#i was aware i was dreaming too so. very strange in a nice way

[pyro-madder]

going to a Best of Floyd live performance soon, it'll be my first one - had a dream about it in advance, first half was weird dream stuff and then at the end they started playing Echoes and i. woke up crying. a few mins before my radio went off, as my brain learned to do. this is fine

[vrisrezis]

My fav Bnha characters with a crush teehee

Have probs done this b4 butttt lol these look rlly long ngl

Katsuki is kinda disgusted with himself. He hates all that lovey dovey bullshit and he always told himself he wouldn’t end up falling in love like the shitty old hag, but here he is being a lovesick moron. Katsuki is not known for being subtle, you’d have to be a special kind of moron to not notice he’s totally head over heels. Even if he wouldn’t describe it in those words, he totally is. He has very complicated feelings about the fact he likes you, wanting to focus on his hero training but you make it so difficult for him with your stupid smile that he loves hates so much. However he’s aware of how happy you make him feel, so he’s willing to set it aside, it must be a good thing you make him feel so good, right? It’s strange, but he will find himself showing off more when your around, trying to prove to you specifically he’s gonna be the best hero. In training he works extra hard if you happen to be around or happen to even be watching, he may even start competitions with class 1A just to prove himself to you. Whether it’s dumb competitions like racing in the pool or even school related competitions such as, who’s got the best grades, this nerd absolutely shows off around you. He wants you to think he’s cool, that he will one day be the best. But he also tries to leave subtle … hints he likes you. Even though it’s obvious already, he’s been given the impression that he isn’t totally obvious. He shows his interest in you in other ways, but I will mention he has an extreme jealousy problem even before you are even dating. This is typically of people that are “stronger” than him, so todoroki and deku. However he might get that jealousy if say, kaminari flirted with you. Other ways of actually showing interest though is that he’s actually nice to you, though he shows it in ways that can go unnoticed. If your forgetful he always makes sure he has an extra water bottle with him, or anything else you may need he just says he happens to have. Or perhaps you need help studying or even with homework, he just says kirishima happened to pick a different study buddy that day, so you and him can study together. And kirishima, as the ultimate wingman, insists you two should study more often… alone… and the main thing that gives him away! Blushing! Oh man, if he isn’t the most obvious guy in the universe because of that red face! He can blame it on the cold, he can blame it on how hot it is out, he can blame it on his quirk, or that he’s angry, he is always red faced when you’re too close. If you’ve ever seen amity blight blush, it’s exactly like that. He stares at you in class with this soft expression that is almost never seen on his face, and if he is to ever be caught he simply turns away as fast as possible, wide eyed and blushing. You’ll find that bakugou believes in your strength, so he’s protective in battle a reasonable amount, only if you’re truly in deep shit. When he’s more comfortable with being your friend, he takes you out on hiking trips and just hanging out with you, and sometimes kirishima. The entire class of 1A knows about his little crush though so it makes it extremely hard for him to keep it a secret lol, he’s constantly paranoid somebody told you.

Oh man if you thought katsuki was bad, izuku is on another level of being obvious with his feelings. The boy truly wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s not even something he’s aware of at first, he just thinks your good looking like … wow way more attractive than anyone he’s ever met! You’re a good friend, with an interesting quirk and yes his notes on you are a lot longer than even kacchans and maybe he draws you a lot, maybe he draws moments where you looked really breathtaking and maybe he thinks about you before he goes to bed and when he wakes up in the morning and yes maybe he dreams about you too and overthinks everything you say to him and maybe he rambles about you an unreasonable amount to his friends but… oh man he… he likes you doesn’t he? And once he realizes, it gets even worse because now he’s just blushing at you and he looks like he’s gonna pass out everytime ochako mentions the fact he hasn’t confessed yet and he’s just dying on the spot. Boy talks faster than Eminem can rap whenever she mentions him having a crush especially if you happen to be there for the conversation. Tends to ramble around you a lot, just about random things and everyone is just like “oh god not this again” you have to be oblivious to not notice. Izuku tends to worry about you a lot, so he always checks up on you after training to make sure you didn’t get too hurt, and don’t even get him started when it comes to you going on missions, he worries so much when you’re fighting villains. Now he knows how his mother feels. Izuku tends to be clingy around his crush, so he tends to ask you to hang out quite often, whether it’s hanging out or even studying or even fighting together against some villain he likes being around you and likes making sure that you’re safe when it comes down to it. He tends to have very obvious slip ups that he likes you, voice cracks then correcting himself or perhaps coughing way too loudly when he tries to do an ahem cough, bumping into you and tripping, he’s so clumsy around you. Probably accidentally calls you pretty. He’s just… such a mess man.

Hawks is not experienced with romance, while many can agree he’s a good looking guy that has many people flocking towards him, he was never that interested in dating until you showed around. Honestly, could’ve seen him being aromantic before meeting you, lol. So since he’s never experienced romantic feelings, it’s going to take him a little longer than it should to realize his feelings. However he does show signs of taking a special liking to you beforehand, that even he doesn’t understand at the time. He hates the idea of people looking at you the wrong way, perhaps to court you. He assumes this is because he senses they’re potentially dangerous and as a good friend of yours, he’s just looking out for you. After all, he’s naturally protective of you in battles with villains, even if you can protect yourself. Sure he’s not protective especially of endeavor or miruko, but that’s just because he’s not as close with them as he is with you! He doesn’t feel his heart beat faster around his other friends, but he assumes it must be something else, maybe there’s something making him nervous, or maybe he’s just simply excited to be around you! Sure he doesn’t blush around anyone else when they compliment him, but that’s because it means a lot knowing a close friend thinks about him in such a way! For awhile, keigo comes up with many reasons to justify his feelings towards you until miruko and endeavor make him realize he’s being a total moron right now. Upon realizing his feelings, he’s not completely sure how to go about it, but he starts by trying to make it known he likes you. He’s subtle with his flirts, but once he puts his toes in the water to see if your comfortable with him flirting, he dips his whole foot in. At that point, people just think you two are dating with how casual he is with his newfound flirtatious personality when you enter the picture. Upon realizing his feelings he becomes 10x more protective and kinda already acts like a boyfriend by bringing you lunch to work and taking you to cafes and literal dates and stupid shit like that, lmao.

Aizawa I imagine having very few crushes in his lifetime, and has dates with even less people than that. Because of this inexperience even in his age, he’s not quite sure how to go about his feelings initially. Mic and midnight are extremely annoying about how obvious he is, as well. Aizawa is extremely protective of you, given his experience with his students, it’s only natural he grows protective of you and worries for your safety. Whether you’re a hero or not, he’s going to worry for you. Other than that, the way he shows he cares for you is different with you than it is with his friends. He’s good at listening to you and remembers very small things about you that maybe he wouldn’t remember with other people, he remembers very small details. Perhaps something as small as your favorite coffee even if you don’t like coffee that much. I imagine him fearing if his students ever found out he liked you, what kinda hell that would be. Dealing with them teasing him and potentially telling you, but he truly can’t help but be obvious at times. He stares at you longer than he should, even smiles at you longingly when he thinks you aren’t looking. He looks like a lovesick kitty. Generally reserved in his attraction to you, keeping to himself and hoping he can find some hints you return the feelings before initiating anything. However, he’s always been relatively stupid with romance so this takes awhile for him to even figure out and he has a habit of overthinking everything you say to him and is often left wondering what your intentions truly are with him. When you two spend time together, he likes doing things with you he’d never do with anyone else. Likes you playing and doing his hair, and watching movies and such, your hangouts often feel like dates even when you aren’t dating. So when the time does come you two date, it feels as though nothing has changed. He with trust you whole heartedly, if you aren’t a teacher at UA he is introducing his students to you, his co workers, and especially Eri, all the people who are important in his life but does it in such a way that feels casual and natural. He has a way of not making his crush known if your oblivious enough. However, a part of him that feels like he shouldn’t tell you how he feels come from a place of worrying for your safety and the people that may come after you. He will learn to trust you and your strength, he’s just a worried dad.

Miruko is a bold and brave lady, however even she’s never had much experience with love. Being way too determined to become a hero, it hasn’t given her much time to really experience romance aside from hookups. She decided it was a waste of time, but as one of the top heroes, she understands she can have both things in her life. If she cares to, anyway. And upon meeting you had come to the conclusion she would love to have both things. Miruko is a very confident woman so you will find she wastes no time in approaching you with her feelings. This is, when she realizes them. Due to her being new to it, it takes her a bit to realize it. But after a couple months of knowing you she figure it out. The way she feels compelled to buy you stuff despite not knowing you for that long, the need to protect you from danger even when you can protect yourself just fine, the strange need to wrap her strong arms around you, it all connects to her eventually. Upon realizing the feelings she’s gained she is very flirtatious and makes her intentions with you very clear. She doesn’t like wasting time. You will find though that despite how bold she is, if you flirt back she gets a little shy sometimes. This is a rare occurrence, but it happens! She can be a softie too yknow? She is physically affectionate with you, casually wrapping an arm around your shoulder when you two are talking, whispering in your ear a lot and getting close and personal when she really doesn’t have to. She loves inviting you over to hang with her for games and such, it already feels like you two are a couple even when you aren’t. It’s only a matter of time before she officially asks you out. You may find that during your hangouts she tries to impress you with her strength and tends to brags about her accomplishments. You’ll also find she dresses nicer and even wears makeup occasionally. Her flirtations with you are different than with her hookups too, compliments on how cute you are rather than how hot you are. She wants you to know you mean something to her as well, so on occasion she tells you that you mean the world to her.

Dabi has not experienced romance, ever. Hookups aren’t in his life either. Dabi had been set on one thing and one thing only, revenge. You’d have to be a real special one for him to be attracted to you, but no matter how special you are it will not deter him from his original plan. He didn’t plan on pursuing you in anyway, but he’s selfish at heart and can’t help himself. He may not try to pursue you romantically but he will try his absolute hardest to form a strong bond between you two. It may take awhile to be vulnerable with you but it will absolutely happen while you two are friends, he will be extremely open with you. He’s open about being touya early in your friendship to show he trusts you whole heartedly, to show he thinks you’re like nobody else he’s met. He would know his feelings, despite the complete lack of experience in dating. He just knows. He looks at you and thinks, you’re the one for him. Out of everyone on this list, he’s one of the more protective ones. I’d say the most if it wasn’t for toga, tbh. You will find he’s around you a lot, like just because he’s so protective but also because he likes to be around you. He cares for you and likes your company. You remind him of the good parts of home, you bring back his humanity. Dabi makes no moves on you, despite how strong his feelings are for you and how aware he is of his feelings. He’s scared to form a relationship, in fear it will go to shit and knowing he’d hurt you, knowing his plan of revenge will end in his death. He’d never want to put you through that. He spends much of his time hanging out with you and it feels like the two of you have been best friends forever. He tends to joke with you and be sarcastic, but always being one that’s there for you when you need it and even give you advice. He’s a true friend but he’s scared to be something more.

Toga is truly the most obsessive and protective, the closest you get to a yandere. She grows feelings almost automatically, because she feels as though she sees you for who you are right away. She feels like she’s known you forever, she knows she likes you the more she wants to steal some of your blood and become you. If you’re okay with an overbearing insane girl on your side, she’s the lady for you! She acts like she’s known you forever, even if you’re complete strangers. There is no filter with toga, and she acts like you’re already best friends when you aren’t. And when her romantic feelings become apparent, she makes those feelings very apparent and that she wants something more with you. She tends to get up in your face a lot when talking, with a blush on her cheeks, it’s just because she loves being so close to you! Flirting with you and calling you her darling or her love is a common occurrence, even when you two aren’t even a couple yet. She worries for you a lot and is very protective, and after twices demise this protective nature becomes 10x worse. She’s clingy and constantly cuddling to your side, holding your arm or your hand. She has no shame in you knowing her feelings, she just hopes you will stop being so shy and tell her how you feel too! She will absolutely murder for you too just to add onto her yanderish tendencies, not that I don’t think every villain would do that for you though, lol. Also, the moment you meet her she’s inviting you to the league of villains without a doubt. You’re a part of her little weird family now, no questions asked. You become extremely important to her and how she approaches life from then on. (You could actually help her become a decent person if you were aiming to be a hero. You hold so much power by being the object of her affection, lol).

Shigaraki is determined to destroy the entire world and everyone in it, but even he has feelings. He has feelings towards the league, secretly (or not so secretly) seeing them as his found family. And you, well, in his eyes you are also family but you’re also special to him even in comparison to the league. He isn’t aware of what his feelings towards you are for the longest time, even after the advice kurogiri had given him. He now relies on spinner to give him proper advice, who tells him he feels romantically towards you. Shigaraki is naturally a protective person when it comes to you, not liking anyone getting too close and personal with you, even spinner and toga sometimes. He’s lost a lot and he’s not willing to lose you too especially to some loser that doesn’t deserve you. He’s easily jealous and he’s also easily paranoid you could find somebody else. In his mind, he knows you deserve more than him and the possibility of you ending up with anyone that isn’t him is almost too much to bare. Even if he knows you deserve more, he’s selfish to his core. He likes to play games with you and treats you like a longtime friend, he consistently works on your relationship to make sure he keeps your bond going at all times. He enjoys being close to you and would like to keep it that way and maintaining your relationship. He could talk to you for hours about anything while playing video games with you (Nintendo gamer tingz). As time goes by, he tries to trust you more and grows less protective and obsessive, especially as he becomes much more powerful and much more confident he can protect you if need be. He isn’t bold about his feelings, an occasional shy blush coming from him is the closest you get to him letting his feelings be known. He may eventually approach you, though.

[xylianasblog]

Turmoil.

Pairings: Tsu’tey x FemHuman reader

Summary: Who knew Tsu’tey would enjoy such a weird human thing, especially such a thing as nipple piercings.

Warnings: MDNI, nipple play/piercing play, size difference, p in v, dirty talk, praise, dom/sub relationship(kinda), shy reader, mean Tsu’tey, Non-con (maybe??)

꒦꒷❀꒷꒦ ❀✿❀꒦꒷❀꒷꒦MDNI ꒦꒷❀꒷꒦❀✿❀ ꒦꒷❀꒷꒦

Tsu’tey found himself watching you, always admiring your demon features from afar. Why of all the humans that stayed you were amongst them? What made you so special? Why couldn’t you leave his mind? It was absolutely frustrating, so very irritating.

A tawtute like you consuming his mind, distracting him. Why did he have the need to impress you? To prove himself worthy of being a good mate to you. He hated it, he shouldn’t want you, but he found himself wanting to take you.

Even now while he was supposed to be hunting, he couldn’t get you out of his head, even as your sweet, earthy scent filled his nose. That couldn’t be right you were back at the village; well, you should have been. It’s far too late and too far from the village you shouldn’t be out here.

“Shit.” You muttered as you sat down by a tree, you decided to go walking but you failed to realize just how far from the village you had gone. You had tripped and sprained your ankle, the pain just now getting to you. You rubbed your ankle where the pain was hoping to soothe it at least a little as you relaxed into the tree you were leaned against, small whimpers escaping past your lips as you did so. “Fucking ridiculous.” You muttered. Being consumed in your thoughts you weren’t aware of Tsu’tey standing above you observing your small form.

