#expedition instructor

[nasa]

What’s It Like to Work in NASA’s Mission Control Center?

In the latest installment of our First Woman graphic novel series, we see Commander Callie Rodriguez embark on the next phase of her trailblazing journey, as she leaves the Moon to take the helm at Mission Control.

Flight directors work in Mission Control to oversee operations of the International Space Station and Artemis missions to the Moon. They have a unique, overarching perspective focused on integration between all the systems that make a mission a success – flight directors have to learn a little about a lot.

Diane Dailey and Chloe Mehring were selected as flight directors in 2021. They’ll be taking your questions about what it’s like to lead teams of flight controllers, engineers, and countless professionals, both agencywide and internationally, in an Answer Time session on Nov. 28, 2023, from noon to 1 p.m. EST (9-10 a.m. PST) here on our Tumblr!

Like Callie, how did their unique backgrounds and previous experience, prepare them for this role? What are they excited about as we return to the Moon?

🚨 Ask your questions now by visiting https://nasa.tumblr.com/ask.

Diane Dailey started her career at NASA in 2006 in the space station Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) group. As an ECLSS flight controller, she logged more than 1,700 hours of console time, supported 10 space shuttle missions, and led the ECLSS team. She transitioned to the Integration and System Engineering (ISE) group, where she was the lead flight controller for the 10th and 21st Commercial Resupply Services missions for SpaceX. In addition, she was the ISE lead for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-1 and Demo-2 crew spacecraft test flights. Dailey was also a capsule communicator (Capcom) controller and instructor.

She was selected as a flight director in 2021 and chose her call sign of “Horizon Flight” during her first shift in November of that year. She has since served as the Lead Flight director for the ISS Expedition 68, led the development of a contingency spacewalk, and led a spacewalk in June to install a new solar array on the space station. She is currently working on development of the upcoming Artemis II mission and the Human Lander Systems which will return humanity to the moon. Dailey was raised in Lubbock, Texas, and graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. She is married and a mother of two. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time outdoors.

Chloe Mehring started her NASA career in 2008 in the Flight Operations’ propulsion systems group and supported 11 space shuttle missions. She served as propulsion support officer for Exploration Flight Test-1, the first test flight of the Orion spacecraft that will be used for Artemis missions to the Moon. Mehring was also a lead NASA propulsion officer for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and served as backup lead for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. She was accepted into the 2021 Flight Director class and worked her first shift in February 2022, taking on the call sign “Lion Flight”. Since becoming certified, she has worked over 100 shifts, lead the NG-17 cargo resupply mission team, and executed two United States spacewalks within 10 days of each other. She became certified as a Boeing Starliner Flight Director, sat console for the unmanned test flight in May 2022 (OFT-2) and will be leading the undock team for the first crewed mission on Starliner in the spring of next year. She originally is from Mifflinville, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in State College. She is a wife, a mom to one boy, and she enjoys fitness, cooking and gardening.

[starfinss]

Efflorescent — Tighnari

𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮: Genshin Impact

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Tighnari + Reader

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: NSFW

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 8,495

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: Triggered by unseasonably cool weather, Avidiya forest is alive with rare flora. Upon going to investigate it, you and Tighnari get more than you bargained for. 

It was supposed to be an ordinary expedition. And by all accounts, it was, until you found that stupid clearing.

The weather that week was uncharacteristically cool for Avidiya Forest, as ushered in by a passing thunderstorm, and the change in temperature had caused flora that rarely bloomed to come to life, painting the forest with splashes of color, and it wasn’t until a few days after the storm that you began to take notice of the unusual plants.

So when Tighnari had rushed to your room that morning, rousing you from your slumber, you were just as excited as he was to go look for rare samples.

The conversation as you walked into the tree line was full of quiet excitement, the clinking of the glass sample jars in your rucksack almost musical against the morning stillness. You were used to the characteristic balmy humidity that was omnipresent in the rainforests of Sumeru, and the cool breeze felt lovely against your skin. The sky was perfect blue, cloudless and painted with streaks of gold and marigold hues as the sun rose.

The Akademiya would never allow this.

You smiled to yourself at the thought, knowing full well how strenuous it would be to get permission to do this if you were still with the Akademiya. You’d have to talk to your instructors, get permission, write a paper, write another paper, write a proposal, and the list goes on. It was all far too much for you, when all you ever wanted was to go out and discover.

“What are you thinking?” Tighnari asked, head cocked slightly to the side, eyes inquisitive.

“Just about how nice this is,” you replied, pulling your rucksack up higher on your back.

“It is quite beautiful,” Tighnari said fondly, “I wonder if we will find any Avidiya Lilies.”

You hummed in assent, your interest showing in the way your eyes lit up. You’d only seen the flower he mentioned as a bud, coiling along vines encircling trees. It only bloomed when it was cool enough, just after a storm, and since the cool had lingered, you were wondering if the flower had remained in bloom, just as Tignnari was wondering.

Small animals skittered past you as you walked, shroomboars and foxes paying you little mind, as they were used to the presence of the forest rangers such as yourself and Tighnari. You loved it out there; totally at one with nature, and filled with a sense of peace like no other.

Avidiya Forest was like a living organism, so full of vibrancy and life, awash with color and all sorts of smells. If you were hungry, you could stop and forage for mushrooms. If you were thirsty, there were plenty of clear streams you could drink from. Nature provided, and that was one of your favorite things about it. You took a deep lungful of forest air as you walked, a smile spreading across your face.

“There!” Tignnari cried, his voice hushed as he knelt beside the path, “creeping silkweed.”

You knelt beside him, studying the small, pale blue blossoms, which were blooming on a fallen log, attached to a delicate vine. Your fingers brushed against the fragile petals, and you withdrew your shears from your pack.

Carefully, you snipped off a segment of the vine, packing some soft dirt and clear water from a nearby stream into the jar before adding the sample. With a satisfying click, you screwed the lid closed, replacing the jar in the rucksack.

“I’ve only seen those in bloom at twilight, and even then, they often stray closed. It’s amazing to see them in bloom right now. When the conditions are right, they’re supposed to glow. It’s very beautiful.”

You stared at the remaining flowers on the vine, admiring the way the pale blue of the petals tapered off into white the closer it got to the soft yellow of the center. Veins of deep indigo laced up and along the petals, a beautiful contrast to the gentle color.

You stood when Tighnari did, listening intently to the information and facts he was giving you, happy to have the field experience rather than just looking at drawings of plants in a dusty textbook.

Tighnari looked like a painting in the fresh morning light. The dark of his hair was a sharp contrast to the lush green around you, the chartreuse of his bangs elegantly framing his pale, delicate face. Your face felt warm as you watched him, and when he saw you looking, he gave you a friendly smile.

“Is there something on your mind?” He asked gently, his eyes genuine, and you blushed, tearing your gaze away from his face.

“No, I was just listening. You were talking about the hypanthium of the silkweed blossoms?”

Tighnari nodded, eyes lighting up as he continued on talking about the various parts of the flower, and you went right on listening.

It wasn’t until about two hours later, when you were sitting down to rest and refresh yourselves when you caught your first lungful of something new.

You paused mid-gulp as you drank from your waterskin, moving the spout away from your lips as you took another deep breath. It was something you’d never smelled before, like jasmine and lavender, vanilla and lemongrass. It was indescribably scrumptious, smelling of earth and flowers, of your favorite incense, all at once, shifting, sending your senses into overdrive, even if it was still rather faint, requiring several deep breaths to get another whiff of; the kind of scent that you had to take several lungfuls to fully appreciate, or to even place. You had to wonder, out of academic curiosity and for more selfish reasons, where exactly that wonderful scent was coming from.

“I see that you smell it, too,” Tighnari mused.

You nodded, and suddenly, you were aware of how nice Tighnari’s voice was. It was musical against your ears, making you smile.

“It’s new,” he continued, frowning, “I’ve never noticed it before, and with my oversensitive olfactory system, it would have been very evident.”

“Is it dangerous, do you think?” You asked.

“I doubt it,” Tighnari said, glancing sidelong at you, “do you know of anything that would smell like this?”

You shook your head. “It smells like… like many things. All of them are wonderful. Maybe it’s supposed to draw in certain insects, or animals. I don’t know what made it this strong. That’s interesting.”

Tighnari’s brows pushed together, and he was clearly deep in thought.

You’d never noticed just how good looking he was before. You already knew that Tighnari was handsome, that was obvious. You were attracted to him, as many undoubtedly were, and he was a very dear friend. But right now, lit by the sun filtering through the canopy above, he looked more incredible than anything you’d ever seen. With him this close to you, you could smell the earthen scent of his soap, and—

“I’d like to take a sample.”

His voice snapped you out of your staring, and you coughed to hide your embarrassment.

Get ahold of yourself. Think about all of that when he isn’t less than a foot away. Collei already teases you enough.

Truthfully, you wanted a sample, too. You were always hungry for new information, and this was no exception. You eagerly pulled a sample jar from your rucksack, passing it to Tighnari. He sniffed the air once, then a second time, before motioning for you to follow him.

“I learned about plants like this in the Akademiya,” Tighnari explained, “they’re bait, like you said, for small animals and insects. I don’t think the plant is carnivorous, it’s just a way to spread the pollen around, since the scent is nearly irresistible. I’ve never heard of it affecting humans, or my species, this strongly before, however.”

You remembered something like that in a textbook, but the name of the flower in question escaped you. Also, the flower you were thinking of usually affected animals roughly the size of a squirrel or a fox, and not the size of a fully grown person.

The scent got stronger as you walked, off the beaten path and into a clearing.

You stopped after stepping past Tighnari, your breath caught in your throat as you took in the sight before you. There was a waterfall tumbling off a cliff and into a clear, glimmering pool. The pool was lined with stones worn smooth, as well as large slabs of slate. Patches of young grass were peeping through the cracks and bleeding into the small, surrounding meadow. Soft, golden sunlight was scattering through the leaves, casting speckled patterns across the grass, gleaming on the water.

Finally, there, growing on the stone wall, nestled in a curtain of vines beside the waterfall, was a blanket of lotus-like flowers. They were reddish pink, some tinged purple, with multiple layers of petals circled around a small yellow center. Filaments, thickly coated in pollen, were protruding from the flowers’ centers, and you imagined that this was the most likely cause of the powerful scent.

“There they are,” Tignnari said, and you were suddenly hyper aware of his athletic form at your back. The scent of that soap you noted earlier was mingling deliciously with the overpowering fragrance of the flowers, with the scent of his skin, which was somehow all you could even think about now.

“Yeah,” you said, clearing your throat and turning to face your companion, “any idea what they are?”

His brows furrowed, lip catching between his teeth as he pondered your question, and you couldn’t stop yourself from admiring how unbearably attractive that simple action was. You swallowed thickly, turning away from him about three quarters, just to give yourself some time to breathe.

If only you could remember the effect those flowers had on such animals, but, as it often happens in times of need, you were drawing a blank.

It was Tighnari’s turn to clear his throat, and the intonation made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

“Shears, please,” he said, and you forced yourself to nod as you passed them to him, a jolt of electricity passing up your spine when his fingertips brushed against yours. He clearly felt it too, because he looked at you for a handful of seconds before gingerly pulling away with the shears.

Blushing, you trailed after him as he approached the tangle of flowers.

Tighnari’s eyes were lovely. Two toned, fading from brown into forest green; eyes like you’d never seen before. They were one of your favorite things about him, among other things. The cut of his jaw, the way the space between his eyebrows creased when he was focused, as he was now, carefully taking a snipping of a couple of the fragrant blossoms.

You forgot to breathe until he handed you back the jar, and that was when you got your first direct hit of the scent. It was like being kicked in the chest in its intensity. It made you dizzy, as you cradled the blooms in your hand, putting soft dirt and water into the jar, placing the flowers down and fastening the top. You put the jar into your rucksack as carefully as you could with your hands shaking as badly as they were before you gently pushed the bag aside and sat down on the soft grass.

Your head was spinning. You could hear your own heartbeat in your ears, like how you can after you’ve been running.

“I need to rest,” you said.

“It’s the scent,” Tighnari said, his voice lower than it was before, “something is… wrong.”

Oh, Gods. You were getting warm. And not normal Sumeru weather warm, worryingly, feverishly warm. You pulled your shawl off, draping it over your rucksack and rolling up your sleeves.

Tighnari rolled his shoulders back, softly breathing as he sat down beside you, and you could feel that heat spread across your body at an alarming pace. You could hardly take your eyes off him, and you watched with rapt attention as his tongue flicked out to wet his bottom lip. What were you feeling?

Everything was warm and getting even warmer; everything was hot, and you felt like you were suffocating.

“Stop that,” you blurted, “stop— everything.”

Tighnari looked puzzled. “Stop— stop what? I’m not doing anything.”

The crease between his eyebrows was back as he studied your face, and you felt yourself grow miserably warmer.

“You’re perspiring,” he said, softly, “I am, too. Whatever this is, it is affecting both of us. Your breathing is accelerated, as well.”

You realized it was. Your breath was coming in quick, shallow bursts, and you consciously tried to take deeper breaths. You quailed away in surprise and needless alarm when he reached for you, and when he pressed two of his fingers to your pulse point, you felt like an electric shock went down your body, stronger than when he’d touched you before when he took the shears.

“Your pulse is very quick,” he noted, “but still strong. It’s much too cool for you to be suffering from heat stroke, but it is hot out here all of a sudden, isn’t it?”

You nodded absently.

“Mydriasis,” he muttered, “I suspect with myself, as well. Archons, it really is too warm.”

Sure enough, the dueling color of his irises was thickly ringed around the pale circumference of his pupils, which were widely dilated. His breath was quick, matching yours, and you felt heat begin to simmer beneath your skin, nearly suffocating where his hand still lingered, though gloved, against the skin of your throat.

