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astraariel · 2 months ago

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flores amarillas (a devotion of love)

pairing: fili x mexican!reader (kinda?)

summary: after being thrown into Middle Earth randomly, Fili surprises you with an act of love, reminding you of your life back home.

september 21st - when someone gives someone else yellow flowers on this day, it means you have undying loyalty and love for that person and can be used as a symbol wishing to spend the rest of your days with that person.

word count: 2.4K

warnings: none

tags: tooth-rotting fluff; nobody dies/everyone lives!au; modern character in middle earth!au

author’s note: I am so sorry for being gone for a whole year, oops. here is a fic I wrote in a couple of hours bc I randomly got the urge to write again… my hyperfixation of lotr/the hobbit has made it’s return so I hope you guys love Fili as much as I do <3

so when I daydream, obviously I do it by how it pertains to myself and my culture so this technically is a mexican!reader insert since it's a holiday from my culture BUT it’s a cute holiday nonetheless so I wanted to write about it. this will probably be the only specific reader fic I write because I don’t want to narrow my broadness bc I try to write for any READER! (ig I also write just fem!reader but I digress)

am I posting this a month after the date? yes, yes I am. but who cares! I still wanted to write this and I think it will help me get out of my slump and make me try to write more…

for the sake of the fic (and my mind) the dwarves have the same calendar system as us... I can not mentally try to convert when September 21st would be for them lol. anyways, enjoy and ignore any grammar mistakes♡

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The sound of your footsteps echoed around the grand halls of Erebor, the quiet murmurs and shuffling of all the dwarves doing their jobs filled the air as you walked toward the gates.

Thorin had dismissed Fili of his duties for the day as crown prince, allowing him to skip all his meetings he normally would be in attendance to.

As soon as Fili had gotten the news, he ran to find you so he could make sure to steal you away for the day.

So here you currently were, making your way to where Fili was so he could surprise you with whatever he had planned for your date.

Looking back on your life now to what it was back in your world, was bizarre to say the least. You’ve grown accustomed to your new life here in Middle Earth, but it had taken you a bit to adjust to it. Having been fond of the books made you excited to live and breathe the words you had read as a kid in real life.

Finding yourself stumbling around the Shire at the same time when the company had been instructed to meet at Bilbo’s house, changed your life for the better.

Once Thorin had begrudgingly allowed your presence into the company, you quickly learned how the quest had been a long and exhausting one. Hours and hours of the dwarves grilling you on where you came from, what your world was like, and what you were doing there had your head spinning. Eventually, it turned from weariness to genuine curiosity so you had found yourself on quiet nights around the fire, surrounded by thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard telling them about random facts from your world.

The company slowly began warming up to you in their own ways, but you grew exceptionally close to the two younger brothers.

Many nights with Fili and Kili had you going on and on about your life back home. Kili’s incessant questions and curiosity allowed you to run your mouth over and over about random aspects of your life and made you grow fond of him immediately. Fili, on the other hand, was a bit quieter, shaking his head at his brother’s antics and having more thoughtful questions that had you reminiscing on old memories.

Nonetheless, you began to care for them even with the many nights that had you dreading the end of the quest and the final battle that the dwarves found themselves in before reclaiming their homeland.

You originally didn’t want to get close to any of them, the fact that you already knew their fate and they didn't, ate at you everyday. You kept your distance at first, the anticipatory grief already settling in once you had made eye contact with the brothers that very first day was already too much. And yet, you still found yourself laughing and opening up to them throughout the quest.

Especially Fili.

His blue eyes captivated your mind, they beckoned you to get closer to him, to ask him questions about his life back home in the Blue Mountains. About his childhood, his hobbies, his likes and dislikes; he made you fall in love with him after your very first conversation.

Of course, you couldn’t voice that. He was the crown prince, who was currently on a quest to reclaim his motherland.

And of course also because…the ending.

You weren’t sure how your presence in Middle Earth and on the quest would affect the outcome, but if you couldn’t change what happened, you wanted to save yourself that grief.

And yet, when Fili presented the courting bead he had been creating late at night during the journey, you accepted it wholeheartedly.

You were a selfish creature.

Thankfully, you did everything in your power to keep everyone alive, after long and anxious nights of sitting by all of the Durin’s beds they all healed from the battle and began their new lives in Erebor.

You began your new life in Erebor as well, with Fili.

A voice shouting your name shook you from your thoughts.

“Amrâlimê, you look beautiful as ever.” Fili came into view as you processed his comment.

Smiling, you leaned over to kiss him. “Thank you, you look wonderful as well.”

Grinning, he took your hand. “Come, I have an amazing day planned for us, ghivashel.”

♡‧₊˚

Your fingers traced the lines on Fili’s hand as the two of you laid in the grass, still recuperating from the spontaneous race up the hill where you currently both laid atop of.

After a bit of silence, Fili’s voice rang in your ear. “Did you have fun, my love?”

Sitting up on your arm, you look over at him. “Of course I did, I always enjoy myself when I’m with you.”

Fili looks over at you, “Flattery,” he grabs your hand and kisses it, “careful fair maiden, you may just create an admirer out of me with your words.”

Giggling at your mushy banter, you smile over at him. His golden waves framed his face perfectly in the fading daylight. His eyes crinkling in happiness as he looked over at you made you swoon inside.

Fili stands abruptly, extending his hand out to you. “Come, follow me, I figured we could have a picnic under the stars like old times.”

Fili leads you off to the side into a fenced off area where you knew the few botanist dwarves cultivated their flowers.

Once the two of you entered, your eyes were met with a blanket in the middle of the garden with an area of food and desserts displayed along with blankets that the two of you could use for the coming night chill.

“When did you do this? You were with me all day?” Your confused face followed Fili’s figure that was walking toward the sitting area.

Fili sends you a cheeky grin. “I may or may not have bribed Kili to do this for me with the guarantee that I’d cover for him with Uncle so he can sneak off with Tauriel next week.”

Scoffing, you shake your head. “Kili will do anything but confront Thorin about being with Tauriel, he needs to just suck it up and tell your Uncle he’s in love with an elf.”

Fili hums in agreement as he guides you further toward the blanket. You situate yourself as you look over the treats that Fili (Kili) had laid out for you.

The two of you quietly begin snacking as you gaze at the sky when Fili breaks the silence. “I’m very lucky to have you, amrâlimê, I thank whatever power that put you in my world because I was able to meet and love you.”

Rolling your eyes, you turn away from Fili, “you're so sappy.” Glancing at him again you smile, you never will get used to his random confessions of love he does. You don't think the butterflies will ever go away, he constantly makes your heart want to burst out of your chest with how fast it always beats around him.

The amount of love you have for Fili has never been like anything you’ve experienced. Whenever you think or look at him your heart swells, just being in his presence sends a calming effect through you and yet simultaneously, a tsunami of intense emotion. You've never had any love like it before.

You agreed with what he said, you truly thank whatever power placed you in the Shire when it did.

“I know we don’t really see each other often since I'm so busy-” Fili begins.

“Fee, I know you have responsibilities, I understand.”

Fili just stares and smiles at you for a second. “I know you do, Mahal, I love you so much.” After a split second he says, “I’ll be right back.”

The random shift of tone catches you by surprise eliciting a laugh from you, “What?”

“I’ll be right back!” He gives no other explanation before running off in a direction leaving you.

“Ok?” You’re left confused, but amused at your lover’s antics.

A few minutes pass by before you hear footsteps returning, your head turns in the direction of the sound and you find Fili’s figure holding something behind his back.

“What are you hiding,” you giggle, “What’s behind your back, Fee?” Leaning over you try to get a glimpse at the mystery behind him.

He doesn't say anything as he bends down to get on his knee so he can be closer at your eye level to your figure reclining on the ground.

You look at him expectantly waiting for him to start.

“I wanted to make this a grand gesture, but I was panicking and Kili’s fed up with me constantly going on and on about this day but…”

Titling your head, you question, “This day?”

Fili seems to stop his rambling and pulls his arms from behind. “It’s the 21st of September.”

You let out a surprise gasp before sitting up. You had noted on the calendar in your room that it was the 21st but expected nothing from it since you weren't in your own world.

And yet here was Fili, kneeling with yellow flowers held out in front you.

Your eyes scan over the array of yellow flowers that were held carefully with white paper in Fili’s hands.

“How did you-?”

Fili smiles, “During the quest, remember?”

Your mind combed through your memories, attempting to recall the conversation.

The company had been unknowingly making the journey to Rivendell (under Gandalf’s expense) which had evoked Kili’s curious side from the exhausting trek. You and the two brothers were walking side by side toward the back, when Kili had posed you with a new question from your life back in your world.

“Tells us more about your culture,” Kili nudges you, “not just your world but you specifically.”

Catching you by surprise, you think quickly for an answer. “Hmm…well from where I’m from, there's a specific day that a person may use to confess how they feel about you.” You're not really sure what compelled you to mention this specific custom, but your mouth opened before your mind could keep up with it.

Kili’s eyes brightened with your response, so you knew you’d have to unfortunately continue with the train of thought.

“Well, on the 21st of September, if someone gives you yellow flowers, it has meaning. A lot of people from my culture see receiving yellow flowers on this day as being a very important and caring act. It’s to some, very intimate, because not many express their emotions like this so when a person does, the significance is extraordinary.” Your eyes flick back to the brothers.

Clearing your throat, you looked forward in embarrassment.

Great. You’ve just opened that can of worms out to the two brothers who you’ve barely met, as well as whoever else was currently eavesdropping in your conversation.

Not having felt the change in air with you, Kili continued to ask, “Have you been gifted yellow flowers before?”

Still not making eye contact with either of the brothers, you sighed. “No, I have not.” Clicking your tongue you continued, “I think perhaps it’s because the people who I have dated didn’t know about the meaning. I mean, even if they did, I don’t think the flowers would mean much because the relationships never worked out.” You shrugged lamely.

It’s not like you’re admitting all your past relationships were a bust, it just wasn't the type of love that was true. If any of your exes had gifted you yellow flowers, you're not sure if it would’ve had the type of impact you’ve always imagined. All your relationships had their highs, but they also had their lows, hence why they all ended and why none of them had gifted you your yellow flowers.

You still had the hopeless romantic thought that The One would come into your life and you’d know if they were The One if they gifted you your flores amarillas like you've dreamed of.

“Ah, well that’s interesting!” You looked over as Kili smiled at you, apparently losing interest in the conversation. Glancing at Fili, you noted that he seemingly wasn't paying attention to your entire spiel; thankfully in his own thoughts.

