#if we continue down this analogy

[lucifers-left-tit]

YES like fuck. it's even kind of spelled out in the song. charlie might be the very own princess of hell - a tier second only to Lucifer, mind you - and yet in heaven's eyes, in Sera's eyes, she's as dismissable as the young, naive Emily. Worse, actually, because she's a hellborn, not a seraphim.

(even though charlie and lilith, as the tier below Lucifer, would in fact equate to the seraphim)

It's so important to me that we all understand that hell and heaven in the Hellaverse aren't like two separate territories with equal power in a war that heaven happens to be winning.

Hell is a territory that Heaven rules.

Lucifer may be the king, but that is a position he was given by Heaven, because they have the power and authority to place people in charge of Hell,

And it's all well and good he WANTS to do better as a ruler. That he takes it seriously, or did at one point and/or is coming around to it again in the show, but its a possition with only as much power as Heaven wants to give it, and they want it to have less power than the General of Heaven's army, because Sera listens to Adam before she listens to Lucifer.

Lucifer, an Archangel, doesn't get to make demands of heaven. He doesn't even try. He gets to ask Sera to please stop the genocide of the people he was told to watch over. He gets to concede when they say no. Because heaven just gets to say no, because they get to decide what happens in hell without taking into account the opinions of Lucifer, or the seven sins, or the goetia or anyone in hell.

We all get that right?

That Charlie and the other's defending the hotel wasn't just the citizens of hell going up against an invading army. It only counts an an invading army ans not the occupying force because they don't actually stay there year round

Hell didn't just win their first battle in a war that's been raging for millennia. That was the first time hell organized to fight back against their theocratic dictatatorship- if not ever, than in millenia.

That was act of rebellion.

That was Hell declairing independence.

[woniedarlin]

He listens while you yap

pairings: boyfriend! enhypen x reader | listener x yapper trope

caution: be prepared for their randomness (•‿•)

author's note: This is my first time trying something like this, and I thought, why not switch things up? If you enjoyed it and want more like this, just let me know! Happy reading!

permanent tag list: @sol3chu @chlorinecake @13tter @jung1w0n

HEESEUNG

You explained an article you found earlier and made an especially interesting point. ���So, apparently, there’s this theory about how—wait, are you even listening?” you paused mid-sentence then glancing up at Heeseung.

He was just staring at you the entire time.

“Am I talking too much?” you asked, feeling embarrassed. Was he bored? You might have been talking for hours...well, you were.

“I’m sorry,” you added. Feeling guilty.

Heeseung tilted his head slightly. His lips formed a gentle smile that quickly made you feel comfortable. “No, not at all. I’m just listening,” he said gently. “You always have the most interesting things to say.”

You blinked. For a moment, you were caught off guard by his words.. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure I’m just rambling about random stuff half the time.”

He chuckled softly while shaking his head. “Not to me. You make even the most ordinary things sound extraordinary. Like you’re breathing life into them.”

“Come on, that’s a bit much,” you teased though you were shy with his words.

He shook his head slowly. “It’s not. You could talk about the lifespan of jellyfish, and I’d still want to hear every word.”

You laughed. “Seriously? Jellyfish?”

“Yup,” he said with a grin. Heeseung’s eyes crinkling at the corners. “I don’t think you realize how much I enjoy hearing you talk.”

You looked at him for a moment. Your laughter turned into a warmer feeling. “You always know how to make me feel special, right?”

Heeseung smiled more. “I’m just telling the truth. You’re the one who makes everything feel special.”

Your heart swelled at his words, and you couldn’t help but grin. “You’re too good at this, you know. No wonder everyone’s always talking about how sweet you are.”

He lightly shrugged. “Only for you.”

JAY

You plopped down next to Jay on the couch, “Last night, I dreamed I was a bottle of ketchup,” you said, not even glancing at him.

Jay didn’t even look up from what he was doing, though you knew he was listening. “Oh?”

“Yeah. And you were mustard. Which is weird because you’re usually mayonnaise in my dreams.” You said it matter-of-factly.

Jay glanced over at you and gave a small smile. Your boyfriend didn’t even question it anymore.

“Mhm. We were sitting on a picnic table, minding our own business,” you continued, staring blankly ahead. “Then this kid comes over, grabs you, and squeezes you all over a hot dog.”

“Of course,” Jay muttered, his smile still there.

“And then they grabbed me and put me on french fries,” you said, your voice now lighter. “But even though we were on different foods, we ended up on the same plate.”

Jay gave you a soft look. “Of course you did.”

“Yup. It’s like… no matter what, we always end up together,” you said nonchalantly. “Even if we’re on different things, we’ll always end up on the same plate.”

Jay didn’t react much, just looking at you with that same fond smile. “Ketchup and mustard, huh? That’s one way to put it.”

“Yep.” You nodded as if you were completely confident in the analogy. “It’s like fate, you know?”

Jay leaned back. “Fate. Of course. You’re the ketchup, and I’m the mustard.”

“Exactly,” you said, kicking your legs a little. “I mean, I’m obviously the star of the show, but you do make a good sidekick.”

Jay laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. “You’re the star, hm?”

“Of course,” you said, completely unfazed, “but you still belong next to me.”

“Right,” Jay replied with a small, affectionate smile. “Next to you, always.”

And just like that, he continues to look at you with the same smile as you continue to talk, absolutely in love with you.

JAKE

You were pacing around the room, hands gesturing wildly as you went off about the movie you’d just watched. “And don’t even get me started on the plot twist—like, I saw it coming from a mile away! But, still, how could they—ugh, I can’t wrap my head around it!”

Jake sat on the couch with one arm stretched across the backrest. “Go on, tell me more,” he said, his voice smooth and teasing.

“Okay, but can we talk about that scene? The main character falls—of course—and she’s like, ‘Save yourself!’” You rolled your eyes dramatically. “Like, girl, what? Just get up! Run with your friend! Why are you making it so dramatic?”

“Mhm,” he hummed, clearly holding back a laugh.

You kept going, utterly oblivious to his gaze. “I mean, realistically, if I fall, I’m grabbing your arm and dragging you down with me. We’re both going down. There’s no ‘save yourself’ moment. You’re coming with me.”

Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “Good to know.”

“And the friend?” you continued, throwing your hands up. “She’s just standing there, like, ‘Noooo!’ for too long. Like, hello? Help her up and run!”

Jake leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’d definitely survive in a movie.”

“Oh, absolutely,” you said, pointing at him. “I’m not wasting time with emotional goodbyes. We’re both making it out, or no one is.”

Jake grinned, his voice dropping just slightly. “So, you’d save me?”

You froze for a second before narrowing your eyes. “Obviously. I’d even ensure you didn’t trip in the first place.”

He laughed softly. “And here I was, thinking you’d be the one tripping on purpose just to get me to catch you.”

Your jaw dropped. “I would NOT!”

Jake smirked. “You totally would.”

“I’d be saving both of us!”

“You’re hot,”

You froze. “What?”

“You heard me,” he said.

Of course, he had to flirt.

You crossed your arms tighter, fighting back a smile. “Okay… what? That’s random. You’re distracting me.”

“That’s kind of my thing, isn’t it?” Jake grinned wider, tilting his head. “Admit it, baby.”

You shook your head with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” But the way your heart fluttered at his words? You couldn’t deny it.

SUNGHOON

You paced around the room as you got lost in recounting the day. “And I visited my parents today! I missed them so much…it was the best.”

Finally, you stopped mid-stride and turned to face him, hands on your hips. “Okay, are you even listening? Or are you zoning out again?”

You have seen your boyfriend zoning out often, especially in the mornings. You wouldn’t be surprised if today were one of those days.

But he chuckled softly, wanting to assure you. “I’m listening. I always do.”

You tilted your head. “Even when I’m rambling about stuff that’s probably unimportant?”

“Especially then,” he said, his dimples appearing as his smile grew wider. “I like hearing you talk. It makes me happy.”

Your arms crossed, though you couldn’t fight the grin pulling at your lips. “You like when I yap on and on?”

“Not the yapping part,” Sunghoon teased. “It’s the way you’re so happy when you talk. You’re glowing, and I can’t look away.”

That made your cheeks heat up. “I’m just telling you about my day.”

“I know,” he said softly. “But you light up when you talk about the things you love. I could listen to you all day. It’s comforting.”

“Comforting?” you echoed, raising an eyebrow. Oh?

He nodded as his eyes began to soften. “Yeah. It’s like you’re letting me see a part of you no one else does.”

Your lips curved into a smile. “I never thought I’d be comforting while going on about my life.”

Sunghoon’s smile grew. “You’d be surprised.”

SUNOO

“…and I don’t even know why they didn’t just say that in the first place! Would it have been so hard? Honestly…” you trailed off, glancing at Sunoo, watching you with the softest smile.

You blinked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” he asked, his smile widening.

“Like you’re completely entertained by my nonsense.”

“Because I am,” Sunoo admitted without hesitation. “I love it when you yap.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Yap?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You go off about the most random things, and I love it. It’s my favorite background noise.”

You playfully gasped. “Background noise? You’re saying I’m noise?” How dare he?!

“Sweet noise,” he corrected, grinning cheekily. “The kind I never want to tune out.”

You rolled your eyes, but there was no hiding the blush on your cheeks. “So you want me to keep going?”

Sunoo nodded eagerly. “Of course! Why do you think I never interrupt you?”

Tilting your head, suspicious. “What if I talk about like….I don’t know... talk about socks?”

He laughed softly. “You don’t realize how cute you are when you get all caught up in your little stories.”

You tried to fight the smile tugging at your lips but gave up quickly. “Fine. But you’re stuck with me talking forever.”

Sunoo’s eyes sparkled. “Lucky me.”

JUNGWON

You were sprawled on the carpet while Jungwon sat next to you, quietly listening with that ever-patient expression.

“…and I don’t get it! Why would you even bring a cat to a grocery store? What’s the cat gonna do? Pick out your produce?” You threw your hands up, exasperated. “Next thing you know, they’ll be pushing their pets in carts like it’s totally normal.”

Jungwon blinked at you. You can see his lips twitching.

You squinted. “You’re holding back a laugh, aren’t you?”

“No,” he said, lips pressed together tightly.

“Yes, you are!” You pointed at him accusingly. “You’re trying so hard not to laugh right now.”

He cracked. His shoulders shook as he let out a small giggle. But then it escalated. His hand flew to his stomach, and he was laughing so hard that he tipped backward.

“HAHAHAHAHA OH MY—AHHHH HA HA HA HA!”

You sat there, wide-eyed. “Is it that funny?”

He nodded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. “It’s not even the story! It’s you! You’re so serious about the ridiculous things—AHHH HA HA AHH HAHA—I can’t!”

You crossed your arms, pouting. “I was making a valid point.”

“I know, I know!” Jungwon wheezed, wiping his eyes. “But you looked so offended! Like, personally attacked by the cat in the store.”

“Well, someone had to say it!”

Jungwon shook his head. “You’re too much.”

You huffed. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“Because you love me,” he teased, his laughter finally calming down.

You rolled your eyes but smiled despite yourself. “Maybe.”

“Definitely,” he said, still grinning. “Now, please. Keep going. I need another good laugh.”

NI-KI

You were going on about how your day went, and Ni-ki, leaning against the doorframe, watched you as he kept grinning. He wasn’t saying much but teasing you with every detail you mentioned. “Wow, you don’t stop talking, huh?” Ni-ki said with a smirk.

You raised an eyebrow. You do not want to back down. Especially to him. “I’m just sharing my day, okay? You don’t have to listen if it’s too much.”

“Oh, I’m listening,” Ni-ki said as he stepped forward. “I just didn’t know you had this much to say. You’ve been talking for hours, baby.”

You shot him a look, unfazed. “Oh, please. You know I talk plenty, just not to you.”

Ni-ki chuckled, pushing himself off the doorframe and walking over to you. “I think you talk to me more than you realize. You just don’t want to admit it.”

You scoffed, crossing your arms. “I don’t know about that.”

“Uh-huh. You’re giving me the full lecture today. You can’t hide it,” he teased. “And honestly, I’m enjoying it.”

You rolled your eyes, trying to act indifferent. “Of course you are; you love it when I talk.”

Ni-ki shrugged dramatically. “Guilty as charged. Your yapping is one of my favorite things. Keeps me entertained.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at how easily he could get under your skin, even with his teasing. “Well, I hope you’re ready for more because I’m not stopping anytime soon.”

“Bring it on,” Ni-ki said with a wink, clearly looking forward to hearing all of it.

[saucingitup]

Kraken broadcaster JT Brown shares why Pride is so important to him and why he’ll be celebrating the LGBTQ+ community all month long

June is an exciting month. There’s Stanley Cup final hockey on the TV, the sun is shining down on Seattle, I hit the links on Father’s Day, and it's Pride month—a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and commemorating the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. In our house, June is a busy month, but nothing gets celebrated harder than Pride.

Earlier this month, I had the honor of playing in the Seattle Pride Classic at the Kraken Community Iceplex. The invitation to share the ice with LGBTQ+ players from all over is an honor I don’t take lightly. Striking up a conversation on the bench between shifts, I turned to the player next to me. “Nice tape job. Canucks fan?” I said, noting the different colors of tape spiraling down the blade. “No, these colors represent one of the queer flags,” they said.

The bad news is I felt like an idiot. The good news is, I’ll always recognize that flag. Trying means stumbling, losing the puck, shooting wide (pick your analogy), but I’ve never been too proud to admit I caused the turnover and apologize. And we both laughed because sometimes falling on your ass is funny.

From ice to asphalt, the Pride celebration continues as my family and I will be at the 50th annual Seattle Pride Parade on June 30. As someone who is known for their flair for flashy game-day suits, it should not come as a surprise that I love an excuse to get dressed up. Throw in good music and free swag and you’ll understand why I don’t miss a pride parade.

And no one does pride quite like Seattle. It’s no wonder the Kraken pull up to the parade every year with a crew so deep I momentarily worry we’re going to hold up the parade. We’re out there flinging Kraken giveaways like someone is keeping score of how many each employee can hand out—I always aim for the high score.

Of course, being an ally isn't just flinging Kraken patches into a crowd or embarrassingly mistaking flag colors for rival team branding. A lot of it is just showing up.

I show up for my queer wife so she knows I support her even if I still don’t understand what “Brat summer” means. I show up for my kids so they know I love their authentic selves no matter what. I show up for my friends so they know they’re safe with me. I show up because there are LGBTQ+ people out there who are being stood up by the ones they love, by policies, by corporations, by strangers.

People always praise me for being an ally, but having been on the receiving end of bigotry, I know how much easier it is to stand on this side. When I fight for BIPOC equality, I am always lifted by the voices and support of the LGBTQ+ community. Every single time, they have supported me in my fight to help end racism in hockey.

They have been incredible teammates to me and so being one to them was never a choice I made, it was just something I did—and will continue to do with whatever platform I’m given. Everyone deserves the safety and support to live their authentic lives. When we lift up those who need us most, we all reap the benefits of a safer and more inclusive space.

