#that gifset from good place
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Bonus:
#the terror#the terror amc#james fitzjames#look I made this gifset entirely innocently okay#I was thinking about how characters move for fic writing#and realized fitzjames is all over the place#he's very elegant but also very dynamic#most of the other characters we only really see#standing or sitting in a chair#but fitzjames is constantly throwing himself into things#and if that involves getting on the ground then sure#he'll do that too#idk I just thought it was an interesting character note#off the top of my head only blanky is like#similar in that way#but okay all that meta nonsense aside#lol gifset of fitzjames kneeling#my posts#my gifs#also if I missed a scene let me know#I almost included when he collapses but#that wasn't a purposeful choice by him#so it didn't really count#though now that I think about it#I think he also kneels in the scene where#he first sees that he's bleeding from scurvy#but you don't get a good look at him it's just implied#so wouldn't have made a good gif#but still!!!
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Archangel Michael in Good Omens (2.02)
#good omens#archangel michael#good omens michael#doon mackichan#good omens edit#goodomensedit#good omens gifs#goodomensgifs#good omens gifset#go edit#good omens fandom#good omens season 2#tv edits#tvedit#tv gifs#tvgifs#my edit#my gifs#my gifset#favorite characters#character crushes#female characters#i need her to disembowel metatron and behead aziraphale#and punch gabriel in the teeth for daring to disrespect her#she was supposed to be the supreme archangel from the beginning#but i guess they wanted to give the middle finger to the myths or something#seeing gabriel in my girl's rightful place was hard enough but when they put a**clown there... i nearly punched a hole through the screen 🤬#actually doon has much more accurate supreme commander energy than john gabriel is just... stupid and sometimes lovable#michael rips people's lungs out through their backs as a hobby you can sense it in her#she should curse heaven and join her brother then they crush heaven together... which is a plot of a wip i have of course
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I can see it in his eyes.
Trigun Stampede || episode 1.04
(something something, when they can read Wolfwood like an open book, except he does care. He cares so much.)
+ bonus, episode 9: when Wolfwood tries to distance himself from the “friend” part as Zazie mentioned.
+ + bonus bonus, episode 10: when Wolfwood doesn’t see himself as a human, talking about them as something else than him. And Vash still reaches between him and any conflict (like above in ep 4 between him and Roberto).
+ + + bonus bonus bonus, episode 12: Wolfwood caring about some (human) lives, episode 12:
Wolfwood to Vash in ep 4:
So you’d risk your life for theirs? Self-sacrifice on self-sacrifice… You’re a weird one. You only get one life. You have to fight for it, no matter who you hurt in the process.
Wolfwood to Vash in ep 10:
Do you think sacrificing yourself will make everyone happy?
#first of all - always love when someone says they can see it in his eyes and this guy always wears sunglasses even in the darkest places#this started as the i can see it in his eyes thing. but then i like needed to put together some of wolfwood's journey from s1#vashwood#trigun#trigun stampede#vash the stampede#zazie the beast#nicholas d. wolfwood#nicholas d wolfwood#wolfwood#vash#mine#gif:trigun#trigunedit#uahahhh thinking about them is pain ;-;#i didnt even plan on making this gifset im just rewatching episode 4.. why is that episode so good that sends new ideas to my brain#what else i could make parallels about OTL#tristamp#tristampedit
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"Did I ever tell you about my Omega casino run in with the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and the Blood Pack Vorcha mafia? Five thousand credits and a bottle of whiskey?"
