#catboys in love

[farfromdaylight]

@anneapocalypse tagged me to post the last six lines i've written, but i can't do it because it's a fill i wrote for ffxivwrite that turned into the last chapter of my unpublished endwalker fic. SPOILERS ABOUND.

so instead, here is a little snippet from something i wrote recently that i'm quite pleased with:

He doesn't know. He doesn't care. All he wants is to bask in his husband's undivided attention. Cálei glows before him, haloed in the early afternoon light. Like a sliver of sunlight has become flesh. It burns to behold him, yet G'raha couldn't possibly turn away.

alas i will probably not be publishing what this is from, but enjoy regardless :D

[crystalrune77]

Picking up the Pieces Chapter 3: Fervor

WoL/G'raha M/M

Rated E for sexual themes

No Archive Warnings Apply

Overall summary:

A handful of months have passed since G'raha sealed himself in the Crystal Tower. Still burdened by his loss Y'sato finds his spirits at an all-time low following the events of the bloody banquet, but he forges on regardless, unable to do aught else. Y'sato, Alphinaud, and Tataru currently find themselves in Ishgard as the esteemed wards of House Fortemps. Y'sato who already struggled after losing G'raha to the Tower, struggles even more now after the betrayal, feeling responsible for what happened to Nanamo and the Scions. He is neglecting himself and his health in an attempt to cope with everything, opening up to no one as he keeps himself busy, wearing himself thin. One day it all comes to a head and he will come to find things aren't as bleak after all...

Excerpt from Chapter:

Ever the opportunistic thief, his friend doesn't hesitate. All at once there's the sensation of familiar, warm skin pressed flush against his, of whispered reassurances in his ear, breath hot against the thin, delicate skin. G'raha's hair is smooth under his callused fingertips as Y'sato's fingers tangle through the strands, undoes his braid, the feel of it slipping through his fingers akin to spun silk. There is a scrape of teeth where Y'sato's neck meets his shoulder, the feeling rough but pleasurable. Oh so pleasurable, sending a jolt of levin straight down to his groin. He leans into it, cranes his head back as a moan catches in his throat, his ears drawn back against his head, pressing into his pillow.

He feels it. The soft, downy tip of a russet tail as it teasingly trails a path along the length of his inner thigh, the hot mist of a scarcely contained chuckle washing over his skin. It all leaves Y'sato a shuddering mess. Especially so as a wet, hot tongue joins the lazy dance as his friend proceeds to map the texture of his skin, consigning the taste of him to memory. Full, soft lips press into his pulse point next, it a fluttering, errant thing in his veins, teeth gently oh so gently gripping him as G'raha sucks his skin into the wet warmth of his mouth.

"Raha..." His name leaves him with a swallowed moan, lips parting. Y'sato's tail refuses to stay still, thumping firmly into the mattress. He claws his fingers into the sheets in anticipation, nails dragging on the soft fabric. To G'raha he will submit. He will give him everything. Anything. He just needs but ask.

AO3 Link:

[hinamie]

sry i have chronic only draws megumi disorder the doctor said it's terminal :/

[heckarum]

This cat boy lives rent free in my head

[farfromdaylight]

first, i highly recommend reading the notes: it's lovely reading about everyone's wolships.

second, i am here to summarize 250k words of fic, so, you know.

I played through the entire game (which was up to 5.1 at the time) without shipping any of the characters with my Viera... but that didn't mean I wasn't interested in shipping. Enter catboy: I tossed a longtime OC into the game, made him a Miqo'te, and off we went.

Cálei spends most of ARR in a haze. He doesn't remember his past and struggles with his own identity beyond that of Warrior of Light. When he meets G'raha Tia, his initial reaction is dislike: he is not fond of fellow Seekers of the Sun, much less one so presumptuous.

But as Cálei wrestles with his own problems, he begins spending more and more time at Saint Coinach's Find, seeking a measure of peace and quiet outside of the constant errands the Scions send him on. And when it gets to the point that he can't ignore his own troubled heart, G'raha offers him much-needed support.

Cálei does not mean to fall for him, and takes some time to adjust to his feelings, but once they're there there's no avoiding it. He still does his job as Warrior of Light, but more and more he returns to G'raha's side. And when he's finally confident enough to share his feelings, he finds they're returned.

And yet, G'raha's gaze remains on the Tower.

