#short fiction; Kat

[normallyxstranger]

Fictober22 (@fictober-event) Day 8 —  "Do you remember?"

featuring Kat Matherson & Sara Minder— characters from The New Ashton Chronicles, written & role-played by F.R. Southerland (@normallyxstranger | @frsoutherlandauthor | www.frsoutherland.com) © October 2022

original fiction

general warnings: abuse mention

     She stood still in the doorway, staring across the great marble floor. For all the opulence of her mother’s manor, the foyer was an empty and foreboding space. Large marble columns stretched as far as she could see, a near endless and imposing row of them. Despite the attention grabbing nature of these columns, it was the large sprawling staircase that caught the eye. Kat turned her attention to it now, following the steps and railing, up and up and up until she saw her.

     The light streaming into the stained glass window cast shades of red upon the demon’s face, highlighting her pale skin. When she turned, crimson danced across her mouth like droplets of blood. Though her eyes were usually a rich brown, they never held any warmth. When they looked down upon Kat now, they were positively empty and cold.

     “Oh. You’re here.” No warmth in her tone either, voice too flat for much emotion—not that she ever expressed much beyond anger or disappointment or disgust.

     “Yes. I’m here.” Kat’s voice matched her mother’s, just as flat and unfeeling. What had she expected, coming here like this? That she would welcome her home? Give her an encouraging word? No, those were human thoughts. If she told Sara that, she might sneer, might tell her she’d spent too much time with humans. The latter was true, but she wouldn’t give Sara the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

     “Why are you here?” Sara was dressed in a short black skirt, with gold edging—real gold, Kat suspected, knowing her mother’s desire for all things lavish. Her shoes, too, appeared golden. They clicked as she stepped down those marble stairs. Her long black nails trailed along the railing until she stopped, resting her hand upon it instead.

     “No reason.” That was true enough. It’d been a few years since she’d last set foot in her home dimension. Edaros hadn’t changed a bit and neither, it seemed, had her mother. Maybe there was a reason she’d come back—to see if any of it had changed. She wouldn’t let Sara know that either, nor that it was nostalgia that had driven her back through the Shadows and into Edaros land. 

     “No reason,” she repeated. A scoff followed, eyes rolling. “Aimless. Just like him.”

     Kat lifted her head a bit, unfazed by the comparison to her father. She’d rather be like him than like the woman before her. She said nothing, but moved forward, sneakers scuffing lightly on the marble floor.

     Sara descended the last few steps and approached her, pausing a few feet away. Her cold stare swept over Kat—head to foot then back up. Disgust, disappointment—precisely the reaction she’d expected. “You dress like them,” she said. Humans, she meant.

     “How am I supposed to dress? Like you?” 

     “It’d be an improvement.” Sara watched her face closely. “Why are you really here? No lies.”

     Should she tell her? Rub salt into the wound of her failed expectations? Let her know that humanity had perhaps infected her, made her sensitive and sentimental?

     For a few seconds, she didn’t respond, resisting the temptation to turn her gaze away. Steadily, she held Sara’s judgmental, severe stare. “I wanted to. I wanted to see you.”

     Surprise registered by the arch of one slender, dark brow. “You wanted to see me? Now that’s human nonsense if I ever heard it.” With another scoff, her mother turned and began to walk away.

     “Do you remember?” Kat asked, lifting her voice so it echoed off the immensely high walls and columns. “Do you remember the last time I was here?”

     That gave Sara pause. She turned slightly, peering at Kat from over her shoulder. “Centuries ago.” Her lips pulled to a thin, humorless smile. “Edaros time.”

     Time did move faster here. A few years on Earth might be centuries here. A long time for Sara; not long enough for Kat.

     “Nothing’s changed, has it?”

     “No. Nor will it.” The smile vanished from her face. “You made your choice. There’s no undoing it. Did you hope I’d change my mind? That I’d welcome you back? That I’d want you?”

     The words struck Kat as painfully as a physical blow, as if Sara had slapped her again, like she had last time. Human sentimentality—that’s what it was, that’s what had crawled into Kat’s heart and brought her back here. Sentimentality and stupidity.

      Sara narrowed her eyes. “You stink of humanity and foolishness, your head full of their ideas. I thought you better than that, but you’ve proved me wrong yet again. Now go. Leave! I don’t want to see you here again.” Her heels clicked as she rapidly walked that endless foyer and disappeared into the dark.

     Kat stood there, throat tight, the threat of tears burning her eyes. The Shadows drew Themselves closer, wrapped about her legs, but even They couldn’t comfort her now.

     She never should’ve returned.

[wolfawaycamp]

I am humbly requesting LauraMax fluff, maybe including an ever growing number of pets because they keep bringing home strays? Y'all know where to find me if you have any questions 😂

🐰 Someday, Max told himself, he’d learn to say no.

To say no to a pair of sad puppy dog eyes, whether they were Laura’s or those of an actual, literal puppy dog. And Laura didn’t do sad eyes often, that was the thing that really got him about it. It was always a sneak attack when Max’s headstrong, self-assured girlfriend pulled out the big, sad baby blues, batted her eyelashes at him, and actually said, “please?” It was unfair, really, because it worked every single time. It was just giving Max the illusion of choice when he inevitably gave in and let Laura have whatever it was that she wanted.

That was how, across multiple separate occasions, they’d ended up with their current menagerie. Max had known that cohabiting with a veterinary student would expose him to a number of critters, but he hadn’t expected it to turn out quite like this. Certainly, Max hadn’t expected to turn into some kind of creature himself the summer before Laura embarked on her graduate school studies, but with what they now jokingly called ‘Wolf Boy Summer’ squared away (they had to laugh, you see, to keep from crying), the creatures had at least been smaller and more manageable.

They’d moved to San Francisco with only a tiny cage with two tiny mice inside, for their tiny apartment. The mice, which Laura had liberated from a science lab she’d worked a few shifts at in undergrad, were champion puzzle-solvers and cheese-finders named Trillian and Cashew. Max didn’t even get consulted about these guys, given that Laura had lived in her own dorm at the time she’d acquired them, but she did let him name one, which is how Trillian ended up named after a character in The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Laura named Cashew Cashew because that was the flavor of nut milk she was testing that week. (Max thought Cashew was lucky the two mice hadn’t shown up during pea protein milk week.) Laura was “pretty sure” they were both female, until Cashew ended up pregnant and blessed them with baby mice Frankie, Benjy, Ford, Hazel(nut), Almond, Pecan, and Peanut. Max told her this bode poorly for her career in animal care, but Laura took it in stride, saying she’d have to spend more time studying sex differences in mice in the future. They got two larger enclosures and separated everyone out by sex, properly this time, and now Max has to turn the sound up on their white noise machine when he and Laura snuggle up in bed, or else he hears the Galaxy-Nut siblings running in their wheels all night long.

Then, Laura fell in love with a stray cat with a severely matted coat that had been hanging around their doorstep for days, and Max found his loyalty to his mouse family strained. Should they really bring a predator into their happy little home? But Laura was absolutely certain she could make it work, even in the limited space their apartment provided, and the cat really was pitiful-looking. So Max capitulated and the Kearney-Brinly household expanded to include ten mice and one cat.

The pathetic ginger cat, Westley, luckily, turned out to be utterly uninterested in the mice. He got his name because he showed up for the final time on movie night and meowed pitifully through the first half of The Princess Bride (both Laura and Max’s favorite) until they brought him inside. Laura took him the next day to check for a microchip and, finding none, she had the matted orange furball completely shaved. In the middle of winter. And sure, it was a relatively mild San Francisco winter, but Max still thought Wes looked cold.

“I’ve already ordered him a sweater,” Laura said, “but I know you’ve been working on your knitting, maybe you can make him another?”

Max had scoffed at first. Then he’d taken a second look at his pitifully nude cat and stayed up late researching cat sweater patterns. Now Wes has an entire wardrobe of knitwear and Max, Laura, and Wes have matching Christmas sweaters for their Christmas card photos. Max drew Emma for the Hacketteer gift exchange, but he traded with Abi for Dylan and now he’s working on another set for Dylan, Ryan, and Schrödinger. (He knows Ryan will be especially delighted.)

Then it was Max’s turn. He found a large bedraggled dog of indeterminate breed tied to a stop sign in an abandoned parking lot and the dog let him know immediately that Max was his chosen father, riding home with his head in Max’s lap the entire way. Westley liked Laura best anyway, why shouldn’t Max have his own cuddle buddy (you know, other than Laura)? Laura agreed it was only fair, and now Inigo stretches out between them on movie night and he has to get his fill of both scritches and popcorn before he’ll allow them to cuddle with one another.

“Hon,” Max told Laura, who was sitting at her desk with Westley perched on her shoulder like a pirate’s parrot, “you know I love all our kids, but we really cannot have any more animals in this apartment. We might actually get evicted.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more, honey,” Laura replied, and Max had thought that would be the end of their animal acquisition. He could admit that was pretty naive of him.

The next day, Laura had a list of rental houses for them to visit a little further from the city. Sure, she’d have a longer commute to her classes, and Max would to his job, but wouldn’t it be worth it for the ‘kids’ to have more space? Max couldn’t exactly argue with that, so they moved into a two-bed, two-bath with a small fenced yard.

And that was where Max was, cutting up a salad for dinner, when there was a knock at the door. Max answered to find Laura on their doorstep holding the saddest-looking beagle Max had ever seen, her own face mimicking its hangdog expression perfectly. They were both whimpering. “She was released from the surgical program at school and needed a home, I said we’d take her on a trial basis but baaaabe, just look at this faaaace.”

He sighed, but couldn’t help smiling a little, both at the wriggling dog and at his girlfriend. Her big pretend sad eyes, her genuinely huge heart.

Someday Max would learn to say no. But today was not that day.

[maryam0revna]

I feel like I still have a handful of followers left over from The Fanfic Days. Would anyone give a shit about reading my original fiction? Instead of revising my finished novel, I've been writing on a mystery/thriller that I'm tempted to release episodically on Medium or somewhere + a horror short story I've already posted there.

What are the odds that anyone would be into that? I'd just love to have literally anyone read my shit and have no idea the proper venue for non-fanfic stuff that anyone would actually visit consistently and organically. V open to thoughts if anyone knows!

[catskets]

A more in-depth guide for creating visual novels, especially in the horror, horror-romance, etc circles

Some of you have seen my previous, smaller post on crafting visual novels, especially in this little space of Tumblr that a lot of us have found themselves in. Since that post took off, I've wanted to create a longer guide to help touch on some points I've thought about for the past few months.

In case you've never heard of me, I'm Kat, also known as catsket. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Game Design. I've been making games for nearly 5 years, and I've been doing visual novels more "professionally" for 2. You may know me for Art Without Blood, 10:16, God is in the Radio, or Fatal Focus. I'm here to help you make your first visual novel.

Please note that my advice does not fit everyone, and you may disagree with what I say. That's okay! It doesn't work for all. That's why there's thousands of resources out there.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER MADE A GAME

So, you have an idea for a huge visual novel. Horror, a shady and obsessive love interest, a little bit of woo-hooing. 100k words. Maybe a million. What is this, the 07th Expansion?

I notice a lot of people getting into visual novels are artists first. That's okay! I wanted to do art for games before I realized how much I enjoyed writing. And even less of you have probably touched Visual Studio. Again, perfectly okay. We all start somewhere.

My number one piece of advice? Make shitty games.

What does that mean?! My recommendation to those who have never done games is to make a bunch of shitty ones. Think of a theme, or hell, even join a game jam, where you make a game that fits a theme in a short amount of time. Spend about a week on your game. Focus on making something polished. Polish your mechanics. Polish your output.

I recommend, if you can, to make at least 4-6, if not more, kind of shitty games before hopping into longer projects. Making a game is a skill, just like art, just like writing. And game development is combining ALL of these together into one big soup being stirred by a skeleton hand puppet. You'll get into the rhythm and see what works for you.

It also helps you learn, perhaps, the second most important thing here: do you even like making games? There are cases out there where people have created video games (not saying visual novels) just for clout. That's no fun for you, that's no fun for your players. And you might go through this process and find that you don't like making games. That's completely okay! It's not for everyone.

Also, you can use these shittier games to gather an audience. I've built my audience because, for the past few years, I've been releasing games that slowly give me growing fields of eyes every day. A success story overnight is a rare one. It takes time. It's like building a brand, but you aren't a brand, you're an artist.

REV UP YOUR ENGINES!

Ren'py is the number one engine you will be recommended. It is very beginner-friendly, with lots of tutorials, assets on itch.io to use and download, and support. The engine comes with a few tutorials in the form of games, whose code you can freely browse. This is the engine I use most often. Most visual novels you see are made in this engine.

Twine is a text-based engine that most people use for interactive fiction. You can add images and audio, though, if you don't mind messing with HTML. I use Twine for text games and for outlining for my larger games. Ever played Degrees of Lewdity? Yeah, I know you have. Don't ask why. That game was made in Twine.

RPG Maker has multiple versions and has been used for exclusively VNs if you don't mind fucking around with plugins. It can definitely give your game a super unique feel. I recommend RPG Maker MV, since it has the most resources. This line of engines usually costs money, but it often goes on sale for under $5-$15.

People will recommend TyranoBuilder, but as a user and player, the lack of options and the format the games often come in is just...not fun to navigate. It advertises itself as little to no code, but it's often evident in the final results. Some good games have been made in it, though, so if you want to use it for prototyping/practice, you can. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean that fans don't exist! This engine costs money.

Not an engine, but check out Ink! Super useful scripting language that's used for more professional projects.

DEMOS, DEMOS, DEMOS

You've got an idea for a long-term project, and now you want to show it to the world! But wait, wait, don't do that yet!

When should I start advertising my game? This is a personal opinion, but I say that you should not start advertising your game until 50-60% of your demo is complete. Why? As I've discussed with some fans of indie VNs, they can name quite a few projects that have been in the "working on the demo" age for 1-2+ years. I've been in the Kickstarter MMO circles. If you, making a single-player experience with little mechanics to balance and polish (aka a visual novel), are taking that long on a demo, I am going to assume the game is not coming out. There are some games I have seen out here that have been in "working on the demo" phase where I haven't seen a single ounce of what the project will look like.

What should I put in my demo? The purpose of a demo is to showcase the mechanics and the vibes and the mechanics of your game. It's a demonstration. In my last post, I pointed to the Dead Space 2 demo that was showcased at E3 (RIP), that takes place about 2 hours into the story and shows how enemies are defeated, some animations, bits of the story, etc. Usually, because it's less about mechanics and more about vibes, visual novel demos showcase a certain percentage of the full thing (5-10%.) Can you showcase the vibe of the game here and what players should expect? If not, show off another portion.

How long should I work on my demo? Before, I said 3-4 months. That can be true, that can also not be true. Think about how long the demo takes you in proportion to how long the actual game should take you. Don't put too much effort. The demo is to showcase the vibe. It's to see how much the public and fans may enjoy the game.

My game is 18+, what should I do? Make a splash screen when the game is downloaded to let players know your game is 18+. If it's going to contain sexual content, you can hide it with itch.io's adult content filter. Write it on the page itself that your game is for adults only. Don't put your demo behind a paywall. This is genuinely ridiculous. The purpose of a demo is to showcase what a game is like before a player purchases it. That defeats the point of a demo. I've seen this happen, and it discourages players from approaching, especially because most demos never make it past the demo phase. So...I'm paying you $10 for 2-3k words of a game that may never come out?

Should I make a social media for my game? YES! Go for it. These anchors are how people will find your game. Make a Tumblr and open that ask box. Make a Twitter. Go to BluSky. Advertising is not bad. Some YouTubers even take e-mail suggestions from developers. Feel free to shoot your shot. The worst they can do is not respond.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR ITCH.IO PAGE:

Getting your itch.io to a presentable state can be very challenging! There's many ways to do it. I highly recommend using this page image guide for learning how to size your images to make your page pop!

Itch.io themselves has suggested to not publish a page until the game or demo is released. You can make the page and keep it as a draft, but do not publish it until you're ready!

Your cover image is the image that will appear in the search of the website, on any front pages, in collections, and on your profile. What have I seen that works? Key art of one of the characters up close and the title of the game! If you can make it a .GIF, do it! Bitches love .GIFs!

