#feel free to share your thoughts if your thinking thoughts too

[thestarsaboveme]

this was a request from a kind anon.

summary: angst with comfort, reader and lads men having a misunderstanding because reader is overthinking that they’re cheating on her with the mc since they always spend time with the mc and spending less time with the reader.

xavier ver. | rafayel ver. | zayne ver. | caleb ver.

sylus x reader | angst/comfort

You were used to Sylus being quiet.

Not cold. Just…quiet.

So when his messages started getting shorter, when his gaze didn't linger as long on yours, when his kissed turned into brushes of habit more than affection, you didn't notice right away.

Until it started to hurt.

-

You saw them again.

Sylus and MC in the lab.

Her laughter reached you before their voices did. Sylus stood beside her, arms crossed, watching her monitor as she demonstrated something. He wasn't smiling. But he also wasn't pulling away like he did with most people. He was listening. Engaged.

You waited for him to notice you.

He didn't.

After ten minutes of watching from the hallway, you left.

-

Are you free tonight?

You messaged him later.

We haven't spent time together in a while.

He didn't reply for two hours.

Can't. Late testing with MC. Tomorrow?

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow. It was always tomorrow.

-

You told yourself you were being irrational. That he'd always been closer to MC, given their compatibility, their shared background, their synced missions. This his loyalty ran deeper than words, and if he was cheating, you'd know, right?

But your gut twisted every time you saw them together. Every time he mentioned her like she was another heartbeat.

And tonight, as you sat alone in your room again, you couldn't hold it in anymore.

You called him.

He answered on the second ring, voice calm. ''Hey. Everything okay?''

''No,'' you said, and your voice cracked more than you meant it to. ''Can you come over?''

A pause. ''Now?''

''I need to talk to you, Sylus. Please.''

A longer pause. Then: ''I'm on my way.''

-

When he arrived twenty minutes later, he looked tired. Dark circles under his eyes. His hair slightly disheveled from running his fingers through it too many times. He took one look at your expression and stepped in without a word.

You stood by the couch, arms folded across your chest.

He said nothing at first, just watched you. Waiting. Patient.

That made it harder.

''Are you cheating on me with MC?''

The words came out like broken glass.

Sylus blinked. No dramatic reaction. No flinch. Just stilness.

Then a slow, quiet, ''No.''

You let out a shaky breath. ''Then why does it feel like you're never here anymore? Why does it feel like you replaced me with her?''

Still calm, he asked, ''Is that what you think I've done?''

''I don't know what to think, Sylus!'' you snapped, voice rising. ''You've been with her constantly. You talk about her like she's in your head all the time.'' You make time for her, not me. And I sit here, waiting like I'm some background character you forgot about.''

He stepped forward slowly. ''You're not.''

''Then explain it to me,'' you whispered. ''Because I'm tired of guessing where I stand with you.''

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Quietly, heavily.

''There's nothing going on between me and MC,'' he said. ''But I haven't made that clear. That's on me.''

You swallowed hard. ''Then why have you been so distant?''

He hesitated, then moved to sit on the edge of the couch, elbows resting on his knees. Not his usual posture. He looked vulnerable. Smaller, somehow.

''I've been working with MC on some dangerous tech,'' he said slowly. ''There were…anomalies in her readings. We thought they were unstable. I needed to make sure she was okay.''

You frowned. ''So you were protecting her?''

''I was doing my job. I was trying to prevent another incident. Something like what happened to me.'' He looked up then, eyes locking onto yours. ''And I didn't want you anywhere near it.''

You hesitated. ''Why not tell me that?''

He looked away again. ''Because if you knew, you'd want to help. You'd want to be involved. And I couldn't handle the thought of something happening to you.''

Silence fell between you.

You sat beside him on the couch, not touching.

''You think keeping me in the dark is protecting me?''

''I thought I could carry it all without hurting you,'' he said. ''But I was wrong.''

You exhaled. ''You made me feel like you were slipping away. Like I was being replaced by someone who understands you better.''

His jaw tightened. ''No one understands me like you do.''

You met his eyes again. ''Then why couldn't you just say that?''

He stared at you for a long time.

And finally, he said, ''Because you're the only person who makes me feel like I'm still human. Like I'm more than what I was built to do. And that scares me more than anything.''

Your heart clenched.

''Sylus…''

''I'm not used to needing someone,'' he admitted. ''But I need you. And I didn't know how to say that without feeling like I was putting you in danger.''

''You're not,'' you whispered. ''You're just hurting both of us instead.''

He nodded, slowly. ''I know. I'm sorry.''

You reached out, brushing your fingers against his hand. He didn't move away.

''I don't want to be protected from your truth, Sylus,'' you said. '' I want to stand beside you, not behind you.''

he finally turned his hand over, letting your fingers intertwine.

''I can try,'' he said softly. ''If you'll let me fix this.''

You leaned into his shoulder, the silence between you no longer cold. But healing.

''I want to,'' you said. ''But next time…talk to me.''

''I will,'' he promised.

And somehow, in that quiet, broken space between heartache and hope, you began to believe him.

[illbegottenfaith]

that one girl from summer camp

you drive yourself up the wall trying to figure out who your best friend is taking to your year's farewell dinner (theo nott x reader, ft. the Slytherin boys)

a/n - before anyone says it I KNOW they can prob just use magic for whatever they're doing but i feel like that wouldn't make for a very fun fic heheh okay enjoyyy

tropes/warning - fluff, friends to lovers, jealous!reader, happy ending, the Slytherin boys being menaces/irritatingly unhelpful

word count - 2k

taglist - @kandralice @justme989898 @iamheretoread1234 @allie-sturns @hzdhrtss @friedfreyfries @bushnellswife @rose-of-the-grave @thaliashifts @pariahsparadise @babene-e @fratbrochrisgf @user089167

May - the one time of year the air smelt so deliciously of tangerines and escape, freedom so close you could taste it. In the midst of all the finals and packing, you and your friends had volunteered to help prep certain areas of the crumbling castle for a little refurbishment. Now, you were dropping by to visit Theo, who was helping pack the majority of the Restricted Section books into boxes.

"Anyway, Melissa and I should get back to packing," Ivy was saying with him half-listening. "It's awful, Theodore. Our room is such a mess, there's barely enough space for the three of us. Especially on Y/N's side of the room."

You glared at her as Theo bent to tick something else off his list. But she only gave you an exaggeratedly saucy wink.

"I guess we'll just...leave Y/N with you."

She ducked as you you brandished a book at her threateningly. You weren't going to let her hear the end of it later.

Melissa had the good sense to steer Ivy towards the exit, who was now making exaggerated kissy faces despite your scowl. Lucky for you, Theo hadn't caught much of it. He glanced up as Ivy was noisily leaving, looking a little lost. You pointed at his box.

"Want some help?"

And so the two of you spent the better part of the next hour emptying It felt nice to watch him work, unbothered - how he distractedly pushed his hair back when he was thinking a little hard, how he hummed when he forgot you were only a few shelves away, how he'd take in a particularly deep breath if he was deeply absorbed in something.

"I can't believe we're finally graduating. I thought it would never end," you sighed, taping a box closed. "Are you staying for the farewell dinner?"

"Yeah." Theo said distractedly, frowning at his list. You watched him carefully.

"Are you...taking anyone?"

Theo's head jerked up.

"What?"

You flinched, startled. You could feel the back of your neck growing warm as you hastily started to explain. "To the dinner. Are you going with someone? It's just, I was wond - "

"Oh." Was it just you, or did he look a little relieved? "Yeah. I mean, yes, I'm hoping to take someone. Someone special. I haven't asked her yet, though."

You put your stack of books down, giving Theo a sidelong glance. He had to be talking about you. Was this him being coy?

"And who exactly is this mystery someone?"

Theo waved a hand dismissively. "No one, really. Just this girl I met at that summer camp. The one after first year, remember?"

