#fuck it All controllers should be fucking identical entirely

[meglosthegreat]

I see a lot of posts on here talking about the Solas/Elgar'nan segment in Blood of Arlathan and how it's one of the best scenes in the game, and they'd be right, but I don't see enough people talking about how comically the whole thing is undercut by quite possibly the most poorly-conceived, terribly-implemented looney-tunes-ass sequence in gaming history that surrounds it.

Like you show up with your friends to this Venatori party, and you're like great, we're sneaking in! Time for disguises. How convenient that these Venatori guys all wear hoods, right? Should be a piece of cake if we're all, you know, wearing hoods that would helpfully hide our identities. But no. We all go waltzing in with our whole-ass faces exposed, you know, the group of guys that have been murdering Venatori left and right and who Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain have definitely all seen in person before. Oh, and don't worry about walking into this notoriously racist elf-sacrificing cult if you happen to be an elf! You're only here in disguise so that you can rescue a GROUP OF ELVES THEY'RE GOING TO SACRIFICE but it's ok because you're dressed as a mercenary and not a dalish so it's all good don't worry about it :) :)

Then you get into this fucking party and oh my fucking god it's like they decided to take all of the most comically over-the-top stereotypes of villainy and put them on display. Because why not! The Venatori are all sickos anyway so of course they'd be out here doing sicko things! There's some guys pulling a halla apart with blood magic! There's other guys using slaves as benches! They're all laughing and joking about how EVIL they are, hahaha, how cool is that? The fucking guy from D'Meta's Crossing is here if you don't let him die, because he's a fucked up evil sicko too! You're supposed to be shocked at this hideous display; recoil in horror, even!

And who do you bring with you to help get through this crowd of absolute lunatics? NEVE FUCKING GALLUS. You know, the person so well-known in Minrathous that a Dalish elf living in Arlathan KNEW HER BY REPUTATION. Yup, Neve Gallus with her INTENSELY RECOGNIZABLE PROSTHETIC just waltzes up to some guy and he just lets her in. Because being EVIL also makes you incapable of coherent thought, apparently.

And then. AND THEN. You walk across the bridge where Elgar'nan makes his thought-sounds at you, and YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING PARTY is already there, just hanging out nbd. Also not wearing hoods or any kind of disguises that couldn't instantly be seen through by a five-year-old with amnesia but ok, cool. Why did we bother walking through all those sickos then when we could've just taken the secret back entrance like the rest of them, idk.

But just when you think you've reached peak stupidity, it keeps going. You're now standing there, at the front of a crowd of about twelve people, approximately five feet away from Elgar'nan himself, inexplicably blending in, when the big guy puts the mind control whammy on everyone. Oh no, you think. We've been found out! Here's the part in the plan where things begin to go wrong! NO. Your mage friends SECRETLY PERFORM MAGICAL GESTURES to block the mind control, and then you LITERALLY FUCKING SIDLE OFF STAGE LEFT without ANYONE NOTICING. I should reiterate that at this point, you are still about FIVE FEET AWAY FROM ELGAR'NAN and his fucking ARCHDEMON.

And to conclude this absolute comedy of idiocy, as soon as you enter back into combat mode, you immediately ditch all of your disguises. And of course then, ONLY THEN, Elgar'nan notices you've been there. Cut to the end of the actual good sequence, this dramatic conversation performed by excellent voice actors and written miles better than most other things in this game, and you reach your final prize: about six guys trapped in a little cube. Cool, you tell yourself. This was definitely worth it. You take your fade-to-black teleporter back to the Lighthouse and they're never heard from again.

This was the quest that broke me. This was the moment that all hope for Veilguard finally snapped. I consider myself to be a very resilient person in the face of camp and goofy writing, but this was too much disbelief for my brain to suspend. The mental gymnastics necessary to make this whole sequence make any kind of sense were simply beyond me. Even Solas's dulcet tones could not salvage it for me after that.

[gender-euphowrya]

y'know how the EU forced tech manufacturers to all start using The Same type of port for their charging cables to be more consumer & environment friendly

we should do that but with like the button layout on xbox & switch controllers

[lucky-clover-gazette]

vent

did not expect kissing and realizing i’m lowkey dating a guy to send me down an existential spiral of reminding me that i have only one life to live and then i am going to die without living any other different lives

[0alix0]

Overusage of Lore

a lot of people tend to say that bioware put little to no lore into Veilguard, and i might be on a minority on this to me it's way too much and way too shallow

The entire game feels like writers just scream at you "Look at all the magical thing we have!! So we have Titans! And Evanuris! And Illuminati Those Across the See! And-- are you listening? You better listen cuz there are more! We have Shadow Dragons! We have Griffons! We--"

OMG calm down it's not a fucking Warcraft

the best thing in DA was the way it beautifully showed real life issues through the lens of medieval fantasy world.

The dalish weren't so fascinating because they had an entire language made for them and pretty tattoos. They were fascinating because they were enslaved, fought for freedom, then got their land taken away YET STILL continued to fight for survival, for their cultural identity, their children and their children's children, for freedom. Literally combination of native american's and jewish history. Because despite having one goal they all had different approach and opinion about other of their kin: city elves (those disconnected from their culture) and half-elves ("can they be considered elves?" "should they be allowed to be a part of dalish?").

The city elf origin wasn't so memorable because every npc had a backstory with a length of bible. It was memorable because it was the most obvious analogy on racial oppression, segregation, colonialism and fetishism in the entire franchise. Because it had the guts to actually show in details the horrors of these things.

Broodmothers weren't so horrifying because it's a female mixture of jubba hutt and a fucking pudge from dota with a detailed explanation their anatomy. They were horrifying because they were paralleling a very real misogyny, mistreatment, the way how women in some countries are seen as nothing but a walking uteruses, where the only thing they're good for is to give birth

AND bioware doubled it while doing the same thing with Orzammar, cast system & Rica!

The Circles weren't so interesting because we've got dozens of pages in WoT explaining their hierarchy/fraternities. No, they were interesting because it was literally a bunch of medieval GULAGs with a function of a mental hospital, it showed what mistreatments happen there, the abuse, child abduction and enforcement of religion.... And from the side of templars it was a discussion about professional deformation, addictions and the way high ranking people abuse those to control their underlings.

..... And you know, if we were back in origins, griffons, for example, would've probably been used as a parallel on irl eco terrorism. it might've been about how Wardens despite their good nature unintentionally bonded the general association of the entire animal species to their order and abused this connection to the point when the species was beyond preservation!

and btw, then that decision in davrin's quest would actually had any meaning, instead of throwing wardens into mud (again) and turning isseya into a villain for no fkn reason.

lore is only good as long as it's used for purpose, when it has things to discuss, not just exist

i don't fucking care about titans/evanuris/and other shit because they're just a 30 pages long article in codex and WoT trying to explain magic and write DA timeline almost to a fucking mesozoic era. it's BORING. Get me emotionally invested, then i'll care

[helluvabossrewrite45]

Helluva Boss and the Disappointing Asexual Representation - an Ace Former HB watcher

I am aromantic and asexual. I used to watch helluva boss during the 2020s when it first started. The internet was the only place where I got introduced to lgbt content and people for the first time, including queer media and helluva boss is one of them. I used to question my sexuality of being aroace, lesbian or bisexual until I finally accepted my identity as an aroace (full circle lol) While my aromanticism was easy to accept, Asexuality was a different story due to how the topic, you know, was around sex and it took more time for me to accept that I was also an asexual. Am I open about it? No. Unless you are one of my close friends, you wouldn't have a clue about my actual identity unless you know the labels for it. This is because with how predominant sex-normativity is, asexuality is often invisible to the wider length of society still, even when were more seen than before. And as someone with a queer identity most people wouldn't understand, I had seen the disguised bigotry people do to other queer identities that aren't as easily understood such as trans people, as they would be misgendered if their bad people. These people who misgender claim its for 'respect' but it's really a blatant excuse to openly be bigoted without backlash for it. It's not only the kind of bigotry that is prevalent within social media but also an extremely sneaky bigot method to avoid accountability.

Let's look at how this related to Mammon, an asexual character in HB:

On a surface level, this would just appear to be Bee insulting Mammon for being an asshole with the same connotations that is a well-known motif of the show; sexual references as the punchline. But Mammon being an asexual changes this viewpoint entirely. For one, Bee is ignoring his asexuality with using nobody wanting to fuck him as an insult even though his identity would immediately weakened it. Her sexual insults to him such as "sucking a dick" and "fucking himself" contribute to negating his asexuality even further. the "fucking yourself" aspect is particularly interesting because it frames him as self-centered. Now yes, Mammon is a self-centered character but his asexuality isn't relevant to this at all. By Bee relating his asexuality to his self-centeredness, unintentional or not, thereby reinforces the entitled notion of asexual people being selfish for lacking sexual attraction as if it wasn't out of their control and as if they owe allosexuals their body to be as "normal" as them. It wouldn't be a problem if mammon had openly show his asexuality proudly to rebut Bee's acephobic insults however, he doesn't. From not allowing the opportunity for Mammon to be open with his asexuality, it highlights helluva boss reinforcing invisibility of asexual people. In addition to this, this scene illustrates the disguised bigotry predominant on social media by Bee's acephobia being framed as justified by Mammon being a bad person, as if it related to his asexuality. Therefore, Helluva Boss failed at representing asexuals through contributing to our invisibility as well as encourage disguised bigotry.

Now, Mammon isn't the only asexual character.

Octavia, the only underage character with some significance, the character Rogers referred to as a 'cockblock' for Stolitz, is also asexual.

*Sigh

Her being underage isn't what bothered me. I'm also similar of age to her and young asexuals should be seen in media. Adult Allosexuals would often portray our asexuality as a phase and immature thing for the "real" mature experience later on. I only mentioned her being underage because of how this erasure of our identity by adults also applies to the later that actually bothered me: Rogers referring to her, an asexual minor, "cockblocking" an allosexual achillean relationship. Him referring to her as that is not only gross to say for a teenager that just wanted her father to pay more attention to his family than his affair but also how it can further isolates asexuals from the queer community. It reminded me of the terf comic where an ace was depicted as prudish, immature and whiny during pride month. Referring to her as a "cockblock" over an allosexual queer ship further reinforces these notions; that were too prudish, too immature, too whiny to be apart of the lgbt community, that we "get in the way" of ACTUAL queer people. And I'm worried that not only would her asexuality not even be shown in the show but also how her depiction in the series can reinforce acephobia because while she's not seen as bad as mammon, I know she would get hate in the upcoming episode and it worries me that there's gonna be acephobia involved, especially from how again, Roger depicts her as an obstable for Stolitz.

This show clearly wanted to do something similar to bojack. Vivziepop clearly likes bojack. And I find it very ironic because bojack is one of the few shows, especially at its time, that's one of the best ace representation. All through one character: Todd.

Unlike HB, Todd's asexuality is actually explored in the show. His acceptance of his asexuality, his explorations of his relationships with other aces (such as Yolanda and Maude) and even having him participate in an asexual space assists in making us aces visible, that we exist and are valid for who we are. There's no disguised bigotry, no joke that digs at his asexuality and definitely no implication that he's an obstacle for allosexual relationships. It's an ace character whose identity is recognized and respected in it's media, and that is what Helluva Boss fails at. Rather than letting asexual characters be as open of their sexuality as the other allosexual queer characters, it instead both ignores and even encourages bigotry towards us. That is what made HB's asexual representation to be disappointing from me, a closeted yet proud asexual.

Any of you who is asexual should be proud of your asexuality too. Your not prudish, immature, whiny or self-centered for lacking sexual attraction and you belong in the lgbt community. You don't owe anyone anything to prove your apart of the community because your existence already defies societal norms about sexuality. You are as queer as the rest in the community. You deserve representation that recognizes and validates you for who you are. You matter.

[metranart]

The sound of Hawk's voice was something you still hear when you close your eyes, undertones of something deeper, something similar to devotion... almost too caring... asking you to bare his children and become completely and irrevocably, HIS.

ft. Hawks centered, Hawks x reader, Slight! Dabi x Hawks, Slight! Bakugo x reader, Slight! Dabi x reader (in future chaps)

Hawks x UA Student! Reader (Part 14)

-

Warning tag: obsessed! Hawks, possessive! Hawks, naive! student reader, violation of trust, dubious consent, mating cycles, rut response, obsessive behavior, uncontrollable thirst for reader, manipulation, forced, thigh riding, hormonal minds out of control, sexual content, first time, cock riding, teenage fuck, Dabi's toxically interested in you, Bakugo bestie yet secretly inlove wit you, love confessions, cock-drunk, Hawks trying to be good but failing miserably, gaslighting, HEAVY plot, lots of smut.