Itch.io recommends 3-5 screenshots on your page. I recommend 1 of these 5 be a .GIF that shows how gameplay feels. This is effective, even for visual novels!

Write a 3-5 sentence summary about your game for the description. What is your story about? What is the draw?

DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO IS GOING TO SAY "This is not like other visual novels. It doesn't have that cheesy this or that or-" No one cares. Genuinely. You're putting down other games in your genre and elevating yourself to the pompous level.

TAG YOUR GAME! itch.io gives you a list of tags to choose from when you go to tag. DON'T USE THIS! Try to go for more specific tags. Arimia has a very good guide on how to use itch.io's tagging system to your advantage.

GENERAL GAME MAKING ADVICE

SCOPE KNIFE IS SUPER USEFUL! Everyone makes games that are way over their workload. It's okay to cut out features and add them later. Prioritize making a finished game before hitting those stretch goals.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Writing outlines is super helpful. I use Twine for my outlines, because you can connect your passages together and make really well-thought webs.

IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP! Whether it's from friends, professionals, or anything in-between. They can help with assets, editing, etc.

HONE YOUR SKILLS OUTSIDE OF GAMES! Write some poetry. Do some sketches everyday. Improve on your craft to improve your games

MUSIC IS HARD. THERE ARE RESOURCES. Most of us aren't musicians. That's okay. Make sure the music you get for your game is allowed to be used. You can use anything non-commercial if your game will not cost money or donations. I try to do songs in the public domain or free to use overall with credit if I don't have a musician. Consult the Creative Commons website if you're unsure how you're supposed to use a certain piece of music. If you don't use the right stuff, not only can it put you in legal trouble, but it can put streamers in hot water if they play your game and they can't upload the video because music is copyrighted.

PLEASE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR UI. Wanna know an easy way to get your game to look more professional? Edit the damn UI for your game. Make a new textbox, even if it's just a black box. Change the font. Eventually, players recognize the defaults and patterns of games made in certain engines and may attribute a lack of UI changes to a developer being lazy. It doesn't take very long to change the colors around and move text! Please do it to add a little pop to your game.

DEADLINES ARE AWESOME. Not everyone works well under pressure, but if you give yourself an infinite amount of time to make something, it'll never get done. Set goals for yourself for how much you can work on something.

IF YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP, GIVE UP. Making things is hard, especially long-term. Emergencies happen, jobs happen, life happens. Let your fans know that a project isn't happening anymore. Don't leave them in the dark. You don't need to tell strangers your medical history or anything, but transparency + honesty are really hot traits. You should use those in your creative work. This is one reason why I advocate for not publishing or advertising things until you know it's stable.

SHOWCASING YOUR CONTENT

People love to see WIPs for games! This is what the devlog is good for! A devlog is a post where a developer talks about and showcases some things happening in the game? What can you add to your dev log?

PERCENTAGES! How much of the artwork is done? How much of this character's route is done?

SNEAK PEEKS AT ARTWORK AND SPRITES!

GIFS! GIRLS LOVE GIFS!

Anything else to showcase your game's content! Posting consistent updates retains and even gains a fan's attention for your work.

RUNNING YOUR TUMBLR

You've joined us, and you've made a Tumblr for your blog! Link it on the itch.io page, so people can come find you after playing your awesome demo!

Do I have to respond to every ask? No. It's your blog. Delete whatever asks you want.

I got a hate comment! What do I do? Delete it and move on. I have a more detailed section on hate below.

I want to interact with [blog]! How do I do that? Reach out to the devs for silly little collabs. If you come onto a developer slightly headstrong, they might feel you are being abrasive or using them for content.

If people make fan content, interact with it! Encourage it! Reblog it. Show your love.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS

PROFESSIONALISM IS KEY. These may be pet projects, but you want to appear some level of professional on your actual itch.io page.

Being dismissive of player and fan complaints or criticisms will make you appear childish.

If your game is broken, fix it. I have been told by some amateur developers to ignore game-breaking bugs. It does not make me, a player, want to engage with your content. It seems messy and unfinished.

With the above point, it's 100% okay to have bugs and errors upon release. Every developer and their brood mother has. To decrease these issues, get playtesters. Friends can play your games, spot any errors, and help you point out things that can be improved upon. I recommend having playtesters at every stage of development.

Make sure your game runs before you publish it. Please.

You can still be silly and giddy! There's no reason to not be, especially when you get positive comments! The point of this is to not be outright rude to potential players and fans.

IGNORE HATE COMMENTS. In this case, a hate comment is a statement that contains no constructive criticism and are only here to be insulting or malicious. People are going to leave you with actual piles of dog shit in your ask box. They are trying to provoke you. Giving hate comments any attention, even if you're there to "clap back" proves that they got to you, even if you don't take the hate to heart. They will continue to pester you. Delete any hate comments and ignore them completely. Laugh about them with friends in a private setting, sure.

THINK BEFORE YOU REFERENCE! I know one big thing in this community is adding references to other games in yours, such as plushies of other characters or putting them on posters. The best thing you can do it ask the developer before adding this. How would you feel if some random person you've never met put your character in a video game? Most of us would feel weird and potentially violated. Open communication with devs is awesome. I am usually okay with it as long as someone asks for permission.

As a complete aside, I prefer more tasteful references to other games as opposed to 523482346 plushies and posters. These have been slightly overdone. Why not theme a candy after another game's character? Maybe your characters know each other.

OTHER RESOURCES I RECOMMEND

Devtalk is a server dedicated to independent visual novel creators. You can find jobs, resources, advice, talks, and, like, everything there! Devtalk is super useful. Everyone in there is so cool. They have a really great and comprehensive list of resources that I could not even begin to cover.

Visual Novel Design is a great YouTuber. No other words, check the guy out!

Ren'py and whatever other engine you're using has documentation that's super useful to follow.

Arimia not only has amazing VN resources, especially for marketing, but she also just has? Amazing games that you should check out?

And for a shameless self plug, I'm the lead of Sacred Veins, a collective of devs creating narrative games, whether it be horror, humor, romance, or everything in-between. Come hang out with us!

[angels-fantasy]

Top-Secret Fiction Ch. 1

Date Scored

Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

Description: After meeting the one and only pro hero Dynamight on a dating app, you two begin to see each other. Because of the dangers that come with his hero work, you both promise to be completely honest with each other from the beginning; though you can't help but keep one big secret from him.

You write fan fiction, mostly about him.

Chapter Details: This story is honestly mostly fluff, some crack fic elements lol, lowkey fast pacing but IM IMPATIENT LOL sorry

Word Count: 1.2k

It was a Tuesday night when you were on your computer, logged into HeroFiction.com and typing away at a new fan fiction you promised your readers.

You had been writing fan fiction as a hobby for about three years now and over time quickly began gaining followers. Now, you had almost four thousand readers that loved your work.

At first you wrote for a variety of heroes, until Dynamight started becoming really popular. You didn't see the hype in the beginning. He was so rude and destructive, why would you write about him?

Your mind didn't change for a while until you saw a video of him getting interviewed after taking down a villain. He was as rude as ever of course, but his face was covered in soot and his hero costume was ripped, showing his chest and arms. Watching that video made you realize how hot he actually was.

That was the moment you decided to start writing for him.

He quickly became a favorite among your readers, so you kept writing for him. It seemed as the more you wrote for him, the more you liked him. He was suddenly your favorite pro hero.

Now, you focused every piece of writing on him. It worked out perfectly for you. You and your readers loved it, it was a win-win.

So now as you were thinking of what to write next, your phone buzzed next to your thigh, breaking you out of your thoughts.

You grabbed your phone and looked at your new notification, seeing it was from the dating app you recently downloaded.

Now curious, you opened up the app to see what the notification was. It appeared to be a message from a recent match.

Hey sexy. Meet up 2night 👀?

Face curling up in disgust, you blocked the person and deleted the message. It seemed as if everyone on that app was just looking for a hookup, and not something long term.

Maybe it was foolish for you to think you'd find something serious on the app, but it didn't hurt to try right?

You closed your laptop, making sure to save your work, and began swiping through profiles on the app.

You continued swiping left for who knows how long, until you came across a profile claiming to be Dynamight.

Sitting up in bed quickly, you looked at the profile closely and read through it.

Katsuki Bakugou, 30

Pro hero. No, I'm not hooking up with you. Yes, I'm fucking real.

It was short and not so sweet, but it didn't seem fake. You swiped through his pictures. The first one was of him and other pro heroes dressed in their hero costumes. The second was a picture of him, flexing in the mirror, and the third was a selfie of him and a german shepherd outside.

Maybe you were being way too optimistic, but you really believed that this could be him. If it was, then you hoped that somehow he'd match with you. If it wasn't real, then it wouldn't be an issue, but you would be disappointed.

Feeling brave, you decided to swipe right.

It's a Match!

You never gasped so loud in your life. If it was already a match, then that meant he had to have swiped right on you before right? You bit your nails as your heart raced in excitement, wondering what you should even say to him now that you were matched.

But what if he wasn't even real? You'd just be embarrassing yourself by believing that Dynamight of all people, would be on a dating app and actually matching with you. This could be some horrible person messing with people, trying to humiliate them.

Now discouraged by your own thoughts, you just shook your head and closed the app.

Buzz.

Katsuki Bakugou: Hey

Your eyes widened and your eyebrows raised so high up they could probably touch your hairline.

"Oh my word!" You cried while gripping your phone. You opened the app once again and tapped on the new message, typing your own.

Me: Hello!

Me: I'm sorry but I just have to ask. Are you actually Dynamight?

You chewed on your fingers nervously as you watched the text bubble pop up, a message eventually following it.

Katsuki Bakugou: Yes I'm real. I can prove it to ya if you need me to. Idk how but I will.

You hummed out loud, thinking of what he could do to prove he's real.

Me: Uhh could you send a pic of yourself with a spoon on your nose?

Katsuki Bakugou: That's what you came up with?

Me: That's the only specific thing I could think of!

Katsuki Bakugou: Yeah yeah

Katsuki Bakugou: [image attachment]

Opening the picture, you saw exactly what you asked for. It was Dynamight with a damn spoon on his nose.

You threw your phone across your bedroom and shoved your face in your pillow, screaming in excitement.

"Holy shit." You said in disbelief, "I'm actually talking to Dynamight."

You got up out of bed and picked your phone up off the floor.

Me: Oh my word you're actually real

Me: Thanks for the pic lol sorry you had to do that

Katsuki Bakugou: It's fine. I get why you'd think otherwise so that's why I agreed to it.

Me: Well thanks again

Me: Anyways, can I ask why you're on here? Most people I've come across so far are only looking for one thing. If that's you then no judgement here.

Katsuki Bakugou: Someone I know recommended it to me. And nah that's not me. Being a pro hero and one night stands do not mix well.

Me: Understandable. I'm no pro hero, but I'm on here for something more serious you know? Even just finding friends would be nice.

You cringed at how pathetic you sounded and sent another text.

Me: Sorry, didn't mean to get sappy there lol.

Katsuki Bakugou: You're good. But I feel the same about wanting something more serious. Sucks that almost everyone on here is just a horny bastard.

Damn, who knew Dynamight was so relatable?

Right when you were typing a new message, another one from Dynamight came in.

Katsuki Bakugou: But anyways, when are you free? I wanna take you out.

Katsuki Bakugou: If you want me to, obviously.

You squealed at the message, kicking your feet in excitement. It was kind of surprising that he asked you out so early, but just from what you know about him and his personality, it wasn't out of character. Fast and straight to the point.

You bit your bottom lip as you typed up your response.

Me: Of course, I'd love to! I'm free this weekend.

Katsuki Bakugou: Alright, I'll pick you up Saturday at 5:30 pm.

Me: What do I wear?? Pls tell me where we're going.

Katsuki Bakugou: Can't. It's a surprise. I'll tell you what to wear the day of.

Me: Okay...

Katsuki Bakugou: Don't back out now.

You grinned and held your phone against your chest. You couldn't believe you scored a date with your favorite hero.

Suddenly, your cat jumped up onto your bed and in your lap. You gasped and picked him up, carrying him in front of your face.

"Hey Cheerios." You cooed, "I'm going on a date with Dynamight!"

"Meow"

...

next chapter

authors note

i hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Top Secret Fiction lol. this is my first multi-chapter fic so i'm a little nervous, but i think it's okay so far! pls let me know what you think 😊

also, if you noticed that bakugou seems to be a bit more mellow here, its bc he's older in this fic and i just imagine him as being a bit more calm as an adult.

btw sorry if the fast pace isn't something you like. i'm impatient lol

love ya!

taglist: @doumadono @lovra974 @54fangirl @andysdrafts @dagger-dragger @l4rsun1vrrse @emmab3mma @littlkittenfan @tatiquichi @cloudxluv @seonne @shonen-brainrot @the2ndl

those in pink cannot be tagged for some reason!

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

flowers in the window - ep40

summary: elias pettersson x f!reader // inspired by this song! // just moments of your relationship with elias (each break has a timeskip of a few years)

warnings: mentions of drinking alcohol, reader can play the piano, fluff, i think there might be some tense mistakes at the start, panic attacks, anxiety, angst, swearing, , stress relating to teaching/work, mentions of dying alone, mentions of marriage, babies (+Quinn's fictional partner is called Kat!)

word count: 8.1k

You watched the slender fingers dance playfully over the keys, catching occasionally on the ebony, tapping out a random and entirely chaotic tune that had you trying not to smile at the attempt to pull something out of you – mostly anything to distract you from the lies Brock had fed you in order to promise your attendance, and to his efforts, it was working.

The loud chatter and bustling crowds were still on your mind, there was no doubt about that, but with your back to everything and your ‘peace-offering’ doing his best to distract you, it was starting to work. Although, it was hard to break the habit of looking at your watch every five minutes, knowing that you’d have to get out of bed early the next morning for work. In fact, it was that knowledge that made you reluctant to even attend this ‘small gathering’ in the first place, something Brock had taken in his stride and then proceeded to lie about.

Hence, the peace offering in the form of a very familiar Swede, who was a little too willing to get you to crack a smile for someone who didn’t usually do that kind of thing.

You shook your head at his obnoxious banging of keys, the sound hardly even heard over the voices behind you, and gently reached your own hands to tap his away as you played out a short snippet of something that at least sounded vaguely nicer than his nonsensical mess.

You could feel his eyes intently watching where you put your fingers, his own palms resting against the tops of his jean-clad thighs. The tune was one of the first ones you’d learnt as a kid: Für Elise, and although the notes of the piano were quieter due to the party-scene raging, you could tell Elias was still trying to commit your motions to memory, just further down on the piano.

His hands came to rest against the keys once more, head tilting back in your direction to where your own fingers were still poised over the correct keys, translating the pattern to his own hands. Back and forth, back and forth between his hands and yours, and his sheer concentration on getting his fingers in the correct place actually prompted a soft laugh from you.

Despite his focus on his hands, you saw the way the corner of his mouth quirked up at the sound, a triumphant little smile that stuck around until you began slowly playing the first couple of notes for him to copy – then it faded a little, upon the realisation that he couldn’t quite assemble his fingers and move them to the correct notes in the right order.

“Here.” You mumbled, scooching across what little space was left between you both, until your shoulders, hips and thighs were pressed together, and reached under his fingers to place your own hands.

His hands were a little cold, and almost without even intending to, your attention shot briefly to the sweating bottle of beer placed rightfully on a coaster on top of the lip to the piano, before shooting back down to your hands. His touch was delicate, as though he was half-hesitating on whether or not he should fully allow his weight to rest over the backs of your hands, and you pushed your hands a little further into the palms of his, encouraging him to place his fingers over the back of yours.

You lowered your fingers to the keys, ensuring to press slowly so the pattern would be easier to digest, and then stopped. When you tilted your head a little to gauge his reaction, his eyes were already fixed on you, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

He wasn’t even watching what you were trying to show him.

“I didn’t know you could play.” He said, lifting his hands from yours so you could remove yourself from his grip.

“I just know a few things.” You shook your head, dismissing his comment with a few melodic taps against the keys, drawing his attention from you to the piano under your hands, “How do you know I can play anyway, we can barely hear it over Brock’s racket?”

“I just…” He trailed off, his fingers tapping out what you’d shown him, before pausing. Your eyes snapped to his side profile, taking in the slight furrow of his brow and the slight part of his mouth when he got stuck on the next key.