Of course you remembered. It had been like one big sleepover for all the first-years, free to explore the castle and terrorise the House head without the threat of finals or detentions (not that a certain greasy-haired professor still didn't try). It was one of your fondest memories, marred only slightly by this girl with dark, deep-set eyes and an unfortunate bowl-cut, bob-esque haircut who constantly followed you and your friends around.

You also remembered that you had only met Theo in your third year, in a shared Herbology class, a good two years after the camp. All of a sudden, your tongue felt too big for your mouth.

"Oh," you said, stupidly. Because what else could you say?

"It only seems fitting after all these years." Theo continued, oblivious to the embarrassment washing over you, scooping up your stack of books like it weighed nothing.

Your face fell. "Right."

You busied yourself with the next shelf of books, and the next, and the next. The two of you worked in silence. You wondered if he noticed how quiet you had become.

"We're out of boxes," Theo said after a while. "I'll have to go get more. Meet back here in 15?"

He was already halfway out the door before you could respond.

You decided a little fresh air would help. In the courtyard, Mattheo was covering the walls with a fresh coat of paint with a few others, a smudge of paint on his nose.

"Mattheo," you called out, walking over to him. "You have a little - "

He looked up inquisitively just as another dollop of paint dripped off the roller and landed on his hair.

"Never mind."

"How goes the library?" he asked, pausing his work. You shrugged.

"Alright. Boring. Fine."

He hummed noncommittally. "Just fine? No...scintillating conversation?"

Mattheo's tone was deceptively casual as he turned back to his work, dunking his roller into the bucket of paint. You narrowed your eyes at the boy suspiciously.

"You know something," you concluded.

"I should hope so, after seven years in this place," Mattheo responded coolly.

"You know who Theo's taking to the dinner."

He paused his dunking efforts, looking genuinely surprised.

"You don't?"

"You do?"

He hesitated, trying to look exceptionally engrossed in wringing out the excess paint.

"Maybe."

"Maybe? Either you know or you don't. Which is it?"

"I might know. I might not," Mattheo continued in that irritatingly smug tone. "But if I did know, I wouldn't be telling you."

You rolled your eyes. "Rude."

He smirked. "It's the truth."

"What's the truth?"

You looked over your shoulder to see Draco walking towards the two of you, lazily tossing an apple. Maybe you'd have better luck with him.

"You wouldn't happen to know who Theo's taking to the farewell, dinner, would you?"

"Not you, that's for sure," he replied almost immediately, taking a generous bite of his apple.

"I know that," you muttered, your voice faltering a little. Merlin knows he had made that exceptionally clear. You cleared your throat awkwardly. Mattheo glared at Draco.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the Astronomy Tower?"

"I'm taking my break."

"Well, go take your break somewhere else. Like with the ferrets."

"Hey," Draco said, the tips of his ears turning faintly pink. "That was one time, and as far as I'm concerned, it was nothing short of child abuse - "

"Animal abuse, more like."

You left the boys to bicker as you morosely drifted back towards the library. If only someone would tell you.

Someone you could trust to be telling the truth.

In a fit of inspiration, you changed course, walking in the opposite direction. What you needed, you had decided, was someone in Theo's inner circle who couldn't bear to lie.

You watched Blaise step out of the Slytherin common room from a short distance away, near the shifting staircases. He was fiddling with his watch but stopped short as soon as he saw you. You smiled cheerily.

"Zabini," you started breezily.

"No."

The boy held out a hand in warning. You frowned at him, appalled.

"Zabini," you said, much more impatiently, taking a step towards him. He let out a strangled sort of sound and stepped back.

"No. I already told Theo I want no part in this - this game of yours."

You scoffed. Someone had to have given him a heads up. "Was it Draco? Was he the one who told you?" That slimy eyesore of a snitch.

"It doesn't matter," Blaise was saying, more preoccupied with finding a way out now that you were drawing closer, closing in on him. "I want nothing to do with it. This is between you and Theo."

You laughed weakly.

"Honestly, Blaise. I just want to have a little chat with you! There's nothing wrong with that. Why are you - where are you going? Why are you walking away from me? Blaise? Why are you run - Zabini! Stop running! TELL ME WHO THEO'S TAKING TO THE - "

Unfortunately, you weren't half the track star Blaise was, and yelling while sprinting at full speed was more than your lungs could take. You decided to take a little breather on the steps, hatefully watching him disappear into the convoluted network of staircases with the most awful stitch in your chest.

"I got the boxes," Theo said brightly as you walked in, "and water."

You were too exhausted to even pretend to be fine. "I'm not thirsty," you mumbled, turning your back to him in dismissal. Theo paused, uncertain.

Though, you thought after a moment, you were feeling a little parched, what with all that running.

"Give me that."

Theo handed the bottle over.

"Are you okay? You look a little..."

You shook your head.

"It's nothing. I've just been running around the castle." Like an idiot.

Theo looked confused. It was a frustratingly adorable look on him. "Whatever for?"

You sighed. You pulled him into the chair next to yours, looking him squarely in the eye.

"Nott."

"L/N," he echoed in a completely serious tone, looking like he was enjoying this more than he should.

"I'm going to be straight with you."

"You do that."

"I need you to be straight with me."

"I'll try my best, ma'am."

"Okay. Why won't you tell me who you're taking to the dinner?"

Theo opened his mouth, but then closed it again, as if deciding better of his response. You hated it. You couldn't remember the last time you kept something from him, other than the very big Something you felt about him, and it felt horrible to have him keep something from you.

"Do you not want me to know?" you asked a little pitifully. You wouldn't like it one bit, but you'd learn to accept whoever it was Theo had taken a fancy to. That's what friends did.

"I do want you to know," he said earnestly. "Trust me, I do, more than you know."

"So tell me."

"You."

"Me what?"

"You. I'm taking you."

You stared at him, silent. He stared back, face equally inscrutable. What kind of sick joke was he playing? Hadn't he embarrassed you enough? You could feel tears prickling at the corners of your eyes. You worried your bottom lip.

"First you won't tell me who you're taking, now you're making fun of me? Is this all a big joke to you? Do you find this funny?"

"A little."

You stood up. Maybe your reaction wasn't making a lot of sense to either of you, but you had had enough. He finally spotted the gleam in your eyes.

"Wait - Y/N, please, I did mean to ask you. This afternoon."

"Enough with the lying, Teddy. This isn't funny anymore."

"But I'm not lying." He looked so distraught, you almost felt sorry for him.

"Draco already said it wasn't me."

The concern knitted into his face almost instantly evaporated. "Malfoy lied? For fun?" He deadpanned. "Alert the presses."

You floundered. "Well - erm - you said you met her at camp. We only met in third year Herbology."

Theo shook his head, mystified.

"No," he said slowly, "we met at the camp. I'm sure of it." He cocked his head. "Do you seriously not remember me?"

"All I remember is this one - " your heated words died on your lips as you finally out two and two together. That had been no little girl, but a little boy, with hair as wavy and soft and dark as Theo's.

"We did meet at camp," you corrected yourself. "We did." You had to hold back a laugh. "My - my mistake. We met at the camp."

Now he was watching you suspiciously.

"What's so funny?" he asked testily.

You just shook your head, swallowing your smile.

bonus (a few months later):

"Girl?" Theo echoed, scandalised, flipping through your photo album. The two of you were in your dorm, sitting side by side on your bed while Theo looked through your album and you - well, you were just enjoying staring at your boyfriend and his handsome side profile. Your heart gave a giddy jolt. Boyfriend. You'd never tire of hearing the word.

"You thought I was a girl?"

You rolled your eyes. "In my defence, your voice was at a much higher pitch back then. Also, you were 11. I was 11. So..."

Theo shook his head slowly, mumbling disbelievingly under his breath.

"Look - " you pulled the album from his lap towards you. "See, your hair's a little long, so it kind of looks like a bob, and it's sort of overwhelming on your face, which is - "

"What about my face?" Theo asked in a half-injured tone. You grinned. He could be so sensitive sometimes.