This Pride month, I’d like to encourage others to show up—unabashedly loud and proud—for yourself and for others. Have a happy, safe, and fun Pride!

[beautifulplaceofyouth]

SHUT UP AND JUST KISS ME

Synopsis : Based on the main story cutscene in Skyhaven of Caleb getting mad at you as you get injured after sneaking out of the house and get attacked by wanderers so he treats your wound, talking about him getting a collar for you(which clearly doesn't happen). The argument ends with him leaving but you beg him to stay. (3.5k) Pairing : Yandere!Caleb x Reader Genre : Angst! Childhood friends to lovers! Au? Warnings : 17+ Angsty argument, a slight smut, Caleb’s protection basically means locking you up and destroying everything else, heated conversation with lot of angry outbursts, gravity evol usage for surrender, somewhat happy but hate ending? with hot makeout session against the wall (marking his territory with his teeth) and Caleb's protectiveness & possessiveness ends with his fingers inside you as a punishment (non-concessional at first) female!receiving. At the end of the day, you're his good girl. a/n : a little something so I don’t starve. I’m obsessed with him, clearly.

The audacity. The infuriating, galling, breathtaking audacity of the man.

I sat there, perched on what I’m sure was a ridiculously expensive bed in his ridiculous apartment, a monument to wealth so obscene it made my teeth ache, and simmered.

The clouds themselves seemed to mock me, pressed against the panoramic windows like a taunt. He'd flown me here in his private aircraft, his black Colonel uniform starched and pristine, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

As if I hadn't nearly been ripped to shreds by some genetic monstrosity. As if he hadn't dragged me here, bridal-style, like some… prize.

And then, the nerve. "Sit first. We need to treat your wound." An order, barked out with the same clipped authority he probably used to command troops.

"Are you ordering me right now as a Colonel, or are you worried about me as Caleb?" I snapped, the question laced with venom.

He actually knelt. Knelt in front of me, on what I assumed was a silk rug, and took my knee in his hand. His hand. The possessive, forceful grip that sent a shiver down my spine, a shiver that had absolutely nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with rage.

I tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold, his purple eyes burning into mine.

And then came the story. A story about a stray cat. A goddamn stray cat.

"When I was a kid, there was a stray cat in our backyard, and he was injured." He launched into the tale, his voice low, a deliberate attempt to soothe, I supposed.

"That cat always tried to run away when I wanted to tend him for its injuries and always came back to the backyard when no one was paying attention to him. That way he couldn't fully recover." he continued, his gaze fixed on my knee, his fingers already probing gently, assessing the damage beneath the torn fabric of my trousers.

I watched him, a knot of apprehension tightening in my chest. Where was this going? What strange analogy was he trying to draw between me and a stray cat?

"What's that got to do with this? If you're comparing me to a stray cat, I don't want to listen to this." I yanked my leg again, harder this time.

He had no right. No right to manipulate me with his childhood stories, no right to compare me to a mangy, unwanted animal.

But he wouldn't let go. A force, a damnable, infuriating force of will radiated from him, pinning me in place. His fucking gravity evol.

His glare intensified, a silent warning that brooked no argument. Pulling my leg firmly back towards him, he locked eyes with me, his gaze intense, probing. “Do you know what I did in response?” he asked, the question hanging heavy in the air, pregnant with unspoken implications.

He reached for a bag, a medical kit, and his movements were precise, controlled, infuriatingly competent. He produced a cotton pad, doused it in some antiseptic cream, and began to dab at the wound on my knee. His touch was surprisingly gentle, almost tender, considering the controlling undercurrent of his words and actions.

"I got a collar with a bell. I put it on the cat. That way, it couldn't escape me without being noisy." He glanced up, his eyes meeting mine, and I saw a flash of something that might have been guilt, but was probably just smug satisfaction.

He continued dabbing, ignoring my simmering rage. Removing the used cotton pad, he dropped it into a small metal tray on the floor with a soft clink.

His hand, warm and firm, wrapped around the inside of my knee, the casual possessiveness of the touch sending a tremor through me. “If I had that collar right now…” he murmured, his voice low, almost a whisper, the words laced with a dangerous undercurrent of implication.

His eyes dropped to his hand, tracing the curve of my knee, the slow, deliberate movement sending shivers of awareness along my leg. His touch shifted, sliding downward, his fingers brushing lightly against my skin, each contact sending a fresh wave of tremors through me.

He descended further, his hand reaching my ankle, his grip tightening, possessive. “I should make you wear it, right?” he finally asked, his gaze lifting to meet mine, the question less a query and more a statement of intent.

The air in the room seemed to thicken, charged with unspoken desires and power struggles.

I felt the tremor in my own leg, a physical manifestation of my inner turmoil. This wasn't kindness. This was a statement.

"Is this how you protect people? By gluing them to your side like pets?" The words were bitter, laced with disappointment. I balled my hand into a fist in my lap, trying to contain the rising tide of anger.

He noticed, of course. He always noticed.

He took my hand in his, his grip warm, strong, trapping me. "I know it's unfair. But…"

He reached into the bag again and produced a metal bracelet. A bracelet? Was he actually serious? He gently fastened it around my wrist, and a hologram sprang to life, displaying my health status: 'Infection risk'.

"Because of that monster, your wound got infected. Is there a way for you to run around without getting injured?" His voice was firmer now, laced with an edge of steel.

He held my hand between us, a tangible symbol of his control.

I tried to twist my hand free, but his grip was unyielding. "Why are you treating me like a stranger? I thought protecting me meant standing by my side to face danger together, not ordering me around like this."

Finally, I managed to wrench my hand away. He simply stared at me, his expression unreadable.

In a way, she was right.

He was being controlling. He was trying to dictate her actions, to limit her freedom. But was it selfish to want to protect her? To want to shield her from harm? To make sure no one hurt her like that again?

"I've had enough of your 'protection'. At least not like this." I looked down at my lap, trying to regain some semblance of composure.

He remained kneeling, his fists clenched against his propped knee. I could practically see the internal battle raging within him. He took deep breaths, fighting to keep his temper in check.

It was hard to see him like this, struggling to contain his rage. He wanted me to rely on him, only him. To trust him implicitly.

I watched him, trying to compose himself with a shake of his head and a sad scoff,” If being with me only brings you pain…then put up it with it more three days. Now, it’s not safe to run around.” The words were cold, almost to the point of rage. Standing up, he moved away from me.

"Where are you going?" The question escaped me before I could stop it. A sliver of hope, a foolish, desperate hope that he wouldn't leave, flickered within me.

He stopped, his back to me. "To tie up loose ends. And then…just try to endure it three more days 'til you can go back to Linkon."

Each word was a hammer blow, shattering the nascent hope within me. He was leaving. He was actually leaving me here.

With that cold dismissal, he started walking again, the heavy tread of his boots a death knell to my fragile composure. Away from me. The thought was a physical pain, a twisting knot in my stomach. I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn’t.

"Don't you dare," I whispered, the words a frigid breath on the air.

They were barely audible, a plea masked as a threat. But he heard me. He always heard me. The sudden, sharp halt of his footsteps was the confirmation I desperately craved.

He was listening.

I continued, the words gaining strength, fueled by a rising tide of panic and defiance. "Don't you dare walk away from me right now."

He remained silent, a statue carved from granite. But the tension radiating from him was palpable, a silent storm brewing beneath the surface.

Rising shakily from the bed, a sharp stab of pain shooting through my knee, I limped towards him. Each step was an act of rebellion, a refusal to be discarded.

His back remained stubbornly presented to me, a barricade I was determined to breach.

When I finally reached him, I stopped just inches away, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. He looked down at me, his face shadowed by the brim of his hat, the uniform casting him in an unfamiliar light.

The crisp lines and severe angles of the military garb seemed to amplify the distance between us, reinforcing his authority, his control.

But beneath the mask of duty, I saw the familiar flicker of torment in his eyes, the tight line of his lips, the furrowed brow. He was still pissed off. At me, at himself, at the world. It was something.

"Step aside. You're still hurt," he said, his voice devoid of warmth, a curt order barked from a superior officer.

I shook my head, a small, defiant gesture that felt monumental. I was done playing his games, done being a pawn in his twisted protection racket.

Stepping closer, I closed the remaining space between us. His jaw clenched, the muscle ticking furiously, as I placed my palm against his chest, feeling the rapid, frantic thud of his heartbeat beneath my fingertips. It was a fragile connection, a desperate attempt to anchor him to me.

"I don't want to argue with you right now, pipsqueak, so don't let me use my evol to make you stay put," Caleb gritted out, leaning down, his face a menacing mask.

He was trying to intimidate me, to scare me back into submission. But I stood my ground, refusing to flinch as his face drew closer, his breath hot against my skin. I knew him too well. It was a bluff, a desperate attempt to maintain control.

"You'll just lock me up again? Is that your solution to everything? Your way of controlling me?" The accusation hung in the air between us, heavy with resentment and disappointment.

"If I have to," he murmured, the words laced with a reluctant admission.

"What's the reason, Caleb? Why would you protect me like that? Do you want me to hate you? Where is my Caleb in this uniform, in this charade?” The question was a raw, aching plea for the man I knew, the man who had somehow gotten lost beneath the layers of duty and responsibility.

Caleb didn't answer with words. He stepped even closer, crowding my space, forcing me to retreat. He advanced on me, relentless and unforgiving, until my back met the cold, unforgiving surface of the wall. He pinned me against it, trapping me, his presence a suffocating weight.

He fisted his mechanical hand, the cold metal a brutal contrast against the warmth of his skin beneath the glove, and softly slammed it against the wall beside my head, the force of the impact reverberating through me. He had caged me, both physically and emotionally.

"Your Caleb has always been here. He never changed," he said, his voice low and intense, the words vibrating against my skin. "And hate me if you must, I'm doing this to protect you. Is that really so selfish of me?"

"Yes," I whispered, the word a choked sob. It was selfish. It was suffocating. It was tearing us apart.

He stared down at me, his eyes dark and unreadable. Then he laughed, a harsh, mocking sound that echoed in the confined space.

"Then I guess you'll be very happy when I disappear from your life. That way, you won't have to see me again." He began to pull back, the movement a gesture of finality, a silent severing of ties.

A sudden burst of emotion flooded through me, a torrent of fear, anger, and a desperate, terrifying longing. I couldn't let him go. I wouldn't.

Reaching out with a desperate surge of strength, I grabbed his tie, the silk rough against my fingers, and yanked him back. His towering frame bent down to my level, the sudden movement throwing him off balance. Our breaths mingled, hot and ragged, the air thick with unspoken desires and unspoken fears.

"Don't you dare leave me," I threatened, the words a desperate hiss. "I'll lock you up myself."

Caleb was momentarily speechless, the surprise evident in his widened eyes. Then, with a slow, deliberate movement, he reached for my nape, his gloved hand wrapping around the back of my neck, the pressure both possessive and threatening.

He brought my lips towards his in a snarl, his eyes burning into mine.

"Didn't you say you hate me? You don't want me protecting you?" The question was a challenge, a dare, a desperate plea for me to push him away.

The air crackled with tension, a volatile mix of anger, desire, and fear. But only one thought consumed me, a thought that was terrible and wrong, a thought that threatened to unravel everything. But I couldn't stop it.

"Shut up and just kiss me."

The command was a surrender, a desperate plea for connection, a reckless abandonment of all pretense.

The surprise flashed across his face, a fleeting flicker before it was swallowed by something far more intense. He didn't hesitate. He surged forward, his hand tangling in my hair, pulling my head back. His mouth crashed down on mine, a savage, desperate claiming.

This wasn't a gentle embrace, a tender expression of affection. This was anger, jealousy, a primal need to possess. It was a kiss born of frustration and desperation, a need that burned like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path. I tasted the salt of barely restrained tears on his lips, the metallic tang of blood from where he'd bitten his own tongue.

He kissed me with a ferocity that both terrified and exhilarated me. It was the same possessiveness that had always simmered beneath the surface, a protectiveness so fierce it bordered on madness.

He pulled back slightly, his breath hot against my skin. "You told me you didn't need me," he growled, his voice a ragged rasp. Then his mouth was on mine again, silencing any protest.

This time, the kiss was deeper, more demanding. He forced my lips apart, his tongue plunging inside, staking his claim. I met his aggression with a matching fervor, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

"But you want me, don't you?" he muttered against my lips, his voice thick with triumph and a hint of something wounded. "You want me this much."

He was right. And I was a liar. A pathetic, desperate liar. I wanted him more than I wanted air, more than I wanted my next breath. The admission choked me, a bitter pill I couldn't swallow.

"Don't," I whispered, the word barely audible.

He tore his mouth from mine, his eyes blazing as he stared down at me. "You drive me insane," he confessed, the words raw and unfiltered. "Since we were kids, you've been under my skin. Every thought, every breath… it's always been you."

He kissed me again, harder this time, conveying all of his emotions with each heated touch.

"And after those…those monsters dared to touch you…" He shuddered against me, holding me tighter, his voice cracking with barely suppressed rage. "I thought I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to tear the world apart."

He kissed me again, a desperate, pleading kiss.

"I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt," Caleb said, his voice laced with a vulnerability that both warmed and unsettled me. "And I hate that you deny me a chance to protect you. You are always pushing me away, even though I would do anything for you. You are too stubborn to see it."

“Caleb, I…”

“There will always be someone after your power. They all should just disappear,” his voice was cold as he cut me off.

His grip tightened, his knuckles white against my skin. He kissed me then with a possessiveness that bordered on desperation, and I drowned in it, meeting his passion with my own.

"I can take care of myself," I told him, even though my voice shook slightly," "It's my job, Caleb. I'm a hunter. This is what I do. I can't just hide away, letting others fight my battles."

He laughed, a harsh, bitter sound that echoed in the night. "You think you can? You nearly died out there tonight. If I hadn't come along..." His voice trailed off, and he shuddered again.

"But you did come," I said softly, reaching up to touch his face. "And I'm okay. I'm here, with you."

His eyes softened slightly, but the tension remained, a silent battle raging between his need to protect me and my need to be independent. "That's not enough," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I want you safe, always. I want you where I can see you, where I can keep you from harm. Skyhaven is not safe for you."

"And what about what I want, Caleb?" I challenged, pulling away slightly, the familiar frustration rising to the surface. "I can't just sit on the sidelines, waiting for you to rescue me. That's not who I am."

"I will protect you, whether you want me to or not, and if you still don't listen to me," his voice dropped, a dangerous edge creeping into his tone, "I will make you listen."

"What do you-"

He silenced my protests with another kiss, a kiss that was both a punishment and a promise. It was a brutal, demanding kiss, his lips crushing mine, his teeth scraping against my skin. He tasted of fear and desperation, of the wild, untamed desire that burned within him. As he kissed me, his fingers traced the curve of my hip, dipping beneath the waistband of my pants.

