#i wanna point out that this is the chapter post-split

[serenescribe]

40k has been broken. still not done. please help

[jjuwuni]

caught in his web ; choi yeonjun ch. 1 | SWEET DREAMS

pairings — yeonjun x afab reader

genre — smut (lots of it so minors dni please), fluff, angst, college!au, friends to lovers, drama

word count (for this chapter) — ~2.3k

summary —  You thought you’d be immune to Choi Yeonjun's charms, turns out you were completely, utterly, shamefully wrong. 

And what’s worse? He’s your new best friend's boyfriend.

Wanna hear something even worse than that? His dad and your mom are dating.

MOA University: An educational institution created for the 1%. The elite of the elites. Those who are to inherit large multinational companies, take oath in office, and represent Korea's future in business and politics. This is where it begins.

warnings — almost-stepbro!yeonjun but not really since your parents are in the early stages of dating, kinda slow burn yes, black haired!yeonjun, bad boy yeonjun, all of you are trust fund babies, all the tubatu's make a cameo and are in the same friend group, might reference some other 4th gen idols, alcohol, drinking, drunken mishaps, lots of sex, profanity - lots of it, yeonjun is a menace but he's so cute wtf i'm screaming, jealousy, making out etc. minors dni istg! i'm watching y'all..

A/N: hello! bela here! my apologies for dipping after posting the preview. here is the official first chapter! hope you guys like it. i'll try to update more frequently. 🙏 comments and reblogs are very much appreciated xoxo also please do let me know if you'd like to be tagged for the next parts!

MASTERLIST: [ preview ] | [ 1 ] | [ 2 ] | [ 3 ]

————-　★　-———— . ————-　★　-————

“O-oh..” You clear your throat after telling yourself to get it together about a million times. Opening your mouth after what seemed like an eternity, “I uh.. Uncle Minjun? It’s nice to meet you. I’m y/n.” You offer your hand out to the man who was undeniably a splitting image of Yeonjun - just older.

He was dashing and had an air of charisma around him. One would know that being in the real estate business, you need to have some type of charm after all, so you're not too surprised that he owns the biggest housing and commercial property business in Asia. He seemed like the type to be able to sway you easily into buying things without much hesitation. 

Also explains why your mom fell for him.

“y/n.. Very nice to meet you finally. I’ve heard nothing but good things about you from your mother, you seem like a very smart lady. And as expected - beautiful too. Surely you have a lot of suitors by now, eh?” He says in a playful manner, as you finally take a seat to join them, right across from Yeonjun. 

“Oh, trust me, dad. Soobinnie's all over her.” The male across from you nonchalantly points out, making you cough right as you scoop the clear soup into your mouth. 

“Oh? CEO Dongwon's son? Well sounds like he’s a decent man.” Your mother for sure wouldn't pass off the chance to give her two cents, “Why didn’t you tell me this, sweetie? You should invite Soobin here sometime.” She lets out a giddy laugh as you grimace into your soup.

"Well, we’re not an item, Mom. And you know I want to focus on my studies first…” 

“It’s rare you hear that nowadays eh? I wish my son would see education the same way as you y/n. Maybe you should teach him a thing or two, huh?” Minjun replies, sipping from his scotch glass and giving Yeonjun a look to which the younger male replies with a sarcastic scowl. 

“I’m sure Chaewon’s got that covered.” You take the opportunity to tease back, it was your way of repaying him for bringing Soobin up. “They’re a really cute couple.” You smile the sweetest one you can muster and look over at his dad who seems to suddenly be interested at the mere mention of a girl. 

“Well, if you’re serious about dating her, son, stop bringing random girls home. You know the guards see you when you do that, right? It's quite distasteful really.” 

Your eyes widen upon learning this little piece of information, he was still bringing girls home, even though he’s dating my friend?  You think to yourself. You could feel Yeonjun’s glare directed at you from across the table, but ultimately decide to avoid it and just eat. 

“I-I’ll go get the dessert.” You shoot up from your seat not too long after, wanting to do anything to get you out of that semi-awkward situation. 

“I’ll help you y/n!” Yeonjun chimes in, walking behind you and following you into the kitchen- giving you no other choice. 

“Ahjumma, can you please take out the cream cake my mom bought this morning? I’ll cut it myself.” You say in a polite tone and a smile to match, watching the older lady walk out back to the refrigerators to go grab it. 

You let out an exasperated sigh, leaning back against the expensive Italian marble countertop. “Not even an hour with you and I’m already tired.” You glare at the male.

It’s true, there’s a reason why you never got along with him, as he was always picking on you. But it was more of a welcomed gesture for you because even though it was annoying, you were just glad you are not a part of the population of MOA-U girls who have fallen victim and succumbed to his charms. 

“Well, you do know what this means… right y/n?” Yeonjun asks, almost in a teasing tone from what you can pick up.

Soon, his hands lay flat over the countertop, on each side of your hip - effectively trapping you in. 

You swallow hard, you’ve never been this close to him before. 

Chaewon always had somewhat of a fence around him in school, which is why we’ve never been face-to-face like this. You find yourself taking note of his prominent features- from his black locks, which complimented his hazel eyes, his strong jawline, his raised nose bridge, and even that cute, boyish smile. 

“H-huh?” Great, what was that part about being immune to his charms again? 

“We’re going to be siblings," He says, arms wrapping around your waist, "..so you’ll see more of me around, most likely.” His smile stretches out even more, and it was like he enjoyed that you were flustered by the mischievous glint in his eyes.

Like a shark being able to smell fear from a few feet away. 

"You're... You weirdo." Was all you were able to say, and it took all of your might to push him off of you, and right on time too, as the help finally came back with the cake to save the day. 

You leave the kitchen as fast as you could, and even as you briskly walked away, you could feel Yeonjun smirking behind you.

————-　★　-———— . ————-　★　-————

"I don't know how I feel about it, honestly." You say as you plop down on one of the couches in Chaewon's living room after school that day. 

"My best friend and my boyfriend becoming step-siblings? Who would have thought..." Chaewon says with a smile, though you couldn't tell if it was a sarcastic smile or one that was of genuine nature. 

"I know my mom's been a notorious magnet for rich dudes but I never thought she would end up in the arms of Choi Minjun, tsk. This is driving me nuts." You whine out, pulling at your hair and punching the throw pillow repeatedly.

"You do know there's some business strategy side to this, right unnie?" Minjeong suddenly speaks up. The youngest in your group rarely opened her mouth, which is why all four of you were all ears whenever she decides to give her input on things. 

"How so?" You ask, trying to make sense of the situation and guessing where she was going with this statement.

"Mm well... Yeonjun oppa's dad owns a lot of properties, and you guys own a lot of department stores.. So if your companies merge... Then, your mom can expand to more places and oppa's dad will acquire more patrons because of the brand - since your mom does have an insane amount of fans. It will be the merger that everyone in Korea will be talking about." 

"Wow.. I never really thought of it that way." You say in a hushed tone, trying to put the pieces together. 

"At this rate you'll be richer than all three of us combined. With the exception of Chaewon, of course." Yeji says in a joking manner, her statement causing Chaewon to flip her hair over her shoulder. 

You laugh it off, "Ah, well- that's.. that's really not my concern now. All I know is that my mother needs to get her life together.." 

"Well look at the bright side y/n, at least you get to look after my baby for me," Chaewon interjects, putting her hand over her chest. "You know, you can report to me and tell me if there are girls who try to flirt with him and all that. You’re basically going to be his younger sister anyways." She points out, nodding her head a few times. 

You stay silent, suddenly remembering that one little fact that his dad gave away at dinner.

He was still bringing random girls home at this point. 

There was an inner battle in you suddenly - should I say something? Or should I keep it under wraps since their relationship isn’t my business anyway? Something prompts you to go for the latter, not open your mouth and just nod.

You'd rather not be caught in the middle of the drama.

————-　★　-———— . ————-　★　-————

As expected, there was another party that night at Chaewon’s house.

There were indeed perks to being inheritors to future companies: your parents were more often than not, too busy to take note of anyone's whereabouts. Which is why you have the luxury to party whenever you wanted.

Surprisingly, you were actually in the mood to party then. As you’ve managed to down a few shots of soju as well as soju bombs with Yeji.  

And not surprisingly, Chaewon was all over Yeonjun that night.

You could feel him staring at you from time to time though. Nevertheless, you don't think much of it- as you’ve always made it a point not to.

He's probably waiting for me to f*ck up or something so he can tattletale on me to my mom next time we have a ‘family’ meal. 

“How’s my favorite girl?” Soobin’s voice made its presence known as he wraps his arm around your neck and pulls you into a hug. Your arms instinctively wrap around his torso, and you stay that way for a few minutes. 

“Ah- y/n! Before I forget! Remember how you were looking for that limited edition version of that manga we both loved?!” He asks as you pull away from the hug. You, of course, nod quickly.

The two of you have a lot of similarities, and your love for mangas and graphic novels was one of them. 

In a swift motion, he then pulls out something from his bag. And lo and behold, in its pristine condition, was the same novel you've been searching high and low for. 

“WHAT! NO WAY!!!” You shout over the music, enough to draw attention from the people around you. You envelop him in another excited hug out of gratitude. “I can’t believe you found it?! How did you do it? I had my mom’s assistant look all over for it. Even my grandparents’ staff were searching for it.” 

“Ah well, I have my connections. You’re not the only one, y/n.” Soobin winks as soon as you pull away to take the manga and read through the back cover. 

The rest of the night was spent with Soobin and a few more soju bottles. And by the end of the night, you were feeling the ugly effects of alcohol. 

Cuddled up with him on one side of the couch, with the two of you talking about all the animes you’ve watched the past week. It was pretty fun to have someone with whom you could nerd out, especially in a group of socialites such as the one you both have. 

“Ah, you’re remarkable. I can’t believe you like the same things I do.” He said, pinching your nose which causes you to scrunch it upwards. 

“y/n...?” He suddenly grows quiet after a few moments of just staring at each other. 

“H-huh?” You ask, your forehead creasing in curiosity. Unfortunately, right on time, your vision starts to blur, and the dimmed-out lights in the living room turned party area wasn’t helping. “W-what is it?” 

“C-can I k-kiss-- Y-yah.. y/n?! Hey! You ok?!”

That was pretty much the last thing you hear before passing out. 

And that was it, your dear old friend alcohol got the better of you, knocking you out on his lap. 

————-　★　-———— . ————-　★　-————

“Yeonjun, I don’t understand, you know I can bring her home safely.” 

Was I dreaming? 

“I know, but I promised her mom I’d take care of her, and that’s what I’ll do so hand her over.” His voice didn’t falter, standing firm to the promise he made to your mom.

W-wait.. I can’t see anything.. I can’t open my eyes. I’m still dizzy,  I can only hear faintly.. Ah, what is happening to me?!.. 

“Pff, alright, fine Jjunie.. But you better not try any funny business.” 

You could feel another pair of strong arms underneath you, cradling you as you shifted. The air is crisp and cold as it brushes through your legs. You were outside.

“Babe! Where are you going?! You can let Soobin handle her and the party’s not over yet.” 

That was Chaewon’s voice..

“I have to go Chae, I’ll bring her home first and make sure she’s settled. I’ll see you tomorrow in school hmm?” 

————-　★　-———— . ————-　★　-————

You wake up to music, a hummed lullaby of sorts. It was soothing and pleasant to hear. You can feel the soft mattress under your tired body. With how familiar it all felt, you could tell you were in your bed.

Apart from that, you can feel someone stroking your hair. 

Your eyelids felt so heavy as you open them, curious to see who it was. But you could barely see, vision still blurry no thanks to the after-effects of alcohol.

Add that, and the fact that it was rather pitch dark around your room- signaling that all the lights were off.

Someone was in your room, that you knew. Because you can hear him and his melodic humming, and whoever it was- he was unmistakably sitting at the edge of your bed next to you. 

“O-ow..” You croak out, feeling the throbbing in your head.  Pressing the palm of your hand against your forehead almost immediately, the melodic, soft voice cuts as you note the mattress' weight shift when the person beside you leans in to check on you.

“y/n, don't get up, just get some rest…” That voice, you know who it belongs to, but it took you a while to process it. 

Yeonjun’s voice? 

Even though you wanted so badly to keep your eyes open and verify if your guess was correct, you've had way too much to drink to keep up.

You couldn’t believe it though. How can someone so rugged and nonchalant about things have such a sweet voice? Plus, the mere idea that he’s here to make sure you're okay- that definitely does not seem like something he’d do. 

Or have you had a skewed vision of him this whole time?

Soon after, You feel his lips against your forehead. His soft buds leave a small peck and a tingling sensation on your skin, and you swore your cheeks felt a lot more heated than it was before.

At that point, you weren't sure if it was all a dream. You feel your stomach churn. Was it butterflies? Nah, it must be the soju. You tell yourself.

“Sweet dreams, y/n.” And with that, you drift off into dreamland.

[thatcryptidinthewoods]

Strap in boys, this is a long one.

So I was looking back through the pages of the manga and I noticed something very interesting about Hyuse. It's a really subtle thing but it's been blowing my mind all the way to Saturn and back.

I had to split this post up because of the Tumblr picture limit so if you want the full version you can find it here.

When we first meet Hyuse, he's in the Aftokrator Away Ship, dressed in Aftokrator's military uniform, surrounded by fellow soldiers. And he looks like this:

Look at his hair. It's neat and tidy, slicked back to be smooth and out of the way. It's very round and flat and well-behaved, almost like it's been polished.

Soon after this, Hyuse is instructed to go out and fight Tamakoma-1. So he does. He goes with Viza and he fights Tamakoma-1.

But Tamakoma-1 isn't easy to beat. In fact, they're quite hard to beat, and Hyuse is encountering some difficulties. Their techniques and weapons are new, unusual and unknown to him - he's being exposed to how Meeden works for the first time. And his hair... scruffs just a little bit.

Just a little bit messier, not a lot to really matter. Could be just the effect of an intense fight.

Then he meets Jin.

And then he fights Jin. And after fighting Jin and learning that his fellow Aftokratans have left, he looks like this:

Those back spikes weren't like that before, were they? No, after having fought with Jin and being told he's been abandoned by his comrades, Hyuse's hair is definitely scruffier. (Also, doesn't that crack look weirdly like he's... crying? Food for thought.)

