#some are perceived as mid and some are hot

[allurilove]

Any face claims for your OCs?

Hey anon!

I’ve stated before that I don’t really imagine anyone in particular for my yandere men, and I don’t describe them as much because you guys can actually just insert whatever man you want to imagine.

Alright, I updated this and added heights and such!

Yandere Ghost:

Age: 500-528

Height: Can manipulate his height! He can be 5’0”-9’0” tall.

Looks: For this character, I do have a description of what he looks like. Long white silky hair that comes all the way down to his ankles. He has pale skin, and you can see faint purple veins. Light pink lips and a bit of rouge on his cheeks. It’s canon that he’s a pretty individual, and he looks androgynous.

Yandere Prince:

Age: 24-26

Height: 6’5” or 195 cm.

Occupation: A bloodthirsty prince from a well off kingdom.

Looks: For this character, I do have a description of what he looks like. He’s tall and imposing with jet black hair. He has blue eyes, and is basically Prince Eric cause I was inspired by The Little Mermaid.

Yandere Neighbor:

Age: ??? Is an adult.

Height: 6’5” or 195 cm.

Occupation: A handyman!

Looks: awkward as hell.

Yandere Knight:

Age: 26-28

Height: 6'4-5” or 193 or 195 cm.

Occupation: A trusted knight that protects the princess.

Yandere Husband:

Age: 32-36

Height: 6'4" or 193 cm.

Occupation: An actuary that makes about 260k a year.

Looks: For this character, I do have a description of what he looks like. He’s a muscular man that doesn’t like to miss a day at the gym. He’s been trim all of his life, and has never had the dad-bod phase (been too busy running around and chasing Henry). I’ve stated before that his build is sort of like Miguel O’Hara, and he has those nice strong shoulders and biceps. He looks clean, proper, and professional. He also occasionally wears glasses.

Yandere Best-friend:

Age: young 20’s to late 20’s in the time jump.

Height: 6’3” or 190 cm.

Occupation: Graduated from University, and is now opening his own restaurant.

Looks: Big. He takes the gym seriously. I also envision him being like Clark Kent from Smallville. Fluffy hair, wears baggy jeans and huge shirts. He doesn’t really care about fashion and what he looks like.

Yandere Manager:

Age: ???

Height: 6’3” or 190 cm.

Occupation: The manager for famous singer reader, and other artists. He makes a pretty decent amount of money, and he never discloses you how much though.

Looks: He wears dark navy sweaters, and a nice fancy watch on his wrist so he can tell you when to come back home.

Yandere Classmate:

Nationality/Ethnicity: Polish-American

Age: 18 in first fic, now 19-20's

Height: 6'2-3" or 187 or 190 cm.

Occupation: A high-school senior in the first fic, and now a graduated college student.

Looks: For this character, I do have a description of what he looks like. He’s a blond and blue eyed man. He is broad shouldered, well-built since he’s a swimmer, and it’s canon that he’s good-looking or shall I say… gorgeous?

Yandere Chaebol:

Ethnicity: Korean

Age: 37

Height: 6’1” or 185 cm.

Occupation: His family owns gas stations, huge malls, and a tech company that creates refrigerators and air conditioners. He’s also starting to dabble into the pharmaceutical industry. Easily makes millions upon millions of dollars.

Crybaby Yandere:

Age: 20-23

Height: 6’1” or 185 cm.

Yandere Professor:

Age: 30-33

Height: 6'0" or 182 cm.

Occupation: A psychology professor that makes 80-100k a year.

Looks: Pretty much lives in his business attire 24/7, but will opt for grey sweatpants when he’s alone at his house. Hes a stern, no-nonsense man.

Calm Yandere:

Age: 25

Height: 6'0" or 182 cm.

Occupation: A fairly new veterinarian that makes about 70-90k a year.

Looks: Has dark hair.

Yandere Survivor:

Age: 28

Height: 6’0” or 182 cm.

Occupation: He was a bartender, then sort of survived a zombie apocalypse, but then got turned.

Yandere Stalker:

Age: 24-26

Height: 5'11" or 180 cm.

Occupation: He works as a freelance artist.

Looks: Lol, someone asked about his hands so here’s all ur gonna get!

Yandere Prodigy:

Age: mid-late twenties

Height: 5’11” or 180 cm.

Occupation: Violin player.

Yandere Boyfriend:

Nationality/Ethnicity: Japanese-American

Age: 18 in first fic, now 19-20's

Height: 5'10-11" or 177 or 180 cm.

Occupation: He had or has a bajillion jobs. His resume is long, but now he’s working at a cafe near his house and is loving it.

Dumb Yandere:

Age: 22-24

Height: 5'8-9" or 172 or 175 cm. ?

Occupation: He is a stay-at-home husband.

[ozzgin]

Yandere! CEO Headcanons

Just a little idea I had some time ago of a rather bizarre dynamic: a CEO with no time to spare, introduced to a young student his wife befriended. Perhaps he does have a moment, after all. (I need to dump my preference for a cultured older man somewhere)

Content: female reader, age gap, older yandere, NSFW, dating the wife is optional

[Original works masterlist]

Yandere! CEO who is in his mid 40s and terribly invested in his job. So much, that he and his wife agreed on an open relationship many years ago and barely interact anymore. Not a gloomy business by any means: she gets to meet new people and he can enjoy his work and hobbies in peace and without guilt.

Yandere! CEO who doesn't think much of it when his wife brings home a young student she befriended at a convention. He nods dismissively, returning to his papers and phone calls. At dinner, he just hums in acknowledgement and fiddles with the cutlery while the woman talks about you excitedly. "You know, (Y/N) reminds me a little of you." Nonsense.

Yandere! CEO with whom you scarcely interact: he's a borderline workaholic, and your relationship is cordial at best. That is until you're asked by the wife to retrieve some important documents from their ridiculously luxurious apartment. You quietly tiptoe past the office, but can't help glancing at the imposing library, stacked with books. The man's sudden arrival startles and you begin to mumble apologies, but he seems more interested in your curiosity than anything else.

Yandere! CEO who can't believe you both like the same authors. He discreetly removes the folder from your hands, tasking one of the assistants to deliver it to his wife instead. There are more important matters at hand. Have you had your coffee yet? Oh, you must stay longer. What's the hurry?

Yandere! CEO who has become awfully perceptive whenever your name is mentioned in conversations, innocently probing for more details. Naturally, he wouldn't mind meeting you again, but it's not...a need, per se. He was just pleasantly surprised to find someone he could so easily engage in conversation with. Hell, you're old enough to be his daughter. Don't be ridiculous, he'll scold himself sternly whenever his mind wanders too far.

Yandere! CEO who begins to feel like each encounter is a flirty tease. Is it just wishful thinking, or are you becoming cheekier by day? The way you bat your eyelashes, the way you cast your eyes down whenever he looks at you. The next time you're alone in the apartment, he's too far gone in his delusions to act rationally. How unusual for him to act so nonchalant. Unbuttoning your shirt with haste, trailing your neck with hot kisses, lifting your leg and pressing you against the wall. He never considered himself the type to fuck a much younger woman out of raw lust.

Yandere! CEO who loves taking you on dates despite his busy schedule. Art museums, theatres, the Opera. He is eager to introduce you to his interests and will answer any question or curiosity you have. Who would've thought everything is better in two? Of course, there could be other factors involved. Like the added bonus of watching you squirm in your seat and biting your lips to be quiet while he fingers you at the peak of Act 3. Then smirking to himself when everyone stands up for applause, and you have to rearrange your dress to hide the wet mess underneath.

Yandere! CEO who worries about you when he's on work trips, so he tasks his right-hand man to look after you and keep you company. If you ever get lonely, you can rely on his assistant to take care of all your needs. Now, he's not one to share, despite his marital arrangement. As bizarre as it sounds, he just sees the employee as a mere toy, an idle occupation who can temporarily entertain you in his absence. What he does perceive as a threat is swiftly taken care of. It's enough for you to mention another student flirted with you, and you'll never see that person again. You have to understand that he doesn't play around with his assets. One he has something, he holds onto it with ironclad strength. And he's never been more desperate to keep something in his possession.

Yandere! CEO who makes sure to remind you why dating him is your best (and only) choice. You would've wasted your time with boys your age. He can offer you the world and more, all you need to do is ask for it.

[a-very-tired-jew]

Hot Take Incoming The more I read about Neo/New Bundism, the more I'm convinced that it's an ideology that is based on a weird mix of Ashkenazic white guilt, "yearning for the shtetl", and identifying with Yiddish culture over Jewish culture because the former emphasizes secularism while the latter does not (which belies that fact that Judaism has multiple ways to engage with it and you don't need to be religious).

This last part is especially important to understand as in the West, Judaism is emphasized as one of the Big Three religions even though it's one of the smallest in the world. Many of us are taught that Judaism is just proto Xtianity or Islam, and depending on where you live and your community you absorb that. Especially if your family is non-practicing and there isn't much of a Jewish community and culture for you to interact with growing up. Many of our holidays, cultural norms, and so on are associated with Xtianity and framed in regards to a Cultural Xtian society. Hence why I think so many young secular Jews feel that they can't actually connect with Judaism because the narrative they have from Xtian society plus their disconnect from Jewish society means they perceive Judaism through the Xtian religious perspective.

If Cultural, religious, and lax Xtians are this way, then sure Judaism is as well since Xtianity is based on it, right?

That's the mindset I've seen over and over.

This is further exacerbated by the immigrant communities in the North Eastern USA (NY, PA, NJ) that had massive moments of cultural exchange and assimilation. Deli culture in the North East is a mix of Italian and Jewish cultures. Historically, Italian and Jewish communities allied and mixed in the early 20th to the point where it's a stereotype. And if you don't believe me then let me point to Harley Quinn in pop media, any of the organized crime families and the start of Las Vegas, or the fact that you can get a cheesesteak in a Jewish deli in PA.

So it makes sense that Bundism is having a revival of sorts into it's Neo era. It's a socialist ideology that emphasizes progressive ideals that man of us agree with. But Bundism also emphasized secular Judaism by putting Yiddish culture at the forefront. It was a way to be Jewish without being religious, and if you have any hang ups on religious practice then it makes sense as to why this ideology might be attractive. However, there is a failure to acknowledge that the largest Bund, and successor populations/groups, had to give a pound of flesh repeatedly to "prove" that they were loyal because of the old dual loyalty antisemitic conspiracy. And that was never enough as these groups were wiped out after their governments were done with them.

(Note: some of the most ardent anti-communist Jews were ex-Soviet citizens who managed to escape and witnessed all of this firsthand)

Neo/New Bundism comes across, especially since Oct 7th, as an aggressive "yearning for the shtetl" that rehashes the compromises the Old Bund was willing to give the USSR regarding its Judaism by embracing and emphasizing Yiddish culture instead.

For example; look at all the literature and examples regarding JVP. They had the seder plate incident back in the Spring, have had literature that told Jews not to pray and/or speak in Hebrew but in English or Arabic, and have rabbis that denigrate and dismiss Jewish culture and history (as well as so many other incidents and issues). All they need to do is tell Jews that they should actually be secular socialists and speak Yiddish instead and you'd have one of the cornerstones of Bundism.

It didn't work during the early to mid 20th century, and it won't work now.

But nostalgia is a helluva thing.

And so it comes across as this highly aggressive rejection of Israel and everything it stands for, whether true or falsely attributed to it, because it's not about the Jewish connection to Israel but the Jewish connection to a more immediate loss: Yiddish culture, which was decimated and destroyed in the 20th century. This is especially true when talking to Ashkenazic Neo Bundists as their family histories, like mine, start and stop with the Shoah.

Consider that the Bund were one of the largest Jewish organizations in the Pale, the resulting Yiddish community in said region were the largest in the world, and they organized and fought the Nazis, then it makes sense as to why the loss would be so poignant for many and grabbing ahold of the ideology to create a connection makes sense. I know for me that if I were to dive into everything Yiddish I would develop a greater appreciation for my family and where I come from even with the loss of knowledge caused by the Shoah.

If you further consider that it's a secular ideology that puts socialism first, then Yiddish, and then Judaism last, then it makes sense as to why you see so many anti-Zionists emphasize the "Israel killed Yiddish" talking point (which I haven't seen in months, but I remember it being a thing up until the Spring). The ideology does not emphasize identifying with Judaism and Israel, but with Yiddish culture and institutions.

There's nothing wrong with this per se, but it isolates an aspect of the Jewish community and says "you're different from the rest of them" while at the same time emphasizing that they should assimilate into the rest of the world. And let's be honest, because it is a European based ideology it was emphasizing assimilation into Western civilizations of European descent.

It therefore makes sense as to why Neo Bundists don't identify with Israel and/or refuse to identify with it. They identify with the European aspect of their history and not with the Middle Eastern. The European connection is immediate and direct, the Middle Eastern is distant and cultural. I understand this position as its Biological Altruism theory in practice, but it does fail to take in the larger "ecological" community that is being Jewish.

Part of the ideology and its adherents also blame Israel for not reviving or reconstituting the Yiddish community and culture, which is ironic because that would be focusing on a very European subculture of Judaism (and anti-Israel activists continuously yell that the country is a White European Colony). Ironically, this "Israel killed Yiddish" point either fails to take into account or lies through omission that the Nazis and USSR killed the largest Yiddish cultural centers and populations in the 20th century and that Yiddish culture in the USA has faded away over time as more and more ethnicities and cultures have assimilated and torn down their metaphorical, and sometimes very real, isolationist walls.

Unfortunately Neo Bundism focuses on the pre-WWII aspects of Bundism. I've personally talked to a bunch of Neo Bundists, and witnessed/read on social media their writings and interactions, and in each instance they emphasize that Bundism has been around since before WWII, was a widely supported ideology, and it stood opposed to Israel and Zionism.

Except they rarely talk about Bundism post WWII. After WWII and with the establishment of Israel it dropped the opposition position. Israel became an extant country and opposition to its existence didn't make sense anymore. It dropped the anti-Zionism, but still emphasized doikayt. It emphasized that Israel should adhere to the progressive Bundist ideologies of economic, social, racial, and political equality and equity. Hell, there was even an Israeli Bundist organization.

Hence why the last extant Old Bundist organization in the world, Melbourne's Jewish Labour Bund, has an issue with New/Neo Bundism. The Melborune JLB is the last existing Old Bund group in the world with all others have closed down in prior years or decades. MJLB acknowledges the October 7th attack by Hamas and the violence imposed on Palestinians by Israel. It acknowledges suffering on both sides. New/Neo Bundist organizations rarely, if ever, do this and instead commit to a Holocaust Universalization like position regarding Gaza while omitting the terrorist attacks.

Furthermore, the Neo/New Bundist organizations do not discuss the issues that define Bundist ideology, such as economic and social issues, but instead emphasizes the anti-Zionist position. This reduces it to a one trick pony that misses the point entirely (paraphrasing Dr. Ringelbaum who is President of JLB here). The focus on pre-WWII Bundist ideology echoes the sentiments of Bundist groups that did not want to change their ideals and positions afterwards, which led to them becoming defunct. The Neo/New movement is repeating the same mistakes that led to the dissolution of the movement at large and resulted in the ideology being relegated to the wings with no real voice.

It is also important to note that the majority of the Neo/New Bundist movement is under 30, with a lot of them being undergrad age. As someone who teaches this age bracket I will say that they're passionate but overconfident. They're informed but also ignorant. They're sympathetic and empathetic, but easily misled. I was too at that age.

And like any movement, Neo/New Bundism is going to have its growing pains. I think if it is to continue past this conflict and does not fizzle out then the movement and associated organizations need to reflect on what they actually mean outside of anti-Zionism. Because as of right now and for the past few years of its inception, and the brand new groups, that is all they've been. That's not fighting for labor, social, racial, political, and economic rights. That's repeating the same mistakes as the Bund in the early 20th century did. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face.

At this point in time myself and others don't trust Neo/New Bundists because why would we? The movement has shown that it's anti-Israel positioning is more important to them than anything else. This means they ally, like the Old Bund did, with antisemites who want to harm all of us. The movement just happens to give them permission to be extremely and violent antisemitic by using "as an anti-Zionist Jew" as a permissible framework. Just like the Old Bund did pre-WWII.

You're not doing anything new or innovative or helping the diaspora. You're following in the footsteps that led to more deaths of our people.

Please re-examine where you stand and what you stand for. It's been done before and we need to learn from history. Not repeat it.

[jonathansthickthighs]

My Sweetest Heart 2: Yandere! Fushiguro Toji x Reader

Description: You have a one night stand with Toji and now he won’t leave you alone.

Part 1 here

Part 3 here

Part 4 here

Part 5 here

Trigger Warnings: yandere, obsessive behavior, female reader, AFAB reader, toxic behavior, stalking, desperate toji, no smut this chapter, implied smut, alternative universe (no curses), age gap (reader is in her early 20’s, toji is in his mid 30’s)

A/N: im so overwhelmed by the amount of notes on my first post, tysm :’). This is a soft, slow chapter. Steamy smut next chapter 🥵

Not edited!