Ft. Staff Cmdr. Kaidan Alenko, Operations Chief Ashley Williams, Zaeed Massani, & Seven. Dominik Shepard. Phoebus. MIRA'S MORE CANON ME1.5 "Are you Phoebus?" AKA: Pt. 1 of some of what happens between ME1 and ME2 with the Vorcha mafia storyline. :) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021)
#mira makes gifs ✨#dominik shepard#kaidan alenko#ashley williams#zaeed massani#mass effect#morecanonmasseffect#mass effect legendary edition#me#dailygaming#tw: gore#hi my name is mira and i like making very large gifsets of my blorbos :)#i made myself a little bit sad thinking of what the gang was getting up to when soph is dead during me1 and me2 but VORCHA MAFIA BABY#this is close enough to something i was working through in my noggin lmao#i think kaidan gets word from hackett that something went to shit out on omega with soph being out of the shade game#he ropes ash into it and zaeed takes leave from his n7 adjunct position on earth to come help too when he hears it’s vorcha mafia related :#as for sad times in my head i decided that zaeed is the one who goes to alchera and grabs all of soph’s guns when the normandy goes down :)#they’re all busted to shit so he takes all the time to fix them and remod them like she would have :) and he keeps her cobra :)#since she almost killed him with it when they first met :) he gives her widow to kaidan :) it’s the one he uses in the gifs :)#and he gives ash her valkyrie which is the one she picked up and started modding after he got dropped off at the villa to be with regis :)#i thought it would be fun if dom showed up to protect them after separating from cerbie but no one *knows* it’s dom :)#since he’s using an alias atp and he wants to protect them for soph since he’s starting to remember shit and that’s all he can do for her :#in my noggin he’s either wearing a mask or never takes his helmet off since they’re identical but i was not fucking with that in game lmao#i also think zaeed is the one who catches onto him and leads the rest of the group toward him with his contacts he still has on station :)#i think dom is tracking the vorcha mafia. part of me says everything just clicks into place right after he gives soph’s body to cerbie#and then everything rushes back at once for him and he heads to omega to start picking up where she left off before she was on the normandy#he honestly might be what hackett gives kaidan the heads up about. undecided. i’m still noodling :) but this was fun to conceptualize :)#i’m excited to pen this in the future! :) it needs more noodling :) for everyone honestly lol#my one final thought is that i do think kaidan picks up some of soph’s anger habits after she dies. i don’t think he does well at first#have a good day wherever you are friend as always!! 💙💙
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daechwita daechwita, play it loud, daechwita
#agust d#min yoongi#bts#suga#bts suga#bangtan#bangtan sonyeondan#bts gifs#btsedit#my gifs#this is what made him my bias#like literally saw a reel and went holy fucking /shit/#first link is the original gifset that gif two is from#second link is the mv#which honestly for my pals who are here for takuya and haven't listened to agust d yet#this is a good place to start#haegeum is my favorite but daechwita is a solid track#it's fun and not really all that serious#esp the mv
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Get out! Get out of here!
#tale of the nine tailed 1938#lee yeon#lee miho#and a bunch of extras#1x04#gifset#*brace's#//#true. the cinema is not a place for a crying baby. even when you're running from the police.#but also f*** all of you who have learned to cry on the inside and would rather everyone did the same. you're cowards.#especially the ones that are mean to kids about it#YOU HAVE NEVER CRIED BEFORE‚ HUH? NEVER FELT SCARED OR SAD OR HUNGRY‚ HUH?#GOOD FOR YOU.#ok maybe I'm too passionate about it suhdgdshdhd I loved this part and didn't find it anywhere to reblog so I had to make it myself 🥲#can't believe the first 1938 gifs I try to edit are from a dark scene inside a movie theater ushasinshchd I know it looks awful I'm sorry#but that's what we got for today (Crying Rights)
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Listen if you're gonna send me an ask about why I shouldn't interact with a person, can you at least do it off anon so I can request actual proof privately? I'm not replying to these since the only way to respond to them is publicly and I don't want to contribute to an unsubstantiated rumor about someone. That's not fair.
#Also I checked and I don't even follow them! So don't worry about me not interacting I've been doing a bang up job already#Maybe I did in the past because there were only like 4 of us in the Tr/ig/un tags at any given time#But I don't now so I have no clue how or why you dmed me about this random person I don't even follow#The only mention of them I can find on my blog via search (granted it's a gamble cuz search sucks but) is a tag on a gifset from 2014#I mean if you're browsing posts from 2014 on my blog all the more power to you I had good taste#But also I don't really know this person. I vaguely recognize the username but again. Only 4 of us at any given time for years#It just feels Weird.#If ur going thru the trouble of sending asks abt this person then put your own reputation on the line since you're trying to tank theirs#Like if you believe these accusations enough that ur willing to send asks to randos then u should be comfy putting your name behind them#I'm giving u the benefit of the doubt here anon#I want to believe ur heart is in the right place and u think ur helping#But being on anon with 0 proof is not helping your case at all#Cruddy rambles#Ask
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KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE
#ramblings of a lunatic#MY FAV GHIBLI MOVIE FR#i was like. tearing up at the scenes that aren't even that emotional i am just. full of so much love for this movie fr#IT'S SO SWEET. IT IS SO SO SWEET AND SIMPLE BUT IT GETS ME. SHE GETS ME#and it's always good to refresh myself on the movies advice towards dealing with burnout#don't look at the thing you're burnt out on don't even THINK ABOUT IT find different shit to do for a week and have a ball#by the time you get back you'll feel better and remember why you loved xyz in the first place#it seems so simple but i genuinely struggle to internalize the message#I'm not normally given the luxury of taking breaks w/o losing precious time that could be spent working#but for hobbies and special interests and even hyperfixations (bc i can get burnt out on those if they happen to fast too intensely!!)#that's stuff i can take time off from#not entirely sure how (i am increasingly forgetting how to relax these days) BUT. i think some more ghibli movies might be a good start lol#maybe think about picking up a new book?? re-read some comics i haven't touched in ages. that kinda thing#anyway. patrick bateman meme voice. i have some gifsets to reblog
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@absolut--kurant!