-

Hawks felt like a glorified asshole for keeping an eye on you instead of doing his patrols. But he couldn't help it... he was just drawn to you like a magnet. Now, you were the gravitational force of his entire universe.

A loose gray sweatshirt covered up to your thighs, it was large and easily hid your identity. Those honey marbles that he called eyes, followed you closely bouncing from solitary tops of buildings, wondering where you were going in such a hurry and with so much stealth.

"What are you up to, baby bird?"

After all the commotion created in the dorms the night the Nomu attacked you, the last thing you wanted was to attract more attention.

The days to come it was difficult to find a moment alone especially with how overprotective your friends got, but you finally managed to shake them off a little, making up a credible enough excuse to go out alone even when Bakugo insisted proficiently on tagging along. 

You reassured him, and quickly claimed that your parents wanted to see that you were okay in person. Actually, this web of lies was only due to you didn’t want Bakugo by your side when going to the drugstore in search of that, vital and inculpatory, item. 

You moved at a fast pace; it surprised you how sharp you were even when had been unable to close your eyes for the last nights. The thought of already being carrying Hawks' child in your womb plagued you mercilessly.

“I'm gonna stuff you with my chicks, you are gonna look soooooo pretty all swelled and heavy…” you remembered his words, you could even feel his warm breath against your ear.

The sound of his voice was something you still hear when you closed your eyes, undertones of something deeper, something similar to devotion... almost too caring... asking you to bare his children and become completely and irrevocably, HIS.

“I can barely wait to come home to my pretty little wifey, waiting for me—” he had claimed, reverently—as if you were meant to be his most prized person, “...round belly, full of my chicks and big, pretty smile on your face,” his daydream, way too chaotic, way to visceral… “-SO ready for me to fill you again.”

Your favorite Hero had come inside you more times than you could keep count, since you stopped doing it when he reached five. 

You even remember, now like a bittersweet and faraway, fond memory…. that Hawks was your first sexual awakening, at the tender age of fourteen, it was his golden curls and his captivating, carefree smile, that had made your heart skip a beat, that had set your hormones on fire... he, alone had been the protagonist in your first sexual fantasy, your first masturbation session in the privacy of your room, your first fictitious boyfriend, your first crush with a man-.... So, was expected, that this situation should be a dream come true for you, but it wasn't…. Because you were no longer a naive and dreamy girl, and he was no longer the idealized, unattainable Hero. Everything had fallen into place in the most painful way possible.

“Here you go miss, thank you for your purchase." 

The cashier replied as dry as a martini, prejudice peeking out of her cold stare, to which you only gave a soft thank you. Without a doubt, she and her unjustified reaction was a clear example of what to expect in a teenage pregnancy.

 A heavy sigh escaped from your lips as you left the drugstore, you hated the situation you were in. The contents of the paper bag resting on your hand, your best kept secret so far, or so you thought.

Keigo’s skin crawled, the entire time you were inside the drugstore. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the winged hero felt like throwing up. He had used one of his feathers with a hidden microphone, so he could listen to what you ordered at the pharmacy, and his fists had clenched almost homicidally when heard you order 'morning-after pills' and a pregnancy test.

You were his mate, Goddammit! You were supposed to be happy and proud to sport his seed inside your tummy. Hawks sulked feeling highly wounded and offended, and not just for this… but also for yesterday's incident. That Bakugo guy was brazenly prickling at his infinitive patience, the bastard had overstepped his welcome yesterday and now, Hawks got him on his radar. 

The winged blond paced from side to side like a bull seeing red, like a lion caged… yet eventually, after seeing how miserable and slouched you looked while searching for a public bathroom to make the test, his heart softened for you. 

“I’m the worst trash that ever existed," The blond chastised himself, "nevertheless, I'm HER trash now."

Hawks didn’t even try to deny his bizarre infatuation. He, almost proudly, admitted that this was not the end for the two of you- 

He gifted you a month out of the graciousness of his heart, even when he doubted his ability to keep that promise. You were freely looming, in his mind, taunting his every thought. 

So, he kept watch, waiting for something he didn't even know what it was. Nevertheless, his watch has begun, and it shall not end until his dying breath. 

His mind had been set. You were his and he was yours, he could easily overpower you no matter how hard you tried, no matter who you ran to, what you did to try to protect yourself.... there was nothing you could do to stop him, and that simple truth was what was keeping him at ease. Granting you certain freedom from his iron grasp, from his sharp claws.

Finally, you found a public bathroom and ran in, this time the winged hero chose to give you the privacy of urinating on a stick, alone. You deserved that much. So, he patiently waited on the nearby roofs, he would then go get the pregnancy test from the garbage can, without a doubt, you wouldn't take the proof of his sin back to the dorms. So, all he had to do was wait.

You pee on the blessed plastic stick and wait. The instructions said one minute but you felt like two hours had already passed.

"God! Can't this take any longer?!" You complained loudly, nerves eating you alive. The minute passed and suddenly all your courage disappeared along with your desire to know the result.

The plastic stick left abandoned on top of the sink, you just had to take a look at it, but you couldn't move, you couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t fucking blink.

What was there would change your life three hundred and sixty degrees.

"Dammit!" you heard yourself curse, burying your face between your hands to massage your temple burdensomely, "...Grow a fuckin' pair and be done with it, (Y/N)-"

"-If you want, I can tell you the result."

You suddenly heard a bubbly voice say, and your hands fell from your face to reveal a girl standing there. A cute brunet with something akin to a smirk, or a very self-indulgent grin on her face.

“I really don’t mind,” she giggled, all teeth and bubbly energy, “nor I will judge you, I’ve been there myself.” Her smile twisted reassuringly, and you sighed, embarrassed at having to resource to a stranger to do this.

“You are way too kind but-”

“Don’t overthink,” the girl stepped closer, offering you her best winning smile, “I’ll look and then you can tell me if you want me to tell you the result, okey?” 

Somehow, her odd and unrequested company felt better than face this alone. You ended up, nodding stoically and she peek at the pregnancy test.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” you repeated, quizzically. “Is that a good ‘Oh’ or a bad ‘Oh’?” your voice sounded weird even to you.

The girl cracked a wide smile taking the test in her hand. “Well that depends on you, do you want to be a mommy or not?”

You heart fluttered awkwardly at the bold use of term mommy. You shook your head anxiously, and she hummed in understanding. 

“I see.” The girl conceded in a weird resignation, “too bad, you're so pretty... they would have been very cute children."

Oxygen refilled your lungs again, and you felt as if your life with dreams and hopes, was turned back on. A devastating feeling of relief washing over you.

“Thank god!” you beamed with so much relief, you even felt like hugging this opportune strange, girl. “That means, I’m not with child.”

“Nop.” She corroborated, handing you the test back, yet you refused to touch it.

“I don't want to have one of those in my hand again for a long time,” you admitted, honestly, “you can throw it away.”

“Sure,” the girl did, and after an unholy and vast blast of thank you’s, you parted ways with your anonymous hero. Almost skipping on your feet all the way out.

“Thank you again.” You screamed back, once at the exit door. “Sure, it was my pleasure...-” You left, and the door slowly swayed until it closed completely, and the girl added, “-(Y/N).”

Once alone, she reached into the trash can and retrieved the pregnancy test, giggling the whole time.

"A heroine-to-be shouldn't be so trusting." A macabre smile spread across her face, and she tilted her head at the test in her hand, "...I wonder why Dabi is so interested in Hawks' toy?" Toga wanted to rip her face off, but she had chosen one so pretty that decided to stay in costume a little longer. "Well, it doesn't matter, Dabi said he’ll pay me for this, anyway."

Still, in disguise, pocketed the pregnancy test and left without raising any suspicion. 

Hawks kept pacing on the roof, desperation clear in every stomp of his boots. He was doing his best to be patient while searching. The blond had been looking for the evidence for more than half a day, the damn pregnancy test, he sent a dozen of his feathers in search of it, but nothing... had you taken it with you? One would only keep a test if it was positive, right?! Were you pregnant with his nugget?!?... Was he really that lucky?

“Hawks, where are you? over.” His radio came to live, once again and this time felt he couldn’t dodge his Hero responsibilities anymore, “We have not had any communication from you all day, over.”

Hawks inhaled sharply before answering. “I am on surveillance, please do not use this channel unless it is an emergency.”

“It's not an emergency, but I thought it was prudent to let you know before accepting, over."

The night was already upon him, and the cleaning man was just leaving his shift. Hawks sighed, heavily. He had lost his chance to find anything. 

"Speak."

"You have to say over when you finish talking." Hawks deadpanned; he wasn’t in the mood for this.

"Speak." He repeated, sternly, patience close to its limit. The person on the other end sighed, "UA Academy is calling for reinforcements for this year's sports festival, over," the voice on the other end said and suddenly he felt very interested, "continue."

The radio biped again, "They fear an attack from the League of Villains, since yesterday someone managed to throw a projectile through the shield and break a gym window,” Hawks listened attentively, an impious smirk slowly twisting his lips up, apparently his little outburst had had interesting consequences. The person on the other side continued, “and therefore, they request the help of Pro-heroes to avoid any incident. Endeavor, Mirko, Best Jeanist and Ryukyu have already been confirmed," the voice explained, "I think It would be an overkill if you were to-"

"I accept, confirm my attendance immediately." There was an awkward silence before the radio biped again, "Are you sure? We have no intel of an attack from the League, you would be the first to know, I think they are overreacting-"

"Better safe than sorry."

Long silence, and then.

"If you say so, over and out."

The memory of yesterday's incident made his blood burn again, he knew it wasn't your fault but that of your little friend: Bakugo, that shameless son of a bitch, that made him foam at the mouth like a mad dog, it made him want to kill someone... it made him need to get even, and suddenly, the blue eyes and stapled skin of his lover in turn, spark in his brain... Dabi could take it, he'd even love it.. Hawks left the roof in a rush of crimson feathers and sent a text message.

Hawks. -

See you at the agreed place.

Dabi. -

So fast, birdbrains?

Hawks didn't answer, just heading to the agreed upon location.

-

“Give it here, Toga.” Dabi entered the room where Toga was upside down on the couch, scrolling through her cell phone. He needed to close that before meeting Hawks. "...I assume you have what I asked for?"

Toga sat up straight and stretched her back soundly, before answering. "I got it," she assured, "...where's my payment?"

Dabi took out a box of fine sweets, from the best store in town. Store that at this moment was being put out by firefighters after the sudden and unsuspected electrical short that set it on fire. If only.

"First give me the evidence and I'll give you the box." Dabi offered with a bored grimace, and Toga pulled the coveted item out of her backpack.

"At the same time?"

Dabi shrugged, unconcerned. After both snatched the precious items from each other’s hands in a quick exchange, the pregnancy test rested in his scarred hand. Without ceremony, Toga ripped the box open and stuffed her mouth, making her words difficult to understand.

"Why aw-re you interestwed in Hawks' girlwfriend?"

A pierced eyebrow rose on the dark-haired man's face. 

"How many lines for positive or negative?" the turquoise-eyed asked, openly ignoring her ramblings. 

Toga shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I never knew how to read them." She admitted in all honesty, stuffing her cheeks with more candy.

Dabi grimaced, and luckily for him Kurogiri’s timing couldn’t be better. The dark purple mist appeared out of thin air behind the bar. Misty's hands beginning to clean glasses, absentmindedly.

"Oi Kurogiri, do you know how to read these things?"

The dark purple mist's yellow eyes stared sharply at the item in his hand before meeting his eyes for a brief minute, and then returning his gaze to the pregnancy test. "I have some knowledge about it."

Dabi stepped closer, handing him the test. Kurogiri’s eyes fixed on the stripes and Dabi’s lips pursed, unable to know if he was smiling or scoffing when he ended up saying quite politely.

"Congratulations, Dabi."

COMING SOON PART 15....

➡️ NSFW Artwork of this story

@wtvbabes @dreamlessnight @naomi1247e @alicecil87 @geniejunn @justanerd1 @bakugosgirl01 @toxicxmindsposts @kezybear

[suzukiblu]

NaNoWriMo fic, day one: obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU.

Tim Drake had absolutely no intentions of ever becoming anyone's sugar daddy when he met Superboy.

This would have worked out better for him if Superboy had ever had an actual legal identity or an actual legal guardian or just . . . literally anything whatsoever in life. Ever. At all.

Just a bank account, even.

"You're working for Cadmus," Tim says slowly. "Cadmus, as in the lab that stole Superman's body and cloned him without his consent. Cadmus, which you had to break out of so they couldn't put mind control code words in your head."

"Yeah," Superboy replies like that's not literally insane. Tim stares at him.

"Why?" he asks incredulously.

"Food and shelter?" Superboy shrugs. "And I mean, I dunno, where else am I gonna go?"

Tim is not okay with this situation.