My breath hitched in my throat. The kiss stole my ability to think, to reason, to resist. My body responded to him instinctively, arching against him, craving his touch. I knew this was wrong, that he was trying to manipulate me, to force me into submission. But a traitorous part of me reveled in his power, in the intensity of his desire.

He pulled away slightly, his eyes dark and possessive. "I don't want to do this," he rasped, his voice thick with lust. "But you're not leaving me any choice."

Panic flared within me, a cold wave washing over the heat of desire. "Caleb, stop," I managed to choke out, my voice trembling. I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to create some distance between us, but he was unyielding, a solid wall of muscle and intent. “Please.”

His fingers continued their slow, deliberate exploration, inching lower, closer to the forbidden territory I had only dreamt of him touching. He was pushing boundaries, testing limits, and I was terrified of how easily I was crumbling.

"Tell me to stop," he whispered again, his voice a low, guttural plea that sent shivers down my spine. It was a test, a challenge, and I knew I had to pass it, for both our sakes.

"Stop," I said, the word barely audible, lost in the maelstrom of my emotions. "Please, Caleb, don't."

But my pleas seemed to fuel him, to embolden him. His fingers, calloused and strong, brushed against the lace of my underwear, lingering there, teasing, tormenting. I gasped, my body betraying me with a surge of heat and longing.

He ignored my feeble protests, his touch becoming bolder, more intimate. He knew exactly what he was doing, knew exactly how to break me down, to leave me breathless and begging for more. His fingers slipped beneath the fabric, finding the soft skin beneath, and I cried out, a small, involuntary sound that was swallowed by the night.

I had no chance to do anything when his fingers brushed my clit, a shockwave of pure, unadulterated pleasure ripping through me. My muscles clenched, my breath caught in my throat, and I was lost, completely and utterly lost, in the sensation. It was an invasion, a violation, but God, it felt so good.

"This is all your fault," he seethed, his breath hot against my ear. "You fight me every chance you get. You push me to the edge, baby. Maybe I'm pathetic, selfish, but your safety is my first priority. You have to understand that."

"Stop, ah..." I gasped, the word fragmented, lost in the rising tide of sensation.

"Too late," he murmured, his voice thick with a possessive hunger that both terrified and thrilled me.

His fingers continued their relentless assault, skilled and knowing, drawing me deeper and deeper into the vortex of pleasure. He bit my neck, hard enough to leave a mark, a tangible sign of his ownership, and I whimpered, a sound that was half protest, half surrender. I hated it, hated the way he was manipulating me, the way he was taking control. But God, I loved it too. I loved the intensity of his touch, the raw power that radiated from him, the feeling of being completely consumed by him. It was wrong, I knew it was, but I couldn't seem to stop myself from wanting more.

Finally, as the last shudders racked my body, he pulled back, leaving me trembling and breathless in his arms. He stared down at me, his eyes dark and possessive, his face etched with a mixture of triumph and regret. "Good girl," he whispered, the words a brand seared into my soul. "You're mine to protect, baby. Don't you ever forget that."

[0alix0]

Overusage of Lore

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

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

OMG calm down it's not a fucking Warcraft

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[dedalvs]

hey friend, i know you’ve been a pretty serious supporter and user of duolingo for a long time (so have i!), so i’m curious what your feeling is about the announcement that they’re going to be doubling down on using more and more AI for content creation, including using it to avoid having to hire actual humans?

personally, i’m really disappointed - i’ve disliked how much they’ve been using it so far, but the app is otherwise a great tool, and all of the other apps seem to use it, too, so it’s not easy to just jump ship to an app that isn’t using AI. i’ve seen a lot of responses that are like “hurr hurr just use a textbook idiot” which i find really unhelpful; learning from an app is easier and a lot more convenient in a lot of ways than having to use analog materials, especially if you study a high number of languages. still, i don’t ethically feel that i can keep giving them money if this is the direction they’re going.

what are your thoughts?

This is going to be a longer answer than you might have expected.

In 2001, fellow undergrad. Reiko Kataoka (now a professor at San Jose State) resurrected a club that had been dead for a few years at UC Berkeley linguistics: The Society of Linguistics Undergraduates (SLUG). One of its former undergraduate members, Alan Yu (now a professor at the University of Chicago), happened to be a graduate student at Berkeley at the time, so he helped her get it off the ground. The club was exactly what I was looking for at that time: a group for ling. undergrads. to get together and talk about language and linguistics, my new favorite thing. It was great! I even put together a couple phonology problems using my conlangs to distribute at a meeting. The following year I became the second president of the new SLUG and helped to create the SLUG Undergraduate Linguistics Symposium, where I gave my first talk on language creation. Being a part of this club was a major factor in shaping my undergraduate experience at Berkeley.

When I graduated I went to UC San Diego to pursue a graduate degree in linguistics. Part of the reason I chose UCSD was because it was an incredibly inviting atmosphere. Before we accepted they paid for prospective undergraduates down to San Diego and housed them with current grad. students who told them about the program and took them out for dinner, etc. It allowed prospective students to ask questions they wouldn't ask of professors (e.g. who's got beef with who). It was really cool, and so in our second year, we continued the tradition of housing prospective grad. students. Since we both went to Berkeley, my ex-wife (also a Berkeley ling. grad.) and I hosted Klinton Bicknell.

Klinton, it turns out, was the current president of SLUG. I didn't know him while I was at Cal, but we did overlap. It turns out he had renamed the club SLUGS, which I thought was weird. He said "It happened organically" and laughed in an off-putting way. He very much gave off the impression of someone who will smile at you and say whatever is necessary for you to go away. Klinton ended up going to UCSD the following year and I ended up leaving the following year.

Fast forward to 2016. HBO had put the kibosh on Living Language Valyrian, and so I turned to Duolingo. They had previously reached out about putting together a Dothraki course, but I declined, due to having a book out, Living Language Dothraki. With no hope for Valyrian, I asked if they'd be interested in me putting together a course on High Valyrian, which I did. I had some help at the beginning, but, truth be told, most of that course was built by me alone. I became very familiar with the Incubator, where Duolingo contributors built most of their courses. It was a bit clunky, but with enough elbow grease, you could put together something that was pretty darn good. It wasn't as shiny as their in house courses, because they couldn't do things like custom images, speaking challenges, etc., but it was still pretty good.

At the time I joined, everyone who was working in the Incubator was doing it for free. We were doing it because we wanted to put together a high quality course on our language of choice on Duolingo. When Duolingo went public, they realized this situation was untenable, so they began paying contributors. There were contracts, hourly wages, caps on billable hours, etc. It essentially became an as-you-will part time job, which wasn't too bad.

The Incubator faced a couple potentially insurmountable problems. When the courses were created by volunteers, Duolingo could say "This was made by volunteers; use at your own risk", essentially. Once they were paid, though, all courses became Duolingo products, which means they bear more responsibility for their quality. With so many courses (I mean, sooooooooo many courses) it's hard to ensure quality. Furthermore, "quality" doesn't just mean "are the exercises correct" and "are the sentences interesting". Quality means not being asked to translate sentences like "Women can't cook" or "The boy stabbed the puppy". With literally hundreds of courses each with thousands of sentences written by contractors, there was no way for Duolingo to ensure not just that they were staying on brand with these sentences, but that they weren't writing ugly things. There were reporting systems, there were admins that could resolve things behind the scenes, but with so much content, it became a situation where they would have had to hire a ton more people or scale back.

We saw what Duolingo did before with one aspect of their platform that had a similar issue. If you remember way back, Duolingo used to have a "forum", that was a real forum, but for most users, what it meant was on every single sentence in Duolingo users could make comments. These comments would explain grammar points, explain references, make jokes, etc. It was honestly really helpful. But, of course, with any system like that comes trolls, and so volunteers who had come to create language learning resources also found themselves being content reviewers, having to decide which comments to allow, which to delete, who to ban, etc. As Duolingo became more popular, the troll problem grew, and so eventually Duolingo's response was to kill the forum. This mean you were no longer able to see legitimate, helpful comments on sentences. They threw the baby out with the bathwater.

This is why it was no surprise to me when they shuttered the Incubator. The technology was out of date (from their standpoint, you understand. Their in house courses were way more sophisticated, but they couldn't update the Incubator without potentially breaking hundreds of courses they hadn't created themselves), quality assurance was nearly impossible, and they were also paying people to create and maintain these out-of-date courses they had no direct control over. Of course they closed it down. It would've taken a massive investment of time and resources (and capital) to take the Incubator as it was and turn it into something robust and future proof (think old Wordpress vs. Wordpress now), and Duolingo wanted to do other things, instead—like math and music. And so the Incubator died.

But that wasn't the only reason. This was something we heard internally and then heard later on publicly. There was rumbling that Duolingo was using AI to help flesh out their in house courses, which was troubling. This was before the big Gen AI boom, but after a particularly pernicious conlang-creation website I won't name had come to exist, so it caught my attention. I decided to do a little digging and see what this was all about, and I ended up with a familiar name.

Klinton Bicknell.

Indeed, the very same Klinton Bicknell was the head of all AI ventures at Duolingo. Whether enthusiastically or reluctantly or somewhere in between, he was absolutely a part of the decision to close the Incubator and remove all the contractors who had created all the courses that gave Duolingo its reputation. (Because, seriously, why did most of us go to Duolingo? Not for English, Spanish, French, and German.)

I know you sent this ask because of the recent news about Duolingo, but, to be honest, when I saw one of these articles float across my dash I had to check the date, because to me, the news was old. Duolingo isn't just now replacing contractors with AI: They already did. That was the Incubator; those were contractors. That is why there won't be more new language courses on Duolingo, and why the current courses are frozen. This isn't news. This is the continuation of a policy that had already firmly in place, and a direction that rests solidly on the shoulders of Klinton Bicknell.

But you don't have to take my word for it. He's talked about this plenty himself:

Podcast (Generative Now)

Article in Fast Company

Article in CNET

Google can help you find others.

At this point there's a sharp and baffling division in society with respect to generative AI. On the one hand, you have those of us who disapprove of generative AI on a truly fundamental level. Not only is the product something we don't want, the cost—both environmental and ethical—is utterly insupportable. Imagine someone asking you, "Hey, would you like a sandwich made out of shoelaces and shit?" And you say, "God, no, why would anyone ever want that?!" And their response is, "But wait! To make this sandwich out of shoelaces and shit we had to strangle 1,000 kittens and drain the power grid. Now do you want it?"

On the other side, there are people who are still—I mean today—saying things like, "Wow! Have you heard of this AI thing?! It's incredible! I want AI in everything! Can AI make my table better? Can I add AI to my arthritis? We should make everything AI as quickly as possible!"

And conversations between the two sides go roughly like this:

A: Good lord, now they're using AI art on phone ads? Something has to stop this… B: Yeah, it's so cool! Look, I can make a new emoji on my phone with AI! A: Uhhh…what? I was saying it's bad. B: Totally! I wonder if there's an AI shower yet? Like, it could control the temperature so you always have the perfect shower! A: Do you know how much power it takes to run these genAI apps? At a time when we're already struggling with income inequality, housing, inflation, and climate change? B: I know! We should get AI to fix that! A: But AI is the problem! B: Hey ChatGPT: Teach me how to surf!

It's frustrating, because the B group is very much the 💁 group. It's like, "Someone was using ChatGPT and it told them to kill themselves!" and they respond, "Ha, ha! Wow. That shouldn't have happened. What a learning opportunity! ☺️ Hey ChatGPT: How do you make gazpacho?" There's a complete disconnect.

In terms of what you do with your money, it's a difficult thing. For example, I've used Apple computers consistently since 1988. I'm fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem and I love what they do. They, like every other major company, are employing AI. If you go over to r/apple any time one of these articles comes out, it's all comments from people criticizing Apple for not putting together a better AI product and putting it out faster; none saying that they shouldn't be doing it. They're all ravenous for genAI for reasons that defy my understanding. And so what do I do? I've turned off the AI features on all my Apple devices, but beyond that, I'm locked in. From one direction, I look like a hypocrite for using devices created by a company that's investing in AI. From the other direction, though, I am using their devices to say what they're doing is fucking despicable, and they should stop—and I'll keep doing so so long as there's breath in my body.

Duolingo isn't necessary the way that, say, a computer or phone is nowadays. Duolingo is still usable for free, though, of course, they make it a frustrating experience to use its free service. (This is certainly nothing exclusive to Duolingo. That's the way of everything nowadays: streaming services, games, social media... Not "Well give you cool things if you pay!" but "We'll make your life miserable if you don't!") If you do use their Incubator courses, though, I can assure you that those are AI-free. lol They're too outdated to have anything like that. Some of those courses are bigger than others; some are better than others. But all of them were put together by human volunteers, so there's that, at least. At this point, I don't think Duolingo needs your money—nor will they miss it. They're on a kind of macro plane at the moment where the next ten years will either see the company get even bigger or completely disintegrate; there's no in between. They're likely going to take a big swing into education (perhaps something like Duolingo University [Duoversity?]) and it's either going to make a ton of money or bankrupt them. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I've taken the Finnish course in its entirety and we're doing Hungarian now, and I've learned a lot—not enough, but a lot. I'm grateful for it. I like the platform, and I agree with the basic tenets of the language courses (daily shallow intake is better than occasional deep intake; implicit learning ahead of explicit instruction is better than the reverse). I'm grateful they exist, I'm grateful we can still use them (because they can always retire all of them, remember), and I think it's brought a lot of positivity to the world. I think Luis Van Ahn is a good guy and I hope he can steer this thing back on course, but I'm not putting my money on it.

[novemberheart]

{overview} You get answers for Simon’s behavior

{warnings} fem reader, poly 141, a/b/o dynamics, mentions of fighting, cursing, mentions of heat cycles and marking

Chapter 31 <- Chapter 32 -> Chapter 33

“He has the flu,” the doctor spoke. John growled, not in the mood for games. “Alpha flu,” The doctor clarified.

“Bloody stupid name,” Kyle mumbled.

“What does that mean?” You urged.

“Has he been away for a while?” The doctor questioned. Her glasses had become foggy. She was nervous. John growled again. They had already answered that.

“Yes,” you answered. You wrapped your arm around John’s bicep giving him a small squeeze. His shoulders fell slightly.

“Have you been marked yet?” she asked, turning her full attention to you. You quickly shook your head.

“That would be why. His alpha already considers you his omega and being away from you without marking you”- she cut herself off with a sigh. “It would be like if you left your car with the keys in it in a bad neighborhood- for lack of a better analogy,” She explained. You weren't sure you loved the comparison.

“So his alpha is losing it because she's his omega but doesn't have the claim to prove it?” John clarified. The doctor nodded her head.

“Being away could've caused paranoia, especially if his alpha felt she wasn't well protected- or it could just be because deeper bonds have formed,” She continued.

Could be both.

You were by yourself with Kyle, who wouldn't be in the best position to protect you. Plus the two of you have grown closer.

“How come I haven't experienced this?” John voiced what you were thinking.

“It depends on a lot of different factors,” she started. “Could be biological, genetic, outside factors, so many things,”

John nodded his head.