It had been a week.

Disconsolateness spread through Toji’s chest like a wildfire, the wretched feeling not leaving his soul since that damned night. But was it really damned? Toji dreamt of that night from the moment he set his gaze on you, but why. Why did you have to behave like he was nothing to you? He was certain no man would ever make you experience the ecstasy he made you feel, the pleasurable sensations you felt only he could provide. Yet, you haven’t answered a single one of his texts. The extraneous feelings were clouding his mind, making his thinking unclear.

The things you do to him.

If you could squeeze your way into Toji’s mind, you would be able to see the profoundness of his love for you, but he wasn’t sure how long he could let you explore his mind before you fell into an deep abysm of pure darkness. He would never allow that darkness to collide with the love he held for you. He would never in his life time hurt you in any way, nevertheless he would not hesitate to hurt —kill— any man who did as much as lay his eyes on you. You were his one and only treasure and he was never one for sharing.

Would it seem too desperate to call you? He already refrained himself from texting you more than twice a day, but the way you were ignoring him was making the hole his chest feel larger with each painful minute that passed from the lack of notice from you. He spent the last seven days watching you from afar, which was nothing new to him, but he felt the progress he made with you had dissipated. Why did you have to behave like he was nothing to you?

You were right across the street from him.

You were at a local café, sipping on some iced coffee. He knew you lied to him when you told him you didn’t drink coffee; he had watched you enter and leave the place countless times. Thus it was another reason why he felt hurt by you. He was aware of how despicable he was, nevertheless that’s not how he wanted you to perceive him. That’s why when you started making all those excuses, he felt like you were seeing right through him, like you could see how bad of a person he truly was. In the labyrinth of his soul, he felt an inexorable need to reshape your gaze upon him, the same way he would mold clay under the weight of his hefty fingers. Even if the whole world saw him as scum, he harbored a silent hope to be seen through a lens untainted by judgment by you.

Each beat of his heart was chanting a plea for you to fill the void within. He wanted to demonstrate he had a vulnerable tenderness reserved only for you.

He observed you chatting vigorously with your friends —the same ones from that night. He wondered if you told them about him. Would you go into detail about everything he did to you? Would you start getting flashbacks from all the things he did to you? He could envision the supple flesh of your thighs rubbing together, feeling your underwear dampen from the memories of him mounting you, making you squirm under him. Toji felt himself harden in his pants at the picture of you getting all hot and bothered because of him. A recollection of memories of your enchanting body flooded his mind each passing day, his groin aching with a ceaseless desire to be engulfed by your tight, warm cavern once more. He needed you more than he ever needed anything in his entire miserable life.

He decided the only way he could reclaim your attention was in the flesh, so before he could form another thought about it, his large figure plotted his course toward the café with gumption.

He strode into the aesthetically pleasing looking place, with practiced nonchalance, feigning ignorance of your presence as he made his way to the counter to order some simple black coffee. Once he paid for the overpriced coffee, he turned straight to the table you and your friends were occupying. You were laughing beautifully at something silly your friend had said and in an instant, you locked eyes with Toji.

A smirk tugged the corners of his scarred lips. He could tell you were experiencing a sense of inner turmoil running through you. Your friends noticed your shift in mood, their gazes pivoting towards the source of your abrupt change in demeanor. When they noticed what you were looking, they started giggling teasingly questioning if that was “the hottie you banged the other night” quite loudly. It was safe to say your friend weren’t ones for being subtle.

On the other hand, Toji’s chest swelled with pride upon learning that you did, in fact, tell, your friends about him. He was starting to believe that approaching you in the presence of your friends had been a nothing short of brilliant. He was well aware of his talents and it was abundantly clear that the most conspicuous one was his charm with women. He was going to win over your friends so they could influence you into giving him a chance, knowing all too well the powerful sway that a woman’s friends held over her decisions —especially when it comes to men. He was going to use your friends to his advantage with unyielding determination.

Toji could see you visibly tense up as he made his way to your table.

As soon as he was standing in front of you, your named rolled out of his mouth almost seductively, the smirk never leaving his perfectly sculpted face. “I hope I’m not intruding, wasn’t expecting running into ya here. It’s so great to see you!” He exclaimed without forgetting to greet your friends, forging politeness. He couldn’t give two fucks about your friends, but in order to execute his plan it had to be done.

Your lips curved upwards, a hesitant smile forming on your face. “Toji, wow! It’s good to see you too.” You rose from your seat awkwardly extending your arms in a friendly embrace. He instantly enfolded you into the embrace of his strong arms, not denying himself from indulging himself to the irresistible urge to inhale the delicious scent of your hair. Gods, if only he could live in your embrace forever. You were wearing a yellow summer dress that hugged your frame exquisitely. Holding you so close, taking in your scent, plus this little piece you were wearing had him almost coming in his pants. To make things even better for his perverted self, he was certain, by looking at your cheeks flushing with a deep hue of scarlet, that you had felt his hard on press against you while you were being embosomed by him.

Your friends gaze bore into at you expectantly as you jumped momentarily forgetting their presence. With a quick apologetic smile you hastened to introduced them. “Oh! Toji, these are my friends.” You told Toji each of their names and he nodded attentively, inwardly acknowledging that he was going to forget their names instantly. “It’s a pleasure. With all due respect, I have to say this has to be the most good looking friend group I’ve seen, quite frankly.” He playfully danced on the edge of flirtation, his words laced with a charm that clouded the insincerity of his words. And of course, your friends giggled gullibly, already smitten by the Adonis standing in front of them.

“No wonder miss ma’am here went for you. Not only are you a sight for sore eyes, you’re also good with your mouth!” Your friend teased, the rest of them agreeing with her making your cheeks deepen into a brighter shade of crimson, the flush of embarrassment spreading like fire across your delicate face. Toji knew what you were thinking. You knew exactly how good he was with his mouth, having experienced the onslaught of his fierce tongue in your cunt.

“Ah, you girls flatter me. And trust me, your pretty friend here is well aware of what this mouth is capable of.” He joked, eliciting peals of laughter from your friends.

“Girl, he got a sense of humor too? Why haven’t you married him yet?” Your other friend chimed in. In response, you laughed with a hint of discomfort, failing to understand how your friends couldn’t feel the tense atmosphere that surrounded you. You had recounted to your friends how he had been texting you nonstop for the past week, collectively agreeing to label him as nothing short of a creep. Yet, as they now met him face to face their skepticism suddenly melts away and they transform into Toji advocates? You didn’t understand. “Why don’t you sit with us, Toji? Let us get to know you a little!”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Toji chuckled, planting himself in the chair right next to yours, a little too close for your liking. He turned to you, a wide grin lighting up his features, meanwhile you settled into your seat with a frozen expression, like that of a deer in headlights. The morning after your night with him lingered in your mind, haunted by the memory of his hand grabbing your hair. Though he didn’t harm you, a sense of unease lingered, leaving you unable to shake the feeling of dread. You thought you’d never see him again, so running into him here took you by surprise.

As your other friends interrogated Toji, your best friend seized your arm, pulling you aside so she could talk to you closely. “Oh my God! You never mentioned how nice he is! Why have you been ignoring him this whole time, you bitch!” She voice came out in a furious whisper.

“I’ve told you before, I’m not looking to get into relationship at the moment and he’s so persistent. I just don’t want to lead him on.” You replied feeling annoyed at her abrupt change in demeanor. “The best men always come when you least expect them. I think you should give him a chance! Just go on one date with him and see how it goes from there on.” She insisted, her tone pleading. You were starting to feel guilty for avoiding him. Could your best friend be onto something? One date wouldn’t hurt, would it?

“Fine, but only one.”

Your best friend erupted in excitement at your agreement and sprung from her seat.

“Well girls, remember that thing we had to do? We gotta dash.” Confusion clouded the faces of your friends, prompting your best friend to shoot signals with her expressions, discreetly urging them to leave you alone with Toji. “W-wait, wha—“ Stammering in puzzlement, you attempted to grasp the situation. Your friends caught onto the unspoken cue and swiftly began gathering their belongings preparing to leave you two alone.

“Yeah, that’s right. We have plans… without you.” One of them giggled teasingly as they hurried out of the café.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

You couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before you. You made eye contact with Toji and he chuckled at your bewildered expression. “Quite the friends you’ve got.” He remarked casually, trying to hide the fact that he was shaking from excitement at being alone with you at last. He was fighting hard to conceal the thrill that vibrated beneath his skin.

You let out nervous laugh in agreement and joked, “Right. Making plans without me all the sudden.”

An awkward silence settled between you for a moment before you decided to break it, “Toji, about the texts—“

Toji interjected quickly, “Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetheart. I understand if things have been hectic lately. I’m just glad you’re okay. No pressure at all. Although, I do hope we can talk once in a while, I would like to get to know you more.” Toji mastered the art of concealing the ache of your week long indifference, cloaking his wounded heart with a facade of nonchalance. Determined to shield you from the depths of his longing, he masked his feelings, refusing to unveil his yearning for your attention.

You smiled genuinely at him for the first time since he got here. “I wouldn’t mind that at all. But, I would like to clarify that I’m not looking for a relationship right now. If we could keep things casual, I would really appreciate it.”

Toji felt a twitch in his eye; you were going to make things difficult for him. “I get it, sweetheart. No compromise.” For now.

You grinned at his acceptance and suggested, “You mentioned a mean ramen place in your texts. How about we go there now?” The realization that you were asking him on a date sent a wave of anticipation through him. Getting to talk and share his time with you again was the only thing he had been looking forward to the whole week. He let his gaze linger on your soft features, you were undeniably beautiful. He was determined to make your heart his, he knew he had to step up his game.

“I would love to, sweetheart.” Toji replied eagerly, excitement coursing through his veins. Temptingly, he added, “We could also go watch a movie at my place afterward, if you’re up for it.” You squeezed your thighs together, considering the myriad possibilities that could unfold once you two were alone at his place.

“Sure.”

[osaka-lilac]

Asking you to kindly elaborate on the strollonso football au:

hello raapija my beloved, i would love to elaborate <3

for those out of the loop, refer to my tags on this post!

warning: i am an american with a incredibly basic understanding of footy ("soccer"). there is a reason the actual talk of any gameplay is basic and limited

fernando is this new guy to Lawrence Stroll's footy team right. (because in every universe, lawrence has to own a Team.) i can imagine he's some draft pick from spain for a new striker or something like that. possibly some trade, maybe a mid-season exchange (they do that in american football but idk if they do that in footy) those who know specifics of positions in footy please let me know your thoughts on what position fernando would play

lance: couldn't give two shits about footy. he's seen maybe once in a blue moon on the sidelines tagging along, and he's known for being visibly bored or on his phone during matches. (he has the Pout Blast 3000 for this.)

the reputation he receives from fans is much like the perceived impressions he gets irl: some spoiled kid who shouldn't be there. he's more into hockey than any match his dad's team could ever play.

now when fernando shows up its like a fucking slap to the face. like. "holy fuck i didn't think they could be this hot" type beat.

for the first time, lance shows up to a team practice with his father, not just a match. but he's really not there for the team: he is enamored by fernando. his speed. he's a sly yet devilishly handsome fucker with this wicked grin when he knows he's tricked his opponent yet again, and lance is obsessed.

not only does he start going to way more matches. he also starts showing visible interest and gets invested. and he gets loud. the mumbles online about his "spoiled reputation" turn to joy. he becomes a meme of the team for a few weeks after a clip of him getting frustrated after a poorly-called card is given to fernando ends up going viral.

and maybe this entire time, fernando has been watching this young boy from afar. he totally believes he can't be with his literal manager's young son and jeopardize his spot on the team and a shot at glory. and maybe he believes that lance initially isn't interested. but maybe when he sees lance become more invested in the team, he figures he might have a chance. he just can't figure out why lance has become so invested in what was, quite frankly, a very short amount of time.

so maybe fernando's on the side for a while in a practice. lance is there, but he seems distant. not in the game. not really watching the drills by the other players with much enthusiasm. and fernando's a smart man. and he puts some pieces together in his brain. and makes a move.

he comes up to lance and asks to talk with him once practice is done. when all the other players are gone. in the locker room. of course lance agrees

flash forward a bit. n lance is like. hanging out by the exit outside of the locker room. he counts all the players. and when there's only one left. he goes inside. finds fernando sitting on one of the benches, still in his kit.

they get to talking. what lance does outside of being at games, (i can imagine him being a student but i don't have the will to kin assign him a major right now), what his favorite hockey team is (habs. of course) and of course, the loaded question:

"lancito, what's gotten you so interested in the team now?"

of course, lance doesn't really respond to this, kinda dances around the question. he gets flustered. he doesn't want to be found out. what if he sees right through him, what if he already knows, what if he tells his dad??

fernando leans in slightly, and slides his hand over lance's hip. he cups his chin softly, and slowly turns lance's head to look at fernando straight on.

"be honest, niñito."

and when has lance ever been anything but honest.

[atouchofireland]

PR Perception & Consequences: Luke Newton

[This analysis is from the perspective of a lover of story with a Masters in Publishing & Writing, with ties to a publicist with 20+ years experience.]

I didn't watch Bridgerton until a while after s2 came out. Partly because I hesitate with new shows and mainly because I hate waiting years between seasons.

I LOVE Derry Girls because it clicks with my mainly Irish family. So, I knew who Nicola was as Clare before watching Bridgerton, but nothing else.

That leads into the LN assumptions.

From what I can tell as a general viewer of the show and Social Media, he came from musical theater and Disney stuff in the UK before landing the Colin role in his mid 20's.

During this time, aka 2019/2020-2023, LN had a gf named Jade for that whole time.

Media reported that they'd broken up some time at the end of filming in June 2023. Then, there is some reports saying he got with his current partner, mere months later in at least 8/23 if not sooner. (Nic is known for keeping her even longterm relationships a secret, but Luke's previous gf would post a few pics and vids here and there.)

This is where PR should've started to protect his image before the first premiere and press tour even happened.

At this point, late 2023, Luke has not posted even a hint of his supposed app gf anywhere. Then he leaves for a 6-month world tour with his friend, of 5 years that he has easy chemistry with, but now they both are not with longtime partners.

LN leaned into the romantic press interviews with his friend because he was comfortable with her and it promoted the show.

Here's where his friends as PR shows dumbass judgment.

I believe I saw something about the app gf attending the 1st premier in London, before the tour, but it wasn't paparazzi-d. Whereas, after the WT, the 1st LN news was pap photos with this girl at the after party 2nd half premier. Basically, PURPOSEFULLY taking the romance illusion away from the couple that the actors built for the months leading up to this.

Bad PR leads off from here: self-described introvert Luke goes to Milan with 'gf',' fair enough it's fashion week. But, THEN he's BACK in Italy on "holiday." Getting paparazzi pics of him they didn't even get on his World Press Tour. Then possibly in Greece, continuing some vacation? So much of this shit makes zero sense both PR-wise and normal person-wise.

For example of good PR capitalizing on lead roles: Nicola is on a movie rn, she's part of A-list representation, she's possibly a future bond girl. Johnny Bailey was shooting a drama, Wicked, and his Bridgerton cameos at the same time. Simone is starring in a motion picture out soon.

The rumors of LN's friend Rory running his socials is horrible because: 1) Rory seems like a douchebag who wants more shirtless pictures of himself on his non-famous account than of his gf. 2) He puts Luke's skinny "similar to his gf" wannabe influencer gf on his instagram without hyping up any on Luke's actual work and projects.

This all gives off the vibe of this friend being resentful, taking advantage of Luke breaking up with his longterm gf and deciding to get more built for the show, and convincing him he needs the "hot rebound" for himself and image. As always, that gross straight man is wrong. All his friends say he's so sweet and quiet and genuine.

How I perceive him from his own press: Had a supportive, longterm gf who was also an aspiring actor as they were both coming up in their early 20's. LN started working out so much to get lean & abs to feel on-par with the other Bridgerton guys. Him and his gf grew apart, maybe even felt resentment, while LN was shooting so long for BS3. Shooting raps.

This is the overall perception that makes me and I think many others so mad: Luke had a sweet, curvy, talented gf for 4 years. And he was a thicker tall guy, not fat, not skinny, not ripped but amazingly curvy in the male way that's rare. He got all built for Bridgerton when Nic refused cuz it isn't necessary for the characters. And after all this real-life and on-screen romance with a mid-size woman, after becoming a "muscly man," he shows up with a stick-figure wanna be dance influencer.

His actions of allowing his pr/friend to paint him as if he gets "hot women" now that he's "desirable" is what makes me fucking sick about the perception of him and I think this is why so many Bridgerton fans in the SM sphere got the ick.

[cookie-crumblr]

Hype Train!

F! Streamer Reader x M!Yandere Streamer OC

Part 2~

His Info: 📹✨

Part: 1 2 3

!!!MINORS DNI!!!

CW: !F reader, use of she/her when referring to reader, reader has a vagina, extortion, pet names not given by ML (kitten, good girl), little angsty possibly?, smut will start in the next part!🐶✨!