“You should not be out here demon; you are too little. You will get hurt, stupid demon.” His voice was cold as it cut through the night, your body shivering at the intensity as you shyly looked up at him. Mouth agape in surprise, your words died on your lips and with a huff you turned away continuing to rub your ankle. Tsu’tey continues to observe you his eyes taking in your clothing when he noticed the small metal of your piercings poking out from the sides of your shirt. He crouched down to get a closer look, his eyes trained on the strange item as well as they could despite you being dressed. “What are those? Why do they poke from your demon clothing.” He tilted his head back as he glared at the items.

Piercings weren’t uncommon in the clan, but nipple piercings definitely weren’t something people in the clan had. “I have a way to distract you from the pain.” He murmured as he leaned closer to your small frame, his face a few centimeters from yours. “Do you trust me?” He didn’t wait for an answer, he pushed you back against the tree hands immediately lifting your shirt to reveal your breast, nipples instantly hardening from the feel of the night air. You sucked in a breath a shudder running through your body, Tsu’teys eyes narrowing in on the metal of your nipple piercings. The cute heart shapes on either side of the bar in rose gold colored steel complimented your skin nicely, Tsu’teys couldn’t help but to admire the jewelry.

You watched as he reached his hand up, fingers brushing against your hardened nipples lightly you were sure that if you weren’t actively watching him, you’d be dreaming. His touch was soft, and gentle even as he rubbed the swollen nub before taking it between his fingers. Digits that expertly rubbed and massaged until finally his finger pressed against the side of the bar, the sensation of the steel sliding through your nipple had you whimpering softly. The feeling new but very much welcomed, an oddly satisfying feeling that was pleasurable as he continued to tear your nipples with his fingers and the bare, working them together in a way that had you pressing your thighs together as you moaned.

The smell of your arousal was potent, even outside all that Tsu’tey could smell was you and he couldn’t wait to have a taste of it up either. It seemed the more he teased and played with your nipples the louder you got; this was a different side of you. One that he wished to see more of and that thought alone had him rutting against his loincloth hoping to at least relieve some of the tension he felt as his cock throbbed in its confinements.

You watched as he got on his knees and his free hand wrapped around both of your legs, he was careful of your sprain as he pulled you close as close as the clothes separating you two would allow. Giving another pinch to your nipple his hand moved down to pull your shorts and underwear up, giving him just enough room to have full access to your already slick cunt.

You squirmed around as he rubbed the bulbous head of his throbbing cock against your leaking folds, each little thrust gliding along your slit coating himself in your juices. The delicious glide of his cock rubbing against you, hitting your clit in just the right spot. Your brows furrowed in surprise as you felt his cock slip between your thighs, his thrust starting out slow, but you stayed quiet, you wouldn’t dare ruin this moment even for just a little.

Tsu’tey fucked his cock using your thighs, his hold around your legs tightening slightly as he sped up, your squishy skin felt good, but it wasn’t enough, yet you didn’t deserve to be fucked by him. He shouldn’t even be doing this with a demon like you, his eyes were trained on your face watching your brows scrunch up in confusion. He didn’t like that he wanted to see the look of pleasure cross your beautiful demon features as he brought you an undeniable amount of pleasure. With his free hand he reached down and grabbed ahold of your face, squishing your cheeks between his thick, long digits. “Fix your face demon, no need to frown. If you need me to fill you up, then say that.” His tone was harsh, yet you could hear a bit of lust as he spoke.

All you could do was whimper as his hold on your face tightened, your eyes found his and you scowled. That only seemed to make him more displeased and without much more fight from himself he shifted so his tip was pressing against your entrance. He frowned as he pushed in slowly, he hated that he immediately loved the way your gummy walls took his shape easily molding your fluttering pussy to take his shape. He groaned as you moaned at the stretch his dick was forcing upon your cunt, the burn mixed well with the pleasure of being filled and you couldn’t help but reach out to grab ahold of his arms. “Tsu’tey…” you whined once you felt him button out.

Your mind couldn’t focus on anything except how full you felt, your eyes closed as your mouth opened slightly. “Fuck... so big.” You moaned out. For a moment it felt as if he had pushed all the air from your lungs.

He stilled any and all movements as he stared down at you, the look on your face made his cock twitch. You looked so beautiful beneath him like this, he hasn’t fucked you, yet you looked as fucked out as can be and that pleased him. He loved it, every bit of it as his fingers squished your cheeks causing your lips to pucker up. “Tsk… look at you demon, so pretty, so… free for me to use how I wish.” He murmured as he pulled out until just the tip was pressing against your walls before thrusting back in, he repeated the process over and over until each thrust was pushing juices out around his cock. “Fuck...” he groaned as he let his head fall back.

You were a mess as all you could do was whimper and moan, your movements all restricted by his hold. Your hands the only thing free as your hold tightened in his forearm, nails digging into his skin as he fucked into you. Each time he kissed the tip of your womb as if he was fucking you in a way that you get you pregnant, you couldn’t handle it but the thought of being filled by him had your walls tightening up and his hips stuttering as they pushed deeper if possible. His hold on your face faltered just as his hood on your legs.

His groans soon turned into deep growls that bubbled from his chest, he as carefully as he could opened your legs and leaned down to rest his body on yours. Caging you in with his bigger form, now that your mouth was free you could moan and whine freely. Tsu’tey favorite part was the way incoherent words fell your lips as he fucked into you, he loved looking between your bodies. Each time he pulled out he relished in the feel of your walls greedily clinging to his cock. “Taking me so well, your demon pussy is so needy.” He pulled out slowly as he grabbed ahold of your head, he forced you to watch just how your cunt clung to his thick length. “Look at how your body begs for my cock.” You could only whimper as you watched, walls fluttering at the sight.

Your eyes rolled back as he pushed back in, you were slow close, so very close and you couldn’t tell by the way his thrust became faster and sloppy he was nearing his own release. He released his hold on your head his hands both grabbed your thighs in a bruising grip as he fucked into you faster and harder. The familiar pleasure was back and just as you felt yourself about to come you felt his seed filling you up before he pulled out, his cock still spilling come. The force with which he pulled out caused you to get sprayed covering your breasts and face. “Tsk, look at you.”

꒦꒷❀꒷꒦༻❀✿❀༺꒦꒷❀꒷꒦༻❀✿❀༺ ꒦꒷❀꒷꒦

Taglist: @pandoraslxna @neteyamsoare @criticallybella @sunfyresrider @neteyamsyawntu @tiredmamaissy @headsincloud9 @etherialblackrose @blue-slxt @justcaptiannoodles @neteyamyawne @oakbuggy @hotdsworld @plooto @itchaboi-itchyboy @eywaite @luvv4j4ybe11 @quicktosimp @cardi-bre91 @torukmaktoskxawng

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Jeonghan: Sold (Part Five)

Characters: Jeonghan x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, angst, reader is referred to as ‘blue’, mentions of death, mentions of human trafficking, lots of mentions of abuse, reader's been through the wringer lmao

Word count: 4,559

Summary: If Jooyeon and Baekhyun never went snooping around the black market, they would’ve never discovered the human trafficking ring and wanted to help. They would’ve never discovered you inside one of the many cages full of people, and Jeonghan would’ve never went against the alphas and demanded they help. But for you, Jeonghan would do anything, even if it means bringing back trouble from a past he never knew about.

Previous | Next | Sold Masterlist

He felt guilty metaphorically keeping you caged up at the house, but Jeonghan wasn’t taking any risks with you. The market was off limits for you – no exceptions. Maybe he could find one in a different region of the Capitol, but at that point, it seemed basically pointless to even go because of how long the trek would be.

However, you seemed perfectly happy as is. You loved going outside and watching his brothers chop wood or weed the garden, or whatever their chores for the day were.

“Why don’t you pull your weight, Hannie?” Mingyu would call, shirtless and sunburnt with sweat dripping down his skin as he stood upright with an ax in one hand.

Jeonghan would stay standing in his spot behind you, his arms around your waist – you learned he was very touchy, but it made you feel safer somehow – as he watched his brothers with a shit-eating grin, “No, I have to look after Blue.”

Even though you said you were fine with the name Blue, Jeonghan kept trying to think of a new name for you. He didn’t want to have Blue stick with you because he felt like it would just keep that awful part of your life attached to you. He was going to give you a better, happier life, and Blue would be left behind with it. 

However, Jeonghan still didn’t have any answers about your past. He didn’t want to ask too many questions, but he wanted to know everything about you. Not just because he wanted to get to the bottom of this strange fear of yours, but just because he really did want to know everything about you.

Meanwhile, you were always hyper aware of your surroundings now knowing that you lived in a house with a bunch of humans. All of the humans appeared to be female, so you thought that maybe you’d stand a chance if you had to fight one off. But Jeonghan was always by your side, and had already promised you that he was significantly stronger than any human. Wonwoo had handed you a thick, old, leather book with a soft smile. He told you there was a whole section on werewolves that you could read about, so you were working on that. It did confirm, though, that Jeonghan’s promise was true.

One of the humans – an intimidating-looking girl with short, dark hair – seemed all too eager to volunteer to fight Seungcheol as proof, but he tiredly sighed and shooed her away. 

Still, you stayed on your guard.

There was one girl that kept walking up to you and striking up a conversation. Jeonghan said her name was Jiaying, but everyone just called her Jia. He said she was half werewolf, but appeared mostly human other than her ability to find her way into people’s dreams. You had yet to decide if you trusted her, but so far, she was nice.

Did you think she could still turn on you in a second? Yes. 

…Until you realized she was blind.

Despite your mixed feelings toward Jia, you still felt uncomfortable around so many humans. So you didn’t mind that Jeonghan took you outside often. He never brought you anywhere toward civilization, but you still enjoyed it. In the few days you’d been there, he’d brought you on little walks through the woods, had taken you to see streams where a couple of his brothers that would tag along would fish, a few clearings, and he even brought you to a waterfall that was absolutely breathtaking. You both figured that the less time you spent indoors was for the better – but for different reasons.

But that was why Jeonghan should’ve expected that he’d wake up one morning to an empty bed. He’d slept so soundly beside you that he didn’t even feel you get up, so he was immediately in a panic despite sensing no danger.

“Where’s your–” Jihoon didn’t even get to finish his sentence when he saw Jeonghan sprinting down the stairs, before the taller wolf was racing out the front door, barefoot. 

“Y’know, if he stopped for a second, I could’ve told him where she was,” Junhui mentioned casually as he poured himself another cup of tea.

Jihoon simply shrugged, not bothering to go after his brother, “Eh, he’ll find her.”

Sprinting, Jeonghan followed the pull to you. He ran through the forest, easily ducking and dodging and pushing passed branches and twigs. He didn’t care if he didn’t sense danger. You were missing. That was dangerous enough to him.

After what felt like forever to him, – it was only a few minutes – he could finally see some light through the trees. It was a clearing he had brought you to before. It was mostly just tall grass there, but there were a few little groups of yellow, blue, and purple flowers here and there. But he still couldn’t see you.

He broke through the trees into the clearing, and he paused to take in his surroundings and really see if he could find any visual clue as to where you went. But that was when he saw you.

Toward the middle of the clearing, Jeonghan could see someone lying face-up in the grass. He could just barely make out the highest points of your body over the grass, and he let out a sigh of relief. And as much as he wanted to scold you for doing that to him, he forced himself to remember that you were stuck in a house with something you were afraid of, and you didn’t really have anywhere else to go to get away from it. 

Plus, it had only been a few days, so now really wasn’t the time to start scolding you. Maybe later on in the relationship he would start nagging you a bit more.

You saw him out of the corner of your eye as he walked up to you. You were watching the clouds slowly roll by in the sky, and you only glanced over at him before going back to the clouds.

You really appreciated Jeonghan. You felt a weird connection to him ever since you first laid eyes on him, but he had really shown you over the last few days that you could trust him. He made you feel safe, and those odd feelings you felt before were only getting stronger. You didn’t know what you’d do without him. You owed your entire life to him because if it weren’t for him, you probably would be dead or who knows where.

He sat down in the grass beside you. He had looked you over quickly before he sat down just to make sure you were completely unharmed, but once he realized you were, he felt like he could relax.

What a way to wake up, he thought.

“Why’d you leave so early?” he decided to ask, wanting to whine about how you didn’t tell him but figuring that might come across as a bit too controlling – especially considering where you were only a few days prior.

“I’m not stuck in a cage anymore,” you sighed peacefully, letting your eyes close as the sun warmed your skin. “I’m enjoying every minute of my freedom that I can. That, and…the human thing.”

He nodded with a chuckle of his own, “Right. Well, I’m glad you can stretch your legs now.”

He laid back, looking up at the sky with you. He suddenly felt your fingers wiggle under his hand and wrap around it, so he did the same, his heart fluttering. A content rumble came from his chest, and he heard you giggle. You definitely heard that.

“How do you feel lately?” he wondered, still looking at the sky. “Better than before, I hope.”

“Still a little scared, but…I feel safe with you,” you decided to admit.

A soft smile spread across his face, “I love to hear that. I only want you to feel safe.”

A nice silence fell between the two of you as you just enjoyed each other's company and how nice it felt to hold hands. You just liked being close to Jeonghan, and you hoped he felt the same. He must’ve if he was around you all the time, right?

“Can I ask something?”

Your eyes opened to look over at Jeonghan, “Of course.”

If he made you feel safe, maybe now was a good time to ask about your fear. Maybe he could get some more information on you and where you came from.

“This might be a little silly to ask, but…if you are a human, why are you afraid of them?” he asked slowly, turning his head to meet your eyes.

Your eyes focused on the grass the the small flowers speckled between the two of you instead, your thumb nervously rubbing over Jeonghan’s skin as you let out a soft sigh, “I guess it does seem silly…since…none of you seem to be afraid…”

“It’s not silly, darling,” he promised you. “We all just want to understand so maybe we can help. But don’t talk about it if you’re not comfortable.”

Something about Jeonghan calling you the pet name made your heart flutter. Nobody had ever called you a sweet name like that. But because you weren’t looking at him, you wouldn’t see the small smile that spread on his face because he heard your heartbeat change.

“Obviously, I was born to humans,” you began after a moment of wondering how exactly to explain everything when you didn’t quite know everything yourself. “I don’t know much about my mom because she died when I was a baby, but my dad was the one who killed her.”

You heard a soft gasp leave Jeonghan’s mouth, and you glanced up to see shock on his face, but he quickly tried to compose himself. You continued regardless.

“Nobody knows why he did it. So I was sent to a children’s home since he went to prison. I don’t remember much, but I don’t remember anyone really being nice to me. I was the youngest for a while, and some of the kids said the people who ran the home hated me because I couldn’t take care of myself for a long time. A lot of the kids there showed up at an age where they could be forced to be self-sufficient.”

“You were just a baby,” Jeonghan interjected, disgust in his voice. “How could someone run a children’s home and treat children that way?”

You scoffed, “You’d be surprised. So, yeah, they were just really mean people, and the kids were really mean.”

“Weren’t any of them nice?” he wondered. “There had to have been some kids who didn’t bother you. You weren’t the youngest forever, so maybe some of the younger kids didn’t bother you?”

“Some didn’t bother me, but I didn’t trust them. One girl was… I thought she was my friend, but then she started doing mean things to me with the others. She was always standing with them just staring at me and just…letting them do it.”

“But you got out eventually. You had said you were on the streets at one point.”