“What do we do now?” Kyle questioned.

“Well, the best thing would be claiming. When's your next heat?”

“About three to four weeks,” John spoke for you. You were happy he was keeping track.

“Well then our next option would be sedation”-

“No,” John interjected. “She’s not being marked while sedated. Simon wouldn't want it to be that way and neither do I,”

“I’m fine with it,” you assured. You lied. No one wanted to be marked while sedated- besides betas. It was traumatizing, even though it wouldn't be painful. When you woke up you had to work through every emotion sober- unclouded by your heat. It scared you.

“No,” John pressed again. You breathed a sigh of relief. John’s hand rested on the back of your head, pulling you towards him. You whined, burying yourself into his side. “Is there a way we can spur on her heat?” John suggested.

“I suggest talking to an omega specialist,” she offered. John sucked in through his teeth nodding his head.

“Thank you, doctor,” He extended his arms towards the door. He showed her out. “Come here, pretty girl,” John soothed. You clawed at your eyes, quickly finding comfort against his chest. “I'm sorry that happened,” he whispered, his own throat growing tight at the lingering scent of your fear.

“We can talk to an omega specialist,” you mumbled, once your tears had finally died down.

“You sure, lovie?” Kyle spoke up.

“Could just lock the bastard in Johnny’s room till he snaps out of it,” John jested. You chuckled dryly, still refusing to remove your face from his chest. The two men sighed, sharing a glance with each other.

This wasn't how they wanted this to go down.

“If there is something we could do, would you be open to being marked?” John hummed, pressing you even further against him.

You were ready.

You had been during your heat.

You had waited longer than most omegas to be marked, not that that's saying much. It was more of a privilege than anything. Your pack was letting you consent to it on your own.

“Yes,” you agreed aloud. “I’d want you to mark me too though,” you added. John quirked his brow, an almost amused look on his face.

“That’s a lot, sweetheart,” he reminded. “Besides I’m not sure Simon’ll let me that close to his omega,” John purred. You grumbled, shooting him an angry look.

“I don't want to just belong to one of you. I want to belong to all of you,” you pressed. A flame sparked in the bellies of both men, their hearts skipping a beat.

“You already do,” John hushed, brushing your hair away from your forehead. “All ours. Which is why we have to take care of you. I'll schedule an appointment with an omega specialist today and you go write down all the questions you have, yes?”

“Yes, alpha,” You agreed.

Simon groaned causing Johnny to sit up in his seat.

“Morning, L.T.” Johnny yawned. Simon groaned again, a familiar ache and neediness in his body, along with a deep ache in his already bruised jaw. “How ya feelin’?” Johnny pressed.

“What happened?” he groaned. He could hardly open his eyes.

“Cap knocked you out. Right hook,” Johnny responded. That would explain it. The captain had a deadly hook. He was lucky his head was still attached to his neck.

Simon suddenly snapped awake, causing Johnny to throw himself forward.

“Pup?” Simon questioned, his eyes bearing into Johnny’s for assurance. He could still smell you against the sheets. His stomach twisted with a painful groan.

“She’s alright,” Johnny responded quickly. He didn't believe him. Johnny could tell. His eyes still searching for any signs that he had fucked up beyond repair. While it wasn't a good situation to be in, it wasn't Simon's fault.

Johnny knew why this happened to Simon. Simon’s walls were still up. Granted, you had shortened them quite a few feet, yet he was still holding himself back. Johnny could see it. He could see the way Simon stopped himself from letting his alpha take care of you. The way he’d whisper to Johnny to get you seconds once you cleared your plate instead of getting it for you himself. The way he always put your raincoat in plain view so you wouldn't forget it- instead of just reminding you.

It was only natural that his alpha wanted credit for these acts. He wanted to be seen as a worthy mate.

“She was a bit shaken, but she won’t hold it against ya,” Johnny assured. Simon's back flattened against the mattress, not in ease but in defeat. “Wanna hear what the doctor said about you?” Johnny's tone was too teasing for Simon's mood. “She said your alphas pitchin’ a fit because you were away from our girl,” Johnny smirked. “You wanna mark her,” Johnny whispered. The gravel in his voice usually sent a tingle up Simon’s spine, this time it made Simon kick him off the bed. “Bastard,” Johnny grumbled. The thud alerted John.

“Find my tooth while you're down there,” Simon requested of Johnny, shooting a glare at John.

“Don’t hold that against me, honey,” John soothed. Simon flushed at the name, rolling over onto his stomach. “I’d want you to do the same to me if I was in your position,” John added. Simon felt a wave of sickness wash over him again.

“How is she?”

“I just told you ho”- John held up his hand to cut-off the Scot.

“Go cuddle with you omega,” John directed, nodding his head towards the door. Johnny huffed at the cut-off, but would rather be doing that anyway. “She was scared,” John said once the door had shut. “Had all of us scared,” John continued. Simon whined low in his throat. He was with his alpha- his captain, he didn't need to be strong anymore. “None of that,” John soothed. His hand grabbed Simon by the scruff so his head was in his lap. “Wasn't your fault. She’s sitting at the kitchen counter writing questions to ask the omega specialist. She wants you to mark her,” John explained. A pleased rumble echoed in Simon’s chest at the idea- but stopped due to another.

“She’s not being sedated,” Simon snarled.

“Course not,” John assured. “Kyle’s been talking to one over the computer, apparently there is a pill that can spur on a heat. We’re looking into that,” John explained.

“I can wait till her heat,” Simon assured. “I can pick up a mission till her heat”-

“That's not feasible Simon,” John sighed. “First of all, we can't send you out there in this condition. Second, who knows when our girl will even get her heat. Third, your being away will only make the symptoms worse.”

“She gonna hate me after this?” Simon asked, mostly to himself.

“Do you want to mark her?” John asked suddenly.

Yes.

He's been biting back the urge to sink his teeth into you since Inverness.

Simon settled for a grunt.

“Then she won’t hate you, Simon,”

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Johnny thanked, peeling off your raincoat for you. The doctor smiled at the interaction.

“Of course. The situation, as it has been described to me, isn't one that should be taken lightly or pushed back,” she responded. “How are you doing?” She asked softly, turning towards you. She had eyes that looked exactly like Kyles. It instantly calmed you.

“I’m alright. Nervous. Thank you for asking,” you tried to smile.

“Your alpha- John, sent me over your medical history and I think the best option will be Camilcotazine. Are you familiar with that drug in any way?” She asked.

You were. One of the doctors at the omega holding house wanted to put you on that to regulate your heats. You declined because of the side effects. Instant two-week heat.

You nodded your head, explaining why you chose not to go on it at the time.

“Well, that's exactly why I want to prescribe it to you,” was her response.

“How long will she have to take it?” Johnny asked. You suddenly realized you left your paper with questions at home.

“For about three months,” she said, making both of you wince. “We can't tell if the medication is a good fit for you during the first month, because it will throw you into a heat regardless. The second month is to see if your heat begins to regulate itself and the third month is to see if it matches the second month,” she explained. It made sense, unfortunately.

“That’s fine,” you spoke up. “What if my heat lasts longer than it is supposed to?”

“The good thing about Camilcotazine is that it's a very commonly used medication. It has gone through thousands of tests and has been used for omegas for over fifty years. 1/7 omegas are on or have been on it. I am very confident in its ability,” she explained.

You looked over at Johnny.

“When do I start?” you breathed.

Hi friends!!! The next few chapters are going to be veryyy spicy! Hopefully that is something you enjoy…… see you in three days! 🧡

[plaguespacebird]

☁︎ Working with your co-star Jenna leads to the most beautiful night of your life...

(smutish)

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

As exciting as filming had been, you couldn't deny how happy you were to finally reach the last couple months. Everything about the production was incredible, especially the part were you work with your celebrity crush. Jenna was every bit the radiant person you had fallen for. Part of you had hoped you'd get over it upon meeting her but it was the exact opposite. You couldn't get enough of her.

For better or for worse, you two had ended up in similar leading roles and this film sparked a lot of buzz. Magazines propping up fake rivalries and twitter in its overzealous nature, had flown with the accusations with every possible take until it had made it's way back home. Now you two were instructed to play good friends and stick close to each other.

Pretending like you weren't the least bit concern over the direction this had taken should've won you an Oscar. You went straight back to your trailer that day and beamed like flower seeing the sun after a long, treacherous night. Actually, that was the perfect analogy; Jenna is the sun and you are a flower who desperately needs her far more than what she'll ever know.

You walked the halls of the studio, filming had just finished for you today and your co-star, Evelyn, had kept you company.

"So then, I freaked out, that roach was so huge- I like- ugh," Her face contoured with a series of disgusted and exasperated faces, as her hands flew in pointless directions. You laugh at her plight, bringing a hand on her shoulder, you stop.

"Seriously! It was so embarrassing, I totally thought I bombed the audition. Hey! Stop laughing!"

Evelyn pokes your side, sparking a jolt down your body. You pause, hands instinctively in defense mode. "Okay, okay, my bad!"

She eyes you playfully, having caught on to your little secret but before she can continue, a voice snaps both your attention's away.

"Hey,"

The angelic calling of your very sun reaches your ears, you feel your heart pick up in natural response. If you really were a flower, you imagine this is where you'd start photosynthesizing, greedily soaking up every sun beam you possibly could.

"Hey, what's up?"

A knowing smile graces Evelyn's face, the change in your voice was so obvious to her. She briefly wonders if you knew your inflection was so telling when Jenna was around.

"Oh, I forgot I left my lip gloss back there. See you tonight!"

And like that, Evelyn leaves. You would've pondered about her seemingly clear lie but when Jenna was around, all gears shifted to her. She had her regular clothes on, a blue long sleeve with ribbed details and a pair of jeans. She looked so lovely, so perfect, and her hair was so-

Jenna's eyes follow Evelyn's retreating form, before looking back at you. "Are you two dating?"

Like a splash of cold water after waking up, your sun halts all thoughts. You blink, rising your eyebrows, "No, we really are just friends."

However small of a question that might have been for her, she unknowingly just lit the entire house of your delusions on fire.

'Why do you care? Are you interested? I am. I swear I'm available. Why did I answer like that? Did I give myself away? Should've just said I like you at that point.'

There it was, like a dash in a racing game, your heart catapulted threatening to leave your body entirely.

She hums, eyeing you down like she could see if you were lying. Maybe she could see all the inappropriate thoughts you had about her or all the daydreams of holding her as a lover would. She might even stumble upon the library of paintings and poems you had made for her. Or maybe she caught on to the idiot mess she could make you. Either way, you hoped you didn't look anywhere near as panicked as you were. Crap, did you wait to long to say something?

She shrugs, "I'm just making sure you don't forget to arrive at 7 and not 8. They want cast photos before actually going to the invite."

You nod. Of course you knew, it was stressed out all week. And even though it had been 8 months since filming and being around Jenna, you still planned at least three outfits before picking one. You were not above changing or overthinking clothes in hopes she would like you. Was that bad?

"Right, of course 7pm it is. You bringing someone?"

You froze. Where did that confidence come from? The thumping in your chest now being the only thing you could feel, hear, and swore you could see.

She smiles, raising an eyebrow.

Where you seeing things? Granted, your vision was clouded in the softest shade of pink that perfectly highlighted every feature of her existence but...

"Maybe, I don't know yet. You?"

You shake your head, returning her smile, still trying to compose yourself.

She hums again, you love her sounds, her words, her face, everything actually.

"We'll have to do interviews right after the photo-shoot. So, don't bring someone clingy."

You hadn't realized you weren't blinking, until you followed her out of sight. She had left as if you weren't beaming at the thought of having scheduling time together; now and for the entire press run. As if she hadn't just added a mountain of delusions to get you by, she walked away.

You sighed. Bringing your hands to your face, biting your check to hide your overwhelming joy.

୨୧⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ ᡣ𐭩

After what felt like hours and yet also minutes, you finally reach the illusive event at, "...6:50 exact."

Ten minutes so that you wouldn't try to escape the choices you made tonight. The choices being the provocative dress you had gone back and forth between choosing for the evening. Your stylist had rolled her eyes, watching you pace around the room in a bathrobe asking pointless questions, 'Does it suit me? What if they think I'm trying too hard? Should I go for the other? But I love the color on this one...'

Whatever. What's done is done. Now you just need to act like you have all your puzzle pieces together and perform. You step into the studio, recognizing dolled up co-stars and trying not look too obvious in your search for a certain someone. You feel a tap on your shoulder, your swivel on your heels instantly.

"You look so hot," Not-Jenna dampens your hopes. You smile regardless, "Thank you, Evelyn! You look really great too!"

She made debuting from model to actress look easy. Tall, slender, kind and of course attractive. Nothing on Jenna though. Respectfully. Speaking of, where was she?

A small commotion turns your attention around, a gathering of people had crowded around the jewel of your life- Jenna Ortega. She looked radiant, glowing, anyone around her could see the appeal. Her smile was effortless, the lights bounced around her in such a fascinating way, you were drawn to her. Plant to sun. Moth to light. Stars to sky. Moon to night. She only consumed your entire world.

Your heart stops when her eyes meet yours across the room. Breathtaking. A small look of realization glosses her eyes before looking away.

You tilt your head, mesmerized.

A pinch rips through your body as you look for the source. A sour look morphs your features as Evelyn shakes her head. "Talk to her instead of staring. She probably has enough of that."

She was right. You didn't want to be another groupie to her, you wanted her to see you. You'd never know if you didn't put yourself in her radar...

She was a vice you had to break through, rip her away or completely indulge in. A flower with too much exposure can overwhelm it and kill it. Maybe you were an idiot. 'At least I'd die a happy one.'

You walk over, the slit in your dress exposing lace clad leg with every movement. Eyes danced to see you, acknowledging, scrutinizing, admiring, maybe all at once. People move slightly, inviting you to bask in the sun rays you crave the most. You look at her for seconds too long, your sure they notice but the fact is irrelevant. Her warmth soothes you, you start,

"Hi, everyone! Love seeing you all dressed up!"

They laugh, the conversation flows and questions get asked about something or another but every time it reaches her you selfishly take her in. Your eyes linger on her features, you take your time memorizing her like a poet falling in love with life. Like every detail had to be in-scripted on your skin in order to go on. You wonder if you were being clear enough.

Jenna had noticed. She was sure everyone did. Looks that invited hidden conversations were not hard to miss, it only takes one sultry up'n'down look to ask. No, she didn't imagine it, not when you looked so fixated on her, like she was the pinnacle of art and had spoken words of epiphanies to you. She's thankful for her foundation, your attention had surprisingly sparked a girlish reaction from her.

Even as the phootshoot starts and a team works quickly to poise and correct, her thoughts keep coming back to you. At some point you're posed together, the two leads of the film, close enough she can smell your perfume and let herself relax.

It doesn't help that the photographers are intentionally making you lessen your personal space. Hands on each others shoulders, waist, leaning on one another...