So Aftokrator loses and Hyuse is taken prisoner, and when we next see him, it's here:

Posture slouched, hands in his pockets, hood over his head. A very clear anti-social stance. He doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to talk to these people, he's pretty much doing this against his will. So he's reluctant, and he's hiding.

This is a common thing with Hyuse. It's how Ashihara communicates the distance between Hyuse and other characters to the audience; if he doesn't want to be there, he puts the hood up and he hides. And it's kinda interesting that the behaviour that is associated with Hyuse hiding is also the behaviour where he covers his hair.

His hair, which went from almost-uniform neatness in Aftokrator's ship to a ruffled mess after being on Meeden.

Do you see where this is heading? Let me keep going.

After the Aftokrator invasion, Hyuse spends some time among Tamakoma Branch as per Border's way of keeping him prisoner. He barely talks to any of the people there, but that doesn't mean he doesn't interact with them. He's still in the same space as them, sharing the same environment, so he continues to gain exposure to Meeden and its people, and he bonds particularly with Yōtarō.

Following this, the next major event in the story is the Galopoula invasion. Towards the end Hyuse meets with one of the Galopoula soldiers (Reghindetz) and demands to be taken with them so he can return to Aftokrator.

Hyuse fakes stabbing Yōtarō in order to convince Reghindetz of taking him with them, but Reghindetz flips out a completely grills him.

Chapter 135 is the first ever chapter to be titled with Hyuse's name; it's incredibly important to his character, and this panel is the centre of it. It takes up half the page it's on. Ashihara wanted to make it very clear to the audience that this moment for Hyuse is absolutely critical - and it is, because this is a major turning point in Hyuse's character growth. He's just had the blatant truth of what it means to be left behind by Aftokrator thrown right in his face.

And you wanna know what Ashihara chose to highlight in such an incredibly crucial moment for Hyuse's character?

His fucking hair.

His messy, fluffy, scruffy hair that looks absolutely nothing like it did when he first arrived in the Aftokrator ship. His hair, which has gone from neat and orderly and controlled to wild and free just from being on Meeden.

But the absolute wildest part? Hyuse looks like a teenager now. The more his hair fluffs up and gets scruffy, the more Hyuse looks like a normal everyday teenager who just grew up on Meeden/Earth. It's insane. It's surreal. It's absolutely off-the-walls batshit bonkers and Ashihara is a bloody genius.

It doesn't stop there either, because the very next thing that happens is the first time the audience gets to see Hyuse put on Lambyris. And lo and behold...

Hyuse, using Lambyris and wearing Aftokrator's military uniform, has scruffy hair.

Ashihara could've just made it so that Lambyris automatically gives Hyuse neatened hair, and excused the previous scruffiness with "he was in a fight". But he didn't. Instead he chose to show us Hyuse putting on Lambyris while looking like a normal teenager, and have his trion body load in with god damn scruffy hair.

What happens afterwards? Well...

Hyuse hides again.

Notice how he took the hood off when facing Reghindetz? He was confident then, self-assured. He had a plan and he was gonna act on it. Now, that's all been crushed. He's back to square one and worse, he's been confronted with the fact that he's been abandoned.

There's a distinct pattern to Hyuse's hiding. Whenever he's faced with something that shakes his world view and/or hurts his pride, he puts his hood up. He creates a second shield for himself and he uses it to cover up his key defining features. This isn't just anti-social behaviour, it's a defence mechanism.

The Aftokrator invasion? No hood, but the moment he's taken prisoner of war it's there. Aftokrator lost and then left Hyuse behind, and he's hiding how he's hurt by that. On top of that, he's being manhandled by Border.

Confronting Reghindetz? No hood, he didn't feel like he needed it. Post-Galopoula invasion? Hood up, head down, won't sit near anyone but Yōtarō. He's having to rearrange his whole perception of himself, Aftokrator and Meeden and it sucks.

And thirdly, confronting the Border Executives. In order for Hyuse to get back to Aftokrator, he needs to join Tamakoma-2 as their second ace, and help them get onto the Away Mission team. To do that, however, he needs approval from the heads of Border - which means he needs Osamu to plead his case.

Notice how, by having him sat down, Ashihara made Hyuse shorter than Yūma in this panel? How Hyuse, who's normally the tallest out of Tamakoma-2, is depicted as smaller than their smallest member? And even more than that, how Osamu is now the tallest?

Where Hyuse is normally the guide, the advisor, the more experienced one that the others turn to, in this situation he is the one reliant on them.

And look, he's regressed. He's gone back to that flat-eyed stare he had when we first saw him in the hoodie, sat in the back of the car.

He's been placed into a situation where he is basically powerless and completely dependent on others to survive, and in response all of his defence mechanisms have gone back up. He refuses to emote properly and only talks when he feels it's absolutely necessary, and the hood stays firmly on - hiding not only his hair but his horns as well, the key defining feature of his Neighbour heritage.

But Mikumo succeeds in getting Hyuse approved for Tamakoma-2. And Hyuse, incidentally, goes back to being depicted as the tallest of the four of them.

From this angle, it also appears that he's no longer slouching. His confidence is slowly coming back.

So at long last, in Chapter 150/151, Hyuse joins Border. He rocks up at the induction ceremony in a customised C-Rank uniform, hair fully exposed and scruffy as ever.

[birinboom]

Kirishima Comes Home To Reader Drunk Off His Ass

Kirishima Eijirou x GN Reader

Tags: Established relationships, alcohol consumption, pet names (Reader calls Kiri ‘honey’, Kiri calls Reader ‘babe’), fluff, spice 🌸 832 words

A/N: This drabble actually belongs to a Kiri x OC fic I’m working on. Not sure if I’ll ever manage to finish it enough to even post the first chapter so I rewrote this part to fit a GN Reader. If I left in any fem pronouns please let me know!

You were jerked out of your sleep when the front door slammed, then someone shushed it loudly.

Groaning at the rude awakening, you rolled over to check the time. Eijirou was finally home from his agency’s New Year’s celebration, and it sounded like he was drunk off his ass. Turning on the bedside lamp, you got up with a heavy sigh; when he got this drunk he usually needed help getting into bed. Thankfully you only had to deal with his drunk, stubborn ass once or twice a year.

You found him sitting on the floor by the entryway, trying - and failing - at pulling his shoes off. 

“Hey,” you mumbled, rubbing your face. 

Eijirou looked up at you with a bright, toothy smile. “Hiya!”

Crouching next to him, you pointed at his shoes. “Y’know it might work better if you untied them first.”

“Oh.”

“Do you need help?”

“Naw, I got this!”

He finally managed to get his shoes off and got to his feet, swaying. You eyed him suspiciously. “How much did you drink?”

“Jus’ a lil’ bit. About… thiiiis much!” he giggled, holding his thumb and index finger up about two millimeters apart.

You sighed again, looping an arm around his back. “You’re such a pain when you’re drunk.”

“Am not! At least I don’t get angerey, like Ba-*hic*-hakugou.”

“Mhm. Let’s get you to bed, honey.”

He shushed you. “We gotta be quiet, my partner’s prob’ly asleep.”

You couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time he had been drunk enough to not recognize you. “Is that so?”

“Yeah! They need their sleep, they work wa-hay too hard.” He let out another giggle. “They’re super-super-duper cute when they sleep. Have you ever met them?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, you should!”

When the two of you made it to the bedroom, Eijirou flopped down on the bed, then pointed at the oversized Red Riot shirt you were wearing. “Hey, that’s me!! I didn’t realize you were a fan!”

You had trouble hiding your smirk. “One might even say I’m your biggest fan.” 

“Oh, cool! It’s nice to meet ya.”

“Yeah, likewise.” You reached for his belt buckle but he pushed your hands away.

“Whoa, what are you doing?!”

“C’mon, Ei, I wanna go back to sleep. You’re gonna get too warm if you keep your jeans on.” 

You reached out again, but this time he grabbed onto your wrists, keeping them away from him. “I don’t want--”

“Ei, stop. That’s not what I’m trying to--”

“No! I’m sure you’re a very, v-very nice person, but I really love my partner!”

“Ei, I AM your partner.”

He blinked up at you for a moment, then his face split into a brilliant grin. “Oh hey, babe! When did you get here?”

 You had to fight not to laugh at his change of mood. If you did, he’d never agree to go to sleep. 

“I’ve been here all night,” you said.

“Really? D’you know who runs this place? ‘Cos the service here is terrible. One of the staaffff won’t stop hitting on me even though I keep saying no.”

You pulled your hands out of his grip and reached for his belt again. “How awful. Let’s get you to bed.”

“I’d love to, babe, but I think I’m a teensy bit too drunk for that.”

You finally managed to pull his pants off. Straddling him, you set to work on the buttons of his dress shirt. He sat up and kissed you sloppily, one hand at the back of your head, the other kneading your behind. The rank taste of old alcohol filled your mouth. 

“I thought you were too drunk for that,” you coughed when he finally let you breathe.

“Well… I can give it a try since you keep in-- insssh-- inshisishting.”

You pushed the dress shirt over his shoulders, leaving him in a white t-shirt. “I’d rather not. Just go to sleep already.”

“Only if you join me!” Wrapping strong arms around you, he let himself fall backwards with yet another giggle. He started pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses against your neck then abruptly stopped.

“Ei?” 

You were met with a soft snore. Sighing once more, you shuffled around in his tight grip to turn off the lights and pull the covers over the two of you. He really was the worst, most endearing drunk.    

 When you got up the next morning, Eijirou was still fast asleep. As soon as you left the bed, he reached out for you. When he couldn’t find you, he instead grabbed your pillow, burrowing his face into it. You heard him mumbling something about a teapot battle. 

Checking up on him an hour later, a bottle of water and painkillers in hand, you found him with your pillow thrown over his face. He shifted the pillow a smidge, glancing up at you with blurry, red-rimmed eyes.

“Could you tell the sun to shut up?” he wheezed, voice gravelly. “‘S too loud for me.”

Thank you so much for reading! Likes, comments, reblogs, and asks (on and off anon) are always greatly appreciated! If you like, you can check out my other works here. Love, Em 💖

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire

biker!Eddie x fem!reader Part 2.5 🚨18+Only, smut, angst, sex with someone other than reader, penetrative sex (protected), maybe also fuckboy!eddie? But he doesn’t want to be. 90's music & nostalgia, insomnia, smoking, mention of cheating (not on reader), Eddie is having a hard time, but I promise it will get better.

wc: 1.7k

Series Masterlist

🔸To the handful of cherished readers on this ride with me: this is a 2.5, a little bitty part, because I posted Part 2 yesterday early and realized I wanted to add more. Chapter 3 will be done by this weekend xoxo

ALSO, the Erika mentioned in this chapter will be introduced more later, but it's NOT Erica Sinclair, my god I would never.

This was not the night Eddie had in mind for a first time hanging out with you. There was admittedly a long list of regrets in his life thus far, but deciding to invite you to the Hideout of all places was now up there somewhere at the top. That dive never used to be like that. Back when he was a teenager, it wasn’t so rough or so full of angry burnouts ready to rage. The only drunks who used to frequent it were sad and polite, and almost half dead.

You handed him and Steve a few tissues from the front seat because Steve’s nose was dripping blood and Eddie’s lip was split. Neither one of them felt a thing, though, not in that moment---the adrenaline was still pumping hot.

Eddie didn’t say much for the rest of the drive, except to ask Katie to take them back to Munson’s Garage so they could take a truck over and pick up their bikes once the chaos died down.

This whole connection he thought maybe the two of you had was not a good idea. For fucks sake, you had been a hair away from getting a secondary blow from the brawl---he couldn’t handle the thought, it made him sick to his stomach. He got the feeling that you were bothered by his silence on the ride back, but there was nothing he could do about it at that point: he was shutting down. He was hammering nails in the boards over the windows inside of him where people (you) could peak in. It was a survival technique he’d been forced to learn when he was a kid.

Katie reminded him that she was Danny Clayton’s older sister, and he had been one of his old D&D buddies—reminding him of a time in his life that he missed. He barely had time to practice his guitar these days, let alone fuck around as Dungeon Master in a role-playing game.

In a haze, he remembered thanking you, but then you said something else to him as he was bent over lighting a smoke, headed toward the garage, and he just kept walking, pretending not to hear you. Once he shut the door, he regretted it with a curse, and went back out to see if he could catch you, but there was nothing but brake lights in the distance.

“You wanna talk about it?” Steve asked Eddie once they were in the transport truck on the way back to the Hideout.

Eddie had a cigarette pinched between his lips and he looked offended. “What is there to talk about?”

“Listen, man,” Steve adjusted his vest and sat back in the passenger seat. “You might not want to give me credit for knowing you as well as I do, but I can tell when you’re slipping over into the dark side.”

Nothing but silence from Eddie.

“You like that girl, or what?” Steve kept talking, because much like you, he wanted the old Eddie back.

“What’s not to like?” Eddie responded under his breath, flicking his cigarette out the window. “I’m sure I’ll never see her again. It’s for the best.”

“Oh, I doubt that man---look what I got,” and then Steve stuck his tongue out and held up the Wrigley’s gum wrapper with Katie’s phone number on it. “You said they’re roommates right?”

Eddie looked over at the number, and then he looked up at Steve’s excited face, and he shook his head, but there was the glimmer of a smile there.

After they brought the bikes back, Steve took off to take care of some family stuff, and Eddie sat on the old couch up in his apartment above the garage, staring out the window with nothing but snow static on the TV. He’d been watching the Dave Attell show Insomniac with a frozen bag of peas on his punching hand, but it ended, and now he was in his head again, a place that he dreaded lately. He knew he wouldn’t get more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep again that night, he could feel it in his bones, and it didn’t matter how exhausted he was.

So, in order to keep himself from thinking about you, he called up one of his faithful booty calls: her name was Erika.

She’d been a long time groupie of his band and she had a kink for guys on motorcycles. He always treated her good and made her cum, but he never let her sleep over.

He never let anyone sleep over.

And he was always gone by daybreak if he happened to pass out in someone else’s bed.