Your own gaze fell to his lips, soft and full, and you realized just how badly you wanted to kiss him. You’d wanted to kiss him before, in several instances, but doing so would irreparably damage your platonic friendship, which was the last thing you wanted. Now, you could not give less of a damn. You’d give anything to feel his mouth against yours, to feel his skin—

Stop. Stop, Archons help me.

“The scent,” Tighnari said, voice lightly breathless, “there’s a-a correlation between the scent and these symptoms, I think the microgametophytes in the air, combined with the odor is having a physiological effect, on the both of us.”

It took you a handful of seconds to process his words, because the sound of his voice was suddenly the most distracting thing in the entire world; no song you’d ever heard could compare, and the heat beneath your skin was becoming nearly unbearable.

“Pollen,” you said, your brain catching up, “you think it’s the pollen?”

“Yes,” Tighnari said, the hand on your throat dropping to the curve of your shoulder, “it resembles oxytocin, in a very heavy dose, coupled with accelerated lutrophin production, driving reproductive urges.”

It clicked in your head.

Your face turned several shades of red, and you nodded once. Of course. What better way to spread the pollen than to draw in whatever unsuspecting animal, slather the stuff on its fur or whiskers when it leans in for a sniff, and then passing it along when said animal gives in to its reproductive urges and—

“A-an aphrodisiac.”

Tighnari’s eyes darted away from your face, then back to meeting your own gaze.

“Correct.”

The implication hung heavy in the already suffocating air as the sounds of your breathing overlapped, interrupted only by the thrum of the waterfall.

“T-the water,” Tighnari said, his voice strained, “we should—”

“Tighnari,” you said, addressing him, and you intended to continue speaking, until you noticed the way his breath hitched as you said his name. It sent a wave of suffocating, shameful arousal down your body, and you tried your best to ignore it. His hand against your skin was searing, even through the glove, and it took everything in you not to reach out and touch him.

Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods—

“The water,” you repeated, finally, your eyes flicking to the waterfall, “right. Let’s wash off.”

You figured that this plan was flawed, as the water was probably saturated in the pollen, but you were so overheated that as you hurried to unfasten your clothing, the feel of the air against your skin was a mercy. You pulled at the various buckles fastening your Forest Ranger uniform to your body, pulling off your blouse, then your shorts and boots, but as you did, something caught your eye as Tignnari moved to unfasten the toga he wore over his clothing.

There, straining at the front of his trousers, was a distinct shape against the dark fabric. It was hidden by the excess cloth before, but now that this was gone, the evidence of the pollen’s effects was more than evident.

But you weren’t the only one with wandering eyes.

You realized that Tighnari’s eyes were riveted to your bra-covered chest, to the now-exposed skin of your waist, and you watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. An exquisite flush painted his perfect, pale cheeks as he realized you saw him looking.

Quickly, he pulled off his gloves, then tugging his sweatshirt over his head, leaving him bare chested, and oh, you were an absolute goner. His chest was much more muscular than you imagined (and not that you did), toned and lithe and lean, with hard ridges of muscle in all the right places. Of course, he’d have a great body, you reasoned, with all the activity he does, and like the other rangers, you were certain he stuck to the strength training and cardio work you were supposed to do to keep in shape.

You tore your hungry gaze from his body, standing up to step into the water, which was colder than you expected, reaching your mid thigh as you stepped into the pool. You tried to focus on you and not how the space between your thighs was aching, and you stretched your arms over your head with a breathless sigh.

A soft splash filled the air, and a ripple traveled across the surface of the water as Tignnari stepped into the pool as well. When you turned on instinct to look at him, you wished you hadn’t, because you were helpless, your eyes raking down his defined chest, lingering on the thin threads of battle scars, his body tapering off into a trim waist, where his underwear hung low on his hips. It took every ounce of your waning willpower not to jump him right there.

His erection was even more evident through the thin cotton of his underwear, and you realized you could see the flush of pink through the now damp fabric as it clung to his skin, and absently, sinfully, you wondered what it would be like to put your mouth—

No, no, no—

But then your focus was brought straight back to him as he moved closer, his hand reaching out to catch a droplet of water traveling down the curve of your waist with his thumb. His eyes weren’t shy with their wandering, and you knew it was the pollen talking, but Gods, it felt nice, for him to look at you like you were the most exquisite thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

“I-I apologize,” he whispered, but he didn’t sound apologetic.

His hand remained on your waist, fingers tracing a pattern against your skin, causing you to shiver, and your own hand rose to catch his wrist, stopping him. The feel of his skin on yours was like someone applying a salve to a burn, and you had to stop yourself from sighing embarrassingly in pleasure at the sensation.

“Terribly sorry,” he said, sounding even less sorry, and his voice was lower than you’d ever heard it, “I— I can’t seem to help myself. I will go to the far end of the pool—”

“It’s fine,” you said, a little too quickly, your voice light and breathy.

You realized a little too late that you were moving closer to him, and by the time you had, you could feel his breath fanning against your skin, sending violent shivers down your body.

There was a warning in Tighnari’s eyes, but not a particularly firm one, that disappeared with every passing second as his gaze fell to your lips, raking down your body, and you almost lost your composure when he caught his lower lip lightly between his teeth again.

“May I—” Tighnari asked, finally, a note of need leaking into his voice, “may I kiss you?”

Your breath left your lungs in a dizzying swoop as you gave in.

“Gods, yes.”

That was all it took for him to surge forward, his lips connecting with yours more gently than you expected, but that didn’t stop you from tangling your hands into his hair, pulling his body close to your own. You felt his arms wind around your waist, holding you flush to him, and when your tongue swiped along his lower lip, he didn’t hesitate to give you access.

And everything rapidly went downhill from there.

The kiss was messy and uncoordinated, your tongue tangling with his, and you felt one of his hands rise to cup the base of your skull, holding your mouth to his, only separating every so often if only to reconnect. You were suddenly being crowded against the edge of the pool, his arms going on either side of your body to cage you in. Your thighs parted as his hips moved against yours, and he groaned lowly into your mouth when you finally made contact with him where he needed it most.

He was so hard. It had to be uncomfortable to be confined by the little fabric he was wearing, and you wanted so badly to touch him, but he beat you to it, one of his hands trailing up your body to palm your breast through your bra before fumbling with the clasp. You were about to lift a hand to assist him when he managed to unhook the garment, and you broke the kiss briefly to discard it.

“I can’t stop,” Tighnari mumbled against your lips, breathless.

“Then don’t,” you urged, and Tighnari’s grip on your body tightened.

His palm felt like perfection on your flesh, and you whined into his mouth when he rolled your nipple between two fingers, tugging gently and making you arch your back into his touch. His hands were calloused from years of working with them, with the soil, with his bow, and the rough skin sent delightful tingles up your spine.

Your hand slid down his torso, feeling the dips and curves of his defined abdominals, and you reveled in the sound of his breath hitching, his muscles tensing as your fingers crept closer to where the waistband of his underwear met skin.

“Can I—” You started, and he nodded, reconnecting your lips in a chaste kiss.

“Please,” he panted, “please.”

You’d never seen Tighnari anything but composed, so to see him like this was as disarming as it was arousing. You palmed him gently through the thin fabric, and at the sound of his breath catching sharply in his throat, you pressed a little harder.

That elicited a more extreme reaction. Tighnari groaned against your lips, a sound that prompted a cry of your own, and his hips pushed forward against your hand. You squeezed him through the fabric, your fingers dipping past and grazing just the very base of him, making him shudder, a stricken hiss escaping his lips. Fascinated by his reaction, you teased the clearly sensitive flesh with the soft tips of your fingers until he caught your wrist.

“Don’t tease me,” he murmured, his voice firm.

Tighnari guided your hand to his waistband, and you slowly pulled it down to tug him free. You paused for a moment, breath unsteady as you took in the feeling of him against your palm. He was thick and heavy, and long enough to make you dizzy with arousal. He groaned softly as you explored the new territory, mapping out the spots you knew contained the most nerve endings with your fingertips. Finally, you wrapped your fingers around him, stroking slowly.

“Oh,” he gasped, eyes half lidded as he broke away from your mouth, “oh.”

You rested your forehead against his as you looked down to where your hand was encircling him, and you felt him throb against your palm, the tip of his dick visibly twitching. You bit back a moan as his breath expelled itself through gritted teeth.

“Rub the tip— yeah.”

An obscene moan fell from his lips as you slowly circled the tip of his cock with your thumb, and you spread the leaking precum around the sensitive flesh, aiding in your motions as you stroked him, long and slow.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he muttered, eyes slipping closed.

Gradually, you sped up, squeezing where you observed that he liked it, and he grabbed at your body, hands on your breasts, the curve of your ass, and you knew he was unable to focus on anything other than the sensations he was feeling at that moment. He let out a quick, stuttering exhale as you squeezed gently, biting back a groan.

You picked up the pace, and he was canting his hips along with your hand, his breath leaving his lips mixed with an incoherent praise as he buried his face in the crook of your neck, sharp teeth sinking into the soft skin of your shoulder. He laved the damaged flesh with his tongue, soothing it, and you couldn’t help but moan, thighs rubbing together in a futile attempt to alleviate the pressure building there.

Tighnari’s mouth trailed down your torso, his lips closing around one of your nipples, and you gasped, back arching, your free hand flying to his hair, the sensitivity making your head spin. You knew it was the pollen heightening your senses like this, but Archons be damned if you weren’t enjoying it. You wanted him inside of you more than you’d wanted anything in your life. You wanted anything inside of you. And so, when he pressed his palm between your thighs, his head rising to lock his lips against yours, it was like he’d read your mind.

“Dammit, You’re so wet,” he seethed, breath heavy, expelling through his teeth, “I can smell it; how aroused you are. You’ve wanted this, haven’t you?”

Your face turned pink, but you nodded, squirming against his hand as he pushed your panties aside, his fingers finally sinking inside of you.

“Good,” Tighnari said, breathlessly, “I’ve wanted this, too.”

You cried out into the crook of his neck as his fingers filled you, stretching you so perfectly, and you were helpless as you ground your hips down, your fingers tightening around Tighnari’s cock, drawing out a needy groan.

He wanted this, you dully registered, just like you did. That meant he liked you, he felt the same, he— oh Gods you couldn’t think.

“I love the way you touch me,” he whispered, his voice hushed and chaste, “don’t stop, please.“

He whispered more hushed praises into the crook of your neck, hips bucking as you stroked him faster, and his thumb found your clit, making your legs tremble. His fingers weren’t very practiced, but he knew where he was touching, finding every spot inside of you with a certainty that made your knees feel weak, and you gasped sharply, inner walls fluttering around his fingers, making him groan. The pressure on your clit increased, making your hips jump, your heartbeat pounding in your ears, and it wasn’t long before you were grinding down onto his hand like a bitch in heat.

“Tighnari,” you gasped, head falling back.

“Our tactile receptors are affected by the pollen,” Tighnari said, ever the academic, even like this, “making us more sensitive, increasing oxytocin, making everything more intense.”

You were barely able to formulate a response, your brain fogged with desire so strong it was making you dizzy.

“Just don’t stop,” you gasped, back arching into his chest,

He curled his fingers inside of you, making you cry out.

“Not a chance.”

All eloquence and academic vocabulary flew out the window as you stroked him quicker and quicker, his words replaced with moans of ecstasy mixed with your name, muffled by your skin or filling the open air. You felt him twitch against your palm, his hips bucking harder, and from the deliriously pleasured expression on Tighnari’s face, you knew he was close.

“Fuck,” he gasped, “don’t stop, please, please—”

He was going to cum, and you could tell by the way his thrusts grew uneven, eventually stilling to let you control the pace, working him closer and closer to his release, making him hiss through his teeth.

“Ah… shit,” Tighnari blurted, his jaw clenching, face laced with a stricken expression, “don’t stop, I’m so close—”

You wanted to tell him you weren’t going to stop, but all you could manage was a desperate moan as you ground down on his hand, your head falling back at the divine pleasure, and Tighnari’s groans of ecstasy grew louder, mixing almost incoherently with your name as you continued to jerk him off, your rhythm in tandem with his own as he worked his fingers inside of you.

Your climax was creeping up on you faster than you wanted it to, urged on by the increased sensitivity from the pollen. Your free hand knotted in his hair, your fingers raking upwards to wrap around the base of his right ear, making him groan.

“M-my ears— Not usually that sensitive,” Tighnari stammered, puzzled, his expression hazy, “feels good normally, but not— oh.”

You hummed in assent, fingers rubbing where his ears met his scalp, making him cry out against your skin, the combination of sensations clearly overwhelming to him. His fingers were now curling inside of you, making your eyes roll back in your skull, hips moving with his hand as you squirmed in his hold.

All it took was one more squeeze at the base of his dick to send him over the edge.

“C-cumming, I’m cumming,” Tighnari’s gasped, and with a final buck of his hips, your fingers were coated with white, dripping down your knuckles, painting your stomach, and there was so much of it, hot against your skin. You worked him through his climax with sure, even strokes, and he wasn’t softening, even as you milked him dry.

The sounds he made were madly erotic, his face the perfect picture of ecstasy as he rode out his blissful high, his ears drooping to the sides of his head as his face pressed against your shoulder, teeth sinking into your skin once again.

He yanked your hand away abruptly, even as he continued to twitch, and you were suddenly on your back, laying at the side of of the pool, his hands tugging your panties down and off your legs. He held your thighs apart, pinning you in place as his mouth took the place his hand had been, his tongue hot against your cunt.

Your cries were far too loud, but you were beyond caring about volume as he held you down and devoured you, your clit trapped under his tongue, between his lips, and you were aching to be filled, but he wasn’t giving you that satisfaction, not yet. You were already so close, and all it took was that one final push before you toppled over the edge, sobbing his name, your hands knotting in his hair, but he didn’t even slow, not even as you convulsed under his touch.