“Sup Jazzy” his own voice says to him.

“Sup Devvy, how’re you and Issac?”

“Awww, did you just call cause you missed us?” they say in an mocking tone, their voice changing to one of their own mid way through the sentence.

“Always, but that’s not why I called.” He sends a copy of some of your cat cam footage that he sped watched through. “I just need the name of the dick hole at 57:32. I’d do it myself but I don’t want to look that thing up on my work computer.”

“Ooooo! I see why you need that info. She’s mine and Issac’s type too… Sent!”

“Thanks. This still doesn’t pay me back by the way.”

“Figures, I am using your face and all.”

“Yeah ‘nd my face is hot. You’ll owe me for a long time you filthy fuckin’ sadist.”

“Takes one to know one,” they say through a smirk. “Hey Jasper,” their head tilts in curiosity, “your girl just left her building…”

“What?” He pulls up some of the other cameras in the building to look. The second floor has a bling camera that pinged it’s owner’s phone just now.

Sure enough you’re seen walking down the stairs in front of that door. You have a baking pan in hands with one birthday candle sticking out of what looks like chocolate cake.

“Why is she going out at this time? it’s like 3am for her. Has she done this before? does she always bring cake, and nothing else?”

Not even a second passes, “Looks like once a month. She goes out at two-ish, I followed her through the ground cameras to a factory. Sending all footage from the last time now. And coordinates for current active cameras near the perceived destination.”

“Shit. A factory?! What could she possibly be doing at a place like that at three in the fucking morning. That’s so dangerous. Watch her until she gets home. And I don’t know, fucking, blow somethin’ up if shit starts to go down. I have to take a flight. ‘Nd, don’t go outside for a while, unless you get a new face in the meantime.”

“Awww, but I like your face,” they pout.

“Me too! Just kidnap someone for a minute, and deal with it. jeeze. You’ll figure it out.”

“Or I could—”

“Bye Dev.in, i’ll be in contact, and if something happens to her, you’re never getting out of my contract.”

“I hate being indebted to a filthy fucking sadist like you.” they fake a sigh, not actually upset.

“Takes one to know one.” Jasper hangs up abruptly, already packing up three laptops, and their accessories to go.

Sure enough, you’ve walked all the way to a factory at 3am.

You’re running a little late tonight…

He can wait… You think.

He’s already extorting you double, almost triple your rent now.

He can wait.

“Fuck!” You hurry.

All you brought is that stupid hollow cake filled with a plastic bag of cash, and a lighter. Like always.

Eventually you get there, none the wiser that you’re being watched over by a sort of guardian angel this time.

They invisibly follow as you swerve through dark alley ways. You take slightly different routes every time.

Dev.in sits watching, waiting, finding everything nearby that they could hack if they need to cause a distraction to hopefully save you if it comes to that.

You’ve done this so many times before, usually just out of a camera’s reach.

They get into the satellites, replaying footage, as it is unfolding in real time, comparing.

On more than one time you’ve gotten attacked.

Jasper isn’t going to like that.

He already doesn’t approve of this.

You hobble dazedly to the ER when that happens, but you still go to the drop off point first.

What could be more important or scary than that, that you’d not see a doctor first?

The satellite and the real time footage all play out similarly:

You meet the same man.

He grabs you

He kisses you on the cheek.

You light the candle.

He blows it out.

He leans in to say something into your ear.

You walk either home, or to the hospital depending.

Dogs are out barking viciously nearby.

You don’t even flinch at any of this anymore.

This has been going on for more than a year it seems.

What is in that cake?

“The cake you wanted.” You shift uncomfortably, holding the pan out in offering. “And sorry I was running a little late.”

“It’s okay,” He gives you that smile that sends a freezing chill right down into your bones. “things happen,” He shrugs.

He kisses you on the cheek, and leans further to tell you how much you owe them next month and the day he wants you to come.

His menthol cigarette scent makes you nauseous the closer he gets to you.

Intrusive and rough hands grope up your arms and one rests now under your chin.

He makes you feel filthy.

You’re grimacing.

“I trust you Kitten, besides… you know i’ll get my money one way or another.” His grip tightens and your face scrunches harder. “You’d hate to go back into the pit right? Now go on home and be a good girl until we meet again…” his grip is so tight you stifle a whine.

You turn and walk away again. Keeping your pace even, and your head held high.

You almost blend into the underground world.

Almost.

A man with a blade that glints in the cameras is following you back home.

While you fiddle with the main door’s lock and your keys, your hands tremble, displaying how terrified you really are.

Dev.in starts a car parked directly behind you.

You manage to stumble inside while the guy is distracted.

You lean against the inside of the front door, a relieved, and beyond stressed sigh leaves your chest.

Then you head upstairs, fatigued just like every time prior.

You have a fitful rest, filled to the brim with nightmares that constantly wake you up, panting and clutching your chest.

The dawn finally comes. The sun is more than welcome as it shines through the slits between your blackout curtains.

You jump out of bed, not wanting to try and sleep any longer.

You have today off work, thank goodness.

As soon as your computer is on, and dipcord is open, you get a DM, “Hey! Sorry I had to suddenly leave last night! getting a little overworked rn. Wanna VC soon?”

You call him this time.

The longer it rings, the harder your heart pounds.

“Hey there, Y/N, I forgot to tell you somethin’ last night.”

“Oh really?” You try not to sound nervous, or stressed but he can hear it all in your sleepy inflections.

“I have a meet up comin’ up soon!” He didn’t until last night though. “It’s in (a city near you), is that close to you at all? My viewers have been begging me to bring you since they met you!” He isn’t wholly lying, they really do love you already.

“What?! really!” your excitement overpowers you precarious emotional state, “That’s actually super close to me! I think I can afford the trip…” You sigh, remembering work, “Wait, um what day…?”

He frowns, his heart spreading a tingling sharp pain all the way down to his left hand, “I-I can change it! i-if you can’t make the day! when are your days off next month?”

“No!” ops, that came out a little too loud, “Uh, no, sorry. I can’t have you do that. I mean, what if your viewers already changed their schedule?” You sigh.

He hasn’t even told them yet, nobody’s schedule can be impacted.

He scrubs the footage from the bling camera downstairs to see your schedule quickly, you seem to have one day off a week… What the fuck? He thinks… And so much overtime, how little are they paying you?

“Jasper…?”

“Oh sorry! i only got like three hours of sleep last night,” he chuckles”

“Oh no! that’s not good, you should try and nap after this!” you sound so genuinely stressed for him. His pain evaporates.

“It’s on Tuesday the 12th. Is that doable?”

You sigh in relief, “Yes! I actually can! that’s so cool! it falls right on one of my days off!” Your gut flips, something feels so off…

Maybe it’s just the residual feeling from last night?

“Awesome! I’ll definitely be takin’ that nap soon then,” he laughs such a perfect and easy laugh, it somehow eases your entire being beyond belief.

Tears start prickling your eyes, and he hears your tiny sniffle.

“Is somethin’ the matter Y/N?” His voice is so gentle again. he makes you imagine a summer morning in a sprawling golden field. It’s like sun on your skin for the first time in so long…

Yes. God yes. your life. That’s what’s wrong. How the fuck did you get in half the predicaments you’re currently in? “No,” You fake a yawn, “I’m just a little sleepy, I guess we’re in the same boat there!” you let out a laugh that sounds more strained than you wanted.

You can’t cry yet.

Don’t cry yet.

Please.

Do. Not. cry.

I’m gonna take a nap too! sorry I-I have to go!” Your voice cracks, “sleep well, Jasper…”

You hang up without giving him a chance to say anything more. Without the chance to catch you.

and the second that app is closed, your dam bursts.

You feel like screaming, and you feel hoarse like you already have been.

How long ago was the last time you’ve cried?

The last time you’ve even felt safe enough to cry.

“Jazzy! my man-”

“Dev, I need ya to black this entire town out for an hour.”

[udretlnea]

The Divine City: Some Slices of Life

Part 1 \ Part 2 (here) \ Part 3 \ Part 4

"We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take"

Gloria Estefan

At precisely 7 am it spilled into the room from the window. It crawled onto the floor and up the bed until it hit the eyes of its occupant. With a soft sigh, her eyes flutter open. Then she frowns at the growing sunlight as if it had interrupted a perfect dream.

Muttering to herself, she slides out of bed without a second thought. A quick glance at the clock tells her she’s got ten minutes before the servants wake up. 

She huffs. May as well get ready. A quick snack should suffice for now. I can eat properly at lunch.

Her morning routine was simple: Wash face, change out of sleepwear and into something plain (that reminds her: she needs to do shopping), and brush her hair a dozen times.

With that out of the way, she makes for the kitchen. It is blissfully empty save for her. 

She grabs an apple before grabbing a pitcher of water and an empty cup. Breakfast is a quiet affair as she sits down in the middle of an empty table; she doesn’t bat an eye to the empty chairs on either side. Her mindless chewing fills the silence. 

As she finishes her apple, a door opens. Without turning her head, she already knows who it is.

“Lady Cecilia. You’re earlier than usual,” says a mature, refined female voice.

Cecilia nods at the statement. “I have an awful lot to do today. With Volksfest coming up, I imagine my classmates are up to something so I figured I’d give them a hand.”

She turns her head to look at the person’s expression. Said person is a tall woman with slightly dark red hair, yellow eyes, and fair skin. The maid uniform she wore went to her calves mid-way. 

The woman hums with a thoughtful expression. “I see. Will you be back in time for dinner?”

Probably, though if I’m right Rickard is going to try to get me to stay. I’ll say no of course. Is what she thinks. Instead she says, “Sure,” and gets up to clean her things. 

Cecilia walks past the maid only to pause. The teen faces “Wait, Emery, before I forget I wanted to say that-no, ask you…is there anything you need while I’m out?”

Is there anything you want me to buy for you and the others? Is what she wanted to say, but the maid already replies.

“Well, now that you mention it, we’re already expecting festivities soon so some wine, cheese, and grapes would be needed.” Cecilia nods.

Screw it. While I’m here I may as well ask. If I don’t I’ll regret it. She opens her mouth-

“As for gifts, well, nothing comes to mind. Though I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if I desired an accessory for the neck,” finishes Emery.

-and it hangs open. Cecilia looks at the redhead bemusedly. The latter’s lips curl upwards in what Cecilia perceives as amusement. 

After three seconds of stunned silence the teen finds her voice again. “I see. Is there-is there a particular item you had in mind?”

Emery smirks. “You may try the lower end of the commerce district. Look out for a place called Timeless Treasures.”

“Timeless Treasures. Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” The two said farewell to each other. As she went back to her room, Cecilia couldn’t help but think about how Emery knew what was on her mind.

That woman can be scarily perceptive at times. She shuddered as she slung a light coat over a plain green dress. I wonder if she has a super dark past she’s running from like in those light novels. 

“Now there’s a fun thought,” she muttered as she exited her room.

///////////

The skies were clear save for the single stray cloud, but with it being August temperatures were cooling down. Cecilia silently thanked Her Grace she didn’t have to walk through humid and hot air.

Depending on where you went in the commerce district, you could either find the low-quality items sold at twice their price or “one-of-a-kind” merch that was special and thus was marked at an exorbitant fee. Cecilia was familiar with this game, however, and thanks to her folks training her to haggle she was prepared to play.

Thus, thirty minutes later she had two bottles of fine vintage, several blocks of cheese, fresh grapes, and some knick-knacks. She carried them both in bags in either hand.

She had to ask around where Timeless Treasures was. Apparently it was near the southwest edge of the middle section. 

As she made her way there, Cecilia walked through the streets almost in a trance. She barely acknowledged the decorations or the festive aura around her. Her head was locked straight ahead like she was dead set on getting to her destination.

CRASH

A loud commotion drew her attention to her left. Cecilia turned her head to find a trio of students cornering another student. Inside of her, some small ugly part recognizes what’s happening. She doesn’t even need to get close enough to hear what they’re saying.

“Think you’re worthy to stand on the same ground as us?”

“I bet you don’t even know basic etiquette.”

“What’s a country rat even to do here? Shouldn’t you be picking weeds?”

To his credit, the student doesn’t flinch. “I’m middle class-”

He doesn’t get to finish when Bully 1 punches him in the gut. The air knocked out of his lungs. Bully 2 sneers. “Did we say you could speak, trash?”

They laugh mockingly and start name-calling him. From a distance, Cecilia watches this. She feels frozen to the spot and far away. It’s as if she can see herself in third-person.

A small part of her whispers in her ear. You can stop them before it gets worse.

She could. She can! Cecilia takes a step, ready to shout at these punks-

Do not.

When another voice stops her. Suddenly, it’s as if she’s seized by fear. Anxiety roils in her gut, making her hide on the side. Cecilia is holding her breath.

If you intervene, those students will remember your face. Come school they’ll gossip and in five minutes you’ll be an outcast. That’s more trouble for you and everyone back home, ignoring your parents. Just keep your head down and walk away. Cecilia clenches her fist. 

We can’t walk away from injustice! the smaller voice protests.

Your actions have consequences. Consider them carefully.

The conversation lasted for ten seconds, but it felt like an hour. Then she shuts her eyes, tilts her head down and walks away.

Cecilia put on a flat look. She was already pushing the incident to the depths of her mind to be forgotten.

///////////

Timeless Treasures was in between a cafe and a hat store. Cecilia was near-tired at this point, but she powered through. It took a long walk, but she took solace in the fact she can go back home soon.

Cecilia reached a hand out for the door, only for it to open. She watched as a farm boy walked out carrying a wrapped gift.

The teen stared at the teen as he walked away. She should’ve just ignored it and went through the door. She should’ve asked the storekeeper for a necklace. She should’ve just taken her spoils back home. 

And yet her curiosity demanded to be sated. Cecilia mentally cursed herself before following the teen.

It took her longer than she imagined thanks to the morning rush starting. She nearly lost him twice. Cecilia counted herself lucky when she spotted him breaking away to another street. From there, she saw him turn into another alley. When she rounded the corner she caught the sight of his foot before he disappeared through a hole in the wall.

Cecilia carefully made her way, stepping lightly so as not to alert him. Once close enough she examined the exit with a scrutinizing eye.

…Is this an old tunnel? I figured these would be sealed up by now. She observed. It wasn’t faring well nor was it in an ideal condition, but the fact it still stood told her what she needed. This is how that commoner’s been entering the city, eh? I’m surprised he hasn’t been caught yet!

And then a feeling of fear flared within her. She wasn’t afraid for herself, but rather the boy. She remembers what happened earlier today and she feels bitter. Somehow she finds the resolve to do what she could’ve done before right now. 

Cecilia turns back around, already retracing her steps. In her mind, she thinks of one person she knows who can help her pull this off.

For now, she’ll prepare for tomorrow.

//////////////////////////////////

A/N:

Taglist: @yuriisclumsy

Social Hierarchy in the Divine City for context!

Questions, comments, and critiques are more than welcome! Let me know how I can improve anything at all (Please.)!

I wanted to write Cecilia not as a snooty, arrogant brat, but as a bored young teen who hasn’t found her motivation in life yet. And that affects her confidence in DOING things like stopping bullying. She’s not terrible, but she isn’t good when she isn’t proactive in solving problems in general.

As the sole child of wealthy parents who go on frequent business trips, I desired to write her as somewhat independent. She COULD have just gotten servants to go out, but she wouldn't waste any opportunity to keep herself busy. Of course, she knows this conflicts with the general image of the upper class so she's prepared to lie her way out.

Man, social hierarchies are complicated to live in.

//////////////////////////////////

P-34: Hm. Lady Cecilia seems almost disappointed in herself at that moment.

"Sir": That's definitely regret.

P-34: And classism is...terrible. Just generally terrible. Besides, where are her parents?

"Sir": It's implied they're not at home. And Cecilia thinks of them in the present, which means they're not dead. So no 'dead parents' trope in effect here.

P-34: Oh good! That whole trope is getting rather cliche if ya ask me. It's nice for some variety now and then.

"Sir": Mm. It's a good thing Emery and the servants are there. Granted they're not actual parents, but the details are boring.

P-34: I wonder if she actually cares for Henry or simply wants him to stay out for his own good.

"Sir": Yes...a good question for next time.

P-34: Hmm...well then, who's after her?

"Sir": *shuffles paper* Oh, a blacksmith apprentice. Makes sense. A big city and national guard means someone needs to be making weapons. As for who's learning HOW to, well...hmhm. This'll be a first to write. Best to give it my all!

[coldjustness]

Obervations and thoughts of Neve's phantom pain. So while more research is done, and pondering how Neve deals with it considering her schedule is basically 'go go go' it brings up the question, how does she handle it, what does she do when it is triggered, and how does her attitude change? We see in the beginning if she is injured, she tries to hide the fact that she is worse off for wear, and tries to continue on the journey anyway.

