#fair warning this is VERY long hence the read more

[fanfic-inator795]

WoY: A Decade Later (A personal retrospection)

Wander Over Yonder… for a time, it was - in my opinion - the best cartoon ever. It was my number one, and I wasn't sure that anything else could top it. While I don't necessarily feel the same way these days, it's still a cartoon that very much lives in my heart and I don't think I'll ever truly leave it behind.

From a personal perspective, it was probably the biggest and most active Fandom I had been in at that time. It wasn't my first fandom/hyperfixation - prior to WoY, there had been Cartoon Network's Chowder and Regular Show, as well as Disney's Phineas and Ferb. But Chowder was short-lived and RS and PnF were both shows I had lost interest in due to them beginning to dip in quality.

WoY, however, was new, fresh, exciting and growing rapidly. It inspired me to write probably at least a hundred fanfics. It was a blast live-reacting to new episodes with everyone and seeing all the art that would come afterwards. It brought me into the RP scene and, if not for that, I might have never met my best friend of 10 years (and counting! Love you, Tessa).

Looking back on it 10 years after the fact, I can't fully say that WoY is still my favorite cartoon (shows like Kid Cosmic, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Big City Greens and Craig of the Creek have all outshined it in one way or another), nor can I claim that it is/was a perfect show. But man… It sure was a hell of a ride.

(Keep reading for all my admittedly VERY LONG personal thoughts or opinions regarding this one of a kind show)

Humble Beginnings

Pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I actually didn't care for WoY at first. It was the summer right before college, and I remember watching the sneak peek - The Picnic - early one morning after not being able to go back to sleep. I remember not really laughing much or even seeing the appeal… and yet the episode stuck in my mind, to the point that I ended up watching it again during a free moment I had from Freshman Orientation Week. I had a similar reaction to the show's proper pilot, The Greatest - not loving it, but not hating it either.

The fact that people/friends from my RS and PnF days were also posting about it helped keep the show in my mind (shoutout to Taylor, Erin and Darkwing). But it wasn't until two specific episodes - The Fugitives and The Good Deed - that I managed to finally start to connect with the characters myself. 

I started to see the appeal in this little furry orange spoon who just wanted to do good and make others happy, even when it was a struggle. I really liked the show's core theme of not just optimism and positivity, but also just being kind. I also started to really enjoy the show's sci-fi and space aesthetic and grew to adore its animation and gorgeous backgrounds, as well as laugh at its wacky sense of humor (I still laugh at The Fugitives/Good Deed quite a bit, even though I probably have their entire scripts memorized at this point).

So, it was official. I was hooked. Whenever there were new eps, I'd either try to watch them on the basement TV in my college dorm or wait for a livestream or FreeCartoonsOnline upload. If we're being honest, the first half of season 1, while being much more low-key than the wackiness that the show would end up eventually shifting to, was probably when it was at its most consistent. Other eps later on would reach higher highs, but getting stuff like The Bad Guy, the Prisoner, the Troll, the Pet, the Box and The Little Guy back-to-back just made my love for the show grow more and more.

The Little Guy specifically is one that is just incredibly well-crafted in its dialogue, story-telling and pacing, being both enjoyable and heartfelt. (Also the last time I watched it the ending made me bawl so, there's that, lol). Shortly afterwards, The Hero was another ep that I distinctly remember sticking in my head for whatever reason (Dracor and Demurra are still adorable, ngl). Then we had another favorite of mine, The Nice Guy.

I know I may be in the minority on this one - I remember my parents being annoyed and frustrated when they watched it with me, haha - but I absolutely love this episode. I find the jokes funny enough - the cashier is one of my favorite minor characters tbh - and the space gas station appeals to my aesthetic. But what really sells this episode for me is how it handles and portrays its moral of "being nice isn't always easy, but it's still right and still worth doing". Its ending never fails to get an "awwww" out of me, and honestly I could probably go on for an hour about all the little details and things I like/appreciate. I've also grown to really like its sister episode, the Time Bomb.

But no show is perfect, and right around here is where the show, in my opinion, started having some misses. It was mostly just "meh" affairs like The Night, The Toddler and The Big Job (weird, since I usually like heist eps… though I haven't rewatched this one in a while so *shrugs*). Other eps like The Tourist and ESPECIALLY The Helper (which I consider to be the show's worst outing, the vibes are just SO WEIRD on this one) I just didn't care for at all. 

Nothing terrible (save for the Helper), just cases of the jokes not landing or the stories being boring. This was also when the show really started leaning into the wackiness - which wasn't BAD persay, since it led to some really funny jokes and memorable moments when it was used well - it's just that looking back, I sorta miss the simplicity of early s1.

Thankfully, the season put out some real bangers by its end, with my personal faves being The Epic Quest (that ending will never not make me cackle. Again, it's a case of the wackiness actually working incredibly well), the Halloween/Christmas special, and the Rider, which is a great adventure to cap off the season and also the Horse from Horsin’ Around guest stars in it! (and does a pretty good job too. Will Arnett is def one of my favorite celeb VAs at this point, ngl)

So yeah, between the two seasons, s1 is easily my favorite. Call it nostalgia or personal taste, but for me it's all about that consistency. Adding in the fact that s2 has some pretty notable flaws and is thus a lot harder to look back on without noticing those flaws, and it's really no contest for me. 

New season, New problems

I certainly remember the excitement - as well as the fandom's stir craziness - in the lead-up to s2. There were crackships that were invented, silly RP blogs were rampant, Craig McCracken and crew (back when they were still on Tumblr) kept us fed with cool behind the scenes info as well as sneak peeks of the new season, and while I can't recall when it specifically happened, I also vividly remember the 'Bad End to Episodes' phase that the fandom was in at one point. Ah, the joys of still being in your angst phase.

Come that year's Comic Con, and a new round of hype came from the reveal that our new villain of the season was going to be a girl! …yeahhh, it sorta sucks recalling how hyped we all were about Dominator now that we know that she didn't quite work out the way we were all hoping for…

But regardless, s2 had a very strong start. Outside of the premiere, my favorites of this first batch would easily be The Boy Wander and The It for both just being incredibly funny. Although, if you had asked me at the time though, I probably would have said the Skeleton Dance fueled eps that were The Big Day and the Fremergency Fronfract - and like, yeah those eps can still be funny and enjoyable, but I've definitely cooled on the Skeleton Dance ship since these eps first premiered. (Still love a lot of the cute fanon stuff though)

Skipping past the next tent-pole episode for right now, this season had two of my favorite episodes of the ENTIRE SERIES - these being The Cartoon and The Black Cube. The former is just hilarious while the latter has a unique visual presentation and feels like an early s1 ep, and I mean that in the best possible way. I also really enjoy the Eye on the Skullship as well as the Hole… 'Lotta Nuthin' (this one especially, as it's another instance where, for as good as the ep is as a whole, it's the heartwarming lesson and hilarious ending that makes it such a winner in my book).

But for as much as the show was still putting out hits, I'll admit that there were also quite a few meh or just okay eps, especially as the season goes on. Some eps I found funny when I first watched them, but that humor doesn't hit as well when I watch them now. I also feel like there were points where it tried to be TOO silly to the point where it inhibited the actual humor and made the characters flatter and a bit flanderized compared to how they were in s1 (Hater especially got hit bad with this, where it’s less about him ‘softening up’ to show that he has the potential to be a good guy, and more just him constantly leaning into him being a bratty teenager instead of having that mix of dumb/bratty teen boy and legit evil conqueror).

Other times, it was just another case of a story not being as good as it could have been - and by this point in the season, while there are still enjoyable eps with fun concepts/jokes in the latter half of the series, the only one to get near the peak of the show's typical high quality is the musical ep, and if we're being real, it's Andy Bean's impeccable songwriting that saves this ep and makes it so good to rewatch despite its connection to the season's flawed overall story.

And I think it's about time we talk about that…

Not Quite Ready for Serialization

Being a show that was made right after Gravity Falls but before stuff like Star VS, Amphibia, and Owl House, s2 of WoY felt like a show with one foot stuck in episodic stuff and one foot trying to step into serialization. Because of this, the season’s overarching plot feels incredibly underbaked.

Now… Am I saying that I’d want the show to be like ATLA where every episode had to relate back to either the overarching story or one of the side-arcs? No, absolutely not. We’d be missing out on some of my favorite one-shot episodes if they did that, and if I had to choose between the season we have now and the season we could have gotten had the WoY crew gotten more freedom and were allowed more serialization, I’m going with the former each and every time.

HOWEVER, I still have to acknowledge just how poorly done the structure of this season was when it came to the overarching story. Basically we got four tentpole episodes acting as the season’s beginning, arc shifts and ending. During the season’s second and third arcs, there would be certain episodes afterwards reacting to the change in the show’s status quo.

Now, I get what they were TRYING to do but in my opinion it just really didn’t work as well as it could have. I’ll talk more about this in a bit but the season’s second arc (the “romance” arc) definitely got tiring after a while, meanwhile the third “Stop Dominator” arc felt like it was sort of killing time given that it was mostly just the main 4 trying to find some sort of weapon/figure out some sort of plan that ultimately resulted in some ‘funny’ failures and some quick lessons, with the occasional character piece thrown in here or there.

Now, I didn’t hate these episodes. By this point, it should be evident that one of my favorite elements of WoY are its morals and lessons, so even if the episodes themselves didn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things and were essentially filler, I can at least appreciate a message like “being sad doesn’t mean you’ve given up hope” or “allowing yourself to laugh even in the dark times can help a ton”. So yeah, not completely pointless.

Unfortunately, even with a few bright spots here and there, the overarching plot of s2 still feels underbaked somewhat - and that’s ultimately because of the new character its focused around.

Dominator’s Dilemma

Okay, fess up. Whose idea was it to completely exclude Dominator from the first six episodes of the season (after the s2 premiere)? Because WOW does this decision backfire a lot. I don’t even like Dom that much and I can still acknowledge that she needed much more screen time and focus than she got.

I don’t know if this was to build up the ‘mystery’ surrounding her or because they wanted to get back in the groove of writing the main 4, but this was the crew’s first crucial mistake. Hell, in the first two episodes she plays an active role in, she’s nearly silent in both of them, only having her little fangirl rant in The Greater Hater and a small handful of lines in The Battle Royals. (Which, if I’m being honest, is still a really fun episode for 90% of it, having both great action and absolutely hilarious jokes that still make me laugh, but I get the ending of it making people sour on the episode as a whole.)

Again, it felt like trying to build up this artificial mystery surrounding her when it really wasn’t necessary. Dominator was meant to be a MAIN MEMBER of the cast! Yet I’m pretty sure Emperor Awesome got more significant screen time than her in the end!

Things got a teeny bit better as the show went on, with Dom at the very least getting more lines and more moments to be both badass and totally villainous, but she still felt more like a goal/obstacle than an actual character. I’m not sure if the writers MEANT to do this persay, or if it was just an accident.

Ultimately, it wasn’t until The Night Out when Dom finally got a spotlight episode… which was a little over 3/4ths of the way through the season. You could argue that she also got a bit of characterization in the musical episode, but it was really more emphasizing what we already knew or could infer about her. 

The Night Out, meanwhile, gives us something new - that she’s lonely - and we get a teeny hint of this again in The Robomechabotatron before being told outright in the series finale. Ultimately, it truly does feel like too little too late - especially when her secretly desiring friends just sorta feels like it’s aping off Hater’s secret motivations of wanting to be liked/admired and to have friends/people who love him for who he is.

So yeah, the crew completely dropped the ball on Dom’s characterization, using her as just a goal/threat/obstacle/etc. for nearly all of her appearances. Not only does it make Dom feel like a shallow character, but it also just feels unfair in general. Practically everything we know about Dom is for the sake of other characters.

She’s a test for Wander, an enemy/temporary love interest for Hater, an obstacle for our main four to overcome, and a threat to the characters we already love. Again, there’s nothing wrong with having a character that’s only meant to serve a purpose in the narrative, nor is there anything wrong with a character being shallowly evil… it’s just that the WoY crew hyped her up so much and claimed that she was a fifth main character (implying that she would get about as much development as the main four), so it just felt all the more disappointing when we didn’t get that. Add in her character design - a mix of goth/punk girl energy with Hartman Hips - and it does feel just a tad misogynistic.

There were things I liked about Dom - her cool lava powers and gadgets, her excitable personality, her villain spotlight moments, and her fun vocal performance provided by Noel Wells were all excellent. But unfortunately, these were all surface-level elements, and the crew just didn’t put in enough time to give her much else, essentially saving all her deeper character stuff for the never-made season 3…

A love-hate relationship (leaning towards hate)

Of course you can’t talk about Dom without discussing the season’s second arc, which many see as both a tumor on the plot and the absolute low point of the season. Admittedly when I was watching the season for the first time, I didn’t mind the romance arc all that much. I didn’t care if Dom was getting short-changed, I was too busy laughing at Hater falling all over himself like a dork and thought all the ‘critics’ of the arc were just focusing on the wrong thing and didn’t know how to have fun with a silly cartoon.

Obviously, this was the wrong perspective to have about this sort of thing (I was in the mindset of “I don’t want to accidentally make myself hate this thing I love so I’m going to ignore all criticism of it”. Definitely not the right approach), one that I still apologize for because the critics were totally in the right. From both an objective and a storytelling standpoint, this arc was just the worst - and for several reasons.

Leaning into the overall problem with Dom herself as mentioned previously, this arc was focused solely on Hater and Wander (and to an extent Syl and Peeps as they tried to talk some sense into their respective friends). Whenever Dom was brought in, she either used Hater’s crush to mess with him or just ignored it entirely, being obviously annoyed - and that was the extent of focus that her feelings got.

Outside of those moments, however, Dom’s feelings are relegated to the background, deemed as ‘unimportant’. Sure, in the climax of the arc, she gets this big whole musical number about how she’s “not the damsel” and isn’t interested in Hater’s affections - but again, it’s at the VERY END of the arc and the moment is less about Dom standing up for herself and more about emphasizing just how cruel she can be, as instead of simply rejecting Hater’s advances, she laughs in his face, continuing to mess with him to try and make the rejection as painful as possible before ultimately trying to kill Hater.

But while the arc ends in a showy (and admittedly still kinda fun, thank you Andy Bean and your musical talents) way, the way it starts sorta proves why this idea was so rotten to the core. The ONLY reason why Wander tries to get Hater and Dom together is ONLY because he knows Hater wants a GF and believes that a ‘positive’ thing like love could only ever result in the two villains finding happiness and no longer being evil. Nevermind the fact that Wander is shown only really caring about Hater’s perspective, not once considering Dom’s feelings or even asking if she wants a BF or romantic partner in general.

We get Syl calling him out on this a couple of times, but it’s in that ‘oh that Wander, always with the crazy ideas’ way. You’d think Sylvia, the icon that she is, would be just a bit more blunt and maybe even a bit harsh about how Wander’s treating Dominator - it’s not just a matter of it being a dumb and dangerous plan, but it’s essentially objectifying Dom, treating her like Hater’s missing piece. But hey, it’s fiiiiine, because Wander learns his lesson in the end, right? Except, no not really.

Because even when Wander FINALLY realizes this and feels guilty about causing so much trouble, Syl is more concerned with comforting Wander about it, because he TRIED to do what he thought was right and that “acknowledging you messed up is the first step towards making things right”. Like… yeah I guess but you could have let Wander actually acknowledge what he did was wrong and super messed up, focusing more on the personal aspect of how his whole romance scheme affected Dom AS WELL AS Hater (not JUST Hater) instead of how his scheme broke Hater’s heart and inadvertently made Dom more powerful.

(Also we see Wander shipping and actively pairing up the little Pikmin things in “The Sky Guy” soooooo no I don’t think he fully learned his lesson)

I also have to bring up how there are fans who view Dominator and her whole anti-love thing as aphobic. As someone who only recently figured out she was almost definitely aromantic, I’m certainly not the authority on this, but I can certainly understand the critiques.

What I THINK the WoY Crew was trying to go for was a ‘strong female villain who don’t need no man’, but between Dom constantly being described as ‘heartless’ and Peeps saying that he “doesn’t think she likes anybody” and her cruelty being turned up to 11 whenever someone expressed romantic feelings towards her, it does sorta imply “She can’t love and THAT’S why she’s a villainous monster” rather than simply “she’s a villainous monster”. And because we don’t get any real development or strong characterization with Dom, it’s hard to say where exactly her cruelty comes from, so it’s hard to really argue against these implications without simply inserting headcanons like “Dom is a lesbian”.

Now to be fair, I have seen some aromantics see Dom as good representation - I recall a month or so back when I saw people praising her after she was included in one of those Tumblr polls, with this one being focused on aromantic characters, saying that they liked how she didn’t sugarcoat her rejections and seeing her as this strong, cool, badass villainous who didn’t need romance. So yeah, obviously not every person who shares an identity is going to agree on representation and whether or not it's good, but considering all of Dom’s baggage and the inability to determine whether or not her heartlessness is the cause of her evil or simply a by-product of it, I personally feel like she’s just too messy of an example of a potential aro character.

(Honestly, Syl feels like a better example of an aromantic character to me, given that she and Ryder seemed just as platonic as she and Wander are, as well as her multiple rejections of Awesome and general disinterest/discomfort with romance. Buuut given that those latter examples are specifically with villains and thus it makes sense why she’d reject them regardless of her orientation, it’s still just a vibe/headcanon).

Before I close off this section, I do wanna acknowledge that beyond the potentially aphobic nature of Dominator, WoY’s LGBTQ+ rep isn’t nearly as great as I thought it was once upon a time as a young shipper. Some parts are still pretty okay, like Wander being coded as genderfluid/agender, but overall it still feels more like an old Looney Tunes cartoon than an episode of “The Owl House”, if you get what I’m saying.