He had this way of going out of his body, so to speak, when he had intercourse with these women he didn’t love. It was like he hollowed himself out and became someone else. He became exactly what they all wanted; this dominant force who choked them a little and fucked them rough and made them beg for more.

That night, with Erika, he kept thinking of you, and it made him stop a few times to blink and catch his breath. “What’s wrong, baby?” She’d ask, just as she was on all fours and his cock was inside of her, the condom straining at the size of his girth.

He shook his head and kept going, but at one point, he was doing her missionary, and in the dark of the room, with his eyes closed and his forehead pressed against hers—he could pretend it really was you.

He went slow, he kissed your face, your eyelids, and down your neck. He imagined that it was you with your hands in his hair, telling him how good it felt, how close you were to cumming. That it was your voice that said, “don’t stop, baby, you feel so good,” and he kissed your mouth, tongues searching deep, as he buried himself inside you with a strangled cry. He imagined that he didn’t have the condom on and you wanted him like that; to pour his seed into you and make you his.

He trembled as his orgasm overtook him, and he came so hard that time, he worried that he forgot to put the condom on.

When it was over and he opened his eyes, all of his intrusive thoughts came rushing back and the light behind his eyes was all but snuffed out.

------

“That was amazing!” You shouted at Katie, rubbing her shoulder, thanking her for the stealthy getaway while Cryin’ by Aerosmith played on the radio.

You turned around in your seat to say something to the guys, and then immediately started pulling tissues out of the Kleenex box in the middle console.

“Aw shucks, it’s just a flesh wound,” Steve joked, quoting Monty Python as he gargled blood in his throat.

Eddie was directly behind you, and when you twisted your body to hand him some tissues, he took them and looked down, not wanting to meet your eyes.

“Well, that was...intense,” Katie said from behind the wheel, slowing down for a stop light after checking in the rear view mirror to make sure there were no cops behind her.

“Just another day for us,” Steve chuckled, and then he pulled up close behind her seat to compliment her getaway. Katie didn’t say anything back, but you could see her blush. Katie had been a bit of a wild child back in her day, but adulthood had changed her, as it did most people.

From behind you, Eddie mumbled, “god, I hate this town.”

For the most part, Eddie was abnormally quiet in the back seat, and so you tried cracking some jokes, but Steve was the only one who engaged with you.

“Who was that guy?” You asked Steve, because you couldn’t bear the silence.

“Just some douche bag,” Steve responded, a piece of tissue stuffed up one nostril. “I accidentally had an affair with his wife almost a decade ago, and I guess he never forgot about it.”

You couldn’t help it, you laughed. “How does something like that happen accidentally?”

“Well, for one,” Steve sat forward in his seat and clamped one hand on the back of Katie’s chair. “She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. And two, I’m not sure I would’ve cared at the time, even if she had.”

That response elicited a bit of a scoff-chuckle from Eddie.

Munson’s Garage wasn’t too far from where you’d just been, and Steve jumped out to open the security gate before climbing back into his seat.

As the car idled in front of the main entrance to the building, white exhaust filling up the darkness, you heard Eddie get out, and then you waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He shut the door, and then you felt him hover there.

He leaned down into your open window, his head to the side and his hair hanging down. He met your eyes for a flash, but then he was trying to hand you something, and you opened your fingers so he could press something cool and tiny into your palm. “Hey, I’m really sorry about tonight. I think you dropped this the other day.”

You were too busy watching his face, the curve of his lips, the dark moon of his cuticles from residual grease stains, but when you realized he had just slipped you your missing earring, it caught you by surprise.

You could barely get out the words “wait...thank you,” before he turned on his heel and slipped a smoke between his lips, head down as he pulled his keys out to unlock the door.

“It was good to see you,” you called after him, but he was already inside the building and the door shut with a thud and a clack behind him.

Steve had been over at Katie’s window talking to her, but once he straitened up and came around to your side, he looked confused. “Where the fuck is Eddie? Did he go inside already?”

You didn’t answer him, you just waved goodbye as you rolled your window up.

“See you around, girls!” Steve called out from the center of the driveway, holding the hand in the air that had the gum wrapper number in it.

“Boys,” Katie said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she exited the complex and turned to head home. “They’ll be the death of me.”

-------

Part 3

____

[brineoffire]

Uuuuuuh hi, hi howdy! I've been super possessed by the need to see more male centered fics with the poly!141 soooo here's a bit. I honestly haven't played the games, but I've been looking into the lore because I'm so hyper fixed on the 141 rn. Bare with me, I haven't posted fics here before and definitely never written army anything. Please please please lemme know if you like it even a lil and I'll type up some more.

Fic notes!

So I saw someone talking about a reader who's in it for the money and I liked that idea- tweaked it a little but the basic jist? Mc loves vidio games so much they went to school for it, can't pay, joins the military to pay it all off. I'm writing this chapter ambiguous on gender so far, but I'm writing with a trans!masc reader here because fuck. I can't find much so better make it myself.

-Edit I forgot to put the title here rip

The Right Price

You can't help but stop to think about how you needed to stop biting off more then you can chew. It's been a few months since your recruiter told you all about the joys, wonder, and honor that comes with serving. You where in the second she told you about the pay. Too many student loans, too much microwave ramen, the list went on, but fuck it yeah? You where the one that said that in the first place when you signed up for your courses. The basics, programming, coding, digital design a bit of physiology because of personal interest. You where over the top when it came to studies. Didn't bother you none when you couldn't have a social life. If you weren't busy studying you where quite literally inhaling any game you could get your hands on. But now when you had to fork over the bill money? You started singing another tune.

So here you are. On the training grounds with the rest of the folks recruited at the same time as you.Your sargent was barking out orders for you all to start your runs one by one, but some smart ass was holding up the line. You actually agreed with half the shit he barked back at the your troop leader, but damn it, you didn't want the consequences.

"That's it! You wanna run your mouth? You can all run double to catch up with Marco's mouth! Now!" He yelled white fisted. The remaining lot of your groan and grumble, starting the run together now at double time to hopefully finish before lunch call. Seven miles was what you had all gotten used to. Seven miles of uneven terrain, hurdles and dives, inclines and ramps now lengthened to fourteen.

"Oh fuck off Marco!" One of the recruit remarks, smacking said recuit behind the head before taking off on a spint. Several others join in on mocking the guy before bolting trying to get it over with. You shake your head as you catch up to him and clap him on the shoulder.

"They'll chill out later man just gotta grit and bare it more y'know?" Marco yanks was shoulder away from you, giving you a nasty glare before taking off too. You raise your brow at that, curious to what set him off before shrugging, taking the course at your normal pace with a hand full of the others. Better late then fatiged. The little spat dosn't bother you anyway. You'll all be split into your first teams in less then a week. You doubt he'd even be grouped with you anyways.

Oh how wrong you where. How very. Very. Wrong. It was actually laughable at this point, because you where either grouped together because your Sargent knew you got under Marco's skin for some reason or because fate wanted to see the drama unfold. You took that as a personal challenge either way. Snapping back snarky retorts anytime Marco decided to fuck around, until one day he had you cornered with a handful of others, in your face yelling about how "your kind" didn't belong in the military let alone the states. You let him finish his rant. Something, something, something, God damned, something, something, blight all the good christians, something, something, belong in the kitchen like a proper bitch.

Oh. Okay. There it was. You laugh in your head. No. Outloud. You flip the positions, getting uncomfortably close to the fuckers so they back off some and spout of some tibits you learned in your phycology classes about the brain being easy to manipulate. Quiet anger radiating from your low tone, keeping it quiet to force them to listen harder. You throw in some extra bs about how you could probably "turn" the lot of them given enough time. That them speaking more shit would be an agreement for him to test his theory. They back off after that, but report you all at once for "harassment". There being no evidence for anything you're transfered to one of the other split groups. Half made up of people you didn't enlist with. Mabey this crop would yeild better results yeah?

Nah. You jinxed it. You know you did. Oh well. This time it's just one guy though. And all it takes is a bit of reverse phycology to have the guy questioning his own damn identity so bad he's sent to the on duty therapist. You're transfered out this time by a different woman. Laswell. She heard out your full story of your transfers and unlike your last transfer she gave you a garentee that she'd make sure to find a good fit for you. You shrug and thank her. No matter what you had to tough it out anyways, you needed that pay check after all. Had no where else to go.

It goes sour when you head with her to a base near Wales. You where supposed to go talk to her about setting up here overseas for a while. Something about spreading out more newbies anyways. You really don't understand half of it so you just agree and you're off to training on this base. As long as you're here you're expected to keep up with basics and the routine set by the Sargents and that's fine by you, whatever to pass the time at this point. They run a drill with half the team ment to run a faux attack on half the base and the rest made to counter. You're getting prepared to counter the fake attack when alarm bells are ringing. That's definitely a little over the top. Usually they just yell over the loudspeakers and... You kinda blink a few times before you realize your group of rookies is being pressed to the armory. It's not a fucking drill at this point. This is NOT what you came here for but, oh fuck here you go! You've played too many games for sure. Mabey it's time to cut back. Because you're immediately focused. Immediately setting up the scene in your head to get you in a headspace where it's all a game. It helps you focus and damn you really need help with that right now.

There's active rounds being fired a ways away from the base as you all are suited with gear and munitions. You've trained for this but damn if you ever thought you'd ACTUALLY use any of that shit. You always imagined it was for show, like how you never use any of the fucking math they taught you anywhere.

You're moving on a sort of autopilot, moving out to a defensive manuver outside, staying under cover like you're told until your unit arrives halfway out, between the fighting and the base. It's impossible to see much past a thick smoke blanketing half the scene but you all move out, groups of three fanning out for any injuries and more importantly, any hostiles. You and your group are about to get to your second vantage point when you catch something they don't, you call out a group of several hostiles over what looks like a member of the base before realizing there's radio static.

Fuck it. Risking your life might score you some bonus merit, some extra cash somewhere along the line, you don't know. You're just trying to rationalize why the hell you bolt for the man, keeping low, keeping quiet until your almost upon them all. You get close enough to make out the British insignia on the man's arm. You've definitely seen him on the base before, and now here he is, no weapon in sight, surrounded by four hostiles. You slow your approach and aim carefully, making sure to get the kill shot on one of them, the spray of bullets catching another in the arm gives you enough time to aim for one of the other ones. You've definitely played too many vidio games but you're damn sure that's what kept you from being shot on your first unofficial day of active duty. You roll. Fucking barrel roll on the ground, with enough force to get you away from the spray of bullets from the last uninjured hostile as you stop yourself and make the shot on him. Dumb luck is what you chalk it up to as the fourth guy falls, letting you finish off the second man as he scrambles to retrieve his weapon.

"Up! Up! UP!" You yell to the man on the ground. You don't notice the look of utter confusion from the guy as you rush to help him to his feet. You've gotta get him back to base or at least the rest of the team and out of harms way. So you sprint as fast as you can as soon as the man's up, keeping to your side as you keep an eye out for anyone else hostile or otherwise. You try your radio again, but nothing you backtrack enough to find the spot you last saw your little team and find them under fire, one covering a wound on the others arm, panicking. You're quick to take over, playing out the scene in the same mind set you started out with. Mission in mind. Quest line to follow. You snap the other guy out of it enough to instruct him on how to stop the bleeding properly and grab the injured mans weapon from him, shoving it into the man's hands and directing him to cover you. Again, your oblivious to the look of pure confusion from the man and your uninjured teammate as you work to bandage up your fellow recruit.

You all make it out in one peice, the base being cleared of the small force that attempted to overtake the base. What you don't learn, and no one bothers to tell you. Is that the man you "saved", Captain John Price, has been talking with Laswell. Not so much talking with her as TO her. Your in it for money? Perfect you'd definitely agree to join the 141 with the pay difference.

"John you can't fucking do that. This kid is green. Way too fucking green! They weren't even supposed to be pulled into active duty! They should have been benched with the newer recuits, not out with their seniors!"

Price laughs and shakes his head. "No. This one's got potential and I wana see how far it'll take em." He was impressed by how some rookie was able to show enough guts to help him when the odds looked bad. He had everything under control, but damn if your actions weren't something interesting. Rolling out of line of fire and still keeping a steady aim? That's quite the task, he boasts for you. Hell, you didn't even think twice about Price's rank or authority, your focused was on recovery and living while taking out the hostiles. As much as Laswell regrets to say there's not much reason to deny Price. His eye for talent really was spot on. What could go wrong in all actuality? She trusted Price, and hasn't let her down yet.

"Fine. But I'm keeping a close eye on this set up."

Price grins as he looks down at your small folder, thanking her and flipping through the pages again. Tomorrow you'd be flying out with him to your new base. Joining the 141 as a tech specialist.

[uh-oh-its-bird]

Short snippet from my fic 'one step three steps' under the cut. Ft. Shinobi politics and Hatake clan lore via gossiping at the bar about what happens when a clan drops off the map

No context needed, can be read as standalone, I just thought it was neat enough to post on its own.

"What are the odds there are— or were," Izumo grimaced. "Some offshoot branch of the Hatake family out there?" 

"Not impossible, I think? They were a real clan once, right?" 

Kotetsu blinked. "Were they? I kind of thought they used to be civilians or something, before the White Fang." 

"No way, the Hatake's were huge once." 

"No shit?" 

"Yeah, they were— fuck," Genma squinted into his cup, now well and truly flushed from his drink. For a guy sent on so many honeypot and information gathering missions he was a bit of a lightweight, huh? 

"6th? Is that right? 6th-ish clan to come to Konoha, way back when. It's not really taught anymore since they died off so fast and lost relevancy, but they were decently important, wayyy back in the day. Had some sort of deal with the Senju." 

"Nerd." Kurenai snorted, but she looked thoughtful. 

"Hey, this sort of thing is important!" Genma pointed at her. "This kind of history gets buried so fast, it's crazy." 

"But why though?" Kotetsu asked. 

"I mean," Genma frowned. "It's kind of complicated. It's a whole politics thing, you know? Every few years they get together and talk about what gets taught in school. All the clans have say and all the big ones wanna make sure that everyone remembers who was there first so there's a lot of pushing on how to split the importance among them. So when a whole clan up and falls off a cliff . . ."