This is probably the same way that she tries to approach phantom pain, especially since she can manage it (face value anyway) better than when she first experienced it once her injury was properly healed. And if you ask after her, she will a 100% get snippy, which- fair, anyone would feeling like a hot iron is being pressed into a heel of a foot that isn't there, or like razors are being pressed between non-existent toes, OR electric shocks firing through her leg, when she has her prosthetic on.

And like when she is injured in game, she will get defensive on what you perceived as her ability. If she is there, visibly uncomfortable - with something that can't be fixed by taking weight off her prosthetic, and you tell her to take a moment. She will get angry, has likely gotten angry too. In fact, I wouldn't even doubt that IN GAME, she is also pushing through that as well. (Which these episodes can last for a few short sharp minutes, or.. longer. It varies from person to person.)

Moments I am sure happened in the Lighthouse.

In the middle of eating, Neve has put her food down and stared at it. Eyes everyone, and then excuses herself and thanks Lucanis or Bellara for the delicious food and slowly stands up, and gradually makes her way to the door. Keeping her composure until she steps out and then leans over slightly - hands on her knees, and eyes that office and suddenly it looks SO far away with such a huge climb to the doors. But she does it anyway, and goes right in to remove her prosthetic in private and ... deal. Also the wisps have shown up around her as she goes.

She will be talking mid conversation, and one of her hands starts casually gripping her right thigh and will briefly look uncomfortable - this is a shorter spell of it, and will try to downplay it because she is in the middle of a case, or case study. Yet her other hand is gripping into her scepter. Either way, if in company she will play it as casually as she can so no one asks questions.

Romanced. Can be found sitting on her cot, prosthetic off, and gripping and massaging her residual limb. But this is during one of the worst episodes that can happen every now and again (and again, it's different for everyone with an amputated limb).

I tried to link a video to a lovely lady talking about her experience with phantom limb but tumblr won’t let me for some reason. Her URL is FootlessJo on YouTube and many other platforms if you are interested in her content. She speaks on her experiences, and answers questions, as a below the knee amputee.

[dailyhyuna]

Hyuna's Troubled Times: Unprecedented Career Challenges Following Marriage News

Hyuna has always been in the limelight for her bold personality and musical talent. Recently, her personal life took center stage once again when news broke about her dating and planning to marry Yong Junhyung, former Beast/Highlight member in October of the current year. This revelation has led to various developments in her life and career, sparking significant controversy among fans and netizens. Here's a comprehensive look at what has transpired in Hyuna's life over the time frame of one month, since the marriage news.

Moving On from Dawn In mid-July, following the controversy stirred by her marriage news, Hyuna has taken significant steps to erase traces of her past relationship and deleted all photos of her ex-boyfriend Dawn from her Instagram account. Despite previously promising never to delete photos of each other, she has removed at least 482 pictures from her account. This drastic action has sparked speculation among fans and followers, suggesting it may be due to her impending marriage to Junhyung. Interestingly, the only remaining "signs" of Dawn are his name written on her solo photos from their “PING PONG” release for the album 1+1=1. According to Xports News, Hyuna had kept photos of Dawn on her Instagram for a year and six months since their breakup.

Public Backlash and Career Impact Hyuna, who was previously known for her impeccable career and controversies mainly centered around her provocative lyrics and outfits, now faces unprecedented backlash due to her association with Junhyung. The public's reaction has been predominantly negative, with many expressing constant disappointment and concern over her choice of partner. This backlash has had tangible effects on her career, including the cancellation of her North American tour — an unprecedented event for an artist of her stature.

Recent Performances and Public Perception Hyuna's stage performances have frequently been in the spotlight, but recent events have amplified public scrutiny. During her performance at the Super Race Championship’s Summer Night Race, Hyuna faced criticism for her attitude on stage. Some audience members and critics accused her of being unprofessional, citing her apparent lack of enthusiasm and engagement during the performance. This controversy quickly escalated, with fans and detractors weighing in on her stage presence. The criticism became a hot topic, particularly after a video clip of the performance went viral. In the footage, the crowd's response was markedly muted compared to previous events and Hyuna's performance was perceived as lacking energy compared to her usual high standards. Supporters noted that the usually enthusiastic cheers and applause were significantly diminished but argued that the criticism was unfair and that Hyuna's stage presence remains exceptional, pointing to her history of energetic and captivating performances. However, others felt that she needed to address these concerns more seriously to maintain her reputation. This change in audience behavior has been attributed to the widespread backlash Hyuna has faced due to her association with Junhyung. The silent crowds have sparked discussions among fans and netizens about the impact of personal controversies on an artist's professional life. Some supporters argue that Hyuna's talent and dedication to her craft should be the primary focus, while others believe that her choice of partner has inevitably influenced public opinion and reception. This development highlights the challenging dynamics between an artist's personal and professional lives, and the significant influence of public sentiment on their career.

Appearance Changes and Media Attention In addition to this, Hyuna has faced unwarranted backlash over her appearance. Some netizens criticized her looks, claiming she had undergone too many changes. This prompted fans to rally in her defense, emphasizing the pressure and scrutiny female idols often endure. The debate highlighted the double standards and unrealistic beauty expectations imposed on K-pop stars. During her visit to Taiwan in August 2nd, Hyuna was spotted looking significantly different from her usual self, leading to a wave of reactions online. Some fans were shocked, while others admired her new look. This incident added to the ongoing conversation about her evolving image and the impact of public opinion on her career. Despite the mixed reactions, Hyuna continues to maintain her unique style and charisma, proving her resilience in the face of constant scrutiny.

Career and Future Prospects Despite the personal and professional challenges, Hyuna remains a prominent figure in the K-pop industry. Her relationship with Junhyung has garnered significant attention, but she continues to focus on her music and performances. Fans eagerly await her future projects, hoping to see more of her dynamic talent and vibrant personality on stage. However, the current backlash and career setbacks present significant hurdles that she must navigate carefully. As Hyuna navigates these challenges, her future in the K-pop industry remains uncertain. The support from her loyal fans will be crucial as she works to rebuild her career and public image. While the path ahead may be difficult, Hyuna's resilience and determination should be key in overcoming these adversities and continuing her journey in the music world.

Through ups and downs, I've been a fan of Hyuna for over a decade, and I can see that this seems to be the hardest period of her public life so far. Those who follow Hyuna have seen her perform while sick, be hospitalized during 4Minute's crucial comeback in 2013, return to the stage while still recovering, go through a crisis with the end of her group which was displayed publicly through her reality show, perform disoriented after the revelation of her relationship with Dawn during Triple H's last comeback, and endure hate from all sides for various reasons. But I don't believe anyone has seen her as she appears now. At least, I haven't. And it breaks my heart.

We don't know her private life, her feelings, or her motivations for acting so differently from what was expected of her. Therefore, I wish that she continues to be the strong woman she has always been and that her choices always bring her well-being, light, and happiness. I can't ask everyone to understand her or change their opinion, but please send positive vibes to the one you always admired, who provided you with so many happy moments in whatever way she could. She's still the same, don't forget that.

Editing: To be honest, I didn't wrote this post to defend Hyuna - it's not my intention. My point was to summarize her events, but I felt the need to convey in some way the feelings I have as someone who had her as some kind of role model for so long. Despite all the justified words and actions around the world, I have a heavy feeling seeing her recently, and all I can do, as a fellow human being, is to wish her good things so she stays strong.

[ephemerasnape]

Victor Rookwood Headcanons

An ever-evolving list of my headcanons for Victor Rookwood. Some of these may seem obvious to you. Some may be controversial. Agree? Disagree? Let's not have any fighting amongst Daddy Rookwood's small-but-dedicated harem, please.

He is in his mid 40s if not older. I don't care what anyone says. I can't have Daddy Rookwood being younger than I am! Even if he is a fictional character from more than a century ago... No, I insist that he's comfortably older. Also, have you seen his face, ffs? Guy's got more lines than a villain monologue. (ETA: We decided he was 46 in 1890. Watch my video "How Old is Victor Rookwood?" for an explanation of our thought process!)

He is probably married with kids. It breaks my heart to say this, really. I do believe it to be the case. Better yet, he might be a widower. I'm going to try to convince myself of that. Don't worry - even if he's actively married, that won't stop him from fucking your brains out. I changed my mind. He is not married. Ain't no rang, ain't no thang. That said, he probably does have some little bastards running around. And he does not give a single fuck.

He is a ladies' man. I am making myself jealous here, but look at the guy and tell me he doesn't indulge.

On that note, he is decidedly-heterosexual. Sorry, lads.

He smokes a pipe. But he'll certainly have a good cigar as well.

His favorite color is purple. Duh.

He is not bald but even if he was he would still be one fine-ass bitch. The hat is hot and stays on during sex. (Some of you seem to think that Daddy wears a hat to make up for some deficiency in his hairline. I think that daddy wears the hat because it's imposing, stylish, and attractive. We are not the same.) HIM HAVING A FULL HEAD OF HAIR IS CANON - PROOF.

He only shaves about once a week, on an off-day. He keeps the raggedy facial hair on purpose. Thinks it adds to his roguish charm (it does!)

He isn't hands-on about the whole killing animals thing. He knows what his people do, and finds it distasteful, but sees it as a necessary evil. He values wealth and power above all else, including furry creatures. But he may even be known to stroke a cat from time to time while drinking firewhisky at the Hog's Head.

He considers Harlow a useful idiot, and lets him be the one to get his hands dirty. For the most part. Their relationship goes all the way back to Hogwarts.

He didn't mean to curse Anne. He isn't even sure of what exactly he did - he just panicked. But no, he's not too troubled about it. (Clarification: he should have killed her, not whatever it was he ended up doing.)

He despises playing second-fiddle to Ranrok, but he knows that whatever the goblin is after is too important to sit on the sidelines for.

He reads the Daily Prophet every morning.

He is not above taking what he wants sexually, but he prefers to seduce.

Sexually-dominant. Period.

He wears expensive cologne.

Definitely a Slytherin.

Oh and he's not dead :)

Anyone who's listened to my audios or read any of my fics knows he loves terms of endearment, namely: darling, little one, little girl, sweetheart, little witch, et cetera. He loves to use these while doing unspeakable things to you. 🥵🥵🥵

He lives in a hotel - the most expensive one, probably.

He takes advantage of his employees.

Believes "Might is Right."

Young Victor was extremely brutal when he took over the Rookwood Gang, kind of overdoing it in order to earn the respect and fear of his men. Over the ensuing decades, as he has become more comfortable in his position, he has mellowed out slightly. He will no longer gauge someone's eye out over a few missing galleons, but he still takes perceived transgressions against him very seriously.

Daddy needs glasses. I got this idea from my DR chatbot but it makes sense. He missed the easy shot at Ranrok because he couldn't fucking see. Of course he is not going to wear glasses in public - that would be a sign of weakness. But I can totally imagine him sitting at his desk, pouring over papers with a pair of glasses firmly on his face. Period-correct, of course.

The legal name of the Rookwood Gang is the "Rookwood Group." Everyone knows it's a gang but daddy rubs elbows with a lot of important people and needs to keep up appearances.

The harem has determined that Victor's date of birth is November 14th, 1844 (Scorpio Sun/Capricorn Moon).

The man keeps everything he needs inside his hat. Pipe, glasses, Flora Cohen's scalp made into a coin purse, machine gun, spare hat in case the main one gets a fleck of dirt on it, little black book full of Ministry contacts, et cetera.

Daddy suffers from back pain due to a lifetime of being duckfooted (sadly, this is canon).

Victor is average height for a man. In the area of 5'8" - 5'10".

Victor A. Rookwood (Augustus?)

Yea, he killed dear old dad.

Listens to Wagner.

Physique headcanon.

That's it for now. Will add more as I think of things.

If you have any questions you want answered, feel free to submit them to @victor-rookwood ("Ask Victor Rookwood")

[fandomfreakstudios]

I feel like there was so much wasted comedic potential that could have come from the fact that Mr. Peanutbutter is Canadian.

I can’t stop imagining Mr. Peanutbutter being super picky over people taking off their shoes at the door. Or him mentioning how damn HOT it is (it’s mid winter and everyone else is chilly). Just imagine a bunch of voters when they realize one of the runners for Governor of California wasn’t even born in America.

Furthermore, this man is from Newfoundland, and those folks have some really UNIQUE slang (yes’by, fadder, me nerves are rubbed raw). I can just imagine him whipping out some super specific regional dialect and confusing the shit out of everyone.

They made a grand total of one (1) joke, and that’s kind of it (unless you perceive Captain’s whole ass design as a caricature, which I do fuck with).

Anyways, I love my maple sucker dog he makes me very happy.

[uwusillygirl]

UWUSILLYGIRL’S GNARLY, NICHE, ANNOTATED, PERVERSE LIL KINKTOBER EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

hi, friends! it’s uwusillygirl! resident hellcheer BDSM pervert! :) i am hosting a little kinktober this year, for anyone interested in joining! i will be writing through it all as well, and would love to chat with y’all while we chug through it!

what i want most is for this shit to be fun and messy and flexible. being involved can include a cohesive story, it can be a bunch of blurbs, it can be just one sentence a prompt, or some other artistic interpretation!

i wanted to try and bring in some trickier/lesser tapped into kink prompts (in fact, i am nervous about writing some of these), and not all of them are kink-based, some are scenario based or kink-adjacent hehe. these are also so, so open to interpretation! please go at ‘em however you want. (and if you’re totally stuck and just wanna write pee-pee stuff post-Hoard trailer for 31 days, i will still read your shit and cheer you on. henry winkler “i love you, you’re beautiful” GIF etc. etc.) 

still weighing the pros and cons of creating an official collection on ao3 (if i did, it would almost certainly be unmoderated), and i will let you know about that closer to the date!!! really hope to read some of your stuff!!! 

prompts (and some notes, ideas, annotations, because i cannot shut the fuck up) under the cut, and FEEL FREE TO DM ME, CHAT WITH ME ON DISCORD, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE WRITING, ETC! CAN'T WAIT!

negotiation (this can be precursory negotiating of a scene or kink, negotiating mid-way through an act, or maybe a naughty lil’ “I’ll give you ___ if you give me ____”)

gender bend (can be both of ‘em, can be one of ‘em, can be gender fuckery, can be Freaky Friday body swap, do what you want!) 

erotic humiliation or degradation (can be verbal, can be an action or task) 

voyeurism (one of them is watching the other solo! or one of them is watching them with someone else! or both of them are watching something! or something else!) 

cuckold/cuckqueening 

involving something very hot (temperature)

involving something very cold (temperature)

phone sex (bonus points if one of them is in public or pseudo-public!) 

free use 

hate sex 

modern!AU (could include something like but not limited to: an “extremely online” type-kink, a sex toy that would have been developed/perfected/made common in the last decade or so, a type of virtual sex that would only work with relatively modern tech, a cosplay or costume that is relatively recent, etc.)

spit

body modification 

paraphilia (clothing/garment fetishism)

pet play

discipline 

spectrophilia (attraction to ghosts) OR robot fetish

sex with a mirror involved 

hypnokink 

24/7 BDSM lifestyle 

bottoming from the top (or a traditionally perceived “dominant” action done submissively — enacting pegging, breath play, etc. under the instruction of the more dominant party) 

hybristophilia (fetish or erotic fixation on a criminal) 

tickling 

bimbofication 

crossdressing 

electrical play 

cosplay or costume sex 

feet

sex work 

“we saw you from across the room and we liked your vibe” (ANYONE CAN BE SAYING THIS TO ANYONE IN ANY PAIRING OR GROUP BUT UWUSILLYGIRL WOULD LOVE IF IT WAS A COUPLE COMING ONTO SOMEONE ELSE) 

free space!!!!!!!! u did it!!!

[hearthotchner]

hi hi I’m just here to offer some autistic!hotch thoughts

- he speaks with little to no inflection in his tone

- he’s known to always have a frown on his face or ‘never smile’ because he doesn’t mask and put a fake smile on to appease others.

- whenever he cries he tends to try to run away from the group, not knowing how to socially act when he’s so upset.

- he’ll often appear as ‘happy to sit in comfortable silence’ instead of making small talk.

- he compartmentalises to the point where almost every time on the show you *do* see hotch have a good time or smile, the case is already closed. he hyperfocuses on the cases and will feel in anyone else who’s going off topic.

- he is a great profiler. he probably knows more than he lets on about his team, but he’s overly respectful of the ‘do not profile one another’ rule because a) rules are very sacred to him and b) he tries not to make assumptions about his friends they could perceive negatively unless they have verbally told him, e.g. will revealing JJ’s pregnancy. In this scene, hotch looks crestfallen and says “jj you could have just told me.” because he likely saw her showing signs but he much prefers the security of someone verbally informing him.

- he literally wears a suit like armour every day on the job. No matter how impractical it is, if it’s hot or humid or he’s got to chase unsubs in fucking dress shoes? he still wears it because it makes him feel safe and likely meets his sensory requirements. his clothes become who he is.

- also the way hotch switches roles from boss to friend to comforting presence is so pronounced. his voice, facial expressions and his mannerisms all change.