In Craig’s defense, the man has never been all too interested in romance in his shows nor has he claimed otherwise - he either uses it as a joke while portraying it as a negative (see Ms.KeenexProf.Utonium, BlooxBerry or, obviously, DomxHater) or it’s a wholesome relationship that ultimately still stays in the background because it’s not all that important (see DracorxDemurra or Ramona and Carlos Flores from “Kid Cosmic”). 

BUT given that there were LGBTQ+ crew members working on the show in s2, such as N.D. Stevenson, as well as LGBTQ+ allies, it is a shame that no proper representation came of that. We got a whole episode where the joke was “oh, Wander and Hater are planning Wander’s execution like it’s a wedding”, an episode where Peeps and Hater essentially break up when Hater fires him, and an “I just can’t quit you” sort of moment from Peeps in the s2 finale when he goes all heart-eyed over Hater deciding to continue being a villain. That’s it, all jokes but nothing substantial. Even the show’s number one lesbian/wlw pairing of SylxDom got a quick Girls Night montage and one sweet moment between them, nothing else.

Again, it’s fine if you’re just looking for jokes, and yeah the WoY Crew never outright promised any romances… buuuut given how much they chose to lean into the Skeleton Dance and DeathGlare stuff while at the same time never outright confirming any of these characters as LGBTQ+ (they didn’t even have to make any ships canon, they just had to say whether or not Wander/Hater/Peeps were gay/bi/pan/etc), I’m not gonna invalidate people who feel just a bit queerbaited about the whole thing.

Bittersweet Goodbyes

As I said before, I was starting college when WoY first premiered. It’s the show that led me to my best friend and it’s the show that helped me through those first two years of college (easily the roughest part of college). It was a show that made me laugh and got me excited, even during the times where I was stressed out or worried. For all its flaws, it was one of the brightest lights in my life at that time.

So, needless to say, when I heard the show was canceled, I was devastated. I remember crying about it that night and even the day after, and I remember joining in as many online strategies as possible to try and get the show back, from letter writing to petition signing. Of course none of that worked, but as a bright side, going through this helped emotionally prepare me for the next time one of my favorite shows was suddenly canceled (looking at you Nickelodeon. Though considering how the RotTMNT movie turned out maaaaybe it was for the best…)

Honestly, for as much as I can look at the show through a critical lens nowadays and point out all the ways it could have been better, I think there will always be a small part of me that wishes we could have gotten some sort of continuation, whether it be through a special, a TV movie or a comic - or hell, I’d even take the plans for s3 leaking at this point. Now, given that the end of WoY brought about the creation of “Kid Cosmic”, I feel like this part has faded a bit, but I’m always gonna want closure on things like Hater’s arc as well as his origins given how much they were teased.

But that in itself is another critique I could give the show. Whether it be Wander facing a different type of threat that wasn’t just another villain, Hater’s transition into becoming a good guy, Peepers getting fed up with his boss and striking out on his own, or Dom’s true characterization that the crew kept insisting was there - the show simply saved a lot of it’s most interesting ideas for a potential Season 3. It was a gamble, and it was one they ultimately lost. It sucks, but it is what it is.

There’s a few more things I could critique about the show, such as its take on the idea of character redemption and Wander becoming a bit of a karma houdini that the show pretty much stopped calling out, and while these critiques are valid I feel like there are other fans who could do a better job talking about those points. But in the end, while season 2 was both a let down in some parts and a bit of a mess in others, I still feel like there were ultimately more good things to be found within the show than bad things.

It’s not a perfect show, far from it. Frankly, I don’t look down on anyone who fell out of love with this show or enjoyed s1 but hated s2. But for what it’s worth, the memories I got from the show are still ones I treasure, and episodes like “The Good Deed”, “The Little Guy”, “The Nice Guy”, “The Epic Quest”, “The Rider”, “The Boy Wander”, “The Black Cube”, “The Hole… Lotta’ Nuthin’” and “The Cartoon” are ones I still love to bits and will probably always love as I watch them over and over.

Disney Channel itself may not care all that much about this show these days save for an occasional rerun or a quick cameo in their Chibi-Verse shorts, but I’m always gonna remember it - for better and for worse. So here’s to 10 years, WoY. I may not always like you, but I still love you.

[distort-opia]

Have we talked about how bonkers it is to get married to someone else while wearing the symbol of your fucked up bond with the undead dark wizard corpse you rose from the dead? It's probably been discussed already, but I need to exorcise all my thoughts on Nosferatu (2024)... so yeah, I just find it such a deliciously insidious choice. When Ellen wears her wedding dress at the end of the movie, welcoming Orlok, she has dried lilacs in her hair from her prior wedding to Thomas, as the shooting script itself confirms. And Ellen had to know that marrying Thomas would break her Covenant with Orlok, right? She swore to be with Orlok ever-eternally, and then swore the same thing to Thomas at a chapel. Later, she tells Thomas, "He took me as his lover then, and now he has come back. He has discovered our marriage and has come back!" She must've had some inkling of what would happen, if she broke her Vow. So then what must've gone through her mind, to put those specific flowers in her hair as she was giving herself to another?

I got so long with this one, hence the cut. In fair warning, this interpretation is very Ellen x Orlok oriented, so if that's not your preferred view on the movie, you might not enjoy reading the rest.

It's almost mocking, her flaunting of lilacs as she marries Thomas. It's almost a "come back and get me". It's almost as if she knew she was preparing this dress for a different kind of wedding ("I have brought this evil upon us"). It's keeping in tone with that dark, eerie scene of Ellen clipping her hair and putting it in the locket, to give to Thomas... but as we know, the locket ends up with Orlok instead. And he uses that lilac-perfumed lock of hair to re-establish his hold on Ellen! It's as if she sent him a means of communication with her, because prior to Orlok obtaining the locket, we don't see him speaking to Ellen. The Covenant between them was broken by her, and Orlok needed to use earthly means of influence via Herr Knock in order to get to her and her husband. Of course, she has premonitions (her nightmare of marrying Death, steeped in the scent of lilacs once more) but it's not a dream induced by Orlok; it's part of her own psychic powers. And so, by putting a lock of hair inside the locket, knowing where Thomas was going... she gives Orlok a way to talk to her. Because we constantly see him use the locket as an anchor of some kind, as he spreads his influence towards Ellen. And then, all the while afterwards in her trances, Ellen moans "He is coming to me, he is coming..." Gleeful, orgasmic.

Am I saying Ellen intentionally and in full awareness did these things, so that Orlok would come to her? No, not entirely. I don't think it's something so planned and so conscious. She is as terrified and hateful towards Orlok as she is attracted to him, and that's the thing. It's a compulsion, a yearning. All along, through the entire movie, Ellen yearns. It's all over the shooting script; she pines and wants and hungers, in relation to Thomas, and to Anna, and to Orlok himself. And it isn't something spiritual. It's a yearning for touch.

"I frightened him [my father]. My touch..." Ellen says to Von Franz, when he consults for her. She feels the need to highlight that, as if her father recoiling from her touch was the hardest part she had to bear, the thing that made her the most lonely-- desperate enough to call out for any kind of companionship and tenderness. At the beginning of the film, before Thomas leaves, we see how much skinship Ellen seeks with her husband; she asks him to stay and make love to her when he was late for his meeting with Knock, they kiss each other ravenously after the Hardings depart to put the children to sleep. And both times, the script describes Ellen as "hungry". Even when Thomas leaves and gives her a small goodbye kiss, the text says "It's not enough for Ellen." Later in the movie, after Thomas is returned and dreams horribly due to Orlok's influence, Ellen is cuddling with him, but he pushes her away, asking her to "get off". She feels rejected enough that she seeks out someone else's physical touch-- Anna's, with whom we see her in bed next, and once again, the script uses "yearning" more than once to describe Ellen's behavior.

The theme of repressed sexuality and how in Victorian times, a female want for sex was demonized, has been discussed again and again in relation to Nosferatu (2024). Orlok is, indeed, a dark mirror to Ellen's desires: he is monstrous because she sees her own wants as monstrous. He destroys and brings disease, because Ellen sees that part of herself as destructive and unclean. But I do think there's a fascinating element to Ellen's nature that is not part of Orlok's symbolism, but rather extends to him as a character... her ravenous appetite for love. Her father deprived her of it, but the Shadow that came to her when she called was just that-- a shadow. A presence. It was not a person that could hold her, a person she might touch. Orlok, a spirit only, was not enough. He himself says it, while he's on the ship set for Wisburg. "Soon I will be no more a shadow to you." And this line was cut from the movie, but in the 2023 script, he also says, "Your spirit was never enough."

It was the script that made me think of this whole thing, really. Mostly because of how it describes their first meeting:

"...for the first time, she faces him in THE FLESH." It's emphasized. It's important, that Orlok is not a shadow here. That he is there, that Ellen can feel him and smell the blood on his breath. But the most damning thing she accuses him of? "You cannot love." As if that's the most important part for her, as if saying "That's what I need from you, and you can't give it to me". And Orlok admits that he cannot love her the way Thomas does, but that he hungers for her nonetheless.

I don't know, I just find this a much more compelling interpretation than a simple "Ellen is Orlok's victim and he is her abuser". Yes, Orlok is an appetite, but so is Ellen. Ellen is an active participant. She is the one to summon Orlok, the one to dictate his actions via his sheer want of her, the one to lure him to her so she could indulge her desire. Except, as it is a staple of dark and gothic romances, Ellen cannot directly act upon what she wants. Not like Orlok can. That's the point-- her desires are repressed, she believes them to be shameful, and so she needs an excuse to let them out. That's what characters like Orlok, who threaten and coerce, provide. A way to give in that preserves the heroine's "purity"; she sacrificed herself to save Thomas and Wisburg! She said she abhored him, she wanted Orlok dead! But then, why wear lilacs at her wedding? Why give Thomas the locket with the lilac-scented strand of hair? Why call Orlok her lover? Why wear a wedding dress and then cradle him in her arms as they died together, once again needing to touch him?

And I will say, it's great how this conflict, this self-hatred regarding her own feelings, is contrasted also in Orlok. "Till you did wake me, enchantress..." "You are my affliction." It's almost scornful, accusatory. You get the feeling he resents how much influence Ellen has on him, but he cannot help himself in the slightest. He denies that it's love, he says he cannot love-- but we have to keep in mind what he says prior. "Love is inferior to you." He considers love a weakness, something that he (as something inhuman, and something he believes Ellen is as well) is above of. But love is Ellen's craving, while life is Orlok's. Orlok is equated to Death. An all-consuming appetite, and they end up infecting each other with it, and then hating themselves for it. Ellen is oppressed by the society around her; her father had nearly institutionalized her, she had to marry Thomas to escape him. She is seen as strange and ill, as having "childish fancies", even by her own husband. She is tied to a bed and quieted down with drugs in the house of a man who's pretty much a representative of benevolent patriarchy. And so, does she not hate them all for doing this to her? Orlok bringing death and destruction on the society and people who stifled her is no coincidence, obviously.

But then again, Orlok ends up with a yearning for a person. Desire for someone's soul and body, not just their life-blood, which is ultimately something human... and he can't deny her, not even when he knows he would die. In that first scene in which Ellen calls upon him, he says "You are not for the living. You are not of human kind." It's the unspoken "You are for me. You are like me," that dooms him to an inescapable obsession, his own version of Ellen's yearning.

Ultimately, the human is a little bit monstrous, and dies for it. And the monster is a little bit human, and dies for it too. I, for one, am fucking obsessed with it.

[wordbunch]

oh, how unreasonable [Halbrand]

LONG A/N: I hope yall have lots of fun and feels while reading this, and I am living for any comments and impressions ♡ if it is slight ooc, I really don't care. If you don't consider Halbrand a warning in itself, then the only warning I have is occasionally suggestive conversation.

❗️this is essentialy Halbrand x my OC Díorien (she), who is a half-elf with the other half of her roots unknown, but there are no physical descriptions - feel free to consider it a reader insert. The only extra bit of knowledge is that she can use fire magic (hence multiple fire references), she is more-less one of the elves but not fully, and is very much on the fence about who to side with. A girl is struggling

I wholeheartedly recommend these 2 songs for the mood ♡

“So it is true.” 

“What is?”

“That evil never sleeps?” Díorien’s face appeared in warm candlelight amid the dark room. Her eyes scanned the figure in front of her with equal parts disdain and intrigue.

“Ever so witty, my queen,” Halbrand cackled, positioned in front of the door of Díorien’s private chambers. “How could I sleep, knowing you are here, and not by my side in a realm of our own creation?”

Cautiously he began to approach her bed, thick darkness everywhere except for the cool glow of the moon through the large window above her headboard, and the candle in her hand she had lit seconds ago. Fitting. 

“What brings you here?” she inquired dryly, pretending with all her might that his presence in the dead of night wasn’t making her shiver from head to toe. Having just awoken abruptly, she needed a few moments to wrap her head around the situation and realize she was dressed only in a delicate, sheer nightgown with sheets bunched up around her waist and legs. Swallowing thickly, Díorien decided to just pretend she was dressed properly - however, she was convinced Halbrand could see right through her anyway. Somehow he was always able to. 

“What brings me here is…” he began, voice heavy with something inexplicable, “the fact that the most enchanting, strong, passionate woman in the world, does not want to partake in that world with me.”

“But how could I, Halbrand?” She defended herself, not fully convinced she stood behind her own words. The way his eyes pored over her vulnerable form in the candlelight pulled the very ground from beneath her feet. “Y-you want me to-”

“I want you to rule with me, I want you to be my other half, I want you to come with me somewhere you will be not cast aside, but worshipped.” All decorum aside, Halbrand sat on the edge of her bed, and he could see her swallow thickly. If he said that heat wasn’t overcoming his whole body in her presence, that would be a very transparent lie, since that usually was the effect that she had on him. And he knew that she knew about it very well. “They do not understand you. They do not drive you to grow greater, to aim for more - they do not see you the way that I see you, Díor.” He was sliding one hand slowly over the mattress towards Díorien’s hand which was tightly clutching the silky sheets. “I know how that feels, my starlight, because that is how they are to me as well. But not you. Not you. You know my mind like you have walked the very steps inside of it. And I - I see the greatness that burns within you, the flame that terrifies everyone else, except someone who has walked through fire before.” His voice was quiet and gruff, but with an edge of persistence.

“Halbrand-” she whispered, furrowed eyebrows reflecting her inner turmoil.

“When you say my name like that, I am willing to throw the rest of the world away and just live in you instead.” He interrupted her eagerly, but she cleared her throat, determined to continue.

but you’ve come to offer, i’m here to receive / your face is my gospel, your body my creed / bring me to your altar, drop me to my knees / the more i worship, the more i believe 

“You are asking me to betray my own kin-”

“And you would betray your own heart.”

His calloused hand found his way to her closed fist and wrapped around it. Had the windows not been open and graciously letting in a light breeze, Díorien would have combusted then and there. In spite of that, she allowed him to touch her. 

“Do I not make you feel better than any of them, my queen? Do I not make you feel euphoric, boundless? I find it hard to believe you have already forgotten how we relished in each other, away from any judgemental glare,” he pressed with a deceitful pout. His other hand found its way to her bare shoulder, his touch almost scathing in the crackling air.

“Even when I try to bury those memories, they come back all the stronger, and I tremble every time I feel the ghost of your lips on my body” she admitted earnestly, her eyes bearing a striking vulnerability. “I feel you even when I least wish to do so, but I do not believe you and your proposals and schemes.”

it’s not fair, oh, it’s not fair how much i love you / it’s not fair ‘cause you make me ache, you bastard

Halbrand sighed away a self-satisfied smile, composing himself before speaking up once again. “You would not be betraying any of them - I need you to establish a new order with me, I need you to save your beloved world with me. You would not be betraying anyone, quite the contrary, you would be their savior, and nobody would have any right to pass you any judgment.”

There were a few steady beats of silence, the only moving thing the meek, flickering flame of a single candle on the windowsill, and the light that it cast on all around it. 

“Do you speak of betrayal because you were conditioned to do so, or because you feel that way truly? You speak of your kin, but are they, really? What makes you anymore closely bound to any of them, than it does to me? Had you been so important to each other, you wouldn’t have been treated like some lesser-”

Díorien interrupted his barrage of questions before his voice could adopt an even more venomous tone than it just had.

“And what do you know of true feelings, of truth in any capacity?” She chuckled dryly, hoping to have finally caught him off guard. In that moment, the only perfectly true thing about her was the fact that she was holding onto her morality by a thread, weakening by the second. He knew too well exactly where to hit her, and how, and she was aware that she had entered a battle inevitably to be lost. 

“The way I feel with your hands on me is the only measure of truth I need. You are the very flame of my heart.” 

Whether her senses and sanity were failing, or was there something so genuine and frail in the way he delivered his confession, there was no way to tell. Their eyes met as an abundance of feelings grazed his facial expression. 

and if you asked me to, if you asked me, i would lose it all / like petals in a storm / ‘cause darling, i was born to press my head between your shoulder blades, at night when light is fading

The thread weakened to become next to nothing. Against her better judgment, Díorien reached out a warm hand to remove a stray curl that had fallen over Halbrand’s eyes. He himself was growing uncertain of what exactly he was holding onto. Perhaps it was just her existence, just her closeness, her overt ferocity and her inescapable radiance. He only knew he wanted more of it, all of it, until the end of all the ages of the world. 

“But if your plan for a newly established perfect harmony fails, what then, Halbrand?” Díorien’s tone was stiff yet hushed, but it was all false pretenses; those troubled eyes, unruly hair and towering height had broken through her guard one too many times already. She sat there, defeated, all but vibrating with things left unsaid, and the expectations of things yet to be heard. 