"There's no one left to advocate for them getting taught about." Izumo finished, looking unsettled.

"Damn." 

Genma shrugged. "That's just how it is, really. Happened to the Uzumaki's, happened to the Hatake's; Would have happened to the Senju too, if the Hokage was any less sentimental about it." 

"And it's not like they teach a lot about history in the first place, do they?" Pointed out Kurenai with a sigh. "Most kids learn that stuff at home, if they're clan brats." 

"Pour one out for all the civilian losers with the disadvantage once again." Izumo sighed, and he clinked glasses with a cheering Kotetsu and Kurenai as Genma, the only clan brat among them, snorted into his cup.

Read the full chapter here ->

[rintarousgirl]

i wanna be yours — 5. star treatment

✦ - Y/N is a small business owner, offering her services not only as a designer but an at-home makeup artist and cosmetic producer as well. She's perfectly content with her small life when she's approached by the manager of the INARIZAKI band, asking for her to fill the position of backstage artist on short notice. Needing the money, and wanting the experience, Y/N agrees. Little does she know of the fatal attraction she will share with the band's lead, Suna Rintarou

a/n: ik this chapter is a bit short, and that it's a bit overdue but i've been so busy LMAO. p.s i know about the typo in oikawa's post shh. anyways, i hope you all enjoy lovies!

You woke up in bed with a splitting headache, the pounding pain behind your eyes being near unbearable. A weak groan escaped your mouth as you threw a hand over your eyes to block the sun.

Thankfully, drunk you had the courtesy of leaving a glass of water and an aspirin on the bed side table. Slowly, squinting as your eyes struggled to adjust to the light, you swallowed down the aspirin and took big mouthfuls of water to ease your dry throat.

As you think to recall last night, you stand up to change out of your clothes. You're sweaty, but you notice that you are wearing a change of clothes. They're a bit baggy on you, clearly made for someone a lot taller than you were. You rub your head, trying to recall what had happened.

"You're covered in flour," Rintarou points out from his spot at the counter. You glare at him, before looking down to your soiled clothes.

"I never said I was a clean cook. The messier it is, the better it tastes."

He hums non-committedly and takes a sip from his tea. "I'll go steal some clothes from Osamu, stay here."

"Where am I supposed to go?" You huff and turn back to your pizza.

Right, you had made homemade pizza with Rintarou. So, you were now wearing Osamu's clothes. Lovely. From before that though your memory goes iffy. You struggle to remember a good amount of it, as if you'd blacked out or something. Which technically you probably had. You remember vomiting, and hanging out with Suna for the rest of the night till you were sober enough to drive yourself home.

After peeling off your clothes and showering, you head back into your room. Your studio apartment was small, which meant you had communal washing and drying. You'd make sure to wash Osamu's clothes as quickly as possible.

Picking up your phone, your eyes widen at the surplus of notifications. You had over thirty text messages, and over thirty thousand notifications from twitter. You could get used to a lot of twitter notifications with your business, but all that in one night seemed impossible to you.

With slightly trembling hands, you opened twitter, feeling a pit grow in your stomach as you scrolled through your notifications.

Despite all the negative posts from fans, you find yourself smiling at the pictures from last night. After making pizza, you and Rintarou had joined the others, dancing and playing games until everyone was either black out drunk or exhausted. You also remember doing karaoke with Yachi, laughing at the video of the two of you that Atsumu had posted.

Exiting twitter, you switch to your messaging app. You notice a few short messages between you and Rintarou, and that you'd gotten Yachi and Osamu's numbers in your phone at one point. Instead, you look at the texts from your friends.

Sighing, you gnaw on your lip. You send a quick to Kenma, Bokuto, and Kuroo assuring them that you were okay and that you'd explain later before pressing on the call button.

It rings only once before Akaashi picks up. "Y/N? Are you alright?" are the first words out of his mouth, and you swallow softly with a sigh. You collapse back down on your bed, rubbing at your eyes.

"I'm alright, 'Kash. Don't worry."

He huffs. "You could've told me that last night."

"I know, I'm really sorry. I, uh, I went to an after party and I got a bit drunk."

That quiets him a bit. "You never get drunk. Not really at least."

"I know," you groan, feeling a bit more regret seep into you. "I was being stupid, okay? I'm sorry I didn't text you or anything. I know you worry a lot."

"It's alright. You're an adult, Y/N. I just...I wouldn't want you to get hurt when I could've done something about it."

"Well, don't worry. I don't plan on doing that again anytime soon. I mean...I embarrassed myself plenty."

There's a teasing tone to Akaashi's next words. "I saw. Kuroo went crazy when he found out you were working for INARIZAKI. I managed to convince him not to harass you about it though. You puked on him, huh?"

"Thanks," you say dryly, "but don't remind me." You drag a hang down your face, shame burning on your cheeks. "It was so bad. But technically, I puked in the bowl so not on him."

"That's still bad."

"I'm going to hang up on you. Why can't we talk about like...I don't know, the pizza or something."

Akaashi laughs, and you find yourself smiling despite it all. "Whatever let's talk about your adventures in person. Favorite cafe at three?"

You hum. "Favorite cafe at three," you confirm.

As you're getting ready, your phone dings with a text message. Absent-mindedly you pick it up and open it.

<- previous | next -> | masterlist

★ - suna was not very chill when he sent that text. he was on the other side of the screen acting like a nervous wreck

★ - osamu's the smaller twin compared to atsumu seeing as atsumu still did have his vb career, just not as long. that's why his clothes aren't completely baggy on y/n (and are what she's wearing in the photo on suna's twt)

★ - akaashi spent most of the night awake waiting for you to text him till bokuto eventually convinced him to sleep for at least a few hours

✦ - Y/N is a small business owner, offering her services not only as a designer but an at-home makeup artist and cosmetic producer as well. She's perfectly content with her small life when she's approached by the manager of the INARIZAKI band, asking for her to fill the position of backstage artist on short notice. Needing the money, and wanting the experience, Y/N agrees. Little does she know of the fatal attraction she will share with the band's lead, Suna Rintarou.

taglist:

@mannaornot \ @gojoscumslut \ @sunarots \ @alienvarmint \ @tojirin \ @tkooooop \ @cheriesdear \ @shotenvinsoot \ @wolffmaiden \ @riiceandsoup \ @thebrownemo \ @vivian-555 \ @effmigentlywithachainsaw \ @rukia-uchiha-98 \ @weird0o0 \ @seiamor \ @rory-cakes \ @blue-violin \ @reveusecherie \ @hellokittylover9 \ @yourlocal-bunny \ @keniza \ @cerberuspuppy1 \ @baramii \ @kirbyscreeper

[bless-my-demons]

I just wanted to let you know that I am WAY too hooked on Redamancy that I keep just being like I wanna read angst? Oh, it's time to read Chapters 14 and 15! Like, come on, how can you take these okay characters from a weird ass series and turn it into something like this? I honestly think you are doing better than smeyer did! I also hope that soon things get to chill out, and we can see some half fun times with Jas and Emmet! Stay hydrated and well fed!!!

Omg when I tell you this ask made my heart SOAR😭 I’ve loved this series since I first saw the movies in high school (I just aged myself, RIP), but I always imagined them… different than SMeyer did; I’m re-watching the movies this week and I keep noticing what I would’ve done differently. Also, sparkles? You’ll never catch me mentioning that lmao honestly I just take her baseline for the characters/story and make it make sense in my eyes. And honestly I think it’s just the difference in vibes from 10 years ago to now - what we want in romance, perception of paranormal (not that anything about this is realistic, but making it more believable), and having time to criticize the saga.

Jasper is my Roman Empire, he is such a complex character - they all are! They deserve better storylines and just more overall, I just love writing my thoughts with him. But it’s like a coin, the other side is the wolves - more specifically Paul👀 oh my god I don’t even know where to start with the wolves, there’s so much. And I do have a doc started for Paul for after Jasper (there might not be a true and final ‘after’, but like once I crank out BD part 2) for when I can focus my energy on that instead of trying to split it with Redamancy, it’s full of ideas, things I wished we had gotten - especially with imprint relationships. Ugh and then I have that pre-vampire Jasper WIP that’s unrelated to Redamancy🙈 how the fuck do people organize their thoughts to do multiple series at the same time lol

The last part of your ask I’ve been thinking about since I posted Ch29, do you guys like the in-between? Like, the stuff between the timeline events that’s not in the books/movies? I’m always so worried about those parts, because if improperly done, I’m worried you guys are waiting for me to get to the point-to the shit you know is going to happen. Like the grad party, the newborn army fight, big plot points like that; versus the little injects like spending time with Quil, or Emmett, or reader’s mom, those things? I promise those little things have meaning down the road (some for the plot, some to just add angst/fluff/or to just fix SM’s holes) but I’m curious about your guys’ opinions! I’ve definitely read some fics that have had plot fluff that I’ve skipped because I just wanted the meat and I don’t want to bore you guys with that shit if I’m not writing it correctly enough😅

I also just love asks like this that make me think deeper about the story, because it definitely influences and inspires my writing lol thanks love🫶

[adaptacy]

A Found Flame {Pt.3}

Pairing: Mentor!Gale Dekarios x Apprentice!GN!Reader

(Previous Chapter) – (Next Chapter) ➔ (AO3)

A/N: Tumblr word limit is fucking me up y'all icl. I had two (2) scenes for this next chapter and those two scenes ended up being EIGHT THOUSAND words so uhm.... i'm splitting this up into 2 sections because aforementioned tumblr word limit izza bitch. But, the full chapter will be on my ao3! I'll post the second half as a part 4 on tumblr eventually, but if you don't wanna wait, go check out the ao3.

Word Count: 2.7k

You weren’t gone for more than two hours, your peaceful retreat to the forest as relaxing and uneventful as you’d expected it to be. The sun had set now, the stars beginning to reveal their white twinkles in the sky above. Aside from the forest-scented crispness in the air, it carries a gentle flowery aroma– or at least the space between your nose and the bouquet you’d created does. It was a mix of purple and indigo, colors you knew he enjoyed, the two plants you’d chosen to harvest on your trip being the autumncrocus and a few small traveling balsam – a rare sight when you weren’t particularly close to any mountains. Along with that, your woven basket contains a very aromatic bunch of lavender billitri flowers and golden honeysuckles, ingredients you planned to boil in your attempt at making tea later in the evening.

Now completely without the protection of the warming sun, you find yourself much more appreciative of your shawl, clutching the sides a little closer to your chest as you retrace your steps back down the trail you had been following. Spotting the edge of the forest, it isn’t long before you emerge once more, and your trip back to the tower is a short one, though it is disrupted by a peculiar sight just outside the familiar building.

“Gale?” You ask, your voice quiet, immediately noticing that he seems rather at peace, distracted by something in the distance. He stands in the garden, wearing a long winter coat, the clothing a blush plum shade in color. The hood, trimmed with a thin black fur, bunches around his neck, a surprising sight given his sensitivity to winter’s company. He turns at your interruption, attempting to smile in greeting, though it registers on his face as though it’s not meant to be there, revealing a burdened discomfort, one that you were nearly positive was brought on by the unforgiving cold. His eyes lower to the flowers in your hand as you approach, head tilting.

“I must admit, you had me mildly ill at ease. You didn’t come back for some time, I’d begun to assume the garden had buried you,” he chuckles, motioning towards your basket. “Though… I see you must have become occupied elsewhere.” His eyes meet yours again, and he then gestures instead towards the empty, frost-bitten garden beds. “How long have they been bare?” 

Stopping a few feet before him, you contemplate his question, eventually replying with “All winter. The majority of them died during our first autumn freeze. We had so many harvests in stock, I didn’t see much of a point in replanting winter crops.” Gale’s gaze becomes one of disdain, and you frown, realizing how this subtle betrayal must look. “My apologies for lying to you. I didn’t mean to mislead – I wanted to surprise you, actually.”

You extend him the flowers, though he doesn’t quite notice the offering. “No, I’m not upset with you. I wasn’t aware it’s been that long since I’ve visited the garden. Seven moons, give or take. Seven moons that I’ve been stuck inside.”

“Well, you’ve been busy. And I don’t mind running errands. You’ve had important things to do,” you remind, inspecting the hardened soil in the wooden beds. To your dismay, you notice hints of pale green weeds poking out of the edges, sure to prove a hassle when the time comes to replant spring crops.

After a few seconds of silence, he regards you once more. “You wanted to surprise me?”

“Oh, yes.” Again, you extend him the flowers, and he receives them this time, analyzing the bunch as though he had been asked to judge them. “I went out to the forest. It was quite serene, and pretty – even with the trees as barren as they are. You’re welcome to join me next time, you know, if you ever want to get out.”

Gale’s smile hardens, picking up a little more rectitude, and he lifts the flowers to his nose, relishing in the fresh floral scents. “Balsam. A product of the winter; they’re usually only found on the upper levels of mountains, however it seems the reduced temperatures have drawn them from their usual environment. Even this far away from home, they survive. It’s quite a spectacle to behold, as simple as it may seem. In unfamiliar surroundings and uncharted territory, they acclimate without issue,” he hums, though his smile cracks into a mischievous smirk, and he shrugs towards you, shooting you a playful wink. “Well, until they were plucked, that is.”

“I almost feel bad for harvesting them,” you chuckle.

Gale shakes his head, his free hand waving away your guilt. “Hardly. Although gifting them to me is a sure promise of their demise,” he laughs, and you do the same, knowing that you were absolutely signing them a death warrant by entrusting them in his care. “I see these aren’t the only goods you retrieved.” 

Noticing that he was eyeing your basket, you nod again. “I was going to make tea to accompany our dinner. I really didn’t intend on being absent for so long. Blame the trees, luring me in with their promises of pretty flowers,” you tease. “If you haven’t already made a meal, I don’t mind–”

“Nonsense. Dinner has already been prepared; mushroom stew and potato wedges, as per Tara’s suggestion. While our plates may not be warm anymore, I'm sure I can conjure up something or other to reheat them.” Gale glances at the building, and then he looks towards the sky, and you realize he’d been gazing at the upper crescent of the emerging moon before you’d interrupted him.

“Do you ever miss the stars?” You ask, tilting your head up to view the star-scattered darkness as well. 