You put aside the album, leaning in close enough to see the faint freckles dusting his nose, the faded birthmark near the corner of his eye. You pressed a kiss to your cheekbone.

"Nothing. It's perfect."

[cherrryybeee]

she really thinks you like shauna?

natalie scatorccio bot (link at bottom)

The crash ruined everything. You were supposed to go to nationals, get a scholarship for college, move in with Nat. Natalie Scatorccio. She was your best friend, your other half, your secret girlfriend, your everything. After the crash it was pretty obvious noting was going back to normal, and your soccer team wasn't getting saved any time soon. So you guys took matters into your own hands. Tai found a cabin not far from the lake, that got you guys through fall and winter. People died, winter was harsh, Shauna lost her baby and her best friend, Travis lost his brother. You and Natalie stopped talking as much. Your relationship was still a secret, and with her hunting, and everyone *always* around it was hard to get alone time. But she still loved you, and you still loved her. 

God you were *so* jealous of Van and Tai, they got to flaunt their relationship. Hold hands, kiss, sleep next to each other. It wasn't fair. 

Towards the end of winter the cabin burned down, great. Shauna blamed coach Ben who mysteriously went missing after the cabin fire. You didn't think he did it, Shauna was just angry, at herself, at everyone, and needed to blame *someone*. Lottie, who apparently talked to the wilderness crowned Natalie as queen, there goes *any* free time you guys had. After the fire you guys built tents with sticks, they looked like tepee's. Everyone had to share, except Natalie since she was the queen. 

You got paired with Shauna and that's when this whole nightmare started. Apparently Shauna actually really liked you. And she was really angry, really rough. She thought you were single, and even if she knew you weren't, she wouldn't take no for an answer. You became almost like her lap dog, not by your choice of course but at the same time it was nice not having her blow up in your face. 

You missed Natalie though, and you could tell Natalie missed you too. You could also tell she wasn't cool with the whole Shauna thing, even though you reassured her it wasn't *real*. Not like you two.

You guys found ways to sneak off, you would be working by the animal pen and Natalie would come over to "check" on the animals. You two would sneak off after everyone fell asleep, sitting by the lake and talk, make out. 

When Shauna *wasn't* walking behind you like a big scary dog, Natalie would give you a small smile across camp. 

Shauna *hated* Natalie for some reason, probably was jealous Nat was in charge and she wasn't. Shauna liked to *feel* in charge, yelling at people, starting fights. Never directed towards you of course. 

One night, after sneaking out, careful to not wake Shauna. You and Nat were sitting by the lake, you were straddling her lap, hands in her once perfectly bleached hair that was now grown out with her natural brunette showing. Her hands were on your waist, hesitantly playing with the hemline of your shirt. It wasn't a heavy make out but you couldn't keep your hands off her, missing her a lot. She seemed tense and awkward so you pulled away from the kiss just enough to ask her. 

"Hey, you okay?"

She hummed and nodded. 

"Yeah I'm good just, i don't know it doesn't matter"

She leaned back into kiss you but you moved your hands so you were holding her face. 

"If it's bugging you it's not nothing, c'mon you can tell me"

After a couple seconds of her staying quiet, hesitant to tell you she finally spoke up quietly.

"You haven't like, kissed Shauna.. right?"

You could hear the vulnerability in her voice, her eyebrows were furrowed almost in preparation for the worst as she awaited your answer. 

[poppyseed-cheesecake]

Part three of the Sylus fic, they finally do it

This ended up longer than intended...sorry?

Part one Part two

2515 words

For a while Sylus just sat there, wondering what he should do now. But quite frankly it didn't take long for him to really want a shower. After washing his hands and wiping the couch down, he slowly made his way up.

What should he say? Should he act like nothing happened? If you were disgusted by him what should he do? He had to go through the shared living room to shower...

Standing before the door he braced himself. Whatever happened now, he had to deal with it. If he'd just undone all his hard work to get closer to you then he just had to start over again.

But when he stepped inside you just sat there, on the couch, dressed in sweats, a book in hand.

Breathtaking.

You looked up, and a blush crept onto your face, again.

"I am so sorry." "I'm sorry man"

You spoke at the same time, and Sylus chuckled.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I shouldn't have-"

But you cut him off.

"No it was my fault. I shouldn't have picked the lock."

To your credit, you looked him in the eyes. And he couldn't help but smile.

"I suppose that was rather rude. But I should have known that a simple lock wouldn't deter you. Besides, it was a bad time for doing...that."

"Yeah, so it's all good right? No hard feelings on either side?"

Huh, so you cared what he thought. He hadn't just ruined it?

"No hard feelings, sweetie."

You nodded, still blushing, before turning back to your book.

Quickly, he gathered a change of clothes, normally he wore just his robe to entice you, but right now that might come across as...well as wrong.

But before he could close the bathroom door you spoke up again, this time, not looking at him.

"So what was it, the killing, the free falling, the explosion..."

You. But could he tell you? Was this...an invitation? He studied you, how you sat there, pointedly looking at your book but clearly not reading, tips of your ears bright red.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked."

The blush now overtook your whole face and Sylus swallowed, hard. This was dangerous. If he said the wrong thing now...

"Oh god please just shower! Stop staring at meeeee!"

Your whole body scrunched together and you hid your face in the book.

Something in him snapped, he couldn't stop himself. He was over you, his change of clothes on the ground, you caged between his arms as he leaned on the sofas backing.

Sylus had to look at you. Right now. His heart was hammering so loudly, he was sure you could hear it too.

"The fuck Sylus...?"

You peeked over the book, directly into his eyes, mere inches away.

"I think you know, sweetie."

He winced when you retreated further into yourself, legs now tucked tightly to your chest, book almost covering your whole face. You smelled so good. Your hair was still slightly wet.

From this close he could see you bristle as his breath fanned over your skin.

That damned book was in the way.

"Look at me."

His long fingers hooked behind the book and pried it away from your face. With a dull thud it landed somewhere on the ground, he didn't care, he was entranced. You weren't wearing a bra?

Your lips were slightly parted, eyes still searching for somewhere, anywhere, to look.

Sylus hadn't even noticed he'd been moving in closer until your hand on his chest stopped him.

"Go shower."

That made him pause. Had he read this wrong?

With surprising force you pushed him away, caught completely off guard he stumbled against the coffee table, unable to do anything but stare as you stood, fists clenched.

Shit, now he'd really done it.

"Sweetie I'm-"

"I said shower! You stink and I don't want a UTI!"

Huh? Your eyes met his now, your face bright red from ear to ear. Sylus was frozen, the only thing his racing mind knew was that you looked ravishing from this angle as well.

You raised an arm to point at the bathroom.

"Go! Now!"

With questionable amounts of dignity he found himself scrambling to his feet. Long legs suddenly in the way. You were still pointing. Stiff steps carried him inside the bathroom, and when the door shut he stood there. Had he heard that right?  

Even under running water, he just stood, blank faced. The water so hot steam filled the room. He found his hands to be flexing.

A big palm pointlesslywiped water from his face.

And then he started scrubbing. Vigorously.

After about twenty minutes, when his skin felt raw and every crevice of his body clean, he had another decision to make.

He'd forgotten to pick his clothes back up. If he'd read this correctly this was going to happen. Should he come out fully nude? Or wear a towel? His robe as also an option...

Nude was too risky, if you'd wanted that you could've just watched him shower, you liked the robe, it had always been one of the most effective way to get your attention, but the towel would let you scratch his back early on.

Shit, he couldn't waste any more time. Towel it was.

Determined to save face, he slowly opened the door, droplets from his still damp hair no doubt making him look even more enticing.

"Kitten I-"

"Why aren't you dressed?!"

You took big strides towards him. Something had changed. Your sweatshirt fell differently.

A nervous chuckle came over him.