“We would still have one another,” he retorted with a pinch of desperation in his voice, and you would still have thousands… millions, under your merciful hand.” He touched her jawline, brushing over her lower lip with his thumb. “And me, merely a breath away from your lips.” Halbrand’s eyebrow twitched upwards ever so slightly; she would have missed it had she not been so familiar with almost all of his crevices and corners. “You would have tried saving the elves, saving Middle-earth, if that is necessary to still your conscience. But failure of my mission or not - in the end you still come out a winner. We do.” His hand found her trembling fingers, firmly bringing them to his lips, never ceasing to hold her gaze. 

“When you look at me like that,” she whispered, subconsciously leaning into his touch and toward his face, “I find myself failing to draw a single breath,” she finished shakily, mentally cursing herself for falling under his influence time and time again. Although she had aimed to hold her ground, she was walking a thin line between the right choice and the reckless one. But, oh, the reckless one had a smile which made her forget her own name, and the rasp in his voice drowned out even the sweetest elven melodies. She wasn’t walking a line - she was falling over it right into the strong arms of her ravishing, twisted enemy (or at least whom she was raised to believe was one). 

Halbrand offered her a devilish, partially relieved, grin as he pulled her onto his lap in one swift motion, twisted sheets and all; she drew in a sharp breath weaving both of her hands into his unruly hair. Forehead against forehead, they were now painfully aware of both of their strained breathing and the thrill that was palpable in the, until very recently still, air. Díorien eagerly renounced the last bits of her poise as soon as his face was buried in her tender neck, his beard deliciously scratching her skin. However, as soon as she let out a sweet breath of pleasure, Halbrand moved away to look into her face again.

“Is that a yes, my queen?” he whispered, looking up at her through his lashes, his hands firmly dug into her hips. 

“It is anything you want it to be, my king,” her answer was hurried, desperate, starving, merely a millisecond before she collided her lips with his. 

It didn’t take long before Halbrand maneuvered them so that he was hovering over the wide-eyed girl with fire inside her body and heart.  

“I think it is time I make you forget all those wretched little excuses you tried giving me, darling,” he murmured into her skin before hastily blowing out the candle.

oh, how, oh how unreasonable / how unreasonably in love i am with everything you do / i’ll spend my days so close to you / ‘cause if i’m stood here, then i’m stood here / and i’ll stand here / i’ll stand here with you.

♡♡♡

shoutout to my most beloved 💖💖💖 @queenmeriadoc @lady-of-imladris

and @entishramblings i know you're not a ROP girl, but perhaps the writing style will be right up your alley 🥰

[ronearoundblindly]

How does mermaid reader feel about Steve? Like what is her take on their relationship?

just fair warning if you keep writing I’m gonna keep asking questions lol.

I...don't know what happened with this, but it was kinda fun! (unedited, not long, no real warnings except, yeah, he's a human and you're a mermaid, semi-angsty fluff!!)

Steve Rogers x deep sea mermaid!Reader from Sun, Salt, and Shield

Steve is a novelty.

Originally, you just considered him a split-tail with a crown of morning sunlight and high-ocean eyes. Later on, you learned it's called 'hair,' but a closer translation based on how mermaids see it is a 'mane.' Steve has a golden mane--something no one in your species has--hence, you think of it as a crown.

You were caged when you first saw him. That made you assume certain things when Steve walked up to the Raft's tank. Even in near darkness, his mane is bright. No other person you've encountered so far has that.

You're curious, frankly, but on-guard as always.

When humans are deprived of sleep, they can hallucinate, and mermaids are no different. You thought he was a complete figment of your imagination until Stark interacted with him, until Steve stepped into the water and put pressure across your heart and hips. The push of his hand, forcing your head against his chest, could have made you howl in relief.

All you wanted was to rest, but something in the back of your mind also told you not to scare him.

Stark, you don't mind scaring, Chuck is right where he belongs, excreted out into the industrial filters beyond the wall of your tank, but Steve? He must be protected.

He sees you. He listens to you.

You did not thing surfacers could do that. Not really. Not nicely. All humans want to do is control and take, use and abuse. However, you aren't afraid of them. You absolutely can kill any one of them that gets closer than you'd like. They're fragile.

But the way Steve grips you? Maybe he's not so fragile...

English is freaking hard. You learn quite a bit from Tony and then practice with Steve. You can feel his patience but love earning his admiration more. You find yourself wanting him to be proud of you and your progress.

You love making Steve laugh. It takes so long to figure out how to amuse him.

Numbers are a pain in the ass to learn because they have a concept, a symbol, and a written word. That's the point Tony halts teaching you to read alongside the verbal language. You threw a fit. He threw a fit. He left in a huff to cool off. You shrieked for Steve to come back for hours.

Eventually, when Tony returns, you threaten to eat him, and he calls it quits for the day.

Tony knew you favored Steve Rogers from day one. He planned to use that knowledge--and to some lesser extent, he did--but soon Tony simply realizes making you happy makes Steve happy...plus you cooperate and become an ambassador of sorts in your home realm.

You keep learning for Steve, not for Stark.

Mermen are, in your experience, domineering and uninspired. Their immense size differential to mermaids is useful to the brute-force model of society deep in the ocean, but they are boring. Your father is not stupid though. Almost none of them are stupid. Simple-minded remains the best translation you can manage.

Steve fascinates you. His attention to detail, his open nature, and his empathy are entirely new to you.

Mermen don't hide their baser instincts, so they freely ogle and flocked toward the most physiologically attractive mermaids. No interest in what's beneath the surface, ironically. Very shallow.

That's not to say bonds aren't possible. They absolutely are. Bonding with a partner is secondary at best, an afterthought most often, and unnecessary at worst.

Yet again, Steve wins you on every level--he has a sharp mind and acknowledges yours, he challenges your development without critique, and, lastly, he's quite attractive for how small and smooth he is.

"Should've seen me before," he once mumbled after you explained all that as well as your vocabulary would allow.

You don't know what he meant by that.

Because a certain level of indifference is common in couplings of your species, you were quite alarmed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable with how deep your affection for Steve became. You know how other humans react to you, and it doesn't build much confidence that one of them could feel this way about you.

During these long, repeated hugs with Steve, you realize that it's not just curiosity, or the novelty of his existence, or interest in learning from him: you feel about Steve how others feel about their mates.

Not gonna lie: that's terrifying. You don't actually know if Steve reciprocates. Sure, he explains human couples in great detail, and he shows you some of what he means, but all that could be...part of teaching you.

Until Steve discusses kissing, you convinced yourself he could not possibly harbor romantic affection for you.

It's lips against something, he says, that's all. His lips can press anywhere and boom! you've been kissed. He illustrates by kissing the back of your hand, kissing your cheek, kissing your forehead.

By now, your face is cradled in his hands. You can hear his heart racing as he sits on the steps in your pool and leans toward your body. His high-ocean eyes are shadowed as he looks down your face, captivated by--

"--your beautiful lips," he says, gently pressing his atop yours.

It's difficult to describe why something so simple hits so dramatically in your mind. The golden-maned man, almost the strongest of his species, amongst the softest of yours, kisses you like he needs to learn you, like he needs your existence, like he's curious.

There's a phrase you hum at the back of your throat once he releases you and sits up, a dusty rose painting his neck and cheeks.

"Swim beside me."

The better translation to English would be "I love you," but you haven't learned that yet.

Thank you for asking!

A/N: why am I crying?????

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[the-gayest-show]

bro it's actually so annoying seeing neil gaiman mentions randomly in stuff now where i used to be excited before.

picked up a copy of fahrenheit 451 (good book, currently reading) and it's not supposed to be about him but he's got an intro section in this book man.

like i don't know what to think, feel. good omens was my lifeline for so long that neil gaiman became my favorite author when i explored his work. i loved the dark vibes about it and stuff, but now it's got me reexamining everything like it's been poisoned.

i still believe in the merit of stuff like good omens and i still have an appreciation for the stuff he made already but it's like i've been soured by all the news of him being a rapist. which i suppose is fair.

but now i see him randomly IN STUFF I DONT EVEN EXPECT HIM IN

i vaguely remember reading a short story where ray bradbury was listed as a huge inspo or something for neil and neil visited ray bradbury or something. so that's why neil's in my world classic book, but it's still annoying. doesn't taint fahrenheit 451 (once again, good book) but it's annoying how his intro words feel horribly wonky to me. i didn't even read the intro i just skipped to the ray bradbury story i wanted to read.

-

i still own a few of his books, i still own good omens merch (including neil's scriptbook too)

i get the whole "separate the art from artist" and i believe in it but it's damn different because this man was like. my role model for cool writing. and i liked the stuff he's made. i still love good omens (hence why im still rbing occasional posts) but i dont think i'll view it the same, even if s3 will not have him in it. a lot of his stories are very affecting like they changed my life (i LOVED ocean at the end of the lane) and he got me reading all his short stories when i read trigger warning (which i own a forever copy of in my home). ive read every single one in there and then borrowed other short story collections.

-

on the one hand this sucks but i've gained some life lessons from it. one time i made the curse/blessing (both at the same time) of posting a question on reddit asking whether there was physical evidence because i guess i was in denial? i was trying to rationalize everything in a frankly unrationalizable situation, and half the people shouted at me thinking i was a rape apologist (i was asking if there was more evidence that i havent seen because i used to be on the fence but leaning toward believin the survivors) and the other half actually took me at my word and gave me solid advice on how to understand everything (the latter i thank so much for seeing the confusion in everything and answering the real question i had).

like if i've learned anything is that this sucks. you CANT rationalize it and also that i'm not very good at understanding the big social picture and it took me mentioning being autistic to realize "man, the neurodevelopmental disorder that makes you bad at socializing affects how you interact with others in a greater social context!" (and also for half the redditors to realize that i wasn't trying to be mean) who knew. but hey some nice commenters genuinely woke me up and gave me actual viable advice that's actually useful and ive learned so much from that it's crazy.

that;s probably my only positive though. i still get icky looking at some stuff he wrote and was a part of but i suppose im getting thru this in my own way and i'll figure it out.

[pagegirlintraining]

helloo

i have been re-reading your sex-shop au (it's really good) you co-wrote with sb else and i have been wondering. in the sequel when stuff gets more explicit, how is it to write that? do you plan intimate scenes a lot or more than other scenes. what is important? or are they more spontaneous? is it a big challenge to write them together with sb else and do you read each others parts to give feedback? what kind of feedback?

haha that's quite a few questions but i'm curious :)

hi there anon :)

First of all thank you, that’s so sweet and I’m glad it’s holding up on the re-read too 🫶🏼

Now as for your questions, I’ll try going through them one by one. Just a warning, this might get a bit long (when asked about writing, I’ll always have a hard time shutting up again 😅).

Also disclaimer, I’m obviously not some sort of expert on this topic. This will only be an answer based on my personal experience.

1) do I plan explicit scenes more than others? - Not usually. In fact, the only real planning I do for them in any of my other fics is whether they’re gonna happen and where in the plot. The specifics are being decided as I write.

Obviously, with sex shop it was a bit different because we needed a different toy/gimmick to be included in each chapter. We actually made a list of six things we wanted to include beforehand, then each claimed the ones we felt like writing ourselves (or in my case, handed off the one I didn’t feel like writing). Beyond that, though, it was write as I went again.

2)what’s important in an intimate scene? - Emotions. I could read the most detailed description of a sexual act and feel nothing if it doesn’t include how the characters feel. That starts with what they perceive, what they hear, see, smell, feel etc. (think moans and such, the light catching in someone’s hair/eyes/on their skin, do they smell freshly showered and like a comfy hug or are they still sweaty from a run, the temperature or strength of someone’s touch and so on and so forth) and moves on to how the things they perceive make them feel in this moment. Most of the time, that second part is in some way amplified or modified by the fact that they’re experiencing it with this specific person, which is my personal favorite part about intimate scenes.

I’m sure there’s also plenty of people who lean more toward description heavy stuff, which is more than fine. It’s just not what I’m trying to do with my own writing.

3) are they more spontaneous? - kinda answered that one already but I’ll add that I’ve never been able to write out of chronological order, so every intimate scene is very much written with the previous parts of the story in mind. It’s spontaneous in what the specific sexual acts are, but I always know ahead of time what I want the characters to feel/think about/realize during them.

4) is it a challenge to write explicit scenes with someone else? - I guess it depends on the person, but in this case, not at all. I think it’s important though to discuss ahead of time if one or both parties are uncomfortable with writing or reading certain things.

Also, writing together mostly means we write different parts of the same story, hence we each write our own explicit stuff, then make sure both parts fit well together. So the real challenge is daring to show somebody else your vision and hoping they agree with it.

5) do we read each other’s parts to give feedback, and if so, what kind of feedback? - YES. That’s the best part of writing together imo, is hyping each other up but also getting to give and receive the kind of input that can make a story even better. To be fair, my feedback to most of @the-amber-fox’s smut is a pretty unhelpful combination of 🫠 and 🔥, but we make do 😂 from time to time we’ll suggest adding something, mostly if the other person’s a bit stuck. But yeah, most of it is just getting to read it ahead of everyone else and being happy about that 😁

I hope I could answer some of your questions in a helpful way 💜 Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think about this so explicitly (pun not intended). I’ve never done that before so that was fun :)

[justphilia]

Hello everynyan :3 I wrote somethang :]

Fandom: SPY x FAMILY (Anime) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Becky Blackbell & Anya Forger, Anya Forger & Loid Forger | Twilight & Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Damian Desmond & Anya Forger, Damian Desmond/Anya Forger, Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess Characters: Anya Forger, Becky Blackbell, Damian Desmond, Emile Elman, Ewen Egeburg, Loid Forger | Twilight, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Original Characters Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Background Relationships, (as in just like in canon, romance is not the focus), Theatre, Cinderella references (not disney), Comedy, Fluff, reads like an episode basically, Not Beta Read, Self-Indulgent

Preview:

As per yearly tradition, Eden Academy once again opens up auditions for every cohort to try and earn a spot on their respective theater plays. Scripts are predetermined, so all they really have to do is display their ability to act and memorize their scripts, and hence…

“You’ll get a Stella for landing a leading role?” her father raises his brows in surprise, definitely brimming with interest behind his wilting newspaper.

“Ye,” she nods once firmly, fists clenched up to her chest.

Anya wasn’t really interested in the theater play from the start, but Becky, with her fair share of interest towards drama and all things romantic, heard the storyline they picked for their cohort is going to be Cinderella—a classic among all ages—and so wouldn’t stop talking about it.

Overhearing this, Damian ended up revealing the Stella bit between his ramblings of, “I’m totally gonna land the prince’s role.” and “You’re gonna watch my wonderful performance on stage soon!”, which then prompted Anya to boldly declare that she’ll audition too.

It’s two birds one stone, she thought to herself as her father mulls it over. If she lands any lead roles, she’ll get a Stella and spend more time with Damian, boosting their friendship status.

“Oh, Anya,” he would say—she can already imagine it. “Acting with you was so fun! Let’s do more acting at my house and also bring your dad to meet my dad!”

“Okay dokey,” she would answer, very cooly but also surprised so he wouldn’t think she planned this.

“Hurray, you have achieved world peace, Anya!” her father would then say, right after. “Good job! Millions of peanuts for you!”

“Did you bring the script?” her real, non-fantasy father asks, snapping her out of her daydream. She nods once again, running to her bag to pull out a relatively thick script—about the width of her clenched fist, but still lighter than all her textbooks combined.

He does not say it, but she clearly hears him go, Oh dear. 

She lets him take a look, knowing it won’t take long because she’s seen how fast he can read, and makes her way over to her mother, who has busied herself with doing the laundry right next to her husband on the couch.

“Is mama any good at acting?” she asks, resting her cheek on one of her mother’s legs.

“Oh, I don’t really think so,” her mother laughs in reply, shaking her head. “I’ve never been an actor, and I’ve never tried.”

“What about you, papa?” Anya turns to her father, despite knowing fully well what his true answer will be. As bad of a liar he is, his ability to alter his expressions at will is definitely awesome. If Anya didn’t have the ability to read minds, she would’ve thought his feelings could change just as easily. 

“I’m not sure about stage performances, but I suppose I have to act a little in front of my patients,” he answers. She thought he would’ve said no flat out. “Otherwise, showing my true feelings may disrupt the trust between us.”

“Maybe I can become a star!” Anya says cheerfully, clasping her hands together as she dreams of herself on the red carpet. 

Her father’s smile strains, “Perhaps.”

[beautiful-songbird]

Hello! Hi! I see that you are an avid book reader and I am here to kindly ask for book reccomendation reccommendation recommendations. I at long last have some time to return to the wonderful world of reading and I very much long to hold a book in my hands and get lost, but alas I cannot find one that piques my interest. You look to have good taste and I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Yours sincerely,

Snurt

P.S. <3333333

P.P.S. Why is "recommendation" so hard to spell?

Hello friend! You don’t know how happy seeing this made me! 😆

Be warned this is going to be a long post because I read a lot of books last year that I loved…so…yeah…

I feel like I need more to work with than just “give me a book rec” butttt 🤔 I suppose we can make this work

I mostly read fantasy but I assume you knew that since you follow me 🤨👀

(Unless mentioned otherwise these are all trilogies or duologies)

If you like puzzle games I’d definitely recommend The Inheritance Games 😌 I thoroughly enjoyed that trilogy and it made my puzzle mind go brrrr

As for fantasy, I have quite a few to recommend

If you’re into classic fae (as in…darker stories I suppose) I’d recommend The Cruel Prince and These Hollow Vows. They both have deeply romantic undertones but they’re more heavily focused on the politics that the stories revolve around.