Your mind reels back from the memory. You knew exactly why you didn't remember that because you were embarrassed for the rest of the day because you had gotten emotional during the conversation. While you were already getting close to the brothers, you still were embarrassed that so early on you had opened up about your pathetic love life so much that you blocked it from your mind.

“I thought you weren’t listening when I was talking about that to Kili?” You questioned.

“Of course I was listening, every time you spoke I was captivated.” Fili’s smile softens.

Biting your lip in an attempt to stop yourself from grinning, you let him continue.

“When you had answered Kili's question with that, it took me by surprise but I found myself enamored by the way you spoke about the custom. So when I heard you speak about your culture, I knew it meant a lot to you not only due to the meaning but because it reminded you of your world.” He reaches a hand toward you, “While I am thankful you're here with me, I know that you also were pulled from the world you knew, so by talking about your culture it comforted you.”

Your eyes began to water, God, you truly loved him.

“I knew I wanted to incorporate this day in our lives so I thought what better yet than to propose to you with something that reminded you of your culture back home.”

Your eyes widen, “I knew you were my One the moment I set eyes on you. So, will you marry me, amrâlimê? Will you grant me the privilege of spending the rest of your life in your new home with me?”

“Of course I’ll marry you, Fili.” Leaping over you toppled both of your bodies to the ground with your hug.

Landing on your sides, Fili pulls away quickly, “Don’t crush your flowers!”

“Oh, oops, sorry.” You laugh before grabbing and smelling the bouquet, “Where’d you get these?”

“Oh, I got them in Dale this morning,”

“Oh my gosh.”

He laughs, “Yeah I’ve been writing to a botanist who has a flower shop in town, because I was wanting real yellow flowers for you.”

“Flores amarillas.”

“What?” Fili looks at you.

“Flores amarillas, it means yellow flowers in Spanish.”

He smiles at you and slowly repeats, “flores amarillas.”

Giggling, you nodded.

Grinning at Fili, you made a mental note to teach him Spanish.

#astraariel♡#the hobbit #fili x reader #fili x you #fili durin #fili #fili x yn #fili x y/n

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lookingfts · 3 months ago

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You know how you always find it strange that your ‘little insignificant’ plot bunnies are the ones that get traction….well here I am on the soulmarks AU still losing my mind. Like LOSING IT.

I love soulmarks, antematter converted me with bloom, which is astoundingly beautiful, and my attraction is that they’re so sweet and heartwarming and tender - but now you’ve completely transformed them for me. The idea of Anthony being feral over her mark, the possessiveness, his and Kate teasing him with it. You’ve changed the game. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Once again, you nailed it!!!!

Hahaha it's so true. I clearly have no idea what people will be into, because I can't tell you how many times I've been like "this is random but whatever I already wrote it" and then people are into it and have all these headcanons for it. It's so fun.

Antematter is the soulmark queen! I also really like The Universe Laughs At Anthony Bridgerton by TeaBrigadier.

Don't want to be pushy since you said you didn't intend to expand on the drabble but Mark sounds like it would be such a sweet and spicy story. (I want to see the dude try it with "close enough" 👀)

Well I wasn't planning to write any more because I wasn't thinking there would be a lot of plot/drama. (Not that you can't have those things with soulmate fics...I just didn't envision this fic that way.) But if everyone would be down for a one-shot where they're just really horny and in love and there's no angst, I'll consider writing it.

Your soulmark AU is one of the best I’ve ever read, truly. And I love that we got just a snippet of them together at the end, idk, it just really works in this. I enjoy when you expand your AUs with headcanons though, do you have any in particular for this one?

Thank you so much! I think we've tackled a lot already (you can go through the "for you i am fragile" tag if you missed any posts). Here's a few more:

Kate likes to bite Anthony's shoulder during sex, right where his mark is.

They fudge the details of how they met (a common theme in my fics, I'm realizing) and then Ben blows it by accidentally letting something slip from that night and his family is like what???

Anthony didn't want to meet his soulmate because he blamed the soulmate connection for why Violet was catatonic after Edmund's death. So he never actively searched for her. But when Ben called to say he found Anthony's soulmate and was going to sleep with her, it just didn't sit well with him, so he went not really intending to do anything but know who she was and cockblock Ben. And then they saw each other and it was pretty much all over from there. But it does still scare him, feeling so much for someone and potentially leaving either of them in that kind of grief.

I think this is true across most AUs: Kate always thought she would hate having a guy stuck to her like glue, but she loves it with Anthony. Neither of them truly understood what having a soulmate would feel like. They quite literally can't get enough of each other.

Kate's Amma and Appa were soulmates, but Mary and her Appa weren't, so Kate just grew up feeling like you could love and be happy with someone who isn't your soulmate and people put too much pressure around it.

Anthony says I love you after a month. He doesn't love her just because they're soulmates, but everything he knows about her shows him why they are soulmates. They are so alike but also complement each other in the most important ways.

Kate also never thought she would like possessiveness, but by god does it work for her with Anthony. Any time another guy hits on her (which happens a lot, because look at her) Anthony has her in some dark corner growling "you're mine" and she melts in his arms.

#for you i am fragile #bridgerton #kanthony #kate x anthony #anthony x kate #asks and answers #bridgerton fic

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blackbloodteeth · 3 months ago

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Cross the Delta

Okay so I think it's pretty well documented at this point that I'm not really a smut guy, not really my thing, but I was just so infuriated that my good friend @chickycherrycola had been struggling with posting their works to tumblr due to an issue with it not showing up in any tags, that I decided to write smut purely to spite tumblr back.

Huge thank you to Cherry for both giving me the Cherrytober 2024 prompt "Love Bites", as well as giving this a read-through because I am understandably all over the place haha. I'll probably post this fic to AO3 during the actual prompt date, for now though here's the whole thing under the read more (please go easy on me, both for stepping outside my comfort zone and also not containing that much actual smut lmao).

Rating: Mature Relationship: Soul x Maka Tags: Mild Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Nudity, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Bath, Sharing a Beyond, I dunno axolotls or something Summary: Imagine if you will that it was instead Maka who had been found out to have been a witch, having one day awakened her magic and deciding to leave her life behind under the cover of night to escape an imminent trial, especially as the years of her deep partnership with Soul had begun to affect him in strange, unforeseen ways that the eyes of Order may consider too dangerous. Of course, Soul being who he is, would follow her anywhere without hesitation. Now out at the ends of the Earth on their own, there's so much he doesn't know about himself anymore, and even more so about the soul-deep connection they still share. Somehow despite being on the run, they've managed to have more time than ever to figure things out. Words: 2,838 (Full fic below!)

Sand sinks beneath his soles while the warmth of her hand soaks right through his palm. The bare light of the dregs of dawn watches them as Soul almost turns to look behind him, stopping when he meets the bright, shining green eyes of his partner, telling him that it's okay, they don't need to look back. He can envision it in his mind's eye, the city they once called home towering like its own kingdom, now shrunken in the distance they've both walked and still waiting for them to fall completely out of sight.

Maka's fingers deepen their grip between his and she gives him just the most gentle smile in the world, just for him now that it's all they have aside from the few possessions and the cloaking garments on their backs. A faint silhouette of the edges of his teeth poke out from the slight laugh he reflects from the surreal little feeling still following him, maybe them both, before she nods and takes his other hand. He then lets the flow of light consume him as she holds him in her gloves.

The narrow dark-red of Soul's glare squints back at him from the glass, fangs bared before his eyes inevitably drop back down to the marred line of stitches across his chest. Harsh bathroom light crosses through each line over his skin but does nothing against the faint red glow sitting inside all of it. He flicks the light off, seeing both his eyes and the glow of his soul pierce through the dark of the mirror, until it softens again when the switch flips back on.

A huff clenches his hand against the sink into a fist, the other gripped tightly around the little journal that he's barely opened, probably intended to stay that way while he slams the light off, stomps out, and paces in no particular direction through his side of the motel room. Intended until he pauses, stares at his eyelids towards the ceiling, and finally yanks the pen out, rushing back to the bathroom, light practically punched on, before he tears the small book open to a random page and forces everything out of his head all at once.

His shoulders tense through his teeth as the soaked fabric peels away from his skin, the careful hands of his partner stopping when he grips them, eyes unable to escape hers this time. Even from the reverberation of her wavelength, Soul can feel the fear echoing back at him, taunting him, replaying that haze of fangs and flesh he woke up screaming from over and over and over again. Until Maka actually grabs his hand back, grinding his breaths to halt as a different echo ripples through him like a fish circling around him. Breathe. Breathe. I'm here.

Slowly he lets her lift the rest of his shirt away, no longer clinging to his skin in a chill of rust and horror, just tremble in the sweat of a vivid nightmare and the apprehension of the faint red glow still beating beneath his skin. He's still shivering, still meek as a kitten when she lightly reaches for it and the heat of her fingertips traces around the embers sitting just below the surface. Maka sighs softly, much like her palm pressing against it, watching him again even before he hesitantly fits one of his hands over her fingers.

Blankets shuffle in the dark, quieting, and then shift to the side as Maka sits up. Across the room in this hotel, she can see almost clear as day the red glow coming from his heart and his eyes while he's staring directly at her, not even a wink of sleep blinking back. With a sigh, she steadily scoots off of the bed and trails the blanket around her, subdued waves of panic bundling up the tight knot of anxiety in the corner strumming silently for her to stay away, away, away.

Her hand gently leans down to tap the side of Soul's arm, sighing again when the anxious warnings only grow louder, poorly masked by a grunt trying to point her back to the bed. A huff plops Maka down right by his side, huddling up close to the cloak he swaddled himself in and making herself a nuisance that so adamantly insists she will not budge if he doesn't. In the quiet that follows, his wavelength plucks softer this time, ushering them up from the corner of the room with him clinging to her side.

Soul's chest spews out an exhale, fighting with the shower curtain before quickly turning back to Maka, her arms crossed and eyebrow raised until it wavers with a hearty chuckle despite the circumstance. He rolls his eyes, hoping the urgency of their situation tugs hard enough through their connection and screeching to a halt when she walks up close, waving it away with a return thrum of what must be done, or it won't be at all. A rough swallow immediately moves him aside as Maka goes about undoing her top, letting Soul focus on taking off his shirt to stare at the glow beneath his scar while he hears her fully undress, him likewise the same.

The water feels startling cold before it eventually warms up, falling from the showerhead in earnest once the temperature is comfortable enough for her. For him, his face feels a bit too warm. Just make it quick, that was the goal; A shared goal he agreed upon, she allowed, and they're both going through before they're on the run again. Little comforts like this were sometimes few and far between, and between him and her... well he's getting used to it. He thinks.

Soul doesn't say anything when he agrees to let her help clean his back, same with him for Maka's. The way their souls bounce back and forth feels both like a familiarity he can ease into and a distraction.