Tighnari’s tongue flattened against your clit, dragging up in broad strokes, and you felt your head pitch back, gently knocking against the stones beneath it as you tried to close your thighs instinctively, but were barred from doing so. You felt Tighnari’s hands grab at the backs of your knees, hitching them over his shoulders as he moved closer.

“Please,” you cried, desperate and dizzy with torturous desire, “please, please, fuck me.”

You heard him, felt him snarl against your cunt, more animal than human as he sped up his pace, taking your clit into his mouth and sucking hard enough that it made stars dance across your blurry vision. You were suddenly cumming so hard that you couldn’t even breathe, your mouth wide open in a silent scream, back arched off the ground, your hands locked in a white knuckled grip in Tighnari’s hair as you clenched down hard on nothing.

He was gentler this time as he helped you through your climax, pulling away finally when you were incoherent with pleasure. You lay there, panting hard, your eyes half open as you tried to recover, but even that wasn’t enough. You could still feel the effects of the pollen coursing through your system, and from the way Tighnari was looking at you, it was the same for him.

“I’m on a birth control tonic,” you said, propping yourself up on your elbows to look at him, “just— please, Tighnari, I feel like I’m burning inside.”

Tighnari’s hands went to rest on your parted thighs, pulling you forward and towards him, to where he stood, still thigh-deep in the water. Your own legs were submerged up to your knee as he pulled you flush to him, his cock pressing against your pubic bone.

“I won’t be able to stop,” Tighnari warned, “I apologize if it becomes too much, but I can’t promise you that—“

“Please,” you whined, growing more and more desperate, “I need you, I can’t take this anymore.”

That was all it took. Tighnari nodded a single time, once he was sure of your consent, and he reached between your bodies to line himself up with your entrance, slowly sheathing himself inside of you.

You made a soft, breathy whine as he filled you, a sound he juxtaposed with a heavy groan. The stretch was almost enough to send you over the edge right there, and if it weren’t for the effects of the pollen, you’d probably have felt more pain from the intrusion, but all you felt was a dull ache and a hint of discomfort.

“Oh, Gods,” Tignnari whispered, and you watched his hands flatten on the stones beside your hips, muscles tightening as he took in the new sensation.

His head tipped forward, his breathing heavy and uneven, and you used your thighs to pull him closer, disregarding the whisper of pain in the back of your mind as the pure relief of being filled up overtook you.

“Stay still, stay still,” he growled, the very threads of his control slipping away as he spoke, the warning clear in his voice, but you didn’t listen, pulling him forward again.

Your actions were met with a sound that was produced deep in his chest, like a warning an animal would give, and it hadn’t even occurred to you how the pollen would affect someone like Tighnari, someone with non-human heritage as opposed to yourself, and as he drew himself out, only to press back in again, your mind went blank, all semblance of scientific curiosity tossed out the window.

Your cries of pleasure mixed with his as he repeated the motion, again, and again, and again, and oh Gods, you couldn’t even think. The pace he adopted was clearly with your comfort in mind, but it was rapidly becoming not enough. You needed more, all you could fathom was how much you needed more.

“Faster,” you gasped, your voice barely there, but he heard you, as evident by the way his ears perked up.

Tighnari snarled, his grip on your body tightening, and when you whimpered, he lost control completely.

His fingers were sure to be pressing bruises into your flesh from how hard he was gripping your body, but you didn’t care, not when every cell in your body was demanding more, more, more. You were vaguely aware of your volume, and you put the back of your hand over your mouth in a half hearted attempt to quiet yourself, but it basically did fuck all, especially when Tighnari reached up to yank your hand away, pinning it by your side.

“I want to hear you,” he rasped, “every single sound you make, I want to hear it.”

Your brain fogged further with desire, fueled by the low, rough timbre Tighnari’s usually gentle voice had adopted, and you whined, back arching off the pleasantly cool stones beneath your body. With his words, every last shred of dignity that you’d feebly been clinging to evaporated.

Tignnari hiked one of your legs over his shoulder as he inched closer, rolling his hips in a way that made stars blast across your hazy vision. You’d never been this aroused before in your life, and all you could do was squirm and cry out as Tighnari fucked you absolutely dumb.

“Need more,” Tighnari hissed, his hands sliding along your body, “need more, needmoreneedmore—”

He let out a low, keening moan as you tightened around him, your hips bucking against his, toes curling. You felt like your sanity was slipping through your fingers like a palmful of sand, and you realized with a sudden shock that you were about to cum, and you were about to cum hard.

The climax hit you with the force of a tidal wave, and your body went stiff, back arching off the stones, hands scrambling for purchase and finding nothing. Your mind was a sea of empty thought, stars bursting across your vision as you convulsed, pulsing around Tighnari’s cock, and he wasn’t even pausing, a snarl tearing from his chest as he pushed deeper inside of you.

Your continued climax was making you lightheaded as you panted for breath, the decline less of a decline and more of a work up to yet another peak as Tighnari kept a steady, dizzying pace, making your eyes roll into the back of your skull. Everything was too much, but it still wasn’t even slightly enough, a bizarre oxymoron that sent shockwaves dancing across your electrified nerves.

Tignnari twitched inside of you, making you whimper, and you looked up at him through your lashes, watching his face. The mask of delirium was back, Tighnari’s eyes wild as he drove himself towards his own climax with deep, even thrusts that grew more and more unsteady.

“Take it,” you heard him rasp, “take it take it take it—”

He shoved himself all the way inside of you, and with a sudden shout, he twitched sharply, and you could feel him filling you, stuffing you full with searing heat. Somewhere in the back of your pollen addled mind, you were glad that your birth control tonic kept you from getting pregnant with a guarantee.

You could feel his cum leaking out of you, and when he noticed, his fingers swept along the curve of your ass and shoved the liquid back inside of you, a sensation that made you let out a startled moan.

Without pulling out, Tighnari was shifting, switching places with you on the stones, where the sat himself down, with you in his lap. The sudden change of position caused you to sink down, pushing him deeper inside of you, a sensation that made you gasp sharply. You appreciated some aspects of the shift, however, as this gave you full access to his body, and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders as his hands found your hips, dragging up and along your waist.

He said nothing as he found your mouth, joining it with his in a kiss far more gentle than you’d been expecting, an expression of affection amid the suffocating lust that afflicted you both.

Slowly, you moved, rocking your hips as you sank back down onto him, a motion that made you cry out, a sound that mingled almost musically with his own cry. His nails dug into the plush of your thighs, one hand sliding down where you were joined with him to rub circles against your clit, an action that made you stiffen sharply, almost started by the burst of sensation.

His mouth left yours to trail down your throat, teeth grazing against the spot he’d bitten before and making you shiver. He was moving with you as you rocked your hips, one hand on your waist to help you along, his hips bucking to meet you every time you sank back down onto his cock. You heard him whisper your name, and you bent to kiss him again, an action he returned with vigor.

Your fingers combed through his hair, meeting where his ears met his scalp, and you heard him gasp into your mouth as your nails grazed against the sensitive skin. He broke the kiss to tuck his face into the crook of your neck, keening desperately, his grip on your waist tightening.

“Keep touching me there,” he finally managed, and who were you to deny him?

Your nails dragged along his ears, making him groan, and you felt his arm wind around your waist, taking over controlling the pace as he pushed you down onto his cock, guiding you as you moved. You somewhat appreciated it; your thighs had been growing sore. You assisted him by rolling your hips as you moved with him, something he rewarded with a sharp buck of his hips, making blurry stars scatter across your vision, a shrill whine tearing itself from your throat.

Tighnari pressed down on your clit, making you tense, teeth gritting and eyes squeezing closed, and you felt him trail open mouthed kisses down your throat, overloading you with sensation, and you sobbed his name as he tugged you closer, filling you so completely. You felt like you were going insane, and not one part of you wanted it to stop.

You couldn’t even speak as your climax drew closer, only able to let out a strangled cry as Tighnari’s teeth sank into the delicate skin of your shoulder, the pain barely noticeable as it mixed with the overwhelming pleasure. If anything, it just heightened it all, your nerves going off like fireworks under his touch.

With a sudden gasp, your climax slammed into you, making you still as the sensations hit you with enough force to make you dizzy. You were vaguely aware of the sounds Tignnari was making as you tightened around him, muffled by your shoulder, and you were suddenly under him again, sprawled across the stones once more, hands pinned above your head with one of his as he fucked you at a near punishing pace.

His eyes locked onto yours as he moved against you, and you couldn’t even imagine what your face looked like. You could feel tears of overstimulation on your cheeks, sweat on your brow, and you were sure you were an absolute wreck, but so was he. His hair was a mess, the chartreuse of his bangs intermixing with the dark of the rest of his hair, and his face was flushed a rather lovely pink, eyes half lidded. His ears had fallen to droop on either side of his head. His lips were kiss swollen and pink, and you were sure your own were the same.

Tighnari’s free hand slid down your body to hike one of your legs up around his waist, gripping at the plush of your thigh, and you whimpered as his nails bit into the tender skin. You were so sensitive it was almost unbearable, and you tossed your head back when his thumb pressed your clit again, letting out an unrestrained wail, tears beading in the corners of your eyes, and you felt Tighnari kiss them away before joining his mouth to yours once more.

You knew he was going to cum from the unsteady way he was breathing, and you were too, far too sensitive to stand anything else. You didn’t know how much more you could take; everything was blurring together in a cacophony of noise and sensation that left you straining against Tighnari’s grip on your wrists.

“Fill me, please,” you gasped abruptly, surprising even yourself, and Tighnari pulled back from your mouth to gaze at you, eyes wild.

“That’s what you want?” He snarled, “you want me to stuff you full of my cum? yeah? You wanna be filled?”

You nodded rapidly, his words making suffocating arousal course through your veins, and you felt him pick up the pace, forcing you into another dizzying climax, your back arching sharply off the ground. You could just barely hear him whispering praises over the thrum of blood in your ears, and you let out a strangled whine as his mouth connected with your nipple, making you thrash in his hold. He wasn’t even letting you breathe, and all you could think about was him, all around you, mixing with the scent of the pollen in the air in an intoxicating fragrance.

Mercifully, he removed his hand from between your bodies, simply resting it on your hip as he chased his own climax next, whispering your name and filthy praises as he drew closer and closer, his pace growing uneven.

He finally reached his end with a low, nearly possessive growl, holding onto you with a bruising force as he stuffed you full once more, heat blooming in your belly, uncaring about the way his cum was leaking out of you. His teeth were gritted, eyes squeezed shut, and you felt his grip on your wrists loosen just enough that you could wrestle free, so you pulled him down to meet you in a fierce kiss.

He finally slowed, his breath heavy and uneven as he came down from his high, his forehead resting against yours as he remained still, softening inside of you. You relaxed back onto the stones, pleased by the cool temperature they brought, soothing against your burning skin. Your breath was still quick and thin as you recovered, and you could still smell the pollen in the air, but exhaustion was taking over, forcing your eyelids to close.

Tighnari pulled out of you, and you whined at the sudden emptiness, but recovered quickly as he tugged you onto the grass and to his chest, nose nuzzling into your hair where he pressed a kiss. Neither of you were able to speak, completely spent, and you shifted slowly to wrap an arm around his bare waist. The pollen’s scent was falling into the background as the exertion began to wash over you, and you could tell it was the same for Tighnari.

You were asleep in a matter of seconds, pressed close to him.

Warm.

You were warm. And it was dark. Well, darker. You’d been sleeping, you knew that much. The sounds of Avidiya Forest were present around you, as well as the sound of a waterfall. Your brain was lagging behind as you woke, still groggy from such a deep slumber.

You were pressed against something solid and warm and breathing, and when you opened your eyes, you almost jumped from your skin.

Tignnari was laying beside you, sound asleep. He was holding you in his arms, in a possessive, tender way, and it was suddenly all flooding back to you. The pollen. That damn pollen.

Your brain finally caught up, and you remembered. You expected you should be sore, but you weren’t. You felt more satisfied than you ever had before, completely rejuvenated. You lifted your head to look over at the curtain of flowers, only to find that the blossoms had closed, taking the pollen’s scent with them. It had also fallen dark, the sun already setting. You’d been asleep for a while, but after that, you supposed that wasn’t surprising.

You focused back on Tignnari. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, so relaxed. Every bit of tension had been drained away, leaving him looking soft and gentle. You reached a hand up to cup his cheek before you could stop yourself, and he started you when he leaned into your touch.

“Hello,” he said, voice still thick with sleep, and you felt your cheeks beginning to warm.

“Hi.”

And there was your anxiety. What if Tighnari thought that what you’d just done together was a mistake? Things surely wouldn’t be the same after that, you knew that much. He couldn’t just fuck your brains out and then act like nothing happened. That wasn’t how Tighnari was.

But then, he was leaning in to kiss you, and every single doubt was expelled from your mind. It was a soft, gentle kiss, full of tender emotions and care, and it made your heart stutter in your chest.

“Was I too rough with you?” He asked after pulling away, and you shook your head.

“No. It was… it was good.”

Tignnari raised his eyebrows. “Just ‘good?’”

You blanched. “N-no, it was more than good. It was amazing.”

A soft, tender chuckle. “I was only teasing you. You were amazing, too.”

A few moments of comfortable silence passed before he spoke again. “That wasn’t how I imagined that happening for the first time,” he said, a laugh in his voice, and you turned to look at him, trying not to show the surprise on your face.

From the way he was smiling, soft and affectionate, you’d failed on that front.

“I fell in love with you quite a while ago,” he said, “I thought I’d been clear in my advances, but maybe not. I care for you very deeply, though. If you don’t feel the same, I—”

You cut him off, scoffing derisively at the sheer absurdity of that statement, with a kiss. He held you to him, cradling your face in his hands, until you both ran out of air.