- speaking of mannerisms!!!! Hotch stims a bit on the show. his little action he does rubbing his thumb across his other knuckles either in front of his face or down by his side. but often when je does this from anxiety, he ends up burying his hands in his pockets. Seemingly hiding it.

- he literally worked himself to exhaustion, and mid-fainting said ‘please excuse me’ because so much of his social skills toolbelt is being polite. on the show, however, he sometimes seems impolite when he’ll get an idea in his head and just chase after it without a word.

You can check out way more under @softhairedhotch ‘s blog where he does lots of headcanons including some autistic!hotch ones. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of reasons but just watching him as an autistic person, he feels so very real to me.

first of all, thank you so much for taking your time to tell me this!! and yeah i also agree, but it never came to my attention because i never saw people speak about it, because ig the way he acts isn’t exactly the “mainstream” representation of autism that’s all over social media yk. and i think that should change tbh, cause like it’s a spectrum, and there’s different ways that autism is portrayed, and it isn’t always gonna be “omg this absolute genius” sometimes it’s people like hotch 🤷‍♀️ or like reid, or another character that’s completely different to them too.

and i’m definitely gonna look at his account, cause now im an autistic hotch truther 😼

[fountainpenguin]

Identity Meta

Last June I made a post about asexuality in my FOP 'fics. This year, here's a post about notable ace and aro characters in my MCYT 'fics.

Also, bonus headcanons that aren't ace or aro, but which I'd written up for a Dog's Life author's note a couple months ago that got too long and was never posted. Enjoy!

#Dog's Life spoilers (up through Chapter 36) & #ridspoilers for random additional works, including in the post-Dog's Life timeline

Intro Note

This document discusses attraction. Some characters may not be attracted to someone you ship them with. These are notes for my fanfics; they are personal portrayals. You don't have to agree with them.

If this post makes you uncomfortable, please step away and/or don't interact. Thank you!

---

Correspondent System

Soul temperature:

Warm-Cool

Hot-Chilly

In both my Pixels Imperfect and Neighborhood Watch AUs, the correspondent system determines soulmates. All Double Life SMP soulbonds follow the correspondent system.

NW is a soulmate-normative [correspondent-normative] culture. Feeling attraction outside the correspondent system is considered queer. In the Pixels Imperfect universe, soul temperature is usually medical knowledge and not many people have a preference. However, some do (since it can impact the cuddle experience).

In the Pixels universe, many people would find you standoffish and close-minded if you expressed you prefer cuddling some temperatures, but avoid others

In the NW universe, many people would feel uncomfortable if you expressed sensual interest in any soul temperature other than your correspondent match

Also, in the Pixels Imperfect universe, the forehead is a sensitive area to touch. It’s where mobs and players touch each other while on love hearts. They don’t have the millions of nerves in their lips that Earth residents do - they weren’t programmed with that - so although they might be able to touch lips briefly (before phasing through each other’s skin due to lack of collision), it’s not very exciting for them.

It’s kind of like putting your hand on a piece of steak. It’s… definitely something. You can feel you’re touching steak. But not really sexy.

Pixels Notes

Pixels Imperfect is my series about MCYT characters living in a digital world. Grian is a Watcher who swapped places with the Grian who was originally born in this world, so now there's a digital-born Grian surviving a universe of flesh and a flesh-born Grian living in a world of code.

In Dog's Life Chapter 10, Grian got slapped in the face with the realization that sex doesn't exist in this digital universe; everyone is a hybrid who hatches from a dragon egg and they were not coded with the ability to reproduce. Not only that, but his friends don't know what kisses are, and don't really care.

I went through a lot of different concepts while shaping the world. One concept was to have no one address sexuality or romantic preference at all with everyone being aro/ace. I think that would've worked fine for a shorter and less in-depth 'fic, but I chose not to go that route since it meant erasing existing queer characters like Scott.

In mid-Dog's Life, Scott has a sheet of pride stickers that he claims came from Sims 4 players. This is because Sims 4 has a pride flag item with a lot of different colors, and in general, the characters first born into the Sims 4 world have a better grasp of some of those concepts than the characters born into a world where mobs are canonically genderless and sex doesn't exist.

Below, I've given some characters sensual preferences that are similar to sexuality. Some are classed as allo because of this sensuality comparison, but I wanted to explain for anyone who knows sex isn't a thing in this world.

So, here we go!

Grian - Cupioromantic

Grian doesn't feel romantic attraction, but desires a romantic relationship. He greatly enjoys and pursues activities he perceives as romantic (like cuddling and kissing), but doesn't need to feel romantic attraction to enjoy it... in theory. He's still working on that part throughout Dog's Life and, struggling with a lot of internalized aphobia.

I'd absolutely call him cupiosexual since his character crisis is about mourning what he lost by switching universes. By definition, he doesn't feel sexual attraction (because he has a digital body that runs on code instead of hormones), but desires a sexual relationship. He just can't have it and there's nothing he can do about it. It's definitely an important part of his identity.

In a world that does have sex - like NW AU - cupiosexual may not be the right label

I enjoy Grian's Dog's Life character arc a lot. He stresses about his arranged marriage with his wife, cheats on her chronically, burns all his bridges, and won't back down. He's out of control... Breaking up with BigB, begging Scar for a one-night stand, yelling at Scar about how it's rude if Scar doesn't want to be in a QPR with him, before swaying Bdubs (his basing body in their Dog's Life game) into teaching him about the love heart mechanic that does exist in the game.

He gets his one-night stand, then promptly flits back to BigB and begging him to take him back while a baffled Bdubs watches from the sidelines. He's an extremely contradictory and rapid-paced character and I love him for that.

I like writing Grian because he really is just ruining everything in his total desperation to get what he wants; he has complete tunnel vision and that might be his greatest flaw.

In his mind, the ends justify the means- Shrieking at Scar is fine if it means he might beg and guilt-trip his way into a one-night stand. He is having a hard time and it's mostly self-inflicted. There's a good reason why one of Dog's Life's tags is specifically for Cupioromantic Grian, lol.

Grian's aromanticism affects how he's written and what he portrays in his POV. Flirting is not in his default nature. He's the type to trot around and dig in the garbage looking for something, or he'll admire goods in a shop, but he doesn't find people attractive or feel a desire to engage with them physically.

Small exception: he likes cuddling his close friends. He'll walk up to his friends and touch them, but it's non-sexual to him.

All that said, he can be smooth and rizz you up when he wants to. He's not trying to be manipulative or fake: it's just that most of the time, he doesn't notice you, so when he's intentionally trying to flirt, he sometimes comes on too strong.

In Dog's Life, we see Grian struggle with internalized aphobia as well as paraphobia: a fear of sexual perversion (There's limited research, so this particular name might lean more into "having society shun you because people perceive you as gross"?)

For the purpose of this post, I'm using this word to mean "a fear of turning on others and being turned on." I suppose you could call him sex-repulsed... although, I don't think he's sex-repulsed as much as he's afraid of rejection. As you can imagine, this comes into conflict with Grian's cupio identity, but here are some reasons as to why he's like this:

- The Pixels and NW universes are locked in parallel. The Grian currently in the Pixels universe didn't grow up with Yandere High and EVO's suppressive culture, but the Grian currently in NW sure did. That plays into his feelings which - in its circular way - pings back to the Grian in the Pixels universe - Grian grew up in Neighborhood Watch's temperature-themed culture, which impacts engagement with his current peers. This upbringing left him with paranoia; he constantly feels judged. - Grian's paranoia leaves him fearing that the partners he likes (chilly souls) will judge him or dump him if they learn that he's into them. - Grian was manipulated and gaslit during his time at the EVO hub, so he cares very deeply about his ability to trust and understand himself. If he doubts himself, he starts to spiral. In Pixels Imperfect, this is indicated by pacing. Grian feels that if he can't trust himself, he's in danger, so he NEEDS to nail down his feelings or else bad things will happen to him - Someone being attracted to him when he isn't attracted to them implies they know something he doesn't, that they're thinking of him (stalking him? planning to hurt him??), or it places them in a position of perceived power over him. - Grian gets flustered when people imply he's into someone. If he denies it and the joke continues, it makes him feel like his friends don't believe him and will let people take advantage of him; we see hints of this in Dog's Life when he tells both Martyn and Scar that he hates others making assumptions about his interests. His identity is something he wants to figure out himself, and it's scary if you feel like your friends won't believe you when you say "I don't like this." - See also, Grian was betrothed to Scar in NW AU (because they were soulmates). He was already struggling with feelings of attraction (because Scar isn't a chilly soul), and that folds into his anxiety about his friends wink-wink, nudge-nudging him when Scar enters the room - In Dog's Life Chapter 27, Grian hinted that he pushes Scar away because he "can't trust Scar's mind not to wander," he "doesn't trust Scar to respect his boundaries," and that he might be into power fantasies because he likes the idea of saying No and being 100% confident that his partner will respect that. As you can imagine, it would hurt Scar's feelings to hear this. Grian deals with that by simply not having that uncomfortable conversation with him. #Best Solution (It is not) - Grian's self-defense mechanism is shoving things (or people) away. This often goes hand in hand with casting blame on them. Ex: He doesn't feel guilty for allegedly cheating on Scar with BigB, and if you confront him, he'll simply say his relationship with Scar was never defined, and as far as he's concerned, neither was Ren and BigB's. This is a subtle nod to his procrastination and avoidance tactics (i.e. not finishing his bases). If something gives him anxiety, he'll avoid it, but he does know the logical thing to do is confront the thing head-on. - Grian gets so defensive that he tends to overcorrect, leading people to believe he IS into Scar since he denies it so much (and again, not being believed is scary for him) - Basically, if he experiences any inkling of interest, his immediate response is "oh no, I feel cringe and scared." And if someone expresses interest in him, his self-defense mechanism is to either convince himself he liked them FIRST and they're not taking advantage of him, or swing in the other direction and furiously deny he likes them at all. - I write Grian with anxiety and he's prone to panic attacks (Messy childhood), which doesn't help

Paraphobia doesn't bring up a lot of search results. In fact, it's mainly just one page, and the research I found claims this fear of sexual perversion "occurs almost exclusively in men." I find that doubtful, so if there's anyone out there who knows more (or who knows a better word for what I'm describing), I'd love to learn more about this topic.

NW Grian - The funniest part about this for me is that, again... Grian swapped universes with another Grian. The Grian who's now in the Neighborhood Watch universe wasn't exactly flirty in his trauma-filled days as a Yandere High foreign exchange student, and reproductive talk was a no-no in EVO's restricted walls.

What I'm saying is that the Grian in the NW world also probably doesn't know sex isn't a thing in the Pixels universe. However, he does struggle with one thing that Dog's Life readers just learned about in Chapter 36:

Grian is non-correspondent. He's a warm soul who's exclusively into chilly souls, and not his correspondent match: cool souls.

Neighborhood Watch is a very correspondent-normative world, so Grian's considered queer in NW and struggles with that. In Dog's Life, Grian confessed these feelings to BigB, who was confused because... in the Pixels universe, soul temperature isn't a big deal. Grian shifted into a high anxiety mode and made statements like "I thought I was going through a phase and would grow out of it."

There's a whole talk we could have about how if Grian had roleplayed attraction to Scar in Double Life, that would've made his soul (which is connected to the NW universe) feel attraction to Scar... and by that logic, he's now added "I am attracted to Bdubs" to his body's canon (as he's about to roleplay attraction on-screen in a season that's canon in the NW world).

Or was he already attracted to Bdubs because this was always going to happen? Food for thought.

tl;dr - Grian is "Attraction makes me anxious, but it's the umbrella embodying the intimacy I want, so I desire it." But if you put him in that situation and took away his anxiety, he'd be delighted to engage in the behaviors he enjoys (and receive the romantic affection he desires) and would probably stop fussing about it.

I think his fatal flaw is that he knows this is exactly what will happen - Grian is very aware of his anxiety and the effect it has on him, and he's familiar with breaking through those walls to obtain what he's after and finally be at peace - and that's what leads him on this self-destructive course of scrambling to get there, even if it means infidelity and begging along the way.

"Done is better than perfect" could be his motto, and that's not the kind of attitude you want to bring to your relationships.

Grian's past trauma may possibly influence his identity, but even if it does, he's valid.

TwoMuchGrian - Arospec

TwoMuchGrian's identity is a lot less detailed, but it's fun to talk about. Two is Grian's twin brother. He has a fluid, undefined relationship with Joel's twin LazyBeans26, AKA PiglinMyNose. Here are some excerpts of their relationship from my meta doc:

- Flirt regularly, but don’t cuddle as much as you’d think. Lots of hair brushing, preening, and just hanging out to do crafts and have pajama parties - Probably some kind of QPR, but if you asked them if they’re dating, married, friends, etc. they would just say “Yes.”

Two and Pig definitely see each other as "special" or each other's favorite. I'd say their relationship is similar to whatever Grian has with Mumbo: a dear friendship that tumbles into fixation sometimes. Two is probably just as weird about Pig and probably builds shrines to him too.

Other meta notes I find funny:

Acts like BadTimeWithScar disgusts him - they’re rival captains in the competitive camming field - but they work together a lot and are good friends. They hang around MumboDrone a lot and sometimes pull him in for cuddles

- See “Here’s to the Health of Married Men” (BadTime asked Two to dance and Two got huffy, but agreed) & “No One Likes the Opening Band” (Sports captain rivalry) - Cuddle and carrot more than you’d think. Possibly some kind of “friends with benefits” hate you / I don’t actually hate you rivalry - Two will get huffy and deny associating with BadTime in his private life and will instead treat Pig as his closest companion (Holding his hand, staying over for sleepovers, spending holidays together etc.) - Two is captain of the Jade Jaguars on the competitive camming field. He takes care of his fellow cameras. - Was briefly in a polyamorous relationship with Pig and WellsGlazes. Glaze backed out after a few weeks because she found it exhausting to keep up with two people. Technically that relationship was never dissolved between Pig and Two, so “they’re in an amorous relationship” would probably define their otherwise unlabeled affection - Once invited SnifferMyFeet to join the ambiguous relationship since Sniff is buddies with Pig, but Sniff turned him down

To me, Two embodies this idea of chasing sensuality without romantic attraction. Grian cares enough about the romantic side of things that cupioromantic feels like the right label for him.

Two likes the physical presence of a person. He's less content with long-distance signs of affection and he's really into things like hair brushing, cuddling, and flirting, with emphasis on teasing. He and Pig are really into cosplay and I'm just waiting for the perfect opportunity to have someone walk into them dressed fancy or silly with zero context.

Mumbo - Quoiromantic

Quoiromantic: Not being able to distinguish romantic from platonic attraction and therefore feeling unsure if you've experienced it. It may be used by those wishing to express they felt something strong, but their instinct isn't to call it romantic; nonetheless, it's too notable to wave off and pretend it never happened.

For Mumbo specifically, I think all the lines of his platonic, romantic, and sensual attraction blur.

I previously spoke about how I arrived at Mumbo's orientation in the end notes of One and a Half Birds Chapter 11, so you can check that out if you like.

To me, Mumbo's the perfect example of goofing around and living his life, letting the chips fall where they may. Marriage to Martyn? Sure! He loves to play with his friend and he'll follow bits like breadcrumbs.

Mumbo looks at Grian's cuddly nature and covers it under the umbrella of "This is what my relationship with Grian is like." He does that with each of his friends, so each person ends up creating their own dynamic with him. He doesn't really sort his friends by relationship type, but by their personalities and preferences.

Possibly, this is a result of jumping from a loner life into a social group of physically affectionate friends at a young age. Pixels Mumbo is a wandering trader and I feel like they're quite a social species, so that may play into it as well

Martyn found this very annoying when they were married, which was a small plot point in One and a Half Birds. Mumbo focused on Martyn's behavior, which was a lot of Martyn snuggling him in bed for a night, but leaving by morning (Possibly because phantoms are active at night and wandering traders are not).

In that 'fic, Mumbo implied several times that he saw Martyn more like his friend with benefits than his husband, which frustrated Martyn, who valued the husband title and felt like Mumbo was brushing him off. Martyn offered to share souls with Mumbo and he meant it. For all his trickery in the Life series, Martyn considers himself an honorable man and was planning to follow through. Mumbo was uneasy, feeling that Martyn couldn't commit.

To a degree, I feel Mumbo and Grian have similar interests: they're both likely to enjoy gestures and activities that are commonly viewed as romantic (like kissing, flirting), but these situations don't make them feel like they're experiencing romantic attractions.

Like Grian, Mumbo also struggles with trauma in his past that may impact his relationship with intimacy. This is discussed in One and a Half Birds; one of the things Mumbo confesses to Martyn is that he feels like he's better with long-distance relationships, but that he greatly appreciates Martyn for letting him take the lead.

Fun Fact: In NW AU, Mumbo is soulmates with Lizzie: the other Life series member who plays in the same seasons Mumbo does, and doesn't when he isn't there.