Maka chews more eagerly as the yolk starts to spill out, making Soul unable to help the smile taking over while it makes cramming his sandwich into his mouth a little tougher. There's a delight, the kind that comes from the small things in life, fluttering in his chest at the way her legs kick over the edge of the library's roof, and he has to admit that part of it's from how good this tastes since the last time he's had eggs. True to form, his hand cups under his chin as it's his yolk's turn to try and escape its tasty fate, much to the I told you so nudge he gets from her elbow.

Admittedly, for as hot as it was already this time of morning, the city below looked beautiful with the way the sun washed over it like a painting. Even better, it's the small things in their life together like the way she smiles and the food dripping from the corners of her cheeks and the shimmer in her eyes as she scoffs at how much he managed to get on his face too. It pulls him away again, though, the edges of the second set of teeth beneath his tongue and the hunger for something else even before his sandwich has run out. And true to form, he looks up to Maka again when her shoulder lightly bumps him, head tilting to meet his eyes and the wavelength he's holding back with loose fingers.

She can hear his arms slide further over his knees but not a peep more. After another deep breath of hesitation, Maka flips past the cover, starts grazing through each page of scrawled handwriting and messy doodles and repeated nightmares on loop, like a record stuck beneath its needle. Dreams and thoughts of axolotls and souls, and fires burning him up, and teeth grinning from the darkness that turn into his, and the suffocating reality as the writing gets harder to decipher as the pages continue on, sketches of sharp fangs starting to take up more space. Something in her heart feels heavy and brittle when all the little drawings she recognizes as herself are all surrounded by the deafening silence he smothered over his suffering.

Quietly, she shuts his journal. Soul hasn't moved in the slightest when she turns back to him. Doesn't even lift a glance for a moment until he hears the sniffle, guilt and something fiercely vulnerable glowing from the embers of his soul. A slow, steady breath in, and a weighted exhale out before he nods, letting Maka sit up to him, holding her arm around him as another stifled sob starts to break out. Bringing him in as close as possible when a shudder chokes out from his head leaning deeper into the crook of her neck.

A sigh as soft as silken sand brings him back to the gentle gaze of her smile, the tilt of her throat outlined by waves of her dull blonde hair, undone and flowing down to her collar, and earnest muscle of her arm, hardworking and strong even on the run. The skin of her palm feels rough beneath his thumbs, the back feeling deceptively soft for how toned it is. His breath remains steady as the scent of her flesh and blood presses ever so lightly up to his lips.

Soul's eyes close, soaking it in, wanting to memorize each note of the pulse beneath as hers, her song and life and soul literally in his hands as her wavelength waits like a gentle shore on a pleasant day in his memories. Very, very slowly, he brings his mouth over the space between her thumb and index finger, letting the sharp, sharp edges of all his teeth sit right against the skin he could easily pierce within seconds. But he doesn't. Her hand rests delicately between his jaws while his eyes steadily reunite with Maka, his partner, his greatest friend, and the absolute faith shining back at him that pricks at the corners of his sockets.

He brushes his tongue where the saliva pooled as he detaches, pausing at the thrum of contentment he either wasn't paying full attention to or had just begun to ripple from the interwoven threads of their connection. Soul then runs said tongue awkwardly over his mouth at how Maka leans to expose more of her neck, knitting her hand through his fingers, pulling them in with tugs of trust. Blowing a long breath through his mouth, almost in a whistle, he lets himself carry that feeling towards himself too, scooting up closer and closer until her breath tickles against the lulls of his smile.

Maka's fingers gently fit into the back of his hair before he reaches his head around to the side of her throat, hesitating, swallowing, then resting his lips against the pulse running through the calm and reassuring breaths of life sitting just beneath. Breath that holds as he loosens his mouth over them, fangs gaping right against the surface until he sucks in a little, a hand of his keeping steady over the other side while the scent, the trust, the strength she always gives him settles along the taste of her skin across his tongue. Dare he say he could actually feel comfortable with himself and the other set of teeth no longer a threat to her, until the way her fingertips swirl through his hair and the coarse sigh purring through her wavelength at the rough of his taste buds starts to stir up a different kind of hunger, one that... he hasn't allowed himself to think about, even before all this......

Hastily he licks away where he'd probably overstayed his welcome, however when Soul pulls away to assess her stare, a... calling? Something more gentle than a tug but more urgent than the usual prodding moves Maka's hand from around his head to slide over the warmth of his cheek, captivating all of his attention by just the simple motion of her thumb resting over the corner of his mouth, wanting to see his smile again. Leaving him in a trance when she sits back a little to slowly lie down, never pulling her gaze away even as she takes his other hand and fits it over her heart.

I'm not afraid of you. So don't be afraid of yourself.

It's just like her, so daring just to remind him that she's his partner no matter what as if he hadn't already literally followed her to the ends of the Earth. To trust himself, though...

The fingers over her heart interlock as Soul admires the way the light of their souls together paints her, maybe like an angel, but definitely like the strong, fearless person he always knows she is even if not a meister by name, even if he's still her weapon all the same; not a beast, not a demon, not any of that crap except for probably the most hopeless fool that just can't keep himself from grinning while he drapes his hair over Maka's forehead, pressing nose to nose.

I'm not afraid. And I don't want to be afraid of the way I feel about you anymore, if that's okay?

Oh he recognized the smell, alright: Meisters and weapons, at arms to hunt another witch, another monster, demon, Kishin. But he sure as hell didn't like it. Hated the way they all pointed their claws and bared their fangs at his partner, snarling at her as if they had the right to speak to her to begin with. Well he didn't have to like it, and he snarled right back – Bared his fangs, sharpened his claws, felt the burning, seething hatred ignite in his chest and stoke that glow into a full-blown beacon, coursing that pure, hot iron through the war drums of his veins just under his skin. And he let it all out.

Maka's heels remain firmly planted into the ground even as a raging burst of magic, like feathers, explodes out from Soul, the force of nature whirling around her until it quickly takes the form of a giant salamander floating above her, talons outstretched and several rows of sharp teeth hissing out at the frightened meisters who soon try to take aim at him. All too fast, the wind hurls him forward like an unyielding storm to blow them all away with just the end of his tail, giving them no time to recover from the distance gained as he flutters his feathery whiskers at Maka and swoops down to let her jump onto his mane, the gales then lifting them up to swiftly carry her away to the sky.

Onwards, under the cover of dusk, where the lingering sunset casts crimson embers throughout the fur of his slithering flight.

Pure exhaustion keeps his body sunken onto the floor of this abandoned train car, the chill starting to seep into his skin as it slowly reshapes back into the form of a person, the heavy lids of his eyes and hoarse, overworked breaths soon met by the frantic heat of fingers, her palms reaching for his chest, his face. He's okay, Maka reassures, and he believes it for as tired as he's turned now. It takes everything he has to try to sit up, and he's given everything in return with the immediate embrace that lifts him up into her arms where his ear rests against the still-racing adrenaline of her heart.

Soul likes the sound. It's okay if it goes a little slower.

A light laugh shakes him a bit, a sense of calm starting to find him again in the hum of something sweet easing up his wavelength and the stroke of fingernails running back and forth through his hair. It empowers him into sitting up on his own, even just a little, just to see her face again while the warmth of her palms holds his head upright, resting against his skin down from the glowing green eyes of an angel watching over him. No... the eyes of Maka, by no other name than the one he would and has followed to the ends of the Earth, even if they never find home.

It's... cliché, he chuckles, but it's true that... she is his home. He hopes that he's her home too. And what, did he think she would say he isn't? That all this time staring at him could possibly stop her from finally caving in and shoving her mouth onto his, which almost fully revitalizes him and invigorates him to bring his hands gripping back through her hair to pull them both further in. Now that's almost as messy as the instantaneous way Maka pushes him down (gently enough) onto the floor while they're already undoing each other's clothes, breathes fully ensconced in each other's throats until Soul quickly switches to breathing down her neck with his teeth, which she eagerly returns the favour for because while love bites, her love bites back harder.

#concept art #writing #soul eater #soul evans #maka albarn #soul x maka #cherrytober2024

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dottores · 1 year ago

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okay well, i logged back in, obviously, because there are clearly some things that need to be addressed and have been taken out of context. just because i’m leaving doesn’t mean i should sit here and let my name be smeared.

to preface this, anantaru and i had a discussion where we came to a congenial understanding of what happened, there's been an acknowledgment on both sides of misunderstanding and believing distorted rumors and people that we probably should not have, but i’m still going to give a full explanation as to the background of everything so you all can understand and come to your own opinions. plus, if there's going to be a call-out post directed majorly at me made, i want an official address of it.

please do NOT send any hate their way, we have ended this discussion on good terms and have worked out what exactly was stirring this discourse between us. (spoiler alert: there was a third-party shit-stirrer that we both considered a decent friend at the time!)

i don’t really need a reason to block someone, and i shouldn’t have to explain it, but i did and i will again but more explicitly this time: @/anantaru made a post that i did not like. it’s as simple as that. it was a post about genshin characters and sex icks and one of the lines were “venti: too drunk.” i’m not anti-dc, but there are topics that i am sensitive about because i was sa’d in my freshman year of college—that is something i have talked about on this blog before, many of you who've been around since my tr era are aware of it. i acknowledged, and tee acknowledged, that this was probably a joke and was not meant to be taken the way i took it, but the aloof/casual way it was mentioned without any TW of implied dubcon, and without acknowledging that it was at least dubcon and could border on noncon in certain interpretations made me uncomfortable. i don’t mind seeing it as long as i’m warned. if it was tagged properly, i would have moved on without much care, but it wasn’t, so i was scrolling through the post snorting and was hit with that and i was made uncomfortable because i didn't like how it was just being passed off as an ick, and i blocked. there was no reason for it to go beyond what it did, yet we are here. anantaru mentioned that if you frequent their blog, you would know that they often write about venti and reader being drunk—i don’t frequent their blog, in fact this was my first encounter with them being reblogged onto my dash by shared mutuals, so it rubbed me wrong. thats the end of it.

i’m not sure the exact timing, but i believe it was two(?) weeks after this, when i reblogged an unpopular opinion’s post with an opinion that i thought was fairly harmless. sure, looking back on it i could have phrased it better, i’m not going to deny that, but pinpointing my one opinion out of the hundreds of others that were objectively far more controversial than mine and crucifying me for it is uncalled for. you guys know very well that i do not have the time or energy to sift through random people’s blogs to look for minors. every once in a while i glance at the notes of shit posts that happen to be on my dash and i’d be a bit startled at finding a minor in them because i still do think you should at least try to catch minors who interact with shit posts because that’s the easiest way to find them. but i was working at a medium sized firm for a year and a half at the time of the post and i am currently in law school, i do not have the time to be psychotic about people’s likes and interaction, and even if i did have the time?? i’ve always gotten incredible interaction from y’all lmfao, imposing the idea that i’m jealous is entirely inane. i do still stand by the fact that my words were twisted, i was made out, more than once and by more than one person after the next bullet point's events, to have been some psycho that stalks peoples’ posts for excuses as to why they get interaction when that is simply not the case.