*The Cruel Prince also has two novellas that go with it and a sister duology about the main girl’s younger brother, so if you’re looking for a world to get immersed in and keep reading, I’d seriously recommend reading that entire world.

If you’re looking for more whimsical fantasy I’d recommend Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart. They’re sister series that are semi-connected and they both have very immersive fairytale vibes. These two are heavy on the romance aspect but they also have great plots that carry them!

If you’re into low fantasy where there’s a bit of magical element in the plot but it’s not overwhelming, I’d recommend Six of Crows and Defy the Night. Both of these books have amazing plots but they focus more heavily on the relationships between the characters and how they trauma they’ve experienced has shaped their personalities. Six of Crows is a lot heavier of a read, so if you’re looking for something lighter, start with Defy the Night.

If you’re looking for fantasy that’s just a bit fun, I’d go with Assistant to the Villain. This book was very silly and fun while also dealing with serious topics. It was, however, to my dismay, a trilogy with only one book out…so…be warned.

If you’re into dragons and war colleges I’d recommend Fourth Wing, but keep in mind that this one has smut and lots of swearing. Despite the fact that this is one of my favorite books, I give this recommendation very loosely because of the content in it.

As for standalones, I have a few great recs:

- The Forgetting

A sci-fi (?) mystery about a city where everyone loses their memory every 12 years. Lovely characters and great plot.

- The Half-Life of Love

Absolute tragedy of a story that you know will end awfully from the start but you read it anyways and then sob your eyes out.

- Greymist Fair

A paranormal Brothers Grimm-esque collection of related stories. The town of Greymist Fair is very enchanting, and the way the stories all tie together is so much fun.

- The Stars We Steal

This was sci-fi and I read it in 2020 so honestly who knows what happened in it but I remember really enjoying it 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you want to see everything I read last year and my reviews of it all, you can go to my 2023 reading recap

I also have a short list of sappy modern romance novels if you’d like, so send me another ask if you want those too! This post is too long already 😆

P.S. I think recommendation is so hard to spell because it sounds like it should have multiple double letters…hence why I say “recs”.

P.P.S I love the way you type. Very eloquent and lovely use of words.

[theyluvlyss]

/ᐠ-˕-マ~ my personal guide !

𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞... !

...this is a guide that I have made that will help you decipher all of my little fanfic, edit, and shifting terms. keep in mind that while some of these are useful across other profiles/platforms/websites, some of the terms and their meanings may differ elsewhere rather than on my account (hence why I use words "my" and "personal").

so, without further ado, continue reading to see what everything means and how I use it in my works. it's long, but worth it, trust🤞🏽.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

/ᐠ-˕-マ~ each list is in alphabetical order :) !

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜 -

《 ♡ 》 adjective!character : this can get used by either myself or requesters to specify certain traits for a character to have. also includes reader(s), because remember, you are (technically) a character in the story, too :). there can also be as many adjectives as one wants. for example, it could look something like:ㅤpopular!social!reader x loner!quiet!billy batson.

《 ♡ 》 angst : super melodramatic, lot's of drama stemming from problems either caused by outside forces, and/or the reader/characters themselves. can have either bad, unresolved endings, or good "fix-it" type endings. not to be confused with hurt/comfort, which is implied in the name that it's naturally supposed to be a story/fic that hurts you with angst, and then comforts you with fluff at the end. these are my personal fave to write, besides crackfics ♡.

《 ♡ 》 au : this stands for alternate universe. let's say I write a fanfic for, I dunno, henry danger, right? as you know, henry danger is already set in a specific universe. well, as a writer, I have the creative liberty to literally change the entire setting. I can make henry danger take place during the fifties or in space or whatever requested lol🤷🏽‍♀️.

《 ♡ 》 crackfic : (be warned, I stole this definition from a website 'cuz I couldn't gather the proper words to explain it myself lmao) named after the drug to imply that it can only be the product of a deranged mind, crack fic is identified by its absurd, surprising, or ridiculous premise. the plotline might be twisted into a knot, the fic might be a thick parody, or the fic might feature an unlikely or rare pairing ("crack pairing"). sometimes random, nonsensical, or stream-of-thought fics are termed crack, but other crack fics proceed logically, in character, and with internal consistency from their bizarre starting points. the former is generally derided by fandom as badfic while the latter is often praised. generally, these are humor pieces.

《 ♡ 》 crossover : this means/implies that two (or more) separate stories/fics, universes, and/or fandoms will be blended or written together as one. fair warning, I've never actually done this before (yesIhaveI'mjusttooembarrassedtoeverlookbackonit), but I'd be happy to do it now :). on the actual fanfic somewhere on the page, it would look like this, for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤmaze runner x hunger games (crossover/au).

《 ♡ 》 fluff : this means that the story/fic will be super soft with light elements and no dark/angsty themes. it's pure comfort with no ill will/intent, nothing dangerous, very safe and fun :). good vibes only, supa' good vibes only/ᐠ♡˕♡マ✨️.

《 ♡ 》 headcanon : these are a list of assorted, non-ordered thoughts on the character(s) that I have. if requested, there can be a specific theme or topic to base these headcannons upon, but as I stated, they're basically just lose thoughts I come up with on the fly (and edit, ofc, I edit all my works to the best of my ability before posting). with context, you'll know whether or not the headcannons are specific, but for example, a title or something could look like this:��darby harper x clairvoyant!reader (headcannons).

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort : it's basically where the fic I write will have plot points/themes/elements that will "hurt" its reader, whether the bad vibes are happening to the character, the reader, or just bad vibes in general. it'll give you all the feels, very depressing and/or dark, but don't worry. you will not end this fic without being comforted and lifted back up in some ways, shape, and/or form.

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort/revenge : this one I'm pretty sure I made up, but it's the overall same vibes as hurt/comfort, except also, reader get their revenge >:). I rarely ever see stuff like this get written into fics, so I have to enter my Thanos era and do it myself, apparently. this goes out to all my petty readers out there who still wanna be softly loved: I gotchu, bae, we gon' fuck the person that hurt you up, don't worry🤞🏽.

《 ♡ 》 imagine : these are longer fics with fleshed out plot/themes/thoughts (and probably some of my best works, if you're on the hunt for quality💀). they can range between something short, sweet, and simple, or long ass stories that can even have multiple parts ! as long as there's no one around to stop me, my self control pretty much determines the length of an imagine lmao.

《 ♡ 》 masterlist : a masterlist is a complete list of all my works pertaining to one specific fandom and/or character. in my case, each fandom has its own masterlist filled with all of the characters names, with a complete set of all of the works/content done for them underneath.

《 ♡ 》 oc : this stands for "own character" and would typically be something others request me to do. I, personally, don't really have any oc's that aren't apart of my original works, so...yeah lol. if requested, it might look something like this:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤpeter parker x ocㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤand then their oc would be described to me so I can write it :).

《 ♡ 》 oneshot : typically my shorter writings, intended to be written off of the top of my head with either very quick closure at the end, or maybe even no closure at all. basically, if you want a glorified cliffhanger (that may or may not ever get finished or a second part), this is what you want, and it'll be specified somewhere on the page of my work.

ooc : this stands for "out of character." this implies that a certain character may behave in a way that differs from what is originally presented in the media they're in. this is usually spoken as a prior warning/apology to some less than high quality writing, but of course, you are always free to request a character to be ooc :).

《 ♡ 》 original work : anything that I write that isn't fanfiction is an original work of mine. it will be specified on the page, so it's not really something that needs to be worried about :).

《 ♡ 》 pov : this stands for "point of view", which is basically something that tells you what/who's perspective you're seeing/reading things from. I rarely do anything that switches between pov's, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't. it's just not my favorite way to write, that's all lol.

《 ♡ 》 prompt : this is a short summary/info-dump on the story. it helps you (reader) to get a feel for what the impending work is about.

《 ♡ 》 scenarios : the way I write them is kind of like a staggered mix of short writings/oneshots and listed thoughts/headcannons. again, these are kind of meant to be written off of the top of my head, no real order, but definitely a little bit more detailed. these are also some of my faves to write ♡.

《 ♡ 》 ship/shipping : it's a play on words from the saying, "that ship has sailed." a ship refers to two characters whom of which you want to get/be/stay together. you root for them, love them, or can even ship a character with yourself (which is the whole point of the fanfic work I do💀). the act of shipping yourself with a character can be what guides you and others into writing "x reader" work.

《 ♡ 》 smut/nsfw : it's word p*rn, guys. that's all it is, it's just written smexxy times between you and your (aged up/of age🫵🏽...) faves. others might be more familiar with the citrus chart (a.k.a. lime, lemons, grapefruit, etc.). I don't do that because I've stated before, I'm probably not going to do anything super heavy/k!nky. nsfw stands for "not safe/suitable for work", and I typically use that acronym as a warning before you start reading anything in an...*coughs*ㅤㅤㅤo p e n environment🥴...

《 ♡ 》 timeline : this informs you (the reader) of the specific time the events in the story/fic transpire. when I write, I personally base the timeline/setting off of, again, ✨️vibes✨️ and what makes most sense. but as always, you are free to request a specific time/order of events for me to write.

《 ♡ 》 tw/content : this will let you know of any possible triggers and what overall content is in the/any content I make. tw stands for "trigger warning".

《 ♡ 》 + reader : in my works/descriptions, the "+" sign in "+ reader" indicates that the relationship between you and whatever character(s) written is sibling-like and/or completely platonic. no romantic feelings whatsoever (unless it's like an unrequited love or something else of the sort type of deal/plot). for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤdamian wayne + reader.

《 ♡ 》 x reader : in this instance, the "x" in the term "x reader" implies that the relationship between two characters is romantic. again, I'm sure that there can be certain exceptions, but for the most part, it's what I said it is. for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤgray fullbuster x reader.

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥/𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 (e/c) : (eye/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/c) : (hair/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/l) : (hair/length)

《 ♡ 》 (n/n) : (nickname)

《 ♡ 》 (p/n) : (petname)

《 ♡ 》 (s/c) : (skin/color)

《 ♡ 》 (s/t) : (skin/tone)

《 ♡ 》 (u/o) : (usual/outfit)

《 ♡ 》 (y/n) : (your/name)

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 -

《 ♡ 》 (f/b) : (favorite/beverage)

《 ♡ 》 (f/c) : (favorite/color)

《 ♡ 》 (f/d) : (favorite/dessert)

《 ♡ 》 (f/f) : (favorite/food)

《 ♡ 》 (f/m/s) : (favorite/movie and/or show)

《 ♡ 》 (f/s) : (favorite/song)

──────────────

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 -

《 ♡ 》 (bsf/n) : (best friend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (bf/n) : (boyfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gf/n) : (girlfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (m/n) : (mom/name)

《 ♡ 》 (d/n) : (dad/name)

《 ♡ 》 (b/n) : (brother/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/n) : (sister/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/o/n) : (significant other/name)

《 ♡ 》 (c/n) : (cousin/name)

《 ♡ 》 (a/n) : (aunt/name)

《 ♡ 》 (u/n) : (uncle/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gm/n) : (grandma/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gp/n) : (grandpa/name)

──────────────

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 app : I mean, obviously you know what an app is. but I just mean like, I would let you know what app I used to make a certain edit.

《 ♡ 》 collage : an assortment of pictures edited together to create one (aesthetically pleasing) picture.

《 ♡ 》 duration : the amount of time a video/edit takes to end/how long an edit is.

《 ♡ 》 moodboard : kind of like a collage, it's an assortment of pictured edited together to make one. the difference is that the pictures used focus more on the vibe/aesthetic of the character rather than the character themselves.

《 ♡ 》 pfp : stands for "profile picture."

《 ♡ 》 scenepack : it's a video that holds any and all clips of a certain character or characters that can be used to make edits or for whatever other reasons. in other words, a pack of scenes lol.

──────────────

𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 cr : current reality. the reality you are currently in at this exact moment in time.

《 ♡ 》 dr : desired reality. the reality you are going to shift your consciousness to.

《 ♡ 》 wr : waiting room/reality. a reality you can shift to where the concept is basically like waiting in a lobby/room to decide where to shift to from there.

《 ♡ 》 subconscious : of or concerning the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one's actions and feelings.

《 ♡ 》 consciousness : the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 shifting : I wish I had the proper words to explain this, so here's a link to a video explanation and another link to some documents instead :)...

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭...

...(as if this list wasn't long as hell lmao💀). but hopefully, regardless of length, it was helpful and you found all of the advice/help you needed :). if there's anything you think I should add, though, you can always tell me and I'll be sure to do so.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ/ᐠ-˕-マฅ ~ 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐚 !

[stevensaus]

"More Research Needed": The Problem With All Current Psychological Research

Academic research has long suffered from a sampling problem, particularly when researching animal behavior. Particularly that of humans. The effect is perhaps most widely known from the wrong idea that wolves have "alphas." The whole concept was drawn from observing wolves in captivity, who were not behaving the way they do in the wild. When observing humans, researchers have often been limited by who they could research. Often, that has meant "college undergraduates," which do not represent the population as a whole. Sometimes the limitation has been by how we asked the question -- such as the highly skewed diagnostic criteria for autism and masking behaviors that resulted in a pattern of gender-based underdiagnosis for female-presenting persons. Progress has been made on this front in the biological medical sciences -- for example, in 2023, the issue of diversity in medical trials began to get serious attention. But this same attention must be paid to behavioral research as well. The fact remains that a significant amount of our research about human behavior {1} suffers both from the sampling problem and problems of how the question was framed. For example the "marshmallow study" doesn't say what we think it does about willpower, particularly when controlled for socioeconomic variables. And then there's the Milgram "obedience" experiment -- whether the original or the virtual reprise in the early aughts. Whether you interpret the results as how willing people are to obey authority -- or instead, how far people will go when they think it's for the "greater good" -- I think it's fair to hypothesize that the results would be very different depending on the neurotype of the participant. What were the neurotypes of the participants in either study? We simply do not know; the question simply was not asked. Not only do we not know, but even if they were assessed at the time, until really recently those assessments were themselves flawed. We literally cannot know the extent of the problem without redoing a lot of experiments, some of which you literally cannot legally (or ethically) do today. {2} All prior psychological research about human behavior needs to have a big old warning label.

Featured Image by felixioncool from Pixabay {1} Sociology has this issue as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent than experimental psychology. {2} Hence why the Milgram experiment was repeated virtually. Read the full article

[httpiastri]

award show rendezvous – ln4

when the f1 grid is forced to attend yet another boring award show, lando finds a way to have some fun

genre: smut.... i guess

pairing: mercedes driver!reader x lando norris

warnings: smut.....

requested?: yes! thank you for requesting 😁 (requests are still open!)

author's note: hello hello, i'm very much into the driver!reader thing so thank you for requesting this. also big thanks to all requests you've sent in recently, i love to see it !!! <3 hope you enjoy this, i wrote it today on my walk..... ppl must've thought i was a maniac for laughing hysterically at my phone while walking oops (worth it)

this is kind of a part 2 to this, but you can read it on its own too!

f1 masterlist

18+ content below, minors dni!

his lips crash against yours before you can even lock the door. he’s been too patient for too long now, he reckons; being forced to watch you with the other drivers, dancing around, chatting away, the regular stuff – all while still sending teasing glances his way every once in a while – was not fair.

he wants to – no, he needs to– run his hands over your body, to feel your lips on his, to make sure you know exactly who you belong to.

hence the text he sent you, telling you to meet him outside the bathroom in the venue. when he arrived, he didn’t waste any time before pulling you in with him, slamming the door shut behind you.

"a little needy today, are we?" you ask as he places open mouthed kisses down the side of your neck. his hands have a firm grip on your hips as he holds you back up against the door.

"it’s all your fault," he says against your neck, the vibrations sending a tingling sensation down your body. "for dancing with my enemies, for looking at me like that…"

"i’m sorry," one of your hands come down to his neck, pulling him up to face you again. "but i think we’re both enjoying where this is going, no?"

his kisses are rougher this time, not wasting a single moment before his tongue is pressing against yours. you drape your arms around his neck, humming against his lips as you feel him pull up the material of your dress, letting it pool around your waist. you’re panting heavily once you pull away, your head already dizzy from the feeling of lando’s hands moving further up your thighs. you lean your head onto his shoulder, a curseword leaving your lips when one of his fingers dips inside your panties and drags along your folds.

"so wet already, hm?" he chuckles. "who made you this wet?"

you sigh at the feeling of his finger sliding in where you need him the most, your arms around his neck tightening. "you. only you."

he moves in and out of you almost painfully slowly, and the speed decreases even more when he adds another finger. he’s unbearable.

"lando…" you whine, a shudder spreading through your body when he adds another finger to stretch you out. "please… i want you…"

he halts his actions, and you immediately pull your head back to look at him. he smiles – he’s got you right where he wants you, wrapped around his finger.

in more than one sense.

"are you sure?" he asks, and you nod almost too quickly. "you’re sure you wouldn’t rather be out there with george?"

you groan. of course he would go there. "you're the only man on my mind," you press a kiss to his lips. "don't change that."

his quick fingers unbuckles his pants and drags your panties down to your feet in just a moment, before pulling out his dick from his own underwear. he gets a condom from his pants, unwraps it hastily and rolls it on himself before his hands reach down to the back of your thighs. you get the hint, letting him hoist you up to wrap your legs around his hips. one of your hands reach for his hair, pulling on it tightly as he pushes into you.