"What did Superman say?" he says.

"Just to like, keep an eye on things," Superboy says with another shrug. "Make sure they're not up to anything shifty."

Tim stares at him.

"Superman," he says. "Told you to just . . . 'keep an eye on' the dubiously ethical cloning lab. The specific dubiously ethical cloning lab that tried to put mind control code words in your head. Specifically."

"Yeah," Superboy confirms.

Alright, Tim is actually even less okay with this situation than he thought, apparently. Like, impressively less.

"Okay," he says. It is absolutely no kind of okay in any way whatsoever, of course, but he doesn't want to put Superboy on the defensive. That'd make effectively interrogating him a lot harder, for one thing. Cooperative subjects are best in these situations. "What are they paying you?"

"I mean, like, they gave me my own room and they're feeding me and whatever, so I don't really need much money," Superboy says. "There's a discretionary fund I can use if I need to go on an undercover mission or anything like that? But I'm not really the undercover type anyway."

"Sure," Tim says. So . . . no way for Superboy to save up to move out and get an out-of-lab life, then. Great. That's not fucked-up or crazy or horrible at all. "Do you like it there?"

"It's okay," Superboy says, shrugging again. "Better than literally everybody in Hawaii yelling at me every time they see my face, yeah?"

Tim wants to set the world on fire, but he's trying really hard not to go supervillain before he's thirty and he'd hate to throw out all that hard work.

"They just let me do whatever, mostly," Superboy adds. "They don't really care as long as I'm around when they need me."

He'll go supervillain as soon as Bruce dies, Tim promises himself. Just–he'll give his share of the eulogy at the funeral and then he'll blow up three-fourths of Arkham and the entire GCPD while Commissioner Gordon is on his lunch break. He can time that out, that'll be easy. And then he'll go and personally murder the Joker with the very specific combination of a rusty crowbar and a shrapnel bomb, and then he'll just . . . well, he'll just go with the flow from there, he figures. Do whatever feels natural.

Seriously, the world as it is does not deserve to exist. It really just does not.

Tim figures he can probably convince the rest of Young Justice to tag along for the whole supervillain thing and hopefully Dick and Steph and Barbara too, and ideally also Alfred, in the unfortunately likely event that he outlives Bruce. He's got time to lay the groundwork with them all and all, and also everything really is awful and horrible and really does deserve to burn.

"Are they sending you to school or anything? Or tutoring you?" Tim asks with what little scraps of hope he has left. Higher education would be . . . well, something, at least. And actually it probably wouldn't hurt for Superboy to learn a bit more about genetic engineering from the same place he got genetically engineered, just in case anything goes wrong with his DNA again. Cadmus should at least be good for that much, right?

"Ew, no, thank fuck," Superboy says, making a face. "Like I said, they mostly let me do whatever until something needs punched."

So . . . no furthered education or learning any usable job skills or making real money or literally anything that could, again, lead to Superboy ever getting any kind of an actual out-of-lab life established.

Great.

Just great.

"I see," Tim says.

"It's a pretty sweet gig, considering," Superboy says, and grins brightly at him. It's a very nice grin. Normally being faced with that particular grin would make Tim need to beat down the highly unprofessional urge to kiss it.

Right now, though, he's a little bit more concerned with the fact that his teammate is just . . . living in and working for a fucking lab. As a matter of course. Just as a thing.

And Superman of all people thinks that's . . . fine, for some reason? Like, normal and ethical and okay? Somehow? In some way?

What the actual fuck, Tim thinks to himself.

"You said Superman told you to keep an eye on things?" he asks.

"Yeah," Superboy says, his grin widening. "He took me to his fortress and asked me to do it there. Showed me around a bit, too."

"That sounds really interesting," Tim says, wondering in vague disbelief if that means Superman had never taken Superboy to the Fortress of Solitude before. He must've, right? And just . . . inexplicably not shown Superboy around then.

Yeah. Sure.

"It was awesome!" Superboy says with more enthusiasm than Tim's seen from him since they met Nina Dowd's . . . endowments, seemingly forgetting the need to be "cool" for long enough to lean forward in his seat and outright beam at him. Tim is gonna need a minute to recover from the sight of that expression, probably. "It's seriously freaking freezing up there, but there's so much cool shit in the place. Like, from all over the universe, but from Krypton, even! The only thing I'd ever seen from Krypton before was kryptonite!"

Tim considers moving up his supervillain timeline after all. Like. Just possibly. Just a little.

Maybe he can convince Bruce to take an early retirement off-planet and just go from there.

What the hell is wrong with Superman?

"Oh, wow, really?" Tim says, simultaneously pretending he didn't already know what Superman has in his fortress and trying not to be screamingly obvious about the internal calculations he's running on figuring out how to weaponize red sunlight. Or like, maybe he could look into learning some magic. That's technically an option. Probably more time-consuming and harder to hide the process of, though. Still, it's on the table.

"Yeah. He showed me some of it. Told me some stories and stuff, even," Superboy says, and that excited grin turns just a little bit shy and soft and somehow even more distracting than usual. He ducks his head just a little, and then that soft grin is more like a soft smile, and Tim suffers. "And I, uh–and he gave me something, too."

"What did he give you?" Tim asks, praying to God that the answer is "an emergency contact number" or "an allowance that can cover a semi-decent Metropolis apartment" or "an offer to live literally anywhere but Cadmus, including in the thirtieth century or on a hostile alien planet or inside an active volcano". He's technically an atheist, so the praying thing is probably moot, but times of desperation are times of desperation.

"A name," Superboy says, and his smile widens helplessly. "Like, you know, a real one."

Tim might hate Superman, he thinks. That might actually be a thing now.

Yeah, he's definitely going supervillain after Bruce dies and doesn't need an emotional support sidekick anymore. Better start stocking up on the kryptonite.

"That's great," he says with a very carefully not-forced smile of his own instead of anything more along the lines of "wait, you've been alive and active as a superhero for all this time and no one ever actually named you?!" Superboy would probably take it the wrong way, not in the least because that genuinely never actually occurred to him as being a thing before. Like–he really did just assume Superboy was keeping a lid on whatever his real name was for personal reasons or Superman reasons or something. "Are you allowed to tell me it, or is that a no-go?"

"Oh, yeah," Superboy says with a sheepish laugh, rubbing at his arm. "It's like, a Kryptonian name? Not like a secret identity one. It's, uh, Kon-El."

Of course it's not even a damn secret identity, Tim thinks in absolute frustration and abject loathing. Of course not! Why would it be?! Fuck forbid!

"I like it," he says, because he lies to Batman and therefore there is no fucking way that he's going to let Superboy–Kon–see any sign whatsoever of the metaphorical 9.9 on the Richter scale that is currently happening in his psyche. "It suits you."

"You think?" Kon grins all the wider. Tim can't even calm down enough to want to kiss him, except in the sense that he always wants to kiss him.

"I do," he says, and smiles at him again.

Kon smiles back.

Tim hates everything. All the things. There is nothing that Tim doesn't hate right now, except maybe Alfred's snickerdoodles because he might be having a nervous breakdown but he's not, like, criminally insane or whatever.

Yet.

"Yeah, it's kinda cool," Kon says, straightening up in his seat and then leaning back, clearing his throat and slipping his sunglasses back on like they're not in a literal cave right now. Tim doesn't call him on it, because he has a supervillain timeline to work out and that's much more important.

Also because the teammate he has an inadvisable crush on is in a much, much shittier situation than he ever realized and he has to reconcile that with his worldview and also his opinion of Superman. Tim doesn't especially idolize the man except in the sense of knowing he's one of the greatest heroes on Earth and a very, very good man that Bruce thinks incredibly highly of, one of the best men on the League and maybe even on the planet, but . . .

But if he's such a good man, then why the hell is Kon living in a lab that tried to mind-control him and why has he only just seen the Fortress of Solitude for the first time?

Why didn't he have a real name?

"So do we call you Kon or Kon-El now?" Tim asks, which is a bit of a senseless question but also at least a bit of a distraction. He wants to say this whole situation is a horrible idea, who the FUCK convinced you this situation was a good idea?!, but there is no possible way that Kon would respond well to that. Ever.

Also, Kon had a point. Where else is he gonna go?

Clearly not the Fortress of Solitude.

Seriously, would it be that hard for Superman to give him a room there? At least a place to stay sometimes, so he wasn't exclusively relying on the mind-control cloning lab for food and shelter and basic comforts?

"I think just Kon?" Kon says, frowning consideringly. "'El' is like Superman's last name, I guess? So I think just Kon."

"Makes sense," Tim says, internally seething. Superman gave him the "El" name but not a secret identity? A name from a dead civilization with a bit of sentimental value, maybe, but nothing usable on this planet? Fuck, you'd think Kon didn't already know his secre–

. . . Kon doesn't know Superman's secret identity, does he.

Tim had thought he was lying, when he'd said that stuff about Superman not having one, before. Thought it was supposed to be a cover or a misdirection or something. But Kon actually thinks that, doesn't he. And Superman has just . . . kept letting him think that.

Becoming a supervillain actually might be an underreaction, in retrospect.

"Just Kon sounds less formal anyway," Tim says instead of so just in theory, do you think tactile telekinesis could trigger a heart attack or stroke in a full-blooded Kryptonian, if you could REALLY concentrate on doing it? like not FATALLY, just dehabilitatingly?, because he still has some groundwork to do before they get that far into potential supervillainy. There's steps to the plan. The steps need to be followed. They're very important steps. "You don't want Bart full-naming you every time he's looking for the remote."

"Like he'd even bother, it's faster for him to turn the living room upside-down than actually ask anyway," Kon says with a laugh, dropping his head back on his neck. Tim has some thoughts about climbing into his lap and figuring out if the TTK makes him hickey-proof, and then buries them. Not appropriate. Not professional. Just not.

. . . technically, if Kon wanted a hickey, he could just let his TTK down and ask for–

Tim buries his thoughts deeper.

Much, much deeper.

"Point," he says. "So what time does Cadmus expect you back?"

"Dude, it's a job, not a boarding school," Kon says, giving him an amused look. "I don't have a curfew."

Tim, technically, hasn't followed his own curfew any way but accidentally once in his entire life, but for god's sake, is Cadmus even pretending to be raising a teenager or are they really just being that flagrant about ignoring all the child labor laws they so clearly do not give a fuck about? Like, there must be something illegal about this. There has to be.

If there's not, Tim will be adding "burn down Project Cadmus" to his list of supervillain plans to set up in advance. In red pen. Underlined.

Twice.

God, why is the world like this. Why are people like this?

"I guess that'd be convenient," Tim says, internally ranking various methods of combustion. "Though I guess it depends on the cafeteria hours, too."

"It's whatever, I can always eat later," Kon replies with a shrug. "I think I've still got a couple protein bars in my room anyway."

"Just protein bars?" Tim asks, mentally upping the amount of explosives he was considering going with. Cadmus is going to be a crater by the time he's done with it. "Don't you need more calories than that?"

". . . well, sort of," Kon says, folding his arms and looking very briefly embarrassed. "Superman doesn't have to eat, apparently, but, uh, guess I'm not Kryptonian enough for that. Actually I kinda need to eat more than normal humans, it's weird. Like. A lot more."

"I'm ordering pizza," Tim says, upping his mental explosives count again. "What do you want on it?"

"We're the only ones here," Kon says, looking puzzled.

"More pizza for us, then," Tim says.

[wooahaes]

svt- coming out as bisexual [maknae line]

pairing: non-idol!svt maknae line x fem!bisexual!reader

genre: some are angstier and lean toward hurt/comfort (mingyu + minghao), others are fluffier.

warnings: reader mentioned to have exes that aren't men (just women in seokmin's drabble, reader has dated both women and a non-binary person in seungkwan's). vague food mentions in mingyu's, minghao's, and vernon's drabbles (implied something fried in mingyu's due to the usage of cooking oil, mentions of tea in minghao's, vague dinner reference in vernon's). reader getting defensive in mingyu and minghao's drabbles. reader no longer speaks to her parents in mingyu's drabble due to biphobia from her parents. reader's ex in minghao's drabble is biphobic, but left ambiguous what he said to her. angry hao (not directed at reader). extremely casual coming out (seungkwan). joking reference to joshua beating up seungkwan if he didn't react well. reader being cheesy as fuck (vernon). questioning leading to realization (vernon). reader refers to herself as a bisexual mess. chan being kind of a mess (clueless but trying his best).

daisy's notes: happy pride! a continuation of these for the maknae line :) again, no taglist purely bc i don't know who will and won't be interested in this since it is a bit more exclusive.

lee seokmin

"if there's something you want to say, you can say it." seokmin's touch was feather-light as he cupped your cheeks. "i'm listening."

sometimes you wondered how you struck out with meeting seokmin, let alone dating him. he was one of the kindest souls you'd had the pleasure of knowing, let alone loving, and now was no different. tears brimmed your eyes as you replayed the past few minutes over and over in your head. you hadn't meant to come out like this. you wanted to have it be something more... official, in an odd way. something you had control over. but all it took was you ranting about one of your exes to seokmin for you to slip up and say that magic "she" that gave you away entirely.

seokmin hadn't meant to pry or force you out of the closet. but you saw the way he looked up, clearly caught up on that word. "she?" he'd said, soft enough that you thought it was just him musing aloud.

meanwhile, you swore all of the blood drained from your face right t hen and there. "i... uh..." you stammered out. every time you tried to come up with an excuse, the words seemed to dissipate on your tongue, melting away like cotton candy. you wanted to say something, anything. that it was a slip of the tongue. that he heard you correctly and, yes, one of your exes was a woman. that if he had a problem with it, you'd gather your belongings from around his apartment and leave right now.

that was what led to seokmin taking your face into his hands. he looked at you now with this softness in his eyes, ever so loving, and you were sure that he knew you were something other than straight. did you really have to say it? wasn't him knowing, even vaguely, enough? you averted your gaze, and seokmin dropped his hands from your cheeks down to your shoulders, slowly running down your arms until he met your hands.