regardless, after this incident, anantaru made a vague post that was almost directly quoting my tags from the reblog and was thus sent to me because many shared mutuals put together that it was about my tags. this was upsetting for multiple reasons 1) i had blocked anantaru by this point so i felt a bit violated that i was being vagued for something by someone that i blocked. 2) i started getting hate anons en masse after it, some of which were very unnecessarily explicit. needless to say, i was very upset and made a subpost on my main account after noticing i’ve been blocked on ao3 because 1) i was already upset and i didn’t even know why anantaru seemed to have it out for me much less go to the point of blocking on ao3 which leads into my next point and 2) i thought it was a bit ridiculous because the only thing blocking on ao3 stops is people from commenting on posts and i clearly was not going to comment on a post of someone who i was not on good terms with. reasoning aside, anantaru can block who they want and i was out of line for making comments about that in particular. i’ll admit that, and apologize for it.

a screenshot was taken from my personal—not a good moment for me, obviously, but anantaru claimed in their post that it was about them with no evidence. i dmed them about this in particular because i was genuinely confused, we spoke about it, i offered them proof that it was not them because i had a discussion about this post with a close friend at the time of posting it and they believed me. i will attach screenshots below (cropped because there's no reason to attach the whole conversation) because i feel as if this accusation was rather extreme and i wish it would’ve been removed because it was obviously not my best moment. an explanation for the post itself, i was upset over plagiarism accusations regarding something i put my heart and soul into and then seeing the same person that made them consistently on my dash just straight up triggered me, for lack of a better word lol, so i made a vent on my personal. how it got misconstrued as to be anything about anantaru is baffling to me but i suppose that's a question for the subject of our next bullet point. i don’t want to go into detail about the accusations in themselves because i don’t want people to send the actual person who it’s about hate. regardless, that post was not about anantaru, i have never called them a cunt nor have i ever called them a gatekeepy cunt, though i’m beginning to think i should probably remove the word from my vocabulary atp, i use it far too flippantly. anyway, i do not know them well enough to formulate any sort of opinion like that. aside from that, in our discussion we came to an understanding over it and i wish that would have been cleared on their blog as wel. so i'll attach here (i crossed some out because i don't want to breach any boundaries regarding what anantaru might be comfortable sharing but i do think it's fair for me to want this particular point fully cleared as it was a bold accusation remaining up):

5. in our discussion, we came to realize that we have/had a shared mutual who was fostering discourse between the two of us. many of you will recognize her as audri aka alucrds, who has supposedly left tumblr by this point—i suspected this and anantaru has confirmed it while we were talking. audri was sending anantaru my posts claiming that they were about anantaru, but i will stress that the only actual discussions i ever had with anyone about anantaru was with tee and eris about that initial joke because it had upset me at the time, it never extended beyond that and it certainly was never with audri. my only conversation with audri that mentioned anantaru at all was probably around a week or so after i made the post in point 3, when audri asked me about ao3 blocking in casual conversation and i offhandedly mentioned that anantaru had blocked me on there—audri was a close friend at that point and iirc, she had actually told me right after that that anantaru had her blocked on tumblr, i had no idea that they'd been mutuals at all but either way, it was an offhanded comment that led to nowhere (or so i thought LOL). looking back on it, it was clearly her baiting me into giving her information about the post i made a week or so prior because after talking with anantaru, they explained that they got an anonymous message claiming that i was shit talking them for blocking them on ao3 and the only person that could have put together that the vent post from point 3 was about anantaru was audri herself. audri continued to evidently cherry-pick random vent posts of mine to show anantaru and claim that they were about them. why? i wish i could tell you. i considered audri a decent enough friend, and though she had her fair share of issues with mutuals and other friends of mine, i never really thought she’d stoop to this with me. but i guess there’s really no explaining people who thrive in discourse.

6. my comment in my most recent post about being harassed on ao3 and in comments and in asks was not about them at all. i thought it was very clearly about heliotropes (my dottore series) and pressure to update from certain readers, but i'm clarifying that now.

7. i never intended on directly addressing this, which is why i did not directly name anantaru in my post, if i’d known at the time that tee was going to end up addressing all of this, i would’ve just been straight up with all of it.

anyway, i think that’s all, hopefully this will be the last post for real as i am tired mentally and now i am also physically sleep deprived. i've been up since three so forgive me for typos and grammar errors. this all has gone on for over a year. sorry for all the discourse on y'all's dash, wish i could have left with a bit more grace than this. rumors have been blown out of proportions and blindly believed, things have been taken out of context, such is life. i made my fair share of mistakes on my personal blog with my vents, others have admitted and owned up to their own mistakes, some will never admit to their mistakes. such is life. it moves on, always does. i know all of y'all are smart enough to come to your own opinions.

over and out, sorry again, and logged out (hopefully for real this time),

cat

#tw discourse

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lacefuneral · 1 year ago

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ok i've seen some posts about the tumblr alternative cohost but none that were actually helpful so!

(disclaimer: i am very new to this website. users who have been there longer can and should chime in with additions and/or corrections)

Cohost Introduction Post

What is cohost?

Cohost is a fledgling website that is essentially a tumblr clone, but with its own culture and site-specific features. It is also very much a work in progress. You are encouraged to talk in the cohost forum to suggest changes for devs, report bugs, and upvote other people's suggestions. This website WILL grow and change over time. And as such, I do not know if/when the information I share here will be outdated. Edit: To answer an ask I received, anyone can join cohost without an invite. It used to be invite-only. It is not this way anymore.

Is "adult content" allowed there?

Yes. Cohost is not on the app store, meaning that it is not subject to Apple's specifications. You can post illustrations, writing, and photographs (cohost does not support any video formats at this time, just gifs). Cohost has an elaborate filtering and trigger warning system (moreso than tumblr), and you can disable adult content for your entire account or for individual tags. I actually don't engage with the adult content at all on there. Visual CSEM (both real and fictional) is specifically forbidden (although frankly I think the guidelines could be stricter wrt written content. Still, does seem to handle this better than AO3 does, going as far to say that written content about real minors is forbidden.)

How are minors protected?

The minimum age to join cohost is 16, and requires proof of parental permission to join. Users who are under 18 are automatically age-gated and cannot view adult content.

If cohost isn't on the app store, how is it used?

You can, of course, use cohost on a computer, but it is designed with mobile in mind. Opening the website on any IOS browser, clicking "share", and then "add to home screen" will install an app for you to use. The same can be done on an android. There is a guide here.

How does cohost work?

First, you create an account. Then you wait for approximately two days (read: weekdays) for the account to be activated. This is done to prevent spam bots. In the meantime, edit your profile. List some interests, your pronouns, your other social media links. Give yourself an icon. Note: icon and banner file sizes are small. You may need to shrink and compress images.

After the two days are up, make your first post! Write a basic introduction (with what you feel comfortable you feel sharing) and list some interests you like, maybe some hobbies, media, etc. And then tag this post with "#welcome to cohost". This will let existing members know that someone new has joined, and they may initiate conversation and/or follow you.

Next, go to the search and type in "The Cohost Global Feed" and click on the tag. Bookmark this tag. This is essentially one giant community space where you can find random users. (There is currently some discourse on the website as to whether this tag existing is a "bad thing" or not because "cohost isn't supposed to have a global tag". Just ignore that lol). Next, go back to search and type in things you like. TV shows, maybe. Video games. Music. Anything. See if people have posted in the tags. Follow them. Comment on their stuff. Click "like" to bookmark the post if you want to.

Most crucially, make sure that you bookmark the actual tag so you can look in that tag again later without having to manually type it each and every time. Also, you get a feed called "bookmarked tags" which allows you to scroll through all of them at once, which replaces the "for you" feature other websites have.

You can "share" a post (called "rebug" in user slang) which serves the same purpose as a reblog on tumblr. In a rebug, you can add your own tags or comment in the body of the post. Cohost users do not talk in tags as much as tumblr users - they tend to prefer to speak in the body of a rebug, or in the comment section (replies). At this time, you cannot view all reblogs. But you can view all comments in the comment section. Any post that is rebugged will preserve the tags of the OP, with any additional tags added being attributed to you. Rebugs are named after the website mascot Eggbug, a purple bee-like insect.

Posts are called "chosts" - and shitposting is called "shitchosting." Two examples of global shitposting tags are "#css crimes" - which is when a person does goofy things with the HTML/CSS editor to make colorful text, fake chat windows, and such - and "#shitchosting" which is a general shitposting tag. I've also seen people use tags like "#random".

If a post makes you laugh, check out the OP's profile. See if they post frequently, and if you have any common interests. If you realize you want to block or mute someone instead, you can.

You can send asks just like on tumblr, but your inbox must be manually opened first. So remember to do that.

How do I look at my own blog?

This is one of my gripes about the UI. You would think, intuitively, you would click here (at the top of the screen). But you would be wrong!

It is ACTUALLY under the sidebar menu, called "Profile." And I'm not the only one to to complain about this. (To get back to your dashboard, by the way, you click on the cohost logo.)

Are there sideblogs?

Yes! Each sidepage (sideblog) has its OWN set of likes AND followed pages (blogs). This allows you to easily switch between multiple sets of dashboards. A lot of users use this to have a SFW dashboard and an adult content dashboard. But it works like tumblr, too. You can have a side page/dashboard for whatever you'd like. Maybe one of your pages is for programming. Maybe another is for photography. You switch between your pages by clicking the arrow next to your icon/username at the top of the screen. ("Ohhhhh.... THAT'S what that's for.")

What's the userbase on there like?

Mostly programmers. Trans people. Furry artists. Plural systems. Furry trans plural programmers. Certainly a lot of shitposters. The website is trans-run and, as such, has zero tolerance for TERFs. Everyone seems pretty friendly from what I can tell. And there's very much a culture of "follow someone randomly based on their vibes" that doesn't happen as much on tumblr. Tumblr is more like "I really like this TV show, I'm going to follow 40 blogs about just this interest." Because the cohost community is so much smaller, there is a lot less content overall, especially fandom content. You can't follow 40 fandom pages because your fandom tag has a total of 3 posts, all made by one person approximately a year ago (well. for me anyway).