"Come on Jenna, I won't fall if you lean all the way."

She laughs, trying to keep her nerves from seeping out of her voice. She's done this millions of times before, but her heart races when you touch her so casually. When you're laughing and being so carefree like you weren't practically eye fucking her earlier.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that!"

So she does. Leans her head onto the valley of your shoulder, your perfume is stronger here. Her hands reach to hold your biceps, toned. She thinks, as though she hadn't ever indulged in looking at your bare arms during scenes. The cut of you dress allows the softness of your mounds to peek through, she tries not to think of how close her face is.

"See," you whisper above her head, "Wasn't so bad, right?"

She hums, suppressing the shiver your voice caused. You were warm. Truthfully her intentions were only to flirt with you tonight, maybe keep you around for intsa pictures, but your lingering gaze had invited a different attention. How far would she go tonight?

There was only so much she had gathered from you after working together and it wasn't enough to quell her thoughts. Thoughts she shouldn't be having about a co-star but she was too lonely at night to stop her from thinking of you. But if your attention made her feel nice, surely there were others?

Jenna walks as she talks to you, voice loud enough to understand even in the whirlwind of spotlights and cameras. The fluttering of your heartbeat was still there but it went down easier and lighter like butterflies. Basking in your efforts, combined with the glamour, and Jenna's constant presence made you secure. This was your element, you were made to be seen.

"Please, tell us what it meant working with each other in this film?"

Jenna's hand lands on your arm, signaling her lead, "I had an incredible time learning from her," she gives out an airy laugh. Her perfume had circled you, her warmth soothing and her voice angelic. Still, you continued to entertain, "That's too kind, Jenna has so much skill and precision. It was a a wonderful time..."

You look at Jenna, her make up was so nicely made around her eyes it completely locked you in. A siren's eyes. Dangerously beautiful with all the potential to suck you in if you weren't careful. "Aww," Jenna leans in, her hand encircling your arm, "She's so sweet."

The interviews come and go, Jenna- wonderfully, does not leave your side. You were certain her perfume was more prevalent on you than your own. Even when you step away slightly, entertaining guests and other members of your project, Jenna's presence lingers. Her hands find placement on you until you take the initiative and link arms.

"You smell nice."

Jenna doesn't glance your way but continues walking with you towards the showing room, the last leg of the night had approached. The room inside bumbling with more people to greet and take pictures with. She stops walking, a few feet away from the entrance, your arms still linked. She turns her head slightly, finally looking at you, "You like it?"

You nod, "It suits you," You had allowed your eyes to generously take her features in at every opportunity, now she levels with you, "What else?"

You swallow, smiling a teasing and telling smile. You look away from her, eyeing the show room on your right. You look at the floor, "Your platform heels are amazing," She watches your eyes trail over her exposed leg, her breath hitches.

"I like the slit on your dress, we kinda match.."

Her arm was still loosely linked to yours, allowing you to see her more of her. "Kinda,"

Longing eyes trace her hips and climb upwards, continuing, "The bodice of your dress hugs you nicely and your neckline," Jenna's tongue lingers over her teeth, hanging to every word.

"... is so delicate," Your eyes fixed on each other with a silent ripple finally overflowing your yearn.

She's silent as she pulls you in, guiding you away from the loud noise, you let her. Looking around, you're glad the few people left are too busy to notice the leading stars walking away. The frame of your night was changing, Jenna leading you to a much more secluded area, the first you've seen all night. The safety of the moonlit corner allowing for a private moment that felt intimate and not the least bit casual. You had seen a catalogue of emotions grace her features since working together but this one was different. You'd guess you probably looked at her similarity earlier and nothing could've prepared you for such a turn out.

The glamour of the night is still there, or rather here, slowly backing onto the wall. With Jenna looking as attractive as she's always been, the moonlight favoring her in similar awe. A sultry smile graces her painted lips, eyes still locked on yours, tauntingly raising a finger, gesturing you forward.

Her gesture falls straight down to your core, calling you to her circle. You walk forward, watching her sensual smile and inviting eyes. Once your close enough, Jenna traces the fabric of your dress, the shape of your figure, her eyes sink everything in, "You haven't been subtle all night, miss co star."

She looks at you, hand resting just below your breast. You smile, humming before giving her an answer, "I'm glad you had time to notice, very observant."

You bring your arms forward, pushing your hair back and exposing more skin to her wandering eyes. The actions emboldens her as she gently traces your collarbones, down to the plunging neckline on your chest. You let her do as she pleases, waiting with bated breath. "Who didn't?"

Her arms encircle your neck, flushing your bodies together, she wastes no time before pressing her lips on yours. You do everything in you not straight-up moan, and quickly reciprocate her embrace. The kiss is hot, messy and she is promptly letting you know how worked up she was. For all her unbothered glaces and causal touches, she was a lot more eager than what she had let on. Her tongue pokes through and explores your mouth, unable to hold off any more, you moan. Squeezing her waist and kissing her deeper. She pulls back just as quickly as she had initiated the kiss, letting you chase her slightly before pulling back.

"Not bad," seductive wisps reach your ears, "You're kinda needy though..."

She gives a breathy giggle, teasing. You feign an offended gasp, low whispers even with no one around earshot.

"Remind me again how we got here?"

Her gaze was making your knees weak, though, she didn't need to know that. Needy was only the surface.

"Someone had been eye-fucking me all night,"

A small, pleased, sigh escapes your lips, her beautiful eyes making your whole world, "I sure was..."

Just as you leaned down to kiss her once more, her hand halts you. Her eyes suddenly holding a grain of seriousness, "You're not using me to cheat, right?"

Jenna seems to carry enough water and not just sun ray's to keep you well nourished. "No," you laugh, abrupt and empty. Shaking your head in confusion, "Why do you insist on such?"

She stares at you, eyes darting, looking for her own answers but all she receives is your genuine look of amusement.

"You look like you have lovers..."

You eyes widen. Your mouth falls open. Shaking your head at her apologetic look, she chuckles, bringing you closer once more. "I can't believe you think I get around like that!"

Light, airy, and still shocked at her reveal your hold on her waist moves her closer. You press her to you, gently moving her hair from her neck before murmuring in her ear,

"We can be lovers tonight, if you'd like."

Jenna drops her head on your shoulder, hiding her smile. A part of you still has time to hope she likes your perfume, your dress, your figure, heck- even your voice. You wait for rejection but she keeps her arms around you instead. Your world stills, waiting for her. Waiting for anything she'll give you.

Finally, after long thought, Jenna looks at you, taking in your pretty eyes, "Let's fuck like lovers."

An airless gasp leaves you, a brew of desire lightens what had been steeping all night and the drive to the hotel room wasn't far.

Your hands were attached the entire time until you stumbled straight to her room. The kissing resumes instantly, this time, you take the lead. Just like you proposed, you start gently, soaking every trace of her figure and imprinting it to memory. As eager as you were to look for her tells and likes, you slowly guide her to bed. You break the kiss, kissing the corner of her mouth and the top of her hands.

"You're pretty committed," Jenna muses as she watches you kneel and carefully begin to unclasp her platform heels. It's too early to say but having you kneeled before her in such a dress might be her new favorite view.

"I can do more," you grab her bare foot, while looking straight into her eyes, you kiss her ankle.

Her eyes follow every action you make, the way you worship her with every kiss, every caress to her skin, your eyes following her exclusively. There is no one but her in your refection and she's sure your entire existence is solely for her in that moment. Her chest had began to tell on her sharp breathes, heaving with excitement that had been brewing for so long finally being allowed to flourish. She sits with anticipation, following you just as closely as you are, waiting. The warm lamp light illuminates half your kneeled figure. It dips with your curves and exposes the skin under your tights. Did she tell you know nice you looked? She couldn't remember, but she certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity to show you. She swallows the lump in her throat, "You look so pretty like this,"

Your head gently leans to one side as you look up at her, pretty doe eyes transfixed. A knowing smile graces your features, you taunt, "Kissing you or did you mean on my knees?"

Slightly, you lean forward placing your weight on your hands. The slit of your dress stopped just shy underneath your hipbone and allowed Jenna to take an ample view.

"How scandalous of you.." Jenna trials off, hungrily taking in the sight.

"You know," you start, still on all fours and kissing upwards her leg. "If you were a guy, this is were I'd start sucking you off..."

You raise you eyebrows, amused at your own behavior. Jenna momentarily stops looking at the curve of your ass to look straight at you. "You can suck something else."

You smile, unafraid of hiding in your performance. This was about to be the best night of your life and you couldn't wait to chase the crashing relief in her arms.

Boldly, Jenna rests her leg on your shoulder leaning her weight on her hands behind her. There'd be time to relax and lay on the silky sheets, right now, she wanted to watch.

With the reigns effectively out of your hands, you lean further into the swell of her thighs. You kiss and bite her gently, she was your lover for the night after all, but Jenna had other plans. A soft, unexpected pressure sits on top of your head. She let's you look up,

"Harder."

You hum, shaking your head, "Lovers are gentle, sweet,"

You'd be lying if you said you didn't want to fucked by her like a cat in heat but you had already promised soft. Jenna doesn't take her hand away from your head, instead begins to cradle the side of your face. You lean in, eager to please her.

"Lovers do what the other wants, right?" Whispers that beckon you closer.

"That's dangerous," Too close and you'll come out with burns.

"And you're not running," Maybe, only, straight to you. You might be the idiot that flew too close to the sun but at least you'll have the taste of sun rays on your tongue.

The high rise hotel she invited you back to casts the perfect backsplash for your marvelous encounter. All giddy and high off her already, you feel the heat of your core seeping out. Or perhaps it always out of your control- she was the sun after all. Is it not natural to burn with heat the longer you bask in her?

୨୧⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ ᡣ𐭩

You wake up first, the moon light had peeked inside her room too loudly. Blinking away the sleep in your eyes, you focus on the woman next to you. Her make-up had smudged on the pillows and on her face but all you could see was beauty. She's really next to you. You actually slept with her! To think you weren't imagining the banter, the innuendos, her touches or all the flirting. But it was only for one night. Your smile morphs into a smaller one, crestfallen that this was it but still grateful it happened.

Before you could linger on her exposed shoulders, you bring the blankets to her chin. 'I should go...'

Careful and slowly, you reach to pull the blankets off of you. The cold night instantly sparks you alert but you remain cautious and continue moving methodically. Once on solid ground, you look back, already reminiscing on the dream of night you had. Reaching for your clothes closest to you, but a muffled sleepy whine pulls you back to her.

"Noo stay, I'll get cold..."

Her hand had found yours again and well that was that.

Laying back down, Jenna invites you back into the warmth of the thick blankets. She's quick to cuddle into you, face squished into your chest. Unlike you, trying to push away the implications of staying over, your arms hoover above her for a bit before finally resting on her. You feel her breath even out once more, steadily winding down again except this time, it all feels more intimate. You try to ignore the outline of her body pressed so closely to you before your heartbeat makes her change her mind.

The night leaves to quickly and this time the sunlight had coaxed Jenna awake first. She had slept so comfortably she had woken up relaxed. Her eyes lazily look up to her co-star, you, still asleep even after trying to escape last night. After giving her a blissful rest, how dare you? Honestly.

It's not enough for Jenna's eyes to follow your features, her fingers start to lightly trace your nose, your cheeks, your lips... Her mind replays her words from last night.

"Let's fuck like lovers"

It was so much more exciting than what she originally imagined it be. You were so raw, so desperate to please her and it brushed her in all the right ways. The sultry and loving whispers left her so excited, so eager to have your attention. She hums, lips pressing against each other, mind beginning to send sensations through her body.

The teasing way you would slip your fingers in and out, the way you chuckled in her ear at her pleas and the sounds you made when she started eating you. Her body was shivering with memories, her excitement taking over, she needed more.

Not-so carefully, Jenna moves on top of you straddling your hips. Your body had began to respond slowly, as the light pecks hit your face in tiny sensations. "Hm,"

"Good morning," You hated the way you smiled so quickly. Gosh, you didn't want her to think you were desperate, especially after last night. "Mornin'.."

Your eyes adjusted to the lovely sight in front of you, Jenna. Her hair slightly tickling you as she moved to kiss down your neck. A few laughs leave you, to excited to touch her again your hands are unable to find placement on her body. You soothe her lightly, giving her all the freedom to do with you as she wished.

"Ah! Hey!"

Her marks from the previous activities still fresh, but it doesn't stop her from sinking her teeth for another bite. The startling action causing you to squeeze her hips, accidentally pushing her down. You hadn't mean to be so bold, she's literally on top of you what are you on about, but she responds enthusiastically. Grinding her bare hips onto yours and continuing to make paintings on your neck.

"Aha, Jenna," your breath quickens, hands steeling themselves on her as she continues to build off her high on you. Closing your eyes, you relish her warmth, the prickly cold of the morning had vanished, she smelled so wonderful and wanted you again. Gosh, this was everything.

"Jennaa.."

She looks up, briefly, and you swear your heart dies. Those mischievous eyes were gleaming again, framed by the ruined eyeliner you caused, telling you unspoken thoughts. Your hand reaches the back of her neck and lead her to kiss your lips instead. So hungry and wanting but your kisses are slower, as if testing how far she was willing to go. The tip of her tongue holds the answers to your questions and leads them as far into your mouth as she can reach.

That's all you need.

With you hand still cradling her neck and the other now wrapped around her waist, you flip her over never once disconnecting her invitation. Quickly, she settles into her new position by wrapping herself around you no need to ask for more. Who are you to deny her?

The sunlight drapes your bare forms as you tussle in the sheets of her hotel room, witnessing the entanglement of two stars seeking each others warmth. Jenna's laughs and moans fuel your own fire, somehow emitting an equally salacious desire to drown her in your love. It's not like the sun could be wash away so easily, she was made to handle a lot of desire. After all, she would only be taking responsibility of her heat inducing sun rays...

[dunmeshistash]

Interview to celebrate the opening of the Ryoko Kui Exhibition

About Delicious in Dungeon: Story making

Q1. Your first long-running series has lasted for about 9 and a half years. Has it been different from your previous experience drawing short stories?

A1. Compared to short stories, the series has been easier because the same characters appear each time. But I was surprised to find that I got tired of drawing the same characters too many times.

Q2. You have said before that the overall structure of the story was decided before serialization began, but how much of that had you communicated to your editor? Also, what kind of communication did you have during the series production?

A2. The goal was something we discussed and had decided on from the beginning. The goal itself was simple, but the path to get there was more difficult and took longer than imagined.

Q3. Regarding the overall story concept and development, did you write out or put anything down in writing (such as the plot)?

A3. I did, but it was simple.

Q4. Did you come up with the dishes based on the monsters you wanted in the story? Or did you come up with the monsters based on the dishes?

A4. It depended on the story, but usually the story came first followed by the monsters or food. I feel like that was most often the order.

Q5. As you progressed in drawing the series, what elements of the characters, story, or world expanded or grew in the most unexpected way?