"you don't have to," he said a moment later. "but if you want to, i'm listening."

you met his gaze. the words died on your tongue again. "you aren't mad i didn't tell you?"

he shook his head. "should i be?" he teased lightly, but dropped the tone when he saw the way you stiffened up over it. "sorry. it's not the time for jokes," he squeezed your hands. "if you don't want to say it, that's okay. whatever you are," he paused, "and whoever you are... i'll still love you. okay? i fell in love with you."

your face grew warmer at just how tender seokmin could be. "so it's really not a problem that i'm bisexual and just... didn't tell you? i mean, it's not like i don't take care of myself, so if you're worried that i'm not cle—"

"it's your identity," he firmly said, stopping you before you could spiral any further. "but... thank you for telling me," he leaned in to press a soft kiss against your forehead. "i love you."

you just smiled, a rosy warm feeling blossoming in your chest. "i love you, too, sunshine."

kim mingyu

"i was thinking..." mingyu was stretched out on your couch, listening to the clamor of pots and pans as you focused on making an elaborate dinner. "we've been dating for a while..."

"mhm?"

"and you've met my family..."

your stomach immediately dropped. oh no. even though you knew where this was going, you had to play dumb. maybe he'd catch your drift and go along with it. "uh-huh? well, kim, if this is a marriage proposal, i think we're still a little too early into a relationship for that—"

he didn't hesitate to ask. "when can i meet yours?"

shit. the spatula slipped from your grasp, clattering against the stove-top far too loudly for your liking. a glance over your shoulder was enough to tell you that mingyu had leaned up to look, watching you carefully. you waved him off, cleaning up where you'd splattered a little bit of oil onto the countertop with your clumsy action. it gave you a moment to think. people were sometimes weird about the fact you'd gone no-contact with your parents as soon as you could stand on your own two feet. a curt never, haha, sorry! would unfortunately never work. but...

"i... i don't think that's exactly gonna happen, mingyu." you didn't turn to look at him. the conversation would be easier if you didn't.

but you heard the sound of him getting up off of the couch, making his way over. "is there a reason?" he crossed his arms, leaning against the nearby counter. "or is it me?"

"it's not you," you didn't hesitate. the last thing you wanted him thinking was that you didn't like him. with a deep breath, you turned to face mingyu. "i don't talk to my parents anymore because they never accepted that i'm bisexual."

he said nothing at first, just staring at you as everything sank in. not that you blamed him: if someone unloaded all of that onto you, you'd probably need a couple minutes to process. all you heard from him was a soft "oh."

"is that going to be a problem?" you crossed your arms. "because if it is, you can leave my apartment right fucking now—"

he shook his head. "honey, i'd never have a problem with any of that," he said as calmly as he could, a steady stream in contrast to the way you were already starting to burn. "i won't bring it up again, though. i'm sorry."

you let out a long sigh, head dropping down for a minute. shit. you knew you had the tendency to get defensive too quickly over this shit. "sorry, mingyu—"

"don't," he said. "it's okay." he stepped closer to you. "i shouldn't have pushed. i think most people don't cut off contact from their parents unless they have a reason."

"no," you pressed a hand to his chest, "it's a fair question. i just..." with a heavy sigh, you shook your head. "i came out to them when i was a teenager, and they basically told me i was desperate for love. and once i could afford to live on my own... i cut contact." you met his gaze a moment later. "some people get weird about it and tell me that i should reach out because they're my parents, i wouldn't be here without them, but... it's not their decision."

he took your hand in his own, drawing it up so that he could kiss your knuckles. "it's not," he affirmed. "but... you're not desperate," mingyu said softly, "i know you know that, but you're just you. and i love you," he smiled, so giddy and in love with you as he leaned in to kiss your cheek.

you found yourself smiling as you pecked his cheek in return. "and i love you, silly," you giggled. "thank you, though. for understanding."

he stepped behind you once you turned back to the meal you were almost finished cooking, wrapping his arms around you. "it's my job," he chuckled. "but you're welcome. and if it means anything..." he shut his eyes, resting against you now. "my family loves you. and so do all of my friends," he giggled. "and so do your friends. so... i think you already have a better family now."

"i know." you smiled to yourself. you'd picked this family out for yourself, after all. but the reminder helped.

xu minghao

there were only so many situations that would lead to what you were dealing with now: minghao, face burning with anger, as he was forcibly dragged out of a restaurant by you. you hadn't let go of him at all, dragging him up the street despite the way he struggled against you once, then twice, before giving in. he was being irrational and he knew it, and you just needed to get him out of there before something bad happened.

"can you stop and tell me what just happened?!" he finally snapped at you, ripping his wrist from your grasp. "who was that and why was he disrespecting you?"

of course that was what he zeroed in on. not the fact your ex-boyfriend was right about to out you to minghao before you'd even ordered drinks, but the fact the guy was being a dick to you. not that it was a surprise: the guy had been disgusting toward you when you came out to him. of course he'd try to "warn" minghao about what he was getting into now.

"that," you said, "was my ex. and we're not having this conversation here."

minghao balled his fists, standing his ground. "he was being horrible to you. you should have let me shut him down. i'm your boyfriend," he said, "if you're scared to stand up for you, then let me do it for you. no one should treat you like that."

"which is why he's my ex," you pointed out. "i don't need you to fight my battles for me."

"that's not what i—"

you shook your head. "if you want to talk, we're going back to my place. i don't want to talk about it here."

that seemed to finally register with minghao, who had slowly been coming back down from that burst of anger. he looked around, realizing that, while the two of you weren't attracting attention, there were other people around. so he nodded, and took your hand as you guided him home. and he didn't let go: not on the taxi ride there, not in the elevator, and not until you needed to let yourself into your apartment.

you excused yourself to make yourself a cup of tea, offering to make him one as well. minghao accepted the offer before looking around your apartment. it'd been a bit since he'd made it over here again. he'd been busy, and most of the time, you were meeting him out or going to his place to hang out for cozy at-home dates.

soon enough, you'd settled down next to him. "i'm only going to explain this once," you said, "okay? i don't want to think about him too often, so..."

minghao immediately stopped you. "you don't have to tell me," he said, voice softer now. "i'm sorry. i shouldn't have snapped--"

you shook your head. "you're right, you shouldn't have, but i'm still going to tell you so you know." with a deep breath, you set down the cup of tea. "i'm bisexual. i figured it out during college. that," you vaguely nodded in a direction, "was my ex-boyfriend. i came out to him, and he said... some things," your voice was dripping with venom at even the vague memory, "and i ended it with him right then and there. so when we ran into him tonight, he was trying to warn you about my sexuality."

minghao grimaced. "that's not his place."

"which is why i dragged you out of there," you said. "before he could out me."

all at once, you saw the realization hit minghao like a truck. he hadn't considered that part of it all. his lips parted for a moment, and then he closed his mouth again, shaking his head. "i'm sorry," he said again, voice softer now. "i should have realized—"

you clasped your hand over his mouth, minghao's eyes widening in surprise. "don't. i don't want to think about it. you already apologized for getting angry, so let's just leave it at that. okay?"

he slowly nodded, pushing your hand away from his mouth. "thank you for trusting me with this, by the way," his voice was still soft, gentle enough to truly mean it. then he frowned. "i hate that he ruined our night now," he said. he'd been wanting to show you that restaurant for a while now. "you deserve better than that."

"i know," you reached forward, pinching his cheek lightly. "because i have you."

he met your gaze and smiled. "thank you," he giggled, hand resting over your own. "i'm glad i have you in my life, too."

boo seungkwan

"you know i've kissed girls, right?"

seungkwan shot up from where he'd been reclined on the couch, scrolling through social media. his phone clattered to the floor, and he turned to watch where you continued to idly work on a cross-stitch project. it was as if you hadn't said anything. but he heard you, right? you said something, right? should he say something in response...? he just sat there, watching you, hoping you'd give something up. after a moment, you glanced up from your project to see the way seungkwan was just staring at you, at a loss for words.

"well?" you set your project down, turning to face him. "jeez, dude, you kinda suck at this whole 'coming out' thing--"

wait, what? "you're...?"

"bisexual," you grinned at him, resting your head in one hand. "i've been trying to decide on the best way to come out to you for a while now. and... i dunno, one of my friends just said to tell you i've dated women before." for a moment, you paused. "and one non-binary person, actually. they were cool, even though it didn't last that long."

seungkwan still had no idea what the hell to say to this. he almost wished that this had been more emotional. he could deal with emotional, with holding you and telling you he loved you and accepted you no matter what. what he was struggling to deal with was how you seemed to be taking joy out of how at a loss for words he was right now.

"well?" you watched him, smiling that evil smile of yours. no wonder joshua and jeonghan had been so eager to introduce "a friend of theirs" to seungkwan forever ago. you fit right in with them. "should i have bought you a lemon square? or cuffed my jeans? or—"

seungkwan finally stood up, crossing the room. "you're so mean to me," he said, squishing your cheeks. "always teasing me..." then his gaze softened a little, although his voice never wavered from that playful tone, "is this really how you're coming out to me?"

it earned a delighted snort of joy from you. "do you have a problem with it?" even with your smushed face, you were hellbent on teasing him. "joshua said he'd come beat you up if you reacted badly."

seungkwan rolled his eyes, leaning down to kiss your lips before drawing back. "i love youuuu," he said, drawing the word out to tease you back. he drew his hand away from your face, watching the way you stretched your jaw a little now that you were free. "but if i'm being serious... then thank you for telling me," he said, voice growing softer. "i know you're enjoying teasing me, but i know this is a big step for you."

your smile fell for just a few seconds. seungkwan had seen through your bravado, and you mouthed a soft thanks. and then you returned to smiling, burning brighter than ever. "you live another day, my sweet boo."

he rolled his eyes, kissing your forehead. "i could take joshua," he said. "i could."

with a delighted giggle, you wrapped your arms around him, bringing him closer to you. "i know you could."

vernon chwe

"the moon's beautiful tonight," you mused aloud, holding onto vernon's arm. the two of you had opted for a walk by the river after dinner. "you know what else is beautiful?"

vernon looked over at you with a soft hum. he knew where you were going with this, but... if you wanted to be cheesy and romantic, then who was he to stop you? "who?"

"you," you giggled. and then you squeezed his arm. you had averted your gaze, chewing on your bottom lip for a moment as you suddenly seemed a little more distant from him. "and, uh... a lot of people, actually."

it earned a snort from him. "oh, yeah?" he turned to you, ready to tease you. "and who are these other guys?"

"not just guys, silly," you said, drifting from his side a little. "i think women are kinda hot, too. actually... everyone's just kind of hot and i think i'm just a big mess because of it."

vernon watched you curiously for a moment. he followed after you. "so... like... in what way?"

"i've been thinking a lot lately," you admitted. "and... i dunno. i think when i started googling quizzes to figure out my sexuality, that should have been a really big sign that i'm bisexual, y'know?" you glanced at him. "and... i dunno, i really wanted to tell you. so... i'm telling you."

vernon just slowly nodded along. "i see..."

you slowed to a stop. "i don't know why i'm bringing this up tonight. i just..." you rested a hand over your heart for a moment. "it's like i've had this big secret stuck inside of me for so long, and... you're the first person i want to tell because i know you won't react badly. because you've always been a really sweet guy, you know?"

the heat traveled to his face at that. this was your moment, and still you found it within yourself to compliment him. he just stood before you, unsure of what to say. should he wait until you were finished? he wanted to tell you that he loved you, that he'd always accept you, that he supported you. all the things you deserved to hear.