"shit..." you say, your eyes rolling back at the stretch. the contrast between of his innocent thumbs drawing figures into the inside of your thighs and the way he's thrusting into you leaves you in a hazy state, feeling both so lustful and so loving at the same time.

when he hits a specific spot, your head falls back against the door as you let out a loud moan. "keep quiet," lando snickers. "you wouldn't want anyone to hear, would you?" you're too obsessed with the feeling that you can't answer him. "or maybe you want george to hear? maybe he'll come in and help you out-"

"fuck off."

the hearty laugh bubbling from lando's chest is loud, and he leans in to kiss your neck apologetically. "i'm sorry." his lips move up to right under your ear. "i just thought his name could help rile you up."

it takes everything in you to not get mad at him right now. you can't have him stop his actions now, not when it feels this good, not when you are so close. lando speeds up his pumps, lips grazing your skin while his hands move along your legs and up to your butt. just as you feel yourself approaching your high,

there's a knock on the door.

your wide eyes meet his and he stops his movements as a voice booms through the door. "lando, mate? are you in there?" the voice belongs to george – of course. "they're about to give out your award, maybe you should hurry up..."

"oh my god."

[kyrlazasmorcota]

Who The Kitsune Is

HEYA! I'm Kyrla Zasmorcota! I'm just putting up an intro, a fair warning, while I'm open to new friends, I am very socially awkward/limited...My social ability is pretty much not there, heh. Due to the way my brain seems to be wired I may not come off how I don't wish to and also I can't really read social cues/subtleties so I do better with more direct things, but I do try my best and have ways to try to better navigate things so please be patient with me, heh ^^

If I'm doing something wrong and I don't notice, just let me know and I'll work on correcting course ^_^

I do my best and have good intentions at the end of day, and I'm always trying to do better ^_^

PRONOUNS: Any just mix it up like crazy! Bonus points if in the same sentence....Or even more for same word, lol ^_~

I do lean very much so more masc, but the fluid part is important to me....The second most from masc would be gender neutral or somewhere in the middle and last femme ^^

Which leads me to the next thing

NAME: Kyrla (Femme) Lun (Gender Neutral) or Kashi (Masc) Zasmorcota is the main names I use. I have others, but this is the main one I use. I used Kyrla first and for longer so most people know me by that one....Even though I'm manly masc Kyrla is a name that's important to me....Besides the whole being fluid thing XP

SEXUALITY: I'm gray-ace/demi/pan ^_^

GENDER IDENTITY: As you may have guessed, I'm genderfluid transmasc ^_^

POLYAMOUROUS: I have two wonderful partners! I practice kitchen table nonhierarchical polyamory. Still fairly new to polyam ^_^

FURRY: My main sona is of course the blue nine tailed kitsune! Though I do have others! ^_^

SPIRITUALITY: I have my own personal supplementary spirituality that I accept can most likely be explained by other things, but it works for me, helps me and feels right. Plus it does have some more real life affects such as mindfulness though meditation. I believe in multiverse reincarnation, energy work, crystals, spiritual meditation, charka work, runes, and tarot.

INTERESTS: I love anime, manga, video games, roleplaying, art and writing. I'm always interested in new things from things like new types of games to whole new hobbies! And of course new friends!

MY THING: I've always playfully referred to myself as the High Priestess/Priest of The Great Shiny! The owner and founder of Crazy.Corp any insane amazing non-existent company on a mission to defect normalness! Hence why my motto is: Life is too short to be normal! Also, I always offer dark cookies curtesy of the Rainbow Goblins! Also obey The Great Shiny! For a long time my friends called me "Kyrla Of The Craziness", lol ^_^

THE ENDING STUFFS!!!

Well I think that about covers the basics! If anything comes up I'll edit it in below the end of the post! If you have any questions, throw them at me, lol ^_^ And I'll do my best to answer! Of course I may not answer everything, I do reserve that right of course ^_^

Here's A Yip Yip Bibi

This one's Intro....FAILED!

Wait..no...

This one's Intro....FIN!

[know-the-way]

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears Discourse(?)(maybe idk?)

So… at this point I’ve watched the entire 3 series and film. Twice. I was going to post episode reactions for series 2 and 3, but I really need to skip ahead to Crypt of Tears because I have… questions. If anyone knows the answer or potential answer to any of them, please weigh in because I am just… struggling to understand some of the narrative decisions they made here.

(Btw, overall I enjoyed it, so I don’t want it to seem like I’m coming from a solely negative perspective - obviously, the last 5 minutes in particular… talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, etc etc. I may do a separate ‘things I enjoyed’ post. I just needed to talk this out. lol)

****Full warning, this is a very long post, I am so sorry in advance.****

1. Alright, first things first - wtf do you mean it’s been a YEAR since she left Melbourne?! What was she doing that whole time? Like obviously, you could infer that she got caught up in local shenanigans and hadn’t seen everything to a satisfactory end yet, but I feel it would’ve taken maybe 1-2 minutes to just briefly explain that for the audience’s sake.

I also totally understand that they were attempting to make a stand alone project that could be independent of the series, so referencing where the series left off would be antithetical to that. HOWEVER, I think at the point where fans of the series invested $1 million… that should have maybe made tying up loose ends from the series a bit more of a priority?

I also saw that they hoped to garner new audiences from the film. And maybe it’s just me, idk, but - I’m a new audience and the only thing that brought me to the film was the knowledge that I had 3 seasons worth of backstory to immerse myself in beforehand. There are very few scenarios in my mind that would’ve had me watching just the film and nothing else. So… help.

2. Similar to question 1 - SIX WEEKS?! Where was she for six whole weeks? How did she escape the train? Was it like a Bear Grylls situation out in the desert for a while or did she have to barter with local villages or something? Just again… 1-2 lines of dialogue and I’d be good. Instead, I’m just sitting here confused like, “okay cool, I’m super glad you’re alive and stuff, but um… HOW?!”**

(**acutely aware that this is how Jack must feel all the time) (and he deserves a pint from the pub for his troubles ‘cause omg)

3. SPEAKING OF JACK - *r2d2 screech* This poor man. Jesus. How many times does he have to grieve the love of his life? It’s kinda rude at this point.

I’ve read articles with the writers where they talked about wanting Phryne to be strong and independent without emasculating Jack as a character. And I remember thinking, “Yes! They do such an excellent job of finding that balance in the show and it’s really satisfying. It’s one of the things I love most about their dynamic - the freedom to be themselves while still having this very strong collaborative connection.”

^These scenes, though? Whaaaatttt happened? 🫠 I don’t think it emasculated him, but Phryne’s almost non-reaction to him being there… grieving her... it comes off kind of insensitive and perplexing at its bare bones, to me.

Upon a few rewatches of that scene, I’ve been able to slowly formulate potential justifications for her behavior - i.e. she did tell him to come after her and he didn’t, so maybe she lost hope on her end and dove into the first perilous mystery she could find to help herself get over him. Thus, when she finds out he’s there for her memorial service, I could see her inwardly going, “Okay wow, it took me dying for you to make any moves whatsoever. Cool. Good to know I’m only worth the trip if I’m not here anymore. (Hence, the ‘And I’m very sorry that I’m not dead!’ line later.)”

Which would be a fair point, imo, and they do have a track record of just… infuriating miscommunication, but ultimately… it’s all still hypothetical. We aren’t given any actual, spoken insight into her motivations or feelings in regards to Jack (the smallest glimpse we get is her teary eyes outside the door at his guesthouse along with the “damn it, Jack” line). So, without any further follow-up clarification in the film - at face value, that scene is harsh and almost callous imo. And, despite their many conflicts in the show, there was never once where I felt they weren’t at least making an effort to understand each other. Like there is never a point in the film where they take a moment to acknowledge the time lost between them. They don’t get to have that (necessary) release of emotion and mutual understanding (there’s no nightcap moment), so it just feels incomplete.

4. I promise not to make all of these redundant, but the quicksand scene. Obviously, I love it ~*for reasons*~, but I found myself once again choosing a side (Jack’s)???? Which, throughout the entirety of the tv series, I never chose a side between them ‘cause I could always understand both of their perspectives. In this scene and the reunion scene, I’m left confused both times about Phryne’s perspective. Maybe because Mac isn’t there to pull the full truth out of her just afterwards? That’s probably it.

But her lumping Jack in with “any other man” she doesn’t need to explain herself to - either that was a fear response or a flat out dishonest one. Girl quit playin’… we all know he’s not just any other man and we all know he has never tried to change you or take charge of you. Please, the bottom-leaning switch vibes that come off that man… he LIVES for you telling him what to do. He doesn’t want to control you, he just wANTS TO BE BESIDE YOU. GOD.

I so didn’t want to be frustrated with Phryne (I love her**) and I was honestly upset that I was, but there was just something… missing in both these instances for me (vulnerability maybe? idk) and I can’t quite get it to add up. It really probably was a lack of Mac, though.

(**again, Me 🤝 Jack, complicated feelings for a complex modern woman, we’ll both be at the bar if you need us)

5. Last one - “Is this your idea of sweet nothings?” “I thought they were out of the question?” “They are. Continue.”

Did I miss a scene where they laid ground rules for their partnership going forward in Shirin’s case? Or was that something that was cut/not included? Because… if there was a scene of them discussing that before Jack agreed to stay… that would have taken care of most of what I said above in and of itself.

(But no fr… did I miss a scene? Is my copy broken? Help?)

Gonna Leave on a Positive Note, because if you asked me if the below scene made it all worth it, I’d have to say yes:

[iridescentprose]

Sugary Ice & Ferris Wheels—Alexei x fem!reader insert

»»————-————-««

**spoilers for stranger things season 3**

summary; an alternate universe where alexei lives and he can't but visit the fair to see his favorite person working at his favorite booth.

warnings; an au fic that isn't plot heavy, just pure fluff and alexei. he may be a tad bit ooc (?) but I enjoyed writing this.

»»————-————-««

"I could use some help over here."

The pads of your fingers were growing numb by the second, thanks to the occasional drippage from the plastic cup you filled to the brim with sugary ice. Your coworker huffed in response, mumbled something about "five more minutes", and then disappeared into the back to finish his cigarette.

Rolling your eyes you turned back to face the sea of mundane faces that belonged to irritated adults who gripped on tightly to the hands of their impatient, snotty-nosed children. But behind a tall man you noticed a familiar face.

The two of you made eye contact briefly before you turned back to the task at hand. For the next ten minutes you worked diligently until you got to the end of the line.

"Another one?" You said, already searching for a large plastic cup to fill with cherry flavored ice. It was the third time this evening he had visited your booth—the third Saturday in a row you had served him a a large cherry slurpee at the county fair.

You smiled as he nodded shyly, his tinted red lips forming into a mischievous grin. He fumbled around in his pocket for a crumbled dollar bill and a few quarters as you set the cup under the machine. Slowly, the ice trickled down in the cup, the machine nearing its end for the evening.

"You're going to run me out of ice if you keep coming here like this," You said, jokingly to which he only grinned and shrugged. You leaned forward against the counter and counted the loose change he set in front of you. "But you know what?" You gathered the assortment of quarters and dollar bills and gently slid them back. "This one's on the house, okay?"

A wave of confusion passed over his features. Being a man of little words, he lifted an eyebrow, shook his head, and reached out to slide the money back towards you. His fingers brushed against yours, a zap of electricity making you forget where you were for a moment. He pursed his lips into a hopeful smile.

"Seriously, Alexei, don't worry about it." With gentle persistence, you slid the change forward before turning around to prepare the icy treat. You snapped the top cover securely on the large cup once it was full before slowly turning around to set it on the counter. "As long as my boss doesn't find out—"

You were met with a nervous smile stained in red. A stack of crumbled carnival tickets stuck out from his breast pocket. He was shifting back and forth on his feet, his mouth parting slightly as he mumbled something in Russian. Something you could only interrupt as a question.

You knew very little about him but he had piqued your interest the first time he finished a large cherry slurpee in three minutes flat before ordering another (all while enduring a debilitating brain freeze with ease, of course). There was a mutual understanding that language would be the barrier between you two, but that didn't dampen the excitement you felt every time he came to his favorite person at his favorite booth. What he lacked in verbal communication, he made up for in miniscule but sweet, unexpected gestures.

Hence, the crinkled piece of paper that laid flat on top of a mountain of loose change. It read:

Ferris Wheel?

"Please?" He said, gesturing behind him to the massive circle that spun slowly as it changed from colors ranging from red, white, and blue.

His question alone was enough for you to say yes.

It took you a minute to shut the booth down. You donned the front with a sign that read, 'Be back in ten minutes' before you walked around out front, standing in front of him.

Alexei, seemingly unsure of what to do with his hand—the other being occupied by his favorite drink—looked at the ground nervously. With the two of you being too shy to make the first move, you stuck with walking next to each other in the direction of the Ferris Wheel.

Seated next to each other, your knees brushed against one another as the ride took a slow flight. You pointed out your house when you made it to the top, his hand resting gently on your knee while he sipped on his drink.

By the end of the night both of yours hands with fully with carnival tickets, stuffed animals, and of course, slurpees.

"Again?" He said, his hand latching onto yours while a stuffed bear was pinched underneath his arm.

"Alexei..." You glanced at your wristwatch. Those ten minutes had turned into three hours. The fair was starting to shut down and you were most likely going to have to stand in the unemployment line after tonight. "Maybe next weekend?"

He lifted a brow in confusion.

You chuckled and flipped his hand over so his palm was facing up. Gently you tapped the pads of fingers as you counted out loud to the number seven. You extended your thumb and index finger to represent the last two days.

"Seven days from now. Seven days," you said, slowly.

When he finally understood, he frowned in disappointment and you couldn't help but laugh. "Seven days from now, we can do this again. We can meet here." You pointed to the ground, indicating the dead patch of grass you were currently standing on. You were most likely fired, so there was no point in showing your face at the booth next week.

Before you could explain it even further, Alexei took your hand, turned it over, and pressed his lips to the back of it.

"Seven days," he said before giving your hand one last squeeze and turning to leave.

Flustered and flattered, you watched as he jogged to the exit, leaving you struggling to juggle the stuffed animal prizes he had won for you.

[asmutwriter]

Welcome to the Freak Show (Part 4)

So I plan on writing this story for a while because I’m having a lot of fun doing so but please don’t feel forced to read all the parts. I appreciate its long winded but this is how my brain works with the story. The character I’ve created (in my opinion) needs to show development rather then just suddenly changing, hence the long story arc. So I apologies in advance for the long story but I also hope you enjoy it

Eddie x Reader

WORD COUNT 3663

From beginning / Previous / Next / Master List

WARNINGS: drug use, underage drinking, they talk about sexual things, smoking

DISCLAIMERS:

- This is fiction. Please always talk to your partner before doing anything and make sure they are ok with what you are doing beforehand  

That’s how it led to this moment. You sitting with the three of them, drinking, Michael smoking as well. You aren’t to sure what he’s smoking, but you can take a good guess that it isn’t a cigarette given the smell of it. After a little while you can see him getting sleepy. The drugs and alcohol kicking in. He mumbles something before curling up onto the sofa, grabbing one of the cushions and placing it over himself as a makeshift blanket. Falling asleep within a matter of seconds. Alice looks at the two of you. “You did an excellent game Eddie” he smiles

“Thank you”

“Did you create the world yourself?” he nods

“Yeah, it’s based vaguely off of some characters in books I’ve read but most of it is my own creations”

“I don’t think I could ever do that” you shake your head in agreement

“It’s very impressive” he smiles proudly, the praise getting to him. Alice goes to take another sip of her drink but lets out a sad ‘oh’ when it is empty. She grabs the crate she brought with her, taking one and dangling the other in front of you

“It’s not too late to join us in drink Liz” you shake your head

“I’ll pass” she rolls her eyes. Handing it to Eddie who has his hands outstretched his tongue sticking out slightly with excitement. She drinks hers, wiping her mouth as she looks at you

“Spoil sport” she stretches “Your brother had the correct idea. Sleeping sounds like a great plan” she curls up on the floor. You grab a cushion and hit her with it “come on. Let’s play a game”

“Only if it’s a drinking game”

“Pretty sure that counts as peer pressure”

“No. Maybe slightly. You don’t have to drink the alcohol. You can drink some of the coke if you really want” you chuckle as you grab a can and open it

“What game then huh?”

“Never have I ever?” she looks at you both, seeing you both nod. “Ok. Never have I ever... gotten high” both Alice and Eddie take a sip, you do not. “Now you Liz” you think

“Never have I ever gotten drunk” they both take a sip, Alice raising her hand slightly in protest

“That’s no fair. At least do ones that are interesting”

“Ok, I’ve got one” Eddie speaks up “never have I ever purposefully stolen something” you take a sip, feeling slightly embarrassed as they both gawk at you.

“No”

“I don’t believe that”

“Explain. Now”

“It was when I was first dating Chris. His friends were daring each other to go and steal stuff to show how manly they were. They then said I couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything like that because I was a female. So I went to a really fancy jewellery store and stole this ring” you hold your hand out, a ring on your thumb “proved those shits wrong” they both laugh

“Stolen stuff but never been intoxicated, you never fail to amaze me” he says as you smile innocently at him.

“Ok, my turn again... how erotic can I be?”

“It doesn’t bother me” you reply, Eddie shrugging

“Ok. Never have I ever called my partner daddy in bed” you take another sip, letting out a small and sad sigh as neither of them drink “Wait did he really have a daddy kink?” you shrug

“We did it once to see if he enjoyed it. It didn’t stick constantly though” you take a sip of your drink, suddenly becoming thirsty at the more saucy conversation. “On the lines of that, never have I ever been walked in on whilst doing the deed” Eddie is the only one to take a sip. Alice’s jaw drops

“What?” he asks

“I just... I’m sorry, no I can’t say that”

“Go on. We’re all friends here” he smiles playfully at her

“I’m not gonna lie, I assumed you were still a virgin” he clutches his hand over his heart

“I’m hurt. Truly” he moves his hair from his face “I don’t get many woman I won’t lie. But I get the occasional one who wants to annoy her parents by dating a ‘bad boy’ so they find me. What better way to piss of her parents then by making me have them screaming my name” you go redder and redder at his words, taking a sip of your drink just to calm your nerves. He smiles innocently at you both

“Who would’ve thought that the freak of Hawkins High would be such a womanizer” he laughs at her words, taking a sip of his drink.