A5. Nothing particularly unexpected perhaps. When I used to draw web manga, I tended to think up inconsequential settings. So, from the beginning I tried to restrain myself as much as possible and not expand too much. I was surprised when my editor said "Let's expand it more," in the second half of the series.

Q6. "Delicious in Dungeon" starts with a relatively simple setting, but as the series and the labyrinth exploration continues, the map slowly expands little by little in the readers' minds. It becomes more three-dimensional, revealing the secrets of the world, and taking on a multilayered structure. Are there any sources that you used as a reference, or which influenced you in creating this multilayered structure?

A6. A long time ago, when I was working on my personal web manga (fantasy), I drew it however I wanted, thinking that "Only people who can read this will read it," but I regularly received feedback that it was "unreadable", so I tried to make it as easily. accessible as possible.

Q7. The series combines many elements, including "fantasy", "gourmet", "battles", and "puzzle solving", but I think it's also important that it is a "comedy" which makes people laugh. Could you let us know if you have a creative commitment towards depicting humor?

A7. My hopes are that I can make it fun for people to read.

[page 5]

About Delicious in Dungeon: Drawing manga

Q1. Please tell us about the drawing tools you currently use, both digital and analogue.

A1. In terms of analogue tools, I use a light box, a G pen, a round pen, and a brush pen. And for digital, I use CLIP STUDIO PAINT and a Wacom LCD tablet. Screentone pasting is always done on the computer, so ultimately it all ends up as a digital manuscript.

Q2. Do you have any rules or reasons for using digital and analog separately?

A2. I'm always looking for ways to draw better and save time, so the exact approach is probably different for almost every chapter. Personally, I feel that analogue methods create more appealing lines, but I feel like digital saves time, so maybe I'll do a digital rough sketch and do the inking by hand… I might have been using a G pen, and maybe I'll try out a turnip pen, or this time I'm short on time so I'll draw it entirely digitally, but with digital I can redo it over and over, so maybe analogue is still faster, and so on and so forth. I'm indecisive in this way and so haven't developed a consistent process.

Q3. I understand that you prepare 3D data for your assistants to draw the backgrounds. What kind of data did you make for "Delicious in Dungeon" ?

A3. You could call it 3D, but it's not a proper model, just something to help with the rough sketching. I line up cubes to share the perspective and sense of scale, and they use it as a reference.

Q4. At the beginning of the series, the characters and backgrounds were somewhat simply drawn, and it seems like they became richly detailed over the progression of the story. What was your intention behind using these different styles?

A4. It's simply that my technique isn't stable. I thought I'd put a lot of effort in at the start. I remember being confused when my editor asked me to add more in to the drawing, and I wondered "Where…?"

Q5. Thinking about the food, were there any menu illustrations that you were particularly satisfied with, or which you struggled with?

A5. I've never liked my own food illustrations. But the times when I read other people's manga and thought "That looks delicious," I think it's been more an influence of the movement, the staging, and the situation than the drawings.

Q6. For the world maps and the terrain of each continent, did you refer to any maps of the real world? I feel like the shape of the 'island' is similar to the shape of Fukuoka Prefecture or Kyushu.

A6. I didn't reference any specific geography, but I did try to put thought into things like whether a developed city would be near a river or the sea, and what the coastline would look like. I'm pleased if it feels similar to a real place, because it means my interpretation was pretty accurate.

About Delicious in Dungeon: Other

Q1. Which is your favorite monster?

A1. Nightmare.

Q2. I'm sure you have received a lot of feedback from readers in countries and regions outside of Japan. Please tell us if there was anything from them that made you happy, was unexpected, or which made a lasting impression on you.

A2. When you play foreign games, there are times when you think "Why did they translate it into Japanese like that?" But having been on the side of having something translated, I've realized some things are unavoidable, or endless, and there are many things that don't matter either way from the author's perspective, so it was interesting.

About Ryoko Kui's short story collections and herself

Q1. Dragons are a consistent and important motif in your work. Was there any particular work or experience which inspired this? Also, are there points about drawing dragons which you find interesting or have had to work hard on?

A1. It's less about liking dragons, and more that I'm interested in the worlds in which dragons exist. When I draw dragons, the depiction in itself has a sweet feeling to it. I have never had a pet reptile, so I don't have a very good understanding of them.

Q2. Unomiya University in your story "The dragon's school is on top of the mountain" has a Faculty of Dragons, Department of Environmental Studies, and Department of Technology Studies, and a Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. If you were to enroll in the university, which department or faculty would you like to enter?

A2. I probably wouldn't be accepted….

Q3. The collection includes a short story staged as an essay manga. Are you a fan of essay manga? Please tell us about any genres of essay manga that you like.

A3. I love all kinds of essay manga. I read them often.

Q4. If you were to make your own game, what kind of game would you like to make?

A4. I prefer being a player when it comes to games.

Q5. When did you first start drawing illustrations (doodles)?

A5. I don't exactly remember when I first drew a picture, but I think I started drawing manga around the fourth or fifth grade of elementary school. in my notebooks and had my friends read them.

Q6. What is the most fun part about drawing manga?

A6. Every part is fun and hard in its own way.

Q7. Please tell us if there is anything you "just can't stop no matter what".

A7. My procrastination habit.

Q8. Could you please tell us if there's something you want to draw now?

A8. I've been working continuously since the serialization, so I'd like to take about 2 to 3 months to just draw whatever I want.

[tls12lessthan3]

can i tell you guys about my interpretation of a no-scenarios relationship between kim dokja and yoo sangah. im gonna do it anyway. the thing about a no-scenarios relationship of any kind between kim dokja and yoo sangah, for me, is i really think it would be so difficult for a genuine connection to form between them because kim dokja ultimately dehumanizes and fictionalises her the same way he does yoo joonghyuk. like his specific brand of dissosiation works as him viewing the world through the lens of fiction and he applies that so heavily to yoo sangah when we first meet her. she and him already have some vague form of relationship by this point - i would not call them friends but he moved those cameras for her! he kept her secret! and she knew and trusted him to an extent. that is on top of their teamwork in the job interview.

but we know none of this when we first meet yoo sangah because dokja views her as a heroine who would never cross genres with him, and he erases their history together in the process. he does the same thing with her putting pepper in her boss's coffee - thats not something a perfect pretty heroine would do so we have no idea she did it until she tells us, because kim dokja sort of - filters it out. he smoothes down the edges of her reality as a person and all the 'out of character' things she does into an easily digestible character he can push away as 'from a different genre'. and this is a massive fucking disservice to yoo sangah!! for the same reasons what kim dokja does to yoo joonghyuk is a massive fucking disservice to him!!

shes not a heroine! shes not perfect! shes not from a different genre! shes just a person and she wants to be your friend! i think if they were friends outside of the scenario kim dokja would a) try and push her away and more interestingly to me b) he would continue to try and slot her into his worldview as a 'heroine protagonist' and i think that would really grate on her. especially considering how the role kim dokja creates for her has some parallels to the one her parents made for her. kim dokjas lesson over orv of coming to understand the 'characters' as people is analogous for the one he would need in real life - just like his relationship with yoo joonghyuk couldnt reach its peak until he stopped viewing him as a character, he would need a similar journey of realization to start really understanding yoo sangah. its only then i could see them getting really close.

[mygnolia]

love is in the (chilly) air | psh

pair: figure skater!sunghoon x gn!reader (inspired by en-o-clock ep 20) | g: fluff, bit of angst, comfort, humor! figure skating au  | wc: 1.6k | cw: insecurities about sunghoon choosing you or his love for the ice, no injuries but a soft landing in the snow, cheesy cheesy couples (why can’t we have nice things)

a/n: if you recognize this it's because i revamped it! I wanted to add more, and change a few things. still a personal fave <3

“I’m going to look like an idiot, hoon.” you mumble, fumbling with the zipper of your jacket before looking up to witness his reaction. 

your boyfriend tries his best to convince you to join him. 

“you won’t,” he argues, and you feel your heart flutter. “you never have.” sunghoon’s words are spoken in earnest, and while they make you realize how lucky you are, they do little to calm your nerves. 

still, you doubtfully consider your choices, and sunghoon can sense your hesitation from a mile away. “okay, how about this,” he proposes, holding both of your hands in his and leaning down to make eye contact with you. “i’ll show you the basics, and if you still don’t want to, we can go back home.” you honestly don’t want to go home now that you’re already bundled in your crisp clothes- you want to see sunghoon having the time of his life, but you also want to preserve your dignity.

this idea is better, you think, and after what feels like years, you nod. a bright grin lights up on the boy’s face, and he excitedly drags out outside to the sidewalk. “it’s snowing.” you mutter, trying to find any excuse to go back. 

“if snow was…” sunghoon trails off, letting out an excited ‘oh!’ once he knows what he would have said. “if snow was an indicator for how much i love you, it would be a blizzard in my heart.” he declares, smiling as he drags you along the bustling streets. he seems proud of himself for an analogy so romantic, and you hand it to him in your head. he knows just how to make you feel special all the time. 

you tell him, however, for the sake of having fun, “for me, it would be midsummer.”

“you wound me.”

“it’s what i do best.” you deadpan, smiling nonetheless. 

sunghoon frowns dramatically and lets go of your gloved hand to cross his arms. “you’re terrible!” he retorts, starting to walk faster and leaving a trail of booted footprints. “all i want to do is shower you in my love and affection and then you pretend you’re not in love with me.” he declares, placing the false narrative that you do not reciprocate his feelings. you smile at his antics, reaching to fluff up his hair before grabbing his bicep, intertwining your fingers and leaning on his shoulder when you finally catch up to him.

“i do love you, sunghoon.” you murmur. the boy beside you smiles when he hears it. 

“i know.” he says, a smug look on his face. “I just wanted to hear you say it.” 

scowling, you take your hand out of his pocket. “you m-“ sunghoon shushes you immediately, raising his eyebrows as he watches your confused expression morph into a concerned one. 

“what?” 

he smiles before kissing your forehead. “i just wanted to say i love you too, silly.” he rolls his eyes, and continues along the path. 

by the time you reach the park, and venture past the playground to the lake that’s frozen over, sunghoon reaches inside the bag he’s been carrying and pulls out two pairs of ice skates, with a mischievous glint in his eye. “come on.” he tells you, and starts to put on the skates as quickly as he can. “you promised.” you didn’t, but you also can’t afford to see your boyfriend so dejected if you disagree. 

the ice makes you feel like bambi. how does sunghoon do this three times a week? he grabs your flailing arms, laugh as he holds you close. “i got you.” he reassures, a happy grin on his features. when you look up, you realize that there’s nothing sunghoon loves more in this world than you, and the ice. 

ever since the daunting young age of six, the boy’s found solace in the frozen surfaces he glides across. but amongst the trophies, medals, and perfect scores across the board, however, he’s found room in his heart to accommodate you, someone who he can’t remember a life without, and as he patiently guides you across the slippery planes of his love and adoration, you can’t help but fall more in love with him. 

“hey! are you even skating anymore?” he playfully scolds you, letting go of your arms unexpectedly. the lack of support renders you a fumbling mess as your shift in balance almost causes you to topple over, face first into the frozen water. instead, you fall towards your boyfriend, who holds you tight and lets you regain your balance. “easy there, tiger. don’t want you to ruin that pretty face of yours.” 

“oh my god, i think i just saw my life flash before my eyes.” you tell him, ghastly look on your face, and sunghoon giggles at your reaction. he smooths out your hair the best he can with his gloves on, running his fingers through your locks and stopping to pat your head. 

he switches to a different topic. “are you okay, though? you were zoning out and i wasn’t sure what to do.” he confesses sheepishly. your eyes widen before you nod vigorously. 

“yes-yes, i’m fine.” you reassure him, but your words seem to fall on deaf ears as he looks at you worriedly. “it’s embarrassing if i tell you what i was thinking about!” you defend. 

“say it.” he prompts you. you sigh defeatedly. 

“i just think you’re so cool across the ice, hoon, and sometimes i wonder why you decided to even love me when all you needed was figure skating. like, you’ve gone for so long doing this,” you stop to motion at the ground where the indents lay in the marks of the ice. “and you’ve perfected it, so sometimes, it feels like i have this unknowing competition between me and skating, and i’m worried you’ll have to choose someday.”

he hums at your words, soaking in your insecurities before reaching to hold you close. “i think that i’ll never be able to choose. you make me happy in a different way than figure skating does, y’know? I feel passionate when i skate, and i feel like i’m always chasing towards something better.” he pauses, and his hot breath materializes in the white air. “with you, though, i feel like i’ve finally been able to sit down, and take a break. i feel like you make me realize it is not so hard to be with the thing you love, and of course our relationship takes effort. but it’s a different kind of effort. it’s not the effort I have to force myself to wake up to do sometimes. i’ve skated for years on end, but you make me feel whole, you make me understand some of the best things i can about myself, and make me feel like i can carry the world in the weird way that ice can’t. loving you is one of the easiest things i’ve done.” he says it all in this genuine way that you know and love about him. sunghoon’s an open book- you know when he’s mad but you know when he’s honest, and right now is one of those moments where you’ve seen him bear his heart on his sleeve, just for you. your love for him is boundless, and you feel like you can never truly stop caring for a boy like him. 

sunghoon’s cute when he rambles. sunghoon’s also the love of your life, and sunghoon makes you feel special. all you can do is smile through your teary eyes and kiss him as the snow slowly descends from the sky and you loop your arms around his neck. “thank you,” you whisper, the white air puffing into his cheeks. “thank you, sunghoon.” it’s a tender feeling, to hold him so close, and to feel so warm despite the cold weather.

there’s just one key component you’re missing. your balance here is terrible. 

you let out a yelp as you feel yourself start to tip over and bring sunghoon down with you- the boy scrambling to ground himself as he eases your fall. thankfully, you land in the snow, and both the cushioning and your boyfriend’s grip eases your head on the way down. “alright.” you say, wiping off the snow that’s gotten on you. “i’m done for the day. or the month, or year.” 

you sit on the ground and watch sunghoon travel across the frozen surface, with an elated smile on his face and a professionalism that meshes together into an adorable childlike wonder. you marvel at his skill, eyes following every twist and turn, even as he does a triple axel out of nowhere. “that’s not fair!” you cry out. “you’re just showing off, now.” he laughs before doing another spin. 

the boy makes his way over, catching his breath as he sits beside you. he lets his head fall into your lap, and you take the opportunity to comb through his hair. “yes.” he says out of nowhere, and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. he continues. “i was showing off.”

-

send an ask to join my perm taglist!

[nezz-cringe-crib]

not not not normal about the machinery/technology themes in L's english musical lines it has me in a grip.

all the characters actually have such clear themes and motifs but i especially love how L's is so subtly crafted.

there's obviously "The Game Begins." very clear machinery themes. pixels and code and blahblahblag sad technology boy. BUT IT CONTINUES IN OTHER SONGS TOO!! WHICH IS SO NEAT. AND THE PLACES THEY CHOOSE TO PUT IT IS SO GOOD in fact here's a whole list of bits i can pinpoint:

Secrets And Lies: - "All of the data has been analyzed" - "What other data does he have to see?" - "The truth is hard to sort out"

The Way Things Are: - "The cold, hard truth / Can't shut it down... / You can't turn it off" - "I won't let who I used to be... / Get me out of sync" - "I'll turn into a different me / Not so cynical / Not so clinical" - "Frame by frame / I see this movie in black and white / Shot by shot / Minute by minute..."