"i think that's why i've felt so safe exploring this part of myself, too." you reached forward, taking his hands in yours. "because i knew that if i am bisexual... then you'll be right there to support me. because you're you. and... i'm me." you met his gaze, a soft smile on your face. "and i'm bisexual and... i really, really like knowing that now. i'm just this big bisexual mess sometimes, but it's who i am, you know?"

he squeezed your hands tight for a moment. "i'm glad you feel safe with me," he said, voice soft. he leaned forward to kiss you gently. "so, uh. thanks for telling me," he chuckled. "sorry—i'm not good at this, am i?"

"you're perfect as you are, silly," you giggled. "but, uh, now you know why i get flustered whenever the pretty barista compliments me."

"nah," he pulled you forward, "i've known compliments fluster you. remember when we first started dating—"

immediately, you let out a groan. "don't remind me."

"you still get all cute when i call you pretty now," he chuckled, swaying with you. "but it's cool. you're my cute, bisexual mess of a girlfriend." he squeezed you a little tighter. "and i love you."

you snuggled into his embrace. "yeah, yeah..." you wrapped your arms around him. "i love you, too, you big dork."

lee chan

"sorry, you're what?"

you genuinely have no idea how to respond right now. you'd ended up blurting out the whole "hey, by the way, i'm bisexual!" thing to chan impulsively, and now... he was just staring at you, completely perplexed now. how were you supposed to answer this? by giving him a definition...? by asking what he didn't understand? hell, did he even hear you correctly?

"bisexual," you answered after a moment. "you know... like... i like more than just guys?"

"no, i—" he shook his head. "i get that. i just... i didn't hear you the first time." he nodded slowly. "so, um... how long have you known?"

you tapped your toes against the floor, suddenly growing more nervous. shit, was this going to be it for the two of you? maybe you should message your housemate to get the ice cream out now. "since i was... sixteen, i think?" you frowned a little. "i dunno. around sixteen. i just..." you took a deep breath. "it's weird to describe, i guess. there was a girl i was crushing on in high school. one day, she hugged me and it all just kinda clicked in my head, and... yeah." you shrugged. "i'm bisexual. is that a problem?"

immediately, he went wide eyed and shook his head. "no! no, no, no—it's not a problem at all!" he set aside his coffee cup. "i was just curious—genuinely! i mean, i didn't know if i should be supporting you questioning and figuring yourself out right now, or if you knew and i should just be supportive and happy for you, or—uh, i—"

something about how flustered you'd made him made you laugh. he grew quieter, cheeks rosy as he watched you giggle to yourself for a moment.

"it's not a problem," he reaffirmed one last time. "you're still you. you're still my girlfriend," he reached across the table, interlocking his fingers with your own. "and i love you. thank you for trusting me with this." he paused for a moment. "does anyone know?"

"my parents, for one," you said, counting off on your fingers. "a lot of my really close friends know. uh, your friend vernon knows, but that's because he somehow knows my ex-girlfriend and he just put two and two together when we started dating. and, uh, seungcheol—but that's because i told him forever ago before he ever introduced us. i'm, like, out, but it's not something i just go around saying, y'know?"

he nodded along. "okay. good to know." he ran his thumb over your knuckles. "i mean it, though. thank you for telling me." he paused once more, looking up at you. "can... can i ask you questions about it? or is that too much?"

something about the soft look in chan's eyes endeared you to him more than before. he seemed so shy now. a little clueless as to how to go forward, but he did seem like he genuinely cared. "questions like...?"

"how you knew," he said softly, "and if there's anything i can do to not mess this up with you. i've, um," his faced was flushed, "i don't think i've dated a bisexual before and i don't want to say accidentally something stupid that hurts you. i've, um—i've heard about people doing that, you know?"

"i think you're already overthinking it a little," you said softly. "just keep treating me like me, and if you do say something without thinking, we'll talk about it. okay?"

his shoulders slumped a little, whatever pressure he was putting himself under having been lifted. "right! right," he ran his thumb over your knuckles once more, face burning red now. "right. i... i'm sorry," he laughed nervously, meeting your gaze again after a moment. "i'm a mess."

"you're a cute mess," you giggled. you reached out, brushing a strand of hair back from his eyes. "but i am, too."

his eyes twinkled a little as he looked at you like you were his world. "a cuter mess," he said. "but... really. thank you for telling me and—and trusting me. i'm really glad you do."

[k-hotchoisan]

congrats on five hundred darling! so proud! 🥳💕

for the this or that... number 3 perhaps??

keep going! love your work 🫶

3. Tease Yunho with toys or Jongho controlling the vibrator inside you for an entire day?

OK WAIT NOT U CALLING ME DARLING STOP IT \(//∇//)\ This one is a toughie bc boTH SOUND SO FUN…. But OKAY IMAGINE CONTROLLING YUYU…..

I feel like writing yuyu fics are my Roman Empire

When you finally catch the Cupid and decide to confront him in an unconventional way.

Warnings/genres: smut, Drabble, Eros & psyche au!, orgasm control, orgasm denial, toy play, orgasm,

Tag list: @bro-atz @diamond-3 <message me to be in my tag list✨)

K’s 500: this or that? Masterlist here!

You know you had to spend almost every week in the dim-lighted room, with a man who you didn’t even know, and you could only hear his voice and feel his touches. When he first did touch you, you never thought it would be so electrifying and it got you hooked on so quickly. Even though the both of you were always drenched in darkness, your body reacted almost automatically when you feel him cup your jaw and you immediately submit under his soft touches, as he whispered sweet nothings to you.

The only thing that stung your heart other not knowing your companion’s identity, was that by dawn break, your bedside would be left empty and cold. You didn’t mind at first, but as you spent more time together, it was inevitable—you were starting to feel something for this man, and you were getting gradually frustrated.

“You know what you should do? Fucking trap his ass”, your friend says.

“I want to, but how?” You huff in frustration.

A confident smile plasters on your friend’s face, as she pulls out a pair of glowing cuffs, and a bullet vibrator. You cock an eyebrow, picking up the vibrator.

The night came quicker than you thought, and as your heart is beating loudly in your ears. You only had one chance for this. You were always so curious of how your lover looked like, but were you ready to find out who? You almost decide to just leave it be, but the sudden reminders that you were always left alone and cold in the morning only solidified your resolve to find out his identity. You bite back the cowardliness that nips your nerves and hatched your plan.

You see his figure on the bed, obscured by the shadows of the flickering flame. He’s not leaned against the headboard waiting for you like he usually is, rather, he seemed to have fallen into slumber, his comfortable and soft breathing making him look all the more vulnerable. You almost feel bad for what you’re about to do, almost.

You climb onto the shared bed and straddle his lap, hoping it’s enough to trap him, because you know he would never hurt you.

Yunho eyes flutter open. He’s confused for a moment, until his eyes adjust to the familiar dim room around him. You definitely took awhile to arrive that he ended up taking a short nap. He realises two things:

1. You’re on his chest, sleeping soundly;

2. He tries to move, but he can’t. He looks up, and realises he’s been retrained against the headboard.

You stir, when the shaking of the chains disturb your sleep.

“Y/n?” He calls out. You shift, lifting your head as your rub your eyes.

“Hi Yunho”, you greet back, acting like nothing’s happening.

“Hey. I think I’m stuck”, a rattle of his wrists, before you feel his gaze go back to you.

You sit up, your crotch right on his, and you shift to look over, ignoring the way he groans softly under you, looking over at the cuffs you trapped him in.

“Right. You need help with that?”

You feel him nod beneath you.

“That’s gonna have to wait.”

Yunho is confused. He stares up at you, and he puts two and two together almost immediately.

“You’re not going anywhere tonight, Yunho”, you whisper.

“Wha-“ he doesn’t get a chance to complete his sentence, and terror washes over his face when you take the oil lamp seated on the nightstand, and move the light close to his face.

His facial features slowly come into view, and he’s so much more gorgeous than you thought—a face truly sculpted by the gods. It’s the first time you finally feel your eyes lock onto Yunho’s under the light. He looks at you with such softness, and all the more you want to ruin him.

You settle the oil lamp down, and Yunho opts for the smart decision not to wriggle beneath you so he doesn’t get burned (unlike the previous Eros).

“Now you know how I look like, would you let me explain and release me, please?” Yunho pleads, his pupils growing larger. A small pout appears on your lips, as your fingers trace his lips, your thumb swiping his bottom lip. His pleads sound so lovely. But it only feeds into the greed you have—being in control.

The memories of him constantly leaving you alone every morning resurface again, and your smile grows more sinister.

You grind against his slowly hardening cock, and Yunho gasps as you lean into his ear, and the words that leave your lips has shivers sending down his spine.

“No.”

“ Why are you doing this?” He asks, watching the way you remove yourself off his lap, tugging his slacks off him, his cock springing out, long and hard despite his confusion.

“For the mornings you left me cold and alone,” you simply answer, as your fingers wrap around his length, giving it a couple of pumps as you hear Yunho’s breath get caught in his throat.

“Y/n, wait-“

“We can always stop, and never see each other again.”

Yunho’s eyes widen. The truth is, he’s as attached and in love with you more than he realised. What begun as a simple mission from his mother, turned into something more than that. He knew that one day, you would discover his identity, and that it would be over, but when that though crossed his mind, he realises that he never wants to leave your side.

And the thought of you being in control for once? He has no complaints. He just never thought this day would come so soon.

“I guess I could just break Aphrodite’s rules once in awhile.”

Now you’re in between his legs, as he watches you give small licks to his twitching cock. Your eyes dart back and forth to his and his cock, watching his expressions. You relish the sounds of his soft groans and sighs before you take his cock whole in your mouth, and Yunho bucks his hip, a longer drawn groan leaving his lips.

“Fuckkk!” He cries out, trying to fit as much of his length into your mouth. You choke slightly, letting your saliva dribble past the corner of your lips to his cock. You begin to slowly bob your head, creating a rhythmic sensation that only pulls out more cries from the Cupid beneath you.

As his cries only climb in octaves, the many sessions you’ve had with him had conditioned you to recognise his reactions, and you halt, dragging your tongue upwards alongside the underside of his cock as you hear a whine.

Yunho stares at you with such a glazed out look as you’re seated upright again, licking the slick on your lips as Yunho watches on helplessly, the action only causing him to feel more sexually tensed. You pull out the small vibrator.

“Y/n, darling, what are doing?” Yunho asks, trying to hide the shivering anticipation coating his words.

“Venting my frustrations”, you reply as you stroke his thighs. The Cupid calms down slightly, as he watches you lick the device, covering it in your spit before switching it on, as it buzzes to life.

You tap it lightly onto the tip of his cockhead, and the reaction is immediate—Yunho’s whines grow high pitched, and his cockhead spurts out more clear fluid. You shift the vibrator awfully slowly across the skin to the place you know he’s extremely sensitive, and it pulls more cries out of him.

“Oh cupids, oh my gods. Y/n, please”, he begs, his legs opening on instinct, as he tries to control himself. He hates leaving you alone when dawn breaks, because the more he does it, the more it gets harder for him to do so. But he decides that he probably deserves it.

You push the toy harder against the area, and Yunho elicits a high pitched cry. It feels so fucking good, he wants you to keep doing that, he wants you to torture him like this, he wants to fucking cum-

And then it shifts, and Yunho’s eyes snap open wide, horrified, as he watches you drag the toy down his shaft. It feels so good that it hurts. You know his body as good as he knows yours and it’s a double edged sword.

The toy is at the base of his cock, and Yunho feels his balls tighten at the sensitivity—it’s so close to his balls but so far, he feels the ripples of the vibrations but it isn’t enough.

“It’s not that I wanna do it… Aphrodite…” Yunho’s mind is just turning into mush the more his stomach tightens.

You stare back into his glazed eyes, stroking his cheek endearingly, as you watch his face contort into one filled with pleasure as you trail the device upwards again, pressing against his tip.

“Aphrodite is a fucking bitch, you know. So what if she created you?”, you pout, watching him squirm as he tries to chase another orgasm, only for you to remove the toy from his cockhead, and his breathing is so erratic and heavy.

“She doesn’t need to know that I found out how you look like”, you continue. All Yunho could do is nod desperately, as he feels you press the buzzing toy right at his tip again. “For a goddess of love, she has weird rules.”

“Fuck. It’s too much”, Yunho sobs, the constant pleasure building, and being pulled away from him and then immediately flooding his senses.

“You could just break them”, you say as a matter-of-factly, twirling the device around his cock head, looking at the way he flexes his abdomen every time you brush against the sensitive area of his red-tinted cock. “She doesn’t have to know.”

“Do you think you deserve to cum?” You finally ask, albeit way too causally.