“It’s my turn right?” you both nod. He thinks for a moment “never have I ever...” he sticks his tongue out slightly, deep in thought “ever gone to a party I wasn’t invited to” all 3 of you take a sip, laughing afterwards. Alice thinks again

“I see we’ve stopped going for a raunchy approach on this game” she taps the top of her bottle against her chin slightly “never have I ever gotten a tattoo” both you and Eddie take a sip. She doesn’t look as surprised with Eddie but she looks baffled with you “where?” you place your hand over your side where the butterfly tattoo is. “How have I not heard of this before?”

“I didn’t want people to know”

“Why not?”

“Can you imagine how our group of friends would’ve reacted to me with a tattoo” you scoff slightly, taking a sip

“How did you hide it from Chris though...? Assuming you two-” she raises her hands, doing the motion of having sex with him “-whilst you’ve had it” you nod

“So when I first did it I just kind of didn’t do anything with him. Said I had bad stomach pains and stuff because I didn’t like the idea of accidently hurting it. But, when it healed, I would just try and cover it. Be it with my hands, the covers, clothes. You know, usual things”

“I see we failed to stay off of the raunchy subjects” Eddie protests, feeling a little awkward at the conversation.

“Sorry. She did ask though” he nods and chuckles

“Whose turn is it now?”

“Mine” Alice says, sighing deeply “I think it’s unfair that we are getting pissed and you’re staying sober” she motions at your coke.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t want to drink today” she rolls her eyes

“Fine. Can we do something else then?” you nod slightly “We could watch a movie! You have a TV in here” she points

“I’m up for a movie” you stand up, stretching your legs as the other two get onto the sofa that doesn’t have your brother lying on. You grab a blanket. Gently laying one over Michaels sleeping body

“What movie then, huh?”

“I reckon...” you look at the videos you have

“I want to watch a horror” Alice exclaims before you can pick out a more family friendly film, point her finger at ‘The Exorcist’ video you have.

“I’ve never watched horror before...” you shyly say. They both chuckle slightly

“You’ll like it” they both nod as you put it in, going and sitting between the two bodies. You feel squashed between the two, Alice sitting cross legged on the sofa and Eddie in the corner. You awkwardly place your legs, trying to stretch them. Alice rolls her eyes, picking them up and laying them over her lap. “Are you sure?” you ask timidly. She nods, shushing you as the film starts. You realise you are leaning slightly against Eddie, his hair tickling the side of your face. You turn to face him, mouthing at him ‘Are you ok me leaning on you?’ he nods and smiles.

About 10 minutes into the movie you feel him start to move, trying not to disturb you. You move away, “Sorry, legs are going dead” you nod. Alice looks at you both

“Liz, move off a second” she shoos you, making you stand. “Eddie, put your legs up” he does, looking confused. “Comfy?” he nods slightly. She takes your hand, “Sit and lean against him. As long as that’s ok with you both?” he nods as you sit between his legs, leaning against his chest. She smiles as she rests her legs on top of both of yours, her head the other side of the sofa. “Is that better? You can both stretch out that way” you nod slightly, turning to face the screen. You notice the boy behind you watching the TV, but his hands stay stiff against his sides. You take them and wrap them round your middle

“It’s ok” you whisper to him. You feel his body loosen up slightly as you lean against him, your back pressed against his chest and hands resting on your stomach, yours over his. Alice looks at you both

“Ok I’m coming in for hugs as well” she crawls over to you both, lying on top of you as your chest to chest with her, her head resting on your chest as she faces the screen. You move your hands, grabbing the blanket from the back of the sofa and chucking it over you three.

The beginning of the film is quite slow. You can tell it’s a slow start as you begin to hear the soft snoring from Alice as she stays on you. That could also be because of the several drinks she has flowing through her system. Both you and Eddie watch the film, silence filling the room as it plays out. Then jump scare happens and your hands go up and cover your eyes instinctively. You feel the rumble of his chest behind you, laughing at your reaction. “Shut up. It scared me”

“I can tell” he laughs again, noticing your hands stay up by your face, practically watching through your fingers. He gently takes one of your hands in his, moving it down. “You’re ok. I’ve got you” he links his fingers with yours. You can feel the coldness of his rings press against your warm hands. You jump again, tightening your grip on him as he smiles at your reaction, his thumb rubbing gentle circles onto the back of your hand. You hold his hand with both of yours, one still interlocked with his as the other covers the back of it, holding them in-between. Your hands and his near your face as you continue to watch from behind them. As the rest of the film plays out, you feel yourself go more and more into him, trying to hide from the scariness in front of you.

-

The ending of the film, credits start to roll up. It takes you a few minutes before you lean over and grab the remote, turning the TV off. “What did you think of your first horror film?” you nod, one hand still firmly clasped around his. “Did you enjoy it, or have I scarred you for life?” you chuckle slightly, letting go of his hand as you rub your eyes

“I enjoyed it more than I thought I would” he nods

“Good, I’m glad to hear that” you move slightly, turning your head and body slightly so you can look at him as he turns his head to face you.

“Sorry, I would move off of you but I don’t want to wake her” he nods

“You’re ok. It’s just a shame the TV is so far otherwise we could watch another movie” you nod, turning to look back at the ceiling as you lean backwards, the back of your head resting against his shoulder. “You ok for me to smoke in your house” you nod

“Mum does it all the time so go ahead” he nods and manages to reach the little table where his stuff is. Grabbing it, he puts one in his mouth, lighting it as he starts to smoke. Exhaling as best as he can away from you. You watch as he places it back into his mouth, before delicately taking it out again. “I’ve never smoked before”

“Really?” you shake your head. He offers you his “you can try some of mine” you look confused

“I don’t-” he chuckles slightly, placing it back in his mouth. He exhales, your fingers come out and take the small thing from his fingers, placing the end in your mouth and inhaling. Then removing from your lips you try your best not to cough as you exhale. Handing it back to him he smiles “You’re a bad influence on me Eddie Munson” he chuckles, taking another puff of it

“It’s ok, you can be a good influence on me Miss Elizabeth”

“How am I a good influence on you then?”

“Well, I think this is one of the first times in a few weeks where I’ll be going to sleep before 1 in the morning”

“That’s not me being a good influence. That’s just our fellow party goers being lame and falling asleep on us” he laughs

“But they look so peaceful” his arms around you tighten slightly as you both watch the two peaceful people sleeping in the room “we could just sleep like this”

“You don’t want that. You have the weight of two girls on you for a whole night? That can’t be good for your lungs” he nods and smiles,

“Fine but I’m not going to be the one who wakes her” you nod

“Yeah maybe here is a good place to sleep actually” he laughs.

“You know, if someone had told me a few weeks ago I’d be on a sofa, practically hugging you I wouldn’t have believed them”

“I wouldn’t have believed them either to be fair”

“Who’d of thought we’d become friends”

“Are... are we friends?” you look down, feeling one arm still wrapped around your middle, the other holding his cigarette

“Why would we not be?”

“I mean, are we friends in our own right? Not just friends through Michael”

“I’d say we are friends, regardless of your brother now” he smirks at you “I mean, technically I have seen you without a shirt on. So I’d say that we are pretty close friends” you feel your cheeks turn red

“Oh shut up”. He opens his mouth to go and say something but you cover it with your hand “sh sh, it’s ok. You don’t have to say any more words about seeing me shirtless” he lets out a laugh as you smile, cheeks still being a nice crimson shade. Moving your hands away he goes to speak again but you cover his mouth “Nope” he moves his head away

“No I will be free!” you laugh, placing your hands down by your sides “But yes I would classify us as friends in our own right. I mean, we just sat and watched a 2 hour long film together. If that’s not friendship I don’t know what is”

“Does that mean that we are closer friends then these two are to us though, as they slept through it” he laughs. You look at the clock in your living room. Just gone 11pm. “Do you think we should wake them both or just leave them?”

“I reckon leave them. He’s on his own and she’s on top so if they wake up early then they don’t need to move us” you nod

“We’re screwed if we need anything” he nods, chuckling again. A few moments pass, you would think he’s gone to sleep if not for the occasional movement of his hand to smoke. You see him snub out the end of it in the ashtray by the sofa "I can’t believe it’s nearly summer” he exclaims

“Just one more week to go”

“Do you think Chris and Jessica will last through the holidays?”

“I’m not sure. I hope they do in some ways, they are perfectly matched for each other after all. You know, lying scumbags” he laughs “do you think they’ll last?” you ask him

“No. I reckon he’ll realise what an absolute dick he’s been and come crawling back to you”

“Oh god, that’ll be interesting”

“You just need to remember not to take him back. Remember that you are so much better then him and you could have half the school rolling on their backs for you”

“It doesn’t seem like that”

“People are just nervous at the moment. When it calms down I reckon you’ll have every guy ask you out. He’ll realise then the mistake he’s made, if he hasn’t realised it before then” you anxiously bite your finger nail. “Hey it’s ok. Nothing to be anxious about” he takes your hand in his, once again linking your fingers

“That is a lot easier said than done”

“You’ll be fine. I mean, worst comes to worse you have to hang out with us for the rest of your school years. We aren’t that bad are we?” you shake your head, turning so your cheek rests on his shoulder, the back of your head against the back of the sofa.

“You need to listen to your own advice”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Realise that you are so much more valuable than people take you for” you tilt your head to look at him “you are a wonderful person. You’re kind and generous, funny and creative. You’re amazing Eddie” he smiles as he looks at you, letting go of your hand to brush a hair out of your face

“Thank you...” you smile, nestling into his neck as you shut your eyes

“But now it is time for sleep” he chuckles, the one around your waist stays where it is but his free hand goes up, bending it so he can lean back and use it like a pillow

“Goodnight Liz”

“Goodnight Munson”

-

You wake up to the sound of the shower downstairs. You let out a small groan as you open your eyes, seeing that your brother has moved from the spot he was in on the opposite sofa. Alice, you and Eddie all being in the same place you were a few hours ago. You stretch your arms in front of you, trying not to wake either of the two sleeping bodies. You dare not move to much as they sandwich you between them. You feel the boy behind you move slightly, making you hold your breath as a way not to disturb him. “Good morning” he whispers to you

“Good morning” he rubs his eyes with one hand, the other you notice is still draped around your middle.

“How is she still asleep?” you shrug and let out a small chuckle.

“Michael is awake though” you look at the clock in the room. 7:07 in other words, too early for a Sunday. You let out another annoyed groan, placing both of your hands over your face. “Did you sleep ok?” he nods

“Surprisingly given the circumstances”

“I’m sorry. Let me wake her so we can get off of you” he shakes his head. As if on cue the girl on you stretches, opening her eyes at you both and smiling

“Give me a second and I’ll get off” she says tiredly, giving it a few minutes before rolling herself off of you. Standing with her eyes closed by the end of the sofa as you get off of Eddie, him shortly following you. She sighs and lies back down, grabbing the blanket and placing it back over her body.

“Wanna help me clean up?” he nods, going through the living room and grabbing various bottles and throwing them away as you go and open the windows in the room to try and get rid of the more ‘dubious’ smell from your intoxications last night.

“When are your parents coming back?”

“They’ll be back anywhere between 10 until 6 realistically” he nods, going over and readjusting the sofa Michael had been sleeping on. As you continue cleaning, you start to make it into a game. Who can find the most beer tops. He grabs one from the floor. Scoffing at his 4th find, saddened when you show him your 6 lids. When Michael comes out the shower both your guests say they should say farewell, but you both insist they stay for a little while longer. But they both insist they have to go. Alice giving Eddie a lift home, telling you both you’ll see them on Monday.

-

They come in, bags piling into the hallway as you go over and hug them both. You go and greet them, seeing them smiling widely at you both. “We have exciting news”

“We are moving to Canada!” you and your brother look shocked

“What?”

“Well, we were away this weekend for business, and they offered us a full time place over there. We figured we’d say yes as Michael is finishing Hawkins now isn’t he? Given this was his last year”

“What about me?” you look at them

“We checked out the schools near us and they all look great. Plus the colleges there are so much better then here”

“But I want to stay here with my friends... I can’t just move away from everyone”

“You can make new friends. Come on, it’ll be fun” you shake your head. Your brother speaking up

“When do we move?”

“This weekend. We have a small place being rented for us at the moment but we will move into our proper house at the end of the holidays” you still sat in disbelief

“How about” your brother speaks for you “we come and join you for the holidays. If we like it we can stay with you, if we don’t we can come back here” he looks at you as you nod slightly “we are both old enough to look after ourselves” your parents look at each other then back at you two, nodding in agreement

“Let’s try out Canada then shall we?”

TAGS

@karma2223​ @fknemily​ 

[1kook]

kissanime & foreplay

this is part of my netflix & chill collection !

summary; You get a glimpse of the KissAnime screen for a good two seconds before about seven ads pop up. Another tab to a raunchy hentai website opens, and Jungkook groans. warnings; mentions of hentai yes u read right, kook leads most of it, cunnilingus, masturbation (f), oral (f), use of a sex toy, fingering, nipple play, face sitting/fucking/riding idk (f), praise kink, hints of dumbification, cum eating, jk is like passive aggressive in this one, 4 (f) orgasms, this is the kicker: sub kook at the end😳, like 2 sec of dom yn lol, & u get 0.002 sec of adams apple kink misc; more dumb story lines, made up sex stores bc my creativity knows no bounds, Jungkook plays nice but is actually mean for the majority of it, once again doyeon plays a pivotal role in the furthering of women empowerment, internal love monologues about jk best boy<3 wc; 8.2k

notes; back when kissanime was offed I remember looking at this fic in the drafts like what the hell we gone do now.. n almost deleting it but I was like yknow what this isn’t a 1kook fic unless there’s smthn weird going on so here we are. also yes I know ohshc is on Netflix shut up!!!!! 

HAPPY BDAY MY LOVE AND MUSE JEON JUNGKOOK !!!! 🥺💜

—

The good thing about getting your own apartment is that you finally have a place to call your own. There’s no limit on how many potted plants you can squeeze into a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, and if there was one, you’re twelve in and no one has said anything to you yet. You don’t have to share the shower space with anyone, label all your products with a hastily scribbled name. There’s a bathtub—something you haven’t had the pleasure of using during college—and a fairly open living space. There’s so many empty spots to fill with useless decorations and family heirlooms and that ugly plastic rooster Jungkook won you at the summer kick-off fair last month.

The bad thing about having your own place is that the entire world and their mothers seem to know now. Despite graduating from college, you still keep in touch with your trusted graduate mentor Kim Namjoon, who is still very much in school, and has made it his mission to bring you a new plant every week, hence your growing collection. Your childhood friend comes over every Saturday morning to lounge around after her Friday nights out. Jungkook, although the only one who is ever actually invited, runs through your strawberry scented body wash like a madman.

And of course, Doyeon.

Your beloved college roommate of four years, Kim Doyeon, has been the bane of your apartment experience so far. Unlike you, who had slaved away for four years, saving every penny you made during college for this moment, Doyeon was a big spender. She blew every dollar she ever came across, which is why she’s going to be stuck living at her parent’s house for at least a couple more years.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, if she wasn’t the most maniac online shopper in existence. It hadn’t been a problem in college because she was always good old pals with the students who worked the mailroom. If they saw something questionable, they’d let it slide as long as it was under Miss Kim Doyeon, Room 229.

The reason it became an issue for her now is because it’s poor Mrs. Kim who signs over the package from Sexuality Unleashed: The Best Toys Worldwide! one Tuesday afternoon as it is delivered to their suburban home.

So now she’s taken to ordering all her freaky stuff to your new apartment, where the small cabinet by the door has quickly become home to her impulsive shopping habits. Truthfully, you don’t mind accepting Doyeon’s weird packages, and have long since grown used to the uncomfortable looks the mail carrier gives you.

Jungkook’s supposed to come over today and you really hope he doesn’t ask about the state of your hall cabinet. Now that you work at a small company outside of your degree to make ends meet, time with Jungkook has been significantly decreased. You weren’t in college anymore, so you didn’t have the luxury of dropping by his house whenever you wanted to in between classes. Of course, it’s mostly your schedule that conflicts with your planned hangouts, because Jungkook is still working his dream job from home.

However, because Jungkook is quite possibly the most amazing person on this planet, he’s started coming over every Saturday night to make sure you’re still alive and not dying. And so weekly media binges are a thing, and it’s currently week four.

He gave up on showing you the Marvel movie franchise last week, after you had asked where Wonder Woman was three times in a row. Since the Barbie Movie Debacle of last month, you’ve found a nice medium between who picks when. Jungkook picks most of the time, because most of the time you don’t really care. It’s become a running joke between the two of you that movie binges are usually just terribly masked excuses to go to town on each other, so you don’t mind missing an entire 15th Century French Revolution documentary if it means Jungkook is deep in your guts by the time King Louis XIV gets beheaded or whatever they did to him. Is it too obvious you didn’t watch the documentary?

Occasionally, there are instances where one of you genuinely does want to watch something, in which case you have an intense match of rock-paper-scissors to decide who’s picking that night. Most of the time, Jungkook wins. But for every match Jungkook wins, he promises you’ll pick the next one so you’ve long since stopped trying to actually beat him.