The Way Things Are (Reprise): - "I win the game / Gotta calculate one last trick"

The Way It Ends: - "Go through the motions like the hands upon a clock" - "I'm like a software program caught inside an endless loop / Just bad code that keeps repeating" - "It's like I'm hitting all my marks, as if I'm acting in a play / So out of character, yet somehow not a shock" (THIS ONE I LOVE THIS ONE IM TALKING ABOUT LATER) - "My camera's cloudy lens now / Takes much darker pictures than before" - "See it flicker, hear it humming" - "The message that it sends now / Sounds exactly like a closing door"

i bring all of this up to not only point out all the little machinery bits bUT TO NOTE WHEN THE MACHINERY ISN'T PRESENT AND IS MOST PRESENT.

the only songs where we lose the theme of technology in L's lines is when he's with light. "Stalemate" and "Playing His Game" aren't on this list. L doesn't use many technological terms in those songs. the only ones that pop up are said by light (ex: "Does he see pixels, not dreams") and that's because it's about light trying to follow L's machine-like thinking.

in fact, "Stalemate" (i think, it's late and i don't wanna check all those songs again) is the first time L uses some kind of human analogy: "Just like two actors on a stage / Go through the motions that we both rehearse... / Eyeball to eyeball / We'll see who blinks first."

IT'S BECAUSE HE'S WITH LIGHT. LIGHT MAKES HIM HUMAN.

IN FACT IT MAKES HIM SO HUMAN THAT WHEN LIGHT KILLS HIM IT LIKE SENT HIM THROUGH FUCKING SHOCK. WHICH IS WHY "The Way It Ends" AND "The Game Begins" HAVE THE MOST MACHINE BASED TERMS.

we are introduced to him as a robot, and it is stripped from him when he meets the one case/person that makes him feel alive, and suddenly it all hits him like a truck when the one thing giving him that sliver of humanity is what kills him. that line-- "It's like I'm hitting all my marks, as if I'm acting in a play / So out of character, yet somehow not a shock"-- encapsulates it perfectly. L is used to hitting all his marks already, because he has been raised as a machine, but with light those marks have been different. he has not been hitting them out of code, he has been hitting them out of precise and willing action. he did it with the fire that sparked inside and kept him burning, not the cold hard gears he was raised on. but playing with fire means melting everything you once had. it's gone now. it is what he has always done but it is no longer him.

note the shift from "eyeball" to "camera lens." note the mix of personification with machinery in "hands upon a clock" and "flickering" to "humming."

L lost because he was too alive. L died because for a second he was human.

[sleepy-fiction]

Sticker Analogy, Steak Analogy

● Visualizing how Bill Cipher flipped his parents.

THESIS

Understanding how Bill flipped his parents from two-dimensional to three-dimensional is hard to visualize. Not only is it hard to visualize a 1D plane as 3D beings, but it's hard to visualize how detrimental it would be for a 2D being to abruptly translate to 3D. Today, I will simplify this disparity by comparing 2D planes with stickers and beef.

0.7K WORDS

BODY

Think of living in a 2D plane and only seeing 1D as being a sticker on the wall. We can replicate this by laying the left sides of our head flat against a wall and closing our right eye. What do you see? This is similar to how 2D dimensional being see their 1D world as a series of lines. Now imagine that you are a front facing sticker. We can replicate this by placing our backs flush against the wall and looking around with our left eye. We see a lot more this way, don't we? But this still does not change the fact that stickers, much like 2D beings, are stuck to their planes of dimension and why this is important.

Futhermore, if a 2D plane is a wall, and a sticker is a 2D being, gravity would work much differently. The only thing that keeps a sticker on the wall is its strong adhesive. Without it, a sticker would fall down towards the ground. Stickers need their adhesives as it is the very thing that keeps them connected to the wall. Think of the adhesive of a sticker as its organs; the glue is its most functional and sensitive parts! Stickers were made to stick to walls and to hide their sensitive parts.

Contrarily, if we were to remove a sticker, for any particular reason, we would have to peel the sticker off its wall. And if we were to flip a side facing sticker to face forward, we would have to peel the sticker onto its side. This brings up three possible problems, the first being it's organs, and the latter two on gravity.

Similarly, when we peel a sticker, we are forcefully pulling its most vital parts. It's adhesive off its body. Secondly, we are exposing the sensitive parts of the sticker to new gravity, as well as 3D forces such as wind and debris. Finally, depending on the plane, without its gravity, a sticker could either collapse in on itself, or as we more commonly know, a sticker would fall off the wal and to the floor.

DIAGRAM.1

In summary, A sticker is not meant to be double sided, its meant to be glued on the wall (the wall being its 2D plane). When we flip the sticker or remove the sticker from its natural plane, its sensitive parts are revealed to the elements. The sticky side of stickers aren't to be adoft in the wind.

Frankly speaking, ripping off a sticker doesn't always come out clean.

FIGURE 1.

Furthermore, 2D figures are not meant to be flipped, their body's aren't made to support the crushing weight of 3D forces on their sides. Think of the sensitivity of the sides of a 2D figure like searing a steak. If you were to poke a steak on both of its faces, you would find that it's tough and sturdy from the heat from the pan. But if you were to cut into it, the meat is soft and pink. Continuing with the food analogy, you can also beef as a good example of how 3D translation was detrimental it was for Bill's parents' organs.

DIAGRAM 2.

Let's imagine that I have seared beef on one side, but I did not oil my pan. As it adjusts to the heat, the seared side toughens and sticks to the pan. Now, this meat is completely stuck to the pan, and if I were to nudge or shake the meat in any direction, it would remain stuck to the pan. Flipping this meat would not be easy because it is fully stuck to the pan as it is now naturally joined a 2D plane.

In order to translate this mest back to 3D, I would have to take my spatula and dig either through the stuck side of the beef to forcefully rip it onto its side. And if the beef is still raw everywhere except its seared, it would collapse until the weight of the new gravity.

CLOSING

In conclusion, abruptly translating a 2D living creature to a 3D plane is a lot like removing a sticker from a wall, or flipping over stuck beef. It is unnatural, detrimental to the original forms of the items, and is incredibly greedy.

After all, it would've just been easier to accept what you had and not tried for more, ⚠️.

[ztarvokwrites]

How the rest of the Strawhat Pirates propose to you.

Cross Guild, Monster Trio

a/n: you guys seem to enjoy these, so i decided to continue! this list includes the rest of the strawhats, minus chopper because that would be really really weird.

not nsfw! a lot of fluff and love and omg i'm blushing.

enjoy and don't forget to reblog if you like it!

Nami

You knew something was wrong when she began rummaging through her treasure haphazardly, as if looking for something.

No, don't ask, she looks stressed enough.

Proposing to you means she needs to find the best ring possible, but she can't find it when you're in the room with her, so she reluctantly pushes you out.

When she finally finds the ring, she realises that she has no clue how to make this proposal perfect — the chaos of the crew was certainly going to fuck things up.

Who does she go to for advice? Jinbei. Because she assumes he's been married before, right? Nope. But, he does give her some tips on how to make the proposal perfect — which surprises Nami.

And so, on your nightshift on The Sunny, Nami decides to take one of his tips and use it to her advantage.

You're surprised to see her awake at this hour and even more so when she grabs a tangerine from one of her trees and peels one for you.

She halves the tangerine, but in your half, you see something shiny. Something that makes your eyes well up.

When you look at her, she's down on one knee as she nervously swallows a slice of tangerine.

"Y/N, the moment you stepped on board, I knew you were gonna be amazing," Brilliant start (sarcasm). "You fit in right away and, before I knew it, we got closer and closer. I know that it'll be awkward because we're Pirates, but..." She takes the ring out of the tangerine and wipes it clean, despite it being a bit sticky. "Will... Will you marry me?"

The moment you say yes, she begins crying tears of joy. The ring is a perfect fit and you two spend the rest of the night together beneath the stars and sharing a few tangerines.

Usopp

Oh boy. He is SWEATING.

He's good with tinkering and gardening — not proposing! The mere thought gives him the nervous-to-propose-to-you-disease!

But, at the same time, he knows he must. After all, you're the one his heart truly belongs to.

He can't talk to Franky about it, or anyone for that matter, in fear they'd tell you first and ruin the surprise...

Surprise! He'll make it a surprise! He'll make an exploding star and come out of the smoke with the ring in hand and-- No, no. He'd mess that up for sure.

In fact, every single scenario he can think of, he'll most likely mess up.

Oh... He's just gonna have to do it, isn't he?

"H-Hey, Y/N," He calls out to you, legs shaking. This concerns you, visibly so. "D-Don't worry, Sapling, I'm f-fine... Just wanna ask you somethin'... Pleasesitdown-"

The two of you sit down on the floor, and Usopp takes a moment to breathe. Your hand on his knee is NOT helping!

He places his hand on yours and immediately feels at ease for a moment. Within this moment, he comes right out and says it.

"I don't have a ring," He begins and your heart leaps. "If I did, Nami would take it and claim it as hers... But I don't need a ring to tell you exactly how much you mean to me. Y/N, you are my Sapling — I watch you grow as a person day by day, hour by hour, and I can never get bored of you. Cheesy analogy, I know, but it's true."

He speaks from the heart without stuttering and you feel like you've woken up in another dimension.

"Y/N, I want you to marry me," He says, looking deep into your teary eyes...Wait, YOU'RE CRYING?! "W-Wait! Did I mess it up?! Oh god, please don't cry--"

You shut him up with a kiss so hard it makes him fall on his back. When you pull away, he's stunned as he looks at your happy face.

"...So I'll take that as a yes?"

Well duh.

Franky

Bro knows EXACTLY what to do (he doesn't).

When I say he goes all out, I mean it.

PDA. PDA EVERYWHERE.

Franky loves you and wants the entire world to know how SUPER you are!

Which is why you're suspicious when, during the evening when everyone's around the dinner table, he subtly has his hand on your thigh, his grip trembling.

You can feel his anxious stare on you through his sunglasses, which he decided to keep on for today.

If you think he's going to propose in private, you're wrong. Dude is eccentric as shit.

He proposes right there in front of the crew, gets down on one knee and presents a ring he made that can.... double as a weapon?

Doesn't give a massive speech as he cries halfway through lmfao.

"Y/N, there's somethin' I should ask you in private, but I'm too damn impatient," Tries to say how much he loves you as he gets down on one knee, begins to choke up. "I... Shit- No- Can't cry-" Presents the ring and just outright says it. "Will you be my super spouse?"

The moment you say yes he's absolutely bawling like a baby... So is Chopper and Brook... Speaking of....

Brook

You'd think because he's the oldest, he's had more experience with this sort of thing, right? Nope!!

I like to think Brook has only ever had partners and not spouses, so he's never actually been married before.

That being said, he decides that if he's going to ask you to marry him, he's gonna do things right and not ask anything perverted.

He forms a plan, writes it all down and keeps it in his head — literally.

When the crew arrives at an island, Brook insists that he stays on The Sunny with you. His insistance works.

He's a lot more touchy with you, but not in the perverted way. He's always holding your hand or your hips and gently squeezing your warm flesh. You pay no mind.

When lunchtime rolls around, Brook is already in the kitchen making Churrasco for you both while he asks you to lay down a blanket on the grass on deck.

You're surprised when he comes back out with the meal in one hand, two glasses in the other and a bottle of wine beneath his arm.

During the meal, he suddenly stops talking, turning to you.

"You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid my eyes on," He begins, and lets out a little 'Yohoho' as he thinks of a dead joke, but refrains from saying it. "You're beautiful on the inside and out, and I truly love you for that. In fact, I don't think I've ever loved someone more in my life than I love you. That being said, there's something I must ask of you..." Brook opens his head and pulls a ring out. "Don't tell Nami, but I snooped to get this," He whispers with a 'Yoho' before getting down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

The moment you say yes he's leaping for joy and celebrating before putting the ring on your finger and placing his lips... teeth to it.

"You've made me the happiest man alive! Except, I'm dead! Yohoho!!"

Robin

One of the few who actually knows what she's doing.

Yes because she's read books.

The first thing she does is act normal, there's no need to worry you over nothing.

She spends as much time with you as she can, holding your hand or occasionally kissing you.

It's when you two are alone in the aquarium library that she asks you, taking your hand in hers.

She doesn't do a big speech, seeing as you already know how much she loves you by her actions alone.

"I've been thinking," She begins. "About how our lives will be if we got married," Pulls out a ring. "What do you say, Petal?"

The moment you say yes she kisses you with so much passion you think you've died and gone to heaven.

Nami took photos of the entire thing so Robin can look back at them later and feel that same happiness over and over again.

How did she get so lucky?

Jinbei

Does he have experience in asking someone to marry him? Yes, actually.

I like to think he proposed to someone in his like, early 20's but got rejected because he grew up in the Fishman District :( How mean!

Anyway...

You don't think too much about it when he's suddenly by your side 24/7, in fact, you embrace it.

But, sometimes when you look into his eyes, you can see a hint of anxiousness.

You want to ask him what's on his mind, but he seems so focussed on you that it's making you hesitate... And blush a lot.

Later on, as the sun begins to set, he invites you over to spend some time watching the sun go down with him.

So, you join him on the deck and sit on the railing, legs dangling over the edge and his arm wrapped around you for security.

You stare off into the sunset, chatting away happily, until you noticed he went eerily quiet.

You turn to him, half-expecting him to be entranced by the sunset, only for him to be entranced by you.

You blush, he blushes, you both turn away with him mumbling an apology for staring.

He's not usually shy, but when it comes to you, it's a different story.

Which is why it takes him a few minutes to actually ask you.

He scans the area, making sure that only Brook is there, who gives him a bony thumbs up.

Nodding to himself, he clears his throat and gently lifts you from the railing, placing you gently on the deck.

The moment you look at him, he's on one knee and Brook is behind him, gently playing Salut d'Amour on his violin.

"My Siren," He begins, the nickname making your heart flutter as he took your hands in his. "My time with you makes my days a whole lot brighter. Whenever I look at you, into your eyes, I see a fulfilling life."

Brook sniffles, a tear falling from his eye socket, but he turns away to prevent himself form bursting into tears.

This amuses you, so you smile, but you catch Jinbei's eyes soften from your expression change.

"You never fail to make me fall in love with you all over again," He continues and suddenly your eyes begin to water. Jinbei reaches behind him and pulls out a small box handed to him by Brook, who's whimpering softly to himself. "Y/N, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do me the honor of being my spouse?"

You say yes and he puts the ring on your finger before lifting you up in his arms with a boisterous, joyful laugh.