“Let me cum, darling, Angel, baby, please”, he tries again, his eyes oh so full of desperation. “I’ll do anything for you. Anything.”

You lean back, deciding to be kind for now, and up the vibration of the toy, pressing it painfully against the tip of his cockhead, and sounds Yunho makes sends so much dopamine into your brain. Your pretty little Cupid, unravelling right before your eyes.

“Cumming, cumming. Oh fuck-“ he cries, as his cock twitches uncontrollably, spurting so much thick cum, the vibrations only sending him into deeper layers of pleasure.

“So fucking good. Oh gods, it’s so much, haah-“ his moans are slowly turning into sobs, as his eyes roll back from the overstimulation. Your breathing is ragged now, seeing your partner in such bliss, that you are almost jealous.

You bite your lip as you drop the vibrator onto the bed after turning it off, as you reach over to uncuff his wrists. Deep down, you knew he had to go since you found out about his identity. But the moment you release his shackles, his wings grow wide as it spans and towers over you, as if his big frame wasn’t enough.

Now he’s on top of you. Yunho has a frenzied glint in his eyes, and it’s your turn for your heart to thump in anticipation.

Yunho has you trapped beneath him this time, as he stares at you hungrily. You’ve never seen him like this before.

“You’d best believe I’d defy Aphrodite. And on top of that, you’re not leaving until I fuck you so fucking sore, not even when dawn breaks.”

[mosneakers]

Jill: Belladonna, sweetheart, I know what that blue aura means when I see it. You holdin' up okay?

Coni swallows, her shoulders slumping as she shrugs softly. She can’t find the right answer, her eyes fixed helplessly on what's left of her world crumbling to dust before her. Coni: I should have said something a long time ago. Jill: Oh, honey, you don’t have to carry that blame. There are extraterrestrial beings everywhere doing the same thing—keeping their identities hidden to protect themselves, and for good reason. You did what you had to do.

Jill Smith lightly brushes her infant son's head to soothe him, a subtle gesture to reassure Coni of her maternal nature.

Coni: But the Darlings can be trusted, though. We didn't have to keep this from them. Jill: Well... maybe. Coni: ...Sorry? Jill: I don't know, dear. It seems to me like some of those characters may not have been who you thought they were. Coni stares blankly ahead at the grim scene unfolding in front of her, deeply contemplating the weight of Jill's words.

Tycho: Why? If you knew this entire time, why did you string me along? Another wave of shock crashes over her; every muscle in her body feels like it's screaming, and she can no longer contain her rage. Like a defensive fawn posturing as fierce to fend off a predator, she steps forward and furiously shoves him, stumbling clumsily over the high heels that had earlier tonight driven Tycho wild.

Coraleye: I'm sorry, what? I gave you chance after chance after chance to come clean—to do the right thing. But instead, you tried to steal my goddamn memories! Our memories! The private things kept just between us—were they not sacred to you? Huh? Tycho: I struggled so much, okay? The guilt ate at me every single day. But I guess it turns out I wasn't the only one lying here. I feel like such an idiot. Coraleye: [Mock-sympathetic tone] Oh! It really hurts, doesn't it, baby? Welcome to my life! Only the joke’s on me— because I lied to myself, too. I fully convinced myself you'd come around, that we’d build a life together. I was ready to give you my babies, my hand in marriage, my whole future. But no, you couldn't help yourself. You get off on fucking with my head. Well guess what? You can't control me, Tycho. You never could.

Tycho: Control you? Coraleye, I was never trying to control you. I put it off for so long because I didn't want to scare you off. I thought there could be a chance I'd lose you—lose what we had. Coraleye: Well if you thought that would scare me off, then you have no idea who I truly am. Tycho: That's never been clearer. Given your reaction now, seems I was right to believe that. Coraleye: Yeah, now! God, Tycho, your double standard is insane. Are you happy, now that Erwin's out of the way? You never did quite get that jealousy trait under control, did you?

Tycho: Am I happy? What's wrong with you? Why would you say something like that? Erwin's my best friend. You know what? You’re no better than me. If you’d just been honest from the start, instead of sneaking around, we could’ve worked together to protect him—and your brother, too! I know I was a coward and a liar, but you’re just as much to blame for all this as I am, and you know it.

Coni: I… I can't do this. They’re putting our friend to death, and I can’t just stand by and watch the world burn while it happens. I can’t stop them, but I can’t let him die alone.

Jill: I see. You'd like to leave for the cosmos? Should I tell your friends you'll be back?

Coni: [Pauses, shakes head] No. Please give them all my love.

The storm inside Coraleye comes to an abrupt halt, leaving her mind reeling in the eerie wreckage. This is what I get for breaking the rules and following my heart, she thinks to herself.

Tycho instantly recognizes the harm in his words and desperately tries to take them back, but it's too late—Coraleye severs their relationship. He doubles down, and the tension escalates until officers must intervene, dragging them apart as they curse and scream.

In the midst of the chaos, Coni Breeder quietly slips away, leaving for a distant planet to spend the remainder of her days as Belladonna Darling Goth.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 161 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 18

Aqua Hoshigan Status: For the future

Never has an OnK chapter gone from It's Hoshinover to We Are Oshi no Back quite as hard and fast as this one. I have issues with this chapter in terms of what it implies about the story's overall structure and the fact that it sort of ruins 153-4 by association but this chapter's back half is so fucking good and the chapter itself works so well in isolation that much like 153-4, I kind of uhhh don't care about the structural issues because the story's heart is, for the most part, not just intact but beating harder and more passionately than it has in a long time.

To get what I don't like out of the way, the story seems to have settled on Super Evil Serial Killer Mastermind Kamiki as his final form characterization with some helpful Tsukuyomi exposition to just straightforwardly Tell Us things the manga probably should have spent some of the last 70something chapters Showing Us about Hikaru. The basic idea of Hikaru being some sort of serial killer so dedicated to upholding Ai's legacy that he kills women with the potential to surpass her was more or less always where I expected his character to land and this settling of his character does at least preserve what I think is the most important thing: that he genuinely loved Ai and his bent towards villainy only came after her death.

What I don't love as much is that this chapter seems to continue leaning into Uber God Manipulator Mastermind Kamiki like last chapter. I already talked at length about my issues with this framing in my previous chapter review so all I'll reiterate here is that the story's attempt to frame Hikaru as being equally or even more culpable for the actions of Nino and Ryosuke fall entirely flat to me, especially when the manga itself does such a pisspoor job of actually explaining how or why Kamiki was able to control and/or predict their actions to the extent that he supposedly did. And ESPECIALLY especially given that Nino and Ryosuke seem to have already been dangerously obsessed with Ai by the time they approached him.

In general, Hikaru's character is honestly just so inconsistent at this point that making any sense of his actions feels fruitless. If I really dig into what's going on, I can infer that maybe he fell into the same trap as Aqua by overcompensating for his trauma-induced helplessness by becoming overly controlling and guess that his fucked up trauma response to Ai's death combined with those terrible words Kindaichi gave him at Airi's funeral lead him down he road he's traveling now. I can even extrapolate that Aqua showing him the DVD message in 153-4 pushed Hikaru to this extreme and now that he has nothing to lose, he's lashing out at his children too - though, it should be noted, that the manga still hasn't actually established what Hikaru's culpability is in Nino's attempt on Ruby's life, outside of Aqua saying "well you didn't use your psychic powers to perfectly predict nino's actions so it's on you".

But like - this is all stuff I'm having to infer and extrapolate and guess, reverse engineering logic from our end point in an attempt to create a stable foundation for this characterization. The manga has done such a poor job of properly establishing Hikaru both as an antagonistic force and as a consistent character that I feel like I'm trying to assemble a coherent image from two different puzzle sets with all the fucking corner pieces missing and that's with Crow Girl looking into the camera and Explaining Him to me.

And listen, I am a bitch who LOVES to infer things. One of my absolute favourite pieces of fiction of all time ever is Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, a mystery story that literally does not contain any straightforwardly explicit, textual confirmation of the culprit's identity or motives because it believes so strongly that you, the reader, are smart enough and empathetic enough to put in the time and effort necessary to understand it regardless and it deeply, deeply values being able to give you that experience. But OnK feels less like it's intentionally encouraging me to think hard and enjoy the process of putting my head and my heart to work - it feels like it's leaving its homework unfinished and letting the reader do the actual hard work of sewing up the internal logic.

I probably won't talk much more about Kamiki this chapter cos I'd just be saying all this shit over and over but I really just am struggling to understand from a perspective of authorial intent what the vibe is even supposed to be. Like I mentioned in a previous ask, if this is where Kamiki's arc is reaching its conclusion then it means that the Movie Arc was essentially a whole-ass waste of time in and out of universe. Blech. Hate that.

Also, before I move on, I don't want to leave this just implied - making Kamiki explicitly a CSA victim and then ending his arc on Aqua (and implicitly the narrative) dismissing him as being too broken/corrupted to be saved is a really major misstep that I think represents a huge black mark on OnK's handling of CSA as a topic. The idea of an eternal defilement or an unfixable core wrongness in the self is already something real life CSA victims struggle with in the process of unpacking their trauma and having our likable and supposedly morally superior protagonist espouse this unchallenged in a work as prominent and relevant as Oshi no Ko is irresponsible bordering on dangerous. It's incredibly disappointing that after all the care Aka and Mengo seemingly took in handling this topic that it was whiffed so badly at the last second.

ANYWAY!!! Now all the beef's been dealt with, we can cleanse our palettes and move onto everything else I liked which was… basically everything else in this chapter!

Admittedly, Aqua's overall arc is still suffering from us being kicked out of his head from like 123 onwards for no real apparent reason and while 150 was a welcome refresher on where he's at in this part of the story, it still feels a bit like the story is prioritizing preserving the surprise factor of its twists over making these surprises feel earned. Compare it to volume 1 - you are basically told exactly what is going to happen to Ai, especially in the manga when Saitou and Gotanda outright say as much - but her death is still incredibly impactful and upsetting. I think this chapter is very effective, but could've been a lot moreso if we'd spent more time in Aqua's head leading up to it.

THAT SAID… If the intention of keeping us out of his head was to recontextualize Aqua's behaviour across the past ten or so chapters in this new light, I don't hate it as much as I might have. I initially took issue with what felt like the story off-screening and not addressing the resolution to Aqua's suicidal ideation so whipping back around to prove that it was still very much present puts some particular Aqua moments over this past volume into a very different light. As some people pointed out, Aqua missing Kana's pitch - literally dropping the ball in responding to her feelings - and his wide-eyed look of alarm in 151 seemed very ominous omens for the success of her confession and that beat of him covering his face when Kana approves of his dream… very incheresting knowing Aqua was still struggling with 'love or revenge' at this point.

Most interesting of all to reconsider is Aqua breaking down in tears in Miyako's arms in 155 when she addresses him as her son for the first time. At the time it read like catharsis but now I can't help but wonder if this was Aqua grieving for something he desperately wants but thinks is out of his reach.

i do have to say though. i get the general vibe of this plan and think it works fine as the apex of aqua's self-sacrificial protectiveness for the people he loves but how is being the daughter of a serial killer somehow any less scandalous for her career than being the sister of someone who killed one dude. does aqua think they just won't notice that kamiki happens to be their biodad or something. wasn't that the whole point of the movie. goofy ass plan.

What really saves this whole scenario is the emotions at play, though. This really does feel like Aqua at his most Aqua in a really long while and this chapter has so much love and respect for his life as Aqua and the bonds he has formed as a result. The dreams Aqua lays out are so agonizingly simple, too - he wants to pursue the career he finds rewarding. He wants to date the girl he likes. He wants to accept Miyako as his mom and Himekawa as his brother and to make things right with Akane after hurting and using her. He wants to see Ruby achieve her dream and be there to support her when she does.

But Aqua's always considered his dreams impossible, hasn't he?

I fully admit; I got spoiled with the full page spread of Aqua stabbing himself way in advance of the chapter and initially hated it as a twist. But with the full chapter as context and the sheer weight of Aqua's longing to just fucking live and find joy, it's not just effective but absolutely gutwrenching. It is the synthesis of Aqua's series-long battle to choose love or revenge and it resonates perfectly because it has never been one or the other for him - Aqua's revenge has always been rooted in the fact that he loves others so wholly and completely and hates himself so utterly that he thinks sacrificing himself to preserve their futures is the only path for him to take. It's the culmination and final release of the suicidal ideation Aqua has been dealing with since he was four years old and like Ai's tragedy before him, there's a horrible sense that maybe there really was no other way this could've gone.

Aqua being the character who actually takes the knife also firmly cements him as Ai's narrative echo in the text which has me barkin and howlin because it's what I've been saying all this time. Not just that, but so many of Aqua's expressions in this chapter pointedly and deliberately echo Ai's after she was stabbed. Not just that, but Aqua's achingly simple dreams echo Ai's own heartrendingly simple regrets - all the two of them ever wanted was to be happy with the people they love.