“There’s my answer, then,” he said with a smile. You answered him with another quick kiss.

“I love you, too,” you said, “I thought you didn’t feel the same.”

Tighnari snorted, eyes glittering with mirth. “I suppose we’re both a little dense, then.”

You sat up, stretching your arms over your head. “We should wash up. And head back. It’s gotten late. We’re probably missed.”

Tighnari sighed, sitting up beside you. “As much as I’d rather stay here with you a while longer, you’re most likely correct. Collei is probably beside herself with worry.”

You stood on unsteady feet, and Tighnari followed you to the clear pool. The two of you rinsed your bodies off until you felt sufficiently clean before redressing. You were careful to make sure your sample jars were well sealed before you picked up your rucksack, shrugging it onto your back.

“Ready?” Tignnari asked, and you decided he looked lovely in the first rays of moonlight. You smiled at him, taking his outstretched hand in yours and squeezing.

“Yeah.”

Hand in hand, you walked back to Gandharva Ville, basking in the natural symphony of the forest.

Fin.

[riftdancing]

Several of you probably remember this sundrop bombshell from years back. In fact, many of you have asked if I'd ever bring her back. Well, going into Dawntrail finally feels like the right time to breathe some new life into this character, so consider this her official return.

If you don't know her, I'd like to introduce you to my lynx inspired surf brat, X'issi ( shee • ee • see ) Sunde ( soon • dae ). Part of the coastal Lynx Tribe of La Noscea, she's lived almost her entire life in and around the isle. With an affinity for water and water related magics this woman is sure to win you over with her sunny charms and can-do attitude.

I have a lot of lore for this character, including tribal lore that I'll have to figure out how to organize into spaced out doses for you all to consume. Because when I say its a lot, I mean it is a LOT of lore. I used to write this girl like crazy back in Heavensward days.

But for now, here's some important bullet points for her character...

Owns her own Surf Shack where you can buy boards she's made and her own board wax. Naturally she also does board repairs.

Up before dawn to relay the morning surf report for Costa del Sol.

Surf and swim instructor - Side hustle - mostly for tourists.

Sight Seer and Expedition guide - another side hustle - also mostly for tourists.

Water Dancer, but not like the XIV job. Dance is intrinsic to her tribe lore which is very Polynesian islander influenced.

Part of a tribe who prays to both Llymlaen and Oschon. Tribe is somewhat nomadic. Lives on the shores in the warmer months, and moves inland in the cooler months. (also reflects their dieties)

Has a way with water magic... kinda like a waterbender? I'll take more time to explore this with you guys later. But I will admit its strongly waterbending influenced.

Has a baby raptor companion named Thunk who is an absolute MENACE. ...But we love him.

She absolutely loves fishing.

[idontknowreallywhy]

75 - Part 2

Next part of this Scott’s-75th Birthday-Romantic-Fluff-Fest

If you are likely to be offended by the thought of old people still getting up to implied romantic mischief, maybe back away slowly 😆

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Brains’ jaw had dropped, cartoon-like, when Scott had suggested One could be modded to include a permanent co-pilot seat. It had made logical sense though - as they expanded the rosta and needed to train the new recruits - it wasn’t ideal for the second to be confined to the jump seat with very little view of what was going on or ability to take over if things went south.

It was all about the quality of the trainee experience and not in any way about what the instructor had access to once the trainee got into the hot seat…

Alan had requested an anti-backseat-driver protocol to disable the co-pilot controls by default.

Scott had overruled him.

In fairness he was a decent teacher, especially when it came to all things airborne. He’d discovered a level of calm, of patience that didn’t seem to feature highly in any other area of his life. And, initial nervousness aside, his pupils seemed to enjoy the process of being taught which must be a good measure. The back seat driving thing? That was strictly reserved for when a brother was sat in front. He had never quite forgotten the pole cat incident after all. Nor had he quite forgiven his youngest brother for turning out to be a more instinctive pilot…

But he behaved himself impeccably with the younger end of the family and the other trainees.

He’d got a real thrill every time he watched one of them cross the threshold between Knowing-how and Feeling-how to fly Thunderbird One. She’d never been a Read-the-Manual kind of a ship which was why John and Virgil hated flying her. Some of the recruits, while achieving a level of competence, agreed very quickly with his brothers. But others, his eldest in particular, had Understood and he had glowed with pride as first One and then Eleven became almost an extension of her very limbs.

There was only one person he’d taught to fly by actually sharing the pilot seat, however. It maybe hadn’t been the most efficient series of lessons… he’d had to sneak into the file storage and edit a few of the security videos… before EOS caught him. Once he explained that certain certain others might be embarrassed to happen across the footage she’d at once offered to automatically cease recording and patch in a loop whenever the two of them embarked on a non-mission flight. Next to his wife, the AI had long been Scott’s staunchest conspirator.

As the years went on and the mission workload was shared between more people and then more ships, the chances to escape on those non-mission flights increased.

Scott had always loved to watch the sunrise. His wife… well she had needed persuading as to the merits of losing that extra couple of hours in bed. And when Scott Tracy needed to argue his case, he did it in style.

And thus was born their secret hobby of chasing down the best of the best. He’d started with Wainui Beach, naturally… then Uluru was also pretty much in their backyard. Of course having an aircraft that kind of permitted time travel over long distances helped, with the added benefit that if SOMEONE slept in too long to catch the one they’d planned, they could find another by chasing the horizon just a little further back. They’d covered the top 50 rated sunrises on the planet within a couple of years, then started hunting down the viewpoints nobody else knew about - the ones that were best viewed from a little higher than the average punter could climb...

It had also been a good excuse for his wife to peel him off the island when the Retired Commander’s tendency to back-seat-drive rescues caused… friction… with IR’s Actual Commander. Scott knew precisely what mother and daughter were up to but enjoyed their expeditions so much he never quite got around to objecting very strongly.

“Where to M’lady?”

She looked at her watch and did some mental calculation before frowning a little. Scott found himself distracted by wanting to run a fingertip over one of her silvery eyebrows and almost missed her answer.

“Hmmm, well given the date I was going to suggest Kala Patthar… but we took a little longer getting down here than I realised.”

Scott eyed his watch.

“What time do we need to be there?”

“Five thirty-seven.”

“And six and a quarter hours back… it’s not quite ten yet, we’ve got time?”

“Not at Mach 5, we’ll just miss it. No worries we can pick another site further… oh don’t make that face, Mr Tracy, you know the rules.”

“Oh come oooon… it’s my birthday! We can nudge the ceiling up just a teeny tiny little bitty bit?” He carefully adjusted his facial expression from petulant to puppy dog and, predictably, her expression softened just a fraction at the edges. He stepped it up with a little flicker of the eyelashes and, with only long experience and the faintest twitch of an eyebrow as warning, he ducked the cuff around the head she aimed at him.

“You’re irascible.”

“You love it.” He pulled her close and kissed her passionately. She sighed in mock defeat and patted his cheek.

“Hmmmmmm. Alright. Not above seven, though, or I’ll set the Tank on you.”

Scott punched the air in triumph and she burst into laughter. With a quick fist-bump to One’s landing strut and a cheerful “See you in a minute, Gorgeous” he grabbed his wife’s hand and towed her towards the pilot lift, the two of them giggling like a couple of teenagers.

[levisgirll]

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

→ Text: hello everyone!! I went through my drafts and realized I never got the chance to post this and felt the need to do it (with some editing). I have decided to combine these two requests together to bring out and make a very fluff but some angst headcanons, it was actually interesting for me to do something like this. I did this because they had a similar theme and I wanted it to have a very fluff ending and longer writing for you all since I keep seeing more likes and reblogs in my account so thank you so much to all after all this time! Enjoy it :,)

synopsis: coming from the underground and having to adapt to a new environment is quite challenging for anyone, especially having to deal with people constantly bullying and picking on y/n just because she is different. Y/n is a very determined person and always tries her keep on going. Although, it does get hard on her later and Captain Levi does take notice of that. He usually doesn’t worry a lot about new cadets, but y/n coming from the underground, Levi could relate, and actually feel sympathy towards her. He slowly begins to worry for her more and care for her which leads to him being protective and enjoying being with Y/n....but something happens and Captain Levi does not hold back anymore. 

word count: 2.2k. fluff, comfort, angst, warning: slight picking on, bullying, aot world, headcanons & fanfiction ♡ —

Finally, y/n was free from that damned place. It felt like she was going to be there for the rest of her life but she finally made it out. Apparently, the military needed some more people to join the Survey crops since a lot had left, were injured and many died recently in the last expedition when they rescued Eren the titan shifter from the enemies. 

A lot hesitated, but y/n did not care. She just needed to leave this toxic environment that was draining her each day. But little did she know, the outside world was going to be the biggest challenge she had to face.

“Everyone salute and welcome your new cadets!” Mike Zacharias, the instructor, yelled out across the field that you were pretty sure your eardrums were going to burst. 

“Hey I heard there is someone from the underground that joined the survey crops, is that true?” someone uttered which you overheard as you looked at them. They quickly glanced at you, staring at you deeply with a look of judgment. ‘Yup, this is not welcoming at all.’ Y/n thought as she looked away and started to introduce herself. 

“I’m Y/N L/N, I hope I can keep up with everyone’s pace and learn from you.” Y/n said eagerly, finally it was a new start for her, no more getting bad treatment in the underground, no one being rude to her. She heard a lot about being part of the survey crops, you finally get some respect from people as part of a famous regiment.

“Where did you come from huh?” Someone yelled from the crowd, ‘Huh? why is he asking that, does it really matter where I am coming from?’ Y/n thought as she gave a look of concern and worry. “Um, from....the underground.” As soon as she uttered that, the whole vibe changed and everyone looked at each other.

The squad leader just gave a sigh and left. It seemed like he knew this would be the start of a big problem and did not want to be responsible for it. But, he glanced back at Y/n, “Please....don’t cause any trouble.” Then he finally left.

Y/n was now even more confused. Was there a reason that there would be trouble in the first place? She decided to just let that thought slide since it had no answer and decided to go into her cabin.

—

Okay, now she gets it. It’s cause she was from the underground and no one was from there and treated them differently. It seemed like any place she went to would never be welcoming. The group of trainers had started to treat her differently, when it was lunch time no one would sit with her, or if she needed advice they would always ignore her or tell her to ‘figure it out’. Y/n had no friends and no one by her side, she accepted that fact but then wondered...Was there something wrong with her maybe? She kept doubting herself now and that was the last thing she wanted.

Although, not everyone was treating her differently. Corporal Levi was their instructor for the use of 3D maneuver gear. Apparently, he is known as the strongest soldier who performed exceptionally well in everything.

Levi was observant, that was not something hard to guess coming from a man who is very much experienced. He noticed the gap between the recruits and...Y/n. He did find that odd and probably thought perhaps she didn’t take a shower.

Well. Yes, he was not treating her differently because Levi actually treats everyone the same! So perhaps Y/n would take that as...fair treatment for once?

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” Just as everyone was ready to go have dinner and relax Levi stood in front of Y/n. “You. I’m gonna need you to stay behind and follow me.”

Okay scratch that ‘fair treatment’. Y/n was wondering now what she had done after following Levi. She noticed then that he was quite muscular from the back and he really...did look quite attractive upfront. Later on, she noticed that she was in his office.

“So what’s the deal with you?”. Hearing that suddenly once he sat down on his chair made Y/n nervous but still stood her ground. “I... dont think I understand, Corporal.” 

“Listen, I need to know what’s going on. Being part of the survey crops means we need to collaborate together, but if there is an issue then I’ll need to hear it, Hm?”

Was he concerned about her perhaps? Y/n then decided to go ahead and tell him about how she was one of the newer recruits that joined coming from the underground and was the reason everyone was giving her that behaviour. Levi was completely off guard, he looked at her with surprise that she herself never seen.

“Okay....I think I get it now. Clearly, there are some shitheads that I need to deal with.” Y/n now was the one who stood off guard. “S-Sir? I didn’t mean to complain or anything!” She was now worried. Scared knowing that maybe now she had done it for herself and made this a bigger problem as it is.

“Don’t worry, just go back for now. I’ll see you in the morning.” He said as he got up and then put his hand gently on her shoulder. “You are....doing a great job. Hang in there.”

And with that, she was left alone in his office, but with a warm feeling, so warm it warmed her heart. He was indeed not what the rumours said about him. But perhaps, it was the same with her since she knew there were some nasty rumors going around. Then she thought ‘Just maybe....I found someone I can relate to’

—

Ever since then, Levi seemed irritated with the other scouts as he did notice and heard some remarks about others mocking Y/n. As well as the way they were just really acting like a bunch of kids who were not mature and had no idea what was coming from them. They truly were pathetic. “You know, it’s best not to be with such pathetic people.” He said suddenly as he was helping Y/n fix her 3DMG which mysteriously got jammed. 

Y/n felt these past few weeks that Levi was caring for her.....but in his own way.

Whenever they had a break, he would go over to Y/n and have a small chat. Nothing big just simple talks. “Make sure to wear good clothes...you know the winter is around the corner.” Y/n quite liked the small chats, it was a while since she had such a nice refreshing chat with someone. But she did not expect Levi to be the one, as he was not very vocal but she noticed actions spoke louder than words for him. Always giving her water or some biscuits for her to have, and checking on her equipment. It felt like she was cared for once and it did make her have an unknown feeling. It was quite complex for her to figure out but, it made her feel happy for sure though.

Whenever she got bullied by the other scouts on how she was just a nobody and just a junkie from the underground, it really made her feel embarrassed and she started wearing a hood over her head just to not be seen or known by others. However, that did not work for Levi as he spotted her quickly as she was sitting beside a tree. “Y/n? Why are you hiding there.” She looked up and saw him with a concerned look. But she gave a small smile, he was....different that was for sure.