Long story short, last weekend you sat through a two part Ancient Aliens episode on the connection between aliens and American presidents.

It was the most god-awful conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard of, but Jungkook ate up every minute of it. By the time the two hosts announced their conclusion you were just about ready to rip your own ears off and single-handedly fist fight every producer on the channel for allowing the production of such an atrocious show.

Anyway, because you had so bravely sat through the entire evening without complaints— well, no complaints towards Jungkook’s terrible taste; the show, however, was not safe from your wicked tongue —Jungkook has so graciously allowed you to pick the media for this weekend.

You’ve been telling him for the longest time that you were going to hook him on anime. It was one of the few interests you always believed Jungkook should possess, being a weeb and all, because it was only fair that he had one questionable trait to balance out the rest of his perfection. Liking anime isn’t bad— if a hottie like you enjoyed it, then it obviously had its perks. However, you know a lot of other people are turned off by anime-enthusiasts due to preconceived notions of the genre and the viewer-base.

Now, it was a widely known fact that you always had ulterior motives. So maybe turning Jungkook into a weeb was just a ploy to turn other women off from him and keep your jealousy at bay. Sue you, your boyfriend was a walking wet dream, and you’d do anything to keep him to yourself.

After long deliberation, you’ve decided on introducing Jungkook to anime with a classic: Ouran High School Host Club, a god among anime, a true Beyonce among shoujos. The only problem was that you absolutely refused to pay Crunchyroll or Funimation when you could so easily find the entire show on KissAnime.com, home to only the finest of hentai ads and Are You a Robot? questions.

He sends you a text when he’s outside your building, and five minutes later there’s a rap against your door.

“Hi,” you smile up at him, heart fluttering in that same trademark way it did whenever Jungkook was within a five foot radius. He smiles back softly, leaning down to peck your lips as you step aside for him to enter. He’s got on those cotton sweats that you love, the ones that send your brain into a censored frenzy. But he’s also got that soft curl to his hair that lets you know he came here straight out of the shower in his hurry to see you. How you managed to bag a dream boyfriend like him was beyond you.

You bask in the overwhelming feeling of unannounced love for all of ten seconds before Jungkook is lifting up a square package you hadn’t seen at his hip. “Mailman gave me this,” he says, waving around the signature bright pink packaging of Sexuality Unleashed. Jungkook, for all his politeness and respect, seemed to falter in those categories when it came to you. He turns the box over, reading the big fat name of the company on the side. “Since when did you start buying sex toys?” he asks rather loudly in the hallway.

You yank him inside, hurriedly slamming the door shut before any of your neighbors can come out into the hallway and get a peek of this avid sex toy consumer. “They’re not mine!” you hiss, standing still when he uses you to balance himself as he tugs off his shoes. You snatch the box out of his hands, turning it around to make sure it is actually addressed to your home. Sure enough, it’s for you. Couldn’t there have been some other sex toy fanatic on this floor?

With his shoes off, Jungkook wastes no time enveloping you in a hug, the Sexuality Unleashed box tumbling to the ground. “It’s okay, baby, no need to be embarrassed.”

You groan, leaning your forehead against his shoulder as he continues to pat your back like you’re actually embarrassed to be caught buying toys— you’re not. You’re embarrassed he caught you with a sex toy you simply can’t put to use. “Whatever,” you sigh, “your gross popcorn is in my bedroom and it’s probably stale.”

He releases you, not before pulling you into a slow and languid kiss that has you clutching tightly at the front of his shirt. He pulls away with a soft smooch, right eye falling into a wink. “Bring the box, gorgeous,” he teases, before sauntering off in the direction of your bedroom.

You groan loudly. “It’s not mine!” you repeat, but for some reason do as he says.

Not only do you have no idea what’s in this package, but you’re frankly not too keen on finding out. You’re more interested in Jungkook’s reaction to one of your favorite animes of all time. The package is tossed onto the end of the bed, where Jungkook has already stripped himself of his socks and cuddled beneath your covers.

Your laptop has gone dark from inactivity so you slam down on the space bar to bring it back to life. Your first mistake was pressing anything at all. It flickers back on alright, but you forget that you are working with a minefield of ads ready to explode. You get a glimpse of the KissAnime screen for a good two seconds before about seven ads pop up. Another tab to a raunchy hentai website opens, and Jungkook groans.

“What the hell is this?” he asks in a tone that screams he has never had to fight viruses off his computer just to watch something at two in the morning.

You ignore him, cuddling into his side as you hurriedly type in the title of the anime before another annoying ad can intercept you. “KissAnime,” you answer for now, accidentally clicking down on the mousepad with the heel of your palm. Another tab opens up to some sketchy credit site. You huff.

“Baby, I swear I just saw like twelve viruses,” he says. “And what even are these?” he scoffs, jabbing a finger at one of the many ads that lines the perimeter of the website. “Animated teacher porn?”

By the grace of god, you somehow manage to get onto the episode selection screen without having another tab open on you. You smile in relief, turning the power of your excitement onto Jungkook… only to find his eyes narrowed in on the square advertisement for some hentai website. “What? You wanna watch hentai now?” you snort, placing the laptop on his legs as you cuddle into his side.

Jungkook sputters, cheeks tinting red at the mere insinuation he would ever consume such media. “No,” he glares, releasing the arm around your shoulders to huffily cross them over his chest. “I am not going to watch anatomically incorrect illustrations of a woman teacher relieving herself, ___,” he says rather matter-of-factly.

You snort, repeating, “a woman teacher,” mockingly and in a high pitched voice that, honestly, doesn't sound anything like him. You click play on the video box that appears after only about twenty more pop-up ads. “Silence, you nymphomaniac, the episode is starting.” Jungkook pulls you close with a displeased expression, finally quieting down when you put it on full screen and the ads disappear from his view.

You’re beginning to wonder if Jungkook really is the script and plot dissector he claims to be, or if he just lives to get under your skin. He doesn’t make it three minutes without finding something to critique. First it’s the quality of the frames, and then it’s the characterization of the lead character. He nitpicks everything about the best anime in existence, and by the end of the first episode you’re considering breaking up with him.

“Oh my god,” you groan, tearing yourself away from him. He’s all laid up against your mountain of pillows, tongue prodding at the insides of his mouth in that ridiculously attractive habit of his. Usually, you’d be tripping over yourself to kiss him, but you’re about two seconds from ripping his head off. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, baby,” you sigh, picking up his hand in yours. “You gotta shut up.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “I have to shut up?” he asks in a scandalized tone. “You sang through the entire intro, off tune may I add.”

At this rate you’re getting nowhere, so you just snatch the laptop back up before you actually hurt his feelings. You escape the full screen, met with those hentai ads that are slowly becoming the bane of Jungkook’s existence.

“Who actually watches those anyway?” he mumbles, covering the sidebar full of naked cartoon ladies with his palm for you, a real gentleman if you ever saw one. “Really?” he says, knocking his pointer finger against a particularly raunchy ad with the caption Be a Good Boy and Let her Play beneath it.

You snort. “You are such a baby,” you tease, pinching his cheek much to his annoyance. “What? Can’t handle seeing some anime titties?”

Jungkook shoves your hand away, leaning back to become one with the pillows as you continue onto the next episode. “They’re just weird,” he admits. “And make unrealistic faces.”

“Unrealistic,” you repeat, finally giving one of the ads the time of day. There’s an adorably drawn character making the most perverted expression, knees hiked up to her chest. Her face is twisted up, drooling like a dog and with her eyes crossed in ecstasy. You shrug. “Just because you can’t get those faces out of me doesn’t mean they’re unreal.”

The second the words leave your mouth Jungkook is letting out a scandalized scoff, sitting up to level you with another glare. “First of all, I can get you like that,” he defends, tapping his finger against the ad on screen. “In fact, I can get you like that without even trying, so let’s not say anything too drastic now, okay?”

His sudden bout of defensiveness makes something playful in you switch on, laying back down beside him with a smirk. “Oh, you can make me all stupid like this?”

Jungkook scoffs. “Yes.”

“Uh huh,” you drawl, tracing a finger up his chest teasingly; Jungkook knocks your knuckles away, obviously still butt hurt about your comment. That’s fine, because a slightly riled up Jungkook was always the best Jungkook. You sit up and lean in close, letting your hand slip beneath his hoodie, palm running over his bare shoulder and around the top of his back. You give his nape a light squeeze, lips pressed against the shell of his ear. “Why don’t you prove it to me, Jungkookie?” you purr, before pulling away.

His jaw twitches at the nickname, one shapely brow unconsciously arching as he regards you with a calculative expression.

The thing about Jungkook was that, after almost a year of dating, you know just how to push his buttons. He has a rather calm and collected exterior to him, the same one he’s had since the day you met him, but beneath it all was a childish competitiveness that raged with the heat of ten suns. He disliked being taunted like you were doing now, especially when his credibility was at stake.

Honestly speaking, you don’t doubt Jungkook can make you look as goofy and messy as those hentai ads. In fact you’re rather confident he can. Either way, him being right or you being right, you would still get some fun out of it.

“Hm?” you add, tracing your hand up to dance over the skin of his cheek, pads of your fingers running over that stiff jaw. “Are you scared I’m right and you’re wrong?”

A hand snaps up to catch your wrist, fingers tight around your skin until you’re shivering against him. “Oh baby, I can make you cum until you cry,” he murmurs, his usual sweet and lilting tone dropping to a low vibration that makes your pussy throb beneath your panties. Your heart leaps in your chest, lips falling open when he ducks down to brush them against yours. It’s too light, just a simple touch that makes you follow his mouth when he pulls back.

With one firm shove, the laptop is tumbling off the bed, thudding loudly against your bedside rug. Jungkook leans over you, his usual trademark doe eyes zeroed in on you with the focus of a laser. “Have a little faith in me,” he teases, and when he presses close you can feel his fattening cock flush against your thigh. Your body is begging to be touched, every brush of his fingers against your skin searing trails in their wake.

Suddenly, he’s drawing back. “Kook?” you frown, barely biting down on a childish whimper when he snuggles back into your mountain of pillows, one arm stretched behind his head.

He flashes you a smile. “Go on,” he says, arms behind his head. “Show me how to get you like that.”

“By myself?” you ask, shifting onto your knees anyway. Jungkook nods, a soft jut of his chin as he gives you another one of those easy going smiles of his. His goal seems a little unclear, but you had a ridiculous amount of trust in your boyfriend that whatever he had planned was certain to be good. With one final skeptical glance his way, you sink down onto your bum, knees spreading and giving him a clear view of your little pink boy shorts, elastic band hugging your waist.

The material of your t-shirt is guided away, held to your chest by the hand currently not traversing the length of your stomach, gliding across soft skin, over your belly button and past that band until it slips beneath. You chance another look Jungkook’s way, only to find his eyes wonderfully downcast in the direction of your core. That smile is gone now, replaced with a somber look as he watches your hand move mysteriously beneath the fabric of your undergarments.

The first brush of your forefinger against your swollen button makes you twitch, back arching at the sensation that is magnified by his watchful gaze. “Mmh,” you bite down, hand twisting in the material of your shirt. Jungkook’s eyes glare a molten path across your skin, from the comfy bra that peeks out from beneath your rumpled shirt to the wrist slowly working beneath your panties.

A hand falls over your thigh, tattooed fingers giving the skin a light squeeze as you get to work swirling your bud around. The sight of his inked skin on yours makes something warm blossom in your lower abdomen, your eyes following the inky swirls up, up, up. They lead you to the face of your very handsome boyfriend, long lashes fanning across his cheekbones as he watches you play with yourself. “Wanna take these off for me?” he says, the tip of his pointer finger wiggling beneath the fabric of your shorts.

You nod hurriedly, wiggling around on the bed until you’re on your back, legs bent in front of you. The shorts come down your legs; the simplest press of your thighs makes something quiver in your abdomen. You toss them off to the side, and just as you go to sit back up, Jungkook places a hand on your knee. “Stay like this for me,” he says, sitting up from his mountain of pillows to glance down at you. You melt into the plush mattress beneath you, staring down at him between your legs. He’s got that adoring look in his eyes, the one that makes you feel so warm and in love, it’s only natural your hand slips down to play with your bare clit again. “That’s my girl,” he smiles, rubbing a hand down the outside of your thigh, urging your legs to fall open.

There’s this overflowing vat of arousal that builds up inside of you everytime Jungkook is around, like the moment your eyes land on him you’re reminded of every position he’s ever had you in. You remember the soft brush of his hands on your body, the way his lips feel on yours, the soft tickle of his hair when he gets too close. It makes your heart lurch in your chest, like if you don’t grab onto him tightly this feeling will slip through your fingers and out of your life. So you were crazily in love with your boyfriend— now what?

A puckered set of lips meets the inside of your thigh, the action ripping you from your overly gooey, overly soft inner rambling. Your hand trails down your quivering pussy lips, collecting your dripping wetness as you go. At the same time, Jungkook kisses down the inside of your thigh, soft smacks of his lips against your skin filling the air with an emotion that makes you bite down a whimper. Your hole puckers at the brush of your fingers, anticipating an entrance that you yearn to give into soon.

His mouth is on you before your finger can go deeper than a centimeter in. But Jungkook doesn’t brush your hand off, doesn’t shove you away to prove his mouth was undoubtedly better. He places a kiss over your knuckles, before swallowing up your significantly smaller hand with his, that of which he clasps together over your navel.

You groan, head rolling from side to side. “Don’t be so soft with me,” you whine, leg twitching when he presses a kiss against your engorged bundle of nerves. “Push me around like that one time, you know I like it.”

Jungkook grins, mouthing over your clit with practiced ease that has you releasing all kinds of whimpers and sighs. He’s got his other hand wrapped around your thigh, strong arm pulling you closer to that devious mouth and tongue that lavished attention on your clit. “Need me to be mean to you, baby?” he purrs, curling his tongue in such a way that it makes your entire body tense up, muscles pulled tight. “Want me to push you around like the stupid little girl you are?” You moan, head bobbing up and down at the ideas he stuffs in your mind. As he moves down the length of your cunt, that round nose you love brushes against your bud, and the cheeky shit takes an obnoxiously loud sniff of it, a soft groan breathed against your lower lips. “But isn’t this better?” he hums, languidly molding his lips against your lower ones, much in the same way he does with the ones on your face; he moves slowly, slips his tongue in every few seconds before eventually diving in head on. “Slow... and so easy.”

“Kook,” you mewl, getting this overwhelming urge to cover your face with your hands. But you can’t, because he’s knotted one hand with yours and his fingers only tighten when you try to yank them apart. Instead you’re left pressing one knuckle against your mouth, brows pinching as he begins slowly fucking his tongue into your cunt. “F-Faster,” you beg. He, of course, ignores your plea.

The wet mass moves past the clenched muscles around your hole, nose brushing against your lips with every intrusion. Every few cycles he stops to press a kiss against your pussy, so hard and wet that it hurts when he pulls off. You’re left writhing and moaning, your heel knocking against his shoulder when he pushes your leg up closer to your chest. “It’s enough,” you cry, your entire body shivering.

Jungkook pulls off with a loud pop, lips glistening with your arousal. He’s got this glint on his eyes, like he’s thoroughly entertained by your reactions. He shuffles around to get comfortable, finally releasing that grip on your hand. Immediately, your newly freed hand jumps forward to tangle in the hair above his ear, tracing down the delicate curve of his cheekbone. Jungkook turns his head, pressing a soft peck against your open palm that makes your heartbeat thunder in your ears.

As he moves around, his leg bumps against something that has both of you pausing. It sounds out of place next to your shallow breaths, and both of you glance down only to catch sight of that stupid package from Sexuality Unleashed teetering on the edge of the bed.

The moment you see it, it’s like you’re transported into an omnipresent view of the scene, the next few hours flashing before your eyes as Jungkook snorts. You know he’s going to reach for it in two seconds, and you know he’s going to tear the hot pink packaging apart with his bare hands. He does so with a scary amount of power, the industrial tape not standing a chance against him. A box roughly the same size as the package falls out, and before you can kick it away and save yourself from suffering beneath Jungkook’s teasing antics, he’s snatching up the box.

“The Bullet Bestie,” he reads aloud, dark eyes flying across the text with lightning speed before that box is also being ripped open. (Briefly, there’s a voice in your head that thinks of Doyeon, but you’re not sure why.) Out tumbles a little pink bullet with a strap on one end that bounces against your thigh and an even smaller remote.

“Baby,” you rush out, the sight of the tiny toy making your heart thunder in your chest. “We can look at it another time,” you try, hands coming up to brush against his face again. “Why don’t you finish off here?” you ask, a sickeningly sweet politeness dripping off your tongue as the knot in your tummy fades into the background of his attention.

Jungkook ignores you, picking up the remote with a wondrous look in his eyes. Before you can try to persuade him back between your legs, a quiet click cuts you off and the little bullet whirls to life. You yelp at the sudden vibrations against the inside of your thigh, so close to your throbbing core. The jump of your thighs has it falling onto the mattress below you, wide eyes snapping back to the smirk that grows on his face.

“No,” you say slowly, sitting back up, “no, no,” you try, your usual assertiveness melting into a whiny cry as you try to wiggle away from him and the nefarious ideas infesting his lust-addled mind. You’re barely turning, ready to make a run for it and hand him his victory by forfeit, when Jungkook is catching you by the waist. Your hips get pulled up, arms clawing uselessly at the sheets beneath you as he drags you close to him. He’s fast, already having moved onto his knees behind you, and when he yanks you up, you can feel every hot plane of his body aligned with your backside. “Kook, please just make me cum,” you gasp.