Cohost, then, actually has much more in common with real-life socialization. You seek out people with interests that may be very different from your own, and to find a common interest is very exciting! Unlike tumblr, you are encouraged to tag as much as possible. This allows your posts to be seen, to find common interests. And, of course, don't forget to look in "#Welcome To Cohost" too! You may find some new friends there.

What file formats can I post in?

Currently, I am aware of basic image formats working (like jpeg, png) animated gifs, and mp3s. You currently cannot upload videos to cohost. I believe the reason is not related to server costs, but rather as a way to curb the uploading of copyrighted content.

How does cohost make money?

There are no ads, and yet, as far as I am aware, cohost is operating comfortably. There is, however, an entirely optional "cohost plus" that is $5 USD a month. Currently, there are a few perks, but not enough to convince me.

What if I think something about cohost should change?

Cohost has a forum where users can submit ideas for features and other users can discuss/upvote those ideas.

Here is a list of posts made for newcomers to read:

#long post #cohost #tumblr migration #tumblr alternative

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tinyidle · 1 year ago

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Okay I need somebody to hop on this idea. 🙏 Hongjoong being in the studio late and you coming to visit him. The second I saw this photo I imagined his gf going to his studio and he kisses her like that. The kiss starts being cute and ends up in full on making out session, and they end up on the couch. From fluff to full on smut. I'm on my knees for this man. 🧎‍♀️ I would write something about this but it's been a long time and I'm scared. 😅 If somebody writes something please tag me. 🙏

if you haven't, read @mi-to-the-a's fic on this idea. this is my interpretation for the idea.

After Hours - KHJ

wc: 1.4k

WARNING: so much fluff, smut, kisses, heavy petting, kinda messy ngl, grinding, slight dumbification, fellatio, cowgirl (but barely because my man's was abt to bust), missionary (that's always fun), praise + encouraging words, slight begging, b!gd¡ck joong because we always love him, producer!joong, switch!dom!joong, girlfriend!reader, switch!sub!reader, fem reader

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you got a ping from your instagram. a notification from ateez_official; great. you look at the post pings, and-- lo and behold, it was your boyfriend in the studio. he told you earlier that he would be late once again there, so as per usual, you waited until 2 am for him to send you a text message of him coming to your house so you could spend the rest of the night with him. seeing these pics, however, you knew that tonight would be a longer night than usual. you decided to pack up as many small items you could before heading to your car and driving to the studio.

showing your designated ID to security and once again ID'ing yourself at the front desk, you quietly opened the door to a concentarated and half sleepy kim hongjoong. he looked very focused on getting a certain chord right, repeating a random rhyme scheme multiple times and recording his voice over it before deciding to put the vocal jumble into actual words for a potential demo.

he turned around a bit to get his nearly cold coffee on the nearby coffee table when he saw you, slightly startling him a bit before smiling up at you and motioning you to come near his swivel chair. "hey, baby," he greeted you, kissing your cheek when you sat on his lap. "what are you doing here, after hours?"

"well," you began to respond as you played with his already disheveled hair from the constant focus-targeted tugging," i saw that you posted what you were up to and decided to pay you an early visit before you came home." you gave him small yet passionate pecks of genuine affection that equated to 'i miss you so much that i refuse to fall asleep alone at 2 am'.

hongjoong's smile grew into a small smirk. he loved whenever you came late into the studio. of course, he never made you do it or coerce you, but being the wonderful girlfriend you are, you couldn't fathom purposefully knowing that your boyfriend has some stress that he needed to release. he knew that, and loved that caring nature about you; just as much as you did with him.

and tonight was no different. "thank you for always being a big part of why im always at peace," he gratefully said to you, kissing an exposed part of your neck after you two shared some kisses with each other. the same part he knows can turn you on in seconds, especially when it came to him. "can i give you what you give me every time i feel burdened?" throughtout his request hongjoong kept kissing all over your neck while running his hands over your clothed thigh as the other rested comfortably on his lap.

you were now breathing heavily, letting out small whimpers as hongjoong lightly bit the same part of your neck that triggers your intense want for him. you could feel how constricted his sweats were getting on his pelvic area right against your ass, and he could feel your skin heating up-- an all too-well sign of you being wet for him.

now with one of his hands now coming up to the sides of your neck while the other gets a good grip on your hip, hongjoong slowly grinds your comfy yet compressed bottoms onto each other. by now your panties and leggings have soaked through and can now be felt onto your boyfriend's obvious bulge. "well?" hongjoong asked, snapping you out of your trance as he too was breathing heavier than usual. "can i, love?"

nodding while doing your best to take off what you could without getting off your boyfriend's lap, you confirmed. "please show me how at ease i make you. please joongie."

with a simple groan, hongjoong took off his shirt to match with your now topless figure, and did his best to pull down his sweats along with your bottoms without pulling you off of him. when his erection was in full view, you sank down to your knees, leaving his once warm lap now into an annoying cool sensation.

as the man hissed and was about to ask you to get back on, his complaints were quickly replaced with a satisfied moan as you sank your mouth onto his length. "oh my go-" he groaned, eyes rolling to the back of his skull as you worked him up to moistness. even thought you told him that he can treat you, you just couldn't help but want to treat him. he is such an amazing leader, producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, friend, boyfriend; you just couldn't want to spoil him before he spoils you.

just when you were about to attempt to deepthroat him, he stopped you. you pouted at him as he chuckled and wiped away some of the drool that trailed on your chin from how wet you made his length. "you know how much i like when you blow me," he thanked you, to which you smiled like you were being congratulated for passing an important exam. "but i want to treat you. so get up on me," he demanded, hand on his soaked shaft while you got up and hovered over him with your equally soaked center.

"ready?" hongjoong asked you as he held himself up for you. it was always so endearing to you that he always asked, even though he knew both of you wanted and were ready for this. a selfless man who needs to be spoiled, you think.

gathering your thoughts so that you don't keep the man waiting, you answer, "yes. fill me up, joongie." your boyfriend nodded as he helped ease you down on his length. it was always a challenge for him to fit you, but you always made it work through his reassuring words. once you sat completely on his lap again, you allowed yourself to throb, elliciting a moan from both of you.

"fuck, baby," hongjoong groaned, holding your hips as you grinded them along him. he was feeling a bit too sentimental today and does not want to finish too soon. he lifted himself up from the chair, carrying you with him as you squeal from the sudden movement, and rest you back on the rather huge couch behind the small coffee table. "i have to fuck you like this. i don't want to cum too early."

"okay, joong- uhh fu-" just when you were about to reassure him that you dont mind and that he could do whatever he wanted, he went on a moderate yet deep pace. it only took a couple strokes and you could feel everything: his cock deep within your walls, the small bump of his head nudging your pelvic floor to where you could see him in your stomach, and your cunt stretching wide open every time your boyfriend thrust forward. needless to say, you were dangerously close.

hongjoong could tell by the way you could barely speak and had your mouth open as small groans and whines left your needy mouth. leaning down to give it a kiss, he started to encourage you while his thumb went down to rub your aching clit, causing you to jolt. "come on, baby. focus on how good you feel and how bad you want to let go. do it for me, cum for me."

you found your voice again after the encouragers and moaned aloud, "oh fuck, joongie im cumming!" you held onto your boyfriend arms as tightly as your orgasm rolled over you like a mighty wave, almost blinding you of your sense of self while your back arched off the couch.

your boyfriend was there to ride you through it, all while casually chasing his own release. "shh shh, i got you," he guided your body down the waves of your high as he pressed himself to you, spilling inside of you without you feeling anything short of satisfaction.

once both of you calmed down your storm of emotions and pleasure, what was left behind was a comforting stillness.

you lay beside each other, your skin sticky with sweat, your breathing finally slowing to a steady rhythm. hongjoong's fingers found yours, intertwining them with his as he pressed a tender kiss to your now darkened lips.

"i love you," he whispered, his voice a gentle lullaby similar to that of his music.

"i love you too," you replied, your words a soft melody in the aftermath of passion.

imagine not being down bad for this man-

anyway, hope you liked it!

#ateez smut #hongjoong smut

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hyunin · 4 months ago

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hiiii everyone, this blog hit 1k followers the other day 🥹 tysm to anyone that has followed me here over the years! i'm sure at least a third of my followers are dead blogs from my suju (🤮) era in 2013 before i returned to gifmaking tumblr in 2020, but so many of you joined me once i returned and i'm so thankful for everyone that has reblogged my content and chatted with me and followed me up until this point! 🫶 i wanted to write some fun lil messages for my mutuals and pals below the cut, as well as shout out some people i don't necessarily speak to but like having on my dash also 💗 if u aren't mentioned on here and we're mutuals that doesn't mean i dislike u it just means i'm stupid and missed you 😭 before i get into the messages i also want to ask anyone who can to consider commissioning me for a gifset or writing by donating at least €10 to this fundraiser and sending me a screenshot of your donation! more info on that via this post. thank u so much again everyone!!! 🥳 (edit: i don't think half the mentions in this post are working so please check to see if you were mentioned even if you weren't notified!)