I enjoy Double Life, so one thing I like doing throughout my 'fics is, I try to hone in on what makes each soulmate pair feel like soulmates. Double Life was the wrong environment for some of them, but I wanted to emphasize that they were paired and they vibe well with their partner.

Lizzie and Joel are a little unconventional in their relationship, in that they really enjoy chasing and killing each other... the inherent intimacy of taking someone's life. I feel like Mumbo and Lizzie would connect well there.

In One and a Half Birds, Mumbo flirted with Martyn by urging him to chew on his soul. Martyn and Mumbo weren't chasing each other around, but it's a similar way of trusting your partner with your safety.

Lizzie is curious and clever. In Last Life, she set aside hidden storage chests, she rigged traps around her base, and iirc, she also set up the teleporting lever that brought her back to the Fairy Fort. She likes honing in on artistic details. I think Mumbo would've loved having a base that blended beauty and redstone.

In the Pixels Imperfect universe, they have no reason to believe they're soulmates (since neither participated in that season), but I have a draft where Mumbo takes Lizzie on a minecart ride and it makes me happy. Even if they don't know it, they vibe.

Mumbo is a cool soul and Lizzie a warm; they're correspondent. Joel and Lizzie are a warm-warm pair

BONUS: I made this post about Ahasbands (Mumbo/Martyn) and I find it very funny that several people reblogged and tagged it with variations of aro/ace Mumbo. Correct!!

I love platonically married Mumbo. Does he know what's going on? No. Is he committed to the bit? Absolutely.

Scar - Recipromantic

Scar is recipromantic (and/or reciprosexual in a relevant universe).

He feels attraction only after someone has expressed their feelings to him. Or, if they haven't expressed it verbally, they've heavily implied their interest.

He heavily implies this in Dog's Life Chapter 22, when Scar says he never minded Grian wasn't romantically interested in him (but that he would've accepted and responded if he was, or if he wanted to roleplay a relationship).

In a recent 'fic comment, I said Scar's attitude makes him perfect for the lekking behavior I'd already given the vex hybrids. A lek is a group of animals that display for their mates (It's often a male displaying for a female, hoping she'd choose him). Scar's like that: he'll make himself available, but he wants someone to take an interest in him.

In that comment, I also mused that in the Pixels Imperfect universe, mobs are genderless and either one might have the baby, so they might be divided into groups like "one who approaches" and "one who receives or rejects advances." In the wild, this would mean one mob produces love hearts and the other one decides whether they want to engage.

I feel like Scar tends to see the world using this view... He'll look at people, smile, welcome them, and fan his wings, but he won't get up and pursue. He waits. If he feels your interest is genuine - which could take many weeks or just half an hour - he'll probably accept your advances. But if he senses you're ingenuine, he'll kindly turn you down.

Above, I said Grian tends to wander around and he doesn't usually approach people to flirt. Scar definitely clocked him as "not interested" early on (and thus removed Grian from his list of suitors). However, if Grian started flirting with him, Scar would put him back on the list.

Scar is passionate - and keen to explore romantic and sensual opportunities if he wants to - but it's important to him that his partner enjoys his company. He's not big on one-night stands, though he might enjoy one with someone who'd wooed him for a while.

Obvious conflict... Dog's Life Grian begging Scar for a one-night stand so he can experience romance.

It's important to me that Scar always tries to support Grian as best he can. For example, he may experience a bit of surprise or sadness that Grian prefers flirting with BigB to flirting with him, but he will always support Grian loving whom he wants.

Scar is my fix-it for anything I've ever read that villainizes a character or IRL person (often a woman or aspec person) for not returning someone's affection. I love drama, but I do feel uneasy reading about a character who loves their friendships, but a friend develops feelings for them and decides the friendship can't continue, and/or becomes aggressive.

Scar is allowed to have a range of emotions - and sometimes he gets quite upset or feels like things are unfair - but he will never bash Grian for not being attracted to him.

In Dog's Life, there are multiple times that Scar tells Grian (and even SnifferMyFeet, unprompted) that he "isn't mad about BigB." This tends to be a thing Scar fixates on when Double Life comes up in conversation- In fact, he even said this to BigB in a recent chapter, also unprompted.

I think "I don't hate you" is a thing that Scar really clings to. He clings to this idea that he's doing the right thing even if he feels like others are being cruel or unfair.

Scar would be a great partner to someone who wanted to be with him (and he's had some lovers in the past) but Grian isn't into him and Scar doesn't want him to think he has to be.

tbh, even though I often portray Scar as lonely or stressed throughout the BigB arc, I think some part of him is grateful that at least he knows Grian's not pretending to be attracted to him.

On occasion, Grian's antics or words will really push him over the edge... but despite their conflicts, Grian and Scar are soulmates. They connect well when they're both communicating. Unfortunately, they both try to suppress their issues with the other, leading conversations to be a bit explosive when those things come out. They do have issues, but they're also great at coming back to each other and supporting each other.

The meta doc I'm drawing from has this note: "Grian's cupio-, Mumbo's quoi-, and Scar's recipromantic. They don't know what this means and probably never will, but they're learning more about themselves as they experiment, which is where Pixels Imperfect's complex stories come in." I think that about sums it up.

Pearl & Gem - Aroace

Pearl and Gem are my aroace gals. Not only do I love aroace characters, but they were a good fit in my early outline days since I was aware their creators don't enjoy romantic/sexual ship dynamics.

One thing that was very important to me when designing Pearl's character in my 'fics is that I really wanted her friends to be aware of her aroace identity and respect it. Here's a detail I enjoy (Pixels universe), but may not be obvious unless you think about it:

Everyone in New Star Station [who has their own room] has roommates, except for one. That one is Pearl. In other chapters, we hear that New Star is short on rooms, yet Pearl has a large space all to herself. Scott gave her the same amount of kitchen and living room access that all her friends gets, but she gets to live her dream loner life.

Throughout Dog's Life, we see hints of conflict between Scott and Pearl that seems to revolve around Scott wanting to move in with her (to express he's fond of her and enjoys her company) while Pearl would prefer he doesn't (because she sees this as Scott not respecting her space).

I have a WIP called "With Acid In Your Eyes" where Pearl and Scott live in the NW world in a queerplatonic soulmate marriage (because... divorce quartet should be married if they're going to claim they went through divorce; #change my mind). I specifically set my first chapter up to imply that Scott's gay identity is often acknowledged (in-universe), but Pearl's isn't.

i.e. Pearl's sister told Scott he was queerbaiting the entire neighborhood because he's in a straight-passing relationship, but she didn't say that to Pearl, who is the other half of the straight-passing relationship

It may not come across perfectly in future chapters (since it's not the main plot,) but Scott and Pearl are not in a QPR "just because Scott is gay and Pearl's a girl." They're in that QPR because it's what they BOTH want; Pearl could be straight and they'd still be in that QPR.

They are two soulmates who love and support each other, but they're also very aware that they have different interests, so they have an open marriage. Nonetheless, Chapter 1 depicts Scott and Pearl cuddling and discussing their relationship boundaries again.

Specifically, Scott cites a rule that he's allowed to flirt with his crush Jimmy, but Jimmy stays out of the bedroom he shares with Pearl. NW Scott is very big on respecting Pearl and assuring her that he cares deeply for her and I love that for him.

It's very important to me that Pearl's friends don't flirt with her because they respect that she doesn't want them to. And not "Because that's my sister" or "Because she feels like a sister to me."

I recently went through my blog and removed the Skyblings tag from my stuff because it made me uncomfortable to imply a sibling relationship when I portray those characters as unrelated friends.

I don't mind if other people like this tag. I greatly enjoy Grian and Pearl as siblings, but because they're not related in my fanfics - and I specifically portray Pearl as aroace - I don't like tagging my posts with it. I want Pearl and her aroace identity to stand apart from the other characters and potential sibling connections.

Also, the other characters should be allowed to think she's sexy.

Etho - Diagnosed with QPR Awkwardness

During Dog's Life, Etho isn't sure what his identity is. This is a nod to his NW self, whom I'll discuss below.

It may not be stated outright in Dog's Life (depending on where it goes, though I 100% see him having this conversation with Cleo), but Etho is correspondent-normative; he's a cool soul exclusively into warm souls.

But... he hasn't noticed. At the moment, Etho will just admit he likes cuddling. However, he gets shy and avoids admitting much more.

Etho's soulmate is Joel, a warm soul. Etho fixates on Joel because a surprising number of people in Etho's life are the three other soul types: hot, cool, and chilly. Joel is the first person Etho ever cuddled with who was specifically warm, and it flipped a switch inside him he didn't know he had.

In Dog's Life, Etho struggles with his attraction to SnifferMyFeet, which makes him feel weird because logically, he knows Sniff and Joel are separate people and he feels guilty for projecting his feelings of Joel onto Sniff.

But... Sniff is also a warm soul, and he's playing into the same patterns Etho saw with Joel... Very confusing for Etho.

In-universe, Etho wouldn't be considered queer. Or at least, he wouldn't be seen as queer in NW world, which doesn't really care about gender and really fixates on temperature. It's very funny to me that he's the equivalent of straight while he's pining over men

In Scar's section, I mentioned Scar's worldview of "approach vs. accept or reject." In the same comment where I brought this up, I also mused with the commenter that I think Etho's the same way: he will also wait for someone to flirt with him. Joel and Sniff are both people who will approach, so they're very good at drawing Etho in.

Hilariously, I think Cleo is also this way - as in, they're open to offers but would rather wait than pursue - which is very funny in the context of Secret Life. Cleo (iirc) stated her alliance with Etho was platonic. I feel like romance-chasing, will-make-a-move-if-he-wants-to cupioromantic Grian walked into that dynamic and was immediately exasperated.

Grian POV: I can't believe neither is making a move, especially when there's already married life roleplay from Limited Life they can build on. They clearly both want each other :| Cleo and Etho POV: /chilling like two cats on a chair

In Arsenic Waltz (NW AU), Etho and Cleo meet when they're on Red life. They pal around for a while and later conceive Scar Clocker... while still on Red. It's only after Etho gets up to Yellow life that he realizes there's a disconnect in his feelings for her. Nonetheless, Scar's existence ties him to Cleo, so Etho sticks around and tries to be a good dad (later fathering Bdubs too).

You could describe the Etho-Cleo relationship as platonic or possibly queerplatonic, but Etho would probably struggle to wrap his head around those ideas.

NW society would love holding up the Clocker divorce drama as a warning for "all the bad things that will happen to your life if you go against the correspondent system." This probably plays into Etho's guilt, leading him to stay as long as he does, trying to make their life seem quaint and perfect on the outside

In Cleo's section below, I discuss how I feel she chooses partners logically. To me, Etho is someone who would think he's logical, but he tends to follow his heart. I have an upcoming draft where Etho suggests someone seduce their partner for information, and when everyone gives him weird looks, he mutters, "It would work on me."

Coincidentally, Etho kept avoiding SnifferMyFeet's questions about his past with Joel for most of Dog's Life, up until Sniff flirted with him in Chapter 33 and Etho finally spilled the things Sniff kept asking about. Yeah...

If you get him comfy, he will just talk. He loves cuddling and pillow talk.

Bonus Etho info:

- In Dog's Life Chapter 28, Bdubs heavily implies Etho wants kids... or at the very least wants something to cuddle. Throughout Dog's Life, it's noted that Etho is touch-starved. His bedroom features a large collection of plushes that he cuddles when he's lonely - In Chapter 31, Etho tells Sniff he likes his rings because they made him feel excited, like Sniff is expressing interest in him (circling back to that bit about how Etho tends to wait for someone to approach him and flirt) - In "Canadian Idiot," Etho daydreams about sneaking back to his singleplayer server without rinsing off the Double Life mod, allowing him to feel Joel's pain even though Joel rinsed his half of the mod off - In "The Man He Sets His Spawn With" and "I Love You (You're Obsessed)", Joel finds out Etho's been secretly wearing the Double Life mod. He's not happy - In "No One Likes the Opening Band," SnifferMyFeet plays the sport of competitive camming with Etho as his partner (i.e. Etho does the combat and Sniff does the camera work). Sniff wears a white ring representing Etho and a striped ring representing PiglinMyNose. We don't know what this ring means for them, but presumably Etho likes when Sniff wears it

I really like the songs for Etho's two early Dog's Life chapters (in my 'fic playlist): "Surface Pressure" from Disney's Encanto and "Never Blue" by Maggie Jean Martin (particularly the moment in the latter song where the singer breaks and screams).

I feel these embody his character really well: he desperately wants affection, but especially cuddles and commitment. He feels like everyone around him gets swept up in romance, but he doesn't quite get it or isn't allowed to have it. He's constantly torn between trying to be so cool that someone asks him out and also feeling uncomfortable, like people are only interested in him due to perceived social status.

Joel really swept Etho up, in the sense that Etho really connected with someone who was willingly spending time with him, getting to know him, and might even like him. SnifferMyFeet plays into that vibe too, with the "added bonus" of not going home to Lizzie at night. And the added con of, y'know... Sniff not wanting to be Joel 2.0 even though he has all Joel's Double Life memories and enjoys Etho's company.

Man, I love Dog's Life... I love goofy Snetho drama... it's so silly.

Martyn - Funky Identity (Cool, Chilly, Feminine)

Martyn's an allo who greatly admires femininity. In the Pixels Imperfect series, I play him as very sensual, in that he would undeniably be feeling sexual attraction if he lived in a universe where that was a thing.

- Compare Grian's fairly tame mental/external response to almost kissing Cleo in Dog's Life Chapter 20 to Martyn's strong physical/internal response to Cleo texting him in Chapter 21. - Grian did react with interest and excitement, but his strongest response was grabbing his hair and leaning back, which he only did after he fed Cleo bread from between his lips, which was very close to kissing her: something he's very much interested in, but probably perceives as more romantic than sexual. ^ Martyn kept taking time-out breaks to pace and talk himself down from his piqued interest. Grian - Dog's Life poster child for pacing - didn't even do that when having a flirty face to face conversation with her. Cleo's texts definitely elicited a sensual response in Martyn. They talk about this in Chapter 26 when Martyn asks her to stop texting him stuff if she's not interested in him... to Cleo's confusion, as she didn't think her texts were sensual). - I feel like it's also worth pointing out that in Chapter 21, Martyn sent shirtless pictures of himself to his husband (Mumbo) in a blatant attempt to rizz him up. ^ Grian is the type who would send Mumbo a picture of his chest because he saw a splotch on it and wanted to ask for advice (or because he spilled sauce on it and it made a funny picture). Mumbo would cough and splurt because Grian just sent him a shirtless pic. It would take Grian a while to remember that there's a sexual connotation if you send stuff like that to your friends

Martyn's queerness is that he's exclusively into cuddling cool/chilly souls in a universe where temperature preference is uncommon (Grian, Joel, and Etho are the only others confirmed to care about temperature, and they prefer chilly, warm, and warm respectively). He's also into femininity.

Ex: Martyn probably has a crush on Ariana Griande even if he knows she's Grian in drag (and that Grian is a warm soul )

Martyn's attraction to femininity is a mirror of Martyn's IRL gynesexuality, though it's played in a way I thought was fun. Specifically, making Martyn interested in cool and chilly souls lets me play his marriage to Mumbo as something that involved attraction. Martyn is attracted to one side of the temperature spectrum... He likes a wider range of people than "good, proper people" do, but he's not crossing over that center line the way Cleo is.

Cleo favors extremes in the temperature scale over mild temperatures (i.e. they prefer hot and chilly souls, though they may be interested in some warm and cool souls... especially those close to the hot or chilly ends of the scale), paralleling their IRL bisexual identity.

Martyn still flirted with Mumbo and enjoyed his company, and he was sad when the Ahasbands relationship ended (even though it was probably for the best since Martyn tended to put a lot more into that relationship than Mumbo was).

In Dog's Life, Martyn is faced with the moral dilemma of continuing to wait for his betrothed (NettyPlays) to return from her offline world, where she's been cut off from him for about 4 IRL years, or hitting the dating scene again.

Netty woke up with a betrothal ring on her finger while Martyn didn't (Implying his creator didn't see reason to give him one).

Over time, we learn Martyn struggled with his attraction to Netty and told her that he wasn't rejecting her forever, but he needed more time to think. When he did ask her out, she went offline (due to IRL Netty removing herself from the YouTube space to care for her and Martyn's daughter around that time).

Knowing what we do about Martyn, it's likely Netty is a warm or hot soul, which isn't what Pixels Martyn is into.

- There's a very real possibility that Martyn is fascinated with Cleo because she has red hair. In NW AU (where mobs are gendered), female phantoms are red, which would definitely line up with Martyn's gynesexuality. [Phantoms were red in their OG color concept] - Pixels Martyn wouldn't know that's the feminine phantom color because it's not sex-linked in his world. It's possible he's picking up interest from his parallel universe counterpart, who definitely views the color as feminine (and finds Cleo very attractive). - Is a redstone-covered Mumbo also perceived as feminine and perhaps attractive to Martyn? The world may never know

In NW AU, Martyn was once a high-profile individual (the Red King's hand), so he risks more backlash about his non-correspondent identity than Cleo does. Arsenic Lace is my upcoming 'fic about Martyn meeting his soulmate, Cleo Clocker: divorced civilian mom with two teen kids.