There’s a smile pressed against your shoulder, lips still wet from before, kissing along the side of your neck. “Look at my girl,” he murmurs, and you nearly jump out of your skin when something smooth is traced along your thigh. One hand slips beneath the material of your shirt, soothingly rubbing circled against your skin. This hand also holds the tiny remote between two fingers, and every nerve in your body is on edge waiting for it to be used. “Where’s that smartmouth now?”

“Jungkook,” you try to warn. But there’s no bite to your words, only an anticipation that grows the closer he moves that damned toy between your thighs. “Baby, we-we can play another time, okay? Just please—“

A soft click, and suddenly your spine is giving out on you, upper body flopping forward as Jungkook runs the vibrations over your clit. Of course Jungkook follows, never letting you slip far from his reach. A loud moan spills from your lips, lower lip wobbling at the unreal amounts of pleasure he bestows upon you with such a small toy. “W-Wait,” you sob, the coil from before suddenly magnified tenfold. It makes your orgasm loom over you bigger than ever, a wave that threatens to spill over and drown you in one go. “No-please.”

His mouth presses against your ear, hot breaths fanning against the skin there. “Hey pretty girl, does it feel good?” he husks out, kissing just below your ear. “Aw fuck,” he groans, something stiff pressing against the cleft between your cheeks, “can’t even see if you’re making that stupid face right now.”

You are, but you don’t even have the words to tell him that. The moment the vibrator had made contact with your already ravished clit, your eyes had rolled into the back of your head. You don’t doubt you look like those silly ads you’d laughed at earlier, mouth opening and closing every few seconds as he circles the toy around your bud. You settle on a high-pitched whimper that has Jungkook laughing meanly against your ear.

It ends too soon, the stimulation from Jungkook eating you out for a few minutes combining with the bullet to form a powerful duo that swallows you whole. An embarrassingly loud moan rips itself from your throat, hands twisting in the sheets beneath you as it washes over you. It’s so powerful, it blinds you, pussy spasming. Jungkook’s name is repeated about a thousand times in between, your body eventually melting back into the mattress as the final shocks run through you.

The vibrator clicks off just as quietly as it turned on, your harsh breaths filling the room in its place. “Good girl,” Jungkook praises, raining down a parade of kisses against your shoulder. You mewl in appreciation, still awkwardly shoving your face into the mattress, and your hips in the air. From the corner of your eyes, you watch him set the glistening toy off to the side, and you’re just about ready to thank the heavens for such an experience with your boyfriend, when said boyfriend hits you with a curveball.

The gentle pecks against yours shoulder dissolve into harsh kisses, rough hands trailing up your waist. The t-shirt gathers around his knuckles, pushed and pushed until he’s got those same hands cupping your breasts. “Did you like that?” he asks, biting down against your shoulder; the sensation is dulled by your shirt being in the way but it still makes you whine. You moan softly, nodding against the mattress as he gets to kneading your breasts over your bra. “Mm,” Jungkook sighs, “my pretty girl was so good for me, wasn’t she?”

Those deft fingers run back down, crawl beneath the elastic of your lounge bra and push it away until your breasts are bouncing out of their cage. “Kook,” you sigh, eyes fluttering shut as he traces circles around your nipples. “W-Wait,” you whimper, suddenly reminded of the swollen cock pressed against your backside when he leans closer.

“Shhh,” he soothes, tweaking your nipples. “Relax for me, sweetheart,” he coos, flicking your hardened nipples with his fingers. You can’t relax, not with your body still so sensitive and him playing with you. Still, the low intonation makes something soft and warm settle in your chest, the kisses against your jaw making your eyes fall shut. “That’s it,” he says, giving one nipple a playful twist that draws a high-pitched moan from you.

Just as you’re beginning to fall into the rhythm of Jungkook’s caresses and voice, he releases one breast to traverse his hand down and over your tummy, to your sensitive pussy. You gasp, biting down on your lip as he teasingly flicks your clit with his fingers. “Bet you could come again now,” he murmurs, taking the tip of your earlobe into his mouth and nibbling softly. You groan, shoving your face into the sheets as if that will save you from your doom. “Bet your pretty little pussy can cream itself just like this, isn’t that right, sweet girl?”

You whimper, hips bucking back against him when he begins nudging your bud, lewd sounds reaching your ears. His other hand remains on your breast, no longer toying with your nipple but simply holding it almost comfortingly. There’s a smirk pressed against your skin, that pearly white smile you usually adore so much teasing you as he circles your nub.

“Come on,” he encourages quietly, kissing up the column of your neck again. You moan, thighs quivering as he strokes a second orgasm out of you with no struggle. Your eyes and throat burn at the heat that washes over you, and you release a hoarse scream into the mattress— Jungkook chuckles at the sound, egging you on with that low voice until your muscles go limp a second time.

When he rolls you onto your stomach again, you try desperately to cover the tears that blur your vision, turning away from him like a child when he tries to look. “Crybaby, crybaby,” he sings teasingly, prying your hands away to capture your mouth with his for the first time that night. “Lemme see those tears, baby,” he purrs.

He tastes like you, tongue dripping with that sweet tang of your pussy, and he smells like you too. It strokes the flames of you ego, arms eventually wrapping around his shoulders as he settles above you. He pulls off with a curl of his tongue against your swollen lips, brown eyes lazily staring down at you. It’s embarrassing how well kept he still was compared to your half-nude state of dress. His skin is all glowy and pretty, not a single tear track in sight, and his grin is still too relaxed for your liking.

Jungkook’s body feels so warm and comforting against yours, muscles keeping the heat trapped between your bodies. You go to brush a hand through his hair, needing to feel the familiarity of those silky locks, before he’s suddenly leaning away. He shuffles onto his knees again, glancing down at your thoroughly abused cunt with a quirk in his brows.

“God,” you groan, knocking your foot against his side. “Just fuck me already,” you huff despite your earlier fatigue. You could only go so long without feeling Jungkook’s fat demon cock inside of you.

He snorts at your snappy tone, cutely tilting his head to the side to move his hair out of his face. His jaw looks sharp from this angle, facial features covered in shadows the lamplight behind him can’t touch. “Can’t,” he announces, and you could pull your hair out from all this unnecessary build up.

Truth to be told, you and Jungkook were both equally as unrestrained when it came to each other. Most of the time, the lead up to actual, penetrative, key-in-lock sex included a couple minutes of heavy petting from his end, and maybe a half assed handjob from you. Sometimes if you felt extra attentive, he’d eat you out and you'd him off. But for the most part, the two of you jumped straight into it after an orgasm, like horny teenagers despite the two of you being twenty-three now.

The most adventurous you’d ever gotten up until the point was maybe two orgasms bestowed upon you by a crazed Jungkook. And, well. You had hit two orgasms now. You were ready for his monster cock.

“Kook,” you whine childishly.

Jungkook shakes you off, placing a palm on both your knees. Slowly, he spreads your thighs apart again, eyes zeroed in on the glossy folds that come into view, the sparkling pearly cum that leaks out of your hole. “I can’t, baby,” he says, almost pained. “I gotta clean you up first,” he insists, and before you can tell him how counterproductive it is to lick you clean of your arousal before fucking you, he’s diving face first into your cunt.

But the biggest surprise doesn’t come from Jungkook going in for thirds, but from the hands he clasps around your thighs, the sheer strength he uses to roll you over (ignoring the shriek you let out) to sit you on his face. “No, no,” you yelp immediately, “I-I‘ll break you,” you cry, trying to escape from his hold.

From beneath your thighs, dark eyes peering up at you daringly, you can see the clear warning on Jungkook’s face. It’s a look that loudly says don’t you dare fucking move, shapely brows sending a jolt of genuine fear down your spine for a moment. “Jungkook,” you fret, trying to ignore the arousal that only continues to blossom as his tongue laps against your folds for the second time that night. “I’m, I’m,” you stammer, hands burying themselves in his hair as he ignores your cries. “I’ll break you,” you try again, spine arching when he slurps your clit into his mouth. “I-I’ll—“

He pulls off with a pop. “Fuck my face, baby,” he says, as if he hadn’t heard a single of your concerns at all. His nose nudges against your clit, a whimper catching in your throat. Briefly, his hand disappears from around your thigh, and when it returns, that tiny bullet vibrator from earlier is pressed against your thigh. “You got that?”

You nod, internally torn apart by your fear of crushing him and your need to drag your cunt all over your boyfriend’s handsome face. You glance down at him, watch him slip that vibrator into his mouth for just a second and lewdly coat it in his saliva, before he’s reaching around to shove it past your pussy lips. They’re still swollen and puffy, but have long since relaxed enough for him to slip it in. “B-But what if—“

“You won’t,” he cuts off, readjusting himself closer to your cunt again, “come on, pretty girl.”

The reason you think you and Jungkook click so well was because he was able to bring that vulnerable side out of you every now and then. He knew you liked to parade around with that huge superiority complex, and he loved it. But he also knew there were things you liked and disliked, and sometimes it took a little pushing for you to reveal them.

For a second, that horny cloud over his irises lifts, and he gives you one of those cute, sloppy winks as he taps your thigh gently. “Fuck my face, sweetheart,” he whispers, “drag that pretty cunt all over me until I can’t breathe.” A gasp catches in your throat, hands unconsciously curling against his scalp. He notices, and flashes you a lazy smirk. “You can do that, can’t you?”

Something akin to adoration blooms in your chest, and before you can blurt out something embarrassing—like I love you—there’s a soft click that has The Bullet Bestie revving up inside of you. You gasp, the sudden vibrations deep inside your pussy making your hips snap forward, clit rubbing against Jungkook’s nose.

“O-Oh,” you cry, and that’s all it takes for you to lose it. Your hips start off slow, at first just savoring the wet drag of his tongue against your lips, his nose against your clit. He sticks his tongue out for you, and part of you wants to tell him he’s a good boy, that corny hentai ad flashing in your mind, but you doubt you’ll survive the aftermath of that. Once you find that perfect pace, your hands are practically yanking at his hair, pushing him further into the mattress as you ride his face like he’s nothing but a toy. “Kook, Jungkook,” you pant, grinding your lower lips against his all too eager mouth.

It feels oddly weird being over him like this, using him like this. You like to think you and Jungkook have equal power in the bedroom, but you will admit that more often than not, he assumes control by default. You’re not particularly bothered by that, because you doubt you’d ever come up with the crazy ideas Jungkook did when he was horny (okay, a lie, because you definitely have thought of crazy sex schemes before).

But, this moment…

The power was quickly going to your head. “Fuck,” you sob, roughly dragging the length of your pussy over and over his face. The hands around your thighs are pressing against your skin with a strength that would hurt were you not blinded by arousal. His eyes are shut, lids fluttering open every now and then as he watches you buck wildly over his face like he was a pillow in high school and your parents were gone for the weekend.

It doesn’t help that the rhythmic pulses of the vibrator inside of you are doing their job well, the tongue that slips into your pussy joining together to form a powerful combination. It’s ultimately what has you halting your manic thrusts, instead falling into a slow grind over him. Your hips circle, eyes squeezed shut as you lose yourself in the lapping of his tongue against your dripping hole. “Mmmf,” you mewl, biting down on your lower lip as the wet muscle prods against a delicate spot within you. You hear feels light, view of the gorgeous man beneath you obstructed by the eyelids that can't seem to stay open. “N-No,” you cry, pulling his hair more roughly than you intended to in order to redirect him. “There, there,” you whimper, holding him tight against your pussy.

Beneath you, Jungkook exhales harshly against your lips, hands moving frantically over your thighs as he works his tongue inside of you alongside the bullet vibrator. If you weren’t so caught up in your own pleasure, all kinds of sounds spilling from your lips, you would have heard the quiet moans that fall from his. Alas.

It takes a few more pulses from the toy and a few more licks from Jungkook until you’re coming for the third time that night, features twisting up as your pussy clenches around his tongue before spilling down his mouth. Your back arches, a defeated moan escaping you as you release the same mess he’d claimed to clean up onto his lovely face. You can barely breathe afterwards, mouth dry and head dizzy when Jungkook finally pops back out from between your thighs. You barely have enough time to lift yourself up, pussy lightly brushing across his Adam’s apple as you stop yourself from crushing his windpipe. It makes you twitch.

“Good girl,” Jungkook praises with a cheeky smile that distracts you from the bullet toy he retrieves from your quivering cunt. His face is absolutely glistening from your arousal, skin warm and flush. He’s looking up at you like you’re some mythical goddess and he’s but a humble villager coming to pay his respects at the temple that is your body. Fuck, were you okay? You don’t think you’ve ever felt this good in your entire life, and Jungkook’s mushy gaze was doing things to your heart.

He presses a kiss against the inside of your thigh before helping you off of him, laughing meanly when you flop limply down beside him. He’s still fully clothed, a fact that irks you when he leans over to kiss you with that glossy face of his. “D’you like it?” he mumbles, kissing softly down your face. You nod, legs twitching from the aftermath of that wild ride. “I saw it, y’know,” he says suddenly.

“Saw what?” you mumble, mindlessly rolling your head to the side and exposing more skin when he begins kissing along your neck.

Jungkook says nothing, just rolls over you. Part of you thinks he’s crazy, but you’re suddenly hit with the realization that while Jungkook’s drawn three orgasms out of you in the course of an hour, you hadn’t done anything for him. Before you can dive head first into swallowing his cock, he’s kissing you softly. “That stupid face,” he smirks, slotting his mouth against yours. “That weird, now realistic face,” he tacks on.

You huff out a laugh, throwing your leg around his waist comfortably. Jungkook smiles, kisses you one last time before settling in your arms, face cutely pressed in between your boobs. “Hey,” you call, “don't you wanna cum too?”

He shakes his head, a soft sigh filling the air. “Nah,” he says, cuddles closer into you. “Rest now, baby.”

You roll your eyes. “I can feel your dick against my thigh,” you point out, wiggling your pelvis upward to brush against his throbbing erection. Jungkook holds you down in an effort to stop you. “Fuck me.”

He groans against your collarbone. “No, you’re tired,” he tries to convince you, but his skin is warm and flushed in the way it always gets when he’s riled up. “Sleep.”

With the leg around his hip, you pull him closer. “Fuck me, Jungkookie,” you purr, using the hands in his hair to turn his face up towards yours. His dark eyes are drawn down cutely, pouty lips too. “Use my body,” you suggest, “I’m yours anyway.”

His eyes flutter shut, a quiet whimper falling from his lips. “Don’t say that,” he sighs, “makes me wanna do very mean things to you.”

You smile. “You can do whatever you want to me, don’t you know that?” Another groan, his head falling forward until he’s hiding in your neck. Still, there’s movement from below, he sweats slipping down at his hips until that throbbing cock is pressed into the tiny crease where your thigh meets your pelvis. There’s a moment of hesitation, and you wonder if this is what he felt like earlier when he’d managed to get you to sit on his face. “Inside, Jungkookie,” you murmur, reaching down to line him up with your sensitive entrance. He whines softly, arms wrapping around you as he pulls you close. “Good boy.”

Despite your earlier belief that you’d never survive an encounter with Jungkook after using such a term on him, the result is much different from what you had anticipated. He visibly melts into your arms, cock slipping past your folds easily. “No,” he says, his voice feathery and whiny against your ear. “I can’t.”

You soothe a hand down his back, eyes fluttering shut as he begins slowly rutting against your swollen lips. “That’s it,” you encourage, tugging softly at his wavy hair. Jungkook moans wantonly against your neck, rolling his hips harshly against you until his arms are the only things keeping you from jostling out of his hold. “Do you like this pussy?” you ask, purposefully clenching around him, tummy tightening at the stimulation you keep packing on.

Jungkook shudders, pace growing slipping inside of you. “Yes,” he pants, “s-so wet… creamy.”

“Yeah?” you huff, pressing a smiley kiss against his forehead. “It’s yours.”

“Ffffuck,” Jungkook chokes, picking up his pace as his well-deserved orgasm reaches its peak. He’s breathing harshly now, and it’s taking everything in you to keep your pussy tight around him. But after the night he’d given you, the sounds and faces he pulled from you, it’s the least you can do. Besides, your body, after being so thoroughly pleased, still rears up for one final orgasm with him. “Mine,” he growls, bucking his hips into you. “You’re mine, baby, mine,” he seethes, ending his little tryst with a piston of his hips that makes you gasp, body almost unconsciously spasming around him. It’s painful, but so, so delicious how he manages to pull this last orgasm from you as he finally busts inside of you.

He comes with a stuttering garble of words, none of which you catch as he collapses into your hold for the final time that night. “Fuck,” he pants afterwards, leaning into your touch when he finally registers the soft combing of fingers through his hair. “That was evil.”

You laugh, pulling him closer. “As evil as you making me suffer through three orgasms before putting your dick in me?” you tease. Jungkook slips out of you, and you know it’ll be a hassle to clean your sheets tomorrow but it’s worth it.

“It’s called building the scene,” he weakly defends, blindly tugging the puffy blanket over the two of you. “I was gonna rhyme it with that horrible website you made me use but I already forgot it’s name.”

“Rude,” you snap, “it’s called KissAnime.”

“And fore-play,” he suddenly says, and you almost yank his eyeballs out of their sockets for doing that stupid thing again.

—

epilogue 

Two weeks later, your favorite website and home to hentai ads is shut down after years of piracy. Jungkook laughs at your demise, sits and actually cackles at your heartbreak, until he eventually comforts you with his flaming demon cock and a subscription to both Crunchyroll and Funimation. Doyeon spends weeks tracking down a missing package, apparently some freebie she’d gotten for being such an avid customer on Sexuality Unleashed: The Best Toys Worldwide! before eventually finding it in your drawer. And because her and Jungkook have some awkward life-long rivalry for your attention, he doesn’t pay for that. 

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