@redvelvetcult hi ele 🫶 i know we don't speak as often anymore but i'm always so happy to see u around and i love you <3 thank u for running yangjeongin with me even if it has been in spirit for 99% of its run LKJSDLFKJSJLKFD still wouldn't be the same without u @bataranqs hi kid! this is going to sound so lame but it's been rly fun watching u grow up over the years through awoo9, every time u use our weird ass humor it's so much funnier coming from u. thank u for hyping up everything we all do, especially my writing!! i really appreciate it and u @anyujins iwin...whew....LLKSJDKLFJLSKF i'm rly happy that we're a lot closer now than when we were last time i made one of these posts. i think we are anyway?? i forgor...but either way ilysm, thank u for your support when i've been going insane over the years and it would appear both of the stories of our love lives that we've been following for so long will have a tragic ending. LJKSDFJLKSLK but i hope we can be friends for many more moments of insanity to come and that we have more good news than bad news to share w each other soon. in the meantime it's always rly fun to talk to u and i am glad i have u in my life @miyawaki ver. i appreciate u v much if only bc u are a major provider of quality shitposts on my dash, u also being into kpop and giffing is a bonus. u are also so funny even if u are also MEAN!!!! it's funny most of the time. and u have also supported me a lot in ur own ver way over the years, and i can always count on u to give me feedback on giffing and such. i'm so happy for u that u are going to uni again and i hope u have so much fun but also don't forget about us 🔫 🫶 @seulggi gfx queen minya! u deserve a shoutout if ONLY bc u are carrying the gfx side of kpop tumblr on ur back fr. and i love seeing what u make on my dash. but u are also an awoo9er so i will give u a long AWOOOOOOOOO of appreciation ❣️ @meongppangz RI omg idk what account is best to tag u on so i tag u here. i rmr the last one of these i made i was like 'hope to talk more under better circumstances' and now we talk nearly every day LJSDFLKSDF i love that for us. thank u crazy person gc for bringing us together fr....love that we can bond over loving ggs and also hating collecting pcs and any other random shit of the day skz is doing. and giffing ofc. talking to u always makes me happy so i hope we continue talking and being friends for a long time to come 🫶 ily. also i'm going through my follow list for this in order of oldest blogs first and i just discovered y'all were one of the first skz blogs i followed. how cute @curiosityjams hi drea, we haven't spoken ages but i wanted to shout u out individually as well because i still enjoy seeing u on my dash and i still consider us friends 🫶 fellow eunbi stan...i will never forget waiting for the 2020 election results w you LMAO abt to do it all again soon...but i hope you're well and hope good things continue coming to u 🙇‍♀️ @hyunjinz agnes, backbone of stayblr that u are, i love u!! i know we don't Personally speak much at all i still feel like u are a dear friend of mine. you were one of the first ppl to support my skz content and i think you're that for a lot of people on stayblr and i think that is so sweet of u and also important for the community. u are so brave for going through the tags all the time and reblogging everything i do not have that kind of energy but i'm so glad u do!! i miss ur gifs but i'm happy that you're still around even when you don't gif. we're some of the last remaining pre-kingdom era skz ccs left 😱 so i will always appreciate ur company here <3 @innielove hi vi, i just want to say i love that u are giffing skz again. i've probably missed a lot of ur sets bc i'm bad at checking tags and dash but when i DO see them i'm like omg vi's gifs r really looking better than ever. thank u for returning to us 🫶 u have also actually been on stayblr for a long time so i'm always happy to see some of the oldies (can u believe we are oldies now...) back on the dash 😌

@kazuhas MS KALE it always makes me happy to see u on my dash here. ur gifs are so lovely and so are u!! i know we mainly know each other from off cc tumblr 🫣 but i wanted to give u a shoutout among all of my other tumblr beloveds bc ily. it's what u deserve @seo-changbinnies marie...another fellow stayblr hag at this point...u are still one of the funniest people on this site i swear. and i'm so glad u are still here and making gifs and blessing us w your funny tags. i hope u always stay just as insane, i love u for that <3 @seungs HI MIAAA we don't talk that much anymore but i wanted u to know that i still always love seeing u and your gifs on my dash 🫶 @felixies luna, legend of stayblr that u are 🙇‍♀️ i think ur work largely goes unappreciated by the fandom but u are an icon for keeping createskz running for all these years despite everything going on in ur life. tysm for your service 🫡 @huiracha marie huiracha...this is how i refer to u in my head btw. like 'huiracha' is ur last name. LKJSDFKLSKLD we have barely spoken but i want to give u your own shoutout just for surviving and continuing to gif on stayblr as long as u have. veterans' discount fr @hyunsung hi mona 🫶 we haven't spoken in a while either omg but i am still always excited to see u on my dash when u gif something or reblog something from me i'm like omg that's my friend mona :D SDKJFSJKLDF so thank u and i hope you're doing well 🙏 @hyunpic VILMA HYUNPIC...u know i am so glad we are better pals now. u are so funny and fun to talk to but also the sweetest ever!! thank u for always listening to me and being kind to me and also making me laugh. every time i feel like an rper named their hyunjin character something dumb i am glad i get to report it to u. some things only u will understand and appreciate. LKJSDKLJFSKLJFKLFD @sungtaro eri <3 we don't talk much anymore and maybe we NEVER HAVE??? but i have always felt like u are a dear friend and beloved mutual. i love seeing u on dash even if we don't have too many groups in common anymore. ur content is always lovely and so are u so we will always be pals as far as i am concerned 🫶 @exocean hi mo!! i must admit i don't have much to say but i wanted to mention you individually because you are so sweet and i love seeing u around and u deserve to know it <3 @hyumjim i don't even know what to say (positive) u know i am so glad ur squirmy wormy tag on one of my hyunjin sets brought us together. idr if we have ever properly spoken like via dm but bc u follow me on all my accounts i feel Seen by u....nd u haven't unfollowed me yet so god bless u. i always enjoy seeing ur thoughts and the posts u put on my dash whether they be a funny text post or someone's hot take getting dismantled or something Thought Provoking. my dash is definitely a better place because of u so thank uu 🫶

@wolfchans lau the Actual backbone of stayblr tysm for ur service fr. without u providing files for us i genuinely believe most of stayblr would be lost. not only do u do that but u are also genuinely very kind and make great content so i appreciate u so much!! thank u for making stayblr (and my dash) a better place @hyunebear hi adri i gotta admit i didn't even realize u were back on tumblr until i was going through my following and saw that u posted recently akljsdflkjdsf goes to show how much i'm on my dash...but i wanted to mention you individually even though it's been so long because you have genuinely touched my heart a lot and i will never forget ur compliments 🙏 ok maybe i did forget some of them word for word. but i will never forget how sweet u were to me. how about that. so thank you and i hope to see u around more!! i probably have to be on my dash more for that tho huh... @romanceuntold hi jen 🫶 i miss u on stayblr i'm ngl but i'm also still glad to see u on my dash through all your phases. you are such a warm and kind person and another person who i will never forget being so sweet to me. thank you and i hope you're doing well ❣️ @wearehappiness sidrah <3 the fact that we were both on stayblr but met properly on pc ig first is still so silly to me. me intending to wait on ur mail to get to me then being like 'stayblr perk i'll send ur mail rn' after i found out u were here LKJSDLKFLJKSF but you are suuuuch a sweet person who makes lovely gifs too. i miss ur gifs also!! and just you in general. wishing u the best in life always 💗 @mybodyfails hi oli 🫶 another person who has been soooo sweet to me, i'm so glad i got to help w leeknoween and i still have all the freebies u sent me from it preserved safely in my freebie photocard binder 😌 you are always lovely to talk to whenever we do, and thank u for reading my fic too despite zombies not being ur thing i appreciate u!! @strayklds / @facethesuns em i just think it's so funny that we like didn't speak before i invited u to the gif streaming server and i just did that on a whim bc u passed the vibe check and now i feel like we are good friends. despite still rarely speaking KSLDFLSDLKF but i love that for us and love ur gifs and seeing u around always 💞 @neohyune hi fae <3 i know us speaking is like a very recent development but i also wanted to mention u individually to thank u for your help 🙏 i need to write more of my fic tbh...but i Will be checking our conversation again for Notes. you also seem like a very sweet person so i would love to talk to u more in the future also 💕 @linoyes another very recent friendship (yes i am calling it that already) in my life, but thank u for your generosity, let's meet that fundraising goal together 💪 i hope we're also able to talk more outside of this context too. i just have a feeling i will have a lot more to say about u once i make another one of these!!

i'm ngl i don't know how many of you actually follow me here and i don't have time to check everyone's username individually so i'm just going to list a bunch of blogs i follow who may or may not follow me JKLSDFLKSDF but y'all make my dash a better place, thank u for all u do! 🫶 feel free to talk to me anytime too

@dazzlingkai @theseulgis @joytual @anyujin @cchuu @cherry-heartss @boynextdoors @hyunchans @ambivartence @minzbins @everglowz @chogiwow @ttathinker @minhosblr @minho-knows @yang-innie @leegahyun @bu99erfly

#*ccarly #please post i'm begging tumblr .#OK I'M EDITING IT BECAUSE IT PSOTED THANK FAWK.#thank u everyone.#i don't think half of the @s in this are working i am at my limit . but whatever.#if we're mutuals pls check this even if u didn't get a notif for it 😭

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bleach-your-panties · 10 months ago

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First of all, I just want to say THANK YOU to all of my mutuals, readers, and followers.

I write what makes me happy first and foremost, but it makes me so excited to see that others enjoy and look forward to my work! ✨️

So for that, I'd like to celebrate with a lil contest.

🎀𝒞ℴ𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓈𝓉 ℛ𝓊𝓁ℯ𝓈🎀

1. This contest is for my MUTUALS and FOLLOWERS only.

🎀Mutuals: Meaning I am following you and you are following me. It will look like this when we interact:

🎀Followers: Meaning you are following me, but I am not following you. It will look like this when I post or interact with you:

DO NOT SUBMIT DUPLICATE ENTRIES. THIS WILL VOID YOU FROM THE ENTIRE CONTEST. I will be checking for duplicates.

Only enter as either a mutual or as a follower.

2. Fill out my commission form here. The winning entries will be treated as if they were paid commissions, so please read the original commission post here and read all guidelines on the form carefully before submitting it.

3. There will be 4 winners in total. 2 mutuals and 2 followers.

4. Yes, you can still enter as a follower even if you started following me as soon as you saw this post. I will do two drawings for followers, one for new followers and one for the OG's.

♡Keep in mind!! I will only be including followers that have interacted with me or my posts. Ghost followers are fine to have, but it is not fair to others who actively engage if you get chosen over them.

5. MINORS, AGELESS, BLANK, SPAM/MEME BLOGS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO JOIN THIS CONTEST.

6. If I check your blog and the first thing I see is a meme, you're getting blocked. If your blog looks inactive, block. No pinned post or visible, BELIEVABLE age anywhere, blocked. Do not fill my entries up with spam, you will not be counted.

🎀Directions for Completing Commission Form for Contest Entry:

1. On question #1, type your preferred name/alias, pronouns, age, blog name with @ symbol, and whether you're entering as a moot or a follower.

2. Fill out the rest of the form as usual.

3. When you reach the payment question, select 'other' and type in 'contest entry'.

4. Submit.

5. I WILL delete any incomplete entry forms, duplicates, or entries that did not adhere to the guidelines.

6. You may submit an anonymous entry, but you still have to list your actual blog URL (it will not be tagged if you win) and I MUST have a valid form of contact for you as well as an age verification. See the commission form for complete details.

🎀Winner Selection Process:

1. On Saturday, March 16th, 2024 at 16:00 US CST (4:00 pm US CST), I will live screen record from my phone or laptop as I put all of the names into the random name generator.

The recording will be removed from my page after I have contacted the winners, but the video will be kept as evidence that I indeed did not choose favorites.

2. Once I contact you, if you've won, please respond promptly so we can hash out any fine details and I can begin working on the piece.

🎀Final Notes:

Alongside the contest, I will be running a 10% off promo on my writing commissions during the entire RSVP period (2.29-3.15)!!🎂🥳🎊

Discount code is ' SWEET1600 ' (do not include quotations)

♡kofi-page for commission ordering

♡make sure you've filled out the commission form first!