While G'raha doesn't actively push Cálei away, his focus — and priority — are clearly on the Tower. He wants to understand his history. He knows he has an inescapable connection to it. And when the opportunity comes to make a difference à la the heroes he so admires, he takes it with both hands. He locks himself in the Tower, ignoring Cálei's pleas to stay with him.

Cálei is devastated. Not long after, the end of the ARR plot kicks in, and Cálei proceeds to withdraw entirely into himself. He spends the first half of Heavensward dissociating and trying to snuff out his broken heart.

During this time, he gets messy with Estinien. It is in no way a healthy relationship: they're both using each other to try and avoid their own problems. It tapers off after the Vault, as Cálei starts to regain himself and actively starts to recover from his heartbreak.

And for a while, it works. He doesn't exactly move on, but he processes the loss enough to be more functional, at least. The war with Garlemald is in full swing at that point, and he doesn't have time to waste on matters of the heart.

Then all his friends pass out and he goes to Norvrandt.

He knows who the Exarch is immediately. He tries to bridge the gap between them, and is firmly rebuffed. His heart aches, but he can't change the Exarch's mind, so he buries himself in his duty.

Of course, the Exarch's master plan doesn't quite pan out the way he'd hoped. And even with things uncertain between them, Cálei would stop at nothing to retrieve his lost love.

They make it through and come out the other side, and at long last they rekindle their relationship. There's still some speed bumps — returning to the Source, for one thing — but even that manages to fall by the wayside.

Then Endwalker happens, and things get crazy for a while. But amidst the depths of despair, Cálei makes his commitment to G'raha clear. Sometime in 6.x they get married and live happily ever after... for now, at least! We'll see where the future takes them.

(last photo is by @shepherdtostars, thank u again 💗)

...i realize now that i barely actually answered the question, lmao. i was drawn to G'raha immediately because he resembled one of my OCs, and I loved the way his story developed in Shadowbringers, but since I didn't ship him with my first WoL (they are firmly BFFs), I had to go about shipping another way. i did not expect that catboy would take over my life, but, well, here we are.

And really, the more I thought about how they would get together, the more I wanted to explore it. It's no wonder I've been writing about these catboys for years, at this point.

Another random WoLQotD/OC question

I thought I'd ask this while I worked on my other questions. :)

If you're a WoL x NPC shipper, what drew you to that ship and why? What makes that ship the pinnacle for you and your oc? Is it that you love the canon character you write them with, you find their dynamic interesting or something in between?

If you're not a WoL x NPC shipper, but you have a ship with another person, how did that come about? What makes that ship fulfilling for you? Has the ship impacted your relationship with that other person? Feel free to gush, I wanna hear it!

Oh, and pictures are a must (if you have them).

[bklily]

Inside Out but its all the multiple variations of Adrichat

Bonus:

What a weird guy, huh!

Part Two Here!!

[kolbalissh]

oscat pawstri >^•~•^< (im a genius)

[thecoolestcowboy]

⚪️ afab (assigned female at birth)

⚪️ amab (assigned male at birth)

🔘 acab (assigned catboy after banishment)

[humans-are-tasty]

[kendyroy]

very obsessed with the thought of wade coming home and logan sniffing someone else’s scent on his man and switching into jealous boyfriend mode

[farfromdaylight]

there is nothing like wolgraha fanart to make me want to create wolgrahas of my own... maybe i'll pick a wip back up...

[maxipad33]

catboy max verstappen because uhhhhhhhhh yeah!! anyways enjoy

[otaku553]

Save me yi nine sols

(You should play nine sols it’s very very fun)

[bogkeep]

gentle touches. for purely tactical reasons obviously

[falst and dainix are from @comicaurora]

[zesty-lemonss]

special needs guy

[2009phan]

okay you know what my roman empire is?

the fact that teen dan howell became a fan of/fell in love with phil when he was posting the most deranged unhinged videos on the internet. like this was pre mainstream youtube. this was before "hello guys smash that like button" youtube. teen dan howell saw this

and was like "i need to wait until i turn 18 to message this guy and stalk him". like broooo

the way people say it is like "yeah, phil was a youtuber and dan was a fan" and it makes you think that phil was like a modern day sponsor-friendly youtuber with an instagram following and a brand. but that is so detached from the truth. like youtube itself was an obscure website and like dan saw this unhinged weirdo's videos and fell in love with him. like.. ahhhhhh i am not okay