You nodded, “Yeah, you can only stay until you’re 18. The workers often reminded me they didn’t keep track of any of my information when I got there, so they didn’t know my name or my age. They just knew when it was around the 18 year mark and kicked me out. I only stayed because I at least had a roof and a bed. Then on the street, I had nothing, and strangers went out of their way to be mean to me. One person might toss me some change every now and then, but another would always steal it or beat me up for it, so it never really mattered. It didn’t matter if one person was kind because the majority would ruin it.”

Jeonghan was starting to get why you were so afraid of humans now. Your life seemed pretty horrible, and it was all because of ways humans treated you.

“And then one day, some grabbed me in the middle of the night and put something over my face,” you continued, “and then I just…woke up in a cage. And that was it.”

It took a couple beats of silence before Jeonghan breathed out a, “Wow…”

“Yeah…” you nodded slowly with a tight-lipped smile.

“I’m…so sorry,” he said softly. 

You took a deep breath and let it out, looking down at your hand still intertwined with his, “One of the people in my cage used to say ‘everything happens for a reason’ and they’d repeat it all the time, over and over. I think I started to believe it.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he studied you. Why would you possibly think that? What could’ve been worth going through all of that.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… If I didn’t go through that, I wouldn’t have met you, I guess,” you mumbled shyly, suddenly feeling self conscious about the words coming out of your mouth. You weren’t sure you’d ever said anything so…mushy to someone.

And while Jeonghan didn’t necessarily agree that sort of abuse was worth it, he was too giddy from your words, and leaned over to press a soft kiss to your forehead.

“And the rest of your life will be the happiest life anyone has ever lived,” he promised. “I’ll make damn sure of it.”

-

“I found one.”

Jaemin’s head whipped around to see Sanghun entering the den, a small smirk on his face.

“Seems to be the only live one left,” he added on.

Most of the people in the cages were killed or succumbed to their injuries before the pack got there in the morning. But for the last few days, Jaemin’s pack had been tracking down any scent they could pick up, trying to find lost mates. Most leads went cold, trailing off into nothing as their scent had faded. Others led them to dead bodies that had dragged themselves into the woods before passing. But then, there was a scent that Sanghun had picked up on that wasn’t too far away from the market, and he would get strong whiffs of the scent in waves.

That led him straight to you.

“Who is it?” Jaemin asked.

Sanghun shrugged, “She doesn’t seem to know anything about herself. Doesn’t even know her own name. They just call her Blue.”

“Who’s ‘they’?” Haru asked with a scoff.

To that, Sanghun’s smirk widened, “Oh, you guys are gonna love this.”

That piqued the other four’s interest, all golden eyes on the second oldest now.

“Looks like some other wolf imprinted on her.”

Their eyes widened, excitement on their faces. They loved nothing if not a challenge.

“There’s another surprise, but I’ll let you see that one for yourself, Jae,” he continued. “I think you’ll need to step in to lure this one in.”

-

“What’re you guys doing here?”

Cooper opened the door to Chris, Minho, and Jisung. The latter looked absolutely horrified, like he’d seen something one would only see in their nightmares. Minho seemed mildly concerned, while their alpha looked tired but still a bit worried. It gave Cooper a weird feeling in her stomach that she didn’t like.

“Where’s Blue?” was the first thing out of Chris’s mouth.

Cooper’s eyes widened as she slowly asked, “Why…?”

“Don’t be anxious,” Minho sighed. “If you start acting anxious, his’ll get worse.”

He gestured to the youngest of the trio, who glanced wide-eyed between him and the female wolf in the doorway.

“Can we come in and talk?” Chris asked. “There’s something…concerning we think everyone should know about.”

“Yeah, of course,” Seungcheol appeared from behind Cooper, gesturing for the three to come inside.

The beginning of the conversation already had some of the pack coming to see what was going on, but Chris’s question had the rest of them gathering in the living room where Seungcheol had decided to bring them for this debriefing. Some of the mates followed and gathered with the rest of the pack, while others were either napping or decided to decline the invitation. They were sure they’d hear about it later, anyway.

“Okay, now,” Chris began calmly, “before anyone–”

“We think the pack found us!” Jisung blurted.

Minho rolled his eyes, and Chris let out a sigh.

Seungcheol’s pack seemed confused by what he meant until Seungkwan asked, “Wait, the one Blue was sold to?”

“We don’t think they found any of us,” Minho quickly clarified. “We think they found out the mates are missing.”

“How would you know that?” Jihoon asked, eyes narrowed as he studied the younger pack.

“Because some of us like to go places we shouldn’t be going,” Chris said pointedly.

“We were in the area,” Minho clarified. “Obviously, we were curious, so we made 100% sure that nobody was around. We were safe. Don’t blow a gasket, old man.”

Chris put his tongue in his cheek but said nothing, eyes rolling instead.

“The place was totally ransacked,” Jisung continued. “They offed the rest of the guards, and it was obvious what kind of creature had done it. Plus the place just reeked of werewolf. So they’re definitely pissed.”

“We need to get Blue back here,” Soonyoung stated, suddenly sitting up from where he was leaning against the doorway, arms uncrossing as he looked to see if anyone else was as worried as he was. “We have to tell Jeonghan.”

“Soonyoung, I get the urgency, but–”

“There’s no but!” Soonyoung exploded, cutting off Seungcheol. “Those wolves could be out there right now and it’s her and Jeonghan versus who knows how many!”

“But,” the eldest alpha continued like nothing had happened, “Blue’s been caged up for who knows how long. Let her enjoy the last of her freedom for today, okay? Jeonghan’s always on hyper-alert with her. He knows the situation well enough. We’ll set a curfew after they get back, but just let them stay out for now.”

The room suddenly went from a calm meeting, to chaos. Everyone ducked their heads and covered their ears, sharp pain going straight to their eardrums. It felt like everything was shaking from how loud the shriek was. They were pretty sure they heard a second scream that was much less awful but still loud.

After a moment, it was silent except for whoever was still screaming. Jisung’s shriek cut off just a second after, his eyes opening wide after being squeezed shut.

“What the fuck!” he exclaimed.

“I think that’s our cue to go the fuck home,” Minho said, standing up.

But Seungkwan had already booked it out of the room and straight to the stairs. Jiwoo could be heard crying from Danbi and Mingyu’s bedroom, with a groggy Danbi trying to soothe her.

“Excuse me,” Seungcheol said as he stood and followed Seungkwan.

“If that’s not a sign to go find them, I don’t know what is!” Soonyoung shouted as he followed after him.

Seungcheol found Seungkwan already in Eunjin’s room, sitting on the bed beside her while she sat up straight, staring wide-eyed across the room.

“What was it?” he asked her softly, arms around her as he gently rubbed her arms up and down. “Take your time, okay?”

“Someone… A woman…” she mumbled, eyebrows starting to furrow as she slowly came back to the current plane. “She’s been around, but…she's getting more…aggressive.”

“Aggressive how?” Seungkwan wondered.

“She’s crying harder,” she told him. “She’s crying for her baby.”

The two alphas – who had been joined by Seokmin, Jihoon, and the three visiting wolves that Jihoon had invited up – looked around at each other, wondering what that could mean. The only baby in the house was Jiwoo, but she was a toddler now, and her mother was very much alive and well.

“Alright, who has dead parents that cared about them? Because it’s definitely not mine,” Soonyoung asked, looking around at everyone in the room. “So I’m safe. Rest in peace to whoever–”

“Shut up,” Jihoon grumbled, whacking him in the stomach to shut him up.

“Do you really think that’s what it is?” Seokmin wondered slowly, sounding a little worried.

“Soonyoung, go outside and do something,” Seungcheol told him. “Wait for Blue and Hannie to come back.”

Still clutching his stomach, Soonyoung walked out of the room, grumbling profanities toward Jihoon for hitting him.

While the rest of the pack tried to think of what the significance of this ghost woman could mean, Minho tried to lighten the mood and Jisung’s anxiety by smiling, lightly jabbing him in the arm and saying, “Hey, well we’re both probably safe, right?”

-

You and Jeonghan spent most of the morning in the field, up until he heard your stomach growling. He squinted up at the sun, blocking the brightness of it with his hand as he let out a sigh.

“It’s about lunchtime,” he noted. “We should head back.”

You got up without complaint, rejoining hands once you were both standing, and walked leisurely back to the house.

The two of you just did a lot of talking. After your little backstory, Jeonghan questioned your relationship with Saoirse, wondering if it was a friendship. When you explained it was more that she was just the nicest one out of all the humans there, Jeonghan then questioned if you were upset by her death if you weren’t really friends at all. That was something you couldn’t stop thinking about now. Were you upset about losing an almost-friend, or were you just uneasy knowing that someone you knew had died?

Jeonghan kept your mind occupied on the walk, though. He talked about different flowers, berries, and plants you passed, teaching you about them “just in case” as he had said.

“All the mates know survival things, for the most part,” he explained with a shrug. “Obviously, Jia wouldn’t really know how to tell things apart. And we’ve tried to teach Eunjin, but her mind is…hard to keep on track.”

Jeonghan had already gone over who the girls were. He knew you knew Kyung and Cooper were werewolves, and that Ari was a werecoyote so you trusted them. He could tell you were less wary around Jia simply for the fact she couldn’t see. You’d also shot up in bed a couple times saying you dreamt of her, but Jeonghan asked her to cool it with that because it seemed to make you more tense than anything, wondering why she then came up to you the morning after the first time it happened saying, “Wow, you’re really pretty, Blue.”

He told you Danbi was Wonwoo’s sister, insisting that basically meant she was like a werewolf without being one. Soomin was a ‘sort-of’ witch, so you shouldn’t worry about her, either. Yeji was some sort of hybrid, but he intentionally left out the curse part. Eunjin was obviously a banshee, so that’s technically not human. Jooyeon was a thief, so to others in town, she was actually considered a parasite rather than a human, and Suvi was just a harmless kid.

You knew he was reaching, but you always let him babble about them to try and convince you not to be afraid, anyway.

Once you’d reached the house after your little survival lesson, you saw the back door open. Seungcheol was standing there, waiting for the two of you with his arms crossed. To you, it seemed like he was mad. You wondered if he was upset with you for leaving without telling Jeonghan.

But with Jeonghan’s heightened senses, he could see how worried Seungcheol looked. Whatever he was going to say, it wasn’t good.

“Blue, why don’t you go with Cooper to the dining room for lunch?” he suggested with Cooper already on standby, waiting for you. “I need to talk to Jeonghan quickly, and I don’t want you to miss out on first call for the mates.”

You looked at Jeonghan, then at Cooper. You knew she wasn’t necessarily the bravest out of the werewolves, so you didn’t feel quite comfortable having her be the one to guard you while Jeonghan was busy.

“Can I go with Kyung instead?” you asked.

Cooper’s cheeks turned pink as she vanished from in front of you, and you heard Seungcheol sigh in annoyance.

Instead of looking at you, Jeonghan shot Seungcheol a sharp look as he opened his mouth. But he was cut off by someone else.

“I got it,” Soonyoung said, still offering you a friendly smile despite what happened with his mate. “C’mon, Gyu made stir fry.”

You decided Soonyoung was safe to go with since Jeonghan had told you he was an alpha, so you walked with him to go get lunch. You sat between him and an empty chair, with Suvi on the other side of the empty chair, but you decided not to make much of a fuss this time because you didn’t want to upset the humans. 

Soonyoung put a plate in front of the empty space on his other side before he placed one in front of you with a smile. Once all the mates had food, then the boys dug in and grabbed their own servings. Multiple times, someone would mention to leave enough for Seungcheol and Jeonghan, and Minghao even had to take some from Mingyu’s plate once to put back on the serving platter for the two missing wolves.

About halfway through lunch, the two walked in. Jeonghan sat beside you in the empty seat, but you began to get worried maybe there was a ghost there because Soonyoung seemed to be hugging and holding hands with something that wasn’t beside him as he picked from their plate.

You didn’t ask about his conversation at the table. You waited until he brought you to the backyard to get started on his chores to ask.

“I don’t know how to tell you this…” he began slowly.

Your stomach sank, and he could tell how worried you got.

“There’ll be a few…restrictions now,” he told you.

“Like what?”

“You can’t...really…go wherever you want anymore. You should stick close to the house. And you can’t stay out for too long, or too late. And you should always be with one of the wolves, okay?”

When he looked at you, he looked almost pained to tell you. He looked sorry. You weren’t sure why. You didn’t even know why he was worried to tell you that. It wasn’t even anything bad.

You just shrugged, “Okay.”

He looked surprised, “Are you sure? I don’t want to tell you what to do, but it might not be safe considering everything.”

You scoffed, “This is still way better than where I was before.”

“Someday things will be easier, and you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want,” he smiled. “Promise.”

“You sure promise me a lot of things in the future,” you joked.

“Yeah, because you’ll still be stuck with me then,” he grinned as he wrapped his arms around your torso, holding you to him like he was trying to hold you captive, but his grip was far too light.

“That sounds more like a threat than a promise,” you laughed.

“Some consider it both.”

[valeriianz]

Retired!Dream with facial hair, inspired by @watercubebee's art here!

---------------------

Dream stared at the reflection of himself in the foggy mirror, his fingers pressing into the warm skin that was now his very human face. The pads of his fingers were soft along the strange texture of his jaw, prickly dark hairs that had begun to grow.

Dream knew what this was– facial hair, Hob had it. Dream had enjoyed the burn it left along his skin when they kissed, had curiously observed Hob when he would trim or shave it, usually with a device that buzzed so it was never too short. The human experience of maintaining and grooming had been fascinating, back then. Dream loved to observe and learn and judge, of course, why humans did the things that they did. 

Hob was always so patient with Dream, explaining why he chose to maintain his scruff, and how “... I don’t see you complaining about it,” said with a smirk and a wink. Of course Dream was a naturally curious entity, he gathered pleasure from Hob’s experiences and stories. Dream of the Endless knew everything, was well aware of the knowledge of men through their dreams alone, their fantasies and nightmares. He had been very content to observe from afar– human beings and what brought them happiness or hardship always seemed so trivial and banal. Something about Hob Gadling, his persistence, his eternal optimism, was different. It made Dream stick around when otherwise he’d grown impatient.

Hob was a fighter, an enigma, something to study under a microscope. And after hundreds and hundreds of years, Dream began to admire and wonder at the mystery that was Hob Gadling. Began to relate to his experiences, growing something substantial in the meantime, something grounding.

Hence why Dream had made the decision to become like Hob Gadling; human. 

There had been trials and tribulations (forced to make small talk with strangers, using the bathroom, brushing one’s teeth, the dreaded ordeal of going to the grocery store and searching for food). But Dream hadn’t anticipated the hair.

He did not care what he looked like, in the waking world. The discovery that his body produced testosterone and therefore, hair, was startling. Dream was a being of absolute control. He couldn’t control this.

But it was… interesting.

The stubble, as Hob liked to call it, on Dream’s face had gotten quite long in the past few days. Dream dug his fingernails (another nuisance, trimming fingernails. A waste of time) into the black bristles and scratched, tilting his chin to look down his throat, grumbling softly at the realization that the hair descended downwards as well.

A knock on the door gave Dream pause, gaze stuck on the mirror as Hob spoke, his voice muffled behind the door.

“Dream? You alright in there?”

With his eyes still roving over his face, Dream spoke up.

“Come in.”

Hob opened the door and Dream watched, out of his peripheral, as he approached.

