay. It was quiet and hilly and a two-hour flight away from his mother and brothers, but there was Seb, and that was what made it home.

basically a reiteration of the first epilogue in a different locale and the reverse of the rest of the fic, which essentially takes place in monaco aside from the racing. (also a reverse of postcards as that one took place in switzerland and then the very last epilogue was in monaco.)

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

mostly, yes. i am picky with what i write because i have to be able to envision the ship's dynamic in that situation in order for me to even consider it, and that generally applies to what i like to read. that being said, there are some aus i can enjoy if done right--coffee shop au, apocalypse au, others i can't think of right now--but am unlikely to write because i have no talent in that department. there's a fanfic trope tier list i saw online; i might do it and post for fun.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

long and full of editing. some kind of outline will crop up anywhere between 0-75% of the writing being done. but really, it's just constant editing--editing the current section while i'm writing it; editing the former sections when i need to remember what was set up and the tone; editing after the whole fic has been written; editing right before i hit post on ao3. a lot of random research too throughout the process. i don't know, this is not very descriptive, but i could probably write an entire post on the process and use like one of my recent fics as an example.

18. Do any of your stories have alternate versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterizations?) Tell us about them.

i intended for miss you (most at christmas time), nothing else that i will need (this christmas), and in my heart (is a christmas tree farm) to be exactly that: three alternate versions of one story, which was charles' anxiety of losing seb after the 2020 season. it wasn't done very well, but that was the original inspiration. i think this question might serve better for my current wips, but i don't want to give anything away... but yes. the answer is definitely yes, 😜.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favorite verb, something you describe 'too often,' trope you can't get enough of?

i feel like in my recent works, you can almost always find any variation of "But that was okay." i don't know why, but i like it, and it usually works well for the tone. (it's literally in that snippet i posted above, LOL.) i also really like to describe heartbeats and utilize that rhythm to try and heighten the emotion in a scene of particular significance.

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

uh... how old are we talking? there are a handful of works that are 5+ years old posted on ao3 that i'm not interested in reading again because i feel rather embarrassed about the writing and actual story. but there are some gems over the past few years that i reread every once in a long while and think, 'yeah, this was great, brings me right back into the feels.'