You straightened on the bench, leaning over to move his fingers to the right keys, and, like a switch had been flicked, he seemed to relax, his fingers continuing as though he’d not had that small stumble in the first place.

“I guess it’s just blind faith.” He laughed a little under his breath, the avoidance of eye contact screaming everything he didn’t say, and you felt your face flush a little at the insinuation.

His honesty, no matter how long you’d known him or how long you’d been dating, never really failed to stun you. You weren’t sure if he knew what he was doing to you when he said things like that so effortlessly and so easily, and you felt your breath hitch a little in your chest.

No one really knew about you guys – Quinn definitely did, but that was only because he, quote, unquote: could just tell. Neither you or Elias were putting in much effort to hide your relationship, but it had slowly gotten to the point where Brock was trying to set you guys up with other people; at first it was a little amusing, but as the weeks drifted by and he still remained insistent in the matter, it became less endearing.

Though, there had been many times where Brock had done or said something that might have hinted at him knowing something. For instance, today’s ‘peace offering’ came in the form of Petey sitting by himself, his back to the party and his elbow draped across the shut lid as he drafted a text to you and it wasn’t the first time Brock had used Petey as a selling point whenever you were sceptical of going out.

You inhaled, blinking away from him, “Noted.”

He nudged you with his elbow teasingly, “Are you turning red?”

You rolled your eyes fondly, shaking your head, “Give me a song.”

“Uh,” he leant his head back slightly in thought, “do you know the Blinding Lights intro?” He quirked a brow in your direction, blue eyes staring straight into yours with a softness you’d learnt was mostly reserved for you.

You swallowed, “Yeah, I can try to…just give me a minute.” You tapped on a few keys, trying to match it to the intro you knew, vaguely aware of Elias’s intent gaze now locked on you, a far cry from the subtlety he usually reserved for you in public settings.

It was partially why you weren’t surprised when his phone buzzed on top of the piano, a message notification from Brock. He sighed audibly, you continuing to play around with the keys, and swiped the notification open, sneakily tilting his phone in your direction when he read the screen.

You pretended to keep playing, your eyes now taking in the message, before rolling your eyes with an amused smile.

Brock Canucks: When I start kicking people out it doesn’t apply to you guys

“I knew he’d regret inviting this many people.” You muttered, your attention suddenly getting stolen by a wet nose nudging your leg. Your hands flew off the piano, reaching down to show Milo some love, before hauling him up to sit on your knee.

Fifteen minutes later all three of you had migrated to the couch, all seemingly a little too tired to be actively engaged in the conversation Brock had instigated with Quinn and JT. Elias had shivered when he’d sat down, the sudden loss of the crowd sending the temperature plummeting in Brock’s apartment and subsequently doing nothing to shield his bare arms in his short-sleeved t-shirt. 

You hadn’t said anything to him, just thrown the blanket you knew to rest across the back of the couch across both your laps, and watched him settle his head snugly against your ribs, the blanket pulled right up to his chin and his legs kicked out across the carpet. Milo had somehow buried himself under the blanket too, his nose tucked under Elias’s chin and body draped across the both of you, acting as a living, breathing hot water bottle.

After a while, though, Elias’s hand stroking Milo’s head had slowed, and his eyes had fluttered closed after a yawn, and from your higher position, you could just make out the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. You didn’t know if it was because he was already exhausted before he even left the house, or the combination of alcohol, warmth and the gentle sweep of your fingers across the bridge of his nose and cheekbones that had sent him over the edge, but you’d made sure the latter was hidden from his teammates by the lump of Milo’s body. 

Brock must have seen, though, but he hadn’t said anything, just smiled.

***

It was a knock at the door that had you peering over the top of your laptop screen to share a confused glance with Petey. His hand momentarily tightened on your calf when he turned around to glance at the front door, turning back to you with a ‘what the hell?’ look pasted on his face.

“Are we expecting anyone?” You asked, snapping the lid of your laptop shut and swinging your legs out of Elias’s lap to put the laptop on the coffee table.

It was always a shock when someone knocked on your apartment door, mostly because the only people who could essentially get that far in the building were people that lived there, otherwise security would have buzzed up. Needless to say, when that person knocked again, you were both propelled so quickly off the sofa that your newly-adopted dog startled awake and eagerly followed you both on your heels as you rushed to the door, slipping slightly in your socks.

It was Elias that managed to slide to the door quicker, rolling his eyes and immediately retreating back to the couch after peeking through the peephole. You watched him with a frown, the dog between you both snapping his head back and forth, eventually settling for rejoining the Swede on the cushions once more.

“Who…” You started, immediately understanding the lack of enthusiastic reaction when it was Brock on the other side of the door, pink-cheeked and looking a little nervous.

“Hi.” You threw open the door with a friendly smile, a hand coming to rest on your hip as Brock seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, sorry to barge in here unannounced,” he started, stuffing his hands in his pockets, stepping into the apartment when you opened the door to let him in. He seemed to scan the entire room, the worried crease between his brows disappearing when he couldn’t see Elias, who, rather rudely, had hidden himself on the sofa, not a single socked foot or hair visible from where Brock seemed to lead you over to the kitchen island, “I just need to talk to you now Petey’s not here.”

Your eyes zipped to the sofa, a little suspicious but entirely too invested in the anticipation to even bother correcting Brock – probably at his own expense, but you had no issue dealing with any potential fallout later.

He rifled through your cupboards, not saying anything else until he’d pulled out a glass and filled it with water from the tap, before turning to you and gesturing to the island stool, a nervous expression on his face.

You swallowed, a sudden pebble of dread settling in your stomach as you took the seat, too apprehensive to tease him for making himself at home.

“So…” he started, clearing his throat, before deciding to take a sip of water.

“You’re kind of freaking me out–”

“It’s nothing bad, I swear.” He interrupted, spluttering slightly as his cheeks coloured, “In fact, it’s really good.”

You blinked, a little unsure, “Okay.”

“Thank you.” He said, a little breathlessly and with an air of finality, an awkward smile on his face. 

You blinked, expecting him to elaborate, but when all he did next was take another sip of water, you felt your face contort into a confused frown. You’d known Brock for years, he’d been the one to introduce you and Petey in the first place, but even after finding out about you two, he’d never acted weirder than he was now. He was tetchy, out of breath and pink – the latter wasn’t exactly unusual for him, but combined with the other two things? 

Concerning.

“What for?” You asked, folding your arms against the countertop. 

There was a clacking of paws and a chinkling of a collar making its way towards where you and Brock were in the kitchen, and you instinctively reached a hand down, a wet nose greeting the inside of your palm before wandering over to nudge Brock in the leg.

He bent down, using the interruption as a reprieve from answering your question, “Hey, girl.” He cooed, scratching Tuesday behind the ears until her attention had dwindled and she silently padded back to the sofa, disappearing from sight once more as she presumably curled up against Elias once more.

Brock cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “Um…I don’t know how to say it.”

You inhaled, pursing your lips, “Right.” There was a pause, neither of you quite knowing where to go from there, “Just say what you’re thinking and then correct it if it doesn’t sound right.”

He nodded, running a hand through his hair, “I guess I just wanted to thank you for loving Petey the way you do, and I know that’s a weird thing to thank someone for, because a thank you implies that it’s some kind of chore, which it isn’t but…It’s comforting to know my best friends are happy with each other and have someone looking out for them.” He took a breath, watching you carefully, “I think it’s kinda weird, actually, because I remember this one time distinctly before he met you and he’d had quite a lot to drink, he ended up talking about how he was probably gonna die alone, so it’s just nice to know that that’s not the case. Also, you guys are good together. Just wanted to say that because I don’t think I’ve ever said how glad I am that you found each other when you did.”

The only thing you could truly register was the pounding of your heart against your sternum. That, and the way your jaw seemed to have dropped as you took in everything Brock was saying. It was a lot.

“Oh.” Was all you could say, entirely too overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for the man in front of you, his hands clenching and unclenching as though he wasn’t sure if he should approach you or not, to even get anything else out.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, leaning his head down to get a look at your face. When he realised you weren’t in the least bit upset at what he’d said, he seemed to relax, an easy smile making its way onto his face.

There was a distant shuffle from somewhere behind you, and you saw Brock’s eyes dart to the sofa, mouth immediately setting itself into a hard line as his head dipped down mid-sigh. It was pretty easy to guess what he’d figured out when his eyes swung back to you, now shooting a sheepish smile in his direction, “Is he over there?” He mouthed, and it was the slight wince in his features that you took pity on, shaking your head.

“He’s asleep.” You lied, voice loud enough to make sure Elias would get the memo in case Brock decided to do some investigating of his own, “And I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting you to say all of that.”

He shrugged, buying your excuse, “It needed to be said.”

You reached a hand across the counter to lovingly pat his own, “Thank you.”

He smiled, exhaling, “I promise my speech will be better at your wedding.” He grinned cheekily, clearly getting a jab in at Elias where he could, and you simply rolled your eyes, unable to help breathing a laugh at him.

Brock’s eyes flickered back to the couch, before settling on you, your cheeks a little pinker at his insinuation. You didn’t correct him, there wouldn’t be much of a point – marriage had been talked about so often between you and Elias that the nerves surrounding the entire thing were little to none. You had plans, and Brock was aware of those plans. It still didn’t stop him teasing the both of you every now and then.

Yet, because you and Elias had talked about it, it also meant you were privy to some information that Brock wasn’t – not that he knew any better when it came to your word.

“What makes you think you’re going to be the best man?” You asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

He blinked, before tilting his head, “I’m not?”

He was. Maybe.

You shrugged coyly, enjoying the furrow in his brow and his stuttering, “Well, who is if not me?” His voice was shrill with disbelief, perhaps verging on being a little bit panicky – as though he hadn’t ever thought of the possibility of not being the best man, and you felt a stab of guilt at his sudden change in demeanour, “Is it Quinn?”

And because he looked so heartbroken at the possibility, you couldn’t not tell him a partial truth; the only thing stopping you was the tiny likelihood of Elias changing his mind, “I don’t know, we haven’t actually talked about that.” Was what you settled for.

He nodded, relaxing almost immediately. It was difficult to miss the way his gaze darted to the empty space on your left ring finger, brows twitching.

You leant across the counter, mindful to lower your voice so Elias couldn’t overhear, “Do you know something I don’t?” You whispered, eyes wide. You could feel your pulse pounding in your ears when he shrugged, trying not to smile at you.

“I love what you’ve done with the place.” He said loudly, pointedly looking everywhere but at you, which did nothing but tell you more than his avoidance on the matter did.

You said nothing, but delighted in the new slip of information, unable to help laughing at the blonde in front of you, “You know we haven’t redecorated since we moved in.”

Brock smiled, “How long ago was that, again? Two years?”

“Three.”

“Ah.” His smile didn’t waver, though there was an added layer of mischief, one which had you squinting curiously in his direction.

He was hinting at something, that much was for certain.

“Right.” He sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets and shrugging, fully aware of the seed he’d just planted in your mind, “I best get going. Coolie and Milo can only be away from me for so long until they get separation anxiety, so…It was nice to see you.” He trailed off, making his way to the door, you not too far behind.

He stopped in the doorway, the wall shielding him from any blonde Swede potentially watching from his seat, and turned to you with a gentle, genuine smile on his face, “He’s not asleep, is he?”

You shook your head, “No.”

“Give Petey my love.” Brock said, once more loud enough for Petey to have heard him, and he wasted no time in wrapping you up in a brief hug.

“Thanks for what you said, it means a lot.” You mumbled, “Love you too, y’know?”

He pulled away, “Yeah, I know.”

“I’ll see you next week?” You asked hopefully, Brock opening the door and stepping out into the hallway, hands tucked securely in his pockets as he nodded.

“See you.”

As soon as you shut the door, you found yourself making your way back to the couch with some urgency, only to falter at the sight of Tuesday draped across Elias’s torso, her nose tucked into his shoulder as he hugged her to him. His eyes were open, and there was a rueful smile on his face that remained, even when you sat on the edge of the coffee table and folded your arms, attempting to look a little annoyed.

“So…” You started, tilting your head.

“So…” He echoed, pursing his lips in an effort not to laugh.

“We have really good friends.” 

He just nodded, one hand absent-mindedly rubbing across Tuesday’s back.

“Almost too good, I mean, you could argue Brock’s loyalty lies more towards me than you.” You looked away from him pointedly, disappointed that the coffee table was too low for you to start swinging your legs, and when you looked at him out of the corner of your eye, he’d perked up a little.

There was a small crease between his brows, and the sheepish smile on his lips had vanished, his suspicion piqued at your words.

“What did he say?”

“Well,” you shrugged sarcastically, “you’d know if you didn’t choose to ignore him at the door.”

He groaned, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, “In my defence, Quinn sent me a text telling me if I saw Brock and he came in asking for you, to make myself scarce. I’d have said something if he hadn’t initially asked if I was there.” He sighed, turning to you, “Now, what did he say?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know.”

***

You were pacing, hand against your chest in a futile attempt to calm your racing heart and the crush of dread coursing through your veins. You’d ended up in this situation a little too often lately for comfort: on the verge of a panic attack at the mere thought of your job. It certainly wasn’t a good sign. Not only that but it was terribly inconvenient, too.

You were at some gala Elias had been invited to along with a few other teammates, and all it had taken was for a well-meaning, polite ‘so, what do you do?’ from a kind stranger for everything to come crashing down. You’d answered easily, trying to ignore the way the world seemed to fall away at the time, but almost as soon as you’d answered, you’d excused yourself and shut yourself in one of the farthest rooms from where the event was taking place.

This was the fourth time these mini-panic attacks had happened – though, three out of four times you’d managed to calm yourself down to a sensible enough composure and prevent it from ever reaching the ‘panic or heart attack?’ stage that you’d dealt with the first time.

Elias didn’t know about them. No one knew – but this time you just knew you were going to have to come clean because the truth of the matter was that you were having a hard time, and Elias knew you were, but you didn’t talk about it, and you knew he was worried for you. You’d caught him looking at you differently lately, and if you were being honest, the longer you left it before you told him, the worse it’d get, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone – least of all you.

Your chest was aching, and even despite your hand massaging the tenderness, it did little to ease the pain.

The door creaked open slowly, and you stopped pacing, still continuing to inhale and exhale steadily as you watched it carefully, anticipating someone to clearly stick their head through the door–

“Thank fuck, what are you doing here?” You seemed to recognise his voice before your brain could comprehend his blonde buzzcut and piercing eyes, and the anxiety bubbling away under your skin seemed to react accordingly, prickling a little as the heaviness momentarily spiked.

He’d never seen you like this: every time you’d had these little episodes he hadn’t even been in the house, or you were hiding in a closet in the school away from everyone, and for a second you were scared of what he’d think of you. 

Only, when he stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him, all that self-consciousness seemed to melt away when he immediately clocked onto the way your hand was rubbing insistently at your chest. You couldn't even imagine what your face looked like, but you knew your eyes would be rimmed red (you absolutely refused to cry because you’d spent a long time getting ready for this, and ruining your makeup at this point would only make things worse), and that alone was enough for him to say something.

You frowned, not hearing anything but the rushing of blood in your ears, and then you were worried for him. He was looking at you, and you couldn’t remember if he’d ever looked at you with such concern before. If he had, you were almost certain you’d never seen it, but if he hadn’t, that meant that he knew something was very, very wrong.

Sometimes you really didn’t know why you underestimated his ability to read you and to know you as well as he did, because it was beginning to get to the point where he could read you more often than he couldn’t, and you were exhausting any possible methods of trying to hide things from him, because, as usual, he’d begin to see through those behaviours too.

“Huh?” You asked, a little breathlessly.

He hesitated, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides as though he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself, “What’s wrong?” He repeated, looking so utterly serious that you suddenly had the urge to laugh.

You didn’t, though. In fact, your face barely moved from what it looked like, and you were too overwhelmed to even think about wondering what it looked like, because your heart was racing and panic still had an iron grip on your heart, and you were sure you were rubbing the skin on your chest red with the heel of your hand, but if you stopped, you had the bizarre notion that things would only worsen.

“I…” You started, swallowing and inhaling sharply. It was difficult to look him in the eyes and say what you wanted to say, what you’d planned to say, and even though you could just tell he had a million questions on the tip of his tongue, he was going to great lengths to keep them at bay for your sake, and you loved him even more for it in that moment.