“Looking at something nice?” Hob teased, pressing his front against Dream’s naked back and winding his arms over his waist, the towel there shifting but otherwise remaining tight around Dream’s hips.

“This is unsightly.”

Hob notched his chin over Dream’s shoulder to see what Dream saw in the reflection. He chuckled as his eyes followed the movement of Dream’s fingers on his jaw, down to his chin.

“You’re just not used to it, is all.” Hob pressed a kiss to the end of Dream’s bony shoulder. “And I happen to think it looks very fetching on you.”

Dream huffed, unconsciously leaning back in Hob’s hold, discreetly delighting in the feeling of Hob’s broad chest, covered in a thin cotton shirt, warm against his damp skin. 

“You think everything looks ‘fetching’ on me,” Dream stated matter-of-factly, causing Hob to chuckle softly, his lips traveling across Dream’s shoulder and up the side of his neck, playfully nibbling along the way.

“And I am always right.” His fingers pinched Dream’s hip bones before descending lower, forcing Dream to bite back a jolt of surprise at the tickling sensation. Especially as Hob’s hands, stark in color against Dream’s milk-white flesh, began to caress the line of hairs that had begun to grow under his belly button as well.

Dream’s breath, another anomaly that he was fascinated by, hitched audibly as Hob’s fingers dipped just a fraction below the towel wrapped around him.

“I also quite enjoy this.” Hob murmured against his skin, watching Dream in the mirror’s reflection. “I love seeing your human qualities come out. How your body responds to it.” 

Dream drops his hand to wrap around Hob’s wrist, meeting his chocolate brown eyes in the mirror as Hob takes a step to crowd Dream further against the counter, his hips slotting along Dream’s ass as he gets his clever fingers deeper, wrapping them around Dream and causing his jaw to drop in a silent cry.

Hob’s eyes flutter shut as he nuzzles his way up to Dream’s ear, bumping his nose against the coarse hairs at his jaw, biting it gently.

“Let me show you how much I love it.”

In response, Dream turns his head and captures Hob’s mouth in a burning kiss.

—----------------------------------

A few days go by and in that time, the scruff on Dream’s face only becomes longer, individual hairs popping up as far up as his cheek bones, and Dream scowls as they even begin to curl.

“I want it off.”

Hob looks sideways at Dream in the doorway to the bathroom. “What?”

Dream stands, that attractive frown only making Hob– who’d been trimming his own beard before the interruption– slowly begin to smile.

Dream points to his face. 

Hob raises his brows as he gives Dream a once over. 

“Your scruff?” Hob clicks his tongue as Dream huffs impatiently, affirmatively. “But it really does become you.”

“I do not care for it. Remove it.”

Hob chuckles lightly, turning back to the mirror to finish up his grooming.

“Always polite,” he quips lowly, tilting his chin as he works. “Give me a mo’ and in the meantime, take a shower.”

After Dream is clean and his skin is warm to the touch, Hob has him seated in a stool he pulled from the kitchen, keeping a warm towel around his face while Hob gathers his equipment.

Dream watches silently, his eyes tracking Hob’s movement before finally meeting his gaze as Hob drapes another small towel over Dream’s shoulder.

He removes the towel from Dream’s face and stares at him, causing Dream to raise a brow.

“What?”

Hob sighs, bringing both of his hands, cool from a fresh wash, around Dream’s face, thumbs stroking his cheeks.

“Just saying goodbye.”

Dream is unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes, another human trait that he’d been having a hard time tamping down.

“Perhaps once I am ‘used to it,’ as you say, I may consider growing it out again.”

Hob’s eyes seem to sparkle with excitement.

“Yeah?” At Dream’s nod, Hob gives his cheeks a brief squish, making the skin bunch up around Dream’s mouth and his frown deepen.

Hob laughs softly, the crinkles around his eyes deepening, striking Dream down and reminding him why he loved Hob so much. The laugh lines on his face, centuries of smiles and laughter etched onto his skin forever. A trait that made Dream himself smile more, enamored by the history there, in not just Hob’s laugh lines, but the wrinkles of his brow too. Years of hurt and frustration carved deep enough to leave memories that Dream could trace with his fingers, his lips. The stories Hob’s skin alone could tell made Dream want to trace constellations upon it.

Hob leaned forward and kissed the tip of Dream’s nose, breaking him out of his stupor. “I look forward to it.”

Dream had to admit, as Hob prepared him for his shave, that he quite enjoyed being pampered. 

Hob had lathered a thick cream upon Dream’s cheeks, mouth, and neck with a horse hair brush, his eyes gone serious, gaze studious as he worked and Dream once again, could do nothing but watch, sitting still as Hob took up a blade and began carefully stroking it down the side of Dream’s face.

“A straight razor,” Hob spoke eventually, his voice quiet, hot breath puffing against Dream’s ear. “Is my favorite for a close shave.” He swipes the blade on the towel resting on Dream’s shoulder, cleaning it before going back in with short, sharp strokes.

“Never goes out of style…” Hob murmurs, his free hand pulling slightly on Dream’s skin to keep it taut. “Also doubles as a weapon, eh?”

He gives Dream a cheeky grin.

“Have you slit many throats using a straight razor, Hob Gading?” Dream makes sure to speak once the blade is safely away from his skin.

Hob hums, going back to Dream’s jaw, going with the grain of Dream’s hair.

“Sweeney Todd style?” Hob pulls back to give Dream a look. “Can’t say I have. Though, in other instances…” he trails off, not finishing his sentence, leaving Dream to guess the answer.

They are silent for a long while after that, the only sounds filling the air being the grazing of the blade against coarse hairs and Dream’s own breathing. It tickles Dream’s ears, the gentle vibrations of the blade, and he continues to study Hob to distract himself from the sensation.

There is an intimacy here that isn’t lost on Dream. The trust he places in Hob’s very capable hands. Hands that have seen violence, committed crimes most egregious. Hands that were calloused over from physical labor and then softened by wielding a pen. Dream was fascinated, watching how Hob’s fingers held the blade, sure and confident, bringing it down swiftly, a tame version of a sword. 

All while performing something so… domestic. These hands had also healed and loved, touched Dream with such reverence, held him with gentle astonishment, as Hob admitted freely how lucky he was to have Dream in his life. Making love to him slow and deep, but also hard and brutal, fingers interlocked with Dream’s and holding him in place, keeping that connection. 

And in this moment, with Hob’s hands touching him fastidiously, attention focused solely on him, Dream felt relaxed and safe, enjoying the experience more than he’d ever admit.

It was over far too soon, Hob taking up the towel to wipe off any remaining shave cream and instructing Dream to rinse his face with cold water.

Once dry, Hob massaged an after shave balm into Dream’s skin, catching his eyes and smiling almost shyly.

“You were very distracting, you know.” Hob says, pulling Dream to standing. “Watching me the whole blessed time.”

Dream’s head tilted a fraction as he brought a hand up to feel his smooth skin.

“I like watching you work.”

Hob huffed, his smile widening as he playfully tugged Dream’s hair.

“Go on, take a look,” he gestured behind Dream to the mirror.

Dream obliged, sweeping his gaze over the smooth skin he had been used to wearing his entire existence and hummed in approval.

“Next time,” Hob said, tossing the towel in the hamper. “I’ll properly show you how to shave, so you can do it yourself whenever you’d like.”

Dream hummed, contemplating.

“Or you could always do it.”

“Oh?” Hob chuckled, turning Dream around and getting his arms around his hips. “Figures a king would overindulge in my humble services.”

“And you indulge me so well,” Dream crooned in a low voice, feeling his lips curl in an unconscious smirk that always caught Hob off guard. It was his favorite thing to do, if Dream was being honest, causing Hob to hesitate and laugh.

“I think I’m just whipped.”

Dream nodded with a considerate hum, leaning forward to brush his lips against Hob’s.

“Good.”

[hannahssimblr]

you are SO good at conveying romantic chemistry visually! do you have any tips or advice on how to make romance more romantic?

oh, thank you so much! I love writing romance but it's sometimes hard to know how effective I'm actually being conveying it, so, this is really nice to hear.

I guess that when I'm writing romance the focus is always on the feelings in a person's body. To me, that feels more important than anything the character is seeing or hearing. To be honest, it was always easier for me to write romance from Evie's POV because I know how it feels to be a gal who likes boys, so I guess I always just tried to put myself in her skin.

For her, every time Jude touched her, or almost touched her was A Moment, and I made sure to always make innocent moments between them seem kinda sexual, and build up that tension until finally - omg, finally, he actually is touching her in that way, and it's almost a relief.

It's always in the tension - the things that aren't happening, rather than the things that are, and always, the things that were sexiest about Jude were the things that she didn't know about him - the things she could imagine he had done and was doing with other people. It's like, the weight of his gaze on her, the heat of his body, still on the hoodie he just gave her, him accidentally brushing against her - someone else could do those things, and she wouldn't notice it, but she does with him. I think even mentioning those small things builds the romance.

Two people who like each other will always be aware of the proximity of the other in the room, they'll think of one another using slightly sexual terms, or at least in a physical way, they'll always long for more contact, even if it's just by being close and not touching. Like, the air between them is always charged and hot.

there's a couple bits towards the end of Lucky Girl where the tension is really building, and I'm gonna quote them bc!! I thought they were sensual without being overtly so.

“Worth a try.” He shrugs, and lifts it out of my hands. When he takes another sip he puts his lips against the very same spot where my mouth was, and I wonder if he did it on purpose. The idea of which is strangely erotic. I shiver. “Are you going to stay over?”

This is a scene when they are alone at night in her apartment. Later he asks her why she took all of the little studs out of her ear, and lightly pinches his finger and thumb against her earlobe, which makes her heart pound and she goes to bed and has a saucy dream about him lmao.

When Jude shifts positions next to me and accidentally presses his thigh against mine I wait for him to move it, but he doesn’t. In the dark of this room, where the only light is the glow from the television screen, I risk a glance at his face, and he looks right back at me, saying nothing. But I swear there’s something in his eyes, because at that moment they seem to glitter even brighter than the city lights outside the window.

um, accidentally? This is the day before he finally makes a move on her.

“Oh.” I whisper. “I like those a lot. I wish I looked like that all of the time.” “Yeah, I like them too,” he says. “And actually, you do. That’s just how you look to me.” And in that small moment his gaze feels weighted, so much so that goosebumps erupt on my arms as though there’s an electrical current moving beneath my skin. I feel him watching my face, but meeting his eyes feels risky, it’s always felt a bit risky, because I want him so badly that sometimes it makes it hard to breathe. I fear that too much time spent looking at him might drive me to start doing the sorts of things I know I will spend time regretting.

he photographs her, and she likes the pics, and also kinda wants him to fuck her right now on the studio floor, I guess.

I could go on more and more about what I've learned about the actual getting-together part, and what I know about kiss scenes and sex scenes and depicting actual relationships but! Maybe I'll make a whole separate post for that if I'm not feeling frightened lol!

[aotopmha]

In celebration of spoiler embargo lifting I want to talk about probably my favourite dungeon in Dawntrail so far and how it examplifies the shift in dungeon design while also being really cool narratively.

This dungeon is Tender Valley.

First, I think this might be one of the few dungeons in the game I absolutely love all of the bosses from on a gameplay level.

Barreltender flexing between attacks is super fun, but almost all of his attacks being broadening AoE effects makes him a really fun dance. You have just enough time to react to them.

I think the exploding cactusses are the hardest to dodge because the safe spot is so specific and fairly small, but you never have too much downtime and always have to pay attention somewhat.

It's a great example of bosses being more engaging, rather than necessarily "harder" and I think a great fresh take on a classic Final Fantasy enemy.

Anthracite, on the other hand, has a really interesting dance that you need to read your environment for solving.

There are the obvious big AoE bombs, but there are also two different shapes of holes that lead to the labyrithine sewer system.

If a bomb falls into the round opening on one side, the attack will go through the round openings on one side of the arena.

If the bomb falls into the square hole on the other side, the attack will go through the square holes you can see on the other side of the arena.

It took me a bit to figure out there were two different shapes, but combining this with the base AoE can make for a little more involved dance, since, once again, you can't sit still for long.

This boss is a great example of also testing your environmental awareness in a little more of an inventive way than maybe some other encounters.

As you move towards the third boss, the environment changes and enemies styled after the Skydeep Cenote.

Or are they?

And then there's an interesting mob situation where you enter a room, which the mob essentially uses to attack with lasers while you have to use the walls in the room to dodge them.

But just like with Skydeep Cenote, the reference point is now pretty obvious.

This is strangely similar to some of the mobs and contraptions in Qitana Ravel.

And who else is the final boss, but the Greatest Serpent of Ron-Tural!

Yes, Tural!

I has such a grin on my face when I saw it.

It's a great punchline if you've done at least even the starting part of the questline in Rak'tika with Quinfort and his dreams suddenly fit perfectly within lore. He just had dreams of The Source.

It's like a perfect capstone to that questline.

I suspected the Ronkan connection the moment I saw Y'Shtola with those tablets in the trailer, but considering the Ronkan principles of "history being learned, not remembered" and in turn their similarity of the Yok Huy's principles of "we die when we are forgotten", it all falls into place in a great way.

Very smooth ties here. Now that we have this setup all nicely established, I wonder what else they plan to do with it.

It's "minor" enough on its own that it can just stay as a fun bit to further confirm Source/Shard connections, but I feel like Ronkans and the Yok Huy just might have some more important lore stuff coming.

We have the Shard travel plot line with Unukalhai and Cyella and the 13th and Ryne and Gaia also still truly looking to restore the First.

I'm curious if Rak'tika might just become extremely important regarding these plots now since we have this clear connection.

But this also is an optional dungeon.

We'll see.

To finish off talking about the dungeon itself, though, The Greatest Serpent of Ron-, I mean Tural, combines the two aspects of engagement of the previous two bosses.

You have the reactive aspects with reading the Bouncy Council (great name) and the various AoEs and the environmental aspect with Greatest Labyrith, where you have to find the correct path of arrows out of the maze.

I think there are varying solutions for the maze, but I'm not entirely sure. It's another great call back to Rak'tika, though.

I enjoyed the puzzle solo duties a bunch and I still think they're some of the more cool and unique ones from the game.

It's a very specific kind of "great" to me.

Some are really great at specifically gameplay/story integration (Amaurot, Dead Ends), some have really great set pieces/bosses (Matoya's Relict, Bardam's Mettle) and some just combine some really cool important "side" lore elements with great bosses (The Twinning).

Tender Valley feels like a Twinning moment to me where technically it is all "side" stuff, but not really because it is still connected to pretty important big picture stuff.

I'm curious what they'll do with it. And honestly okay with the answer is "nothing much", but I also don't buy it wouldn't have more importance in some way.

[shiyorin]

#Princess and the frog? No, it is Reader and the Primarchs frog... I mean 25cm doll :v

#Big E: I should have known dolls worked better than frogs sooner.

#Today's menu: Konrad and Sanguinius.

#Just a romcom story. No one ask but I still do it for funny :v

You tossed fitfully, dreaming strange dreams in the depths of night. When awareness surfaced, you found yourself in a moonlit glade, sparkling with an ethereal glow. 

A rustling came from the treeline, and out stepped a being so bizarre you wondered if still dreaming. Clad head to toe in fluttery silks of spun gold, gossamer wings fluttered serenely upon a back too broad for any bird or insect. 