♡thanks again for helping me to hit this special milestone!💞

♡i will be sharing this post periodically over the next 2 weeks.

(*I've been having issues with my PayPal, so please bear with me while I get that handled!*)

*please direct any questions about the contest to @bleach-your-panties or @1zurusprinc3ss DM's. questions about commissions/ordering will go to my email (ask)*

-byp🌹

#🎀sweet1600🎀#tumblr contest #anime x reader #writing commissions #writing comms open #writing community #tumblr commissions #byp🌹#divider creds: benkeibear #divider creds: saradika

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thegalaxysedge22 · 4 months ago

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After Ever (Chapter 3)

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pair: sylus x MC (named)

tags/tw: death/grief, the absolute pain of research, annoying MC, cannon adjacent

word count: 4.6k

song rec: bad blood by taylor swift

a/n: this is quite the lore drop

important: if you want to follow this fic and updates but don't want to follow me bc im annoying (understandable) check out the tag #after ever fanfiction also if anyone wants i can start a tag list

Work was slow yet again when Kore returned to the Hunter’s Association, leaving her with a lot of time with her thoughts. Something about the death of Dr. Higgins occuring at the same time as the death of her Grandma didn’t seem quite right. That was where her downward spiral began.

Through her clearance with the Association she was able to obtain police reports and the medical autopsy. She spent the morning meticulously going through all of it, looking for any inconsistencies that could tie the two explosions together.

Lost in thought, her eyes became unfocused from the screen, that’s when she spotted something new. On one of the police reports she had open she noticed a faint mark to the side. Zooming in on it, the writing was illegible, but it looked like something had been written in with pencil.

Despite all the advancements in technology over the recent years, the cops tended to keep things old-school, using paper copies of reports when they could and scanning them into the database once they were done. Although inefficient, their success rate showed that it seemed to work for them, so no one forced any change.

Squinting, Kore tried her best to make out the notes in the margins, but it was illegible. In a desperate attempt she took a screenshot of the paper and adjusted the contrast of the image. The markings started to become clearer and when she adjusted the sharpness of the image she could make out one word with a question mark afterwards.

Onychinus?

Hearing footsteps approaching, she took a post it note and scribbled down the word before closing the image and minimizing the reports. She quickly opened some random tab to make it look like she had been working.

Tara appeared, poaching herself on the top of Kore’s cubicle, tilting her head in curiosity. “You don’t look very well rested,” she said accusingly. Kore had forgotten her promise to her friend to rest.

“I tried my best, but it’s been difficult, I keep reliving it," Kore said, trying to deflect blame. While it wasn’t entirely a lie, she did leave out details of her rather adventurous trip. Worry plastered Tara’s face and she nodded solemnly.

“I was stopping by to see if you wanted to get some lunch,” Tara asked, changing the subject.

“I think I’ll have to pass today, I have a lot of work to get done,” Kore apologized. Tara knew damn well that that was a lie, but she didn’t push it. It was then that Captain Jenna also came over to Kore’s desk. Tara barely spared a glance at the captain, showcasing just how deep her concern went.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, I was just wondering if I could talk to Kore for a moment,” the captain said.

“That’s alright, I was just leaving,” Tara told her, eyes still trained on her friend as she walked away.

“Kore, can I talk to you in my office please,” Captain Jenna asked. A stroke of fear overtook Kore’s expression to which she was offered a reassuring smile. “No need to worry, it isn’t anything bad.”

Kore gave her captain a brisk nod and followed her back to her office. Once the door was closed, Jenna offered her a seat while she took her place at the other side of the desk.

“I wanted to check in on you, Kore,” Captain Jenna said, folding her hands on her desk, “I know it has been hard for you recently, so I wanted to see how you are doing.”

“I am alright,” Kore said, she was in fact not alright. The Captain raised an eyebrow at this, it was clear that neither of them believed the words that just came out of Kore’s mouth. It was not a secret that she had become a husk of herself since the accident, everyone who knew her could see it and she hadn’t bothered to hide the fact either.

“I know you’re relatively new here so I wanted to inform you about some of our policies. You know that we get a lot of protections and benefits working for the government. One of those is that when a loved one dies, you are entitled to bereavement leave of up to three weeks if you need it. Now I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything but you should know that you have options, if being here is too hard for you, taking time off might be your best choice.”

“In all honesty,” Kore started, vulnerability wavering in her voice, “I think that working has helped me take my mind off of things. When I am left alone with my thoughts, I start to go down a slippery slope.”

“I had a feeling you might say something like that,” the captain responded with a sympathetic smile. “I also wanted you to know that we do offer counseling free of charge. Although it is typically reserved for work related trauma, I would be more than happy to pull a few strings and make an exception.”

“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I think I have to decline for now.”

“Alright, well, that is all I have for you, so you can go ahead and get back to work,” Jenna said, dismissing Kore. Kore made a move for the door, about to exit when Jenna stopped her, “Please let me know if you change your mind at all.”

“I will,” Kore gave the captain a weak smile. With that she started to return back to her desk, the idea of taking time off completely out of her brain. On her way there she took note of how the office was largely deserted, most people on their way to lunch. Grateful for a bit of peace and quiet, Kore turned back on research mode and started digging into this “Onychinus.” She couldn’t help but wonder if they had any connection to her family’s deaths.

With a pad of paper and a pen she scoured the Association’s databases, typing in the word nothing came up. She tried various other phonetic spellings of it with only zero results to appear. She tried “Onychinus” once more, this time something did turn up.

Did you mean “N109 Zone”? The database asked her. She wasn’t sure how they could be related, it wasn’t like you could misspell “N109 Zone” that badly, but it was a start.

Clicking on the link she was brought to another page. A sigh of relief passed through her. We are finally getting somewhere, she thought. The results were limited, 51 to be exact.

She had heard whispers of the N109 Zone before, but it was something that was treated more like an urban legend rather than a real place. It was hard to get a clear picture of everything as most things seemed to be redacted to shit. Most sources seemed to be regurgitating the same information over and over again, it seemed like the area was once a hub for technology but has become a wasteland after the Catastrophe, controlled by cartels who made money off of the trade of illicit goods.

There were discussions of the illegal sale of protocores at auction, most of which appeared to take place in the N109 Zone. Kore wasn’t stupid, she knew that the sale of protocores must’ve been a thing, they could be worth a lot of money and they are powerful. Protocore auctions turned up dozens of reports of raids that had occurred, only a few had a passing mention of the seemingly elusive Onychinus, but that was really it.

She tried using the information she had to expand her search, but as hours passed, there was very little that she could turn up. Frustrated, she goes to Nero, the team’s tech wizard, to see if he can help. Perhaps he has higher clearance than she does, or maybe she is just bad at researching, surely he can turn something up, she rationalizes.

Nero is deeply engrossed in something when Kore reaches the dark corner he resides in. Glancing over at his screen she sees him on some forum talking about a Lumiere?

“Who’s Lumiere?” Kore asked. Nero jumped in his seat at the sudden intrusion.

“What-I was just working, I wasn’t doing anything,” Nero stumbled, trying to cover his tracks.

“Wait, you don’t know about Lumiere?” He questioned, doing a complete 180. Kore just shook her head.

“How could you be a hunter and not know about Lumiere?? They’re an icon, a legend. They were the first Hunter. When the Chronorift Catastrophe first happened in 2034, they were the first one to fight the wanderers!!! It was reported that they alone saved dozens of lives when it happened. They were a hero, I cannot believe you have never heard of them.”

Noticing his enthusiasm, Kore started plotting. If I allowed him to talk, maybe he would be more receptive to bending the rules and helping me out, regardless of my clearance level, she thought. The remorse she would feel after manipulating him was in the far corners of her mind, she was a woman on a mission after all.

“They sound incredible, can you tell me more,” Kore asked, pulling up the chair from the empty cubicle next to his. Nero’s eyes lit up at the opportunity and his whole entire demeanor changed.

“Wow, where do I even begin… Well, Lumiere’s identity has never been confirmed. There have been whispers and speculations, but if you ask me, none of them have been right, they just don’t fit the profile. After saving the city during the Catastrophe, which Lumiere did single handedly, not even the military knew how to handle the situation, at least not like Lumiere did. Anyways, after Linkon City was saved, Lumiere completely disappeared. No traces left behind at all.

“That is until about 2 years ago - on February the 26th of 2046 - rumors of a Lumiere sighting started to circulate online. A picture was posted on one of our forums and people went crazy. None of the Lumites - Lumiere fans - could agree on if it was actually them. It caused a whole big fight online.

“But eventually more and more sightings appeared and we Lumites came to the consensus that it was Lumiere, but then that started a whole other bout of discourse. Why would they wait this long to come back? What were they doing out and about now?

“Well, through eye witnesses and photographs we were able to piece together a little bit of information. Although some Lumites contest it, it is widely accepted that Lumiere became a Tenebra. You know what that is right?”

Kore shook her head.

“Oh I thought you would know what a Tenebra is because you’re a Hunter, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised considering you didn’t even know who Lumiere is,” Nero scoffed before his hands covered his mouth, “I am so sorry I didn’t mean to rude. Please forgive me.”

“It’s fine,” Kore waved off his words, “but what is a Tenebra?”

“Right, right. A Tenebra is someone who broke the Hunter’s Code. Although it is typically due to them engaging in illegal activities, most commonly protocore smuggling, that isn’t always the case.” Nero checked that the coast was clear before leaning in and continuing in a whisper, “For years now there has been a theory that the higher ups in the Association ask high level hunters to do some crazy things and that go against most people’s morals.

“A few high level former hunter’s have said as much, but they have widely been discredited as either addicts or having extreme paranoia, but some people think that is propaganda.” After that Nero sat back up and continued at his previous volume

“Anyways, another key component of being a Tenebra is ties to some sort of secret organization. So one can, in theory, be a Tenebra without participating in any illegal activities. And we know that Lumiere isn’t a bad person, so, it isn’t the illegal activities that potentially make them a Tenebra. No, we think that it is because Lumiere has ties to some of the groups in the N109 Zone.

“And this isn’t just a theory either - Lumiere has been spotted in the N109 Zone as recently as two weeks ago and as far back as two years. We think that Lumiere is the one who is keeping the wanderers out of the N109 Zone and that they potentially have ties to Onychinus, who is supposedly one of the big names in the N109 Zone.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kore stopped him while he was taking a breath, “What do you know about Onychinus?”

“Well, there isn’t too much known other than they practically govern the N109 Zone, it’s thought that they have a big hand in protocore trade though, even if it can’t be confirmed. I have also heard whisperings of the name Sylus in connection to them, but I have never been able to figure out how that plays into everything.”