“I see enough from the balcony – or so I had convinced myself. In truth, there’s little comparison to the beauty of a full sky. I suppose I’d forgotten that much. Now that I’ve been reminded, however, I suppose I have missed their company. No shade to my view from the balcony, but the combination of fresh air and a vast universe as far as the eye can see could hardly be contained in the pocket outside of my window.”

“Would you like to sit and stargaze for a little while?”

Gale lowers his head to look at you, and you meet his eye, looking to make up for your absence by providing company to what he seemed to already be in the middle of doing before you’d stumbled upon him. You’re hungry, sure, and dinner sounded nice, but you don’t mind staying out for a little while longer. You aren’t sure when you might get another chance to make such an offer, as he had a tendency to lose himself in his studies, and you often got lost in your own duties. Gale contemplates it for a few moments before eventually nodding. “A hard bargain you drive. I suppose now is as good a time as any to indulge in my affinity for the stars.”

The two of you find a place just outside of the garden beds to sit, and you place the bouquet in your basket, setting it aside as you lay back, arms crossed behind your head, with Gale imitating a similar position next to you. There isn’t any conversation for several minutes, but it’s far from silent. The winter whispers her goodbyes with talkative crickets as her vessels, and the wind carries its own tales, the stars punctuating each and every foreign line. 

It isn’t until the moon reveals her upper half over the horizon that Gale finally speaks, the ambience of the outer city quieting enough to merely support his voice instead of speak alongside it. “The stars never change. No matter the wars, no matter the disasters, no matter the time, no matter the place, they remain consistent. Such perseverance is enviable.” 

“They don’t really need to change. Do you think they’re even capable of it?”

“Of change?” He asks.

“Of change,” you clarify.

“Well, some stars fizzle out. Perhaps all stars have an end, eventually. As untouchable as they are, even they cannot avoid death. Aside from that, they seem to be free of even Selûne’s interference. I’ve never even heard a tale of them rearranging.” His answer is hardly that, and you allow him the chance to think before he provides a reply that’s much closer to an answer. “I’m not sure. Perhaps they do, while we sleep. They could have every eye fooled; they may swap places while they aren’t watched. Mischievous little bastards.” 

You chuckle, amused at such an idea. “Maybe the ability to change is more impressive than being so stubborn as to remain the same for eons upon eons. Like the Balsam. One is able to adapt to new situations, the other is so stubborn as to stay the same for what seems like an eternity.” You glance over at Gale, and he shrugs, unsure his stance on the matter. You look back to the sky. “I can’t believe some people have never seen them.” You recall stories and mentions of cave communities, light-starved species that inhabit places such as the underdark, and you struggle to imagine it. You’ve always found it a hard truth to face. “To not know the songs that the moon sings, or the art that the stars create – it sounds like a bard’s folktale.”

“They find their light elsewhere, I have to assume.”

“Like where?” You question, curious for a potential explanation.

“Anywhere. Light comes in more forms than the sun and stars. I know of flora that glows in such places. Fire is always a possibility. Or, it could very well be from those around them. Though that is a more metaphorical take on the subject. You must bear in mind that light isn’t much of a necessity for eyes adapted to the very absence of it,” he explains, releasing a soft sigh. “Though, personally, I can’t imagine having never seen the sky before. The beauty it holds – well, it can’t be properly shared through mere discussion of the topic.” 

“Drawings definitely don’t do it any justice, either,” you agree. “Of everything the gods have crafted, I think the night sky is my favorite artwork.” 

“Indeed. Not even Mystra’s most trained magic could come close to recreating such a sight. And yet so many pass under it without ever paying it much mind. A great gift it is, only to still be taken for granted so often. Ah, but I’m hardly one to speak – I’ve spent so long reading about it I’ve forgotten to take a moment and truly appreciate it.” His voice is tainted with some edge of regret, and you look over at him, studying his profile as he is entirely captivated by the view above. 

Maybe only thanks to the moon, there’s an innocent light in his eyes, his warm features highlighted by the cool blue hues. The peace his expression rests at is an uncommon one, and it makes you appreciate it even more. The man always seemed to jump between deflective, cocky sarcasm and quiet, thoughtful anxiety. But here, the stillness of the night granted you an opportunity to peer behind the curtain, and what lay backstage was an awfully pretty sight. 

Although he’s visibly tired, and his mind is surely contaminated by plenty of busy thoughts, you’re convinced this is the closest to relaxation you’d ever seen him. His fingers are interlaced where his hands rest on his chest, black gloves concealing his skin and keeping them warm. 

He’s handsome in the same way that the moon is; he has his own glow, though it isn’t anything close to the bright light that the sun casts. It’s a silent glow, and even when he sometimes feels far away, lost in his own mind, miles from the present moment, it always remains a comforting sight. Gale could’ve been the leader of the stars, he could’ve been untouchable by the gods, he could’ve been unchanging and everlasting, and you’re sure that you wouldn’t have noticed a difference from the man that lay before you now. Here, even with as human as he is, and although he remains so perfectly flawed, he is utterly invincible. 

His eyes trace the distant lines between constellations, making you wonder if recalling the stories behind them quieted whatever stress stirred in his mind. For as many jokes and remarks he made about his age, he could’ve fooled even the most insightful with his youthful appearance. Of course, his true age would be quickly revealed by his personality – his sense of humor and odd mannerisms easily giving away the reality. 

Admiring him now causes the smallest seed to be planted in the dark depths of your mind. Why did you agree to stay? You’d never really questioned your reasoning, and neither did he. You’d never minded helping him, and the shelter and company was certainly appreciated. When you’d originally agreed to help him, it was only for a little while, helping out around the house so he could get his life back in order after an event he wasn’t particularly fond of discussing. You’d assumed it would be a two or three week ordeal so you could get back on your own feet as well, the agreement a mutually beneficial one.

Maybe it was his unpredictable charm – his playfulness, his self-deprecating but amusing jokes, his shielded validation. You also liked having a place; A roof over your head, warm dinners, and the comfort of his laid-back lifestyle was plenty enough to please you. He even had plenty enough coin to cover whatever he could’ve needed, and that luxury was one you’d never quite had the pleasure of experiencing before. But beyond the physical items of your affection, you had a home. As strange as it was to call his tower such a personal term, it was hard to deny. His house had become a home, and that much was made possible purely by his companionship. So you’d found a place, one that housed you both physically and emotionally. A place with him. 

His head turns to find you staring at him. At the unexpected discovery, his eyes widen as though he isn’t sure how to react to your gaze. You remain still and assured in your spying, giving him a gentle smile. Then he smiles too, and his peace is helplessly contagious. “We should do this more often,” you propose, and Gale nods.

“A fine idea that is. Is it warm?” He asks, and you furrow your brows. “The shawl,” he clarifies. “Are you warm enough?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m still a little cold, but it’s not an issue,” you reply, shrugging. 

Gale frowns for a moment – not because he’s hurt, instead it’s more of a thoughtful frown, as if he’s studying difficult material – before seeming to come upon an idea. Unlocking his fingers, he reaches out and stretches his arm behind you, using his other hand to motion for you to shuffle closer. You obey his implied order, and his arm comes to slide under your head, his hand rubbing your outer shoulder in a small, but thoughtful, attempt at trying to warm you up. “If you’d rather go inside, do let me know. I’m hardly a fan of the cold myself, but the sight is nothing short of beautiful tonight. The moon has always been quite the charismatic one. I’d like to enjoy the moment, and the view – if you’ll be so kind as to join me.”

After a moment of deliberation, you inch even closer, your side against his, finding the warmth that his body produces pleasantly familiar. You’re reminded of your revisited memory from earlier in the day, and you allow your head to rest against him, comforted by the closeness. “I’d love to. Maybe we’ll get lucky and spot a shooting star.” 

“Unlikely, but I respect the optimism,” he hums teasingly, turning his attention back to the stars. You close your eyes, listening to the beating of his heart, feeling his hand rest on your arm and secure your presence close to him. You do intend on opening your eyes again to admire the sky for a while longer, but it isn’t long before you unwillingly drift off, eased enough to be lulled to sleep under the protection of the moon. 

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

[CN] Victor’s Confrontation Date (Eng Translation)

⌚Warning⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for a date, 对抗之约, that is yet to be released on the global server! ♡

[Additional warning]: ig it’s not a surprise at this point for Victor’s spicy dates LOL, but yeah, considering the vivid explicitness, if you don’t qualify for the 16+ rating of the game (CN server), it’s recommended that you don’t proceed under the cut~ :>

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•  

──

【Subbed Video: Date + Calls】

[Heads Up]: WATCH THE VIDEO AKSWKASDN!!! yes do read the transcript version for yk “reading,” but DO WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THE LOVE OF—— 👁️🫦👁️

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【Transcript】

【Chapter 1】

Victor: I advise you to think this through.

Donning a calm gaze, I walk leisurely through the cluster of bushes to Victor, enduring my laughter as I glance at his hands that are restrained behind his back.

MC: I was simply waving my hand just now. How did CEO Victor accidentally “fall into the trap”?

MC: And I have thought this through~ I’m just playing the game. Weren’t you the one who told me to blow off the steam as much as I like?

I gently caress his cheek, and my smile grows even brighter under his intense scrutinizing gaze.

After several months of continuous overtime work, my entire soul was consumed by a desire for vindictive entertainment.

As a way to relax, I found a new type of role-playing game that involves engaging in confrontations with other players. Over the course of three days, the players are to be divided into factions and compete for points by fighting for props inside a manor––

And naturally, Victor was dragged into it by me.

We teamed up with several college couples to form a group of eight. Each couple split up and joined one of the two teams, which meant that I ended up on the “opposing side” of Victor.

MC: Where did you hide your metal name tag? The rules state that you must carry it with you at all times.

Victor: I threw it away.

I narrow my eyes as I look up at him, while my hands don’t stop their motion of feeling around his chest and arms.

MC: Aw, it wouldn’t be fun if you were to do that.

Victor: I suggest you unlock the lock behind me right now.

MC: Well, I suggest you don’t make that suggestion~

Not satisfied with just this, I lift myself on my toes and softly peck on his slightly pursed lips.

MC: I’ll release you when I’ve found it.

Although Victor isn’t very keen on this game, I still concentrate on not missing any corners to prevent him from playing any tricks.

I slow down my movements and half-cling to him, feeling his blazing body temperature and the growing tension of his muscles slowly seeping through the thin fabric.

Shirt pockets, jacket’s inner pockets, back collar… I search through every corner of his upper body and still find nothing.

However, I hesitate for only a second before guiding my hand downward.

Victor: MC.

Victor: How much longer do you want to keep playing?

I deliberately ignore that increasingly intense stare and, with a completely innocent expression, reach out behind him with my hand––

My fingertips slide into the pocket of his suit pants, and I immediately feel a metallic touch wrapped in the warmth inside.

MC: Wouldn’t it have been better if you had told me just then?

Smiling, I withdraw my hand and look at the metal plate with the name “Victor” engraved on it. I then take out my game phone and scan the QR code on its backside––

“Player “MC” has gained 20 points, and Player “Victor” has lost his name tag.”

MC: Hehe, thanks for your cooperation.

I complacently pin his name tag to my chest and pantomime fixing the bangs falling in front of his eyes.

Victor: You wanna win that badly?

MC: When an opportunity presents itself, of course one should seize it.

MC: I joined forces with my teammates to deal with you specially. And as I thought, it was easily done.

This small victory causes me to feel a little smug and elated, but Victor suddenly breaks into laughter.

Victor: [chuckles softly]  I didn’t think I’d be so easy to deal with in your eyes.

MC: You can’t say that. I know that Vic gēge(*) is going easy on me. After all, you’ve never been interested in this kind of activity.

MC: It just so happens that this manor is perfect for a vacation. As Pudding’s dad, you should take this opportunity for a good break, “Pudding Senior.”

—

[Tidbits]: (*) as you might’ve already guessed, yes, MC calls him “泽言哥哥” (ZéYán gēge) here, the name MC used to call him when they were kids. For those unaware, when a Chinese girl addresses a boy as gēge (an intimate term of address), if not used to address her own older brother, she’d use it to address her boyfriend~ and the reason it got both Victor and MC flustered the first time they reminisced in Preference SP~ (//∇//) 

You can refer to this post for more details: ♡♡

—

As I say this, I gently run my fingertips over his chin, then check the time again before turning around and preparing to leave.

MC: The mechanism will automatically unfasten you after two minutes. See you later, CEO Victor!

Victor: Do you know why this game has a fixed time every day?

I’m stunned momentarily, then turn around to look at him.

Victor is shrouded in the shade beneath the tree, lifting his chin slightly. Both his hands are clearly bound behind his back, but he seems to be relaxed, as if he is merely in a dormant state.

MC: Because it’s exhausting to be on high alert all the time, right? We’re all here to have fun, so we shouldn’t put the cart before the horse.

Victor: And do you know…

Victor: What’s the reason behind this game’s three-day duration?

—

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  —

【Chapter 2】

[Fair Warning in advance]: From here onwards, Victor blushes PRACTICALLY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DATE. As tempted as I am, it’s not possible to include over 60+ blushing sprites, so I’m just giving y'all a heads up LMAO~ \(//∇//)\

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With only a two-minute window to escape, I naturally don’t waste that time engaging in confrontation with Victor.

I know precisely what the three-day duration is for–– as long as the game is not over, there will still be possibilities to fight to retrieve our possessions.

MC: [to herself]  This man doesn’t take the game that seriously anyway. If I go and stay with him after 5 pm, it should be alright…

As I calculate in my mind, I run towards the meeting point previously agreed on with my team. But before I can spot anyone, I’m dumbfounded by a string of notifications on my phone.

MC: How come both of you lost your name tags?

Qian Er: …my boyfriend! This scumbag! He duped me!

Lei Zi: My wife also totally f*cked me over…

–

[Tidbits]: He is addressing his girlfriend as “my wife” btw haha~ 

–

At this moment, I finally understand why the game organizers separated the couples…

MC: It’s okay. I’ve got the name tag. Our next step is to reclaim the ones we lost. And for that, everyone needs to work together as much as possible.