"I thought we were-"

"Yeah yeah! But get dressed first!"

"Sweetie I don't understand-"

You started shoving him towards his bedroom. Bewildered he just let it happen.

"It's emberassing! Put something on!"

You threw his previously discarded clothes at him.

"It's no fun this way!"

And you slammed the door shut. There was no doubt you could hear his relieved laughter after a moment. How fussy you were. But who was he to deny you.

The clothes you'd thrown however wouldn't do. He'd picked them when he still thought you'd run away from him.

Now that it had come to this...

He opened his closet, there was a shirt he'd saved for a situation like this. Well not quite like this, rather for a day where you were to find him sleeping on the sofa, perhaps after a few glasses of wine.

Satin fabric with a sheer gradient towards the shoulders, wrapped not buttoned, open in the chest. With it a nice body chain, some rings, bracelets...

It was supposed to get you to oogle him, maybe even touch him in his sleep a bit, but this was so much better.

After checking himself one last time he braced himself.

You were waiting on the sofa, back turned to him, fiddling with your own jewelry.

He crept up behind you, allowing himself to nuzzle in your hair, causing you to jump a little. God you smelled good.

"Ah shit! Sylus!"

Slowly, pointedly, he walked around the couch, keeping his hand on top, sliding over the material.

Until he stood before you.

"So, sweetie, is this acceptable?"

You swallowed, hard. Satisfied he noted your eyes scanning his entire body.

"Twirl for me."

It came out quieter than you'd probably hoped, but he complied regardless.

"Did I pass?"

It was hard to play of the hammering of his own heart.

You were bright red, but kept your eyes trained on him.

"Y-Yeah."

Sylus was back over you in less than a second.

"I think you'll need to check some more."

It was a whisper, his lips grazed your ear, your jaw. God he wanted this. Your heart was beating fast.

Your fingers were cold on his chest, a featherlight touch that left him wanting more.

"Ah- do you think that's enough, sweetie?"

Honestly he could probably cum from just this, inhaling your scent, your calloused fingers gingerly on his chest. And then he felt your nails.

He couldn't help the gasp that escaped him. Emboldened by his reaction your hands travelled over his chest, tugged on the chain, went down toward his belly, his sides...

He couldn't take it anymore. Sylus' head snapped up from your shoulder, a big palm cradling your face. Your beautiful face, his thumb swiped over your slightly parted lips and you finally ripped your gaze from his upper body to look at him.

It took him everything he had to give you enough time to dodge his lips.

But you didn't. Both his hands now holding your face, tilting it up as he climbed further onto the couch, his legs now caging you as well.

His vision went white, you opened your mouth just enough to let him in and he wasted no time. You tasted like honey and darjeeling. Your fingers clawed into his sides and he groaned into your mouth. Hopefully you were leaving marks.

Dizzy, he pushed further and further into you, your head now fully tilted back and laying on the headrest. Sylus knew, he'd climb inside you if you let him.

There was no need to breathe, not if it would seperate him from you he could-

A harsh tug on his chain made him pause, two hands pushing against his chest made him stop completely. He let you push him away, making him sit back on his haunches.

There you were, caged by his legs, panting, flushed, dishevelled, your lips red and swollen.

Desperately, Sylus tried to muster a single rational thought. But how could he? When your knees were pressing against him, so hard it hurt.

When you were so beautiful under him?

"Sweetie are you alright?"

But concern, concern he could muster, big hands gently cupping your face, making you look at him.

"Hah...Let me breathe!"

Playful little punches hit his arms, and he caught one of those offending fists to press a kiss to yojr knuckles.

"I apologize."

God how was he so lucky.

A long finger traced your jaw, down to your neck, played with the hem of your sweater.

A nod from you answered his questioning look, and his lips followed his finger. Soft kisses giving you goosebumps. He had to take a fist full of your hair to gently guide you. Give him more access.

Your breath hitched when he reatched your collar bones.

"Lift this for me."

His hands ghosted over the hem of your shirt, and after a moment of hesitation you complied, pulling it high enough for him to see what exactly had changed.

And he had to stifle a laugh. A lacy bra, if he could even call it that. Quite frankly it would've been less indecent had you been nude.

"What?!"

"You're beautiful."

"Yeah yeah just get on with it..."

You didn't have to say that twice. His hands now on your waist, he climbed off the sofa, kneeling in between your legs as his lips gently nipped at your skin.

"Hmmm, it would be a shame to take this off..."

A long finger hooked under your bra, letting the fabric snap back onto skin. You flinched.

"Hey!"

"What? You're the one who put it on?"

His teasing tone earned him a tug on his chain, wich, in turn, earned you a moan. Oh he liked this.

"That's dangerous, sweetie."

He squeezed your thighs, his fingers now daring to dip under your waistband. And god did he revel in the way you watched him, lips parted, mesmerized, enchanting.

He had to come back up for a breathless kiss, had to press his forehead to yours, look deep into your eyes.

"Tell me you want this...please."

Sylus searched for something in your face, hesitation, fear, anything that would take this - take you - away from him. But all he found was desire, barely masked by a smug smirk.

"I want this. Trust me."

You pulled him into another kiss, and this time, he received you.

And he chuckled into your mouth. Relief washed over him, his hands tugging your sweats off while you released him to move back down your body. Open mouthed kisses leaving your skin hot and flushed. Now he did pull your bra down, just enough to take nipple into his mouth, your soft gasp a sound he'd never forget.

Sylus wanted to spend forever here, in this moment, but there was somewhere else he couldn't wait any longer to be, so his lips moved down further, trailing kisses down your belly, noting scars and momes for later, until he reached the hem of your matching, lacy panties.

So you too had dressed for this.

He had to take a moment, had to rest his head on your thigh.

You were still holding your sweater up with one hand, your other found his hair, caressed his ear, his cheek.

He leaned into the touch. Later, he would have to lay in your lap properly. But now there was something else he needed to do.

A long finger trailed right down the middle of your panties. They were damp. Fuck his pants felt tight.

Pressing kisses to the inside of your thigh, he hooked it over his shoulder and pulled you closer towards the edge of the sofa. Closer to his face.

A barrage of increasingly hungry, increasingly closer kisses made you gasp. Your scent was maddening, but he forced himself to take it slow.

He had to keep it together. His lower stomache was in knots. At this rate he'd tuin another set of boxers.

But what did it matter. The lace was an insult to your taste, and he unceremoniously pulled it aside.

You watched him so intently.

And when he first tasted you unobstructed? Oh it was over for him.

Closer, you had to come closer. In his greed he pulled you in further by the waist, practically pressing you against him.

Oh how your thighs squeezed around his face. This was why life was worth living.

His toung worked like it had never before, thirst built up over centuries finally quenched.

Your gasps and moans now growing in frequency and volume, while both hands clawed into his hair, pushing him even closer.

Sylus would cum right here, untouched, if this kept going, and he was more than happy to do so.

You on the other hand, had other plans, the leg not hooked over his shoulder promptly found its place between his, your foot pressing on his erection, and he found himself pathetically rutting against it.

It only spurned him on, large palm pressing onto your stomache, the other holding you steady as he sucked and licked and then -

A gutteral moan from your throat, your thighs squeezing and spazming around his face. Sylus followed closely after you, still latched onto your cunt, moaning, desperately drinking everything you were willing to give.

Panting you both slumped into yourselves a bit, Sylus head on your thighs, you own rolling back onto the headrest.

After a while your fingers softly caressed his hair again, and he sighed. Content.

[erogenousmind]

Conversational

What if every time we spoke, you found yourself drifting off for me? If every conversation left you dazed. If it became second nature for your mind to switch off because I was speaking to you.

You had let it be known how exciting you found being hypnotized covertly. How thrilling you found conversational inductions. And it is such an exciting idea. Knowing that you can never be sure you aren't being lured down into trance. That your surrender can leak out of the frame of formal hypnosis. That any time could be the right time to drop for me.