His eyes drifted to your hand, and you looked away – there was a painting on the wall and if you focused on that…You didn’t even know, but it felt right to focus on that.

“Can I touch you?” He asked softly, and you nodded, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, eyes fixated on the painting.

It looked like it could be a replica Monet.

He seemed to breathe a quiet sigh of relief, and before you had time to think about it, his cold hands came to close around yours, and you stopped rubbing your chest, a shaky exhale passing your lips. You had no idea if he could feel your heart hammering wildly, and if he could he made no move to show it.

His cold hands felt nice against your burning skin. Some of the pain alleviated a little, and the tightness eased – not completely, it was still there – but the cold touch was heavenly. Against your own will, you felt your eyes flutter shut.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, is it?” He whispered, and you shook your head, concentrating on your breathing. Calming an erratic heart rate was hard when it mattered, though it was undoubtedly easier with someone else to distract you a little bit.

He didn’t say anything in reply, but his hands squeezed yours and this time you felt it within yourself to manage words.

“How’d you know that?” You whispered, peeling your eyes open slowly. 

His lips twitched upwards a little bit after you looked at him, a small triumph in the grand scheme of things, but you couldn’t quite reciprocate it just yet. Though, when you asked the question, it seemed to flicker and he fell back into that concerned stare, the smile melting completely off his face, “You were already doing breathing techniques.”

You nodded.

“This room’s cute.” He mumbled, turning his head.

It was the first time you’d noticed it, actually. There were windows on your left, and you could see the view from the building: the event wasn’t that high up, but from where you were standing the building directly opposite the street was much smaller, meaning you could see for a couple of blocks around. The sun was beginning to set, and the orange light was reflecting off the glass, and you knew if it had been under any other circumstance, you’d have thought this room to be a little romantic. The paintings certainly helped, but the wooden shelves seemed to ruin the whole mood. 

Still, you agreed with him. Partly because it did help to take your mind off everything, and partly because you knew the engagement would help him too. It was a win-win.

“I think that painting’s a Monet one.” You muttered, using your free hand to point over his shoulder. He kept his own securely wrapped around the one pressed to your chest, and turned to look.

“Looks like it.” He paused, before turning to look at it again, “It’d look good in our living room, don’t you think?”

You pulled a face, “Nah, it’ll clash with the walls.”

“And for that reason, it’d be a solid pick for Brock’s taste.”

This time you laughed – it felt a bit pathetic, but the endorphins helped ease the tension everywhere, and with a bout of relief, the tightness seemed to fade further, and your heart rate decreased, and you found you could actually hear the event down the hall; you could smell the woody scent of the room, and how it must have grown stronger in the warmth, and you could smell Elias’s aftershave. 

The latter felt like a soft nudge in the ribs, one of nostalgia, like your brain saying ‘hey, we know that smell, it means good things’, and with that your shoulders relaxed.

“Sorry.” You said, your head still a little fuzzy.

“Don’t apologise–”

“I should have told you.”

He shook his head, but didn’t say anything. If he was being honest, he didn’t know what to say in this kind of situation.

“It’s work.” You continued, taking another deep breath; the hand on your chest flexed, and Elias took the hint, unravelling his hands, only for you to still grab ahold of one. You needed it, especially if you were about to talk about the very thing that sent you into this panic in the first place, “The new head of department is…He’s really unhelpful, not approachable, and a fucking dick, like…” you breathed a bitter laugh, beginning to feel your eyes water, “He’s changed the entire department’s structure, doubled the amount of practicals and added new stuff and I’ve been trying to plan new lessons in the middle of the lessons because I’m not allowed to work overtime and get it done then, which is why I’ve been doing it at home. And half the department’s off with stress already, so I’ve been teaching food, too, on top of textiles, and…” You took a breath, realising Elias already knew half of what you were saying, but he was still listening as intently as he would have done the first time you’d said it, “He’s friends with the Principal, too, so even if I wanted to complain about him it wouldn’t get very far.”

He inhaled sharply, “He’s friends with the Principal?” 

“Unfortunately, yeah.”

“Fucking hell.” He groaned like someone had just shot down the only idea in his arsenal for this conversation, “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was that bad.”

“Um…I had a plan, like what I was going to tell you, but I can’t remember that now because I obviously wasn’t expecting this to happen now.” You laughed a little, even despite yourself, but it lacked energy, and it was strangely empty. 

Elias tilted his head, brows knitting together, and he sighed sadly, his thumb tracing across the back of your hand. And because you knew him, you knew that keeping this huge thing from him hurt him. He didn’t show it outwardly, though, not intentionally, “You know you don’t need a plan with me, right?” 

You felt your chin wobble – completely out of your control, “Ye–You’re gonna make me cry, and I spent hours on–”

“-Your makeup, yeah. Come here.” He used your interlocked hands as leverage to pull you into him, your chin resting on his shoulder thanks to your heels, and you sniffed, once more turning to focus on the painting behind him, trying to ward off possible tears.

“I’m gonna book a Doctor’s appointment and get a sick note, I don’t know how long for, and I’m gonna take some time off to figure it out, y’know, maybe it’ll be okay if I move schools, or–or maybe I don’t want to be a teacher anymore, I don’t know.” You trailed off, squeezing your eyes shut.

Teaching had been a large chunk of your career, and you knew it was a big bomb to drop in probably not the best moment: his team were outside, as were important donors and sponsors, and here you were, shut in a room together, because maybe the degree you went to college for wasn’t actually something you were meant to do, and everyone around you had these big plans, ambitions for their futures, and you didn’t. You hated your job, now. Most mornings you’d get up and have to fight with yourself to just get ready for school, and the more you thought about it, the more you knew you should have told him sooner.

“That’s okay, y’know? It’s okay.” Was all he said, his arms wrapped securely across your shoulders, “It’s okay if you don’t want to go back into teaching, too.”

You almost started crying then and there, but you held off, “I don’t know what I’d do, though.”

He shrugged, “You don’t have to do anything.”

There was a thinly veiled insinuation there, one that he’d made before, mostly as a reassuring joke, but to say it in this moment, to say it now, you knew he wasn’t joking anymore. Maybe he hadn’t ever been joking.

“I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t do anything.” 

He huffed a laugh, “We don’t have to think about that yet, though.”

“I should’ve told you.” He’d have helped make you feel better, perhaps take some of the weight off your shoulders.

“You told me now. There’s no point dwelling.”

“I can feel a ‘but’ coming…”

“Not a ‘but’, but…” you both huffed a laugh, “Part of my job, not as a hockey player, but as your boyfriend is to help you with this kind of thing. We share the load, right?” 

“Yeah.”

You stood like that for a while, until your breathing and heart calmed, until the pain in your chest subsided, and until it looked like you weren’t about to start crying.

“Do you want to go home?” Elias mumbled into your hair, ever patient.

“Not yet. We should stay for a bit longer.”

He hummed, the vibration ticking the skin on your forehead, “You wanna stay here for a bit longer or go back in?”

“Stay here. Five minutes.”

***

Elias was a little nervous at exactly what would happen when Quinn would come down the steps with his brand new baby girl in his arms, but admittedly not for the reasons anyone would expect. He’d held newborn babies before, Quinn wasn’t the first teammate to have a child and he certainly won’t be the last – no, Elias wasn’t worried about that.

His apprehension stemmed from something inside his own mind, a paranoia of sorts. You guys had been together for six years and married for two, and so he knew the expectations of the natural order to follow after that much time together. It was only typical for people to assume that kids were the next thing: his own parents were bad enough, asking when they were going to get a grandbaby on their hands, and if he was being honest, Elias felt like everyone was looking at him for it.

Which was illogical, because not only was no one looking at him; he knew the teasing was utterly and completely harmless…only, the more he got chirped for it, the more he seemed to doubt his own thoughts.

He was thirty now. You guys had talked about having kids in your future, they were on the cards, but he didn’t want them yet. He guessed he was lucky in the fact that you didn’t either, but he was afraid that baby Lily Hughes, with her little fists and chubby legs, would change his mind.

And a change of mind was the last thing Elias wanted. If he was being completely honest, he wouldn’t mind having kids right now – he was broody, he was starting to pay more attention to names and clothes, and he felt a pang of something in his chest when he’d see his teammates with their kids at the family skate sessions. Yet, the one thing holding him back the most was his career.

When he eventually has kids of his own, he doesn’t want to leave both you and your child at home for weeks on end whilst he was off skating fuck knows where. He didn’t think he could do that; it was already hard leaving you alone, but there was something so utterly heart-wrenching about the thought of adding a child into that mix.

He’d be a fucking mess. The guilt? The loneliness? He’d miss his family too much.

But, there was a little voice in the back of his mind, known as Kris Letang – or rather, words that he’d spoken and Elias had read once upon a time – telling him that maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad if he had a child that grew up understanding and appreciating what it was he did. 

The idea of taking a mini-you and mini-him to those family skating sessions sounded like an absolute dream. As did having a little one behind the boards at his games, and a plethora of other things, too.

And to top it all off, he was standing in his best friend’s living room, staring at the cards and flowers in the window, you upstairs and out of sight at Kat’s bedside, and everything he’d tried to bottle was coming to the surface and he essentially had absolutely nothing to stop it.

Except–

“Hey,” Quinn pushed open the door, Elias’s attention snapping to the bundle of blankets in his arms, “Lily, meet your Uncle Petey.” Quinn cooed, face alight with utter joy as he positioned the baby girl in his arms for Elias to peer down–

Oh.

Oh.

Elias swallowed, something in chest melting at the brown eyes blinking wearily up at him and little fists struggling in the air. 

She’s gorgeous.

“I know, right?” Quinn breathed, watching Petey’s reaction with glistening eyes.

Had he said that out loud? 

He had no time to dwell on it before Quinn was talking again, “You wanna hold her?”

He felt himself nodding before he even thought about speaking, and Quinn carefully, slowly, gently lifted Lily into Elias’s waiting arms, adjusting his arms to support her head. Elias blinked, registering the warmth seeping into his arms from the blankets, the weight in his arms almost too light to be an entire human being – she was so tiny.

She wasn’t that much bigger than his entire hand.

He traced a finger so gently across her cheek, unable to really realise that Quinn was laughing at him as he wandered into the kitchen to get a start on making some coffees. 

In fact, Elias couldn’t really look away until he heard your footsteps coming down the stairs. Only then was he able to realise that he hadn’t even moved from his spot when Quinn had handed him Lily initially. Though, when he took a quick glance down at her, her eyes were shut, mouth open a little as she slept, and he seemed to fall even deeper down the rabbit hole of what-the-fuck-I-might-want-a-baby.

That was how you found him when you finally entered the living room: standing as still as humanly possible by the window, his gaze locked firmly on the bundle in his arms and something in his entire demeanour that had you sharing a rather bewildered glance with Quinn, who was blinking tiredly from where he’d sat down on the couch.

Despite Petey’s clear hesitancy to move in fear of waking her up, he looked strangely natural holding Lily with such care and adoration. You didn’t say anything or approach him, but you did take a seat next to Quinn.

“You did good.” You whispered, a smile on your face, “She’s gorgeous.”

He grinned, “I know.”

“Is anyone else coming today or are we your last visitors?”

His eyes zipped to the clock on the mantelpiece, “You guys are the last ones for today. We’ve got the grandparents tomorrow.”

“Grandparents.” Then, after a brief pause, “It feels so surreal that you’re a Dad now. A good surreal, but…”

“Weird?” He offered, and you nodded, “You know what’s next?”

You hummed, feeling his foot nudge your leg playfully, “What?”

“Baby Peteys.” 

You rolled your eyes, “We’ll see.”

You nodded your head in the direction of Elias, who still had his back to you, and Quinn smiled in understanding, letting you go. 

“Hi.” You mumbled into Elias’s shoulder, resting your cheek against him and looking at baby Lily asleep.

“Hi,” he greeted back, and you could feel the heat of his eyes on the side of your face as you stroked her cheek, your nose scrunching up in a managed reaction to her cuteness when she stirred. Gosh, she was too cute. Elias must have been thinking the same thing, because just as you thought those words, he was talking, “She’s so cute.”

You breathed a quiet laugh, “Of course she’s cute, look at her parents.”

“Quinn isn’t cute.” He teased, throwing his head back and winking at his friend with humour, before turning back to you, “Baby cuddles?”

You shook your head, “I had baby cuddles upstairs.” You rubbed his arm, “I think we need to go–”

“Already? We just got here.” Elias protested, pulling his mouth downwards much to your amusement.

“I know, but they’re tired. It’s only been four days, they need some time to themselves without having to wait on other people.”

It didn’t come as much of a shock when the first thing he said after shutting the door behind him was “I think we should talk when we get back”.

***

You hope the blonde stays forever, and with Elias’s Swedish genes and being very blonde himself, you had a feeling that was going to be the case, because Hanna’s almost white hair peeking out from under her pink bucket hat, still a little damp from the seawater, was just too adorable to cope with.

She was every bit Elias’s twin, and it was so hilariously obvious when they were sitting side by side, Hanna in her high chair and Elias with one arm draped over the back of it, conversing with her unintelligible baby babble with a sweet grin on his face only ever reserved for her. She had his deep blue eyes and an adorably infectious giggle, even as he playfully swiped suncream across her face.

“It’s such a lovely day–”

“Sea!” Hanna yelped, a chubby arm almost smacking Elias in the face as she pointed to the blue sparkling water over the decking of the restaurant, the word startling both you and Elias into a dumbfounded silence.

You swallowed, sharing a look with him, and a smile broke onto your face at the way he seemed so utterly speechless; his mouth was parted slightly, and his eyes were wide and before he could regain his senses, you leant across the table, successfully garnering Hanna’s attention from where her arm was still outstretched and her eyes were fixed on Elias.

“Baby, can you say that again for us?” You asked, heart melting when she blinked and reached to grab a small chunk of cut up apple from her bowl.

Elias seemed to snap out of his shock because he pointed to the water over his shoulder, “Sea.”

Hanna stuffed the piece of apple into her mouth, head swivelling back and forth between you and Elias with an adorable blend of confusion and curiosity, seemingly refusing to say anything else after a heavy pause filled with a kind of excited anticipation, the both of you wanting nothing more than for her to repeat what she just said.

You’d had these heart-stopping moments on a few occasions now, where Hanna would say something that sounded like a word and point to something that could be related to what she’d said, but she’d yet to repeat it. 

Technically, her first word was ‘woof’, though arguably it wasn’t really much of a word, but she had been pointing to a dog at the time, which kind of made you think that she had some level of understanding about what was being said around her, but…it could be a fluke.

Elias groaned jokingly, ducking his head down only to be attacked by a little palm patting the top of his cap, before looking back up at you, a slightly bewildered look on his face. 

It was nice to see him unwind after the chaos of the end of the Canucks’ season; Stanley Cup winners the year before meant that the expectation of possibly winning again this year was pretty high, mostly for Quinn (as much as he tried to deny it), but you could also tell it had taken its toll on Elias, too. It was mainly the questions from reporters repeatedly asking them what they were gonna do to help maintain their win streaks, and answering the same questions paired with unsolicited criticism from fans and almost every other person in the conference rooms that was so exhausting.

They hadn’t won this year, much to everyone’s dismay, but they’d held on until the seventh game of the third round of the play-offs.

Needless to say, a break to Sweden to see his family was definitely a good choice if the constant grinning was anything to go by. 

“What is it?” Elias asked, a knowing glint in his eye as he adjusted the hat on Hanna’s head.

You hadn’t even realised you’d been staring, but there wasn’t a single part of you that felt embarrassed by having been caught in the act: you’d known each other for so long now that things like getting caught admiring each other was an honest blessing. He knew why you were staring, you knew why you were staring; it was hard not to stare most of the time when Elias always looked so good, but there was something about the way he seemed to radiate pure joy when he was around Hanna (and you – but that went without saying) that always seemed to captivate your whole attention.

Moments like that were worth the difficult goodbyes and the time apart and the rough nights.

You just shook your head, resting your cheek on your fist, “Nothing.”

There was an unreadable expression on his face, but the slight squint of his eyes told you everything you needed to know, before you were sighing, eyes zipping to Hanna, because whilst you weren’t bothered about getting caught staring, it didn’t mean you don’t still get nervous when he divided his entire attention to you, “You look really happy right now.” Was what you settled for.