Xiao Xin: However, although the game time is from 9 am to 5pm, there is still a possibility of being “converted to rebel” during the break time…

Another boy in the team speaks up in concern.

Xiao Xin: I propose that for these three days, we all should refrain from meeting our partners in private. Otherwise, we will have to watch out not only for the opposite side but also for our own people.

Lei Zi: You’re right. I think if my wife tries to “convert me to rebel,” I’ll easily fall for it.

Qian Er: I’m all for it! The lovey-dovey brain must leave Loveland City!

Xiao Xin & Lei Zi & Qian Er: For victory!

MC: …

Are college students all so competitive these days!

As the three youngsters shift their gazes at me, I feel an invisible pressure coming over me. I blink and immediately raise my hands.

MC: …no problem.

—

In order to firmly adhere to the philosophy of victory, our team members remain together throughout the entire dinner time after the first day of the game.

Victor shoots a faint glance in my direction from afar. And I, encircled by several of my teammates, have no choice but to put my palms together in apology to him.

—

I’ve been unable to find a single opportunity to talk with him all night. After returning to the room, I fiddle with the phone specifically designed for the game.

MC: …I should be able to make calls with this thing, right?

But who knew there would be a knock at the door before I could even look into Victor’s contact number?

Subconsciously thinking it’s the girl from my team with whom I made plans to meet in the evening, I casually open the door without so much as a second thought.

To my surprise, I see Victor’s face instantly appearing in my line of sight. We hold each other’s gaze for a few seconds, and at this moment, the air seems to be stagnant.

The next second, my heart suddenly skips a beat. After nervously scanning the surroundings, I immediately pull him into the room and close the door.

MC: Why are you here?

Victor: Why am I here?

He repeats my words unhurriedly, crossing his arms across his chest.

MC: …hehe, let me explain.

I briefly recap to him our team’s strategy for winning.

MC: Everyone was so serious at the time, so I couldn’t say no.

Victor: I can see that your enthusiasm is no less than that of those college students.

Victor: [sounds so wronged]  In order to implement your strategy, it seems like it’d be more appropriate for me to leave so as not to affect your leading-by-example image.

With a smile, I hastily wrap my arms around his neck, leaning in to peck him on the lips.

MC: Don’t leave, don’t leave! You and I came out here to have fun together. And I certainly am very clear on who is more important to me.

MC: I was thinking about calling you just now!

Victor: Really?

Victor’s expression remains unchanged as he snakes one hand around the back of my waist.

Victor: I don’t see any signs of that.

MC: Then you aren’t looking closely enough. Examine more carefully.

Beneath the dim yellowish light, the magnified shadows on the wall merge seamlessly, not leaving the slightest gap between each other.

As my fingertips dig into the back of his shirt collar, I simultaneously take the initiative to meet his slightly pursed, thin lips, softly pecking them twice.

Victor: [blushing + sexy whisper]  This little sweetness is not enough.

His voice follows the rhythm of our exchanged breaths and enters my mind, causing everything to slow down and amplify every subtle touch.

MC: Wait, my teammate will be here soon. We can’t let her catch…

A kiss forcefully cuts me off, swallowing up all the unfinished words.

The hot and moist tips of our tongues intertwine with each other. He brands a rough, grainy sensation between my sensitive lips and teeth, bringing a hint of punishment.

I instinctively tilt my head back slightly, wallowing in the haze of this dimness.

In the scorching and stuffy world, there seems to be something gently coming through.

Qian Er: …sis, it’s me, Qian Er. Are you there?

The sound of knocking on the door rings out. I hear Qian Er’s voice, who was originally supposed to come looking for me, coming from outside.

My whole body shudders in surprise. Amidst the powerful predation, I suddenly regain some of my sanity.

MC: [blushing]  Victor… she is here.

Victor: [blushing + raspy whisper]  I heard it.

His voice is lethally cloying, but his overly scorching lips swim down my cheeks to the tip of my ear, nibbling without the slightest concern.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + slyly hoarse whisper]  You need to be careful… we can’t get caught.

He deliberately repeats what I said earlier. But his soft reminder is akin to the coaxing temptation of a devil, accompanied by his heavy breaths that make my world heat up unceasingly.

Qian Er: Are you not there? You wouldn’t happen to have gone to look for...

MC: [blushing + to the girl]  …I am here!

With great difficulty, I suppress the gasp that’s on the verge of escaping me. Then I struggle to crane my head and sink my teeth into his neck.

Though the subtle bite marks are not entirely clear, they do elicit a slightly insatiable chuckle from this wicked man before me.

MC: [blushing + to the girl]  I was just… taking a shower, so I couldn’t hear you.

Qian Er: Should I come back after you’ve fixed yourself up, then?

The man in front of me slightly arches an eyebrow. And in the next second, he turns even more oblivious as he continues with his bullying. He plants incredibly lingering and gentle kisses, tracing his way up from my collarbones to my neck and upwards.

MC: [blushing + to Victor]  You…

Victor: [flushed cheeks + brEaThEs literally into your ear]  She said she would come back later.

The arm half-supporting me lifts slightly upwards again, making it even easier for him to lean his head sideways and nibble on my throat.

Qian Er: Sis?

Victor: [flushed cheeks + even raspier, proud tone]  You should give her an answer.

My brain has turned into a lump of mush, and I decide to surrender before things escalate any more “out of hand.”

MC: [blushing + to the girl]  I’m feeling a bit light-headed from the shower… Sorry, can we talk tomorrow? I’d like to go to bed a little earlier tonight.

I struggle immensely to get to the end of my sentence, and through gritted teeth, I capture a few glimmers of laughter in that pair of dark and silent eyes.

Qian Er: Sis, rest up then~ Good night, sis~

The footsteps outside the door gradually fade away. I clench my molar teeth and firmly grab onto his front collar.

MC: Are you getting back at me for what I did during the day?

Victor: [flushed cheeks + torrid breath]  This doesn’t count.

The instigator of this episode blends his words ambiguously into his kisses, with a hint of deep meaning flashing in his eyes.

Victor: [flushed cheeks]  Didn’t you just make it clear who is more important to you?

Victor: [flushed cheeks]  I merely took your words for it, that’s all.

—

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  —

【Chapter 3】

The next day, I purposely time my arrival at the front yard of the villa to avoid coinciding with Victor’s.

The other members of his team have already set off earlier, leaving only Victor, who is sitting leisurely on the sofa and flipping through a magazine.

Meeting that toneless gaze of his, I blow him a kiss from the back of the group and happily embark on my journey.

—

Today’s game proceeds smoothly beyond expectations. Relying on Lei Zi’s excellent intuition, we’ve actually found all the individuals who were separately ambushing us in different corners of the manor one by one.

“Player “Zhou Lei” gains 20 points, Player “Zhao Xin” gains 20 points…”

Qian Er: That was incredibly easy… but Lei Zi, your girlfriend’s gaze just now looked like she was gonna eat you alive.

Lei Zi: I’ll just kneel on the keyboard when I get home. It’s not a big deal.

Xiao Xin: Still, we shouldn’t let our guards down. After all, they can still snatch back the name tags.

Xiao Xin: There’s no camera in the entire manor. There are way more blind spots than we can possibly imagine…

While Xiao Xin is gesturing with his hands and contemplating the safest hiding spots on the map of the manor, Lei Zi quietly approaches me from the side.

Lei Zi: Sis, I wanna ask you for a favor.

MC: Hm?

Lei Zi: I have a special solo mission that requires the help of someone from the team... Could you help me?

Upon hearing this special invitation, I immediately perk up my ears with excitement.

MC: Sure! What do you need me to do?

—

MC: That’s odd…

I meticulously examine the surrounding area of the fountain pool, but don’t spot anything out of the ordinary.

MC: The spot Lei Zi said should be here…

I circle the place again, but still find nothing.

The water in the fountain continuously flows outward and forms cascading water curtains that carry the spraying water droplets, creating blooming specs of light under the dazzling sunlight.

I gaze quietly for a long time. Unwilling to give up, I crouch down and carefully fumble around the pool’s perimeter once again.

Suddenly, I inadvertently touch a stone, causing it to tilt slightly–– the water from the fountain ceases its flow in the next second, revealing a set of steps leading to a stone staircase at the center of the fountain.

MC: So it turns out that the stone steps were not just for decorative purposes...!

My eyes widen in amazement, and I walk up to the stone pillar at the center of the fountain, reaching out my hand to search for any special props––

“Click.”

As I watch the mechanism appear once again, the smile on my face is wiped off completely. A rubber ring suddenly emerges on the surface of the pillar, trapping my hand in place!

MC: …?!

Before I can react, a powerful force grabs my other wrist and swiftly flips me over, pinning my wrist next to the rubber ring.

“Click.”

All of this happens within a matter of moments. It’s not until both my hands are bound behind my back that I begin to comprehend the situation, staring wide-eyed at the person who is now standing in front of me.

MC: …how did you get here?

Victor: I’ve been here the whole time. You were just too slow to act.

Folding his arms across his chest, he leans down slightly to meet my eye level, looking at me teasingly.

The alarm bells in my head are ringing frantically, and a strange thought suddenly rushes to my mind, causing me to swallow nervously.

MC: Could it be that you...

Victor: Otherwise, how do you think he was able to locate everyone?

Victor: And why were they all on their own?

MC: When did you talk to Lei Zi…?

Victor: [chuckles lightly]  That’s not something you need to be concerned about.

He lifts his hand and presses on something unbeknownst to me, causing the pool’s fountain to activate again.

The cascading water curtain gushes outward, creating a hazy veil that envelops us within. Instinctively, I am gripped by a sense of looming danger approaching in silence.

Victor is in complete control of this series of actions. He first made his own teammates separate, then found an opportunity to make a deal with Lei Zi––

–– and tricked me into coming here.

The manor is designed to allow players’ evasion activities, and as a result, there are numerous concealed hiding spots. And Victor knows me all too well to know that I would be intrigued by these interesting features.

He is too patient a hunter, creating the opportunity to win by striking just one blow, biting the throat of his prey in an instant.

MC: Victor, you duped me!

Victor: This extent of action doesn’t really count as duping someone.

Victor: It’s just a fitting way to blow off the steam, is all.

MC: But by doing this... your team will lose.

Victor: I have no interest in winning or losing this game.

He gently lifts his hand, caressing the “Victor” name tag pinned on my chest.

Victor: And besides, I guess you’re forgetting… it’s only the second day.

Victor: Where’s your name tag?

His dry fingertips glide slowly up my breasts, passing over my neck and caressing my cheek.

—

[Notes]: bruh they really just straight went for “前胸” (breasts)— not even caring to use short/refined phrasing like 胸/心口 LMAO 🙏

—

MC: …pinned it inside the left pant leg.

Victor: [!! elated chuckle]  There’s no need to be so honest.

Victor: It’d be hard to find us here, so we still have plenty of time.

The powerful fingertips lift my chin slightly, causing the falling droplets of water to be sprinkled finely, only to have this cold sensation be melted away by the extremely intimate proximity of his breath.

He rubs his lips against mine slowly and deliberately, neither delving too deeply nor drawing back too far. 

The unbearable touch feels as if my entire body is being lifted into the air. The damp mist of the water stream spreads around us, bringing our closely pressed skin even closer together.

Water droplets drip down his gently fluttering eyelashes onto my upper lip, then roll along the folds of our lips as they caress against each other, finally entering our intertwined lips and teeth.

MC: …getting back at me… you’re so petty! Evil capitalist…!

Victor has done a full circle and repeated every detail of what I did to him yesterday.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + raspiest of whispers x1]  Naturally, the capitalist has to pay back twice the amount.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + x2]  Also, there’s only one cat at home, and that’s Pudding.

—

[Notes]: LMFAAOOO THIS MAN!!! For those who didn’t get it– at the beginning of the date, MC addressed Victor as “Pudding’s Dad, Pudding Senior,” suggesting that he is her big clingy cat, which he 110% is LOL. But he “begs to differ” ‘cause as he showed just now, feline it may be, but he is still the beast “Lion” 😩🤣

—

His muffled words are intertwined with my heavy panting, reminiscent of a predatory beast patiently teasing its prey that it has captured.

In the long time that we’ve been together, I’ve become too accustomed to him, and in his tacit acquiescence, I would brazenly play with his “belly” without any reservations.

But he’s never been an indolent kitty.

MC: Y-you propose a term… let’s talk.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + the most seductively provocative of whispers]  What capital do you have to negotiate terms with me?

The teasing I capture in his eyes itches me so much that I can’t resist biting him. But this only causes the smile in his eyes to brew even deeper in response.

MC: Just- you- wait.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + chuckles]  That vigor is good.

He finally draws a few steps back, then crouches down and finds my name tag with ease.

Victor scans the QR code and affixes the “MC” engraved name tag to his chest majestically. He then turns around after switching off the fountain, preparing to leave.

MC: Why don’t you take your name tag too?

Victor: I’m just leaving an excuse.

Stepping on the stairs, he haughtily turns his head sideways.

Victor: [chuckles softly]  So you won’t be too bored tomorrow.

—

Victor and I, in a sense, have returned to our starting line again.

Although we don’t sit together at dinner, we both wear each other’s name tags on our chests, creating an indescribable romantic tension.

Lei Zi doesn’t dare to make eye contact with me all evening, and I don’t wish to haggle with him, either.

—

On the third day, it becomes obvious that the other side has received Victor’s instructions and has grown more structured in their approach.

As the dominant side, our countermeasure is for everyone else to stay hidden till the last moment, while I––

I keep my eyes locked on Victor from afar across the dense bushes, provocatively maintaining a distance of about ten meters from him at all times.

—

Following several pulling and tugging, I manage to hide in a flower house, intending to catch my breath.

However, the next second, there is a rustling sound outside the window. I hear the person with a steady stride approaching, treading on the broken leaves.

Victor: Think you’ve chosen a good spot?

Beneath the hot sunlight, a few flower petals float down from between Victor’s fingers. He grips the railing of the flower window with one hand, while his fingertips insert themselves into the flower’s pistil.