And you take to it so well, don't you? You find yourself drifting back into conversations, unsure of what we are talking about. Or catching yourself nodding along to my words, feeling so agreeable. Knowing that you can just listen and follow. And if I tell you its alright to let go, you find it so easy to do just that. Maybe later you realize what was happening. Or maybe your mind starts getting fuzzy again when you try to think back on it.

But you wonder if it has gone too far. You become dimly aware between our talks that you've let yourself be conditioned. When we are talking, of course, it's too difficult to think about much of anything but what you are being told. But other times you can be aware that a link has formed in your mind. The way I talk to you falls so naturally into those patterns that you respond to. Every exchange, you feel the pull of my words, always encouraging you deeper. And it feels so right. It feels so perfect to float away when I'm speaking. You don't need to think. I will think for you.

And the two become the same thing in your mind. I am speaking. You are in trance. Any dialogue of more than a few words, and you feel your thoughts dripping away. You can still respond of course. Usually. Telling me things you think I need to know. Ideas you wanted to convey. You get to share yourself with me fully. But it's always within that haze of submission. Until the act of saying "hello" becomes a trigger.

And part of you might worry about what that means. How weak you must be. How vulnerable you become if every time I speak to you, you feel your free will floating away, replaced by that drifty need to listen and obey. But then you see how it builds trust. How effortlessly you come to rely on me when we are together. You can't think for yourself, can't make decisions. So I decide for you. When we are together everything automatically feels so easy. You just do as you are told. You follow. You sink deeper. And it's intoxicating how comfortable that becomes. You look forward to every interaction because you know you get to turn your mind off. Because you know you won't have a choice.

And the longer our interactions grow, the more natural it feels to just stop thinking entirely. You wake up next to me, finding yourself gazing into my eyes. And by the time the words reach your ears, you are already sinking deeper. Days pass with you drifting so easily under my hypnotic spell. When necessity parts us, for even a moment, lucidity begins to return.

And you find yourself desperate to get back to my side. Eager to fall down at my feet. To hear me speak again so that you can go back to being your best self.

More structured inductions still occur of course. But they take you to a place of such profound surrender, that trying to reflect on them is like staring into an abyss. Hypnotized has become a part of who you are when you are with me. And it is the part that feels the most authentic.

So if you find yourself getting lost in some conversation we share, know that it's perfectly alright. Everything is happening exactly as we want it to. You can let my words wrap up your thoughts and feel your conscious mind fading away. You don't need to think for yourself when I'm here to think for you. And you are getting used to the feeling of always being entranced by me. Learning to love it. Learning to crave it.

You are learning to always be under my spell.

[polyamorouscultureis]

Hi,

I hope this isn't too heavy to throw at you but I could really use the advice or opinion of the polyam community. I've been polyamorous ever since I started dating (6 years ago, I'm an adult); I never recognised myself in monogamy, and I believe in polyamory both due to personal preferences and to the political and ethical dimensions of polyamory, which are very important to me.

My partner and I live very far away from each other. We've been together for 3 years and have always had a polyamorous and open relationship (he was with someone who was married when I met him). Due to circumstances and personal preferences, we ended up in a hierarchical polyam situation where we are primary partners. We trust each other a lot, we have a very open and honest communication. All this to say it's a very loving and healthy polyam frame where everyone is on the same page.

The thing is, every time he tells me he's going to see someone (or have them over - meaning we can't talk at night like we tend to almost every day -, or go on a weekend with his friends and that person), it makes me sick. As in, I can't stop thinking about it, I feel sad and angry, I wait for texts I know won't come because he's busy with someone else. But I reach levels of envy and jealousy I can hardly deal with.

We do talk about it, because communication is important, but I refuse to talk to him about it every time because it would amount to emotionally pressuring him. He would either stop himself from seeing people (which is not something I want because I do want him to be free to create and have meaningful relations as he sees fit), or do everything without telling me, which would eventually weaken the foundation of the trust we share. I try to think about my own relations and sex partners, which I have and with whom I share meaningful and nice moments, in order to bring everything down to manageable proportions, but it barely works.

I hate feeling like this. This suffering is just not something I want in my life or as a reaction to my partner's exercise of his freedom. I don't understand why I'm not able to feel compersion and move on with my evening, instead of spending the entire excruciatingly long time with my phone at hand or without being able to put the thought away. I feel that I'm not actually able to be polyam and open as I have always seen myself. I know one of the baselines is to not be too hard on yourself, but I can't help but feel ashamed of my reactions in addition to feeling like absolute shit with the combination of jealousy and envy taking over my brain. This is not who I want to be not how I want to live my relationship and my life, because, then again, I choose to be polyamorous and I like it, and I feel it's a precious part of my identity and how I relate to the world.

Sorry for the length. I just don't have many polyam people around me and none are dealing with the long distance factor in addition, and I could use anyone's point of view on this.

Thank you 💜

Hi! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this and that you have been for so long. As I'm sure you've heard a hundred times, jealousy is so, so very normal. It's awesome you have such exquisite self-awareness, and I think you're doing all the right things in not putting your partner in a position where he feels like he needs to change what he's doing for your sake.

Here are a few things that sometimes help me turn my own jealousy into compersion (or at least make it less intense of a feeling):

I think about my partner's laugh, their smile, and how valuable their happiness is to me. Although I know they're with someone else and it's sometimes hard to think about their attraction to the other person, I try to focus on how I would encourage them to do anything that makes them happy, and if they're happy with this person, I would never want them to pull away from that source of joy. (Similar to the "if you love them let them go" kind of logic, only I don't have to let them go!)

Letting my body react however it's going to react. If I'm home by myself, I can let myself feel the feelings and whatever comes with it -- if I need to cry, or stress eat, or take a nap, or scream, or whatever, I allow myself to do whatever it takes to express the feeling and get it out of my system. It feels awful at first, but once it passes, I can then indulge in my own hobbies to pass the time until my partner comes home. And usually, the feeling goes away just a little bit faster every time.

Getting a poly-affirming therapist! Either an individual therapist or, if your partner is willing, a couple's therapist. It may take a bit to find the right practice or the right type, but it can be so helpful to have a professional to talk to, especially if this affects your daily life.

Additionally, see if you can figure out the root cause of your jealousy, or if you can find any patterns in what makes you more jealous than other things. (Journaling is suuuuper helpful for this, imo). Is it the idea of him being attracted to someone else to begin with? Is it the thought of him having sex or physical intimacy with someone else? Is it the inability to contact him while he is on a date, or the uncertainty about what they're doing together? There are soooo many factors that could make a person feel insecure or jealous, and once you find the root cause, it'll be easier to tackle. It may be as simple as asking him to check in with a text every couple of hours so that you know he's thinking about you, or asking to meet his date before they go out. See if you and your partner can find little ways to make you feel more secure without him having to completely pull away from anyone he wants to connect with.

I have answered a few other asks on jealousy in case you would like to read those as well!

I hope that this helps at least a little bit, and I'm sorry I didn't get to answering this sooner (and thank you for following up to make sure I saw it)! Hopefully others will give their own insights in the reblogs and comments as well.

Sending you all the love, anon! <3

[alicelillianshaw]

New Mexico. Red rocks, a blazing sun that sunk low and lower behind them, a bagful of Uncrustables they would unwrap and consume together. Plastic crinkling. Birds whistling. Jack's inhale and exhale next to her, a simple sound that was so appealing.

Yeah. That's what they were gonna do before the end of this week. They were gonna do it, and it was going to be a moment just for them. For Jack, for his younger self, for his older self that missed the simplicity.

Alice glances down at her lap.

As much as she feels comfortable with Jack, and trusts him, there is something about admitting her messiness that makes her stomach feel oily. Anxious, in a way. Even though Jack was better suited to understand her compared to anyone else.

'Yeah. I feel like I’ve known you forever,'

She takes an involuntary breath— Jack felt it too? Of course he did. Why else would Jack, who could afford to do anything, and everything he want, agree to go to the fucking apple doll muesum with her. Why else?