"Fear not, mortal!" came an undeniably masculine though lilting voice. "I am your Fairy Godmother, here to aid you in this dark hour."

You stared, speechless. Was this truly Him? "Uh...right. Nice dress?"

The Emperor swooned theatrically. "Why thank you dear! Now, down to business - you seek handsome princes, no?" 

"Not particularly-"

"Excellent! For I have just the task." With a blinding flash, many fat toads appeared amid flickering lights. Wait...those bulging eyes seemed awfully familiar...

"Alas, these poor souls were cursed. A kiss from beauty's lips alone can break the spell!" announced Fairy Godmother Emperor. 

You eyed the frogs warily. "And what if their infectious diseases jump from mouth to mouth upon such contact?"

Fairy Emperor pouted, wings drooping. "Fear not harm, my dear! True love conquers all impediments. Now, chop chop - kiss them and claim your men!"

With that he shoved you none-too-gently towards the waiting amphibians. You dug in your heels stubbornly. "Absolutely not! I'll catch some plague for certain, kissing frogs willy-nilly."

Unfortunately, the frogs had other ideas. They began hopping toward you, croaking plaintively as only amphibians can. You shrieked and ran, the army of frogs gaining swiftly. Diving into the woods, you dashed wildly as frog gave chase.

Crashing through brambles with amphibious entourage in relentless pursuit, you fled breathlessly until-

You woke with a start, entangled in sweat-soaked sheets. Many pairs of bulging eyes stared down at you, and you realized with dread - the frogs had infiltrated your very dreams! Screaming, you swatted them away, bolting upright just in time to see...

Nothing. Only empty room greeted your wide eyes. It had only been a nightmare after all. You sighed shakily, scrubbing your face rigorously as if to purge all memory of Fairy Emperor's nonsensical demands.

From now, you vowed never to sample strange foods before bedtime again.

Konrad Curze

You returned wearily to your chambers after a long shift, eager to collapse into comforting silks. But stopping short, a glint of silver caught your eye amid folds in bed.

Approaching cautiously, you peeled back layers to reveal a stuffed doll nestled innocently within. It was fashioned to resemble a certain Night Haunter, down to each rasping spike and curl of thread-hair. 

Though only 25cm tall, its button eyes seemed eerily familiar, bearing the Primarch's unnerving gleam. You scooped it up suspiciously, turning the toy this way and that. 

Who would leave such a thing, and why model it after Konrad Curze of all beings? You wondered if it was some joke, yet detected no hint of tampering. Likely one of the Emperor's strange gifts that simply...appeared sometimes.

Resolving to ponder mysteries later, you shrugged and nestled your new companion. "Well little doll, it's true your original is far from cuddly. But you're rather cute yourself!"

Burying your face in soft felt, you swore you felt tiny muscles tensing as the doll seemed almost...desperate to escape your hold. You paid it no mind, merely tightening your grasp with a contented sigh. Because that was surely impossible! 

Observe button eyes pleading silently, On a strange impulse, you pressed a fleeting kiss to the doll's stitched mouth, stilling its squirms.

At once a tremendous plume of dark smoke erupted, swallowing the room in choking fumes. You fell back coughing, but through the haze saw a towering silhouette emerge like a vengeful wraith. 

When smoke cleared, a fully formed Konrad Curze stood before you - all ten feet of primal fury barely contained within smoldering armor. Yet his usual scowl seemed almost... bashful? His pale skin flushed to a sallow stain across razor-thin cheeks. And were those dark eyes widening in dread?

He grasped desperately for some semblance of composure, snarling to mask inner turmoil. “Explain yourself, mortal, before I flay you where you stand!” 

You gaped, struggling to process this abrupt transformation. “I, uh...kissed your doll?” 

Realization dawned in widening dark orbs. “The visions spoke true. I....”

Your mind is reeling. What in the Emperor's name had just occurred?! "My... My Lord... So... you were the toy all along?" 

A curt nod, gaze darting fitfully about as if seeking escape. Clearly the Night Haunter wished to be anywhere but here, pressed into vulnerability by his bizarre enchantment's end.

He backed slowly into a shadowed corner, hoping its folds might swallow him whole. Never had Konrad felt so exposed, so embarrassed, and at the hands of a mere mortal, no less!

"The Emperor deemed a...lesson was in order..." His whisper was ragged, commanding. Yet undercurrents of shyness shone through crackling anger and pride. "This humiliation is beyond enduring." 

You couldn’t help but smile, endeared by his fluster. But why? You should be scared and terrified when facing a Primarch!  But no, you find him... cute? Your taste in men is terrible and you should die for that. You smile wryly "There now, it can't have been that horrible a kiss to transform you so."

A mighty gauntlet shot out to capture your wrist before you could continue your word. Konrad gripped just tightly enough to emphasize his immense strength without harm, glaring daggers through slitted gaze slits.

"You shall tell no soul of this humiliation, mortal," he growled, low and menacing. Yet the effect was ruined somewhat by a pink flush darkening to fuschia across his cheek plates. You merely grinned wider. You know you are playing with fire and would die.

"Oh, I don't know. Your reaction seems payment enough for that." you mused slyly, tapping his knuckles with your free hand. "Maybe another kiss, hmm?"

Thought Konrad surely imagined eviscerating the audacious creature where you stood, lingering embarrassment gave way to begrudging intrigue instead. Leaning down, he brushed your cheek in a facsimile of affection, warmth echoing through plating. Lips brushed softly in the embrace's sheltering shadow, kindling sparks that may blossom yet into something beautiful, unexpected…

Sanguinius

You groaned, rubbing gritty eyes as reports swam blurrily before your. 11 hours straight hammering away in this suffocating medicae vault had pushed even your limit.

"Enough!" you snarled, flinging down your datapad in frustration. The neverending  bureaucracy would be the death of them all at this rate. Glaring about at mountains yet unscaled, you longed for sweet oblivion's embrace.

A flash of silvery white caught your weary gaze. On the floor beside your chair lay a small stuffed toy, a perfect miniature Sanguinius in all his golden glory. You blinked slowly, wondering if exhaustion had driven you mad at last.

"Great, Now I'm hallucinating." you muttered, scooping up the 25cm high Primarch doll. Its fabric wings extended invitingly and you couldn't help but nestle it against your cheek with a bone-deep sigh. The toy smelled faintly of plumage and night-blooming blossoms, soothing your frayed nerves. 

But as you sagged against the barricade of unfinished records, even hallucinations could not stave off sleep's implacable tide. You curled around the tiny angel and surrendered, visions fading to blankness at long last...

Light caressed your face some untold time later, lingering there as if loath to disturb. You grumbled and would have rolled away, but something held you securely yet gently in place. 

Bleary eyes blinked open to confusion. You lay slumped across your desk still, but a soft blanket had been draped protectively over slender form. And those weren't feathers caught in your hair, were they?

You sat up abruptly, dislodging more downy intruders. 

"But...how...?" you protested weakly. Only the teasing morning breeze answered through open ceiling panels, rippling records abandoned by your side.  

No footprints marred the dust-coated floor, and the door remained bolted fast. You hugged yourself, feathers floating free on invisible currents as mind chased circling mysteries endlessly. 

You eyed the tiny doll warily, half convinced you still dreamt amid paperwork piles. Gently poking its downy cheek elicited no response, yet the craftsmanship seemed uncannily lifelike. 

"Weird..." you muttered, though found yourself drawn again to those embroidered features so serenely angelic. On a whim, you pressed a featherlight kiss to its head, chuckling at your own folly. 

Smoke billowed where the doll had sat, forcing your back with a gasp. Two massive wings materialized amidst swirling mist, great plumes showering silvery motes as they stretched to their full span. Before you coalesced a giant finding you with a patient smile.

"Lord Sanguinius!" You shrieked, recoiling instinctively from this new impossibility. Your hands fumbled panic-stricken for the door behind, scrabbling at locked metal in desperation. 

"Your reaction… quite far from what I expected," came his soft voice behind. You froze at the gentle jest, relief warring with confusion and not a little dread. 

Wings rustled and a warm presence appeared at your back, blocking escape. "Am I truly so terrifying, mortal?" Sanguinius asked, hurt faint yet unmistakable. 

You dared a look over your shoulder into his earnest face. Gods, those earnest faces would be your undoing one day...Cheeks burning, you stammered, "M-my apologies, Angel. You just surprised me, that's all."

His beam could have lit the darkest void. "No harm done. Now, reward my efforts properly. Does a kiss still await?"

Heat scalded your further. Kiss??? But those hopeful eyes would accept no refusal, and truly, he deserved reward...

Slowly turning, you gazed up into sapphire orbs aglow with boundless compassion. Steeling your nerve, you leaned close and touched your lips to his gently.

Feathers as soft as velvet caressed your cheek in answer. When at last you broke away, light-headed and heartsore, Sanguinius grinned triumphantly. "See? No peril nor perilous acts to earn beauty's favor."

[v1smokewife]

i see you

day 28 of a very zosan centric kinktober - mirrors

Zoro makes Sanji watch them have sex in a mirror and Sanji gets a nosebleed.

“I want you...to watch us...”  

It seemed like such a simple request, didn’t it? Zoro had suggested they done weirder stuff before, so this seemed such a normal and simple request. They way they had it was Zoro was sitting on the edge of the bed with Sanji on his lap with his cock buried in him. They had a mirror next to them. This should have been easy.  

After all, it was not as if Sanji really worried all that much about his looks. He wasn’t self-conscious about how he looked. He liked to try and look his best, but he knew he wasn’t a bad looking guy and neither did Zoro. But Zoro straight up didn’t care. Zoro could wear the same t-shirt for two weeks and only take it off because Sanji is sick of the smell of it. Sanji should have found this a really easy and simple task. 

“Keep your eyes on us...” Zoro mumbled, shuffling himself to get comfortable. 

Which is a very simple task obviously but clearly the simplest one’s are the one’s that need a bit more time. Sanji kept his head slightly turned so he could watch them in the mirror before he started moving his hips. He was currently holding onto Zoro’s shoulder’s as he pulled himself up and then back down on Zoro’s cock. It was hard not to admire how they looked in the mirror together. Zoro was at the peak of his physical performance and as much as Sanji says that Zoro is just a second rate swordsman, there was a level of respect behind the jabs that Sanji did hold for Zoro’s ability.  

Sanji knew that Zoro felt the same way...but mainly because he admired Sanji’s lower half so much. Sanji was well built all over, but his legs were stronger than most people’s. It had some side benefits...such as being really good at riding cock as he can rely on his legs a lot more and having a really nicely shaped ass...but enough about that because Zoro also knew he was a good fighter..it’s just so happened that Sanji’s lower half was built for his pleasure too. Two things can be true at the same time and all of that. 

It was weird seeing how well they fit together though...but seeing himself so vulnerable with Zoro was also something that was a little bit strange to him. He never saw himself from the outside looking in and this was one of the first times he considered what Zoro actually saw when he looked down at him when he was fucking him. It made his mind wonder... thinking about if that’s what Zoro liked about Sanji the most...seeing him vulnerable, all red in the face from flushing and looking so fucked out of it and- 

“Oi...cook,” Zoro’s words snapped Sanji out of a daydream. A daydream in which he became transfixed on how he was seeing himself from a different perspective...like a spectator almost and how...weird that was to see him looking so vulnerable. So, you would have thought that Sanji would have noticed the little trickle of blood coming from his nose. 

Oh. That’s what’s going on. 

“Cook!” Zoro grabbed his hips to stop him and then grabbed his chin and jerked his head back towards him. Sanji was brought out of his day dream and was now painfully aware of the blood coming from his nose. 

The pads of his fingers reached up and touched his upper lip. Yep. Definitely blood. 

“Oh.” Sanji finally says in response, “That’s never happened before...” 

“Can you stop it?” Zoro asked, not knowing that’s totally not how that works.  

“Oh yeah asshole. I can totally just tell my nose to just stop having a nose bleed,” The blood was just very slowly dripping from his chin to his chest and believe it or not, this wasn’t rocking Zoro’s world at all.  

“Why are you having one now? I thought it was only when you were being weird around women,”  

Sanji chose to ignore the being weird around women bit and shook his head, “I don’t think it’s like that...I think it’s just when something or someone is really attractive... I don’t often watch myself having sex,” 

Oh. It finally clicked for Zoro. 

“You think we look good together?” God this was a weird conversation to have with a cock buried into your ass. God this was so strange. 

“Yes. I think so...” Sanji said, trying to wipe his nose of some of the blood but he ended up just getting it on his hand instead which was...good. However, Sanji thought that Zoro would just let Sanji get back to it but Zoro did something else instead. He suddenly pulled Sanji back into the bed so he was on his hands and knees in front of the mirror before Zoro came up behind him. Sanji had literally no time to respond to it because it just happened so fast. 

“Then keep watching as I fuck you myself,” 

So, Zoro slid his cock back inside and grabbed Sanji by his hair to force him to continiously watch himself being fucked from behind by Zoro while one hand was tight on his waist. Sanji could hardly hold back the cries for Zoro as his pace was brutal and fast. The thing was that it was making his nose bleed even worse too...as blood now pooled onto the bedsheets. 

“Look at you. Do you see how pretty you are when you’re being fucked like this?” Zoro gave his ass a slap which got yelp and a small spurt of blood. He could hardly say anything as he watched himself in the mirror, bright faced and looking so vulnerable under Zoro...and he’d never seen himself like this before. “You’re even pretty when I have you like this...”  

It wasn’t much longer that either man could hold up any longer. Sanji didn’t know if it was the small amount of blood loss but when that blinding pleasure hit him and he clenched hard around Zoro’s cock, he saw flashes of blinding light. Due to the clenching, Zoro had no choice but to follow suit and emptied himself inside the blonde. 

Both men were there panting. Not saying anything until Zoro shifted himself, he smacked Sanji’s ass again which got an annoyed gasp before Zoro spoke, “You got blood on my bedsheets. Nosebleed pervert,” Which was met with a small kiss on the cheek...so Sanji didn’t mind the taunting. 

[yellowcry]

If you were never kissed? So what?

Mirabel doesn't get kissing

Madrigay days prompt two: Kiss

Mirabel doesn't really get kissing. 

Why do people find it appearsing? To suck their tongues against each other? Get their faces together into far too uncomfortable space. The thought of having to suck somebody's mouth is gross enough to make her gag. 

She knows other people like it. Her parents, Tía Pepa and Tío Felix. Even Dolores with Mariano. What was good in that? The fact that Mamá gave her kisses on a cheek every so often was awful enough (Or just awkward). Disgusting with oily saliva. It would be so much worce if she had to kiss on a mouth. Because according to Camilo, you feel way more sensations this way. Of course he would've known. He had a new crush, like, every other week.

Even looking at it was gross. Thankfully Dolores and Mariano weren't very physically affectional. Mirabel wouldn't stand it if she had to see them accompanying their parents.

"We aren't kids, you don't have to act like it's gross," Camilo chuckled, observing Mirabel's reaction to how Dolores and Mariano finished a passionate song with a romantic blow.

Mirabel rolled her eyes, of course, it was Camilo who was an annoying cousin. "I can't understand what is good in this." Honestly, she would rather to do anything else instead of whatever it was.

"Pff, don't act like you haven't kissed." Camilo laughed, leaning back on the sofa.. "Why are you so secretive about your crushes?"