—

[Tidbits]: The female organs of a flower are collectively called “花蕊”/ pistil, comprising of stigma, style and ovary. (!!! yeah reference to that innuendo of “the rose and the white thingie” in the PV)~ 💦🙏

—

His piercing gaze is even more intense than the sunlight, locking straight onto me. Even though clearly we are physically apart from each other, his imposing presence is still palpable.

His slender forearm may have been scratched by the thorns of the bushes, leaving a few glaring blood marks. But Victor remains unfazed, as if it were merely a minor price to be paid in the process.

MC: CEO Victor, aren’t you asking a question you already know the answer to?

This is too foul an approach to entice someone in this way to have them walk right into your trap.

MC: After all, you didn’t want me to run away again, did you?

—

[Tidbits]: MC switches to “您” here, which is the courteous term for “you” in Chinese, amplifying her bitterness LMAO~

—

Victor: The door is right there. You can leave if you want.

He raises his eyebrows, revealing all his bright schemes with unparalleled frankness.

MC: Will that cause too much loss for CEO Victor?

Victor: Unexpected opportunities like this always provide a chance to encounter the next one.

Victor: As long as you consider the aftermath, it’ll be fine.

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•  

  —

【Chapter 4】

Deflating my mouth, I tie the gauze on Victor’s arm into a knot, then look around the flower room without making it obvious. Finally, I shift my eyes again to my other party’s cool and collected face.

MC: You sign documents worth tens of billions with this hand. You need to be more careful.

–

[Tidbits]:MC uses “您” (the courteous term for “you”), here too LMAO~

–

MC: Ugh, my plan has been ruined. I wonder if a certain Mr. CEO would be as kind-hearted as me?

Victor: Your little thoughts are almost all written on your forehead.

Victor: Your plan is simply to have those college students hide while you stall for time, and then launch a surprise attack when the countdown is almost over.

MC: Since you were already aware of this, why did you still chase after me?

Victor: [delighted laugh]  Because your ruses are enough to make me look forward to them.

An undisguised arrogance climbs up the corners of his lips, and he unhurriedly pulls back the rolled-up sleeve to his wrist. The light in his dark-colored pupils reflects my figure.

This arrogant stance arouses my fighting spirit completely. I compose myself and pantomime leaning toward him.

MC: I never thought CEO Victor would have such a wicked side to him. Shouldn’t it be the prey who is to bite in the first place?

Victor: Whether it’s done at the beginning or end makes no difference. Hunting has always been meant to be a deadly struggle between two opponents on equal footing.

Victor: In the face of a predetermined outcome, the process only enriches the ending.

His fingertips twirl themselves around the ends of my hair, making a circular motion in the air.

I gaze at him for a long time. Then propping myself up, I place my hands on both sides of his head, lowering my eyes to him.

MC: Have you ever considered that doing this would expose you to the risk of me biting your throat?

Victor: I never turn down any challenge.

Victor: Especially when it’s from you.

MC: Is that right?

I lower my head to his neck and, without the slightest hesitation, open my mouth and gently nibble on his prominent Adam’s apple.

He seems to have not anticipated that I’d be so decisive, causing his entire body to quiver instinctively.

I crinkle my eyes and silently concentrate on deepening the mark.

By the time I lift my head, the teeth marks are clearly imprinted on his Adam’s apple, shimmering with a light sheen of moisture.

MC: How does it feel to have someone bite your throat?

The answer I receive is a fiercely wild kiss.

Victor’s hand suddenly presses down, causing me to be caught off guard and collide with his teeth.

All the unspoken words between us are shattered into fragments in the entangled exploration. The rapid breaths entwined with the moist sound of water flood my entire sensory world.

My scorching breaths are constantly being swallowed up by his kisses. But I don’t simply want to sink into this passively. Instead, I stubbornly entangle myself back.

Whether it’s a conspiracy or a bright scheme, when faced with absolute power, you must show your strength.

The palm clasped around the back of my neck continues to exert force, allowing the predator to unceasingly penetrate deeper unchallenged. At the same time, I also step on his thigh and move up a little bit, causing him to release a hot and muffled moan.

My fingertips advance on his chest, and in the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of the phone that has been tossed aside.

14:59.

I kiss him even harder, counting down in my mind––

And just before the number is about to change, I suddenly yank off the name tag on his chest and hold it up over my head.

MC: I’ve won.

—

MC: You cheated!!

Victor: I thought you were very happy and willing to receive my flowers at the party.

MC: This was our team’s reward for victory. And, of course, I would accept the bouquet CEO Victor wrapped for me as the loser.

MC: Besides, this is an entirely different matter––

Even when we return to the hotel after the event dinner, I still can’t stop stomping my feet.

MC: I watched the digits jump to 59 at once. Even if I were to say that I counted faster, it still couldn’t be more than ten seconds.

MC: You must have paused the time!

Victor: Don’t blame other people as an excuse for your miscalculating the time.

Looking at his composed demeanor, I narrow my eyes and follow him into the elevator.

—

Suddenly, a thought occurs to me, and I press my lips together slyly.

MC: CEO Victor, could it be that you paused the time unconsciously and now feel embarrassed about it?

While speaking, I lean over and peck him on the lips.

As the elevator ascends, the dots of light that shine through the window swirl incessantly in Victor’s eyes. He lowers his gaze and doesn’t say anything.

MC: Still haven’t paused, eh.

Pressing my lips against his warm ones, I kiss him again.

MC: Still no pause.

MC: It seems that it wasn’t unintentional, but rather deliberate––

Victor: [flushed cheeks]  You haven’t fully reconstructed the scene in the flower house. So, this doesn’t count.

The patter of rain begins to trickle down outside the window, coating the light and shadow cast on our bodies with a hazy veil. Even our mingled breaths are imbued with the hint of dampness in the air.

MC: Humph, you capitalist! You really never lose out.

Without saying anything more, I lean against the railing and pull hard on his tie knot, yanking it off directly.

Our lips and teeth tightly press against each other as our tongues dance together. I tirelessly explore his territory, leaving my mark on every crevice and corner of it.

The delicate string, as thin as the fine rain, glues our lips together as we slowly separate, panting rapidly for breaths.

The raindrops hitting the glass are reminiscent of blooming flowers, and the world has been rendered silent.

Victor: [flushed cheeks + !!?? lethally raspy, prolonged whisper pouring into your ears]  Do you think I did it unintentionally or deliberately now?

His raspy voice sounds amid the suspended light and shadow, a small cloying smile hanging at the corners of his lips.

MC: It doesn’t matter to me. Regardless of whether it’s intentional or unintentional, it shows that you seem to be working hard in my hunting ground too.

I curl the corners of my lips into a complacent smile, satisfied and ready to open the distance between us––

However, before I can, the palm covering my waist firmly holds me in place and swiftly lifts me up, pressing me directly against the railing of the elevator in a flash.

–

A sudden sensation of coldness crawls up my spine, catching me off guard. To find balance, I instinctively arch my waist and cling onto him with both my hands and feet, crashing into his burning hot breath right in front of me.

I frantically search for a point of strength on Victor’s body and grab onto his coat in a tangled mess. A soft chuckle sounds in my ear, and in the next second, the space in front of me becomes even narrower.

And Victor advances another step further toward me, hemming me in completely into the confined space.

Victor: [!!?? lethally raspy, prolonged whisper pouring into your ears but 3.0]  Then let me see your hard work too.

“Susurrus——”

—

[Tidbits]: !!! the term is simply “簌—” here (suggesting a rustling noise), and now look at the long ribbon of her dress that has been untied––

—

MC: [blushing]  I-I, what else do I need to do? You put me down first…

Victor: [-- 5.0]  I see you’ve been very bold these few days, and now you know to be scared?

The bouquet in my hand becomes heavier and heavier, while my high heels are struggling and on the verge of slipping off my toes.

Victor: [soft chuckle + !!?? 7.0 but more dangerous tone like the hunter has you right where and how he wanted]  Don’t drop my flowers.

His approaching breath is like bait. As I’m trying to escape in a panic, a warm palm has already covered my thigh, pinning me firmly in place.

The sound of clothes rustling is exceptionally clear at this moment. Gentle kisses spread along my neck all the way to the tips of my ears, and together with his scorching breaths and touches, they surge into my consciousness.

The overly steady elevator quietly erases the traces of time. However, the numbers that change from time to time become the only indicator announcing the flow of time.

“Ding——”

MC: [blushing]  Victor, it’s…!

The remainder of my words are crushed between our lips and teeth, and my eyes can’t help but widen. Just as I feel my heart is about to give out, he completely usurps me of the entirety of my sanity——

The elevator door opens, but there is no one outside.

Victor: This is a VIP elevator, and we are the only ones on the top floor.

Victor: Of course, there’s no need to worry about surveillance issues either.

MC: [blushing]  You’re such a…

The only response to me is a quiet chuckle. And in the next second, I’m suddenly lifted up and carried outside the elevator.

—

He holds me up skillfully with one hand, not using too much force, yet using just enough to not allow me to drop back on the floor.

MC: [blushing]  Put me down!

Victor: Only you would let go of your grip after biting the other party’s throat.

He lifts his foot and steps onto the thick and soft carpet, walking extremely slowly. Each step he takes causes me to descend slightly, and my entire body is practically hanging onto his.

My thighs, which are wrapped around his waist, gradually begin to weaken. But those searing hands of his remain pressed against me.

Victor: Stay focused.

The unbearable rubbing is continuously wearing away at my willpower, and his hoarse voice sounds as if he is patiently enduring a certain emotion.

MC: Next time... I will definitely not let you go.

Victor: You don’t need to wait for the next time.

Victor: I’ll give you this opportunity tonight.

Along with the sound of the door opening, the somewhat dazzling light causes me to subconsciously squint my eyes. In my dazed state, I find myself sinking into a softness.

Victor: [!!??!! INTENSE BREATHING + SIR SLOW DOWN!! WHAT IS THAT NOOISEEE]  We can continue our game for a very long time now.

────────────

Calls: here! (important read)~

────────────

[thebawdybaldurian]

New Work Preview (A Life, A Death, A Kitten)

I promise I haven’t disappeared. I just got an idea for a new post-game scene with the Tavhalstarion clan and it spiraled into a very long work that will probably be split into multiple chapters when it is eventually published. It is both sweet and incredibly horny with a smidgen of angst and family drama as well. This is a little scene with Tav, Halsin, and their twin toddlers, Ava and Shan. And surprise reveal, Tav is pregnant again! Full draft will go up on my Patreon whenever I can find a good stopping point.

Part one is posted!

Halsin heard voices upstairs and headed towards them, finding Tav and the children laying on the floor of the sitting room drawing. He held a finger to his lips when the children saw him, trying to surprise Tav as she lay prone on the floor. He pounced on her, growling in her ear and grabbing it with his teeth as she pretended to scream. “It’s a bear attack!” He exclaimed, making biting sounds around her neck.

“Run kids! Save yourselves!” Tav laughed, reaching back to grab his hair. The twins screamed and crawled away, hiding behind chairs and giggling. “Hi Daddy Bear,” Tav cooed quietly as Halsin nuzzled her neck. “You stink…I love it…have you come to give me a little late morning sugar?”

“I am unfortunately the bearer of bad news,” he replied as she groaned at his unintentional pun. “Your mother is here.”

Tav groaned even louder, pressing her face against the rug. “Oh noes, da beah has momma,” Shan peeked out from his hiding place. “I save you!”

He came running out with a fake toy sword, swinging it playfully at Halsin. “Aghhh!” Halsin groaned, rolling off Tav and onto his back, putting his arms and legs in the air like a dead bug.

“You’ve got him now, Shan! Thank you!” Tav clapped, sitting up on her elbow to watch the two grapple playfully.

Shan was still growing like a weed and was twice the size of Ava, apparently sharing his father’s large physique. Tav put a hand on her belly, wondering who this new cub would take after. Halsin was so sweet and gentle with the kids, while Astarion let them get into a little more trouble. Regardless of who had sired it, she knew they would have two amazing fathers to watch after them all. Halsin played dead, sharing a smile with Tav when he saw her hand on her belly. He was already thinking of names and where they would put the nursery in the new house. “I wanna kill da beah too!” Ava came out of hiding, crawling onto Halsin.

“Remember we don’t kill bears, unless absolutely necessary,” Halsin held both his children in his arms. “They are mostly scared of us.”

“Yes daddy,” both kids responded, having heard his lectures about being kind to animals numerous times.

“We can stuff and mount this one though,” Tav winked, scooting over to him and nuzzling his neck.

“What about the hag?” Halsin asked, giving Tav a kiss as the family snuggled together on the floor. “Do you want me to run her off?”

“No,” Tav sighed, running her fingers through Shan’s curls. “I’ll have to talk to her eventually…I just need a minute to collect myself…and to tell Astarion to ready the Banishment spell.”

“Kids, why don’t you go back to drawing?” Halsin suggested, moving them off of his body. “I need to go apply some anti-bear salve to mommy.”

[writeonwhiskey]

any word on a new chapter queen? dying over here this story is my lifeline 🥹 hope you’re well x

I am well and I hope you are too!

As I was writing chapter 18, it started to get too long so I'm going to split it in two. I've sent the first half out for editing and when it's back, I'll be posting! I'm excited for you all to read it!

Please, enjoy a teeny snippet for your patience:

“Ouch,” he drops the petals from his hands. “That hurts, y/n. I can be romantic.”

You arch an eyebrow as he holds out his hand to you. You place your hand in his and he gently pulls you so you’re standing between his legs.

“You’d like it if I did something like this wouldn’t you?” he looks up at you with a knowing smirk.

You roll your eyes and give his shoulders a shove. He falls back onto the bed, right into the middle of the rose petal heart.  Of course you’d like that. But hearing him say it, thinking of him doing something so romantic for the person that will one day be truly and completely his…

No, you can’t allow yourself to dwell on those thoughts.

You climb on top of him on the bed, straddling his waist. You sit up straight with your hands resting on his chest, taking in the sight of him surrounded by the red petals. He looks beautiful, the colors breathing life into his pale complexion and contrasting the dark curls strewn about his head.

You push aside the painful thoughts of the future and focus on the present. You have Chan right now. You’re his, right now. No one else.

“Thank you,” you say, breaking the silence.

“For what?” he asks, placing his hands on your hips.