“I just wanted to be alone, that’s all.” 

“Oh. Then, would you like me to leav-”

“No!” Y/n did not realize that she had just now raised her voice, but not only that....also grabbing the Corporal's wrist! She quickly backed away and before she was about to say something, Levi just started to....laugh? The whole atmosphere changed within seconds and Y/n just found herself smiling like an idiot. 

“Yeah, I am convinced now that you are an idiot.” He sat beside her and looked at her with a reassuring smile. Now she was a blushing mess, she just knew her face was heating up! Just being beside him the whole time, made her forget about what even made her upset from the beginning and not feel insecure anymore. Levi made her feel that just being herself was nothing wrong, nothing to be embarrassed about. Just spending time with Levi made her realize that, as someone like himself who really doesn’t seem to care about what others say about him while doing what he has to do was the highlight for her. She was y/n, her own person, and also....maybe an idiot according to Levi? But she will take that.

Y/n wasn’t sure what this unknown feeling was, but she wanted to keep feeling it for way longer. As time went by, she felt Levi’s worry and care for her. Whenever they passed by each other, he would look at her with a small smile, and sometimes when they were alone he made y/n to call him Levi.

—

Again, her 3DMG wasn’t working. She was quite disappointed in herself for not maintaining her gear, this would definitely not make her survive outside the walls if she had this problem occurring.

Y/n looked over at Levi who seemed quite angry and annoyed. She felt something in her gut that today...something was gonna happen.

“Alright, who done it.” The whole training area in the forest got silent. Everyone looks at each other with fear in their eyes. ‘What...? Don’t tell me.’

And that’s when Y/n figured it out, someone was tampering with her 3DMG! It was not just a coincidence after all.  However, that left her feeling terrible. Levi could see that and that’s when he snapped when seeing just how hurt Y/n was.

“No one is leaving here till that disgusting shithead who is responsible comes out.” No one had really seen Corporal Levi like that, the atmosphere changed so bad that even Mike felt it without sniffing anything. ‘I said no trouble...cause I’m afraid of this.’

Everyone now started to back away and look towards the guy who was trying to hide in the middle between the scouts. Y/n quickly noticed that it was one of the main people in the scouts that really was bothering her and came to the conclusion after seeing his fearful face that he was the culprit indeed.

Levi didn’t need to guess who it was and went walking slowly, straight up to him. “Was it...You.” Now, Y/n was sure that guy might have probably taken a real shit right now. He started sweating so badly and then got to the floor. “I-I’m so sorry Corporal!!! I mean to..!” Levi looked down at him with such disgust. “You are indeed pathetic. I did notice your shitty behaviour lately. But to go this far...doing that to another comrade? No. You are no longer a trustworthy scout, let alone a decent citizen and I’m officially taking you out of the whole Training Corps.”

The tension was so high, that everyone backed away from Levi and the bully, who really started this whole problem. Y/n just stood there with sadness and confusion. Seems like she probably will never know why she was the one picked on, like always.

—

After a long day, Y/n was called into Levi’s office during the evening. She went over there and inside his office. Levi noticed immediately the sadness in her eyes and the change in her vibe. He wondered why, why was she still upset? Did they bother her afterwards? He was about to ask when.

“Why did you do that for me? Was it for the good of the scouts to remove someone who doesn’t collaborate with others or....was it for me?” With that last word, she looked up with tears in her eyes that made her eyes come out looking more beautiful than ever. He stood in front of her now, and slowly, gently grabbing her hand. He looked at her with a lot of affection this time. “Idiot. It was because I care for you.” Levi said it so quietly, as if he just wanted Y/n to hear it and no one else even though they were both alone in his office. But, he said it in a way that made him blush just slightly, he was definitely not used to talking in a way to make someone acknowledge how he cares for them but also....for someone who he seemed to like.

“I was from there too you know.” He said suddenly, “So I understand.” Levi was now softly wiping the tears that rolled down Y/n’s cheeks. Levi didn’t need to say more, nothing more. Just that look in his eyes and the feeling that they are both feeling right now. That Unknown feeling was reassuring and what Y/n only needed. Nothing else. Y/n then brought her arms around Levi’s shoulders and hugged him, she wanted to feel his warmth on this cold winter night and comfort for her heart that she never knew she needed till tonight. Levi, hugged her back tightly with affection around her waist, also needing some more warmth that night and they stood there, hugging each other while outside his office window, it started to finally snow.

note: okay, I’m glad to have posted this! I’m not sure if anyone will read it or like it but I felt the sudden urge to post it and it was on my mind lately! I’m also finally done with uni and taking a break, so I decided to come back to post this and see whoever wants to read it and enjoy it. The world is crazy atm and I hope whoever reads this gives themselves a break once in a while <3

[mothgodofchaos]

Seaweed

Y’all can blame @kalcifers-blog for giving me inspiration for this. Also, apologies for those with thalassophobia, but as someone who has it myself, I can promise that I do not go into much detail. Only enough for context. There is no personal perspective of it happening or elaboration into the anxieties about it. Just a little The Little Mermaid moment.

Mermaid!Marvin the Magnificent x GN!Reader, TW: near drowning, heights, thalassophobia Words: 665

The water beneath you sparkles, looking out over the cliffs lining the cove. A cliff diving expedition seemed appealing on the tour pamphlet, but you’re certainly having second guesses now. It’s quite a high jump, and despite the reassurances of your tour group and instructor, the most appealing place to stand right now is on the bus that took you here.

You ultimately decide that you’ll pass this time around, removing your life vest. However, some asshole thinks it’s funny to push you and you end up going over the edge, down into the ocean below. You’re barely able to scream before you’re plunged into the icy water, sinking deep below the surface.

Marvin usually stays within his small cave, but a quick glance out the mouth of it makes his heart start racing. Your unconscious body sinking slowly in the deep water, not a life jacket in sight. He darts out of the entrance to the cave, reaching you as fast as he can, hooking his hands under your arms. It takes all of his strength to carry someone with him, but he brings you back to the surface, in a private alcove. You’re not breathing, and he panics. He sets his hands on your chest, muttering something between a prayer and a healing spell, only opening his eyes when the last word leaves his lips. All he can do is stare and wait, hearing the panicking of your group somewhere in the distance.

When you start coughing up sea water, Marvin retreats back into the water. He hides amongst the seaweed, his long dark green hair allowing him to disguise himself well. You cough up the water onto the nearby sand, your throat and nostrils stinging from the salt. When you sit up, Marvin perks up, watching you curiously.

“Wh- how did I get here…?”

You clutch your head, trying to remember what happened. Marvin forces himself to watch, not knowing the kind of reaction you may have. You look around, trying to see if anyone is nearby that could have brought you here. Noticing the large track and handprints in the sand around you, it makes you ask more questions than it answers.

“If you can hear me, thank you…”

Your eyes follow around the alcove, making eye contact with the sea witch before he dives below the surface again.

“Wait-!”

Marvin stops, slowly surfacing again, only his eyes and the top of his head being visible. His hair swirls around him, making you almost mesmerized if you weren’t so fixated on his beautifully bright sea green eyes.

“Woah…”

You stumble to your feet, holding your chest as you move back to the edge of the water. He instantly gets worried, moving to the edge as well to keep you from coming in any further.

“Stop, please. Ye were drownin’, I just pulled ye out…”

“You… saved my life?”

“Ye human folk shouldn’t’ve been t’at deep…”

He blushes blue, inspiring the silvery ring in his eyes to shine even brighter. He’s incredibly pretty to look at, making you wonder if sirens from folklore even had to try that much to lure in their prey. You take his hands, cold and webbed. Where ears should be on a human lies a pair of fins, gills starting behind them to all the way down his neck and ribs.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous…”

“Uhh… t’anks?”

You kiss his cheek, making the blue on his cheeks an even more vibrant hue.

“Oh-“

“You’ll be back here tonight, right? I think I’ll be able to sneak away. I’m sure they’re looking for me. I wouldn’t want you to get caught.”

“Oh, uh, ye! I’ll be here. Don’t, uh, die?”

“How could I when I have a gorgeous ocean spirit looking over me?”

You wink, leaving him to cool his burning face in the cold water surrounding him. The last thing he was expecting when saving a human was for said human to give him a crush. Oh fuck.

[fisheito]

What are you hopes and dreams for Yakumo? What kind of event theme would be your dream event? Any kinks or anything in particular you want to see in his rooms? Anything plot-wise you would like to see?

You know, I never thought about that

While playing , i suspend all my worldly desires. Then i take whatever I'm given like a good little F2P 🤣

Tho now that you bring it up🫨🤔..hmm...

Hopes n Dreams: a WIP , it seems . But for now...

- he needs to be in a dress. This is part of my agenda to have everyone put on the dress at LEAST once. No fakeouts like kuya's hakama pants. I want his legs sleeveless. Ready access. Destroy eiden while wearing a breezy skirt or smthh. Follow Blade's example , bc Blade is performing gender VERYwell.!!

Event???:

- yokai event with all three little beasties LOOKIN beastlier?? Yes???? Please??????????? I want them UNSETTLING and FERAL but with sharp beautifusful eyes.

in line with my desire for a snakular yakuhebi, i want him more monstrous. Covered in scales and the tail and the fangs with the dripdrop .which, yesyes probably never will happen but I'm gonna think about it anyway .

- I'm not creative when it comes to event ideas. The devs are way ahead of me on that. All i can think about is restaurant, but we've already had several forms of that. Barista yakumo..maid cafe...valentines parlour.... ahahahh I'm only ever thinking about eating...sorry... ...

- new jot note, new chance, becausr now i am DETERMINED to think of an event i wanna see. *scrunches brow* gmm..hmmm.......!!!! Does it count if i say some sorta winter event. One that requires yakumo to actually exist in cold weather. And he's wearing the giantest puffiest marshmallow of an 800layer coat because he's so very cold and will fall asleep in the snow if you leave him out there too long. Like, his silhouette is just a blob. There's nothing sexy about it. Covered head to toe in industrial arctic expedition protective gear 🤣🤣🤣 yakumo visits penguins. Wait what

-nononono JOT NOTE: TAKE 3! I *WILL* COME UP WITH AN EVENT! A CONCEPT! NOT JUST AN OUTFIT!. . . . . GOD but i just want an excuse to put him in the dorkiest/ most mundane outfits. He's just wearing farming clothes and helping his grandparents feed chickens. He's wearing a stupid little khaki uniform while catching bugs with a net like an amateur. Wait no he's the slutty glittery assistant in a leotard waiting to be cut in half by Magician Eiden where was i going with this i cant actually!!!--- move on to the next qursiyon

The ROOMS?:

- why has yakumo not hit it from the back yet. ? (Not counting FA R5..) Probably because doggystyle would deny him access to eiden's mouth, which is apparently a fate worse than cult sacrifice. Yakumo probably prefers to stare lovingly(🙄) at eiden's face while they're boinking so......

.

But *I* want them to throw it back. Just once. Eiden ass up face slightly-less-to-completely-inaccessible. Have garu as a guest instructor. I request this specific new angle just once kudapleas

- you mentioned kink and idk about elaborate kinks but '*slaps the roof of the car* TIE HIM UP. SUBJUGATE HIM. MAKE HIM WHINE AND CRY AND COME THE SECOND EIDEN TOUCHES HIS DICK. OR COME UNTOUCHED. THE POINT IS ,I WANT MORE OF THAT BULLYING FROM DARK NOVA R2

- it didn't occur to me to mention this bc i thought it was natural;assumed;common knowledge; but i shouldn't assume whatever i want is group consensus. So, explicitly stating that i am waiting for the snake hemipenes. I would love the non human look but it doesn't look like we'll get that. So I'll settle for 2 human dicks. Incredibly gracious of me iknow.

((Taking a break to thank all the fic authors who fulfill fantasies i know will never show up in game. The mind is a powerful tool but i still need kindling and these writers are made of dry sticks))

Um, ploT? Maybe?:

- the only thing I'd like for plot yakumo is to keep on showing his char development! He's changing ever so slowly!but steadily! Like how in his first interaction with rei, i was expecting him to get cowed by rei's blunt wording, but nope... he... understood what rei meant at base level and responded with a level of Spine and Emotional Awareness, instead of pure panic. Huh. Well whaddya know. Surprised me, fo sho. So I'd like to see him doing his best as time goes on ahhaha👈👉👈👉👈👉🤜

- i have NO idea where they arw going with the plot. Once again i must reiterate that i am like a child in front of a shiny screen re: consuming media. I have All belief. I am just going with it. There are no predictions or criticisms ongoing in my brain unless something is like... egregiously heteronormatively painful. So.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

unnecessarily specific college!au f1 driver headcanons, part 3. professors edition!

(if you want to start from the beginning: part 1, the undergrads, here and part 2, more undergrad headcanons.)

alonso

- major: archaeology (never graduated)

- left school in the final year to be a skydiving instructor and then went on a site dig in Central America in the early 2000s

- there’s a plaque with his name on campus because he’s climbed like 4 of the world’s highest mountains, gone in a submarine into the Mariana Trench, and discovered at least one new species along the way

- other claim to fame is being in the national newspaper’s crossword at the age of 23

- notorious for breaking the rules when on expeditions and skirting the line of safety but gets away with it because he’s a big name in the field and brings investment to his (sort of) alma mater

- appears once on campus to give an inspirational talk. doesn’t rehearse, switches it to a q&a format at the last minute, people enjoy it anyway (because it’s not rehearsed). George tries to strike up a conversation with him afterwards and Alonso just pawns him off to his PA

- wears a different coloured bandana to every dig/hike/expedition. hates closed toe shoes.

vettel

- teaches: molecular structures in microbiology

- precise prof and a tough grader, but nice

- came over a competing college several years ago. people from that college say he was a demon and a notorious asshole when he taught there, but he doesn’t seem that way now.