This also reframes the story's prior establishment of Ruby as paralleling Ai and seems to place the twins in the position of echoing not Ai in her entirety but Ruby as 'Ai of B-Komachi' and Aqua as 'Ai Hoshino'. This was actually something I outlined in one of my very first meta posts on the series, but I think making it more specific to 'Ruby as Ai the idol' and 'Aqua as Ai the human', this actually gives Ruby's arc in relation to Ai a bit of breathing room. Don't get me wrong, everything I've said about her post-BH writing being underbaked and inconsistent is still the case, especially when it comes to how confused the story is on whether Ruby is her own idol or New And Improved Ai 2.0 but giving it less ground to cover helps in terms of her writing no longer being spread quite as thin.

Speaking of Ruby, that beat of her seeming to react or sense something is up the moment Aqua takes the stab. 'Something happened to my loved one far away and I just Feel It' is a trope I'm always a sucker for and I really dig it here.

"The public don't care about the truth, so let's tell them a lie" is such a crazy hard sentiment to go out on too. Holy fuck.

There go our boys…!!! Quite a few people predicted they might go over the edge when Aqua showed up in his Mephisto fit (Mefitsto) and I'm interested to see if we get any parallels to the ED's imagery in the next few chapters. Overall, though, I'm really excited for where things are going - I don't think Aqua will die, but I do have some theories about what might happen. I can't think of a more traditional misogi purification experience than the middle of the ocean in late December, after all…

No break next week! Woohoo! While the delay of episode 12 means we won't be getting them on the same day, that is the same week S2 of the anime will be concluding and Aka does like lining up his bombshells with the anime. So who knows what we'll see.

seriously tho aqua. everyone already knows kamiki is you and ruby's biodad. HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER THAN HER BEING THE DAUGHTER OF A SERIAL KILLER AS IT ALREADY STANDS

[goodluckclove]

The amount of people already agreeing with my last post about writing advice that results in shame is making me actually angry for them.

The amount of people who think they're somehow exempt from using "I" statements is just straight up dipshit behavior. Writing isn't bad if it's in first person, you just don't like first person perspective. All writers actually don't need to include every box from a list of tropes and archetypes and scenes, these are just things in stories YOU like, a ton of which certainly already exist. And if they don't exist, write them!

"oh but writing is hard" Yes! Agreed! Creating something is far more laborious than making grand sweeping statements in a public space that require no experience, research, authority or credibility!

I think books on writing made by professional writers with decades of success should still be taken with a grain of salt. If you're a person who can't even fathom the difference between a subjective measure of personal taste and - like - a commandment the whole of literature should follow? I mean you can go ahead and do that but in my mind you're the advice equivalent of Fox News.

And for like adults? For parents? If your kid is an artist and you're entirely unable to engage with them on that in a way that allows them to be in control of the narrative - I was going to say find someone who can, but fuck that learn a new skill, Grown Adult Raising a Human Being. You think you finish developing as a person at like 30? Fuck off. Ask questions. Listen to their words.

My mom offered to read my first novel and fifteen pages in she called me home from school early saying it was an emergency. She sat me down and said she was thinking about hospitalizing me because of my writing. It wasn't the content, she said the prose just didn't make sense. I was terrified.

Turns out she just never really read for fun and had no frame of reference for the work that inspired me. But for years after I was fucking SCARED. That alone is a big reason why I worked so hard to like think directly about writing as little as possible while I was doing it.

I'm angry I need a nap. If you're a writer who has ever felt shame from feedback while you're still forming your creative identity, kindly douse the feeling in kerosene and set it on fire. Warm yourself by the heat of it. Roast a spiteful marshmallow. Make one for me too, friend.

[trans-queen-administrator]

Hey, can I hear about your shatterbird thoughts? She's always been my favourite member of the nine :]

[@faultlinescrew]

Oh I'm about to type for entirely too long.

Alright so a chunk of this is kinda headcanon, but any of that is fully based on canon. I had a giant fanfic planned that was literally an expanded telling of Shatterbird's life from trigger to death, and some plot points there may bleed into this unconsciously.

Number one favorite thing about Shatterbird is that initially, she did nothing wrong. She was unwillingly dosed with a Cauldron vial, and her scream and subsequent exploding of Dubai wasn't her fault. She had no intention to hurt anyone, it was done entirely out of her control as she gained powers and she should not be blamed for her first time destroying a city. The thing is, that doesn't matter in universe. She's still going to be hunted down by countless capes because she killed an untold number of people with that scream. No one's going to just let her go because it wasn't her fault, because she's the only person who can be blamed. People want revenge for their loved ones, and I'm willing to bet that she had a sizable bounty. It's similar to the situation we see with Rachel, where she can't have a normal life because she killed someone in her trigger and her identity is public, but on a much much larger scale.

I think the guilt ate at her so fucking bad at first. She killed her dad, her friends, her sister, her mother, countless others, and as much as it wasn't her fault she's still the one that did it. There's no way she doesn't blame herself for what happened, but when does she even have time to mourn? She's fled to a desert, she's gotta be struggling with food and water, and she's being hounded at every turn by people who want her dead. What's she supposed to do, let them kill her so she can atone for what she did or something?

I just love what a tragic backstory this is. She's one of the most horrible people we meet in canon, and I don't think it's unreasonable to say she has one of the highest body counts on Earth Bet, but she started as someone innocent and desperately trying to survive. And as much as I love this backstory and will defend to the death that she did nothing wrong at this point, it doesn't excuse who she becomes.

Shatterbird laughed.  “There’s only two ways to recover from something of that magnitude, to deal with the fact that you inadvertently killed thousands and thousands of people, and hospitalized twice that many.  You break, or you become it.”

(quote is from the missing interlude)

This is the quote that puts her entire character in a nutshell. The biggest question to me is... when did she become it? She implies in that interlude that it was rather quick, and that she went to Britain so she could hit a big target, but the Tattletale clone calls this out as a lie. She was running, the desert that she'd been in for months was unbearably loud with all that sand, and I think she was sick of living on the run. She wanted society, structure, something to make her feel human. I think she's full of shit saying she went there to destroy it, some accident or desperate confrontation occurred (timeline fits well enough for it to be a result of the Simurgh's attack, but that's just one possibility) and she broke London just as bad as she broke Dubai. What do you even do from there? Any slim hope of clearing her name is gone, she just has to keep running and try to ignore the guilt. And she ran to America, where the Slaughterhouse Nine found her.

The recruiting of people by the Slaughterhouse Nine fascinates me, because most are unwilling to join at first. Unfortunately the alternative is to die. No one in Brockton Bay was jumping to be the lucky winner, and the only people we know nominated themselves are Cherish and I think Siberian. Shatterbird (ever notice how she's the only S9 member with no canon first name? drives me nuts) was dragged into the recruitment process with no say in the matter just like most everyone is. Someone in the Nine found her, thought she would be a good fit because of London and Dubai (and how would that feel, to have someone on the S9 see you as just as bad as them?) and even if she explains that was on accident... what does it matter? It never matters that it was an accident. It never will matter. It's just something that she can tell herself to keep her sane.

So she's doing the fun little tests, I'm actually very curious how she altered herself for Mannequin's since he always does the same test, she's a very vain person, but that's off topic. Atrocities, horrors, being hunted by the Siberian, and suddenly she's at the end. Her and someone else.

“That’s not really a test,” Shatterbird spoke, “There hasn’t been a round of testing since I joined the group where we didn’t whittle it down to one candidate.” “We could forego the final test, pitting them against one another.” Shatterbird turned to him, “Ah.  But, again, the last test where we had to go that far was… mine?”

And she kills them. Dubai, London, those were accidents. This was on purpose, maybe even the first time she's done it on purpose. She could either break and decide she couldn't live with herself as a member of the nine, or she could just as horrible as everyone sees her. All her choices were rigged, there was never much of an opportunity to get better since so many paths closed off to her, but she voluntarily chooses to get worse. What's the point in holding on to the fact that it wasn't her fault at the beginning? She's never escaping what she did, so she'll become the monster everyone sees her as. You break, or you become it.

And there's not much of the more sympathetic side of Shatterbird in canon (partly because her backstory chapter was removed). She's fully embraced herself as a mass murderer. She revels in the attention, the fear. She parrots Jack's philosophy as a way to feel better about what she's doing, and eventually she doesn't need to feel better because she enjoys who she is now.

I don't know, I rambled for a while there but it boils down to me being fascinated by the circumstances of her gaining powers, and the shift from innocent but hated/feared to making damn sure that fear is justified.

Ok, so moving on from the backstory analysis, other miscellaneous details. Fuck it, I'm putting every thought I have on Shatterbird in this post.

She's the Nine's primary recruiter! Woo, good for her. Notably, she recruits Burnscar. Mimi is in a similar position to Shatterbird's past self with the whole involuntary mass destruction, although on a lesser scale (it'll always be on a lesser scale, Shatterbird has the worst trigger event out there in terms of consequences and she didn't even trigger). Mimi was on the streets and trying not to use her power, and Shatterbird scooped her up into the Nine.

“I- before I knew it, the Slaughterhouse Nine had found me.  Shatterbird recruited me.  And now I’m stuck.  I’m trapped.  You know there’s a kill order out on me?  If I try to quit, either the Nine or the cops will off me.  So I keep going, I work for them, and it all just gets worse.”

It's a situation Shatterbird can very likely relate to, but she's perpetuating it and making Mimi suffer like she did. No sympathy, no helping someone get through it and avoid the pitfalls she fell into, she's dragging other people down with her like a crab in a pot. Worth noting that I believe she's still bitter about the hand she was dealt even if she's embraced where it led her to, she remembers how horrible it was to be forced into everything and she does not care if she inflicts it on others.

But if someone else willingly joins the Nine, she takes it personally. Cherie says Shatterbird hates her, and that's because Cherie chooses the life Shatterbird was locked into. She's bitter that she never had that choice, and so she makes sure Cherie understands what it's like by chasing her for days for her test, not allowing any rest or sleep. However, this could also simply because Cherie sucks and is an unpleasant person to talk to, and Shatterbird is stuck-up.

Another thing I like is Shatterbird's appearance of knowledge and elegance. She's trying to appear put together, confident, in-control, and to be fair she does a pretty good job, her costume and theming are great. But under that is someone violent and angry, she's keeping up appearances to everyone else but also to herself. The fact that she's always trying to keep up appearances, even when locked in a room and doomed to die with one Witness (haha get it) she's trying to make it look like she was calm and in control when her body is found, is what 100% convinces me exploding Britain was an accident. The Tattletale clone calls her out, and to me it seems like another attempt to seem in control by framing it as deliberate.

Anyway, my attempts to woobify a mass murderer aside, I also like that she was a spoiled rich kid before all this and her prim asshole attitude points to that. She quotes Edgar Allen Poe, she reads because it makes her feel better than others, she's just so pretentious and unpleasant and to be clear I love this as a character trait, it's fun and leads to her speaking in overdramatic ways.

“Then you should know, nearly-Tattletale, that I’ve spent too long in the company of monsters to be scared by words.”

She thinks she was soooo cool saying that.

I also want to look at the last few weeks of her life. She spends so much effort propping herself up as great and in control, only to be locked in a box and puppeted around against her will. Genuinely I cannot think of anything more humiliating and agonizing for her to endure. She has nothing to do but think as she's used as a marionette.

She had a long time to reflect on her life, to look back at how she got here and what she regrets.

But I think she spent it stewing in her rage, itching and planning to get violent revenge and keep hurting others to be respected. She's unwilling and unable to go back, she'll double down on this forever because this is who she is now. And because 99% of characterization for Shatterbird isn't in Worm anyway, I may as well toss in this minor AU summary by Wildbow. If she escaped, she would have started her own version of the Nine with Damsel of Distress and Trickster. There is nothing left to sympathize with or redeem Shatterbird by the time we see her in canon, she's simply past that point. Side note but Shatterbird + Damsel of Distress + Trickster as a team is perhaps the funniest combo ever and I really wish those 3 fuckers got to interact in canon. Weirdo assholes who dress up fancy and have a taste for theatrics as a murder crew, we were robbed.

I could analyze the Hookwolf interlude but I don't want to. I'm very annoyed that Shatterbird (still no first name) is the only member of the Nine to lose the fight against her recruit instead of appearing terrifying and unstoppable. How come Burnscar can solo Faultline's crew but 3 nazis can take out Shatterbird, who has way more experience? It's pretty uncomfortable to have the only member of the Nine who isn't white be the one that loses to nazis, while one calls her a slur in his internal monologue, in the interludes where everyone else on her team is introduced as a force of nature. I think we should just collectively agree to make this interlude not canon and un-retcon the Witness interlude. While I'm on the topic it's also a bit questionable to have Sophia and Shatterbird (no first name. I am annoyed by this) as the only named capes puppeted by Regent?