Yes, Brook finally bursts into tears upon hearing your positive confirmation, accidentally breaking one of his violin strings in the process.

starnote: miss me? :P i didn't realise how short robin's was compared to the others. since i tried to keep them as in character as i could, i couldn't really see robin going over the top with it at all. anywho, i missed u guys <3

dividers and banner made by me!

[lqfiles]

SCORE THAT GOAL! — 36. basketball incidents.

(wc: 1962)

“jeno, please explain to me one more time why we are here?” haechan asked from beside jeno. his gaze was fixed on jeno’s side profile as he awaited the boy to answer the same question he had asked before. jeno sighed. “look, i just wanna cheer them on. can’t i be supportive?” jeno explained in hopes of getting haechan off his back. he looked at jisung who walked on his right, the boy totally in his own world.

“yeah right, just admit that you’re upset that the basketball club gets to have friendly matches against other colleges while you guys don’t.” haechan chuckled and picked up his pace, leaving jisung and jeno a few steps behind. jeno scoffed. “i’m not upset.” he assured jisung, wanting some sort of validation from him. jisung hummed, still occupied in his own thoughts. “if you say so.” he muttered. “i do say so!” jeno rebutted.

“you guys came!” chenle’s excitement grew when his eyes landed on his group of friends who entered the indoors place. ningning nodded. “of course! you were so excited it was cute. wouldn’t want to miss something that makes you so happy.” she explained and chenle shied away, a sudden embarrassment overcoming him. “i’m gonna ignore that cute part, thank you for making it. i’ll make sure to win.” chenle placed a hand on ningning’s shoulder with a happy grin.

“where is sungchan?” you asked, looking around the basketball court in hopes of finding the said the boy. “he went to go and buy some water for later. can you believe that he was planning on ditching this match? he must’ve lost his mind..” chenle revealed with great shock, a frown growing on his face which resulted in all of you smiling at him. “i don’t know why you’re surprised, he doesn’t even like basketball. you just wouldn’t stop harassing him about joining.” you laughed out.

“i wouldn’t call it harassment.. more like a.. friendly suggestion” chenle reasoned. by now the other team had entered the place too and you took that as a cue. “we should go and find a seat before they’re all taken, make us proud chenle.” mark announced, motioning for the few empty seats. chenle nodded, sending him a thumbs up before continuing to stretch.

“do you think they will win?” ningning asked mark and you as the three of you sat down. you smiled, looking over at chenle who had ran over to sungchan when he returned. “you think chenle will ever let them lose? over his dead body.”

“jisung, don’t look but the hawk is in the nest, i repeat, the hawk is in the nest.” haechan yanked jisung backwards, harshly whispering into his ear, making jisung stumble a few steps back. “what the hell?” he grumbled back. “haechan, what are you talking about.” jisung wiped the hot breath that lingered around his ear away with the back of his palm before he gave haechan a confused looked. “i said, the hawk, is in the nest.” haechan repeated slower this time, head nodding towards the direction of the benches further ahead.

following haechan’s gaze, his eyes found the first row that was taken by a few people. his eyes widened for a second. “mark is here?” jisung asked, surprised. haechan threw his head back with a harsh sigh leaving his mouth. “yes, and look who is next to him.” haechan grabbed ahold of jisung’s jaw, turning his head a few centimetres to the side.

jisung felt his breath hitch for a moment as you turned your head to look at mark, probably laughing at whatever he said. “the hawk is here.” haechan repeated once more. jisung shook his grip off his jaw, throwing haechan a small glare. “why are you calling her the hawk, don’t be weird.” jisung said and his eyes made its way back to you and your friends.

“gosh, have you ever heard of an analogy? sorry for offending you.” haechan responded back, turning agitated by jisung’s reaction. a mischievous grin grew on haechan’s face a few seconds after as he continued to stare ahead and jisung knew better than to let haechan speak any further after that. “no, don’t even do anything.” jisung warned but haechan shrugged nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pockets.

“whatever, i’m gonna go and take a seat with my good friend (—). jeno, stop sulking and come.” haechan snapped his finger in front of jeno’s bitter face. “stop glaring at the basketball players.” haechan rolled his eyes, grabbing jeno’s arm ready to drag him along. “what’s even fun about basketball?” jeno bitterly spoke and haechan dismissed it. “yeah yeah, tell me all about it.” haechan mumbled and the two walked away.

“no- guys..” jisung tried to protest but had been unsuccessful. his friends had already made their way towards the first-row seats, making sure to make their presence known to both you and your friends. jisung watched as they greeted the others before haechan pointed a finger towards jisung’s direction.

panic surged through him and his feet had started to move on its own. before he knew, he stood right next to haechan, dragging the boy back by his cardigan. “aaand zero, see! i told you it would take 7 seconds exact for him to get here.” haechan wiggled out jisung’s grip, taking a seat in the second row, right behind ningning. jeno followed, taking a seat behind mark. “the fact that you can predict that is insane. how many times have you annoyed him?” jeno questioned.

jisung stood dumbfounded at the opening of the rows, eyes wavering between all of them until they landed on you. you were already looking at him and smiled when your eyes aligned. “hi.” you greeted and jisung couldn’t stop his own lips from shyly tugging upwards. “hey.” looking down at the spot next to jeno, he realised it was right behind you. slowly lifting his head back up to see both haechan and jeno grin at him, jisung scoffed. maybe jeno and haechan did know how to play cupid after all.

you had turned your body sideways to face him, focusing all your attention on him. “so what brings you here?” jisung awkwardly started. you chuckled, tilting your head a bit. “well, two of my friends play in the basketball team. why wouldn’t i be here?” you teased and jisung felt himself tense. what kind of stupid question was that, he mentally scolded himself.

“and what brings you here, football player?” you asked him and jisung smiled before nodding towards the person on his left. “jeno wanted to watch and dragged us along.” he explained. it felt like the whole room had turned silent, even though that was the total opposite. you hummed, your gaze still lingering on jisung. he let out an awkward cough, averting his eyes.

“how’s your throat?” jisung asked softly, but loud enough for you to hear. “oh, yeah my throat is alright now. your scarf is really warm, i might never give it back.” you laughed and jisung copied, looking back up at you. his top teeth were shown as he flashed a quick smile. “that’s okay, you can keep it. you’ll probably need it more than me.” jisung told you. and it probably looks better on you, jisung thought.

“seems like chenle really is hard-carrying his team.” mark commented as the match progressed. it had been around 20 minutes and the score was 2-3. as expected, chenle was the star player, priding the school by not missing a single shot handed to him.

“he runs the basketball club like the navy, he thinks he’s the coach.” you explained, watching chenle run around the field, throwing his hands around so his teammates would send him the basketball back. for a friendly match, he behaved like he could take down anyone in his way any moment.

“i wonder how much longer this is going to last.” haechan yawned from behind you. you couldn’t help but crack a smile, craning your head to look at the boy who was slumped in his seat. “theatre boy can’t even pay attention for twenty minutes?” you joked and haechan groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically. “there are other things i can pay twenty minutes of my attention to. watching men sweat as they run around with a ball in their hand isn’t one of them.”

“right! just a stupid game.” jeno butted in, folding his arms. all of you had turned to look at him. “jeno.. please, give it up.” haechan rubbed a hand over his face. he was already extremely bored, he couldn’t deal with jeno’s bitterness at the moment. the rest of you laughed, turning back to watch the game while you kept your eyes on haechan for a bit longer.

“better be watching, chenle will definitely ask you to point out your favourite part of the match.” you grinned at haechan who frowned in return. “why would he do that? we’re acquaintances at most, i’m not here for him!” haechan asked perplexed. you shrugged and leaned back, about to turn around again. “he loves praise, don’t be surprised.” was the last thing you said before you turned around.

you barely had time to register what happened. all you heard was ningning screech, and all you felt was your body being pushed aside by your shoulders. you instinctively closed your eyes, expecting to feel your body land on the seat next to you. you never did, instead the grip on your shoulders stayed until you opened your eyes. you looked to your side, taking notice of ningning’s body leaning into mark with wide eyes.

“are you okay?” you knew it was jisung, yet you weren’t expecting to hear him right next to your ear. you turned your head further to the left, face only a meter away from jisung who had gotten out of his seat, almost crouching behind your seat. the two of you were leaned in an awkward position and jisung soon lost balance, falling on his shins while simultaneously letting go of your shoulders.

you sat back up, looking behind you to see the basketball that had flown past you to the empty space between the first and second row. you looked over to the court to see chenle with his jaw dropped. he quickly mouthed something but you dismissed it and stood up to look at the row behind you. “i’m fine, are you okay?” you asked jisung who had just gotten back up, dusting off his jeans.

“yeah.. that was embarrassing..” he whispered as some of the audience was still looking over at you two. you nodded, scratching your neck. “it really was yeah, thank you for that. i didn’t even see it.” you thanked jisung as the both of you sat back down. he didn’t respond back and you watched as he looked at your arms for a few seconds before nodding. you were convinced you saw a tint of worry in his eyes, but didn’t want to look too deep into it.

“it’s okay, next time, be careful- n-not that it’s your fault of course! but still, don’t get hurt, you know?” jisung stammered, a sudden fluster washing over him. he barely looked you in the eye as he spoke, instead watching of his knee bounce up and down. “thank you, i will be careful.” you bit back your smile, reluctantly turning around to continue watching the match.

“holy shit.” haechan muttered with wide eyes. “wow.. never mind, maybe i do have a favourite part from this match.” a smirk had grown on his face, a smirk both him and jeno sent jisung as they nudged him. “fuck off.” jisung retorted back, trying to control the way his body was heating up.

previous — master list — next

notes ; LONG CHAPTER, IM SORRY! tldr ; they all go to watch chenle and sungchan’s basketball match and a ball almost hits y/n but jisung saves you, yippie 🤗

TAGLIST ; @rksbae @222brainrot @severefireangelprune @violetvoo @prdshobi @kikookii @haechansbbg @en-dream @bbxnny-bbxtch @cvpidxo @jaeminslattes @90s-belladonna @softieluvsyou @wenjunblossoms @be0mluver @jeongintwt @myhaechan @love1again @ckline35 @cassie6392 @hibernatinghamster @starboys-gf @rllymark @mfaal @snflwrhaerecs4u @sunflowerbebe07 @ahnneyong @enhalovie @galacticpurpl3 @manooffline @luv4jeno @mikadorbs @1moo7 @ksywoo @ohdudehesflirting @savluvsmingi @finnydraws @invumi @crvzy-fujoshi @peterparkerluvvbot @hrjunluvs @i2kittenz @jisungji @http-peachie @jisyng @sweetcandycum @giaccolo @shotaroswifeyily @sinsgaybutthatsokay @be-my-sunrise @syzavxy @kyusqult @mxlly143 @o-schist @bigjishirt @snuglyjwi @hyunniesvlog @shuaadmirer

[porcelainseashore]

There’s Blood on the Polaroids - DollHouse 2025

Commissioned art by @medeaft

Author's Note: My entry for @problemsynth's DollHouse zine. Thank you so much for hosting, you’re an absolute star!

Wynter gets roped into modelling for a Kindred charity calendar. After a mishap, Lettow finds himself (un)willingly entering the picture.

Content Warnings: Blood, violence, murder, implied sexual content, post-canon, Kindred just wanna have fun.

“You can’t be serious.” It fell as a half-hearted sigh from his lips, the “ss” prolonged at the end, in mild retaliation at the gloating woman in front of him.

Wynter, his little death, shrugged as indifferently as she had from day one, wearing the slightest of smirks while she lounged against the props. Stretching limbs, bones, and sinewy flesh, numb from when she had been so delightfully arranged into a collection of poses like a marionette. His doll, her arms splayed, legs spread, provocative enough to make the hedonists of their lot blush.

“So, what's this for? A charity calendar?” she asked, feigning ignorance.

Lettow was well aware that she was up to one of her games again. It had always been like this between them—the invisible tug, the push and pull. The exasperation and enjoyment. A perpetual cat and mouse, except who was who this round? Time after time, he found himself caught in the tide. “DollHouse magazine,” he mumbled and she gestured for him to go on. “The Kindred Playboy, I presume…”

Satisfied, Wynter threw her head back and laughed, joined by the shrill peal from Riga, perched in the corner and fluttering her wings. Lettow glared at his famulus as she settled down and bobbed her crested head in remorse.

“Did you really have to drain them all?” Glancing around, he counted three bodies keeled over like sad potato sacks across the room, their feet slack in awkward angles. She didn’t even bother hiding them.

“I was hungry.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, continuing on her trajectory, “... and you know how much I detest these amateur photographers getting all touchy-feely.”

A shadow fell over Lettow’s face and his jaw clenched. Wynter recognized that slight overbite and the severity in his eyes, narrowing in, making him gaunt, his cheekbones sharp and obtrusive. Was this jealousy he felt? That hadn’t come up since the nights in the desert hunting down Reremouse with that despicable Assamite in tow.

“Well, this won’t do.” Lettow’s voice was strained, but he was already striding over to one he didn’t outright hate the look of the most. “I’ll have to take matters into my own hands, as usual.”

At the blue-lipped cadaver, he bent down, forcefully wrenching the analog camera from the dead man’s grip, still tightly clutched at the chest where rigor mortis had already set in. Some of the fingers cracked. The fool had died with a distinctive trace of shock and agony—the aftermath of the “Lamia’s Kiss.” Lettow shuddered, recalling the feel of Wynter’s teeth grazing his clavicle, over his breast, along his stomach, down, down…

“Oh, how the carnage turns me on.”

It was true, the place looked more like a slaughterhouse than anything. When he turned to her, she had bitten her finger, trailing the blood down her body, staining her lingerie as she reached between her legs. Her deathly aura had dissipated, leaving only a healthy glow. Yet, something predatory lingered.

He remained silent, swallowing a lump in his throat, wondering if she could sense how flustered she had made him.

Wynter flashed a smile, dangerous and alluring. “I don’t mind if Riga watches. We could check voyeurism—”

But Lettow had pinned her down, sitting himself upon her thighs as his mouth covered hers. When he released her from his kiss, blood streamed in rivulets from their lips. A burst of white light blinded her and she hissed. There was a noisy whirr as a Polaroid ejected from the camera.

“I didn’t quite get that,” he mocked, unnervingly composed. More bursts of light followed as he twisted with the camera above her, capturing different angles while she writhed languorously beneath him. Every buck of their hips caused him to groan.

“Enough!” Lettow roared, tossing the camera to the side, his eyes red as ember, pearly strings of saliva dripping from his gnashing teeth. Wynter felt the tips of his fangs sink into her neck and closed her eyes.

Scattered across the tiles, a story unfolded as images formed like ghostly apparitions right next to thickened puddles of blood. A high fashion shoot of B-movie killers and crime scenes. A play on the boundaries of arousal and death. What was real and what wasn’t? Readers scratched their heads as they flipped from one glossy page to another.

Dividers by @diableriedoll