He softened, a smile melting onto his face as he moved one of his hands to the middle of the table to take yours so he could place a delicate kiss on the inside of your wrist, “I am.”

[animelovelover123]

Devil May Cry Boys During Threesomes

Parings: Dante, Reboot Dante, Vergil, Reboot Vergil, Nero, and V x Reader

Synopsis: Short snippets of three-ways between you and two of the boys, because why have one man when you can have two?

Sequel here with added Urizen, Credo, Sparda, Nelo Angelo, and Kat.

Trigger Warnings: These stories have the boys focusing on you, and maybe you subscribed to the “it's not gay if it's in a three-way” idea, but just in case, Spardacest warning. There is only one moment when any of the boys show interest in pleasing the other man (I’ll put that part first so you can skip it if you have a problem with it) and another story where… well let’s just say there is a double-ended dildo involved.

Also bondage, edging, overstimulation, implied double penetration, blindfolding, sex toy, collar and leash, a little sacrilegious talk

Nero & Dante

As soon as you start to lose momentum, your legs losing strength and your body growing tired from the rhythmic bouncing, Nero picks up the slack. With his hands on your hips, he holds you up while he thrusts up into you. Or, if he is really feeling it, lifting and lowering you onto him. This meant that the sound of slapping skin and squishing liquid mingled with the three heavy breaths never let up. That’s the one distracting thing though, the third voice. Nero may be engaging with you, not just with his shaft but also with his lips and fingers that just can’t seem to stop marking your perfect skin, but the third person in this ensemble who seemed content to sit back and simply watch.

“You know, this isn't supposed to be a show.” Nero shot over your shoulder at Dante who was sitting in a chair a few feet from the bed you and Nero were on. “Or are you waiting for your Viagra to kick in old man?” He joked despite it being clear that Dante needed no assistance in getting excited. Dante even chuckled at the remark.

“No, I just didn’t want to steal the show from you kid.” Dante teased right back, his hand still slowly stroking his cock to keep it ready but not too stimulated. Getting off alone wouldn’t be much fun now would it? “But I can wait my turn, makes the pay off all the better don’t you think?” Dante leaned back in his chair, spreading his legs a bit more, and shooting you a wink.

“Ya maybe, but the whole point of this was to properly satisfy this little vixen. Right baby?” Nero asked as he gave one of your ass cheeks a solid smack. Nothing that hurt, but the sound was sharp and the jiggle was enough to make Dante groan quietly at the sight. “So come on,” Nero turned his attention back to Dante. He pulled on your upper back to make you lean forward a bit so that your butt stuck out more. Nero then grabbed either cheek and spread them so Dante had a clear view. “Join the party.”

Dante’s eyes scanned over your body as Nero offered it to him and for a second he seemed to consider something. Then his lips twisted up into a mischievous grin.

“You know, you’re right.” Dante stood from the chair, releasing his cock to instead grab the bottle of lube off the bedside table. “But you know, there is still one more problem. Which one do I go for?” Dante asked but before either you or Nero could say anything, Dante grabbed one of Nero’s legs. In one swift motion, Dante yanked on Nero, making Nero fall back onto the bed and you to fall forward over him. With you two in this position, Dante had access to both Nero’s and your back entrances. Dante’s tongue flicked out to lick at his lips. “On second thought, going back and forth might be even better.”

==+==+==

I tried to avoid having the boys focus on each other since it would just turn into a ship fiction and that’s not the point. But I thought of Dante being his usual confident, out-of-pocket self and doing this and I wanted to use it.

Dante & V

“Songbird~” V moaned in your ear, his chest flush against yours while his hips alternated back from sharp thrusts to sensual grinding. His hands held your hips gently. He would usually wrap you in his embrace, but right now another body blocked him.

“Look V, their legs are shaking.” Dante said, his tone a mix of amusement, desire, and sadistic excitement. Dante could feel your legs every movement as you were sat in his lap, your legs spread on either side of his own. Your back was pressed up against his chest, acting as a backboard of sorts to hold you in place while V picked up speed again.

They both fell quiet, watching you intently. They knew your signs, the tells of when you were just about to reach your peak. And just as the rush was about to kick in, everything stopped. No matter how you protested, it went just the same way as it had done the last two times. Dante had his arms wrapped about your middle, holding your arms and hips down, while V pulled out and away. However this time, unlike the first round, it seemed a lot harder for V to will himself away. He was shaking a bit too and his hands clenched and flexed in an attempt to control himself. He was still aroused, painfully so in fact, just like you and Dante. But there was a thrill in that discomfort and a rush of desire when you protested your third denial.

“Alright V, time to trade.” Dante announced, somewhat impatiently as he released you only to flip your quivering body around.

“Of course.” Even though V’s body was just as wound up as yours, he still carried himself with grace. “Come to me, my dear.” V held you a lot gentler than Dante, more like a cradle to his chest rather than a restrictive hold. He did slide his hands down your arms, gently grabbed your wrists, and lifted them to wrap around his neck, creating a closer bond and making it easy for him to grab and hold you back if need be. You could feel his length, just as hard, poking at your back. But that was paid no mind as Dante settled himself between your legs, his own cock standing tall and eager for attention.

“Alright baby, let's take a few deep breaths and then we can go again.” Dante instructed, his hands messaging your tense and strained thigh muscles. “Forth time the charm, right?”

==+==+==

For my friend and editor who wanted some edging. Feel lucky that I used the idea on my two favourite boys to self-insert romance. Tis an honour you know? lol

V & Nero

Nero collapsed against your back, his weight pushing you down onto the mattress that you had been pressed against and crying out in pleasure into, for the last few minutes. His chest heaved as he dragged in desperate breaths, creating an airflow that you could feel through your damp hair. The sudden movement caused his dick to slide out of you, unplugging you so that his third shot of seed dripped out to join the wet patch caused by his last two rounds.

“Well done~” Purred the silky smooth voice of V who was sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached over and ran his fingers through your hair both as a soothing pet and to brush your hair aside so he could look at your face. “How are you feeling my songbird? Tired?” He guessed as he gazed at your expression and how limp your body lay at this point. Suddenly though, Nero stirred.

“So good.” He practically moaned between panting breaths. He began to grind against your ass and his hands ran down your sides. “You feel so fuckin’ good baby.”

“Such an impatient boy.” Teased V, moving his hand away from your head to grab Nero’s shoulder and gently pull to encourage him to move away from you. “But it would be best if we give our beloved a break. We wouldn’t want to completely ravish her, not so quickly at least.” V more so ordered than suggested as he was calm enough to see how exhausted you were, but Nero didn’t listen. All Nero could hear was the hunger inside him demanding that he keep chasing that blissful high of filling you.

“More.” Nero growled as he pushed off the bed so he sat back on his legs. “Just a bit more.” He ignores any gentle protest you try to make as he grabs your hips and lifts them. He then lets go with one hand so he can grab his cock and drag its head up and down your folds, spreading his escaping seed. The sight of you already marked by him making his desire burn hotter. “Come on baby, you can give me another one right? I’ll make you feel soooo good.” Nero stared at your flexing hole as it tensed in anticipation, a part of his brain telling him it was a challenge. However, just as he started to push in, he was suddenly yanked back by the collar around his neck.

“My goodness Nero, I expected you to be better trained than this.” V criticized, though the smile curling his lips showed how he found Nero’s actions more amusing than bothersome, as he tightly gripped the end of the leash line. Nero’s leather collar had a matching leather leash that was wrapped around a ring on the wall above the headboard of the bed. When V pulled back on the other end, it forced Nero closer to the wall and away from you. “You need to learn to restrain that hunger of yours, then maybe we wouldn’t have to tie you up like this.”

“Please, no.” Nero struggled against the collar, though it was imbued with magic so he could not break it even with his demonic strength. Still, his mind was so clouded by lust that he clawed at the collar with one hand and used the other to attempt to grab you and pull you closer. “I need it. I need you baby.” Nero’s words came out almost like demands. They were deep and sharp, and you could see the primal demonic energy reach out a bit through his eyes that started to shine. V could tell that Nero couldn’t be reasoned with anymore, and that also meant that he was easier to set off.

“If you aren’t going to behave, then you’ll just have to be punished.” V’s smile turned mischievous as he hooked the leash to the post at the foot of the bed, meaning Nero was held right up against the wall where the ring was. V then scooped you up into his arms and away from Nero, who growled under his breath as you were taken further out of his reach. V’s hands slowly roamed your body, his touch a lot gentler than Nero’s, almost soothing to your worn muscles, but were also sensual in their caressing and messaging. V turned his head and whispered in your ear loud enough for Nero to hear while his eyes watched for Nero’s reaction. “Let me show you how to properly treat our sweet songbird.”

==+==+==

I don’t know why I am so into ferial beast Nero. Maybe it's how he looks in DMC5, making him more rugged, dirty, and aggressive-looking. It is a nice contrast to V though, imo.

Nero & Vergil

(Here is a link to a video giving examples of BPMs. You might need it for reference.)

Nero could hardly believe it and he was sitting there watching it happen. It was like something out of a porno, but unlike the actors who could only hold that pace for a few seconds, Vergil’s stamina had you breathless for minutes on end. If Nero, with his love for music, had to describe it he would say Vergil was pounding into you at a consistent bpm of 300-500. You didn’t even have the time to cry out or moan, only gasp and squeak between each thrust. It was almost worth the interruption and insults as it boggled Nero’s mind while being undeniably hot watching you barely hold it together. Even with you bent over and gripping a stool, that shook and scrapped against the floor harshly as if it was about to give way under the assault itself, you would not be able to stay on your feet if Vergil wasn’t holding your hips with a grip that would definitely leave small bruises aligned with his fingertips. Your fingers were white with strain in holding the stool, at least when your hand wasn’t smacking the stool in excess stress or reaching back towards Vergil. Your hair and body sook and jiggled harshly, especially when you kept shaking your head as if trying to communicate that it was too much and that you would not last but Vergil did not give you the ability to speak even if you wanted to.

Vergil, for his part was focused in a way Nero had never seen before. The way his lips tightened into a line, his brows knit in consideration, and the glistening sweat sliding down his face was different than his usual stoic demeanour, even when fighting, yet matched him perfectly. Even though this all started with Vergil’s determination to showcase his superiority, instead of looking to Nero to make sure he was watching, Vergil’s focus was on you. And even as he felt his own climax approaching he would not settle for a one-sided satisfaction. He let go of one of your hips to wrap his arm around your upper chest. His arm muscles flex as he pulls you to his chest, his arm acting like a bar that held you in place and took the brunt of your grabbing and clawing at it as your body reacted to the intense stimulation. Your body jerked and spasmed as Vergil ramped up towards 1000 bpm to properly fuck you through your orgasm. He slowed a bit as his own hit before suddenly dropping you. You try to catch yourself on the stool but your legs collapse like paper under you, bringing you to your knees as you cling to the stool to not fully hit the ground. You can feel the last few spurts of Vergil’s cum hit your back, adding to the almost degrading feeling.

“There,” Vergil said, sounding barely out of breath and still completely in control. “You better have learned from this boy.” Vergil said to Nero like a mildly upset teacher. “I hope for their sake,” Vergil motioned towards your limp body desperately dragging in breaths. “you do better next time or I will have to keep giving you this lesson.”

==+==+==

I don’t know why, but the mental image of Vergil fucking to the beat of Spoiler from Cyberpunk 2077 has been in my brain for the last year. Hopefully, it will leave me alone now. I don’t even like OG Vergil! I know Nero was barely part of this but I had to get the image out of my head and there is also something kind of hot about Vergil having to teach his son how to do it right~

Vergil & Dante

“I can’t believe your lack of tact brother.” Vergil sighed in frustration.

“Tackt? The hell do you know about tack in this situation?” Dante rolled his eyes.

The twins were fighting again, like usual. This was a daily occurrence, except usually you weren’t sitting sandwiched between them as they attempted to share you. But you all knew before this started that sharing was never an option, it was a fight over you.

“Have you ever stopped training long enough to even sleep with a girl before, you nerd?” Dante asked as he finally slid his hand out of your top to grab the neckline, intending to properly undo it, but then Vergil suddenly grabbed the other side.

“Unlike you, I don’t need to practice on insignificant fools just to figure out how to please a woman.” Vergil said smugly as he tugged on your shirt collar, signalling that he wanted to undo it.

“Or maybe you just don’t know how to get the stick out of your ass and pick up women!” Dante shouted back, the comment clearly getting on his nerves. As he did though, he yanked on the collar of your shirt, and with Vergil holding the other end firmly and them both having inhuman strength, it caused that article to rip open, which was a similar fate that your pants suffered not long before.

When you flinched at the loud tearing sound and the chill of the air hitting your now-exposed torso, the twins turned their attention to you.

“Are you alright?" Vergil asked, letting go of his half of your ripped shirt to run a hand up your torso, checking for any possible marks their rough treatment might have caused.

“Oops, sorry about that.” Dante said with a chuckle as he tossed his half aside and cuddled a bit closer to your side. “I’ll buy you a new one, promise.” He sealed the promise with a kiss to your cheek.

“With what money?” Vergil scoffed as he lifted your chin a bit to kiss your jaw, refusing to let Dante have anything over him.

“With the money I make from my business.” Dante answered before peppering your neck with kisses.

“The one that hasn’t gotten a job in weeks?” Vergil bites your neck lightly.

“At least I have income!” Dante bit down hard enough to make you jerk and to leave a mark.

“You can barely take care of yourself, how do you expect to care for her?” Vergil made a head gesture towards you while his hand dragged down your stomach and right into your panties. “I know how to treat this angle as she deserve.” Vergil said with a bit more sultry passion, which was aided by how two of his fingers slid between your slick folds. “Isn’t that right love?” Vergil whispers to you as he easily slips his fingers into you.

“And you think I don’t?” Dante shouted back with a sharp glare as he shoved his hand into your underwear as well. “I make her feel like she is in heaven.” Dante turns to you, his scowl softening into a determined and almost pleading look. “Right baby? I make you feel better than anything you could imagine.” He shoves his own pair of fingers into you alongside Vergil’s. With the doubling up the sensation was a bit more intense.

“Love.” Vergil called quietly as he curled his fingers.

“Baby.” Dante called as well as he began to pump his fingers in and out at a steady pace. “I make you feel better than him, right?” This makes Vergil tear his eyes away from you to glare at Dante with enough intensity to strike fear in a mortal man.

“You wanna bet?” He asked, pulling his fingers out of you to grab the belt of his pants.

“You’re damn right I do.” Dante's smile was smug as he also reached for his own belt buckle.

==+==+==

I HAD to have them bicker the whole time, it is like, the law. I picture this taking place when they are DMC3 age. Imagine, instead of fighting and ruining their relationship, the twins banded together to make sure you drown in love and pleasure. Fuckin’ yes please!

OG & Reboot Dante

Dante was so close, yet nowhere near close enough. The older Dante that is. The younger Dante was doing good, his hands pawing and messaging your chest at a satisfying intensity and rhythm while his lips worked up and down the back of your neck. The other Dante, though, was taking his damn sweet time.

He was kneeling between your spread limbs, his hands caressing your legs and hips while his lips trailed along the sensitive skin of your inner thigh. He would kiss, nip, suck, and lick his way up towards where you need him most. Then he would go back down towards your knees. You may think he was just a fan of longer foreplay, but if you watch him carefully you can see how pleased with himself he got when you whined and whimpered each time he pulled away from your core, the teasing jerk.

“Dante… more…” You requested, but it was not the older Dante that answered.

“Sure thing baby.” The younger Dante’s soft lips on your neck were replaced with a sharp bite of his teeth. He stopped the messaging of your chest to instead pinch your nipples, giving them a good tug.

“Wait, Dante, stop!” You interject.

“Right, sorry.” The older Dante fully pulled away, sitting back and lifting his hands up. Despite his apology like he had thought that you were talking to him, the smugness of his grin and quirked brow told you that he knew exactly what you had meant. And quickly you were shown that the younger Dante knew too because when you start to complain they both laugh.

It was going to be a long night.