“What do you know about the N109 Zone,” Kore pried for more information.

“I don’t know too much, it is well known that information about this and Onychinus is kept largely under lock and key for some reason, but I do know that it is a hotbed for crime, also that it used to be a tech hub. Ever was allegedly based there when it first opened, but you can’t find that now, for some reason they are trying to scrub the internet of their history. There’s also–” Nero suddenly got quiet.

Xavier had appeared, leaning over the cubical’s low walls. “I was looking for you, Kore,” he said, “we have a mission.”

Kore apologized to him and stood up also apologizing to Nero for leaving him, asking to talk more about this soon to which he eagerly nodded. She then followed Xavier’s retreating footsteps.

“I don’t know why you’re talking about Lumiere,” Xavier said once she caught up to him, “It is pretty well known that they died during the Catastrophe, protecting the city.”

The wanderer was a particularly stubborn one, making it a tough fight, especially for Kore, who was already off her game. Usually, she had an uncanny ability to predict the movements of wanderers, which was why she was put in the Alpha team fresh out of the academy, but she was slightly off her game. Most of her blows were hitting the target, which was concerning considering she was the top marksman in her class. A few of her attacks were just grazes but unfortunately the wanderer could say the same. She had been grazed by the creature several. Her movements, while not exactly sluggish, were not up to her usual standard. It was mistakes like this that made her job all the more deadly.

Reloading her pistol, she took her eyes off of the wanderer, just for a moment. Big mistake. She didn’t see it coming and would’ve been hit if it wasn’t for Xavier jumping in front of her and deflecting the hit, his sword and skill easily fending off the attack.

Xavier was quick to deliver the finishing blow and Kore was left feeling ashamed. She moved off to the sidelines and fiddled with her equipment. She could feel Xavier wandering over but tried to ignore him.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” he said, “even the best of us have bad days.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Kore grumbled, picking lint off of her uniform.

“I’m not patronizing you, I am just letting you know,” Xavier said walking off. It was just then that Kore remembered she had something that she wanted to ask him.

“Xavier, wait,” she said, continuing when he turned back around, “Do you know anything about aether cores?”

A look of surprise flashed over his face, he was clearly not expecting that question, but he was quick to be able to mask his shock. He shook his head, responding, “No, I have never heard of such a thing.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Kore said accusatively, fire in her eyes. She had seen him falter and she would not drop the subject until she got what she wanted. Xavier sighed, shoulders relaxing before adjusting his posture.

“I should have known that you would be able to tell that something was different about that protocore,” Xavier said. Confused, Kore thinks back on their time together and remembers their first fight. It was in No Hunt Zone 7, the first time that they had met. She had noticed something was off about the protocore that came from the wanderer that they had fought, but she had always assumed that it was because she only had seen controlled specimens in her classes and never a real one out in the field.

“In its most basic form, an aether core is a type of protocore, one that has been modified somehow,” Xavier continued, unaware of the rapid thoughts in her mind, “it is very rare for aether cores to develop naturally and so they are often a result of human interference. Oftentimes their power dwarfs that of a regular protocore. They are very dangerous and not many people know about them, not even the Hunter’s Association.”

“If you know about the existence of aether cores, why haven’t you told the Hunter’s Association about them,” Kore questions.

“Well you know about them too, why haven’t you?” Xavier counters, her reaction is far from the ‘touche’ he expected.

“Now that I know that you have been hiding stuff from me AND the Association, how am I supposed to be able to trust you?” Kore practically shouts. Logically, she was aware that she was more mad than she had any right to be, but that didn't stop the fire that was coursing through her veins.

“Well you’re keeping something from me too, how did you find out about aether cores in the first place,” Xavier asked calmly.

“Because allegedly I have one in my body and that makes me feel like I have a right to know,” she said, her temper rising.

“You what?” Xavier said, his face paled, “What do you mean that you have an aether core inside of your body?” He didn’t even know that it was possible for a human to survive with an aether core inside of their body.

“Well apparently I was in some sort of experiment when I was younger, which I don’t remember by the way, and there was one placed in my heart and that is why I have Protocore Syndrome in the first place.”

“What do you mean ‘apparently’ you either were or you weren’t how do you know?” Xavier said, confused. Kore then recounted everything that had happened to her since Friday.

She was so angry she didn’t gloss over any detail. It was if all at once all of her frustrations about the whole ordeal came out, the pot had boiled over. Xavier, for his part, stayed calm and collected as she went off on her verbal rampage.

“--and I need to find out more information on Onychinus because I just have a feeling that they are the fuckers responsible for this all happening but nothing is coming up–” Her avalanche of words stopped when Xavier placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I just don't know what to do,” Kore admitted as she made eye contact for the first time. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes and her bottom lip quivered. Xavier smoothed down her hair with his other hand. A sob escaped her and she fell against him as if she no longer had control over her body, he wrapped his arms around her as she cried. Deep down she was embarrassed with how she was conducting herself, but it had been so hard recently and she hadn’t been giving herself the time or space to just feel.

Slowly but surely, Kore was able to compose herself. Although still a sniffling mess, she pulled herself off of him and said meekly “I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what came over me.”

“I think I might have something to cheer you up. Here,” Xavier said as he fiddled with his Hunter’s Watch. He put their two watches together and hers lit up, Confirm Security Clearance was on the display. “The Association’s databases are useless if you don’t have the right level of clearance. I extended my security clearance to you so hopefully more things will turn up for you.”

“Really?” Kore said, still wiping her tears.

“If it’ll help you feel better and earn back your trust then yes,” he said, “but you should know that it only lasts for 24 hours. Now go.”

Kore looked at him appreciatively, touched by his gesture, “Thank you, Xavier, for everything.”

The office was nearly empty when she arrived, which made sense as the day had been over for quite some time now. She had practically sprinted the entire way back, her leg wouldn’t stop bouncing the entire ride there, every stop the subway had made felt like a lifetime. As quickly as she could she got to her computer and logged in. Preparing herself for the worst, she typed “N109 Zone” in the search bar. The results were instantaneous, and she was shocked at just how much more information came up.

The redactions in the records that she had been reading earlier were fewer, but not gone completely. She was, however, able to learn more about these supposed protocore auctions that took place there. The auctions were allegedly held at a place only referred to as Elysium and it seemed that the vast majority of them were run by the group Onychinus. There’s that name again, she thought to herself.

Scanning the screen again she noticed that with this level of security clearance, a new database had been unlocked for her the Abyssal Chaos, which she knew existed but didn’t know what it was for. Taking a chance, she put “Onychinus” in the search bar, the results were far greater than she had expected.

This time, a shocking number of reports popped up. It seemed that Dr. Higgins’ death wasn’t the only one that had suspected ties to the criminal organization. It appeared that they had been targeting former Ever researchers but the motive was still unclear. This information, coupled with her grandmother’s former ties to the company, made her convinced that they had been involved somehow.

She became obsessed over reading every single report linking them to metaflux explosions and suspicious deaths. Falling deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole, but she didn’t mind, she was too busy developing a deep hatred for the organization. She had already felt like what had happened was not an accident and matching the similarities to their M.O. was intoxicating. She was placating a hunger she didn’t know she felt.

All of this eventually led her to find another, classified, report that vindicated her belief that Onychinus was involved in her Grandma and Caleb’s deaths. This wasn’t the one that she had been obsessing over just last week, this was a different, confidential one. As pissed as she wanted to be that this was kept from her, the desire for retribution was taking over her. She had to make them pay.

She stumbled upon a document containing all of the data that the government had on Onychinus. In it she found a lot of information that she knew already, but there was also intel on a few potential members of the group. One of the suspected higher ups was only known as Mr. Sherman and he was thought to be the brains behind the operation. Sherman’s profile was unexpectedly deep and through, it made her wonder why they hadn’t got the guy if they knew so much about him.

However, it was another alleged member of the group that really caught her eye. There was very little on him, not even a picture, just his name, Sylus. He was suspected of being the leader of the group but there was a point of contention on if he was even real. The report mentions how some of the information about him seemed to be more stuff of urban legend than reality, for example. It was said that he could disappear into a plume of black and red smoke, Kore rolled her eyes at that. Yeah right he can do that, does he turn into a bat too? Like a fucking vampire?

Despite the myths that seemed to surround him it was confirmed that he was, in fact, a real person, and that he was the leader, or at least figurehead, of Onychinus. Everything that she learned about them culminated into hatred for this one man. “Hatred” was too weak of a word for what she felt, she loathed nim, no she despised him.

Somehow, someway, she was determined to make him pay for what he had done. If I could just go to the N109 Zone and track him down, I could make him pay, she thought. Wait, what’s stopping me from doing that? The gears in her brain started spinning and she was calculating exactly what steps she needed to take to go there. She wasn’t even sure what exactly she would do once she got there, but for the time being that was irrelevant to her.

Kore refocused her attention on the N109 Zone, this time searching Abyssal Chaos’ database. There was something new that caught her eye. A decades old brochure with touristy information, incredibly out of place for a top secret digital archive.

The scan resolution of the old pamphlet was abysmal, but it was still legible. What really confused her was that everytime the name of the town should have been mentioned it was scratched out. This wasn’t as if someone had redacted it digitally or with a pen, it looked like someone had been desperate to erase the name in its entirety.

Come to think of it, she had never heard of the N109 Zone referred to anything other than that. By the age of the brochure it was clear that it was older than the Catastrophe so it could not have possibly always been the N109 Zone, she reasoned. A picture captured her attention.

Nearly an entire page was dedicated to the brand new Ever research facility that was opened in 2007. Outside of the shiny new building was the unmistakable image of her grandmother, decades younger than the woman she had known, but it was her nonetheless.

Unexpectedly seeing her grandmother like that was like a punch to the gut. Especially when she was having so many mixed emotions about the woman since she had learned more about her role in the experimentation that was done on her. She tried to clear her mind and get back to reading, but it was difficult.

Inside there was the regular touristy information one would expect a city to promote, the weather, hot spots to check out and sights to see, as well as a map of the city. Thinking ahead or acting in pure paranoia, Kore downloaded the document onto a hard drive she kept at her desk before she switched focus.

Before shutting down her computer, she made one last search. She typed in “aether cores” and waited for the results. It was exactly as Xaiver had said, the Hunter’s Association didn’t know anything about them – at least not in an official capacity.

Kore was getting tired and her desk was looking mighty comfortable. Checking the clock, it hadn’t even struck twelve, she decided that there wouldn’t be much harm in taking a short rest, so she gave herself permission to close her eyes. Sleep hit her hard and fast.

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