Mirabel's answer that she didn't have any was cut off when Luisa picked her, sobbing. The teenager gasped, feeling as she was squeezed as a stuffed toy. "IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL!" Mirabel creaked over this immerse power.

And Luisa was too. Mirabel stared down, ignoring the bile in the throat. Why did everyone liked kissing so much? How could anyone find it appeasing? The mouth was to eat, not for this. 

 

She sat by the window, drowning in a rapid sun The rays jumped away from her glasses, falling against the painted wood. According to Camilo, evey kid of their age dreamed of their romantic interest to kiss them. And it just made her wonder. How many of their classmates were in relationship? Mirabel never thought of it, she had never thought about the fact that other teenagers were getting into relationships. She didn't have friends. Only a bunch of acquaintances and compañero, she had to knew everyone in the town to held the same level with her family. But she wasn't actually close to anybody in a sense when she would talk about their personal life. So there was no way to say if most people of her age were interested in dating. And in her family it wasn't much better. Camilo was very open about his passion for boys. Dolores dated Mariano. And while Mirabel wasn't much aware of her sisters, she heard Isabela and Dolores gossiping about Luisa liking somebody. It only left Antonio and Isabela. The first didn't even count, he was five. And Isabela has no stability to say anything.

The walls closed over Mirabel. The room was bigger than nursery where she stayed before, but nothing compared to the magic rooms. But, well, they planned the same size for everyone when rebuilding Casita so it would be fair. She lacked so many things. And if being giftless was something ay least common, then most people needed relationship. It left Mirabel dumbfounded as she tried to grasp onto the concept. 

"Hey, Mirabel?" Isabela peeked in through the coloured door. "We're going for a ride, are you with us?"

The first-born grandchild stared for a moment, taking in Mirabel's very unhappy state. Mirabel stared up at her. "Not really," She shrugged. "I'm a bit busy."

"If you're trying to overthink the cracks then Casita's fine. I'll personally beat it with a cactus if there's anything strange."

Mirabel fixed her glasses. Isabela had dated Mariano, right? She had probably knew what was nice in kissing stuff. And for now she wasn't looking for a date, so maybe it would be easier for Isabela to understand Mirabel's point of view. 

"I just thought about that scene Dolores and Mariano had played." And about Camilo's words, but it was left out. "What is so good about kissing? Did you like it?" 

She sees how her sister's face shifts to awkward. "This is really strange question to ask. Even in my rating."

"Well, you was in relationship albeit arranged, so I figured out you can know something."

"I didn't like it with Mariano, but it's fair as I didn't love him in the first place. And we haven't done it much. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure Mariano wasn't comfortable as well." Isabela shrugged, taking a place next to Mirabel. It didn't really give any information. But, maybe Mirabel had to see this coming. Isabela wasn't in relationship because she wanted it 

Mirabel slipped. So was you supposed to like person? But what the difference would it make, the sensation should be the same. "It's strange, I can't understand why anyone would like this." 

"Well, I can't understand why anyone would date a boy and yet two of our cousins don't agree." 

Mirabel sighed, at this point she could as well believe that it was some prank and everyone was joking on her. Because again, how in the world of God anybody would like kissing?

Isabela sighed, nugging her. "Don't put your head down. Who cares about stupid kisses? I mean sure, I would like some nice lady by my hand, but there's so many amazing plants to discover."

The younger sister chuckled. Did she learnt anything about kissing stuff? No. But, maybe it wasn't what she cared about for now. At all.

[wolfytae-exe]

You wake up in the middle of the night to a cold bed.

Where did he go? You questioned to yourself

Checking the alarm clock, it read 3:33 am

Damn..

It probably isn’t your business, but you still forced yourself to get up, and search for your missing person

You looked around for him to see where he could’ve gone. After 10 minutes you eventually gave up. Again, it probably wasn’t your business of where he was

You check you phone to check the time, 3:33 am it still read

…that’s weird.

Deciding to go back to bed, you made your way back to your room. But before you could make to your destination, you heard the sound heavy breathing coming from a different room of the house

A room you haven’t checked

A room you don’t remember existing

This would get you killed in horror movies, but with caution and out of curiosity you entered the room very quietly.

It was dark, the only light being the orange street light aluminating throgh the small window in the room

Trying to be aware of your surroundings, the heavy comes from

“Kai?”

In the corner of the room was your dearest “boyfriend” Kai. The very sweet boy you met at your local library. A sweet gentlemen that you trusted with your life. He took you on dates, bought you nice things, and even stole your lovely chastity. Your sweet “boyfriend”, in the corner, heavy breathing

Confused, you tried Reading the clock on the wall, 3:33 am

???

Barely in a whisper, you called his name again,

“Kai?”

He was shaking, back facing you, sounds a mix of breathing and whimpering

What’s gotten into him?

“…Kai?”

“So…hungry…” he moaned “not…yet…maybe…no…”

You wanted to help him. To comfort your “boyfriend” from what was haunting his soul. You can’t just stand there! He’s fighting demons!

…No.

He IS the demon

His soft brown curls shifting to his blonde hair, which then those roots started melting into black, horns slowly growing from his head, his posture was fixed, and his whimpers then turned into laughter

He still didn’t know you were behind him, well that’s what you thought was the truth.

He’s been with you too long for him to easily smell you and recognize you.

“Y/n…” he drags your name in a playful tone but still having his back facing you

You took few steps back away from him. You wanted to believe this was all a nightmare, that this strange entity wasn’t your “boyfriend” and that you weren’t awake at all

Looking at the clock again, 3:33 am

See? The time hasn’t changed!! This must be a dream! Right!

…Right?

“Y/nnnnn” he called your name again “I know you’re thereeeeee” He dragged his sentence again

Taking more steps back, close to where you can reach the doorknob, you gently try to open the door and escape from whatever this entity was, trying to impersonate your man

“Where are you going?”

You paused as you heard his question. Turning around, from the corner you found him in you turned around to see him staring right at you with the most sinister smile you would ever encountered in your life

You tried to scream, but before your octave could come out he launched himself at you. Pushing you down to the floor, your back facing him now, he found himself breathing right by your ear,

He then whispered to you, what could be the last words you’ll ever hear before you lose all of your humanity

“i…must…feed…”

3:33 am

- Lia’s 🧚‍♀️ anon

OH MY GOD???? 🧚‍♀️ ANON CALM DOWN BEFORE I STEAL YOU CAUSE CAUSE CAU💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

real shit though the time not changing is so fucking trippy in a situation like that, omg imagine it was just a dream but when she wakes up huening rolls over next to her all sleepy, blonde hair messy like it’s so normal to look that way UGHWVDJWKEBKDO i love making these men manipulative and evil thank you for your service.

[zwy01]

Kaelestis Doodles!!!

My OC Kaelestis Blerster, son and only child of Karias Blerster. His other parent is Rael Kertia (soul fragment donor). For more info on his bio check out my pinned post!

1. Doodle dump of changes in Kaelestis’ appearance as he grows up. As a small child his hair was basically kind of like Rael’s, except even messier. Karias didn’t really do anything about his son’s hair because he thought his fluffy baby was cute that way haha. And it’s true! Though as soon as Kaelestis became aware of his own appearance he started taking care of it by combing it to the sides of his head. In general kiddie Kaelestis had a round face and this feature stays with him well into adulthood. Karias’ features kick in fairly late, when Kaelestis is much, much older. Far future Kaelestis still has that same frowny expression though. He reminds people of his uncle Razark and paternal grandfather Krasis. Kaelestis isn’t trying to frown but that’s just what his face looks like when relaxed. Dammit, he’s trying his hardest, but people just keep asking him what’s wrong. Nothing really, he’s quite content actually. Orrr maybe he could be concerned about something, who knows. Hopefully he’s not worrying about Karias doing something over the top for the nth time.

2. Karias with his tiny son! While there are some… perhaps problematic things in their father-son relationship, Kaelestis’ early childhood was a very good one and arguably the best time he’s shared with his father. Which leads to the thing I want to discuss next, and that is what’s exactly going on between the two of them, and the details of what their dynamic is like.

In general, Karias and Kaelestis have a pretty decent father-son relationship. If you asked, everyone would basically tell you that oh, they have a great relationship. And that is a correct observation, because it is true. For the most part, at least. There’s nothing abnormal or strange, and they don’t have conflicts with each other. There are even affectionate moments here and there too, though there’s more to it than what people generally see.

Remember when I said that Kaelestis is more like a parent to Karias than the other way around like it’s supposed to be? That’s actually a very long story, and it goes all the way back to Kaelestis’ early childhood, to when he was a toddler, so roughly a 20 year old ish. You see, Kaelestis was a very, very well-behaved child. So well-behaved, it’s actually quite unbelievable when you think about it in hindsight. Even the other now elegant and sophisticated nextgen nobles had to be disciplined and educated to some extent to correct rowdy, weird, and sometimes unacceptable behavior. Which was basically all of them, even the super nice ones like Asa, Alethea, and Cordelia. Except for Kaelestis. He was the only exception. People were actually kind of envious of Karias, and to them he very much won the lottery with his kid. Not to mention Kaelestis is Karias and Rael’s kid… people intially expected him to be some sort of mixture between the two of his parents, but worse. Turns out, they were totally wrong. Kiddie Kaelestis was as sweet as you could get with any child. He was honest, patient, kind, and generous. He always waited for his turn to speak, always politely and correctly addressed everyone accordingly (except for that one time when Karias convinced him with the lie that Lord Raskreia is his auntie and he actually called her that lol), and never caused mischief. It’s not that he had superior self-control; those things simply just never crossed his mind. It wasn’t in his nature to do anything out of line. People kept praising Karias for his superb parenting and everyone dreaming of having a kid like Kaelestis. He’s the best you can ever get, right? And as a parent, of course you’d want to support your kid. So Karias tells a young Kaelestis how much he loves him, he’s his baby son. Sometimes Karias would also throw in a comment about how well-behaved he is, and that he’s proud of him. Of course kiddie Kaelestis would be very happy to hear that. It’s praise from none other than the Blerster Clan Leader, his dear father who he loves and respects more than anyone else in this world! That’s where everything started, and you could say it’s for the worse. Kaelestis, who holds his father in such high regard, would take this praise as a very serious thing and more or less it got engraved in his mind. You know when you were a small kid and someone said something that could be trivial but you remembered it forever and it basically impacted the trajectory some aspect of your life? Basically that. And so Kaelestis began to take pride in the fact that he was so well-behaved, and continuing to do that would make his father as proud as ever. Before this, he wasn’t even aware of the fact that he was the “perfect” child, he simply was. Now that this became a new addition to his knowledge, of course he’s going to act on it. But to Karias, Kaelestis was still a small child (toddler equivalent) so Karias isn’t going to take it too seriously anyway. He still showered his baby with affection and always gave him attention. And Kaelestis very much enjoyed every moment of it.

Fast forward to the time when Kaelestis was the equivalent of a 8-12 year old human. You know when kids are very young the parents always treat them like baby and when they get a bit older and have thoughts of their own the parents start to really have fun with their kids? That’s what happens next. Karias doesn’t need to watch Kaelestis all the time anymore, hovering over his son and worrying about him getting himself into some sort of danger. He could let him run free for a bit. Let him be on his own, and do his own thing. Karias still spends time with his son and is affectionate with him, in a different way. Because Kaelestis now takes pride in being so well-behaved, he actually makes a conscious effort to be even more well-behaved. He’s become obsessed with the idea, more or less. Be the perfect son, don’t ever cause trouble, make Father proud because he doesn’t need to worry about me, and then Father can attend to his duties as Clan Leader with high efficiency. This was what Kaelestis knew at the time, and it truly was out of good will, as he’s being considerate of others. But what young Kaelestis didn’t know was that this also meant that he’s sacrificing his own well-being and need for closeness to his father. And Karias wasn’t even aware of this, he just thought that this is just what his kid is like, being nice as usual and that, and he can focus more on clan duties. And so Kaelestis never got the extra recognition that he yearned for, and even worse his father now spends less time with him. He got what he wanted, didn’t he? For his father to be the best Clan Leader ever? But something doesn’t feel so right, and Kaelestis starts to doubt his own decision. Even worse, Kaelestis doesn’t do anything to fix the situation, he just goes with the flow because he started this himself. His Clan Leader never asked of him for any of this. But now that it’s done, there’s no choice but to endure the consequences and move on, right? For now, he’ll continue to be the best son for his father. Because he loves him. It’ll do. This won’t go on forever, right? At least Kaelestis had thought so, though this optimism would soon be replaced with even more regret and exhaustion.

Fast forward to Kaelestis’ teen years, so the human equivalent of a 13-19 year old ish. Kaelestis’ hobbies are expanding, and his talent is truly blooming. He had discovered his love for the arts… painting, sculpture, anything really. This was his purpose in life, and his skills were really impressive. Karias is of course overjoyed and thrilled to learn that his son is so talented and that he has found his passion. And so Karias gets Kaelestis all the materials he could possibly find both inside and outside of Lukedonia, and Kaelestis is very touched by his father’s gestures. He has all this stuff with work with now! It was a real moment of joy for him, and yet another memory for him to remember forever , which would later also become tinted with melancholy. Now that Kaelestis actually has time to spend on projects, he is indirectly pushing his father away even more. Whenever Karias would drop by to check on his son and ask him how he’s doing, Kaelestis would always answer that he’s doing well, and Karias doesn’t need to worry about him, because he has art, and that’s all he needs to be happy. Which was a lie, because he actually longed for time with his father. He misses his early childhood where the two of them would spend time together everyday, all day. But he needs to not be a distraction to his father’s schedule, because he’s well-behaved right? He could hold in his feelings of yearning… right? So Karias never learns of his son’s true feelings. Because he never tells him. Which just hurts Kaelestis even more because now he’s actually reinforcing Karias’ belief that his son is all good and that his role as father isn’t one that is needed too much, because he’s a good boy who can entertain himself in peace. And that’s when they start to see each other less and less. They still have dinner together and talk about the day sometimes, but the frequency is nothing like before anymore. Not even close. Kaelestis is hurting himself, and he can’t bring himself to admit to his father that he needs him. No, no, there’s no way he can be an inconvenience to his father. Of course Karias would never think of his son in that way, ever. But Kaelestis’ tendencies to overthink and internalize things drives him to this conclusion. And this doesn’t change much even after Kaelestis becomes a young adult. And so, even to this day, whenever Kaelestis picks up a paintbrush or a chisel, he’d always be reminded of the fact that he (partially) traded away his father’s bond with himself for this. Perhaps this melancholy doesn’t sting Kaelestis as much as it did at first, but it will always be a thorn in his heart, a mild, reoccurring pain.