But that's not the topic I wanna explore. The topic is that Shatterbird is a great character and I wish that she had depth in the story itself rather than scattered through 20 different sources, because she's legitimately my favorite non-undersider in the story. There is a lot of potential to explore her, one could interpret her backstory in a less charitable way than I did just for an example, and I really think she's neat! She takes hurting someone in an accident and then becoming the monster people see her as, something we see a few times throughout worm, to its ultimate conclusion in terms of scale. That alongside her outer layer of intellectualism and pretentiousness, which I'm a massive sucker for as a trait, and she's just perfect. Did nothing wrong (citation needed). I love her and I do hope that at least some of the stuff written her makes someone appreciate her character more.

Ok! That was... 2.2k words about Shatterbird (no first name). Woo! If some stuff seems inconsistent between paragraphs here, it's probably because I wrote this in chunks over the course of a few weeks and my feelings at the time can influence my interpretation of things and my writing to feel different when read all at once and compared. If you think I'm woobifying her too much, cool. I think it makes her more compelling to examine how much we know was her fault and how much she shouldn't be blamed for, and making her have less agency makes her more tragic which I always like. If you actually read this to the end, thank you! Have a nice day!

[morsmortish]

evan is so scared of losing control that he takes extreme measures to ensure he doesn’t. he regularly doses himself with various poisons or other drugs dangerous potions in order to develop an immunity. he has an almost alarmingly identical daily routine. he gets off on the idea of having complete power or authority over someone else. he is so fearful of not being able to control his own life, he does everything in his power to micromanage as much as he can.

and then you have barty. who has never tasted a single ounce of control in his life. his body has never even been his- it has always been under the authority of the imperius curse. he’s the opposite of evan; he has actually experienced what it is to have no autonomy, no power, and now he is no longer scared of it. in fact, it has become who he is- he is so unused to making his own decisions that he prefers someone else to do it for him. if evan is fearful of losing control, barty is afraid of having it, simply because he does not know what to do with it. he does not know who to be if he is not being controlled by someone else.

it is for this reason they work so well together. barty is more than willing to submit to evan, to let evan essentially have all the power over him. he lets evan decide what barty should do, and who barty should be, and he finds comfort in the fact that as long as he is moulded into the exact shape evan wants, evan will always want him. and evan, well, he adores having this puppet of a lover, who is eager to be entirely controlled. knowing he has such power over another human being is just as comforting to evan as being controlled is to barty. they’re both sick fucks, and this is certainly not a healthy dynamic, but they simultaneously are in one of the happiest relationships of any of their friends.

[tora-the-cat]

A happy ending for Sasuke is literally not even POSSIBLE for basically ALL of Naruto like it's not even funny. He really never even had a CHANCE he has of living a decent life, it's not even on the TABLE, by literally no fault of his own (because he's never done anything wrong). I'm going to scream.

0-6? Forces unbelievably outside of his control are organizing, ensuring, and executing an ethnic cleansing of his entire clan at the hands of his favoritest person in the world. Forces including the shattered psyche of said favoritest person, who tortures him until he is too terrified and traumatized to even think about anything else for years.

7-12? enrolled in Child Soilder School, completely isolated socially (not as a pariah but as a prodigy) befret of any support system, still traumatized beyond belief, and left with no outlet for any of his issues besides obsessing over the day, one day in the future, where Itachi will be dead and all this unresolved suffering and guilt and love and anger and fear and fear and FEAR will go away forever. Right? Because it has to. There has to be an end. Right?

12? Government assigned found family give him the support and love and attention and outlet and for the future that he's been craving for so long he didn't even KNOW it's what he needed. Has a soulmate and a bestie that can read his mind and a mentor who actually is willing to meet him where he's at and help him and maybe even love him and is this......Hope? That perhaps he can have a life outside of what Itachi did to- Itachi. Itach- FUCK. ITACHI IS LITERALLY HUNTING NARUTO FOR SPORT WITH ALL HIS WAR CRIMINAL FRIENDS AND SASUKE SHOULDN'T HAVE LET HIS GUARD DOWN BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW STRONG KAKASHI OR EVEN THE WHOLE VILLAGE IS, ITACHI WILL KILL ANYONE SASUKE IS STUPID AND SHORT SIDED AND CRUEL ENOUGH TO CARE ABOUT, HOW DID HE FORGET, HOW DARE HE FORGET, HE NEEDS TO GET STRONGER HE NEEDS TO AVENGE HIS CLAN HE NEEDS TO FUFILL HIS FRATERNAL DUTY HE NEEDS TO LEAVE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IS MURDERED BY ASSOCIATION-

13-16? He dropped a lit match on his support system behind him him and ran into the cold shadows of obsessive anger that he only stepped out of long enough to loose the ability to ignore the gnawing want for warmth. That's bad enough, not even taking cohabitating with goddamned OROCHIMARU. No further explanation required there.

17? Kills his brother, gets NONE of the 'benefits' he spent his life convincing (begging) himself must be awaiting at the end. Instead everyhting has, in fact, gotten much worse very quickly and now all he has is a list of powerful people and systems that don't work and hurts and kills and tortures the people they've promised to protect that no one except him will oppose because it's basically suicide, and isn't he already so familiar with being on the shit side of this dynamic? Isn't it the normalest thing in the world, to fill the hole where his vengeance used to be with a hunt with near identical goals and intentions of his first vengance, the only real difference being his increasing dissalussion with ever being able to 'go back home', his almost all comsuming doubt that there's a 'home' waiting for him still, if there ever even was? So he dives into another goal before it goes as cold as the love he doesn't dare indulge, accumulating more power and rage then he knows what to do with (where can he put it down? where can he put it down?) and no reason NOT to challange corruption until it's either all gone or it kills him. Naruto, once the only person who looked at him with empathy instead of pity or expectation, thinks he should grit his teeth and bear it and go back to the village, as if that was ever an option for him. Sakura, once the only person who understood him, who followed his every thought process with ease and loved him even when he thought himself a monster, has finally given up on him and tries to kill him. What can he do but laugh as the world burns? It burned him first.

(but if that was true, then why is he still so cold?)

[makethatelevenrings]

Pretty // J.Todd x f!reader

Requested? Yes!

Warnings: SMUT 18+ CHILDREN BE GONE. If I see any ageless or under 18 blogs sniffing around here, I will block you faster than you’ve ever seen. I’ve got the fastest draw in the fucking WEST fucko. Also, insecurity and dom/sub practices.

Summary: You’re having a bad brain day. Jason makes sure you know you’re loved.

“What do you need?”

His breath brushed against your ear and bathed your cheek with warmth. You met his eyes in the bathroom mirror and took in the way his masterfully built form towered over you. Jason wasn’t just tall. He was solid muscle, firm and unyielding, and every part of him should be rough edges.

Should.

“I don’t know,” you replied. You tilted your head to the side unconsciously, as if your body knew what to tell him and Jason’s eyes softened. His hand came up to cup the underside of your jaw, applying the barest hint of pressure onto your throat.

“Do you need me to take control?”

Your tongue darted out to dampen your dry lips and without hesitation, you nodded. “I need…I need to not be right now. I’m all up in my head and telling myself things and-”

He shushed you. Jason didn’t need to hear anymore. He understood. His grip tightened minutely and you shuddered at the weight added to your lungs when you exhaled.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, sweetheart?”

You blinked up at him in the mirror, your head going a little dumb at the sight of his big hand wrapped around your neck. The prettiest collar for the prettiest girl, he’d always tease.

“Why me, Jason?” you finally whispered. “Out of all the women and men of Gotham, why me?”

The heat in his gaze dimmed for just a moment and then he was back in your space, nose pressed against your temple and chest pressed flush against your back. You could feel the thickening length of him pressing against the cleft of your ass and you shivered at the touch.

“Where is this coming from, sweets?” he growled. He was bordering the line between him and the Hood and you hated the way your cunt throbbed at the raspy grate of his voice.

“It’s nothing,” you brushed off. He spun you around so you were chest to chest and his teal eyes bored into your own.

“Did someone say something?” The line of his jaw ticked and the vein in his neck pulsed with barely restrained anger. Jason dropped his head to rest against the crook of your neck, his lips pressing a line of kisses against your delicate skin before he gently bit down on the lobe of your ear.

“Tell me, kitten, because you know I’ll find out either way. I’ll find them and I’ll cut their tongue out. I’ve killed people for less.”

You shuddered at the venom in his voice and he caged you in the safe hold of his arms. This man. This man. You knew he was serious. Jason had thrown grown men through walls when they hinted at getting close to the Hood’s precious jewel. No one knew your identity, but the mere suggestion of someone finding you made him downright feral.

“No, Jase. Sometimes my mind just has bad days.” You cradled his face between your hands and sighed. “Today is one of those days.”

You couldn’t turn off the string of constant thoughts. Normally you were great at reframing them but today you just didn’t have the mental energy to fight the negativity. It would pass. It always did. But today you were in that limbo of struggling to reconcile the rationality of your thoughts with the impulsive emotions that were at war in your mind.

Jason’s entire body relaxed and then one of his arms was sliding under your ass and he was carrying you into the bedroom. He turned so that he took a seat on the bed and carefully placed you down on his lap, your legs straddling his waist.

“Baby,” he murmured. You blinked up at him behind heavy-lidded lashes and he leaned in to pepper soft kisses on your forehead, the tip of your nose, each cheek, and then your lips. You inhaled the heady scent of his musky cologne and the lotion he applied after every shower.

“Oh, baby,” he said again. You pressed your forehead against his shoulder as he cradled the back of your head with one hand and the other slid under the hem of your shirt. Jason’s cool hands brushed against your sternum and you sucked in a shuddering breath when the calloused edges of his fingers caressed your breast.

“Turn off that pretty little mind of yours, hmm? Let me take care of you, sweets.”

“Please.” Your plea disappeared into a whimper as he pinched your nipple between his fingers and rolled. Arching your back, you pressed closer to him in a silent beg for more. He cursed under his breath and yanked your shirt over your head so he could press a kiss to the top of your breast before taking your other nipple into his mouth.

Your hips canted against the bulge in his pants and the pressure was good but it wasn’t enough. A heady sigh escaped you as you dragged your fabric covered cunt against the friction of his jeans. You wanted more.

“I love these tits,” Jason groaned once he finally unlatched himself from the swollen bud. “And this ass.” He snaked his hands down to grab the fleshy fat of your butt and yank you impossibly closer. You threw your head back and his breath trailed against your neck before he bit your chin.

“God, I love seeing your face first thing in the morning and right before I sleep. I miss you so much when you’re gone,” he said. One of his hands dipped into the front of your sweatpants and he pressed his fingers against the soaked fabric of your underwear.

“So wet for me. Such a good girl, aren’t you? Always so good for me. And you’re so smart too. Tell me, baby. Tell me that you’re a smart girl.”

He applied the barest hint of pressure to your clit and it had you whining around the words that tried to form in your mouth. “I’m smart. I’m a smart girl.”

“Yeah, you are, aren’t you? Such a smart girl and pretty too. Tell me you’re pretty.” His fingers pushed the drenched seam of your panties out of the way and his knuckles teased at your entrance. He sucked a hickey into the skin of your breast as he waited for you to speak.

“I’m pretty.”

“And you’re kind.”

“I’m, ah, I’m kind.” You yelped as he slid a finger into your weeping cunt and Jason grinned at the way your face relaxed as he filled you.

“You’re brave.”

“I’m brave.” He added a second finger and pumped them inside of you, twisting and scissoring his fingers until you were practically thrashing against his lap. His other hand held you steady by grasping your waist. His very presence seemed to sear your soul into fusing with his and you wanted to let him hold you down and press his entire weight on you as he fucked you senseless. You wanted to scream his name until your voice gave out.

“You are loved.”

The tenderness of his voice coupled with the absolutely filthy way he was finger fucking you, two fingers caressing the spongy flesh of your cunt while his thumb drew circles around your clit, had you nearly sobbing in frustration and relief.

“I am loved.”

“That’s my girl,” he cooed as he stroked you to that point of release. Pleasure shot up your spine and your thighs quaked on either side of his hips as desperate, panting gasps escaped you. Jason held you close as you clenched around his fingers and when you opened your eyes again once the aftershocks subsided, you had never seen him so pleased and at peace.

“Thank you,” you murmured as you leaned up to kiss him.

He accepted the kiss without complaint and then he raised the hand that had just been buried between your legs and slid his fingers into his mouth to suck the taste of you onto his tongue.

“Oh, we’re not done just yet,” he answered.

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