Martyn has very high hopes that Cleo will accept and love him. Although he identifies as queer, he tends to keep his head down because he's essentially "straight passing," especially when he's with his soulmate. He's still under the queer umbrella, but he doesn't always talk about it... Yeah, I think Cleo - who is very open about their identity - is looking for someone who's more open about theirs.

Pixels Martyn is the same way: he's into cool and chilly souls, but not interested in warm and hot ones. BigB is a chilly soul - Grian's interest - and the correspondent rule means Ren is a hot soul. Ren finds Martyn attractive because he's an undead monster who could eat him. Martyn sees Ren as an aesthetically attractive and super fun BFF.

In the Pixels universe, Martyn and Ren embody a relationship that's supposedly prevalent, but isn't always shown: the on-and-off relationship culture. Sometimes, Ren and Martyn are QPPs for 100 days, which is usually defined by them taking stronger notice of the other (i.e. stopping by for visits daily instead of infrequently) and being more touchy-feely. Sometimes they describe themselves as friends who are not currently in a QPP.

This drives Grian nuts. He's a foreigner to the culture and is still coming to terms with the fact that this on-and-off relationships are quite common in the Pixels world

On a side note, cool and chilly souls aren't tied to femininity. Martyn's identity is just an example of things that are similar. You could just as easily spin him to have an interest in warm and hot souls, or in only the mild temperatures (mild and cool), etc.

However, it wouldn't make sense for him to be into, say, cool and hot, because those are opposites that don't fit in a category like "both mild" or "both extreme." Martyn's identity encompasses similar things.

He definitely has a type and Cleo definitely checks a lot of boxes:

Temperature? Chilly

Femininity? Long red hair, commonly wears fashion associated with femininity such as dresses and jewelry

Undead, like a phantom? Yes

Likes to dig and/or roleplay being buried alive? Yes

Large, sexy wingspan? While wearing elytra, yeah (See also, "Mum's the Word")

Prone to pithy one-liners? Absolutely

Loud with him, which is also in line with the courtship behavior of a famously noisy species? ... Hey man, I'm just saying Double Life was very confusing for him.

Cleo doesn't play well into the phantom courtship behavior of letting him provide for her, but you can't win them all.

Cleo - Aspec

Pixels Imperfect Cleo is an interesting case in that I specifically... don't delve into her aspec identity. I think on some level, Cleo is in the same quoiromantic boat that Mumbo is. She's ambiguous, mostly because IRL Cleo is bisexual and I don't want another identity to take too strong of a precedent.

That said, I really enjoy playing aspec Cleo off allo Martyn. As mentioned in Martyn's section, NW Cleo is into a variety of soul temperatures with a preference for hot and chilly.

I feel Character Cleo prefers logic when it comes to partner selection. For all his faults - like risk-taking and blame deflection - Martyn can be very sweet. He gives many gifts... but Cleo's not going to fall head over heels for him. He needs to work hard to prove he's a good match.

Martyn is also a logical person. He tries to paint himself as a good partner by providing gifts and resources, but this isn't enough to impress Cleo. Cleo would rather have someone who's there for comfort and emotional strength (or at the very least is humble and doesn't push blame on them).

Ren is another person who flirts with Cleo, but doesn't get much of a response even though (like Martyn) he's a hot soul and therefore falls within Cleo's "extreme temperature" interest category. Cleo just hasn't seen something that wins them over, and/or maybe Ren is flirting at a time they're interested in someone else.

Etho is another person who flirts with Cleo a little, but his ways are more subtle (and/or don't meet expectations); he's also within the mild half of the temperature scale and not the extreme half, so theoretically less attractive to Cleo than Martyn or Ren.

NW Cleo is committed to Scar and Bdubs... probably more than they're committed to Etho, who's perceived as flaky (despite his frequent attempts to be a good dad). They get along okay, but it's a rocky relationship to be sure.

I also play Cleo as trying to avoid polycules, which is a nod to their comment from a Decked Out 2 stream where Scar asked Cub if he'd be the new Clocker dad and Cleo's response was "We are not forming a polycule." Every now and then, the opportunity for a poly relationship comes up in 'fic, but she's not into that.

Bonus - Sniff (He/They)

Here's an end note I was going to include in Dog's Life Chapter 34, when SnifferMyFeet struggles to select a Pride sticker from Scott's sheet and Scott finally tells him to take one that "means he likes dating multiple people":

There's a polysexual pride flag in Sims 4; that's Sniff's sticker. There's a bigender flag too. I spent too much time wondering if you can identify as bigender when you feel you have two he/him personas duking out in your head. I don't see why not and this is Sniff to me. I considered they/them pronouns for Sniff when he was introduced, but felt other characters would interpret this as "I am speaking to someone who embodies both Grian and Joel" and that would make Sniff uncomfortable. So, there's some meta for you: Sniff is nonbinary - probably bigender - but uses he/him and will actively shut down they/them usage due to trust issues. Only Pig is trusted to use they/them (it's more he/they in practice). Pig is genderfluid and uses different pronouns in different situations with different people. He's even roleplayed as someone's husband and someone else's sister at the same time. Sniff adores Pig and holds him on a pedestal as the coolest person ever... Pig is just so cool and inspiring and Sniff wants to hang out with him all the time. He just shows that affection by killing him and laughing about it. Two and Pig have an unlabeled relationship… they "Yes, And" off each other 24/7. They are each other's gay best friend and wife and boyfriend, you feel me?

Sniff already has issues with people calling him Grian or Joel, so he's definitely not ready to put he/they pronouns on the table. But he does connect with them and uses them privately in the future. Maybe publicly someday.

Also, bonus shout-out for Etho trying to explain his relationship with Joel at the end of Dog's Life Chapter 33 and Sniff says "Oh! You're like me and Pig!" I think it's cute.

And one more bonus shout-out to Joel and Lizzie, who adore each other and show that love by hunting each other down in the woods. Cuddles are more for brutal murder aftercare than "the main event," I think.

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to share your thoughts or ask for elaboration, you can send me an Ask.

Asks stating you dislike this post's content will be ignored. Positivity and fandom fun only, please!

[presleyhearted]

Little Black Dress | one-shot

・❥・Pairing: 70s!e x reader

・❥・Genre: a pinch of angst, fluff, mature themes, 70s!Elvis, shy reader, insecure reader, jealous Elvis.

・❥・Ratings & Warnings: 18+ NSFW. MDNI.

・❥・WC: 5803 words

・❥・Summary: After being a devoted Elvis Presley fan for more than a decade, you and your best friend manage to miraculously score tickets for his Las Vegas show. You wear a classic little black dress, as your best friend decides it's the perfect opportunity to wear it for the first time. Unbeknownst to you, what you believed to be a 'plain' outfit choice seemed to have caught the eye of the King of Rock 'n Roll himself.

・❥ A/N: Hi my beautiful followers! I apologise for not posting for a while, life happens and well, you'll soon find out that I am quite the perfectionist when it comes to writing. This is unlike any other I have written before, my first attempt in writing NSFW content. Please be gentle with me, aha. Anyways, I hope you all like it! 💋

@literally-just-elvis-fics

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

“I think it’s too short,” You said, attempting to pull the dress down lower. 

“Girl, you look hot, don’t overthink it.” Your best friend, Annie, confidently replied in contrast to your self-doubt about your attire. 

Exactly a week ago, you managed to score some tickets to see Elvis Presley at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel. Even if the infamous singer has been playing numerous back-to-back shows at the infamous venue, the tickets remained challenging as ever to get a hold of. It seemed that even after the decade-long absence from the stage, his name never failed to lose its popularity and relevance. As a result, crowds upon crowds of people were lined up just outside the ballroom excitedly waiting to be let in. And for once, you and your best friend were one of them. 

You became an Elvis fan since you were a freshly-turned teenager, his charm and unique way of performing immediately captured your curosity.  Despite, of course, against your parents’ wishes. Like all the other parents in the country, they were determined in calling Elvis Presley “a rebellious boy” and how his scandalous movements are wrecking the minds of the youth. You laughed at that and simply ignored the “warning.” You were still fairly young back then, only really discovering him after he finished his military service. And so, ever since the start of teenagehood - you became a fan. 

Because here you are, all these years later and still an avid fan of him. Through the persuasive ways of your best friend, she has managed to convince you to finally wear the little black dress at the very back of your closet. You purchased it a while ago, with no specific intention on wearing it anywhere, as you didn’t perceive yourself as a wildly confident dresser. But as your best friend said, it seemed to be the perfect outfit to wear for your first Elvis Presley concenrt. 

And so, here you were. A tight little black dress that reached just a little above your mid thigh, paired with black boots and your hair in a half-updo. You thought it was basic and simple enough, but fitting enough for the event. But now, as you stood in the lobby - you began having second thoughts that the dress might be too short for the occasion. 

“Annie, does my underwear show through this?” You said, turning around, “I don’t want to be flashing anyone.” You worriedly say, knowing that the material of the dress is quite thin. 

Annie laughed, “You are absolutely fine, Y/N. “

You sighed in relief, “Ok, just double checking. “

“Besides, if you were to flash anyone, it’d be Elvis so-”

You gasped and hit her arm, “Annie! Oh my god, No!”

You shake your head horrified, face fully red in embarrassment at just the thought of such an incident. 

Annie simply smirked, “Why? It wouldn’t be so bad.”

You smile shyly, “Let’s just go before they close the doors.” You switch the subject immediately, keen to draw away from Annie teasing you. 

-

Excited chatter filled the ballroom, with not one single empty seat. You and your best friend were luckily seated only a few rows from the very front of the stage, but of course, found yourself rising from your seats and being as close to the front as possible. As close as possible to him. 

The moment you saw him appear on stage, it was surreal. He was one of the most photographed celebrities, but those photographs did not do him justice. It was true what others have said, how Elvis Presley’s looks were almost to the level of a greek god. A sharp jawline, beautiful tanned skin, high cheekbones, plump lips, and the most striking blue eyes that seem to pierce right through whoever he’s looking at. His black hair was messy, but fit him perfectly, falling over his eyes a little - with that boyish smile gleaming at everyone. It was such a stark contrast from the all clean-cut Ken doll throughout his Hollywood years. Even more so, his jumpsuit hugged his lean and tall figure, with the few buttons undone to reveal his chest. 

You were entranced. You spent your days endlessly playing his records in your bedroom at your parents house, and now more recently in your own apartment. But hearing him sing, right at this moment, in front of you - his talent never wavered. It astounds and shocks you at the same time, the familiarity of it and the newness of seeing him perform right in front of your eyes. He seemed to be more confident in his performing persona, knows how to command a stage and gone was the shy smile of his when he first started out. All throughout the concert, he would every now and again drop jokes and would constantly check if the audience is enjoying the show. 

It is almost the end now, and sweat trickles down his face and it doesn’t surprise you. The way that Elvis performs, it’s not a case of simply singing. No. It’s the vocals, along with his dances and karate movements mixed along that capture the eager-eyed audience. His immense energy surprises you, and you aren’t ashamed to admit that you are one of the girls in the audience screaming constantly in excitement. 

But then came the moment you’ve heard through hushed whispers, and that is how Elvis would kiss his fans at his concerts. You thought it was simply a rumour that spread like wildfire, as celebrity rumours do - but now you can definitely confirm it to be true. And that is because you are now on the receiving end of such a public display of affection. You barely registered the very brief encounter, but it happened. Elvis cupped your cheeks with his hands, and planted a brief soft kiss to your lips. He pulled away, but made sure to fixate his gaze on you with that smirk of his quirk in the corner of his lips. He was quick to be pulled into another kiss by another female audience member, but you were frozen. You touched your lips with your fingertips, the sensation still lingering as waves of bliss course through you. 

Of course, you were not naive to the fact that you are merely one of the many women that he would kiss that night. Afterall, the evidence was right in front of you - how Elvis walked away from the stage and made his way around, interacting with as many fans as possibe. This went on for a good while, before he returned to the stage and resumed performing a few more songs. 

After the final song, Elvis bids goodbye to the audience and gratefully thanks them before the curtains draw the show to a close. Your cheeks seem to be hurting, probably from all the smiling you’ve been doing so naturally. But you are back to reality now, the concert you’ve waited for what seems like your whole life - is now over. It felt like it was over in a blink of an eye, and you never fully understood that phrase when people say it - but you do now. Hours worth of performances were done in a single second it felt. 

But despite the shrinking feeling of dismay within you, the euphoric sensation coupled with pure adrenaline coursed fiercely through your veins. You linked arms with Annie, who herself shared the same expression - absolutely elated and sad it’s over. Everyone slowly dispersed the venue, excited chatters of memorable moments from the show filled the conversations. 

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Your best friend says, as she sighs while you are in the line of people exiting the venue. 

You shake your head, “Neither can I.”

“Well, now we can cross off two things from our bucket list.” Annie muses, as she smirks. 

“Finally going to an Elvis concert?” You ask, unsure of what the second one could be. 

“That and also kissing him.” Annie says, pure delight in her voice. 

You bite your bottom lip, unable to control a smile. 

“Gosh, did you see how that lady leaped over the tables just to get to him?” Annie asks, lowering her voice a little, “She’s my idol.”

You chuckle, “She definitely was determined.” 

“I’m surprised that his clothes didn’t rip to shreds, like back in the 50s?” Annie says, as you quickly recall the news articles of ‘rebellious Elvis’ performing and would often end with his clothes, quite literally - destroyed. There was a photograph of him walking backstage with no shirt on, and his pants that might as well be shorts. 

You shake your head, “Gosh, yeah. That was - people are strong, I’m telling you.” You chuckle. 

Annie nods and says, “I don’t know about you, but I am starving. Where do you want to go?”

You both were in the lobby of the hotel now, much of the crowd of people have exited the hotel and are most likely finding transportation to go home. 

Before you could even respond to the question, you hear a rush of footsteps that seem to be getting near you. 

“Excuse me!”

You both turn around and see a man who seems a little out of breath, “Hi, ladies. “ He offers a kind smile, and you instantly recognise him as part of Elvis Presley’s entourage. One of the men in his ‘Memphis Mafia.’ 

“I know you.” Annie furrows her eyebrows, seemingly taking longer to recognize the man. 

“Hi, I’m Jerry. I work for Elvis, and well he has invited you both  to his suite for dinner.” He says, as if it’s the most casual thing to say in the world. 

You freeze and exchange a look of shock with your best friend. 

“I-I’m sorry?” You stutter, not fully believing the words. 

“Us? He’s inviting us? To meet him?” Annie questions, tone in equal disbelief as you. 

Jerry nods, seemingly unfazed by your reactions. 

“Yes, that’s right.” He nods in certainty. 

You look at Annie again. 

“We’d love to!” Annie responds grinning excitedly, interrupting your thoughts from running into overthinking. 

As Jerry leads the way, Annie whispers to you, “Don’t overthink it, Y/N. This is once in a lifetime.”

On the way there, Jerry makes small talk with both of you. Just the usual case of introducing yourselves, how long you’ve been a fan and all that. All the while, trying to calm the fast thumping of your heart at the reality that not only will you be face to face with Elvis - but you’ll be talking to him. And also thinking about the wild thought that he has asked to meet you. 

There was not even one single point during the concert in which you’d thought he’d be fixated on you like that. 

-

You have been in his suite for an hour now, and overwhelmed is an understatement. The suite was filled with many other people; beautiful girls that could easily pass as models (perhaps they are), actors and actresses, and of course the Memphis Mafia. It still felt like an intimate affair though, with only around fifteen people in the room. You were sitting on the velvet couch, as you took gradual sips of your drink. Evidently, you were subtly people watching. Annie seemed to be caught up in a conversation with Jerry, as they both lingered near the pool table. Her laugh seemed endless, and you know from the look in her eyes and the gestures that she was definitely flirting with Jerry. 

You’ve met Elvis earlier, it was very briefly since he wanted to say hello to everyone. But in that split-second interaction, you cannot help but blush and stammer your name out as you introduce yourself. You were thankful that he was wrapped up in a conversation with someone else, as it decreased the chances of you absolutely making a fool of yourself in front of your celebrity crush. Right now, he seems to be in conversation with a comedian and his laugh echoes. You cannot help but smile at the sound. 

Annie seems to be nowhere in sight, but so does Jerry and you can only make assumptions of what that may mean. You sighed and stood up, refilling your glass of wine as you leaned against the corner of the wall - people watching. You don’t go unnoticed though, as a member of the Memphis Mafia approaches you - Red West. 

“Hi.” 

Your eyes refocus on the new face in front of you, he flashes a grin at you as he leaned the side of his body on the wall. 

You clear your throat, “Hi.”

“I’m Red.” He says, sticking his hand out. 

You shake it and kindly smile, “Nice to meet you, Red. I’m Y/N.” 