Kaelestis’ feelings of responsibility over his father carries over to different aspects too. You see, Karias’ personality is drastically different from Kaelestis’. That’s literally just how he is. He’s flamboyant and always going over the top, sometimes he’d say or do something inappropriate by noble standards and get yelled at by Rozaria and Gejutel… etc etc. The usual drill. Kaelestis feels like he needs to keep Karias in check to make sure he’s not being an inconvenience to others. He’s Karias’ son, and it is his duty to make sure Father doesn’t do something so out of line again. And this involves reminding his father of “ahem, Clan Leader, please don’t do that” to reprimanding him if he comedically wails about how he’s not allowed to have fun and his son is just sooooo not fun either. To be honest, Karias has always been like this since the start but Kaelestis just never took it seriously until he got older, because he didn’t think it was a problem. Now that his sense of responsibility is ever so strong, of course he’d be concerned with Karias’ self-representation out there. To Kaelestis, Karias’ image is heavily tied with the entire clan’s image. Karias just thinks his son is hilarious. Which does not amuse Kaelestis because he essentially still needs to parent his parent and being laughed at in the face isn’t exactly helpful either. Kaelestis’ duties includes apologizing to others when Karias does something weird, warning others about what might come, reminding Karias about what and what not to say at meetings, etc etc. You could say that Kaelestis thinks this is exhausting, because it really is. But to him, maybe this is some other form of bonding, to fill that void in his childhood. In a way, this is spending time with his father whom he misses dearly. But still. Kaelestis yearns for Karias to interact with him like they did in his childhood. Just gentle affection and attention from his father. He wants to be a small child again, because he had never been able to smile out of true happiness for a very long time now. He wishes he’d never taken being well-behaved so seriously, because that one phrase of praise led to everything that causes him sadness in the present day. In a way, he misses Karias. Karias was never out of reach, as the two of them live in the same manor and they’re often together on duties and errands. Mentally and emotionally? That’s the complicated part. Kaelestis is there, and not there in the same time. To Karias he’s still his precious son and everything is totally normal. But to Kaelestis there is this gap between them that will never close, and it’s entirely his own fault so he can’t complain. Perhaps if Kaelestis didn’t see clearing a misunderstanding as such a heavy burden, he would’ve done it. Just admit to Father that you were unhappy all along. Just do it. He thinks about it often, but ends up failing every single time. Just can’t bring himself to say it. And so this eats him from the inside out, causing him to be in a constant state of burnout. The kid he was never able to be, and the peace of mind he will never get. The ever so gracious maturity and sophisticated energy that he emits and perceived by others, is a curse to him. The burden does not end there. When he’s with his friends, the others automatically assume that he’ll be the chaperone and take responsibility for anything that happens. Even their joke nickname for him is “dad” because he’s so much like one, right? This puts even more pressure on him, and he has to constantly be on lookout in case any of them does something stupid. Hearing them tell the others “Kaelestis didn’t stop me, so I did it anyway” doesn’t exactly help either. He’s getting blamed for something they decided to do? He never signed up for this, but he doesn’t want to make things complicated, so he keeps it inside and… boom. Stress and more stress. It’s always, always there. He still enjoys being in the presence of his friends but sometimes the burden overrides the joy and in the end, everyone had a good time, except for himself.

One of his deepest unspoken desires is for someone to come hold him, and tell him he can stop and put down everything and just cry. Come and rescue him, and help him out of this cage that he put himself in. To this day, he awaits for someone to burst down that wall he spent his entire life maintaining. Someone. Anyone.

Aaaand this is about it for now! I’d love to talk more about my precious Kaekae in the future so I might do that when I have the opportunity again!

(+ this is why Kaelestis falls for Izar! Unlike virtually all of the others, Izar doesn’t cause much trouble. He’s mostly obsessed with doing research in his own lab and rarely leaves it. Sometimes there’d be an explosion, but that’s pretty much it. Nothing dramatic or extra involved. Izar is also very chill in general and would take care of Kaelestis when he’s a visiting his lab as a “guest” : offering him snacks and drinks, showing him his figure collection and letting him play with them, showering him in plushies to hug, putting a blanket over him after he’s fallen asleep from listening to him reading research papers… all those small but heartwarming things that make Kaelestis feel being taken care of. Izar isn’t even aware of the fact that these simple gestures mean so, so much to Kaelestis and that this dude is in love with him… how lovely! +for more info in Izar feel free to once again check out my pinned post+ special Izar post from before!)

((again sleep deprived so excuse me for any typos haha hopefully it all makes sense! See you again in the future!!))

[dragonologist-phd]

I hesitate to get ahead of one of my favorite fics but I'd love to see this for Cleo and Galfrey:

[ comfort ] a tender kiss to provide comfort or reassurance

Feel free to ignore the ask if it's too spoilery!

thank you!

this one will be a *little* spoilery in that it's set post-game, but i tried to keep it pretty non-specific!

also on ao3

[ comfort ] a tender kiss to provide comfort or reassurance

Cleo crouches by the fire, stabbing at the low-burning ashes in an effort to force the flames back to life. It takes a few minutes for the heat to build, but finally she’s rewarded with a spray of sparks and a stable flicker of heat, and she settles into the grass to enjoy the fruits of her labor.

It’s quiet out here- the natural kind of quiet, broken by shaking leaves and distant skittering animals. Still feels strange, after so long in the cities. Strange, but familiar. It’s nice. Cleo stares into the flames she created, soaking in the moment. The glaring light against her dark surroundings is a little disorienting, and the smoke makes her eyes water- but it feels good. It feels real.

A rustling from the tent behind her alerts Cleo to the waking of her traveling companion, bringing forth a small spike of guilt. She’d really tried not to wake Galfrey; hells, the woman gets little enough sleep as it is. She thought she’d managed it pretty well, but obviously her absence has been noticed.

Sure enough, Galfrey soon emerges from the tent, her golden hair tied loosely back and Cleo’s thick fur blanket wrapped tightly around her arms. She takes in the sight of Cleo and the fire, and with a stifled yawn makes her way to where the tiefling is positioned in the grass.

“You look cold,” she says by way of greeting, and with a reluctant smile Cleo offers her arm in invitation.

Galfrey takes her hand, and once she’s lowered herself to the ground she shifts closer to wrap one end of the blanket around Cleo. They end up nestled together, Cleo’s arm around Galfrey’s waist and Galfrey’s head resting on Cleo’s shoulder. Despite the guilt over disturbing Galfrey’s rest, Cleo has to admit this is exactly what she was missing this night- close together likes this, she finally feels peaceful.

Then something shifts in the shadowed woods- an owl, or a possum, or something equally harmless– and Cleo’s muscles tense without her permission.

Galfrey notices. Of course she does. Her chin tilts up, her eyes pale and searching as she studies Cleo’s face. “You’ve been having dreams tonight.”

It’s not a question. Maybe she woke even sooner than Cleo realized. “Memories,” Cleo admits, since there’s not much use denying it now, not if Galfrey’s been aware of her tossing and turning all night. “Same thing, I guess.”

It’s nothing new. They both have moments like this, now and then. Galfrey has spent a lifetime at war, and Cleo has sent her soul through hell and back- the memories haven’t faded easily for either of them, and there’s not much to be done for it.

And it’s fine. Compared to the prices they might have paid, it’s actually pretty damn good. Their work is done, and they’re safe, and Cleo can handle a few measly dreams.

It’s just a little more difficult on nights like this, when the memories that come back aren’t of pain and regret, but rather of that heady rush of power that kept her captive for so long.

The fire crackles angrily, and as the wood pops and sends more sparks dancing through the air, Cleo remembers the heat that once filled her so easily. She remembers how she reveled in it, how the blazing strength seeped into her very veins.

“You ever miss it? The way things used to be?” she asks. “I guess it ‘miss it’ ain’t the right way to say it, but-know what I mean? It’s that feeling like…like you know you were worse off before, but you still kinda miss it anyway? You ever feel that way?”

“I know what you mean,” Galfrey says quietly. “And…yes, I suppose I do.”

“I think that’s the worst of it.” Cleo doesn’t elaborate; she doesn’t really have to. Galfrey’s smart enough to figure out what she doesn’t say.

And she’s smart enough that the next thing she says is a question that she obviously knows the answer to. “Would you choose differently, if you could?”

Cleo chuckles. “Nah. I’m not that much of an idiot.”

Galfrey’s hand slides into Cleo’s, their fingers intertwining. Her palms are not soft; they are calloused from a lifetime of swordplay and hard work, and they are firm as she holds Cleo tight. Her thumb traces over the crosswork of scars on Cleo’s knuckle.

“Neither would I,” she says softly. “That, I believe, matters more than whatever your dreams remind you of.”

Cleo smiles, and her head dips down to press a kiss to Galfrey’s temple. Galfrey tilts her head up to meet Cleo with another kiss, this one tender and soft against her lips. It’s a familiar message between the two of them by now, soft and reassuring, and gods be damned if it isn’t something Cleo would trade the whole Abyss and more for.

She kisses Galfrey again, and the two fall once more into peaceful quiet as the fire crackles on and the sun slowly breaks over the horizon, chasing away the darker memories of the night.

[distortionswife]

How it all started

TWs for: Clowns, probably paranoia, kidnapping ( ig? it was kind of martin blackwood like conscious choice???? ) Mimicking of movement, uncanny shit,

-- PART ONE --

I had just woken up from a rather odd dream, I don't exactly remember what it was, I just remember that it horrified me. But the sight beside my bed was somehow worse.

It was a tall figure, it adorned a top hat and seemed to stare at me, watching my movement. I couldn't see it very well, mumbling something along the lines of "what are you.."

And then she laughed. And I knew.

It was Nikola, I'd recognize that laugh anywhere. And when she got a bit closer, I saw her face, still a bit blurred but it was her alright... Even if I was blind as hell without my glasses.

But if not for the face and laugh, it'd be that trademark ringleader outfit of hers with that top hat. She wore a wig, it was short and orange, curly too. It looked rather nice on her, in my opinion, but that wasn't what I was thinking in that moment.

All I could think was "Oh god." because why would she be here? So I moved my head slightly, still in the stomach sleeping position with my hands under my pillow.

But what I saw was real. It was to me, at least.

Because she moved her head with me.

I noticed her hand retracting from.. my shoulder? Had she woken me up? Why?

I moved my head side-to-side, seeing her mirroring and mimicking that exact movement.. it assured me she was certainly in my room. Which made a new, vivid fear arise, because London wasn't that close to where I lived. The area of The Netherlands, France and Germany was quite far, it's not like I'd have a close connection to it either.

But for some reason, she was here. In my room.

My thoughts were so blurry, I was still so sleepy and I had dreams like this before where I had woken up yet.

She laughed at my reaction, and all I could mutter out was a "W-What are you doing here?"

And by god she must be strong, at least strong enough to easily shove 25 kg/55 lbs from in front of my door. I always have a basket in front of my door out of fear and paranoia, hallucinations are quite scary at night, both auditory and visual.

Either way, she was still blurry for me and I struggled seeing everything, it was dark, after all. Well, my blinds are darkened and they made the room dark, but my little space lamp allowed for light. It has a timer so I assumed it had turned off by itself again.

I tiredly mumbled about needing my glasses, not really sure if I was awake or if this was a dream as well. I smacked the bedside table to feel my glasses but they weren't there.

She laughed again and mocked me a bit, asking me "Are you really that blind?"

And I simply nodded, which caused her to laugh again, refusing to give me my glasses, "I'll just move closer, then." So she did, she moved very fucking close to my face, like mere inches away and somehow THAT caused me to properly wake up, even if the faint fear was already there. Now it was FULLY running through me.

This had apparently taken 5 minutes.

Once I sat up, I held the sheets up to my chest, just covering a bit as I stared at the other. Nikola had found my stupidity very entertaining.

She started talking about how I should just follow, I shouldn't question it and that she thought I was probably aware what would happen if I didn't listen.

I simply asked if I could at least get dressed, which made her groan,

" Is that really necessary? " Nikola said.

I nodded and she sighed, staring at the little space lamp, inspecting it with a strange curiosity as I got dressed.

I suddenly heard her laugh, seeing that she had removed it's head.

see the picture above, it is indeed removable, but Nikola found it very entertaining.

Once I was dressed she walked to my door, closed it and reopened it again, suddenly.. elsewhere?

We were in the middle of London, the door closing and not leading to my bedroom anymore. She was very pleased with this.

I remember texting my friend, we'll call them Sunny.

"I think i fucked up somewhere" I texted them

but Nikola smacked my phone out of my hand ad took it away, saying I should lead the way as I apparently lived here. I argued that I didn't, I have never lived in London.

She was CONVINCED I was lying to her, saying she was very very sure of it.

I decided not to argue again, might be better since Nikola could kill me at any moment.

So, she leads me to the infamous institute, The Magnus Institute, London. I still had my watch so I was able to see the time; 4:02 a.m.

But I couldn't ponder the thought long, because I was being shoved towards the door and told to "go get the thing", and I didn't know what to do or get, but part of me was guessing skin, seeing as that was all she was talking about on the way there.

While i was in the tunnels, trying to evade the absolute horror that was Not!Sasha, I felt my watch buzz, it was still connected to my phone and apparently someone was trying to figure out what it was, as it was still on when Nikola smacked it out of my hand.

She was messaging Sunny, or well, messily messaging, I assumed. Sunny had sent a message that was just a keyboard smash in all caps. They also made a joke about time traveling or dimension hopping.

Then I got an "oh." and a "cool cosplay", which was an odd sight in itself but i had to focus on not dying AND not getting worms. There were a few left and I was about ready to throw up.

Michael was there, somehow, walking after me with a curiosity, asking who I was and why I was here. I explained it didn't matter who I was but that a certain ringmaster basically took me from my home and made me get her some skin she wanted.

"Why would you even follow her out of your room???" He asked me.

"Because she's absolutely horrifying, kind of pretty and mostly... I don't want to piss her off. I feel like she'd kill me if I wouldn't listen to her." I had responded.

Michael gave me a judging look like no other, not understanding my reasons and actually advising against getting the skin for her, even if it was against his nature. He said his door was a faster way out.

I refused and repeated I'd rather not piss someone off who wants skin.

Then he disappeared, at the voice of Elias and I somehow had that ANCIENT BIT OF SKIN. He looked at me, tilting his head and asked why I had that.

I tried to trick him by saying it was leather, getting an annoyed look and furrowed eyes. The orange glowy furrowed eyes, kind of intimidating, too.

"You know damned well I'm aware that the thing you are holding is not leather."

So I argued with him for a while and he eventually found out I was doing this for Nikola, the I do not know you. He offered me a job and I said I'd consider it, he'd hear from me in the morning.

Before he could stop me I ran the other way, into Michael who was probably more intrigued about me running through the corridors than whatever else he had going on, because he wanted to know my plan.

I joked about joining a fire-y cult and he asked me, loudly "WHY"

And because I was just so damned nervous I joked that "Can't peel what doesn't exist."

it made him chuckle.

I somehow got out of the tunnels and was once more seen by Elias, but I got the skin to Nikola and she was questioning me about Elias. I told her I was offered a job, and she encouraged me to take it so I could snoop for her.

Be her little errand person.

I blurted out that Elias wanted me to snoop on her.

Nikola just gripped my shoulder painfully tight, saying with her sweetest voice "well you're not going to tell him anything."

And I was honestly okay with that, getting my phone back and being told my friend was not the brightest. My friend Sunny, in this universe, thought that it wasn't real. But they were very much in the same universe. Just.. not aware.

The chat log was along the lines of:

( Sunny ) AKDJFNKA ALSO WHY ARE YOU AWAKE Did you finally go through a spiral door into the archives or something? /j ( Nikola ) Spiral door? Into the archives? Do tell :)

( Sunny ) What? It was a joke, I put the /j ( Nikola ) I don't know what that means :) [ a picture of Nikola's face, she apparently took it on accident ] ( Sunny ) Cool cosplay, you got that together real fast KSDHFBKS ( Nikola ) [ another picture, she figured it out!! It was of the front of the archives, her tall shadow in front of it ] ( Sunny ) Oh. OH.