==+==+==

The only reason I have the twins and their Reboot versions working together is so I could make this stupid joke of the Dante’s being little, pleased with themselves shitheads. I love them both. <3

Reboot Dante & Vergil

“Fuck, stop it!” Dante shouted, his body spasming in reaction to the stimuli which only made things worse. “Stop moving!”

“You’re the one who won’t stay still.” Vergil shot back in a tone sharper than he would like. He always did his best to be the more composed of the two, but at this point, he could barely keep his breath steady. And every incessant wiggle, jerk, and fidget Dante made would cause a ripple effect onto, or should I say into, him.

“Can you take this shit out already?” Dante turned his anger, caused by strain and embarrassment, towards you.

You were circling around the two men, gazing down at their glistening backs and watching each muscle twist and roll. You had both their amulets draped around your neck, the obvious reason being to limit their ability to fight back. But it was also a mark asserting your dominance and their places’ as yours. They were both on their knees, respective hands bound behind their backs with a third rope linking them together a foot apart, facing away from each other. Between them, disappearing and appearing at random intervals as Dante kept fidgeting and Vergil did his best to follow the movement to minimize the effect, was a double-ended dildo. Something that they both claimed they wanted away from, not that they could get away with how you had bound their calves to each other’s and the rope tethering their wrist together, yet the way their cocks dripped precum onto the floor told a different story.

“Haven't we had enough?” Vergil added when he noticed your mind had drifted from Dante’s crassly worded request. When you did not answer right away, Dante got more restless.

“God damn it.” Dante began to thrash a bit against his restraint, but soon the jerky motions transitioned into something smoother. “Just… fuck!” Dante’s hips started to unconsciously roll and bounce backward, making the dildo thrust into him.

Dante may not have realized what he was doing, but Vergil certainly did. He tried to hold his breath to stop a moan from slipping out, still trying to deny how good he felt. His body, like Dante’s, betrayed his resolve though as, instead of pulling away from Dante’s thrusts that forced the dildo in and out of them both, Vergil strengthened his stance and held his position.

It takes quite a while, both men being prideful and stubborn, but eventually they break.

“Please, I’m begging you.” Vergil murmurs, cheek pressed to the floor, his usual prim hairstyle flopped over and askew.

“Baby… baby I can’t fuckin’ take it anymore.” Dante’s chest heaved with each breath and drool dripped from the corner of his lip as he looked up at you.

Eventually, you release them, maybe after a bit more begging and them calling you a special title if you feel like it. You untie their legs but not their hands or the rope that links them together. This gives them the space to get the dildo to slide out of them both but not enough to separate so they instead sit back to back with each other on the floor. In the midst of trying to catch their breath though, you call to them.

You sit yourself on a plush chair and finally invite them to you, opening your legs. However, with your positioning and how they are tied together, only one of them would get to have you first. It was a ploy to have them fight a bit. You knew this. They knew this. But they were so on edge from the previous experience that they still fought with all their strength to have the pleasure to get to feel your velvety walls around them first.

==+==+==

I was struggling a bit with forming an idea for this one since I didn’t want it to be just a repeat of OG Dante and Vergil. Then I realized that none of the other parts had YOU being dominant over the boys, so here we are.

Reboot & OG Vergil

You were almost done. It had been 3 agonizing hours but you were almost finished. But why did this guy have to keep talking?

“And I also believe…” The person continued, unaware of your struggle as you sat silently biting your lip and hovering just above your chair just in case.

This was an important meeting and would aid in your collective cause greatly. But it was hard to keep that in mind when at random intervals your specially made undergarments would spring to life, vibrating in either a slow burn or a harsh jolt of sensation. And the worst part was, you didn’t know which of your lovers to shoot a glare or desperate look towards since they both had controllers tucked under the table. Your two Vergils may be different in a lot of ways, but both were masters at poker faces, the younger Vergil’s being a polite smile while the older Vergil’s was bordering on a scowl constantly. So there was no way to tell which of the two suddenly cranked the intensity. They didn’t even seem to notice the way you jolt or the little noises that shot from your lips before you could catch them, unlike the third party who would occasionally glance at you in concern but kept being waved off and told to continue, but you knew better. You have been with them long enough to know that the Vergils were taking a sadistic kind of pleasure in having you at their mercy, making you squirm and turning your body and mind to mush under the on-and-off assault for the past few hours.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the meeting wraps up and the man leaves. As the younger Vergil was seeing them off, the older Vergil watched you carefully. He didn’t say a word, just studied you, the corners of his lips twisted up into the faintest of smiles. Once you both could hear the younger Vergil approaching the meeting room, he stood and approached you.

“Yes, you can head home for today. We will lock up.” You could hear the younger Vergil say to the last of his workers who were hanging around the complex still through the door before he slipped inside with a sigh. “Well that took longer than expected, but this is another step closer to securing our control.” The younger Vergil said as he locked the door. “Now…” He moved to stand on one side of your chair, effectively boxing you in as the older Vergil had positioned himself on your other side. “we can deal with you.” The younger Vergil’s voice dropped a couple of octaves as he gazed down at your slightly trembling form.

“Stand.” The older Vergil ordered, arms crossed as if ready to discipline you if you hesitated.

You slowly brought yourself to your feet, struggling as your legs were tired from flexing in reaction to the sudden burst of vibration and the fact that you spent the last half hour of the meeting hovering an inch above your seat to avoid any attention-grabbing noises. Neither of the Vergil’s helped you up, only waiting patiently while enjoying the blatant effects their medaling has had on your body.

“I must admit, I am impressed.” The older Vergil continued once you were standing. “You held yourself together well, even when that fool kept droning on when he wasn’t asked.”

“And the fact that you put on the lingerie we left for you without even being asked~” The younger Vergil added, scanning your body from head to toe as if he could see your undergarments through your clothing. The lingerie had been left out for you, spread out atop your bed for you with no note. When they did this you knew it was not simply a gift, but an order, so not wearing it was not really an option. Still, the two men were pleased. “I think our dearest deserves a reward.” The younger Vergil hummed as he stepped closer, one hand gliding across your shoulders and moving aside your hair so his hot breath could glide across your neck.

The older Vergil joined in, also stepping closer. His hand started at your middle back and slowly sunk lower. His head leaned in so his lips brushed against your ear as he whispered, “I couldn’t agree more.”

==+==+==

I was originally going for a rich sugar daddy kind of thing where they keep and control you (think Jumin Han from Mystic Messenger) but I worried that that might be a bit much for people. It got diluted into this which isn’t bad, but I feel it is a bit generic. Oh well, still hot though.

Vergil & V

You couldn’t see anything. The silky blindfold wrapped snuggly around your head and the darkness of the night made you completely blind, which both strengthened and discombobulated your other senses. You can reach out for things but you didn’t know where anything was, how close or how far, meaning that if you do finally find something it is sudden and a shock. Worst though was that the things you wanted to touch most would purposely evade your reach. You could hear, but you didn’t. They were circling you, you could feel their eyes on you like a sixth sense, but they were practically silent. If you were lucky you could catch the creek of the floor, but other than that the only time you got to hear them is when they spoke to you or each other. But even then they would go back and forth, still moving, making it hard to nail down their position.

“You are a stunning creature.” Vergil said, his eyes racking over your nude form.

“A beauty that rivals the most awe-inspiring of art pieces.” Came V’s voice as just the tips of someone's fingers glided along your collarbone before disappearing, leaving you wanting for more, just unsure where to reach to get it. “I just want to stare at your visage all day my dearest songbird.”

“Watching can be nice,” Says Vergil as hands grab your shoulders. You might assume Vergil grabbed both, but you were being held by two right hands. Which belonged to which man was unclear. “But isn’t there something alluring about defiling art?” One of the hands, which seemed to come from in front of you, moves up into your hair. The other, coming to your side, wrapped around your neck in a gentle hold. “Perverting it, making it completely our own?”

“To dirty such an immaculate creature such as our love… one could call it a sin.” Both hands on you tighten a bit. Then the hand in your hair starts to pull you forward while the one on your neck slides to your back, between your shoulder blades, and pushes. “But we were never welcome in the pearly gates, were we?”

“How foolish.” Vergil scoffed. The two hands work together to guide you into bending over. “There is no need to concern ourselves with anything outside of this moment.” The tip of something hot, warm, and slick pressed into your cheek. Without your sight, you couldn’t tell whose it was, but if you reach out to grasp it or take it into your mouth you could figure it out. And soon you felt a similar heat nestle itself between your legs, encouraging you to squeeze your tights together around it. “Because there isn’t anything in heaven or hell that can stop us from taking what is ours.”

==+==+==

This was another one I had a bit of trouble with. I came up with the base idea of them blindfolding you and doing the brief touches then disappearing right away, but I couldn’t decide on specifics. Like, are you tied up? Are you being led around the room or are you still? How long? In the end, I am really happy with what I made, though I did not expect to get a little religious there.

(Divider by @frenchkisstheabyss)

I need to practice writing sex scenes. I have told myself this again and again but I always struggle. If you have read a lot of my stuff you may have noticed that I tend to skirt around the actual sex, either writing general bullet points or leading up to it and then skirting around the action itself. This thing is, and I know it is wired, but I can openly be like “ya, Vergil’s DT in DMC5 has a dragon dick” but trying to actually write, in some detail, sex makes me all embarrassed. I can call someone “a dick” jokingly, but trying to say or write “dick” in a sensual sense just makes me… geagehgeshvdggsrshdwit, I can’t take it! I need to get over it though because I have all these spicy ideas and can visualize them but can’t write them down for other people to enjoy. Also, sex is full of repetitive motions and sounds and I don’t know how to make that interesting yet. So I wrote these, hoping that I could write more blatant sex scenes and I still beat around the bush a bit but I think this is better, right?

Also, anyone notice what I did with how I ordered these? We worked real hard on it. ^^

[0hmyg0th]

— 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞

abby anderson x reader

★ summary ⸻ abby feels terrible, she don't want you to spend time with her knowing that you thrive on social interactions. She feels like she's holding you captive with her introverted ways. ★ sfw! ⸻ purely fluff! very lovey dovey 😩 including; i love u's, usage of nicknames, mention of marriage 🫣. and anything else i forgot to add. this is for ( @paqerings ) they requested " https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRcgu17H/ - this for abby" ★ taglist ⸻@paqerings @vvynia @slut4mascss tag-list is open :) ★ note ⸻i was planning on having this fic out wayyyy sooner but college work took to much of my time. also, after this and a couple more of tlou i will be posting aot content as well!! so stay tuned for that. i hope this doesn't flop ( first time doing anything other nfsw related ) okay bye. now read 💋

⸻ 4:30pm. evening. jacksonville florida. summertime

this is probably the most relaxing evening you ever had in your entire existence. you felt the most safe at home with abby. you had no problem dropping everything to be with abby at home, doing the most mundane things known to mankind. some of your friends would even say you and abby are in yall the "boring couple era" however, the way you would rephrase it would be, "quality time". you didn't mind doing things that might feel boring to others with abby like watching TV, reading together on the couch, or even doing a puzzle on a friday night rather than going out to a club. it didn't matter what. just along you were being touched by her presence. and you know, when the time comes she will be there to cater to your social needs. always.

"I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make- I feel bad 

you were feeling like a gooey pile of mush. it didn't matter how many times you re-watch 10 things i hate about you it seems like that movie had the undertone superpower to make you feel like your heart has been broken into a million pieces - and the craziest thing is that they are fictional characters. astonishing. you were so hypnotized by the movie that abby's words fell deafly onto your ears. with a small touch from abby, you peeled your eyes away from kat and patrick. looking at the sight of your beautiful girlfriend, the small colored freckles scattered all around the bridge of her nose. The best feature you loved was her nose and her watercolor eyes. the way her eyes would create this type of expression was only found in the imitation of the wild ocean water. you adored how blue they were under the shining light and how dark they would become in the shadows. "hm?" you blinked a couple of times, staying still upon her sight. 

the pads of her fingers slowly and lightly stroke the peak of your shoulder. you moved in closer, head tilting in the process. "you okay abs?" you spoke softly. the guilt-ridden expression painted on abby's face, her chest heaved . "I feel bad" Abby's hand immediately went to the back of her neck while lowering her head. "oh baby" you cooed. the palms of your hands reaching the warmth of her cheeks, lifting her face to make her look at you." why? My love" god. if y'all couldn't get any closer. you moved from the soft cushion onto abby's lap. you draped your arm around her neck while your fingers found the shell of her ear; playing with it to soothe her overwhelming nerves. 

"mmcht - I don't know. I feel like you shouldn't be doing this. you should be out - with your friends. I don't want you to be forced to be here just because- 

"imma stop you right there, abs" Your lips drew this amused smile, her warm plumped lips being covered by your hand. her eyes flickered down to your hand and quickly back up to your orbs whilst her eyebrow frowned a bit -- giving the impression she was gonna whimper a bit. however, the hand that played with the ruffles of your satin shorts never stopped. 

"When I first met you I knew we were the total opposite. I knew that I was more extroverted than you are. which is okay. I didn't let your social awkwardness or your introverted ways stop me from dating and loving you" you reassured. your eyes soften, you love abby with all your heart and when you love someone, you love them whole. 

Your hand vibrated against abby's moving lips for a mintue or two. "I agree" you let out a small laugh. you both forgot your hand was taking up space on her face. she removed your hand from her mouth and into her own and as if it was a daily routine between her and you, she intertwined her calloused finger in between yours. "I enjoy my solitude, but ever since I met you I enjoy it even more when you're in it" abby whispered the small confession, god. there are not enough words in the universe to express the amount of love you harbored in your heart for them. 

"I love you. I really do" You were lost for words, you love it when abby expressed these types of thoughts she had for you. abby heart swelled with pride at being your girlfriend because she never met someone capable of understanding her in a way she thought only she would. you are her soulmate. In a quick small vision, abby had imagined you in this most beautiful wedding dress known to man and with your ring finger decorated with the most expensive ring ever. 

you notice abby was deep into thought so you nudged her slightly, "penny for your thoughts?"

"you wanna get marry?" abby spoke nonchalantly. you were taken back, as one would in this situation. Your eyes practically popping out of your sockets. "what?" you exclaimed. 

abby shrugged her shoulders," I mean it" 

you dwelled about it for a minute. me? mrs. anderson. that does sound good. 

the enddd. 💋

[harlowtales]

Jack needs Y/N more than he realizes when jealousy gets the best of him

18+ ONLY - Adult Themes

***Use of all names is purely fictional

“Where the fuck are you going Y/N?” Jack said surprised to see you packing. He just got back from recording in LA and was going to take a few weeks off.

“I actually made some friends and I’m heading off for a weekend in the country!” You squealed with glee, but Jack did not have a smile on his face. “…and nice to see you too sheesh.” You said rolling your eyes and pushing past him to get to your closet. You were forgetting your crocks and hoping to find a spot for them in your open and overflowing suitcase on the bed.

“No the fuck you aint.” He said like a domineering father.

“Awwww Jackman you’ll be fine without me for 72hours.” You said cheerily finally getting your suitcase closed by sitting on it.

“72 fucking hours ain’t a weekend last I checked.” He said grumpily

“You’ll be fine.” You said ignoring his exasperation and checking the group chat for any updates on who was picking you up when. Jack was a tad dramatic anyway so you didn’t really take him seriously at the moment.

“Not very professional coming from my assistant” he mumbled now distinctly in a bad mood.

“I’m not your assistant. I’m a house guest remember?” You responded now getting irritated that Jack refused to give you any titles in his life whatsoever. Long story short, something happened one night that you both agreed should not have, and had not happened since.

You were renovicted from your apartment as the building was being turned into fancy condos so Jack offered you a place to stay until you found another place. While staying with him you started helping Kat with some work and his team realized how good you were at helping him stay organized. They offered you a job and Jack said no. He was developing feelings for you and didn’t want to mix business with anything more complicated personally. This caused major tension as you felt he was unfairly blocking you from an opportunity and you had a huge fight. He wound up confessing his feelings and makeup sex didn’t make up for anything as he still would not define your relationship.

You were still helping Kat as now an unpaid intern and Jack felt that one night was a mistake and he needed to focus on his career so nothing happened again. He would lay in his bed alone trying to shake the memory. So many nights he texted you to come to his room but deleted it. You both talked about when you would leave and you told Jack about your other plans but he put a stop to that and said he could find you other opportunities and for you to stay in Louisville.