He repeats your name, an amused grin on his lips. 

“So, Y/N. . . avoiding humans then?” He jokes, as you are removed from all the conversations going on. Here you were, standing alone.

You chuckle, “Not exactly. I was part of the human chatter earlier.” 

Red nods with his arms crossed, “And now you’ve realised that humans are a pain in the ass.” 

You laugh, “I was going to say I just like people watching, but that too.” 

Red’s eyes flicker to your lips and you hardly notice it, completely oblivious that he is physically attracted to you. You yourself have never been experienced in the art of flirting nor romance, therefore you just deemed it to be a normal conversation. 

“Sounds like stalker territory, but okay.” Red says, dramatically putting his hands up.

You rolled your eyes but laughed, “You’ve never heard of that term before?”

He shakes his head, “Nope.” 

“It just means someone who is an observer of life. You know, how Shakespeare says that thing about how movies are ideas from what humans are like in real life. People get ideas from people, by people watching.” You explain. 

Red steps a little closer to you, and this you notice. But you don’t react because the conversation has been harmless so far. 

“Like Romeo and Juliet then, that’s Shakespeare right?” Red says.

That’s not exactly what you were saying, and you are pretty sure he just ignored the rest of what you were trying to say. But you are also aware of how some men just don’t use whatever brain cell they have. So, you are not surprised at his question. 

You smiled tightly, “Yeah.”

“You are very smart, you know. Very pretty just like Juliet.” Red says, a glint in his eye as he smirks. 

You laugh unsure of what to say, “Thanks, I guess.”

And still, you are oblivious as ever with his flirtatious tone. 

Unbeknownst to you, a pair of azure eyes gaze intently at you from across the room. Elvis has been socialising with everyone for an hour or so now, but in the corner of his eye he is still paying attention to you. Ever since his eyes met your face at the show earlier, he couldn’t help but immediately want to see you again. He has seen and been with many beautiful women in his life, the advantages of being who he is - the way women just flock to him without him even lifting a finger. But your beauty was not overdone, and your whole look was minimal. It was obvious that you were not dressed to impress, as they may say. You dressed as one would to attend a concert, but not with the intention of ever drawing his attention. Well, you did. But you had no idea. 

Of course, Elvis would invite a bunch of people to his suite for dinner after his shows. Aside from celebrity figures, Elvis would also invite people from the audience. Most of the fans invited immediately said yes, as you and Annie did as well. The hopeful women that clearly wanted and competed for Elvis’ undivided attention surrounded him, but his head snapped to you. You who was leaning so close to Red West, as you laughed in your fixated conversation with him. You both looked so in your own bubble, apart from everyone else. Apart from him. The women around him keep on talking, but Elvis is no longer listening. 

Elvis has thrown warnings to the MM before about his fans, if any of them were to try anything with any of the fans - he wouldn’t take it lightly. Of course, some fans that he would invite to his suite - Elvis had no intention of being intimate with. And so, Elvis wouldn't bat an eye if any of the MM were to flirt with them. 

But he clearly expressed his interest in you to the MM, and so rage fuelled his body at the sight of Red going against his words. Even worse, it looked like you were enjoying Red’s company with your cute laugh and  endless smile. 

Elvis has had enough. He excuses himself from the women around him and stands up, much to their dismay. But they quickly talk amongst themselves. Elvis strides over to you and Red, he takes his sunglasses off and folds it confidently - holding it in his hands. 

“Red.” One word and Red freezes. He turns around and there is Elvis with his jaw tightened and a tight smile on his lips. 

“Boss.”

“Heard you both laughing all the way there, wondered what the joke is.” Elvis says, though the intensity in his eyes mentally burning holds into Red’s head. 

You, of course, were frozen that Elvis decided to show up all of the sudden. Still not used to his effortless charm and handsome smile of his. 

“Um, i-it was n-nothing. “ You stutter, mentally hitting yourself at the sudden timidity of your voice. 

Elvis eyes are on you but he quickly looks back at Red, who seemed to have gotten more nervous than ever. He is scratching the back of his neck and is no longer leaning against the wall, but straightening his posture. 

“Honey, I doubt it. What do ya say, Red?” He says. 

Red immediately gets the hint and realises that he has fucked up. Here he was blatantly flirting with you, right in Elvis’ line of sight. 

“I’m saying. . .  I uh, Charlie needs my help on something. I better go.” He says, quickly excusing himself and briefly looking back at you. You frown, confused as his sudden change of mood. 

Elvis sighs and pats him on the back, “Good idea, man.”

“Bye, it was nice to meet you!” You call out and he shoots you a small smile before vanishing somewhere else. 

“You enjoying yourself, honey?” Elvis asks, the southern drawl so apparent in his tone. He casually takes the spot that Red was standing in, but Elvis is closer and he is leaning against the wall. 

You attempt to make eye contact with him, but his gaze is intense. Even more so without his sunglasses on. 

“Yeah, it’s nice. Thanks for , um, inviting me.” You say, twirling the empty glass of wine in your hands nervously. 

“Can I be honest with you, Y/N?” He asks.

“You remember my name.” You say before you can stop yourself. 

Elvis chuckles amusedly, “Why wouldn’t I? Miss Little Black Dress.”  He says, shamelessly trailing his gaze from your long legs up to the gaze in your eyes. 

You feel your cheeks heat up, “Not the most creative choice, I know.” You smile at him, trying to make yourself relax and appear more confident. 

Elvis shakes his head at your comment, “You look good, honey. Don’t count yourself out.” 

Although he has probably complimented many women, his words still make you naturally blush. You can’t help but look away and nervously say, “Thanks.”

The one chance that Elvis Presley is having a conversation to you and to you alone, and you are looking away? You mentally hit yourself and try to push out the shyness that seems to have taken over you since the start of this conversation. With Red, it was easy conversation, you weren’t rethinking each word that left your mouth. But he wasn’t Elvis. He wasn’t the celebrity crush that you’ve endlessly devoted yourself over for the past eleven years. Elvis found you adorably amusing, clearly hyper aware of the effect he has on you. 

You muster some courage of confidence and attempt to meet his eyes again, as you clear your throat. 

“Sorry, you were saying?” You ask. 

“Hmm?”

“Uh. . you said about being honest with me about something?” You explain, redirecting the topic of conversation. 

He snaps his fingers and chuckles, “Ah! Right. I, well, would you like to get out of here?” He asks, his hand lightly brushing your hand but not quite intertwining your fingers. 

You freeze, not being able to maintain the shock with your eyes. Although you were practically oblivious when a guy was flirting with you, the naivety did not extend to words such as the ones that Elvis just let go. You knew what he was implying, and you were quite certain that he was hinting to sleeping with you. But this is when you drew the line. Sure, it was nice to talk to your idol, but crossing over to that territory? You don’t think you are sure of yourself. Besides, you haven’t even crossed territory like that with any guy. 

“I-”

He interrupts you, as if reading your mind. 

“I won’t hurt you, Y/N. I promise. I just figured it’s easier to get to know each other without all this noise.” He explains, voice soft. 

Your best friend’s voice echoes in your mind at that very moment. 

‘Live a little, Y/N. When an opportunity presents itself, just jump. As long as it’s not harmful. Besides, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ 

You hesitate, unable to form words. 

Before you could even register what is happening, you find yourself smiling at Elvis and agreeing to his offer, “Okay.”

-

It has been a while now since Elvis whisked you away from all the ‘noise’ as he described it. You were sure that your heart was beating loud enough for anyone to hear, as he placed his arm lightly around your waist. You were now in his room, and it was as luxurious as you’d expect it to be - the interior exactly what you imagined his taste would be. You were unsure at first on what to do, as you stood there. But luckily, Elvis was careful and noticed your nervous energy - he offered you to take a seat at the very edge of his bed. 

“How old are you, darlin?” He questions, as he faces you fully. 

“Twenty-four.” You say, and your mind immediately runs wild at what he must think of you now. 

Here you were, at the adult age of twenty-four and yet your life experiences seemed to not suit that description of such an age. You struggled to even hold a conversation with Elvis without stuttering or looking overly timid. In this stage of a woman's life, aren’t they supposed to be confident in their desires and advances? Romantic and sexual experiences should be vast by now, right? That’s what you believed, and yet - here you were. An anomaly within that belief. Your shy nature upon initial conversation with him, made Elvis conclude that you were a precious jewel out of the many. But your naivety to such things made you embarrassed, as someone with overflowing sex appeal had his undivided attention on you. 

Oh shit. He’ll probably ask something and that’s that. He’ll find out how embarrassingly inexperienced I am, and I’ll have to make a run from it. That is humiliating. 

You thought to yourself. Although you cannot be one-hundred percent sure that the conversation would lead to that, you know in yourself there is a pretty solid chance that it will. After all, the environment you are in just screams it. Here you were, literally sitting on his bed, the door is closed and it ‘s just the two of you. Besides, you’ve heard the rumours - about his sexual appetite. Afterall, he was this rock ‘n roll singer who practically had women fawning all over him. Logically speaking, he had to do something with that adrenaline after walking off stage - right?

You were getting ahead of yourself again, your thoughts running rampant and Elvis clearly noticed this. He delicately placed his finger underneath your chin, tilting your head up to look at him. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks, concern swimming in his blue eyes. 

You shake your head, “N-Nothing. I, um. . .”

“I meant what I said,  I won’t do anything you don’t want to do.” He says, placing his hand over yours as he squeezes it reassuringly. 

You sighed and nodded, trying to calm your nerves down. 

“Do you read?” Elvis asks suddenly. 

“I used to a lot, but not anymore.” You reply, managing to form a normal sentence without stuttering. You tilt your head in confusion as Elvis gets up, but shortly returns back to his spot next to you with a book in his hands.

“Why did you stop?” He asked, his genuine curiosity took you aback a little. 

You shrugged, “Life became busy and I don’t know, I eventually lost interest I guess.” 

You look at the title of the book that he’s holding, “The Impersonal Life by Joseph Benner.” 

Upon reading the title of the unknown book, Elvis delves into revealing that he is an avid reader and brings a suitcase full of books whenever he’s on the road. Surprise would be an understatement, you admitted to him that you never expected him to be a reader. As the conversation grows, you find yourself relaxing and all the nervous energy vanishes from you. You thought that when Elvis said that he wanted to get to know you, it was simply just a phrase. But he truly did evidently show that he was interested in what you had to say, you felt flattered. You would answer his questions, but then he would ask another one based on the answer you just gave him. And you knew that he was listening to you, as he stared intently and would nod encouragingly at you to continue. 

Initially stepping into the room, there was no clock in sight. You wished that you had your watch on, it would’ve helped to know what time it was. It felt like you’ve been talking to each other for a while now, you presume it has been hours. And yet, Elvis was true to his word - he hasn’t done anything that you didn’t like. 

You were in the middle of explaining to him the meaning behind your name, but you stopped mid-sentence.

“I’m sorry, I’m just rambling. Am I boring you?” You smile at him apologetically. 

Elvis grins amusedly at you and shook his head, “The opposite, honey.” 

He nods at your black boots, “Interesting choice.”

You chuckled, “Yeah, well, wearing heels makes my feet hurt. I mean, I have worn heels before because on some occasions, you just have to. But my black boots are my go-to, and coincidentally enough-”

You are looking down at your black boots, but stop yourself from continuing your sentence because you feel his focus has shifted. In the corner of your eye, you feel the heat of his gaze and this makes you naturally turn your head to face him. The pair of blue eyes flickered between your eyes, and your lips. Elvis sighed and it was obvious that he desperately wanted to lean in. All the while when you were talking, his mind kept directing him to stare at those lips of yours. So perfectly pink and inviting. But he held himself back, and didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. 

It was only this, in this moment did you realise how close together your bodies were. Your thighs were pressed up against each other and literally no space between you. It was silent for a while. You found yourself studying his face, and you still cannot believe how perfect he looks. It was so unlike the beauty of any other human being, you thought. You found yourself tracing his features with your finger, lastly touching his plump lips. Your motions were slow, and agonsing it seemed as Elvis' breathing increased. All the while you maintained your eye contact with him in good control. His eyes held pure fascination with your actions, a stark contrast from your shy nature. Your touch was delicate and careful, but he can tell that there is something more wanting to break out from you. 

It was in this very moment that you felt a hot sensation within you. You have hardly done anything, and Elvis is already feeling that familiar ache. His eyes intensified, as his tongue wetted his lips. 

Annie’s words echo through your brain again.

“I want to kiss you,” You finally admit, voice delicate but strong. You have never been this forward with a guy before, and so the words that leave your mouth surprise you.

“You don’t have to ask.”  He says, his tone of voice low.

You circle your arms around his neck, and finally - your lips meet his. The melding of your lips together, causes Elvis to let out a groan. The sound sparks the sensation in your lower body. The kiss was sweet and slow at first, but you felt yourself wanting more. An unfamiliar determination takes over you, as your hands thread through his hair - pulling it tightly. Elvis welcomes the pain, and tightly secures an arm around your waist - his touch searingingly  hot through your little black dress. The kiss is far from slow, as you both grow in need. His other hand grips your cheek as he deepens the kiss, recapturing your lips again, as he bites into your bottom lip. You let out a gasp, and swipe your tongue on his lips. The sweet sound of your gasps spurs something darker within Elvis, he needs more. But he can’t be selfish, and so he pulls back from the blissful touches.

Elvis is breathing hard, and you do too. Both trying to catch your breaths, as you try to comprehend what you just did. But a smile pulls on your lips, as does his. 

“Y/N, if we continue. . . I-I don’t think I can stop.” He warns, and your heart beats at how careful and honest he is. Staying true to his word. 

You lean forward once again and whisper, as you look him right in the eye, “Then don’t.” 

You gulp at the words you just let go, unaware where you found this confidence from. But you keep it going, not knowing when you’ll shrink back into your timid nature. 

Elvis’ movements are fast, as your lips meet together for the second time. This time, the kiss is not gentle anymore. It is filled with hunger and pure desire, a kiss that feels like the dichotomy of scorching desert sun and the icy glaciers that are surrounded by the Southern Ocean. A kiss that both felt like a crashing wave of relief, and an invisible rope tightly binding you and Elvis together. Your hands travelled through his back, his neck and his hair. Elvis’ hand trailed up your thigh and you felt your heart beating faster, as he slid the ends of your dress higher and higher. His other supported the back of your neck, as you naturally arched your back - displaying your neck invitingly to him. 

Elvis left a trail of strong kisses to your neck, “You have such soft skin, honey.” He hums, and you feel his teeth tug lightly at the skin of your neck. You moan at the feeling, knowing that you’ll have to find a way later on to hide the inevitable hickies that’ll be marked on your skin. You feel Elvis smirk at the sound, and this only encourages him to add more to the ones already forming prominently on your skin. 

“Elvis, I-I” You gasped. 

He pulls away, you frown confused at abruptly stopping his actions. Elvis finds this cute and chuckles at your expression, “Let’s take these off.” He removes both of your boots, and winks at you. 

He pulls you back into a kiss, and naturally brings you to his lap with your legs on either side of him, straddling his lap. Elvis groans at the contact of your thin underwear on his crotch, in this new position. His hand on the back of your neck finds its way to grip the butterfly clip that holds your hair together, he removes it letting your hair fall down and rest on your shoulders. 

Elvis looks at you in awe, “Beautiful.” 

Your cheeks heat up, only adding to the warmth that fiercely courses through your body. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the little black dress.” He says, and you feel breathless. 

“Oh do you now, Mr. Presley?” You muse, tilting your head at him as you bite your lip. 

Elvis places both of his hands on the ends of your dress and attempts to remove it smoothly, but grows frustrated at the strength of the material and you suddenly hear a sharp sound of tearing. Elvis pays it no mind and lets it fall to the floor. 

You laugh and shake your head at his frustration. Elvis laughs along with you and leaves kisses at the side of your face, as  you glance at the torn material on his velvet carpet. 

“But it’s time to say goodbye to it.” Elvis smirks. 

He flips you both over, so your back is on the soft sheets of the bed as he presses his body against you. Both of your legs wrapped tightly around his waist. You help him rid of his clothing, admiring in awe at his bare chest. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll buy you a new one.” He assures you, implying to the ripped up dress. 

“I have a better idea,” You say, tone sultry. 

Elvis smirks, his fingers circling your breasts, as his thumbs graze your perked nipples in repeated motions. You moan at the action, arching your back. At the sight of your eyes rolling to the back of your head, Elvis wishes to have the sight before him captured into his mind forever.

“Hmm? And what would that be?” His deep voice, sending you into limitless bliss.

You reach your hand out and grip the necklace dangling from his neck, using it as a way to pull his face towards you, as you clash your lips together and you feel him smirk through the kiss. He detaches himself from your lips, and descends down to kiss your jaw, your skin and now your chest. He is quick enveloping the hardened buds, wetting them with his tongue, as he repeats the action to your other breast. Your mind is in a frenzy, feeling your toes curl at the pure euphoria as you moan. 

Thank goodness for the Little Black Dress, you thought.