- lando starts a betting pool about when Vettel will have a proper meltdown (it happens not when lando suspends the prof’s hole punch in a cube of jelly. it actually happens when charles and him cannot see eye-to-eye about the future of ocean conservation)

- wears ties with animals and insects on them. his favourite one is a gift from charles when charles graduates, it has bumblebees and his initials SV on it.

- alex digs up an article one day and everyone gawks at it because prof seb won some cross-continent European woodworking competition when he was 15

- nobody knows if he’s dating anyone, only to find out on the last week of second year that he’d eloped

hamilton

- teaches: philosophy of ethical economics

- has done several ted talks and is often invited to international forums with world leaders (like the WEF, Bloomberg Sustainable Investment Forum etc)

- there’s a student GC trying to predict what his hairstyles will be like every month, usually with 50% accuracy

- one of the first profs to pioneer public access to the private university via open university modules; definitely has a tie up going on with EdX or similar

- people think max will be the one to piss him off in seminars but it’s actually george who has deeply different opinions to prof hamilton on the issues of land tax

- famous for his induction / opening year classes which involve all students standing on their chairs in a circle and chanting an invocation until they can state the colours of their auras. it’s bizarre and somehow it works

- his TAs are the coolest people ever

- somehow fits a 36 hour day into 24 hours

- his spotify wrapped includes the hamilton soundtrack, britney, 90s rap, and Tibetan gong soundscapes on his 10 most listened of the year

- his favourite word is mobius. only him and nico know that this used to be their safeword.

rosberg

- taught: political economy

- former prof who went into industry and is now a venture capitalist

- used to be super close friends (“close” “friends”) with Hamilton. they went to the same prep school, rushed at the same finals club, were famous via the university debate team for their immaculate takedowns of other teams including a legendary debate final in their late 2000s student years

- had a massive falling out when rosberg decided to pursue a career instead of staying in academia

- feels a deep connection to andrew garfield’s portrayal of eduardo saverin

- similar to carla, dad’s name is also on a lecture hall, but nico had much more of an inferiority complex about it

- prof wolff once told him “i don’t see your future here ever surpassing prof hamilton’s”. Nico rage-quit once he had an offer from a VC firm and now Nico spends every other media interview subtly making digs about this

- somehow still lives in the same apartment complex as lewis though he drives a much better car now (a benz GTC roadster)

[missbubblesoda]

early in the morning, especially when it rains, and a little before noon. (3)

erwin x fem!reader

chapters: (1) | (2) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | (8) | (9) | (10) | (11) | (12) | (13) | (14) | (15) | (16) | (17) | (18) | (19) | (20) | (21) | (22) | (23) | (24) | (25) | (26) | (27) | (28) | (29)

summary: I basically took Isayama’s work, forced it into a romance story, and made Erwin the love interest. Commander meets cadet and they fall in love (not instantly though)

notes: very berry canonverse (but some events were modified to fit my narrative), wasn’t intended to be this long, but it all is in the details right?

content warnings: smut where it fits (or where I make it fit. Also, reader is NOT underage, so likewise, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT, please.) slow burn (I really mean it. I’m not olympic diving into any form of smut for the first chapters). no angst. I dislike angst. I would never. I could never. (Although angst can be somewhat subjective so take it with a grain of salt?)

wc: 2k

“Your academic performance was impeccable, indeed” your superior concluded after reviewing your profile for the second time “Your previous instructors all have good things to say about your abilities to manage tasks. Let’s see… aha… it says… displayed talent for organization, scheduling, prioritizing…” the man repeated as he skimmed over the piece of paper he held on the morning the new recruits were being assigned to their respective tasks. “Soldier, it’s been decided that you will work directly with the commander. He always has his hands full, so he could use the extra help. Think of yourself as an assistant. You start tomorrow.”

-

“Please take a seat” Erwin Smith stood up and offered you a warm smile that contrasted with the glacial hues present in his irises.

Hair, well-groomed. Clothes, well-ironed. Beard, clean-shaven. Oh, and a bolo tie to bring it all together. Yes, he just so happened to look exactly like the last person you would want to disappoint. It looked as if his presence alone would be enough to make incompetence and ineptitude offer to show themselves out. And as sudden as it had come, your previous optimism had started to dissolve. Your brain, however, had started to ask questions. What if I can’t d-

“Now, I would like to apologize in advance for how boring and repetitive your days are about to get. I assume you had slightly more exciting prospects in mind when you decided to join us.”

No, sir. Boring and repetitive are a far better prospect than what I had in mind. You replied in your head, trying your best to pay no mind to the sensation of inadequacy that you could already feel taking over you. What if the expectations he-

“I would also like to apologize for the fact that you happened to arrive in one of my busiest days. This, although unfortunate, was completely coincidental. I promise.” He tried to reassure you, a gentle smile never leaving his lips. And you found it rather comforting, so you smiled back.

“Today, some of the squad leaders will be joining us to discuss next month’s expedition beyond the walls. We’ll be meeting them soon in the room next door.”

As he filled you in on details about both the meeting and your new job, you found yourself growing a little more comfortable in your chair. You noticed that, despite his towering height, in the daylight your new boss looked far less intimidating than you remembered he did a couple nights ago.

“Oh, and I almost forgot to mention” he said while heading towards the door “unless I’m in a meeting, you don’t need to announce yourself before coming in. You first.” He added, making way for you.

“Yes, sir.” you replied, feeling a little lighter than before.

-

“The support teams will only accompany us to the old city area”

While the commander spoke, you scanned the people in the room. The short man to his right could be none other than the legendary Captain Levi himself. And he was certainly special, not necessarily because they called him ‘humanity’s strongest’, but because he was the only person you had never heard people in the capital bitching about. To his left was a short woman with strawberry blonde hair who had come with him and Captain Zoë, whom you already knew from that one lecture about titan physiology she had given your class a few years prior. And beside you was a man who hadn’t stopped sniffing you since you came in, and you wondered if you had done a poor job of showering that morning.

“Once we’re past that, it’s completely titan territory. And once we’re past here” the commander said pointing at a mark done in red ink “we’ll go into long-range scouting formation”

The Long-Range Scouting Formation, from the little information you had gathered so far, was a strategy devised by the commander himself.

“The vanguard is to spread out in a semi-circle, but staying within visual range from one another” he explained as he pointed to the intricate and rather messy schema of dotted lines and geometrical shapes that had been laid in the table before them. Each geometrical shape had numbers and letters scribbled on them: the peripheral relay, the center command, the center on standby, center communication. This jargon was all too familiar to you from military science class. But one thing was to design questionable battle plans that you knew would end up crumpled up in the dustbin anyways, and another entirely different thing was to actually come face to face with a strategy devised by an expert like Erwin Smith. One, who had so many lives depending on the efficacy of his plan. And it was definitely so much more interesting here than it ever was back in the classroom.

“Hange, how are things with Eren Yeager coming along?” once he was done reviewing the formation, he turned to Captain Zoë.

“Eren is still unable to transform at will, so we’re mainly focusing our efforts on identifying possible triggers” there was a glow in her eyes as she spoke, one that evidenced that she had been waiting all morning for the commander to ask that question. “I have reasons to suspect that in order to transform he needs a clear purpose, but more testing is required” her boss looked pensive, but gave her a nod of approval “In the meantime” she cleared her throat before continuing, and it looked as if she was getting ready to make a big reveal of some sort “the experiments have been providing lots of new information about titan anatomy. You see, the hypothesis I was working under before was that quadrupedal ti-”

“Yesterday he transformed during lunch while trying to pick up a spoon. But luckily no one was hurt” Captain Levi interrupted in a flat voice that contrasted Captain Zoë’s excited tone.

The commander quickly turned his head to the short man, concern gradually taking over his features. He seemed to study the situation for a moment and then said calmly:

“I see. Report to me any new developments. Everyone is doing a great job. Today, we’re one step closer to the truth than yesterday”

When you turned your attention to the others in the room, you only saw trust and reliance in their eyes. They clearly found something reassuring in their leader. And you believed you knew why. He struck you as the type of person to whom no mistake would ever be grave enough. And you didn’t know why, but in that moment, your imagination started to provide you with mental images of yourself getting swallowed whole by a titan, and the commander calmly suggesting to ‘just be careful next time.’ And although terrifying, something about that made you chuckle to yourself.

-

On your second day as the commander’s assistant, you opened the door to his office to find a giant map spread out on his desk, and next to it, the candle you had personally replaced at the end of your shift the night before, now almost totally spent.

You eyed the map. It was your first time seeing such a comprehensive representation of the territory beyond the walls. It looked rather overwhelming and, truth be told, chaotic. There were several words scribbled all over, intricate lines either tangled with each other or connecting areas marked by symbols that you couldn’t understand at first, but that made sense once your eyes found the small black notebook that was lying beside the paper. It was opened in a page that contained the map legend, written in hasty cursive. And suddenly it occurred to you that the notebook looked like the kind one would use to record one’s personal business, so you quickly turned your attention elsewhere.

Taking advantage of the commander’s absence, you scanned his office. He was an avid reader, there was no doubt, as told by the countless books that decorated the walls. Also, there was an antique looking chessboard situated by the fireplace, and not too far, on a crystal table, a phonograph. You had only seen a few of those before. They were quite rare, even for the wealthy folk in Mitras.

Then, when your curiosity seemed satisfied enough, you decided it was time to get to work. So you refilled the inkwell, disposed of the candle, and after placing a bookmark on the texts he had been consulting, you piled them away neatly in a nearby table, unsure if you could yet return them to their respective homes.

Finally, you rolled the large map carefully, only to uncover another giant piece of paper. This one you knew: the formation plans you had seen in the previous day’s meeting. It was full of scribbles and annotations that you were sure weren’t there the day before. And the sight was enough to take you back to the military science classroom. You, sitting at your desk, trying to come up with some lousy strategy that would please your instructor even just a little, just enough so that she would let you go home for the day. How many nights did it take him to complete such a strategy? Moving all the pieces like playing chess, contemplating all the possible scenarios over and over in order to come up with the optimal structure. All this while carrying the weight of humanity’s survival on his shoulders. And suddenly you understood.

You understood that what rumors called insanity was actually called creativity. What they labeled as absurdity was actually intelligence. And recklessness was, most likely, leadership. And in the presence of such skill, you started to feel small. You realized it: this was not just any man you were working for. It wouldn’t take long for someone like him to figure out someone like you. You looked at the plans once again, he was a seasoned military strategist, years of experience under his belt; you eyed the bookshelves that covered the walls, an individual of high intellect; you remembered yesterday’s meeting and the looks on everyone’s eyes, one who everyone trusted. And you, you weren’t even sure you trusted yourse-

“You’re early” a husky voice pulled you out of your rumination. It sounded raspy, as the first words one says in the morning usually do.

“Commander” you immediately assumed an upright position “I thought I’d come early in case you needed me to clear your desk before y-” you tried to explain “if you find it inconvenient, I-”

“Quite the opposite actually. Thank you.” He gave you another one of those gentle smiles of his “Today we’re taking advantage of the weather to test the visibility of the signal flares under heavy rain like this one. So I’ll be on the field. You’re not required to come.”

“Yes, sir.”

You observed him as he stared out the window. And your insecurities almost brought themselves up, but that was before he started to talk about how pleasant the rain was, and you found that you wanted to hear more about that instead.

-

The sun had already begun to set when he returned. As he dismounted his white horse and headed towards the entrance where you stood, you couldn’t help but appreciate how fitting the elegant creature was for his owner. And you wondered if that had been intentional.

“Commander, a letter came from the capital while you were gone. Premier Zachary is requesting updates on Eren Yeager” you trailed behind him as he made his way into the castle.

“Send word to Hange and tell her to provide them with the reports.”

“Already did, sir”

He looked back at you briefly before continuing.

“Good. Also tell her not to be too specific about the silverware incident.”

“Already included a footnote suggesting so, sir”

The commander stopped in his tracks and turned his head to the side, just enough so that he could glance back at you. You had remembered the troubled look on his face when Captain Levi had mentioned the accident during the meeting, so you figured it was something the higher-ups didn’t need to know all the details about. Had that been a mistake?

But then he smiled, seemingly satisfied “Good. Very good.” and your chest swelled with something that felt a lot like pride, as you followed him down the halls that led to his office.

-

next chapter

[zombryz]

dancing with titans

˗ˏˋ hii :3 ˎˊ˗  

chapter one - rainy days 

masterlist | chapter two (coming soon!) | read on ao3 | 

pairings - Levi x afab!reader | Jean x afab!reader | v minor Eren x afab!reader

warnings - slowburn, eventual smut, blood and gore, angst, possessiveness, unrequited love (but not really)

word count - 3.5k

Let’s imagine this is Levi watching the reader and Jean *insert eyes emoji* hehe

You still remember your very first interaction with Captain Levi. Before the temperatures began to fall, it was a rainy day during the 104th Training Corps, so you were not quite required to wear winter clothing. Captain Levi, the current Commander of the Survey Corps, and Keith Shadis, your instructor and the former 12th Commander of the Survey Corps, had been assessing the soldiers during ODM training. Captain Levi came to scope out the new recruits and see if there were any promising faces that he could ultimately add to his team. There were dozens of military dropouts that first month, but you stayed. Now that you think about it, you’re not sure why you stayed, but you’re glad you did. Although the training was challenging and exhausting, you never gave up on the belief that your life might one day have meaning. Growing up in the Utopia district made life unbearably dull and made you feel trapped inside the walls, and you were constantly hearing stories about soldiers who went outside the walls. One day you had enough and decided to leave home to join the military because you no longer wanted to be bound to the life set out for you inside the walls. You wanted excitement, even if that meant death. Now, here you were, aiming to take down ten fake Titan structures with your ODM gear and steel swords in hand. You scored a perfect ten; you know you did. You landed on your feet in front of Commander Shadis and Captain Levi after mastering the grips and gliding swiftly through the air. Breathing heavily, you looked up at your instructor and noticed the man beside him. 