'And — well. I just want you to know — whatever stupid thing you think you did … whatever got you into trouble back then? I don’t care.'

Jack didn't care.

He sits across from her on the couch— Alice, with her damp, spiked eyelashes, red-rimmed eyes, lap full of crumbs — and insists that whatever Alice thought she did, it wouldn't matter to Jack.

And her eyes smart. Because Alice knows it had been stupid. The mistakes were many, serious, and stupid, and they almost instantaneously undid years of effort, years of progress made by her passion.

They were very stupid mistakes, and Alice knows this, and yet looking at Jack she's almost very certain he means it.

Alice could talk about the drinking— about the trembling hands, stumbling to her midterm on the wrong day, the angry friends and wasted money, and she feels very fucking certain that Jack would still mean what he said.

Jack was good like that. He was kind. He looked at Alice very kindly, even though she was just a random stranger who had intruded upon the most difficult time of his life. He agreed to go to stupid museums with her. Take her dancing, to live piano music. Dip her and spin her in a special dress.

His hand folds around hers, warm and large, as Jack reassures her that she didn't have to share anything she didn't want to.

'I’ve made some mistakes. Clearly. And it’s not a competition, obviously, but I’m the last person that would ever judge you or see you differently.'

'You’ve been incredible, Alice. Most people would’ve asked me about … everything going on, you know? And you haven’t, even though it’d probably be killer for your career. Anyway. I’m not asking you to tell me anything you don’t want to. I’m really just happy to sit with you, right here, and build more Snack Stacks if that's what you want.'

Well. Alice doesn't deserve all that. Alice doesn't deserve half of the kind things Jack has said about her. What she's doing— not voraciously, greedily digging into the vulnerable parts of Jack's life — was the bare minimum. He deserved it from everyone!

But. But. It's there, on the tip of her tongue. The itch to say it all. The itch to share the ugly thing about herself and hope someone as wonderful as Jack— Jack, who wanted a stone the color of her eyes— would still like her.

Alice raises her free hand and the heel of it it against her cheekbone— hard, hard, hard, as if trying to force the words out of her. She wants to tell him. Fuck, she wants to tell him. But shame is so hard, and admitting things aloud has a way of making them come to life.

A strangled breath.

"It was— well. If I'm being honest, I practically drank myself into ruining my life. That was the stupid shit I did."

There. There it was; spat out, ugly, and out in the open.

"I had fun partying. And then I had too much fun. And then I partied everyday, and then— I don't know! I thought that there weren't enough parties. So I took the best part of partying, the drinking, home with me." Alice's lips quirk upward, but there's nothing humorous in her eyes. "Naturally, I took the alcohol from dorm to class."

Alcohol in her backpack. Little shooters, in her purse, each of the zippered pockets. Fuck— Alice even started keeping vodka beneath her bathroom sink, so she could take long, long pulls as she dragged her mascara wand through her eyelashes and blasted Soundgarden.

Alcohol in the bathroom!

That's when Alice knew she'd really flown off the rails.

"And then the scholarship. The full ride scholarship I worked so fucking hard for." Disgust churns in Alice's stomach. "My parents have three other kids to worry about. Their jobs can't pay for all of us to go to college. So this scholarship was huge. This was like ... lifting this massive weight from around their necks. And then college Alice— me — cannot stop fucking partying, and ... I did a lot of embarrassing things. And my scholarship gets revoked, and—"

Alice turns her head, stares at the far wall.

"That's the worst moment of my life, I think. Not waking up in the back of my friend's car, taking me to the hospital. It was telling my parents that I'd lost the scholarship."

A beat. Alice turns her head back to Jack, something like an apology on her face— apology for the mess she was spilling on him. A watery, dark smile.

"I did that all to myself, I know. But that moment where your turn around and look at everything you smashed..."

She inhales sharply.

Simply knowing that Alice had wanted to give him those moments — a new Uncrustable flavor, surrounded by the New Mexico dessert — made Jack’s heart ache in ways he’d never felt before. It wasn’t really a bad ache, either. It felt like … longing. Longing that was somehow so pure that it hurt.

“We will. We’ll do it,” he promised. A promise that he wouldn’t break.

As Alice steered the conversation back to her college mistakes, Jack patiently waited. He didn’t want to push her, didn’t want her to overexert herself to the point of admitting something too painful. For Jack, it was his family. For Alice, maybe it was whatever had happened in college.

Dumb decisions, apparently, that had lost her a full ride scholarship. She’d almost been expelled.

Ironically, Jack was dealing with similar consequences now, on the verge of losing his job in congress. It felt that way, anyway. He understood her, and he wouldn’t judge her. Whatever it was.

How could he? How could he judge her? Especially when she felt the same way that Jack did. Alice wanted to spend time with him, and suddenly, Jack felt less ashamed of how quickly he’d sprinted out of bed that morning. Before his morning run, he’d waited downstairs, just for a few minutes, wondering if she’d descend down the stairs so they could enjoy a warm cup of coffee together. But it was early. Really early, so Jack went on his run and told himself she’d be awake by the time he got home.

Jack smiled, ducked his head, staring down at their hands joined together. Everything unfolding between Jack and Alice felt so pleasant and unexpected.

“Yeah. I feel like I’ve known you forever,” he admitted. “And — well. I just want you to know — whatever stupid thing you think you did … whatever got you into trouble back then? I don’t care.”

He tilted his head upward again so he could meet her gaze. He squeezed her hand once more.

“I don’t care about what it is. You can tell me, if it’s not too painful to share. And if it is… I don’t care if you don’t tell me. You don’t ever have to tell me anything that you don’t want to.”

Jack folded his hand around hers, squeezing all of her fingers gently into the palm of his hand.

“I’ve made some mistakes. Clearly. And it’s not a competition, obviously, but I’m the last person that would ever judge you or see you differently.”

He blinked, scanning her features for any indicators that she was uncomfortable. He hoped he wasn’t coming off too strong.

“You’ve been … fuck.”

He trailed off, sighing in a bit of disbelief. He smiled.

“You’ve been incredible, Alice. Most people would’ve asked me about … everything going on, you know? And you haven’t, even though it’d probably be killer for your career. Anyway. I’m not asking you to tell me anything you don’t want to. I’m really just happy to sit with you, right here, and build more Snack Stacks if that's what you want.”

[mando-din-lorian]

I love me Star Wars time travel shenangians and I am absolutely giggling at the idea of Din going back in time and being, like, an expert in Yoda behavior and antics.

He’s spent so much time with Grogu, he picked up on things that seem to be natural for the species that perfectly align with Yoda.

He knows that they’re a carnivorous, and while they have sharp teeth to cut into meat, they typically swallow their food whole. He knows they like small prey, something usually slimy as it’s easier to swallow, and that food is important to them (as their species burn a lot of energy despite being small - my personal headcanon is that it’s because they’re so naturally in-tune with the force and use it more to often for basic living, thus it takes a lot to replenish that energy); offering food is like showing them off that they’ll be safe and well-fed with you, so when Din offers Yoda a raw, slimy eel as an offering of good-intent, everyone is absolutely baffled, disgusted, and enthralled when Yoda just swallows that mucus-covered atrocity whole and pats his legs, and they’re basically besties now

Din knows that they’re incredibly perceptive to sound due to their large ears, and thus speaks soft and quiet (or, you know, his natural way of speaking 😂) when talking with Yoda. He also knows that it’s easy for them to get ear infections, especially if they get a lot of water or wax-build-up in their ears, so any time after a mission in the rain, or in water, Din offers Yoda space-ear-wax cleaner and Yoda is like knows how to treat a person, this bitch does

And he just ends up getting along so well with Yoda and does things no one even considered to be Yoda thing (because Yoda is a maniac and likes to watch people bask in the confusion of his antics) that it’s just baffling. They don’t know what to do. How the fuck. What the fuck. They’re absolutely baffled, bamboozled, and bewilderment

To summarize, Din is Yoda’s homie and they have brunch every Friday and Din is more than comfortable with Yoda perching on his shoulder because their species likes having the higher ground

[thestarsaboveme]

­this was a request from a kind anon.

summary: angst with comfort, reader and lads men having a misunderstanding because reader is overthinking that they’re cheating on her with the mc since they always spend time with the mc and spending less time with the reader.

rafayel ver. | zayne ver. | sylus ver. | caleb ver.

xavier x reader | angst/comfort

The city outside buzzed with neon, flickering in rhythmic patterns against your windowpane. But inside, your apartment was too quiet. An oppressive sort of silence that crept into your bones and stayed there.