It was quite funny to read, there were also a lot of scratches on my phone, Nikola had made a little finger hat of skin, eventually. Like a thimble of skin.

I tried texting them back, sending "THAT WAS NOT ME I'M SO SORRY." And I got back: "YEAH I CAN SEE THAT." There was more but I was knocked on my head, waking up tied to a chair, she removed the bandana from my mouth because she didn't think I'd scream, but kept me tied down, thinking I'd run.

I argued I'd probably get myself killed if I did, she found that to be the one smart thing.

She then talked to me about working for her, what it'd entail and what my "freedom" would be. Since she'd want dirt and info on the institute.

And that's where the first one ended. I signed a contract, in a way, not literally. It didn't tie me to the stranger, either, just to Nikola.

I got the nickname "little archivist" due to my height. 154.2cm/barely 5'0

-- END OF PART ONE --

Soooo let me know your thoughts, and what you think!

I don't know if it helps with reading but have my picrew as a reference for how I look, it's accurate, believe me. I know it helps me to have visual aids aksdjhfbaksd

[iamnotawomanimagod]

Life is Strange: Double Exposure - A Bullet Point Review

Please note that there are SPOILERS BELOW.

The Good:

I had fun! At the end of the day, games should be fun, and I enjoyed this one. I had a good time exploring Caledon, getting to know the different characters, and using Max's new timeline-hopping abilities to solve puzzles.

Max changed in a realistic way - it's been ten years since the first game, so she's 28. She's more confident, less ashamed of her snooping, and more certain of her talent as a photographer. But she still makes really dumb dad jokes, still has that "dreamer" vibe, and still cares deeply about the people around her - even if she has a weird way of showing it.

It had genuinely surprising twists and the story was engaging and kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

It's really pretty! The characters are beautifully animated and feel very real, with realistic physical ticks and habits that make them feel a lot more alive.

Dr. Gwen Hunter is hot as fuck. So is Moses.

Chloe is present in the narrative. I'd say she haunts it in a similar way that Rachel did in the first game, and that Max herself did in the prequel. Having Max write her journals to Chloe was a nice touch and callback to Before the Storm. I still don't know if I'd buy them breaking up in the "save Chloe" timeline, but I do think they made a good attempt at explaining why they aren't together anymore. And all the events of LiS are still impacting Max in a very real way. Max does need to be the protagonist of this game, despite what I thought before I played it. (That being said, I think the storyline that makes the most sense in this setting is the one where Chloe dies.)

Finally acknowledging that this is a universe where multiple people have superpowers and that, inevitably, some of those people are going to run into each other.

The set design between the two timelines was really clever and helped signal which timeline you were in. Sometimes it could be tough to keep track of what you said to who in which timeline, but I think that was intentional. It'd be tough for Max, too.

Side note, but: hilarious choice to make it so that you can date Vinh in Dead World, but not Amanda, and you can date Amanda in Living World, but not Vinh. But then, at the end, the timelines combine and you've gotta deal with two-timing people in the weirdest way possible. I haven't played that version of the game (I romanced Amanda instead) but it's a very funny choice.

The Bad:

This game re-treads the same path the first game did. It's self-aware of this retreading, and often uses it to highlight the themes of the story. But it can fall flat. I don't think it was necessary to have Max relive the dark room, even in a limited way. How and why did that happen? Did Safi make her do that? Did "the storm"? It's unclear and it made me more uncomfortable than anything else. There were times it worked - Lucas as a sort of echo/foil of Jefferson, Safi as a foil of Chloe, etc. But there were a lot of times where I was just thinking "hasn't Max been here before?"

For some reason, the color of Max's eyes drives me CRAZY. Other characters have blue eyes, but they don't seem as blindingly, painfully blue as Max's. I also found the animation on her hair a little distracting at times.

Max still follows Victoria Chase on social media, as well as Chloe if you pick the "saved Chloe" storyline. During the final chapter, she receives weird dream world texts from multiple characters from the first game, including Warren. But through all of this, Kate Marsh is never, ever mentioned. In the "save Arcadia Bay" story line, she should still be alive, so I'm not sure why they didn't at least include references to her there. Big bummer, especially when Kate was such a significant part of the first game.

I don't particularly like the ending, or the way it sets up a direct sequel. The post-credits stinger was fine. I felt like the reveal that Diamond has powers came completely from the left field. And I like the idea of Safi and Diamond off on a little adventure to find more people like them. But it made the ending feel very "to be continued..." instead of a more concrete ending like the first game had.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with LiS: Double Exposure. I went in with pretty low expectations because I wasn't sure a sequel to Max's story was necessary. I still don't know if it was, on a narrative level, but I did enjoy the journey.

If you played the first game and can make peace with the Chloe of it all, I definitely recommend it!

[esta-elavaris]

Fallen Through Time

Part Ten [2,428 words]

An AU of my completed, 400k+ word fanfic Catch the Wind [AO3], in which Elizabeth, not James, is the one to discover Theodora Byrne after she crash-lands into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Page breaks by cafekitsune.

Also now on AO3 and FF.net.

Masterpost - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - *Part Ten* [you're here!]

Tag list [let me know if you want to be added!]: @missfronkensteen @teawithshakespeare @dancerinthestorm

The books gifted to her by Captain Norrington ended up being a blessing in more ways than one. Yes, it was a relief to see that they were finally on good terms, and that she was at least somewhat sure now that she could talk to him without walking into any unknown bear traps set by his suspicious mind (a good thing, too, because her next course of action would’ve been to serenade him with that one Elvis song, and it would’ve never worked). But the books themselves offered her a way of getting out of the house without being doomed to wander and loiter under the scrutiny of every person who happened to pass by.

They still scrutinised, of course, but at least now she was much too absorbed in the words under her nose to notice them. It also meant she wasn’t stuck with the dilemma of whether to return their stare with one arched eyebrow until they became embarrassed and looked away, or to suddenly pretend to find some aspect of the scenery very interesting until they removed their gaze of their own accord. The former solution was a fun little game to play if she was feeling combative, but it wouldn’t win her any friends.

So, on a few mornings a week when Elizabeth was otherwise occupied with the convoluted minutiae that went into being one of Port Royal’s leading ladies, she would slip out after breakfast – a packed lunch of her own making in hand, as well as Norrington’s books. It was as close as she could get to the concept of simple pleasures, seeing as she sorely lacked the ability to go out and buy herself a mocha followed by a trip to a book shop, but it was much closer than she’d have been able to get without Norrington’s help.

For that, she was grateful. She had much to be grateful for, of that she was fully aware – especially since the reality of her situation sank in, and she stopped feeling like she was wandering through a very strange, and alarmingly lucid dream. Luck had played a big factor in her circumstances. After all, she was not begging on the street, as she might’ve been stuck doing if none had found her. She hadn’t been branded a pirate and hanged, as she might’ve been had Norrington found her. Her biggest worry was passing the hours and preparing, mentally, for Jack’s arrival – and that was a rosy prospect when compared with fears of starvation or lack of shelter.

It wasn’t so much that she doubted her ability to get by under duress, but it was nice not to have to. She’d certainly have no time to sit beneath palm trees by the sea reading books in that world – and it proved such a distraction that she didn’t even notice Norrington’s approach until his shadow fell over her.

“Good afternoon, Miss Byrne,” he eyed her like he wasn’t quite sure what he was up to.

Then again, that had long become his habit – and she was quickly growing used to it.

“Hello, Captain. Is it afternoon already? The books were more of a blessing than I could’ve guessed – I’ve been absorbed since morning,” she said.

“I noticed,” he said, his eyes flickering in the direction of where the Interceptor sat in the water a ways off.

“I’m not sitting right in the middle of another notoriously un-sound site, am I?” she asked, bemused by the admission.

“No – not at all, I…”

Then, though, he must’ve realised the implications of what’s he’d said – like he’d been watching her, for he cleared his throat and continued.

“You’ve gotten through it remarkably quickly,” he nodded to the copy of Meditations, now sitting amidst her many skirts.

Realising she was probably being rude, she made to rise but he stopped her with a gesture, considered her for a moment, and then slowly – reluctantly – lowered himself down to sit beside her. “Even for one who can read.”

He made the joke watching her closely, like he was half-worried she wouldn’t find it funny at all. But she did, not least because it surprised her, and she breathed a laugh.

“I’ll probably read it a few times before I return it to you. Just to save me treating your house like a library I’m not actually banned from. I have to ask, though, am I robbing you of your lunch break again?”

“I seldom take it. Not to eat, in any case – I find it slows me down,” he denied. “Although I see you brought yours with you.”

“I won’t be the idiot who tries to explain the importance of good nutrition to a military man,” she snorted, glancing in the direction of the half of the sandwich she had not yet touched. “Did you like the one I made you? I didn’t know if it was weird of me, but I wanted to do…something, and my resources are limited. Seemed to defeat the point if I was just having the Swanns do something in my name.”

“It was confusing – the dish, not the gesture. That was unusual, perhaps, but the sentiment was appreciated all the same.”

“It’s quite clever actually,” she replied. “The bread lets you eat without your hands ending up covered in food – so you can eat while you work. Or read, in my case. So I won’t be returning your books with greasy little fingerprints all over them. A good on-the-go meal.”

Although side-stepping the name – just in case the Earl of Sandwich was a good friend of the Swanns – felt a little awkward. As she explained it, though, an odd sort of change overcame Norrington’s face, and then he cleared his throat and made a noise that was caught somewhere between a laugh and a cough.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“That…makes more sense.”

“Makes more sense than what?”

“It’s no matter,” he shook his head.

But Theo was like a dog with a bone by that point.

“Don’t tell me you deconstructed it.”

His lips thinned, and she had to remind herself that this was not the sort of man that she could joke around with like that. Groves, maybe, but not Norrington. Then, however, he surprised her by sighing and admitting drily.

“I’m unused to meals that are supposed to come with a set of instructions. A product of my time at sea, no doubt, where dining is altogether simpler.”

Theo laughed, mostly because of his surprising willingness to talk nonsense with her.

“That’s not true – I’ve seen the amount of lobster and crab served around here. That’s an obstacle course disguised as a meal.”

He smirked, bowing his head as he did so as if to hide his mirth. But it shone through in his words.

“Dangerous words, Miss Byrne. They’ll see you uninvited from every dinner party in the port.”

“Do me a favour and repeat the story, then. Loudly and for all to hear,” Theo grinned, a twinkle in her eye.

Although with that said, she feared the topic was steering towards the less than fun time she’d had of it among Port Royal’s best and brightest, so she picked up the half of the sandwich she had not yet touched.

“Here. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. Have it, or it’ll go to waste.”

“I could not rob you of yours.”

“I’m not hungry – and considering how you thought the last one was supposed to be eaten, I’m amazed it wasn’t taken as an act of Irish aggression.”

He sighed, and then eyed it. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Relenting – much to her surprise – he took up the sandwich from the cloth she’d wrapped it in, eyed it, and then took a bite. Theo picked up her book and opened it at the page she’d marked, pretending to read it more than actually eating it. Nobody liked to be creeped on while they ate.

“I’ll admit, Miss Byrne, that I am glad I relented and gave it a second chance,” he said after a few minutes.

She looked up with a little smile, finding a chunk of it gone as he considered the rest. When she next glanced to the Interceptor, she found a few of his men by the nearest rail, turning their gaze in their direction every now and then. Looking back to Norrington, she expected him to make an excuse to quickly leave, but instead he appeared unimpressed at worst, and then spoke again.

“What passage are you at?”

“What? Oh- erm,” she picked the book up, suddenly feeling just the slightest bit nervous as she opened it.

So much had been made of her ability to read, it would be embarrassing now if she arsed up the words and proved herself to actually be illiterate, wouldn’t it?

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment,” she read.

At first he was silent, and she wondered if he was just busy eating, but when she next looked at him the sandwich was still in hand, and he was hesitating rather than chewing.

“Do you disagree?” she asked – although she didn’t think he did.

“No,” he admitted readily enough. “But it seems a poor consolation in your current circumstance.”

“Not at all,” she said, and then faltered.

Not because she didn’t know what to say, but because there was a lot that she could say on that score. Her earlier thoughts on how lucky she’d been, on how much worse everything could be. And then there were the constant reminders she firmly gave herself over and over – that her wits had gotten her this far, not only in Port Royal, but in life. What point was there in not trusting them now? When she needed them most? As she dithered, he finished the sandwich, apparently content not to rush her.

“I’ve been lucky,” she settled for. “The only distress that I’ll find here is that which I’ll unleash upon myself – if I decide to be all…fatalistic about everything. Speaking of, actually, there’s another bit here. Accept the things to which fate binds you, but do so with all your heart.”

There was a bit in the middle that she’d carefully omitted – and love the people with whom fate brings you to. The last thing she needed to do was read that out and have him think she was out here husband-hunting, of all things.

“It hasn’t been a difficult thing to accept. Compared to the other, more likely scenarios that could’ve played out. Drowning, becoming shark food…washing up elsewhere.”

“The latter is markedly less disastrous than the previous two.”

“I washed up into the lap of kind folk,” she snorted. “That’s rare. I really beat the odds. I’ll tell you what, though, I’ll never take up gambling in my life – I think I’ve used up all my luck for life since coming here.”

“I shan’t argue with the logic if the end result is wise,” he said drily. “But on that note, I must take my leave. And thank you once again for feeding me.”

“You provide the food for thought,” she brandished the book. “It’s the least I can do.”

He snorted as he stood and bowed his head in farewell – regarding her strangely, albeit with another one of those reluctant chuckles, when she saluted him in parting.

As James went about his duties for the rest of the day, Miss Byrne was never far from his mind. Even if he’d found her intolerable, he would have still gone to speak to her – for he saw no other course of action. If Miss Swann was right, and he was beginning to suspect her way of thinking was much more on the mark than his original line of thought, then Port Royal’s newest resident, then he knew that Miss Byrne would only confide in him (as a role of authority here) if she saw that he truly was amicable. When he wished to be. Sometimes.

Admittedly, none could ever accuse him of being personable, but he was at least fair. He could be turned to in a matter such as this, to handle it with whatever delicacy was required. There were no delusions in his mind that they would become great friends, nor that she would more readily confide in him over Elizabeth thanks to something such as friendship, but she had to see that he was a trusted figure - one that would protect the good folk here. And it was looking more and more as if she was one of those good folk. Strange, perhaps, but good.

All of this was true, and all of it was sincere. It was just a somewhat surprising after-effect that he did not find her intolerable. Even as he'd been perfectly prepared to go to her and bite his tongue through all manner of inanities, solely in the name of building a rapport that would prove useful later. In fact, the more they spoke, the more he found himself strangely enjoying her company rather than merely tolerating it, or putting on a show of finding it entertaining.

Throughout the rest of the day, he attended to his work aboard the Interceptor, readying it for their next voyage – a short one, merely aimed at maintaining peace and safety on the surrounding waters rather than rooting out any ill-folk. As he did, though, he found himself repeatedly glancing in the direction where she sat beneath her tree, never once looking up from the book.

Towards the end of the day – when a warm, glowing afternoon was beginning to fade to a cool evening – he looked back to that same patch, deciding that if she was still there, then the gentlemanly thing to do would be presenting an offer to walk her back to the mansion, as a matter of safety…and found himself feeling oddly disappointed when she was no longer there. And that ran the risk of becoming rather dangerous indeed.