“You hold your blades similar to the way I hold mine.” Captain Levi, who was a stranger at the time, speaks monotonously and nods his head toward your hands, which were holding both blades backward. It was the most comfortable position for you; you were holding them that way without even realizing it. His eyes remained on your form for a moment while you looked down at your hands and shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. His steely gray eyes looked tired and heavy. To be honest, you never gave him much thought back then. You never really answered him either, as you remember. Instead, you gave him an ingenuine smile and turned your attention to Commander Shadis, who was waiting to give his score to you.

“Yep, you got a perfect score,” he sighs slightly, “again.” You jump in excitement and thank him before heading back to your fellow recruits. As you walked back to the rest of the group, you felt eyes bore into the back of your head. They were Captain Levi’s. 

---

It wasn’t until you saw Captain Levi in action that you fell for him. He did in fact hold his blades similarly to you; the only distinction was that you held both backward, whereas he only held the blade backward in his left hand. During your first expedition beyond the walls, he was mesmerizing; you watched in awe as he effortlessly chopped up twelve-meter-tall titans without any assistance. You and Levi would dance around each other while taking down Titans. He would cross over into your path, and you would into him, never once having to verbally communicate what the other was doing. You read his movements like a book, and he read yours. It felt romantic in a way that you had never felt anything like it. At the end of the expedition, he complimented the way you moved in the sky, causing you to blush. You thanked him and finally looked at him for the first time. You complimented him back and even brought up the way he held his blades. He smiled slightly, a hint of red threatening to spill onto his face. You’ll never forget how his eyes still looked so tired, but you could see the admiration he held for you. 

That was two years ago. Now, you are in your final year of the training corps, with only a month left until graduation. You've made friends, but you’ve barely talked to Levi. You had been pining for Levi ever since that day during your expedition. He was either completely unaware of your feelings for him or did not share them. You tried multiple times to bury them but to no avail. That’s how you found yourself here, sitting at the table with all of the friends you’ve made in the training corps. Somehow, everyone at your table knew about your feelings for your captain, and it was embarrassing.  

“When are you going to give up?” Eren nudges your shoulder softly, completely knocking you out of your thoughts while you stare at Levi from across the cafeteria. You loved watching the way he drank his afternoon tea. He held his cup differently, just like his blades, with almost all of his fingers around the rim. His fingers were delicate and veiny, and you were captivated by how such pretty hands allowed him to be a ruthless killer. Back to the present - you shove Eren back gently, and your face is beet red now. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say, feigning innocence while biting into the apple that Mikasa offered you earlier. 

“What do you see in him anyway? He’s short and mean.” Eren rests his head in his hands and looks up at you. His words draw the attention of the rest of the table, and they all turn to look at you and Eren. 

“I-I don’t know,” you answered in a sing-song voice. “He's super strong and funny.” You answer, not fully believing the second part. 

“Funny?” Eren tches, “The captain is NOT funny.” Eren rolls his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair before sitting back in his chair, visibly annoyed. “And… I’m strong. I’m probably the strongest one here!” He speaks louder than he meant to. 

“Hey, watch it, Yeager!” Jean chimes in from the other side of you without looking at you or Eren. It was common knowledge that Jean Kirstein and Eren Yeager liked you. Sometimes you thought Eren pretended to like you just to get on Jean’s nerves, and it was amusing for the most part. 

“Hey man, you and I have about the same chance!” Eren raises his voice again while looking past you and at Jean. Armin and Mikasa sat across from you, and beside them sat Connie and Sasha. Everyone was eating their lunch but sat quietly listening in on the drama.

Jean didn’t answer Eren; instead, he finally looked at you with his golden brown eyes. His cheeks were flushed, and he looked kind of cute being the center of attention. He was definitely not as open about his crush on you as Eren was. You just giggled slightly until Armin opened his mouth. 

“When are you both going to give up?” Armin questions the boys while stuffing his face with potatoes. Mikasa looks at him angrily, and Sasha starts laughing while falling back in her chair. “What? Someone had to say it,” he adds when he notices Mikasa’s face. 

“He has a point.” Connie lifts his finger up, speaking in a serious voice that he doesn’t usually use. “Someone’s eventually going to give in. Statistically speaking, one of you has to like the other person back. Either you like Eren or Jean, or Captain Levi likes you.” You immediately feel hot at his words because they are true; you just wish they weren’t because that meant Levi liking you back wasn’t an option. On top of your crush on Levi, you also had feelings for Jean. At the beginning of the training corps, you thought Jean was just an asshole, but as the years went by, you noticed you were getting closer and closer to him. He was really sweet and caring towards anyone he cared about, which included you. He would do anything to keep you safe, and you felt lucky to have him as a friend. He also had a tendency to be really attractive when he took charge, and you even noticed that sometimes out in the field, you and Jean would dance around each other in ODM gear. It wasn’t as smooth as it had been with Levi, but it definitely didn’t go unnoticed. 

You took the route of deflection: “So you’re saying I have a chance with our Captain?” You grin at your words until you hear the sound of Jean’s chair scraping the floor loudly as he gets up to leave. “No, Jean, c'mon, I was kidding!” You yell back at him, but he’s already halfway across the cafeteria. Damn, his long legs. 

You take one final bite of your apple before pushing back your chair to follow him. Eren goes to stop you, but Mikasa quickly grabs the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stay at the table. Jean made his way out of the cafeteria and into the corridor of the main building. You quickly turn the corner, and your face collides with something solid. It was Jean’s shoulder. He apparently didn't go down the hallway as far as you thought he had; instead, he was leaning up against the wall. 

“Y/N, I-I’m so sorry.” He grabs your shoulders to still you, and you quickly grab your head to comfort the sharp pain in your skull.

“Ow.” You get out while rubbing the side of your head. Damn, Jean and his height. His shoulders were the same height as your head. 

 Jean realizes where you’re hurting, so he slowly reaches up to pull your hand away from your head. Your head was now being held by both of his hands, and he was gently rubbing your temple with his thumb. After a second, you finally open your eyes, and you’re face-to-face with his chest. When you look up at him, he’s already looking down at you with big, concerned eyes. You melted into his touch and gravitated towards his chest more and more. 

“You okay? Why did you follow me out here?” Jean gets all of his questions out at once without pulling away from you.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” You breathed deeply before continuing, “I just wanted to check on you. I didn’t mean to upset you, Jean.” You brought your fingers up and gently caressed his forearms.

“You didn’t upset me. I-” Jean sighs. He goes to say something else when someone behind you emerges from the cafeteria and clears his throat to make his presence known. 

“Am I interrupting something, Cadets?” You jump at his voice, recognizing it anywhere. It was Captain Levi. Jean immediately drops his hands from your head, and the both of you jump two feet away from each other. 

“No sir, sorry sir!” You and Jean salute Captain Levi at the same time, and you both look extremely embarrassed with your hands over your hearts.

“Cadets in training are not allowed public displays of affection.” Levi’s eyes wander over yours briefly before landing on Jean’s. His face no longer showed any softness he had while looking at you. “Once you graduate, you can hold any cadet you’d like for all I care. Do I make myself clear?” 

Jean looked down at Captain Levi and quickly replied, “Sir, Yes sir!” Levi stepped back toward you, and his eyes looked you up and down before he turned on his heel and walked down the hallway without saying another word. 

“Woah, Captain Levi never gets onto cadets for breaking the affection rule. Usually, it’s Commander Erwin.” Jean released the breath he had been holding and turned to look at you. You were completely flustered, and you were holding your hands behind your back while watching the Captain’s form disappear down the corridor. Jean rolled his eyes and took hold of your chin to force you to look at him. Once you were looking at him, he dropped his hand so that you both wouldn’t get into trouble again.

“I really don’t have a chance, do I?” Jean’s eyes are fixed on you now. His voice was barely above a whisper, and his posture was not as confident as before. 

You open your mouth to answer, but no words come out. His question echoed in your head, but you had no idea how to answer it. Jean took your silence as an answer.

“Okay.” He straightens himself once more and sniffles slightly, but plays it off. “I am going to let you go now.” He looks at you for a moment longer, hoping you'll say something, but you don’t. He then closes his eyes and walks away, down the same corridor Levi did.

---

It was finally graduation day after three long years. There were two hundred and eighteen cadets who graduated alongside you. Everyone had three options: the garrison regiment, aka those whose job it was to reinforce the walls; the scout regiment, who would ride out into Titan country; or the military police regiment, aka the lazy bastards. You were at the top of your class, along with Connie, Sasha, Jean, Marco, Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. The night of your graduation you noticed Jean acting weird. Everyone was drinking and having a good time when you noticed a saddened look across Jean’s face. He barely talked all night. Eren even tried to pick a fight with him, but he didn’t fight back. 

“Hi,” you said, joining him at the wooden table he was sitting at inside one of the dining halls. Marco was sitting next to him and took his cue to leave. You smiled at him, and he shot you a sympathetic look. The room was loud and full of drunk cadets, but you ignored the noise to talk to Jean.

“Hey.” He answered before taking another sip of his beer. 

“What’s up with you? Why do you look so sad?” You shift your body closer to him, and he shifts away slightly. This wasn’t the first time he had shifted away from you, not allowing you to get close to him anymore. Ever since that day in the hallway a month ago, his entire body language around you has changed. 

“I’m joining the military police.” He stares blankly at nothing in particular. He knew you would have a bad reaction. Everyone else in your group was planning on joining the scout regiment, including you. He prepared himself for you to scream a loud “WHATTT?” that drew everyone's attention to him but it didn’t come and instead -

“Oh.” Your voice comes out shaky now. Your reaction makes him actually look at you this time. You were holding your beer between your thighs, and your head was hanging low as you were just staring at your fingers around the handle of the mug. You didn’t want him to join the military police. You knew that’s what he wanted, but for some reason, you always thought he’d change his mind. “Please don’t.” You tilt your head up slightly as tears threaten to form, your throat feeling like thorns as you speak. 

“Why shouldn’t I? I would have three meals daily for life, and I’d be safe behind the walls.” He shifts his body towards you now with an aggression in his voice that wasn’t there before. He just wanted you to say the magic words that would get him to stay. He wasn’t even intending to play this game with you. Heck, he told himself a month ago that he would go into the military police, settle down with a nice girl, and forget all about you and everyone else. He didn’t want to think about how you would never love him. He even stopped sitting next to you at meals and staying away from you during training and downtime. He was already feeling much better being away from the magnet that you were, which sucked him in every time you were near. 

“I need you, Jean.” Your drunken thoughts betrayed you, and you allowed yourself to be vulnerable with him in a way that you never had before. You corrected yourself by adding, “We need you,” but it was already too late. Jean was already being pulled back into your magnetic aura. He hated himself for it, but he cared about you way too much to let you go out into Titan territory without him. 

“I guess I’ll think about it some more.” He hated seeing you sad. “Tonight, let’s just get drunk.” His face finally turns up, and he allows himself to be happy again. He takes a swig of beer and looks over at you. Your smile grows, and you throw your arms around him in a drunken hug that makes him fall backward a little. This makes you spill your beer and his, but you don’t care. Jean takes the opportunity to hug you back, and he buries his face in your hair, scared that he’d never have the chance to again. He decided he would still be at arm's length from you so that he could try to move on. He needed to pull away from you, he reminded himself.

After another beer and bantering with Sasha and Connie, you noticed Captain Levi in the dining hall checking up on all of the cadets. He was sitting in the corner with Commander Erwin and had a cup of tea in his hand. You weren’t sure what came over you, but you started approaching him with a newfound confidence you didn’t have before. 

“Hiiii,” You tried your best to appear sober, but your words just came out overly excited and silly.

“Hi, Cadet,” Erwin says before Levi gets a chance to speak. “Enjoying yourself?” 

“Yes, sir!” You sloppily salute them both before grabbing a seat at their table. “Sooo, Levi.” You start inappropriately speaking to your captain while leaning over the table, purposely so he has a view of your chest and your slightly unbuttoned blouse. This was unfortunately an attempt at flirting.

“Yes, Cadet?” Captain Levi ignores that you didn’t refer to him as captain. For some reason, you’re the only one he allows to cross the line a little, even when you’re not drunk out of your mind. 

“Oh, I-I just, I’m s-so, drunk. I don’t think I can walk back to my room.” You feign innocence and pout. He raises an eyebrow, unsure of what you’re getting at, but this was quite amusing for him. Usually, you’re so confident and rational that you never speak out of line like this. “Can you carry me to my room, sir?” For theatrics, you lay the back of your palm on your forehead and flip around so that the back of your head is lying on the table, and you’re now looking at your captain, who is upside down. Even upside down, he is so handsome. This makes Erwin chuckle. Oh god, it's a bad idea to be upside down. You suddenly get dizzy. Eren looks over and sees this fiasco and mumbles to himself, “shit,” before running over to you.

“Hey Y/N, you look tired; let’s get you back to your bunk.” Eren lifts you by your arms, and you let yourself be a dead weight while giggling. Your vision quickly jumps from an upside-down Levi to a right-side-up Eren, who was pulling you into him. 

“Hi, Eren.” You smiled at him sweetly. “Will you carry me to my room since you’re so strong?” You refer back to when he was trying to convince you to choose him. You then add more sweetness by giving him big puppy-dog eyes. 

Eren looks past you and apologizes to Captain Levi and Commander Erwin before he brings his attention back to you. “Yeah, of course.” Before Eren says anything else, you jump into him, grab the sides of his face, and kiss him passionately. His eyes widen, and his arms are weakly laid across your hips in an awkward fashion. He’s red from ear to ear when you pull away from his lips. Eren takes a moment to collect himself and then carries you on his back to your room. You fell asleep on his shoulder, and he laid you in your bunk and covered you with a blanket before he left. He walked away, brushing his lips with his fingers. He wondered if you’d remember doing that in the morning. 