To say you fell hard for him was an understatement. The whole situation was confusing and you didn’t realize how much it was draining you. You started writing a book but having to move short notice derailed the whole thing. You had a publisher waiting and were panicking. Jack suggested you stay until you finished it. He believed in you and didn’t want to be the cause of you loosing your focus either.

This limbo with him had become your new normal. Stolen glances across the breakfast table, incidental brushes passed in the hallway never amounting to little more than frustration but both of you were dedicated to your dreams so didn’t cross the line again. You had to avert your eyes when he would be rushing to get ready drinking tea and checking his phone while fresh out of the shower in a towel around his waist and wet curls.

He had to do the same seeing you prance around in a tank top and sleep shorts with a bonnet on and fuzzy slippers. The way he wanted to bend you over sometimes was too much. In a weird way though you two became happy roommates. There was only one thing Jack wanted and that was for you to be around when he was in town. He said this was for work purposes but it was because he missed you so much when he was away. To see you packing now when you knew he was back made him downright angry.

You hadn’t done it purposely but you had made a new group of friends in the writing community in Louisville and everyone was going on this retreat to work on projects in an idyllic Kentucky country setting. Jack didn’t like there were guys in this group. Sensitive types that were accomplished authors. Just the type that you could bond with intellectually and leave him forever. He knew conversation was your love language so even while he was away he called often but felt like he didn’t have what it took to really stimulate you mentally like those guys.

You felt like you were starting to slip away and maybe it was for the best because nothing was possible with Jack anyway. This one guy in the group Jason was so engaging and you were looking forward to his reading circles and getting to know him this weekend. Jack knew how much you liked Jason’s new novel. He felt so jealous every time he caught you curled up with pups reading it.

“You really like this Jason character huh?” Jack said one night as he had his feet up watching soccer and you were deeply immersed in Jason’s book. He felt like swatting it out of your hands.

“It’s such a moving story. I hope to be half as good as this” You said wistfully smiling showing your one dimple and pushing up your glasses which drove Jack crazy.

“I have no doubt you’re way better than that.” Jack said disdainfully of Jason.

“I’m honoured to even know him. Want some popcorn?” You said cheerily getting pups off you and heading to the kitchen. It was one of your more lazy days at home and you had no idea that Jack was in heaven there with you. He would occasionally glance at you and smile while you were reading wishing you could lay on him and he could hold you giving you kisses on the top of your head as he watched the game. He snapped out of his delusion with the Jason conversation.

“Hey missy did you write at all today?” He would often chide when things he didn’t want to think about crept in or uncomfortable feelings.

“Nope. I’m chilling today.” You said happily taking a huge handful of popcorn. Jack promptly ripped the bowl away from you.

“You want to be as good as some dork Jason? Get off the couch and go to your room and write” he said firmly.

“Fuck you.” You said defiantly grabbing another handful before heading for your room. You knew he was right but didn’t like his bossy tone.

He settled in with pups with a smile on his face knowing he had disrupted your time with Jason’s book and knocked it off the couch for extra enjoyment.

Fast forward back to now. He felt a tightness in his chest with anxiety creeping in. “Does Kat know you’re doing this?” He questioned

“Doing what?” You said distractedly with air quotes as you texted Emily you were almost ready.

“Y/N.” Jack said trying to get your attention “I need details. You live here, and I kinda feel responsible if anything happens to you.” He said concerned

“Jack it’s all good. Emily will be here in like 15mins don’t worry there’s going to be 20 people there. Jason is leading the whole thing for up and comers like me and I’m so excited to learn from him. I really need his advice.”

“You won’t be up and cumming at all at any point on this trip understand?” He said looking down on you every bit asserting his 6 foot 3 frame.

“Relax alpha male” You said touching his chest in a way that made him raise an eyebrow and tingle. Old Jack would have you on your back so fast it would make your head spin, but he had matured and just hoped one day when he had more time for a relationship he hadn’t permanently fucked it up with you.

“I’ll see you in a few days. Only call me in an EMERGENCY. Got it? And look after my puppy.” You said roughing up pup’s curly fur and kissing her while she panted joyfully in Jack’s arms. Emily texted she was downstairs. You gathered your things and stepped into the elevator that opened up directly into Jack’s penthouse.

“You’re upsetting pups but have fun.” Jack said cradling her as if protecting her from your cruelty.

You breathed a deep sigh of relief as the elevator doors closed. Jack was passed clingy now and totally dependent on you. “Well pups it’s just you and me here this weekend. Or does it have to be?” He said picking up his phone and scrolling to see what ex would answer and come over, but that didn’t feel right. He decided to order dinner since you weren’t there to cook a home cooked meal and write some new stuff. A song about a girl he couldn’t be with but couldn’t leave.

PART 2

Jack was miserable the entire 3 days. Nobody could get him out of the house. He sank into a place where he just wrote songs in the dimly lit studio. He rejected offers to play soccer, to go to the Hub and DJ, to hang out with one of his exes who was just “checking in” that he easily could have had swing by and scratch his itch. The problem was he had nothing to scratch. You were on his mind heavy and he couldn’t shake it.

“Hunny Urban called me and said you’re in a funk. Want to talk to your old mom about it?” Jack’s mom said in her loving way when her son was in a low mood.

“Naw I’ll be fine I just…I need to just be more my own man.” He said reflectively

“Who is she this time?” His mom said completely unaware of the whole dynamic but had suspected Jack and you had something happen at some point. She just knew her son too well. You were completely what he was looking for and it bewildered her why you weren’t a couple already. “Did you and Y/N have another argument? Hunny you know she’s headstrong but she’s an intelligent girl. You’re a writer you get it.”

“We didn’t have a fight. She’s a good roommate.” Jack said dismissively

“Ok I’ll pretend that’s the truth.” His mom said

“She just…she doesn’t understand certain things, like it’s not important to her, she just flounces around foot loose and fancy free ya know? Like her book is due and she’s reading another book by some fucktard author she’s crushing on. Makes no sense. She lacks discipline ya know?” Jack said way more than he wanted to.

“Oh I see.” His mom replied pensively. “She’s a fly by the seat of her pants kinda gal but works for you for free tending to your business everyday but she’s not responsible. As I understand she cooks too with her busy schedule that revolves around you and looks after the dog? Is it maybe this little crush on someone else your issue?”

“You know what? I need to focus and she needs to focus. She could never be my girl because I need someone so opposite to her. I mean the other day I walked in on her feeding pups extra treats and singing and dancing with her like what?” Jack said critically but obviously in pain missing your sweet goofiness.

“Wow sounds like a real bad situation.” His mom said rolling her eyes on the other end but Jack could feel it.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me mom.” He said defensively. “It doesn’t sound like a big deal but it is. You know what? As soon as she gets back imma tell her she needs to find somewhere else to go because this ain’t working. I can’t even have girls in my crib anymore like a normal man.”

“So she’s away? And where’s all these girls in your crib as you say.” His mom asked. She had a way of talking to Jack that made him come to his own conclusions.

“Mom don’t start.” He said “She’s irresponsible. She knows she’s supposed to be here when I’m here. It’s unprofessional for her to just bounce and be out in god knows where countryside retreat or wherever the fuck she went with his Jason loser. So he’s written a few books. Does he have platinum records? Does anyone know who da fuck this guy is?” Jack fumed his anxiety on full display.

“Wait. Y/N is on a writing retreat with THE Jason Meyers??? Hunny this is great for her! He’s a 4 time New York Times bestselling author! This could be Y/N’s big break!” His mom said excitedly

“You know, why am I even talking to you? I gotta go pups is hungry and needs a walk.” Jack said using his dog as an excuse to get out of a conversation that was bringing up all his insecurities.

“Ok hunny I’m here if you need me I love you!” His mom said cheerfully

Jack was so frustrated nobody understood him. The walk with pups did him good and he went to the gym to work off some steam. He felt much better and was lying on the couch drifting off when he heard the elevator doors open and you rustling around. He jumped up and startled pups who ran to greet you. “Hello pupsy wupsy!” You said so happy to see her.

“Hey.” You said cooly to Jack

“Sup” He said ultra casually, not moving from the couch.

“It’s ok don’t move to help with my suitcase.” You said sarcastically as you struggled with it down the hallway to your room.

“Wasn’t planning on it.” He said after you lazily snuggled in a blanket.

You had a great time, but wasn’t going to tell Jack about the offer you had from Jason to read your manuscript and pitch it to his publisher to get you more money and way more exposure. Jack didn’t seem to like Jason and it would only put him in a pissier mood than he already was these days. You decided to stay in your room away from him and got comfortable in bed so tired from the long drive.

You heard a soft knock on your door. “Come in.” You called out as you changed channels on the TV.

“Does my breath stink or something? Why you didn’t come out of your room?” Jack asked sitting on the bed. He was waiting for you to tell him all about it.

“Jack. Leave me be please I’m exhausted, and no time for whatever mood you’ve been in.” You said honestly

“Y/N can we talk?” He asked softly. You immediately knew it was important by the scrunch in his brow.

“Of course are you ok? I’ve been concerned. You’re always so supportive and the minute I have this big opportunity to network you’re so down on me. Did I do something wrong?” You asked looking him directly in his warm blue eyes

“Y/N….this thing we’re doing… or not doing…I can’t do it anymore. While you were away I had a chance to think and talk to my mom and ummm, I hope we can still be friends but…” He hesitated

“Say no more. I’m as good as fucking gone. Lucky I haven’t even unpacked because I won’t. I’m out. If I can just sleep that would be great and then say no more. I’ll leave in the morning.” You said completely done at this point. “Get some other flunkie to watch your dog and make your breakfast, and schedule your life. I have things to do in MY LIFE!!!” You yelled and burst into tears. “…and fuck any deals. Fuck Jason fuck Kentucky!”

“Whoah whoah whoah what? Fuck Jason what happened? Did he…did you guys…”

“No. Jason is engaged to a ballet dancer he is very much spoken for. I just admired him and his work.” You said now a teary mess. “He offered to read my book and pitch to his publisher but fuck all that now. Every time I get something good I have to move again. I hate it here!!!! Kiss my ass bluegrass!!.” You said now full on bawling.

“Y/N that’s fantastic!!” Jack said but realized what he had done and how he had been making you feel for months. “I’m so sorry I’m a complete fool.”

“You’ve always got me on some rollercoaster. I’m the fool!” You said hitting him now in frustration “Get off my bed! Your bed…what the fuck ever! I don’t fucking care anymore!” You yelled but Jack interrupted you with a massive tight hug and you collapsed in his arms so weary from fighting him and this “arrangement”.

“I can do no right with you. You’re sooooo fucking bossy!” You said but it felt so good to be hugged by him, to feel his warmth.

“Y/N please I ain’t that bad, am I?” Jack asked kind of knowing the answer.

“So bossy.” You restated calming down now and blowing your nose.

“Ok damn. I get it I’m bossy.” He said partially offended but knowing he was hard on you because he didn’t want to wind up in bed and in love. You had the potential to hurt him more than he could handle. With both of you distracted with work it was his hope it would prevent anything from happening “Kiss my ass bluegrass is next level though that was too far.” He laughed.

“I was wrong.” He continued “I can learn from you and relax sometimes and I been an asshole pushing you. I thought you were hung up on Jason and I couldn’t take it. I was a shell of myself when you left. I barely left the condo.”

“Are you serious?” You said between sniffles. “I was literally only gone for 3 days. You’re kind of pathetic”

“Thanks.” He said sarcastically “I’m just so dependent on you now and that’s my fault. If you want to leave and find a real relationship I can’t hold you, but if you give me a do over I would really really love that and I would show you I love you because I do. I realized how much the last little while so I amped up being a hard ass to run from my feelings. Matter fact, I got you something months ago and been too scared to give it to you. One sec” He said and disappeared. He returned with a jewelry box and gestured for you to take it.

You froze. Was this happening? “One minute this man was ready to kick me out and now a damn near proposal?” You thought with your head pounding from all the crying and screaming. You waited for him to open the box.

Inside was a blinding diamond fountain pendant and chain. “Welcome to team Private Garden Y/N, my new Senior Assistant. I hope a salary of $150,000 a year is helpful and Kat now reports to you. I hope the title permanent live-in girlfriend suits you as well. No hiding, this our shit now and everyone will know. You cool with that?”

“Well…I don’t know I might be on a book tour but I’ll see if I can pencil your little job offer in.” You said lifting up your hair as Jack placed the stunning piece around your neck. The fans seeing that symbol of being team PG was going to send the internet into a frenzy but for now you were savouring this moment.

“Take it or leave it, but please never leave me and pups again. I had left over pizza all weekend.” Jack said tackling you and planting a deep kiss on your lips with pups barking excitedly.

“Wow. You are so sad.” You said teasing him and kissing him with his full weight on top of you, he started to rise and you knew it was the time you both had wanted for so long. You turned off your bedroom light “Oh Jack” you moaned.

@itsyagirljaz @okaaay-mice @ride4harlow

[bellisima-writes]

August Fanfic Roundup

Good morning fandom readers,

I was able to read a bit more this month than last, but still not much. Quality over quantity, right? Here is a round up of the goodies I was able to gobble up in between the craziness that is my life:

Lesser known fiction (a shout out to some of the newer writers in our community!):

A Place for the End of the World by @kitty-kat-undercover - E - 77k

Three weeks after Aziraphale left for Heaven the Second Coming is fast approaching. A heartbroken Crowley decides to return to an old friend's home in Canada to live out the last few days before the end of the world

This was a beautifully written and original take on how Crowley and Aziraphale's story could end. The author has an incredible ability to paint a robust picture with their words, really dropping you into the landscape and feel of the story. There is a tenderness and a joy to the characters and the prose that paint the whole thing in a hopeful light; something I don't think we see too much in our angsty post season 2 world (my works included).

The story includes characters from the show as well as some wonderful original ones, all of them bursting with love and fondness for the world and each other that really shines through on the page. If you want a romantic character study of Crowley's journey through his grief and Aziraphale's discovery of his own bravery, then this is a great choice.

Apus by @notalostcausejustyet - E - 3.6K

A beautifully written one shot about the power of love, both of another but also of yourself, and the discoveries that can be born from that love.

It's a soft and sexy snapshot of the ways in which Aziraphale and Crowley continue to teach each other things about themselves, how their adoration of the other enables self discovery in both, and the power of love throughout it all.

@notalostcausejustyet is not just an amazing author, but an incredible human being. Definitely check out this and their other work!

Well known Post S2 fiction (stuff most of you have read but I am still catching up on):

scherzo in f-sharp minor, for orchestra by @astrhae - M - 23K

Two years after leaving, Aziraphale turns up at Crowley's doorstep without his memories.

Told entirely through Crowley's POV, this story packs a LOT into relatively few words. The prose are poetic and the reader is taken on a journey through a selection of vignettes and snippets that are weaved together to tell a complete Second Coming story.

The historical references stand out here, as well as the almost cinematic way I felt as though I was being pulled along through a montage of images and scenes, never lingering too long but fully feeling the weight of each of as they pulled together to tell the story.

The focus here is entirely on Aziraphale and Crowley and their journey to save the world and get back to each other. Not sure if there's anyone left who hasn't read this, but if you want a beautifully written but relatively short Season 3 what if story with a laser sharp focus, this is for you.

Classic fiction (reserved for older pre and post season 1 works only):

Married at First Sight by @aracloptia - T - 147k

A little young to be a classic but it was started before season 2 so I think it counts.

Human AU in which Aziraphale and Crowley join a reality TV series where they meet one another at their own wedding and have to stay married for six weeks before deciding whether or not to break up or stay together. Things start off rocky for the pair, and after a while they decide on an arrangement of their own to help them survive the remaining length of their marriage while also minimizing their own humiliation.

This one was a joy to read: sweet, funny, beautifully written, with wonderful (and sometimes tragic) characterizations and depth that likely doesn't belong in an AU about a reality TV show. Not to mention how brilliantly crafted it was - I actually had to message the author at the end of one chapter to ask them HOW they made it all work so well!

I was at the point this month between all of the heavy post season 2 canon stuff I had been reading as well as writing my own darker AU, I needed a palate cleanser to lighten the mood. And this was PERFECT.