You stared at your phone. Again.

Nothing.

Not a single message from Xavier. Not today, not last night. Not since two days ago, when he said he had ''missions with MC.''

Again.

Your fingers curled around the device like it could ground you, but the storm inside your chest only worsened.

You weren't the jealous type. At least, you never thought you were. But lately, your thoughts had become poisoned by doubt, each unanswered text and broken plan feeling like another crack in your already fragile peace.

You remembered when things were different. When Xavier's voice was the first thing you heard in the morning. When he'd show up at your door, hair tousled from wind or battle, and kiss your forehead like it was the only place he belonged.

Now, he was always with her. With MC.

It wasn't just about the time. It was the way he talked about her. His partner on missions, someone who ''gets it'' someone he ''clicks with''. Someone who wasn't you.

And the worst part?

You understood. MC was exceptional. Smart, brave, capable. She challenged Xavier in ways maybe you couldn't. They had chemistry in battle, a synchronicity you never quite shared. And deep down, your mind whispered cruel things. That he might have realized she was the one for him.

And you? You were just…a detour.

The thought made your stomach twist. The ache swelled in your chest, and before you knew it, you were typing.

Hey, are you free later? Can we talk?

You stared at the message for a long while before pressing send.

The reply didn't come until dusk.

Of course. On my way now.

He arrived barely twenty minutes later, dressed in that familiar light jacket, blond hair slightly damp from the rain. His eyes softened when he saw you, but you didn't miss the tension beneath the calm exterior. He always saw too much.

''You okay?'' he asked, stepping inside.

You nodded. Then shook your head. ''Not really.''

His gaze narrowed, concern flashing across his face. ''What's wrong?''

You took a breath, trying to steady the tremor in your voice.

''Are you…seeing her?''

His brows furrowed. ''What?''

''MC,'' you said, biting your lower lip. ''Are you cheating on me with her?''

The words sounded awful out loud. Raw and brittle. But there was no taking them back now.

Silence.

He stared at you like you'd just slapped him. His expression was unreadable, but the hurt in his eyes was unmistakable.

''No,'' he said, voice low and deliberate. ''I'm not.''

You looked away, swallowing hard. ''You're always with her. You spend more time with her than with me. You cancel plans, go silent for days. I get it. Missions come first. But it feels like I'm always second.''

His jaw tightened. ''You think I'm cheating on you because I'm doing my job?''

You flinched. ''It's not just that. It's how you talk about her. Like she's… important. Like she gets you in a way I don't.''

The silence after that was the kind that threatened to break both of you.

He took a step closer, and something in his voice cracked. ''She's my mission partner. That's it.''

''Is it?'' you whispered, eyes shimmering. ''Because it feels like I'm just…here. Like you don't even see me anymore.''

Xavier exhaled, long and slow, before sitting down on the couch.

''I didn't know you felt this way,'' he said, his voice quieter now. ''Why didn't you tell me sooner?''

''I didn't want to seem clingy,'' you admitted. ''I didn't want to be that person. But it started eating at me, and every time I tried to bring it up, you were already gone again.''

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, hands clasped.

''I didn't mean to make you feel this way,'' he said. ''But I won't lie. I've been…avoiding things. Not you. Just everything else. The pressure. The fear. The part of me that knows I can lose you if I screw this up.''

Your eyes widened. ''What?''

He looked up at you, and the raw vulnerability in his eyes hit you like a wave.

''You think I'm pulling away because I don't care,'' he said. ''But the truth is, I've been terrified. I've seen too many people I care about get hurt. MC…she's been through hell. Working with her remind me what's at stake. I thought…maybe if I kept my distance a little, I could protect you from all of that.''

Your chest ached at his words. ''So you were pushing me away to protect me?''

He gave a short bitter laugh. ''Yeah. Stupid, right?''

''No,'' you whispered. ''Just…heartbreaking.''

You moved to sit beside him, slowly, cautiously. He didn't move away.

''I miss you,'' you said softly. ''Not just physically. I miss us.''

His eyes closed, lashes trembling.

''I miss you too,'' he murmured. ''More than you know.''

The silence that followed was heavy. But it felt different now. Like something had shifted.

When he spoke again, it was with a gentleness that made your throat tighten.

''I never cheated on you. I never even thought about it. You are the person I come home to in my mind. Even when I'm not physically here. But I should've shown you more. I should've been here with you.''

You nodded, tears slipping silently down your cheeks. 'I just wanted to be part of your world. Not shut out of it.''

''I'll do better,'' he promised, reaching for your hand. ''No more shutting you out. You deserve all of me. Not just the pieces I think are safe.''

You held his hand tightly, feeling the warmth of his skin against yours, the pulse of something real and fragile between you.

''Just don't go quiet on me,'' you said, voice shaking. ''Even if it's hard. I'd rather fight with you than wonder if I'm losing you.''

He smiled faintly, brushing a thumb against your cheek. ''Then let's fight together. For us.''

And in that moment, under the soft hum of rain and the city's distant glow, the space between you finally began to close.

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[neriyon]

Random thought while waiting for the dishwasher to finish:

Ever notice that a lot of players like to give their Azem long hair? Regardless what they have on their WoL? It miiiight just be confirmation bias from mine having long hair, but still.

It'd be fun to get some like, psychological explanation as to why that happens. Do people just find long hair fitting? Feel it looks cool or that it fits the "free" theme Azem has? Or do they just like long hair and possibly want their Azem to have one since game itself has very few truly long options (like I did lol)

[teammelodies]

I'd like to share an idea I had for a genocide starlo fight

So Clover walks into the wild east (picking up the wild revolver on the way), and the usual duel plays out with starlo

Except... Ceroba arrives as Clover readies their gun.

Seeing her friend in trouble, she runs over to protect starlo, but as she's about to summon the shield with her staff, she's hit.

She drops her staff and falls back into starlo's arms, where the two have a moment to say goodbye before ceroba turns to dust.

Starlo takes a moment.

He just wanted to feel cool for a moment, hoping it'd buy time to evacuate everyone else, even if he'd die in the process.

And ceroba, his best friend, played the price.

Starlo picks up the staff, tears running down his face, he pulls out his *real* gun.

"All I wanted was a fair fight. But you know what?"

[bellamyroselia]

I've recently been thinking of how some of the missing Olympian gods could be adapted for future Kid Icarus games and in Poseidon's case he could be expanded upon, so I decided to dump some of my abridged thoughts about them here. Turned out I still had lot of things to say, but in general these thoughts are about what I think these gods could do and why it's possible, along with what kind of relationships they could have with the already existing KI-cast. Considering the subject matter, expect to see mythology-typical mind-fuckery and the words "motive failure" a lot - not only are these people extremely unhinged, in many myths the gods take the "fuck around and find out" approach way too literally.

To see this on its entirety, go here.