-

Back to Captain Levi and Commander Erwin, who just watched Eren carry you off to bed. “That could’ve been you if you said yes,” Erwin says, raising an eyebrow and directing his laughter at Levi. 

“Oh, shut up; the brat just got too drunk for her own good.” Levi scoffed and continued to drink his tea, but his thoughts were filled with what-ifs. What would have happened if Eren hadn’t pulled you away? Would it have been him trying to take care of your drunk ass? He huffs to himself and calls it a night before standing up and leaving Erwin along with the rest of the cadets. He was suddenly no longer interested in being there.

-

Meanwhile, Jean saw everything. His chest hurt, but he reminded himself that he needed things like this in order to move on from you. Deep down, though, he kept wondering why Eren and not him. Was it just because Eren was there? Or do you secretly like Eren too? Liking Levi was one thing, but Eren was someone you could easily have if you so chose. Jean decided to have another drink. 

[nigesakis]

one of your patented the Terror listicles but about them running a Summer Camp. (Except Hickey: he failed the background check because he once beat a nun with a collection plate) also i definitely feel like JFJ would be the swim instructor and and lead campfire sing a longs (badly) and Sir Jon is contemplating selling the camp to a mining company.

i feel honored. i dont know shit about camps though

The Terror if it played in a Summer Camp (1980's-2000's)

Francis: staff, camp manager (in his cabin office doing papework most of the time, so when he comes out the kids go OOOOOOH🫨🤙🤙 like in regular show; they like him tho, its in good fun)

Franklin: staff, camp owner (he doesnt have to be here, but decides to check it out once because he's thinking of selling. kids like him 'cause he lets them do what they want; he doesn't know theyre supposed to do tasks (Francis has to do double the paperwork now))

Fitzjames: staff, boys head counselor and program manager (he's everywhere... whys this guy suddenly at the swim instruction and does the swim instructors job? too motivated and the kids know hes trying to get them to like him; works)

Sophia: staff, girls head counselor and photographer/videographer (everyone who hates getting their picture taken doesn't mind if its her. only counselor the kids respect)

Collins: staff, swim instructor/lake guard (lets Fitzjames do the classes so he doesnt have to talk so much)

Blanky: staff, counselor and woods master (i made that up), leads the forest expeditions (suddenly all the kids like walking?? (he has a better prosthetic now))

Bridgens: staff, horsemanship instructor (popular with the kids)

Peglar: staff, overnight counselor (tells good stories when you cant sleep, lets the older ones smoke weed behind the cabins, whys the horsemanship instructor here?)

Hodgons: staff, counselor (easiest to pull pranks on; he thinks theyre doing it because they like him)

Irving: staff, counselor and worship leader (i didnt know this existed but well)

Dundy: staff, archery instructor (i think hed look cool doing it)

Jopson: staff, assistant, nobody knows what hes actually doing here

Little: staff, runs the inventory and snack bar, lets them steal

Wall & Diggle: staff, kitchen staff. you can hear them arguing from the outside

Silna: kid, sneaked in her fucking dog ("You think Neptune is gonna protect us from the killer?" watched Friday 13th before coming)

Tozer: kid, acts like hes a counselor

Goodsir: kid, the others rather come to him than the actual camps nurse (Stanley)

Manson & Hartnell: kids, got lost in the woods tying to smoke weed

Armitage: kid, got lost in the woods because he wanted to go home

Gibson: kid, only came cause Hickey told him he'd be a staff volunteer and let them break rules but now Hickey isnt there?

Des Voeux: missed the bus

[comatosebunny09]

Inspired by: Like It - Summer Walker & 6LACK

No Love - Summer Walker & SZA

Sex is fun and all. But what about the intimate moments sprinkled throughout the day which lead to it? Like—

A hand pressing hot at the small of your back as he sidles behind you in the kitchen while you’re prepping breakfast. 

An exchange of tender smiles and chuckles over your shoulder follows. Kyojuro can’t help how his cheeks pepper pink when you turn around, offering him a finger oozing with chocolate. He gratefully accepts. And god dammit.

It’s honestly sinful, his mouth blistering and wet, tongue serpentine. How pornographic he sounds, humming his appreciation with eyes sliding shut, suckling, nipping, rolling. Working every morsel of chocolate out of your knuckle. His hands perched on your waist, drawing you closer, thumbs working languid circles over your hipbones, delightful tingles striking your epicenter.

He releases your finger with a definitive pop. Flashes you an innocent smile that’s all teeth and curled lashes, though his eyes betray him. A golden maelstrom of emotions flittering over your skin. He maneuvers past you to make coffee before you have time to decipher them.

How about when his palms suddenly find your waist while you’re in downward dog, the prattle of the yoga instructor fading to background noise?

Your heart thunders in your ears. Sweat pools on the vinyl of your mat below, your breath leaping out in short, choppy bursts. The prominent bulge nestled between your cheeks is hard to ignore. Balmy. Solid. Twitching. Unmistakably him. He notches your pelvis to him to keep you from barreling forward, fingers splayed over your hips and thighs, though you’re sure his intentions are everything but pure.

“Sorry,” he says, voice dripping with smugness. Sexy. Dark and viscous like whiskey. “Didn’t see you there, gorgeous.”

Devilish thing. Of course Kyojuro saw you. You’re in the middle of the living room, for crying out loud. He isn’t slick while he bucks against you, evoking a gasp from your lips before letting go. You catch yourself on your elbows, peering between your splayed legs to watch him leave. And you’re bereft of his body’s warmth and the heady scent of burnt cedar he carries whilst he disappears down the hall.

Let’s talk about how he always has to touch you in some way while in the company of friends. 

Kyojuro idly toys with your braids, gaze focused on Tengen seated across from you both. A virile arm slung about your shoulders, tucking you into his side. He smooths a finger down the swell of your inflamed cheek, down the crook of your shoulder when no one is the wiser, the feeling akin to tickle bugs rolling across your skin. 

Kyojuro laughs at a joke you can’t focus on; his palms branding your skin make you dizzy. He pinches and kneads your belly fat, a silent invocation of how he wants it swollen with his baby. 

Your thighs are his favorite. Too entranced by how they crater beneath his fingers when he squeezes, mischief dancing in the corners of his irises. Hand making several expeditions up and down your quad, inching ever closer to where you desire him most. 

You bite your lip, squeezing your legs together to ward off that fluttery feeling when he leans in, huffing a ghostly and ticklish breath into your ear. 

“Let’s get out of here.”

You nod at a neck-breaking speed. Don’t bother with formalities as you both depart, a giggle on your tongue and a hand clutching your ass, ushering you towards the car.       

[nocticola]

 Dani Gates (Charisma Carpenter) Criminal Minds: Beyond Border 2x12 Abomination (2017) 3/ 3

Ms. Gates, were you aware that Meegan was pregnant?

Dani Gates: What?

Clara Seger: We checked with the other trekkers registered with Spiritual Awakenings. None of them were in Nepal when you and Meegan came this year. Do you know of anyone else who might be the father?

Dani Gates: No. I can't think of anyone.

Jack Garrett: You said she was obsessed with the maharishi. Were they part of the expedition?

Dani Gates: No. They were locals. Sort of like guest instructors? 

[dailycharacteroption]

Major League Coach (Starfinder Archetype)

It may seem incongruous to see a sports-themed archetype in something as nerdy as a tabletop RPG, but you’d be surprised by the overlap of interests out there. What’s more, sports are hardly limited to chasing a ball around a field. Indeed, they also include combat sports, racing, and even esports.

With that in mind, it only makes sense that the skill set of a coach for teams of such games would apply well to the adeventuring life. After all, they typically have intimate knowledge of their team’s strengths and weaknesses, a good mind for grand strategy and on the fly tactics, not to mention the charisma to inspire and motivate.

Of course, this begs the question of why a coach would be adventuring. Perhaps the game centers around the exploits of such a team both on and off the field, or maybe they retired from that life but still apply their skills in the valley. Or maybe they’re still doing it, either treating adventuring as a side gig, or perhaps the adventuring they are doing IS the sport. It is a wide galaxy, after all, and plenty of places might have blood sport resembling adventurous exploits.

Either way, a Major League Coach brings out the best in their team, no matter what role they find themselves in.

Like all coaches, these instructors like to huddle up with their team to remind them of possible dangers and challenges throughout the day, giving them a better ability to react to combat starting or notice and avoid hidden threats.

They also have learned to apply their various sporting techniques to the battlefield, urging their allies to make accurate long shots, react again to strike foes, duck and cover against hostile attacks, and endure pain to keep fighting. At first, they only know one such teaching, but can expand it later.

The most legendary of coaches are so good at commanding their allies to move and act as one that they actually learn how to cast a time manipulation spell, granting their allies a flurry of actions in mere moments.

There are so many ways to interpret this archetype and apply it to different classes. A biohacker or nanocyte, for example, might work to keep their team in tip top shape with medicine and supplements (or was forced to retire after accusations of doping), envoys and solarians might be charismatic team leaders, martial classes might have once been players themselves, and so on. Any class can take this archetype whether they are a mechanic that keeps their racer’s vehicle in tip top shape, or a precog analyzing possibilities to give them a road to victory. The flexibility of whether you get certain play abilities also means you can lean into or out of the archetype based on the needs of the team. Naturally, however, this archetype works best for builds that focus on buffing and supporting allies.

There are a lot of coaching styles out there, from supportive to tough love to more cold and demanding styles, but all push those in their care to be the best they can be. A good coach may be tough on their players, but they also recognize their potential and work to encourage it. A bad coach, however, might berate players for failure, or push them past the point of safety to get results.

Bilix Everstone has it all, tremendous wealth, power, and his fingers in every business imaginable, including his very own Starball team. However, when a spectral machine of chaos known as a lawless one begins preying upon him and his assets, tensions and concerns boil over, especially from Golgana coach of the aforementioned sports team, the Forever Stones.

As something of a publicity stunt, the Tardoris Firebloods spend their off season training by visiting harsh worlds and exploring unknown regions as mercenary adventurers, all led by their coach, Billy Lexon. However, while certainly physically adept, the team may yet prove ill prepared for their latest expedition.

Like many svartalfar, Deloc is a private person, but given the sports terminology he sprinkles into his battle plans, it is clear he was once a professional player or even coach in some sport, perhaps a shadowy underground sports arena or racetrack. However, one day his history will catch up to him, and with it the bad blood of his “retirement.”

[zerogate]

Mao took advantage of a simple peculiarity of human nature: the rebelliousness of adolescents. The defiant attitude of teenage punk rockers and heavy metal head-bangers may seem like a rage spawned by the unique disorders of Western culture, but it is not.

Adolescence awakens defiant urges in nearly all primates. In chimpanzees, it inspires a wanderlust that forces some young females to leave the cozy family they’ve always known and go off to make a new life for themselves among strangers. In langur monkeys, it triggers a restlessness that’s much more to the point. Adolescent langur males kick loose the bonds of their childhood family life and cluster in unruly, threatening gangs. Then they go on the prowl, looking for some older, well-established male they can attack. The adolescents’ goal is to dislodge the respectable elder from his cushy home and take over everything he owns—his power, his prestige, and his wives.

As we’ll see later, humans are driven by many of the same instincts as our primate relatives. Consequently, many adolescents of our species also resent the authority of the adults over their heads. Their hormones have suddenly told them that it is time to assert their individuality and to challenge the prerogatives of the older generation.

Schoolchildren were encouraged to find other literary works rotting with revisionism and antirevolutionary notions. The children leapt avidly to their homework assignment. But they became even more enthusiastic a few months later when a new directive came from above: ferret out bourgeois tendencies and reactionary revisionism among your teachers.

The new task was one to which any youngster could apply himself with gusto. That teacher who gave you a poor mark on your last paper? He’s a bourgeois revisionist! Humiliate him. The pedagogue who bawled you out for being late for class? A capitalist rotter! Make her feel your wrath. Revenge had nothing to do with it. This was simply an issue of ideological purity.

Students examined everything their teachers had ever written. In the subtlest turns of innocent phrasing, they uncovered the signs of reactionary villainy. At first, they simply tacked up posters reviling the teachers as monsters and demons. Then all classes were suspended so that pupils could work on sniffing out traitors full-time. Instructors who had fought faithfully with Mao’s revolutionary forces were suddenly reviled. Others who considered themselves zealots of Maoist thought were pilloried as loathsome rightists. Some couldn’t take the humiliation.

Among their teachers, the diligent students “discovered” the vilest of the vile. Gao Yuan says that they uncovered “hooligans and bad eggs, filthy rich peasants and son-of-a-bitch landlords, bloodsucking capitalists and neobourgeoisie, historical counterrevolutionaries and active counterrevolutionaries, rightists and ultrarightists, alien class elements and degenerate elements, reactionaries and opportunists, counterrevolutionary revisionists, imperialist running dogs, and spies.”

The students armed themselves with wooden swords and hardware. At night, they imprisoned their teachers in their bedrooms. Another instructor at the Democracy Street Primary School was driven past endurance and hung himself.

-- Howard Bloom, The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

He mentioned in the book that there was a possibility of him continuing his tenure in the army as a helicopter instructor, but its the whole being stuck behind a desk issue. He mentioned he always had trouble settling down and staying still in a classroom even before the army. Which makes me think a little of add and the fact that he could not go further up without a desk job, no way he could progress past Captain with that.

But that's why they gave him Invictus and the polar expeditions. It's bizarre that he claims he was bored in a desk job, but then he also claims he organized Invictus all on his own...which would have been a desk job.