“For doing a complete 180 today.”

He offers a shrug, “You made some valid points. I chose to come here with you—I have to make sure you have a good time.” He uses his hands on your hips to guide your hips, grinding them against him. “You decide what you wanna do first?”

“Yeah,” you reply, leaning down until your face is centimeters apart from his. “You.”

I do want to give a heads up that there will be a few "fade to black" moments for the smut in the next chapter. I could not write out in detail every single time they have sex on this trip lol well I mean, I could, but then it would take longer to finish. But I do believe you'll enjoy the full scene that is in there hehehe

[destinyc1020]

This might be a tad controversial to say but ... I understand that Sam's team is attempting to slander Z, which is terrible. However, I'm glad that article confirmed they are no longer close. She was so deeply and emotionally invested in Euphoria/Rue that it didn't seem healthy for her to be consumed by it all the time. During the pandemic, she would discuss the S2 script with Sam everyday. That was the moment I thought 'Oh honey you need to stop'. Yeah, she's a workaholic, but it's important to balance work with your personal life. She was restless during the pandemic, It seemed like she was experiencing separation anxiety from the Euphoria world. When she appeared on Variety's Actor on Actor, she was legit almost in tears talking about Rue. The closer she got to Sam, the more she became consumed by the Euphoria realm and obsessing over Sam's work. Their friendship even led to the creation of Malcolm and Marie, which had fans defending her online for months. Now, post-Euphoria, she is glowing, taking time to treat herself, and traveling with her loved ones. I love how much she's grown beyond Sam and Euphoria. She looks happier and she is branching out. I hope to see the Euphoria chapter closed for good. The cast seemed to have moved on as well just I want to see Z happy and away from that man.

GIRL YES!!!!! ALL of this! 👏🏾

I've honestly been feeling this way for a long time, but I just didn't wanna say anything. 👀

She was so deeply and emotionally invested in Euphoria/Rue that it didn't seem healthy for her to be consumed by it all the time. During the pandemic, she would discuss the S2 script with Sam everyday. That was the moment I thought 'Oh honey you need to stop'. Yeah, she's a workaholic, but it's important to balance work with your personal life. She was restless during the pandemic, It seemed like she was experiencing separation anxiety from the Euphoria world. When she appeared on Variety's Actor on Actor, she was legit almost in tears talking about Rue. The closer she got to Sam, the more she became consumed by the Euphoria realm and obsessing over Sam's work.

Exactly.

#REALTALK I think Z did get kinda consumed with her work on Euphoria, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was probably one of the reasons for the Tomdaya split. 👀 I think sometimes, actors can get so caught up in their work or a specific role because they know it's their one chance to really prove to the public and the industry that they can branch out and do some "serious work" (or, in Z's case, not just be seen as a "Disney Girl" for life), and I think it gets to the point of obsession because there's so much pressure and anxiety tied up into it. 😔 Meanwhile, your loved ones around you are confused and like.... "Yo...maybe you need to take a break....It's just a role.... It will be okay...hey, when are we gonna see each other..." LOL 😅

Z was definitely swept up into the Euphoria Hype/Sam Levinson World for a while. When she was talking about her character Rue like she was a real person, I was like... "Oh girl.... you've gone to the deep end..." 😔 But I had compassion for her, cuz I know this role meant a LOT to her, and it really allowed her to prove to people that she can do more than just comedy, and little wholesome Disney roles. I don't blame her for getting caught up, because it can happen to ANY actor out here. ❤️

But like you, I'm just glad that she has finally started to DISTANCE herself away from Sam.

Now, post-Euphoria, she is glowing, taking time to treat herself, and traveling with her loved ones. I love how much she's grown beyond Sam and Euphoria. She looks happier and she is branching out. I hope to see the Euphoria chapter closed for good. The cast seemed to have moved on as well just I want to see Z happy and away from that man.

Girl YES.

The sooner she can get away from that man, the better! And I totally agree with you! I think her being away from the obsession of Euphoria (like in S1) has been the best thing for her! She seems so much more at ease, happier, more carefree, etc. I'm glad she learned that she doesn't have to be a work-a-holic either.

Don't worry....Our girl is good and she will be fine! 🥰 Getting too deep into a role is something that happens to a LOT of actors (believe it or not - many have discussed this). I think instead of blaming the actor, fans need to have more compassion (jmho), because it can happen to ANYONE! But I believe she learned from her experience, and also learned not to trust Sam lol (especially his deadlines 👀), and so she's moving on and more than likely won't make that mistake ever again. 🥰

[kafkaoftherubble]

人性的“光”辉

//The Case for "Hikaru's" Humanity

This essay was originally a reblog/response to this post by chronicoverthinker.

I find the complexity of "Hikaru's" expression of love fascinating and nuanced enough for multiple interpretations. Hence, I wanted to put my thoughts out here in a separate post... for my own Garden's archive, to be honest! Hahahaha!

Anyway, I respectfully disagree with that post. Here's why.

Against The Case To Not Judge "Hikaru" As Though He's a Human

What I'm getting at from the bulk of the argument is that "Hikaru" cannot genuinely be described as aroace—or somewhere in the spectrum—because he's fundamentally not human.

I wanna push back on this. I think OP is not giving "Hikaru" enough credit.

The examples OP cited are either from the beginning—when he was very much 90% eldritch and 10% "cosplaying as a human"—or when he's still trying to grasp the deeper layers of being human.

Take his attitude with Asako discovering his secret(s).

OP is right that, during the first incident, "Hikaru" acted like a monster would. But in the second incident, "Hikaru" actually acted differently.

There was a brief moment of tension here—as if there was a split-second clash in "Hikaru's" mind that we aren't privy to. This is related to what I wanna talk about later.

For now, though, this is what happens a little while later... after Asako expresses her grief for the dead Hikaru.

Here, "Hikaru" philosophizes what it means to be a living being who sees death as a totality.

And while he's doing that—

He reached out and wiped the tears off Asako's face.

Bear in mind that "Hikaru" had only shown his most unambiguous benevolence to Emoshiki for a long time, but here, he's showing similar care and benevolence to a friend. A non-Yoshiki human.

That's not all. He also expresses similarly subtle humanity in his interaction with that Medium Ajuma/Auntie (I forgot her name even though I liked her a lot ahahhaha). He values her advice and looks up to her for counsel, contrasting the first time he learned of her existence through Emoshiki's phone. The latter was when he was still mostly a monster; the former was as "Hikaru" steadily gained humanity.

I want to also point out that "Hikaru's" gains are parallel to Yoshiki's losses. Emoshiki is starting to be registered as "not entirely human/living". He is starting to feel the effects of torii gates acting as barriers, for example.

But if we're talking about the thematic confirmation of "Hikaru's" change in his personhood, I think there is an even better one in the manga.

---

The Emergent Dual nature of "Hikaru," Visualized

Above all else, I think nothing illustrates "Hikaru's" clash between humanity and monstrous nature than this panel shown here by my (very one-sided) bro, Mokumoku Ren:

The panel before it was this:

The left side of "Hikaru" shows his Eldritch nature. The tendrils that clue us of his monstrosity are leaking out.

The right side, however... shows a single human tear. The side where he was simply crying as an emotionally hurting human being.

Even the words on the second panel have subtle hints of that duality. Notice that the "monster side" has the word "Kill? Kill?!" While the human side has "it hurts""I have to do somethin'" and "apologize."

The two sides share words, for sure, but when I read it, my immediate understanding was that

the monstrous side is reacting, hence it comes out first. It's automated; the default state Eldritch-bro has been in for many years.

The human side is responding, hence the tears coming out later than the tendrils.

One is "Hikaru's" default, dominant nature. The other? His gained humanity and his budding capacity for self-reflection.

Later in this chapter, we actually see "Hikaru's" humanity—in an unambiguous telling—winning against his default-dominant nature: he chose to respond instead of react. He gave half of his monstrosity to Yoshiki so he could be more human than monster from that point onward.

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"I Love You, Yoshiki."

This is how it was played out in Chapter 1.

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And this is how it plays out in Chapter 26.

In both instances, "Hikaru" makes allusions to how fun being human is for a monster like himself. However, his reasons in the first chapter were superficial ("I have friends! I ate ice cream!"). The second panel, meanwhile, was thoughtful and earned.

You even notice how the first panel's "Hikaru" insisted that he's as good as a real human, while the second—now wised up to what humanity really means—admitted to being a monster and a substitute in origin.

I think "Hikaru" has gained enough humanity to him at this point that, even his self-deprecative " [...] the monster's feelings" is more human than monstrous.

His previous emotions were never this deep; they were copies of OG Hikaru at best while he outwardly insists he's so-totally Hikaru. But here, despite admitting that he really is "just a monster pretending to be human," he displays the sort of realization only a monster who finally gained humanity is capable of discerning. He's experiencing the nuances of a human's thought process, even noting his own lack of understanding concerning love.

This is why I disagree. I think "Hikaru" has enough human-ness to be reasonably considered aroace, at least at this point.

"Hikaru's" inability to understand love, even in terms of familial love or platonic love, is similar to my own. Nonetheless, there are still two dear friends I care a lot about, in a manner similar to how "Hikaru" feels for Yoshiki.

In other words: the way I understand "Hikaru's" declaration of love—per my own subjective experience as an aroace—is that he is expressing "care."

This gets us to the next point I'd like to make.

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"Hikaru's" Love for Yoshiki isn't Expressed in Hunger

You're right; "Hikaru" hungers for Yoshiki. The exploration and reading of that hunger deserves its own analysis, but briefly, I see it as a metaphor for addiction (or even the violence of mental illnesses?), which can be intertwined with feelings like love.

No matter what it could be read as, though, if "Hikaru's" love for Emoshiki is just hunger masquerading as love, then there is little sense why "Hikaru" would express his love by putting distance between himself and Emoshiki.

His psychological journey up to that point on the beach centered around one question,

"What is the best thing to do so Yoshiki doesn't get hurt (by my monstrous side)?"

In other words, "What is the best thing for me to do so the person I love doesn't get hurt by my addiction/episodes?"

"Hikaru's" love is expressed in his commitment to Emoshiki's well-being. It is how he recognizes the danger of his monstrous hunger. As we've discussed earlier in this post, "Hikaru" is grappling with the duality of his personhood.

I think he is experiencing both care (which is "Hikaru's" version of love, maybe?) and hunger when it comes to Yoshiki.

These two desires interplay with each other... but are also at odds with one another. "Hikaru," being the battleground for these two sides, knows this very well. He also knows what's fueling these two things simultaneously, and chooses to let his care for Yoshiki lead his decision.

I don't think "Hikaru's" love refers to his hunger at all. I think they exist simultaneously, and we're watching this man-of-a-monster make a choice. Despite his origin, he's struggling with the human condition between not letting go out of "love," and letting go out of that same "love."

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Conclusion

There is definitely an element of subjective reading here, but I think "Hikaru," at this moment, can be judged as human (and, while we're at it, aroace).

He's got enough humanness that he can be judged through the lens of humanity (though I also agree that one can also choose not to do so, ahahha!).

His inability to understand the sentimentalities of families and friends is not a strong argument for the case of "Hikaru" not being "human enough."

"Hikaru's" love does not equal his hunger. They are not the same sentiments, though they do intermingle and influence one another like all webs of emotions do.

This post may seem like it's about "Hikaru's" sexuality and romantic orientation, but the bigger point I want to argue about is actually "Hikaru's" humanity. I hope to present a different angle to what "Hikaru's" psychology might be about.

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I wanna end this with how Yoshiki reacts to "Hikaru's" decision.

The prominence of his wounded arm in the panel and the intensity of his rejection toward "Hikaru's" decision, to me, seems like a quiet echo to how "Hikaru" —90% Eldritch, 10% cosplaying as human—began at first.

The one who's expressing a clinging attachment... is now the human who's starting to gain little supernatural, monstrous elements to himself.

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Thank you for reading my ramble!

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Writing Patterns ~ Opening Lines

I was tagged by @thelettersfromnoone. Thanks for the tag, my friend!

Rules: list the first line of your 10 most recent (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

I chose to limit myself to fics that I knew when I began them that they would be longer pieces and/or multichapter fics. I've excluded drabbles, outtakes, bonus content for completed fics etc, and any stories that I've posted only the first chapter.

Where the Stars Crumble to Life

She was alone.

Maybe Tomorrow

His eyes itch and his head is pounding.

The Baker & The Hunter

How long does it take for the scars of loss to heal, I wonder as I stand next to the door and the train slows down to enter the station at District Twelve.

A Case of the Honeymoons

Six months of insanity all for this moment. 

Unmasked

The rain only exacerbates my headache.

[pauses to go ....hmmmm....]

9000 rpm

The echo of the announcer beats through the trees, tinny and grating.

The Midnight Train

Her father died when she was seventeen.

12 X 12

Wah! Wah! Wah! Wah!

Katniss peels her eyes open and growls at the offensive red numbers informing her that she has slept through six minutes of her alarm clock ringing.

Spellbound

The sun is mid sky by the time I return to the house with my haul for the day.

Outside Expectations

I drive by the place once just to make sure I have the right address. Twice because I know this can’t be right.

[It feels wrong to include OE without including the stories that go with it in the series, even though they've been posted longer and this puts me over my ten]

Outside the Lines

First Line posted: “Three brunettes and a blonde walk into a bar,” Laura says and Heather snorts.

Actual first line if you're reading the chapters chronologically: It’s late and dark. The window only useful to see my reflection. I’m restless and toss in bed.

Outside Chance:

First line of the text: “And that’s it folks. Katniss Everdeen takes the lead.”

First line of the action because split time formatting: “You wanna explain that garbage?” Haymitch snarls and I squint at the target.

BONUS! Because out of all my fics, this first line actually gets regular comments on it, to include multiple people claiming it's the most memorable opening line of anything I've ever shared with you all. If you've read it, you already know what it is. ;)

Pure

It's always snowing when I fuck up.

CONCLUSION: They're all short (concise?) opening sentences, and with maybe a handful of exceptions, they start with my characters at an extremely low point.

I tag! @mollywog, @sohypothetically, @rosegardeninwinter, @littlerosette, @creamytinydays, @endlessnightlock If you so choose to play!