I am partial to human AU's, and this one joins some of my favorites alongside Slow Show, Old Vines, What We Make It (Shotgun Wedding) and For His Eyes Only. I know this one has been making the rounds on my side of tumblr (it's how I found it myself) but if you've still not read it, you definitely should! You won't be disappointed.

I am also reading a few awesome WIPs by some of my mutuals that I hope to include next time! I'm just a wee bit bogged down with the start of the school year as well as trying to pull together my own WIP.

Til next month!

[never-enough-novels]

Hello everyone:))

I can't believe I've reached a 106 followers😭😭.

Like there are more than a 100 people who like the most unhinged shit i post

So in honor of it all I'll be doing a 100 followers event<33

Here is the intro post

You can request from the following

✨️- I will make a moodboard off the vibes of your blog or anything you request which i know of.

🎀-I'll write you a short message( only for mutuals).

🛐- I'll ship you with a fictional chatecter and your troupe( choose from the Fandom list only pls).

🥞- I will try to write a poem on whatever prompt or a word you give me.

🧚‍♀️-I'll try(key word: try) to write a fic on a fictional charecter of your choice taken from the Fandom list and you can tell how you want it to start or end or give any prompt.

🫧-Gimme me a song and I'll tell you what I think.

🍡- I'll try to give advice on any issue you have.

Fandom list

Tig,pjo(the show only),a good girl's guide to murder,king of sins, twisted series,enola Holmes,

-This event will end by 15th april

- You can send as many asks you want but pls limit to 2 per ask.

-Pls be patient cause I'll be having exams and I have a BIG procrastination problem

Thank you so much<33

Tagging moots:

@reminiscentreader @myster3y @thislifeissweeterthanfiction-de @blocked-zombieartist @urbanflorals @berryzxx @reyna-obsessed @sophiesonlinediary @desi-tumblllr-dot-com-deactivat @hijabi-desi-bookworm @art-of-fools @untamedwind01 @averyriskygamble1989 @loverrr-girl @story-kat @mqstermindswift @bookish-phile @stop-ur-losing-me @foaming-sea @nqds @the-modern-typewriter @baboland @banilikesfictionalpeople @moonlightt444 @phonegirlfanatic @skeelly @leaskisses444 @letmeseeallthefrogsinthecity @letmeseeallthechipmunksintown @darlingnemesis @f4iry-bell @loverrr-girl @obbsessedfan @formulalina15 @mqstermindswift @swiftreader1989 @carmenpowerpuffgirl @lumine4624 @sam-likes-stuff

Edit: I've decided to reduce the end date of this event.

[gthiah-if]

Gone to HELL in a Handbasket - 18+ Interactive Fiction (wip) - by glucosify

tags : urban fantasy (inspired by late 70s / early 80s), romance, supernatural, mystery, satanic and occult themes, cults, 18+ rating for violence, sexual content, mental illness and more

A simple pizza delivery turns sinister when you find yourself trapped with 5 other strangers in a decaying place that hides a dark history and darker secrets.

Demo here on itch.io ⋄ last update: May 2023 ⋄ word count : ~7,400 (~13,100 with code)

Only the prologue is available for now, you won't play as the main character until chapter 1 :^)

Features :

a story that (loosely) takes place in the late 70s, in NYC

custom made UI : dark, light and retro themes, mobile friendly, adjustable fonts, font sizes and weights

customizable MC : play as male, female, non-binary, touch starved, touch averse.. and choose your appearance and personality

figure out the secrets left behind and find a way out - one way or another

choose to forsake an imminent evil or become part of something greater

decide if your companions are trustworthy or simply useful for your own goal

five gender selectable romantic options (male, female, non-binary) - choose their pronouns and appearances separately / romance is optional but will most likely be a big part of the story

Romantic Options :

Mahalia / Marlon / Mars "MOONLANDER" Harris : a sarcastic and pragmatic computer operator; they’re an arcade, tech and sci-fi lover through and through

Amélie / Alexandre / Astin "ACE" Beaulieu : a college athlete with a sunny disposition who's currently feeling lost and going through a difficult time

Gina / Gil / Gera "GUMDROP" Fernández Alfonso : charismatic and resourceful, this social work student's desire to help others always seems to break through their fear of letting people get too close

Ilona / István / Írisz "IRIS" Juhász : though they lack in life experiences due to a sheltered upbringing, they possess a gentle thoughtfulness and vivid imagination

Kat / Kit / Ky "KILLJOY" Miller : a reckless straight-edge hardcore punk with a sharp tongue and an honest heart

LINKS : FAQ ⋄ TAGLIST ⋄ MASTERLIST ⋄ GOOGLE FORM (feedback & bug report)​ ⋄ DISCORD (TBA) ⋄ PINTEREST (TBA)

This blog will be used to post updates and anything related to the IF - answered asks, scenarios, headcanons, short drabbles etc..

started in december 2022 - first update in may 2023 - b&w image from untermyergardens.

[ladykf-writes]

So about that radio silence...

It dawned on me that I talked about this on my roleplay blog, but it never made it here. For shame! (JK we don't shame for memory fail in House Kat or nothing else would get done.)

Anyway. As you have likely noticed, I have been... absent. What happened, in short, was a friend gave me a much needed push to pursuing some non-fandom fiction I've been wanting to write pretty much since ever. I had actually laid it all out for this one in 2019 and then... well. Covid happened and I never got back on track.

FFWD to now, I am 71K / 33CHs into the first novel of a series that I might actually publish. At this time, further information is not being given out because I'm in-process. But I'm very pleased and excited.

That said, of course my fandom pursuits have taken a dive and I'm not sure when I'll feel ready to get into them hard core. HOWEVER!! My soulmate fixit fic, Waltzing Through Time, featuring Reeve/Genesis has only got twelve of the forty written chapters posted, so I'm going to start posting that again. That will give you guys something to enjoy, while I straighten myself out.

Because I will always come back to fandom, and hold it side by side with my original works in value. Never worry about that. 💜

[redpanther23]

Recommended Reading List:

Magick in Theory and in Practice - Aleister Crowley

Principia Discordia - Malaclypse the Younger

Zen Without Zen Masters - Camden Benares

Cosmic Trigger: Final Secrets of the Illuminati - Robert Anton Wilson (fill out the captcha and click "download original pdf" - the other link seems to be fake)

Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson

Black Elk Speaks

The Mohawk Warrior Society - Louis Karioniaktajeh Hall

Fiction:

The Void Captain's Tale - Norman Spinrad

Tailchaser's Song - Tad Williams

The Magicians - Lev Grossman

Illuminatus - Bob Shea and Robert Anton Wilson

The Man Who Folded Himself - David Gerrold

The Three Imposters - Arthur Machin

Comics:

Cerebus - Dave Sim

Elfquest - Wendy Pini

Pogo - Walt Kelly

Little Nemo in Slumberland - Winsor McKay

Fritz the Cat - R. Crumb

Krazy Kat - George Herriman

Scott Pilgrim - Bryan Lee O'Malley

Maus - Art Spiegelman

Live Action Movies/shows:

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) <- to my knowledge the only feature that Dr. Seuss worked on

Dementia (or Daughter of Horror) (1955) <- experimental horror movie with no dialogue

The Prisoner (1967-68) <- like if you combined James Bond with Alice in Wonderland

Head (1968)

Lucifer Rising (1972) <- watching this movie summons lucifer, so we should all do it lots

Pink Flamingos (1972)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Zardoz (1974)

The Forbidden Zone (1979)

The Great Rock and Roll Swindle (1980)

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

Roar (1981)

The Young Ones (1982-84)

Stop Making Sense (1984)

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

24 Hour Party People (2002)

Electric Apricot: The Quest for Festeroo

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Sorry to Bother You

(For animated movies I have a whole separate blog and list here)

Animated Shows/short films:

Fleischer's Superman

Batman the Animated Series

Winsor McKay's "The Pet"

Eek the Cat

The Devil and Daniel Mouse

[xiaq]

what was alex's mom's reaction to him coming out since it's assumed that she didn't know and is religious

Alex's mom (and her whole family 2.0) more or less pretend that Alex doesn't exist since that's most convenient for them (less because he's gay and more because she'd prefer that she never had a wild youth and was the perfect housewife from day 1 with her perfect husband and kids who look just like him).

However, I do have a head-canon that Alex's baby half-sister Katie ("call me Kat or I will shank you") comes out as bisexual in high school and her parents had 0 prep and handle it badly, not in a "she's in danger sort of way" but in a "we're well-meaning but our response is deeply hurtful" way. And being a strong independent teenager, she's like well fuck that, I'm out.

So one day Eli opens the door and there's a furious teenage girl who's like, "whattup, I'm Alex's half-sister Kat, I've run away from home and I'm not going back and you can't make me; you have to harbor my fugitive ass because I'm queer and also sort of related to you. Do you have anything to eat?" And Eli is like, "how did you know where we live? how did you even get here?" and she says, with a degree of distain only a teenager can muster, "mom has your address so she can send her stupid Christmas card every year. And I got here on a plane, duh." And he's like, "well, you better come inside because the baby is going to wake up any second and also my southern upbringing dictates that I feed anyone who expresses the slightest indication of hunger."

It turns out she's crazy for itty bitty sleepy infants and he conveniently has one of those. So he gets her a healthy snack and leaves her cooing over their fresh spawn and franticly calls Alex from the other room (it's playoffs and he's on the road, naturally). Alex ends up having to call his mom for the first time in a decade. Long story short, Kat stays with them for a few weeks since summer vacation has just started and she's, you know, full of riteous fury. But after a couple weeks things simmer down and apologies are made. Because Alex's mom and her husband realize this isn't a phase they can talk their kid out of and they're going to lose her if they don't act right. So they actually start having productive, meaningful conversations with Alex and Eli and over the next several years their relationship drastically improves. Kat visits often and actually lives with them through college (she goes to the same fictional university Eli did in Houston) to save money on housing and help out with her nieces and they stay super close. So that relationship never fully heals, but it gets better. And it gives them Kat.

I also head-canon that during Kat’s junior year of college, when she's still living with them, Alex and Eli let a new rookie stay with them for a bit. Naturally, Kat and Rookie end up falling for each other which gives Alex a very fatherly existential crisis and nearly gives Rookie a heart attack when Alex catches Kat sneaking out of Rookie's bedroom one night.

Uh. Anyway. That was probably more than you were expecting.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, July 24

FAITH: Anyway, for real now. I wanna ask you something, and I want you to promise to be honest, and to not spare my feelings just because I could kill you. You promise? JOYCE: I promise. FAITH: OK. (Finishes with hair) How do I look? (Poses) JOYCE: Psychotic. FAITH: Mmmmmmm. I was shooting for sultry, but hey.

~~This Year's Girl~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

BtVS Triple Drabble: Distance by badly_knitted (Buffy, PG)

Weekly Drabbles #152 - Pretend by veronyxk84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Infinitely - ch. 62 by Laragh (Willow/Tara, M)

Do We Serve Water In This Bar? - ch. 7 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, Buffy/Riley, Willow/Tara, E)

Situation Normal - All Faithed Up - ch. 1 by QuillBard (Buffy/Faith, Giles/Jenny, Faith/Lilah, M)

Icing and Ink - ch. 2 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, E)

Collision of Universes - ch. 1-2 by Aragorn_II_Elessar (Tara, multi xover, T)

In Case You Haven't Noticed... - ch. 28 by Sdhuskerfan (Buffy/Giles, E)

I Can Show You Lies - ch. 3 by tragic (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Wedding Belles - ch. 4 by buffy_loves_spike (Buffy/Spike, R)

Beer Bad, Spike Good - Ch. 4 by Maxine Eden, ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Spiked - ch. 12 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2] - ch. 35 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Guitar Villain - Ch. 6 by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Love Lives Here - ch. 89 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Memory Lane. - Ch. 13 by FireDragon (Buffy, Smallville xover, FR13)

Rebirth: A Stargate Tale - ch. 7 by Buffyworldbuilder (Buffy, Stargate xover, FR13)

Old Fashioned Romance - Ch. 12 by calikocat (Xander, Captain America xover, FR21)

Arrive Before the Birds - ch. 1-6 by EverythingElse (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Crave - ch. 2 by NautiBitz (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

What the Drabble? Vol. 2 - Ch. 52 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Love Lives Here - ch. 89 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Genderfuck Spike by isevery0nehereverystoned (Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: Anya Jenkins + Outfits (Season 3/4) by clarkgriffon (Anya, worksafe)

Gifset: Ranking Buffy Summers' hair evolution (as voted by my followers) 1/11 by buffysummers (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: James Marsters... had assumed [Spuffy] would be one-sided... by ladyverdance (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: [parallels with life serial and i fall to pieces] by bocadelinfierno (Buffy, Angel, worksafe)

Artwork: Further buffyversing your Hatchetfield with Slayer ! Lex... by fallinginaforrest (worksafe)

Artwork: more like FLUFFY the vampire slayer... sort of like a desert fox... by eggiecatifieddesigns (Buffy, worksafe)

Digital: 🐴 BTVS 520. Spiral 🐴 by tmcarlee (Buffy, worksafe)

Digital: Der Kindestod [demon] by thedemonglitch (worksafe)

Digital: [Kendra Young fan art] by herakles_love (Kendra, worksafe)

Digital: [stickers of Oz, Larry, and Kendra from The Wish AU video] by herakles_love (Oz, Larry, Kendra, worksafe)

Digital: [still from 3D video in progress of The Wish AU] by herakles_love (various, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

[the nightmares in Nightmares] by redhatmeg

The Official Grimoire [Willow focused novel] by ceecee1909

PODCAST: Episode 66: "The Bachelor Party" by Gym Was Cancelled: A Buffy Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

fic rec and Bangel gifset: countdown to iwry 2024 — iwry2023 most angsty fic: being known by kean recced by iwillrememberyoumarathon

ISO: GrumpyMule seeks dragon statue that was in No Place Like Home

ISO: Kat-Attack-52 seeks feedback on their Willow/Tara fanfic plot outline

[Fandom Discussions]

I'm new here, has anyone else noticed that trophy with the eyes that follow you? by sunnydale-high-school-rumors

Another one of my favorite things in the Buffyverse is just how Angel is portrayed between the two shows. by sadisticretrieverbf

still the most unserious attempt at a dramatic introduction from angel here. [Buffy, Angel] by bloodraven55

[what were the] writers'/actors'/directors' influences... for the faith/buffy relationship by lesbianmarrow [with discussion in the tags]

If you had to pick between spuffy and cangel, which one do you find more interesting? [ask answered] by initiumseries

[discussion about] joyce telling buffy "if you walk out that door..." by five-gays-in-a-trenchcoat and moistvonlipwig

how about an AU where cordelia stayed in sunnydale? [ask answered] by coraniaid

AU where S4 meaningfully explores [the fact that] the government has a prison full of demons [ask answered] by coraniaid

elaborate on the leverage/btvs sophie [ask answered] by lindseymcdonaldseyelashes

[anti Xander Harris] by esperanzacboronial

POLL: Vampire Media Guys Round 21: Spike or Oz Osbourne? by vampirewrestlinglover

POLL: WLW Ships Poll Round 1 Part 1 [Willow x Tara] by mildlyinterestedcreature

What If: There was no Kennedy? by nightshade and others

Top 5 Season 1 Episodes updated by Stake fodder

Change one thing about season 1 updated by Stake fodder and Joan the Vampire Slayer

Why do you love season 1 of BTVS? updated by Stake fodder

The Hottest Vampires by Priceless and others

[what improvements would you make to a remaster of the 2002 Buffy video game] by Patermoushka

If You Had The Opportunity To Create And Produce An Episode Of Buffy, What Would It Be About? by Past-Throat-6788

Brooding vs Boring [Angel vs Riley] by bangeldreamer

The Riley Finn appreciation slideshow by drawandpaintbyfire

Let's talk about Dawn's S08 phases [in the comics] by zarif_chow

[Lilah appreciation post] by SpikedIntuition

What if... the original plans for Faith? by willingyoungster

[what song would Faith sing if she was in "Once More With Feeling" ?] by southsideserpent18

Would Faith get along with Fred and Cordy? by LightBlueSky55

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

James Marsters News: updated James Marsters upcoming events via dontkillspike

James Marsters to Star in Animated Sci-Fi Movie ISLA MONSTRO via dontkillspike

New Audio Book with J. Landau: VAM PD from Big Finish Productions via GreyWalker1958

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)