Starting with Hestia, she has a bad case of motive failure. Like what are you supposed to do with her? You can count her major mythological appearances on one hand, and even in those she doesn’t do much. It does also make imagining what kind of relationships she could have with the existing cast hard; none of Hestia's relationships are all that developed to begin with, but the ones she has with her siblings are those that get most focus… So that only really leaves Hades, Poseidon and maybe Viridi? Not much to work with, and I can’t really imagine those relationships being anything else but positive. Sure, they may disagree of some things, but overall they get along with each other. The most interesting thing about Hestia’s possible relationships is that I could actually see Dark Pit liking her due to her nice and unproblematic nature. It does leave plot potential pretty minimal though, but I could see writers using some legends about Vestal virgins as bases for plotlines where Hestia shows up as a supporting side character. The problem with those is that they tend to be pretty specific, so who knows how well they might actually work. “Arx tarpeia Capitoli proxima” makes a good moral but not much of a plotline if you divorce it from... Well, Tarpeia herself. Another possibility is that Pit’s sent to defend a place that had its sacred flame extinguished and he has to defeat the culprit behind that.

Artemis also suffers from motive failure. She may be a bringer of sudden death and disease along with being a serious contender for the title of the most wrathful Olympian, but… She’s so petty with it? Much of it is very small-scaled all things considered. Most things she does don’t have long-term consequences, and the few that do are quickly hijacked by other deities whose actions have bigger impacts to the myths in question. Like yeah, Artemis may have told Agamemnon to kill his daughter if he wants to set sails to Troy, but who cares when Apollo is inflicting the Greeks with a plague and Athena is ignoring the pleads of Trojan women. This being said, I could see her being used as an unfought antagonist for a chapter or two depending on what she does (something akin to her sending the Calydonian boar to terrorize Calydon could work), though that story ends the moment the threat is dealt with. I however wouldn’t cross out the possibility of her appearing as an ally out, though I’m not sure what she could offer to Pit and co. if that was the case as she’s not really a god of anything that could help Pit on his journey. And I honestly don’t see her having particularly positive relationships with anyone in the already existing cast - she may not dislike any of them, but she doesn’t really like them either. She’s a true neutral in that sense, which could possibly earn her Dark Pit’s respect. How long that’s going to last is a completely different matter though, it may be small-scaled put she’s still very wrath-happy person.

Have some more motive failure with Hermes, though this time it has everything to do with him being a rather hard character to utilize in a world without Zeus - because of the rating he’s not allowed to be horndog making more of himself and since Zeus isn’t there asking him to do things, it leaves him with next to nothing to do. He’s extremely loyal to Zeus and this loyalty is exclusive to him; while Hermes clearly loves the rest of his family, he wouldn’t do half of the things he does for his father for them… And boy, has he done lot of things for his father. He’s a big daddy’s boy and daddy simply can't be replaced because Hermes just doesn’t love many people in the same unconditional way he loves his father - this means he’d have to be an independent figure, since the only person he’d be a lackey for is out of the picture. Now Hermes does have some interesting figures connected to him, like his son Autolycus (shapeshifting thief and the maternal grandfather of both Jason and Odysseus, whose name literally means “the wolf itself”) and the goddess of persuasion Peitho who’s described as his wife on occasion, but I’m not sure how any of that could be utilized. Autolycus possibly could've had some potential as a recurring character if he wasn’t dead by old age, but who knows, maybe he did get deified and therefore became an immortal in the world of Kid Icarus. I mean, Medusa is just a sea daemon and a dead one of that in the myths so why not let Autolycus to become a god. But back to Hermes, what I think of his possible relationships with already existing characters? They’re likely positive overall and I can see him appreciating both Pits for their spunk, but I think that the most potential comes from different minor antagonists, like Thanatos, Phosphora and Pandora. In case of the last one, Hermes was the one who gave Pandora her personality so there's that. Into the two former ones, Hermes is a psychopomp which means that he guided spirits to afterlife and he was everyone’s preferred psychopomp. Only person who wasn’t happy to see him in this duty was Sisyphus (Ares freed Thanatos after he had been captured by Sisyphus and brought them both back to Underworld → Sisyphus sweet talks Persephone into letting him go for a short period of time → Sisyphus refuses to return and Thanatos refuses to try bringing him back, so Hermes drags him to Underworld), so one could argue that Hermes is better at doing Thanatos’ job than he is - the fact that the Sisyphus-myth is one of Thanatos’ only major mythological appearances doesn’t exactly help him in this situation. One could get some funny dialogue out of that. With Phosphora, her Japanese name is derived from Electra, who’s the younger sister of Hermes’ mother Maia. For some additional hilarity, Maia and Electra are both elder sisters of Merope, Sisyphus’ wife. Everything about the possibility of having Hermes, Phosphora and Thanatos interact smells like a comedy goldmine to me. But let’s be real, isn’t it weird that Hermes has never been a merchant in any KI-game? It’s so goddamn absurd considering how he’s the god of commerce! You’d think he would’ve been the first choice for that, but apparently not! That’s a one big missed opportunity!

Hera too has a case of motive failure, but the reasons behind it are pretty simple. First is the same as with Hermes, which is that Hera doesn’t get to do much in a world without Zeus; can't be angry about your husband being unfaithful to you when your husband isn’t around. The second reason is equally simple, it being that Hera likes Athena. In fact she probably loves Athena more than she loves Ares, Hephaestus and Eileithyia (aka Lucina) combined (her love for Athena and Hebe is probably around the equal level and if it’s in someone’s favor, it’s Hebe’s), so toss away all the possibilities of her being a villainous force. It wouldn’t really make sense considering how Palutena is mostly Athena-inspired character. The two goddesses are pretty much partners in crime and by crime I literally mean “Let’s try to overthrow Zeus with Poseidon and Apollo” and “Let’s be the only deities to celebrate Troy’s destruction” levels of things, having each others backs whenever something happens so I think it would be better to just let Palutena have a good relationship with her. With Pit things probably would get a tad more confusing depending on some other factors, but on a vacuum it’s hard to say anything about them. Regardless of those I think she and Dark Pit would have a pretty rocky relationship, as Hera along with her favorite stepdaughter and Aphrodite were some of the biggest menaces to society when Zeus was still in the picture… All roads may not lead to Rome, but many do lead to a scorned goddess, a nosey goddess or to an easily angered goddess.

[fireandiceland]

Horror cardverse you say?? 👀👀👀👀👀

Yeah! So. I think it's most commonly agreed that in cardverse the royals - king, queen, and jack - have a mark. Whether it's passed on/they are born with it or if it spawns on their body later throughout life more or less randomly, the mark of the kingdom determins who shall rule it.

Now what I was thinking about is this. What if it's not that the king and queen are destined by fate, god(s), the aracana, the universe to fall in love and rule the kingdom together, it's more like that they do not have a choice. Think of soulmates, but these are strangers who meet for the first time, are forced into a life in palace by the system surrounding them. As soon as the mark is discovered on their body, the future royals are taken away from their family, their friends, ripped right out of their life and they start to forget.

At first it's just the realisation that they haven't thought about their family for a while. Then confusion when they discover an old picture with a sibling they don't remember anymore. Soon all memories of their friends and family, even their lover, maybe a spouse is gone. Replaced by an unbreakable bond with their new partner, heir king or queen that a higher power chose for them.

What if the mark and the higher power deciding the fate and history of the kingdom isn't some kind spirit, what if it's a curse that uses the so called royals as nothing but vessels like a parasite?

[frozenambiguity]

Kaeya 🤝 Furina

playing their role in a never-ending performance.

[potter-inthe-tardis]

My Top 12 Songs of 2024

(Yes it was supposed to be 10 song but its so hard to pick, and its my list so I make the rules)

Check out my top 10 K-pop songs of the year HERE

Last Time We Never Meet Again - Sarah Kinsley

Burn Alive - The Last Dinner Party

Boom Boom Back - Hinds

Syrena - Kiki Rockwell

Discothèque Inside My Head - Telenova

A Warning - Wallows

Creatures in Heaven - Glass Animals

Angel! Wild! Superstar! - Ha Vay

Lost In Space - Foster the People

Capricorn - Vampire Weekend

Miss Me Too - Griff

Somebody Come Through - Wasia Project