Pyunggang Botanical Garden (평강식물원) // Hello Korea ♡
#good morning! 🌱🌿🌳🍃🌲#so here's storytime (a tiny one)#in the last years of me staying in korea for holidays i had a tiny apartment next to an arboretum#as in i could physically go down the stairs out the building go round the back and the arboretum entrance was right there#i spent many an hour wiling away while i was there and i regret i don't have many pictures of the place#(i was spacing out a lot due to Problems at the time 😥)#but it was always summer when i was there and always humid and part of the rainy season and there was a little lakeside thing#with a traditionally designed gazebo set in the middle (?) of it#and this gifset really reminds me of that place. of the complete peace of standing there and watching the ripples and the water lilies#that's the kind of peace i wish for us always 😌💖#the place is called hanbat arboretum and it seems to have been expanded from last i was there#images on google look lovely))#anyway that's my morning story. i hope you have a good day today my dear 💖💖💖💖💖#life isn't quite like life without plants 🌳
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REASONS TO CARRY SOMEONE. ( A PROMPT LIST! )
listen, i'm back home now, i'm thinking about things, and i saw the maxton hall gifset floating around and i was like. yk what. carrying people is elite content, and gdi y'all deserve elite content! as always, DO NOT ADD OR EDIT THIS LIST! and there's a lil spicy addition under the readmore, but i left it there just in case people prefer to have a not-so-spicy version.
[ SLUMBER ]: sender picks up and carries the receiver because they're so sound asleep that they won't easily wake up.
[ INTERCEPT ]: sender picks up and carries the receiver out of the room because they're angry and on the brink of engaging in a fight with someone.
[ ASSIST ]: sender picks up and carries the receiver away for medical attention because they've been injured and can't walk easily.
[ HELP ]: sender picks up and carries the badly wounded receiver as fast as possible to the nearest hospital or the nearest place to administer urgent first-aid.
[ ELATION ]: sender scoops up the receiver and carries them away after a mutual victory, or having just received very good news (or maybe they're both just very happy for some reason!)
[ HOME ]: sender picks up the receiver to carry them over the threshold of their new home.
[ AID ]: sender finds the receiver too weak to move, and scoops them up to carry them to get some help.
[ UP ]: sender finds the receiver and picks them up to carry them a distance after learning they're unable to get up.
[ BAREFOOT ]: the sender picks up the receiver and carries them inside because they're not wearing any shoes.
[ WEARY ]: sender notices the receiver about to fall asleep during a task, and picks them up to carry them to bed so that they can actually sleep properly for once.
[ TWIRL ]: sender catches the receiver in their arms and spins them in a neat twirl just because they want to.
[ HERO ]: sender notices the receiver about to fall from a height, and manages to intervene just in time, catching them before they get hurt.
[ FLASH ]: the sender and receiver are part of a photoshoot, and in order to finish the last of the photos, the sender scoops up the receiver in their arms for the final pose.
[ TRAIN ]: during a training session (for a fight or a performance, dealer's choice!) the sender ends up holding the receiver in their arms during their session together.
[ URGENCY ]: sender carries the receiver away from danger after the receiver is revealed to be unable to move, either due to panic or injury.
[ OUT ]: sender grabs the receiver and lifts them into their arms after noticing them swaying and beginning to lose consciousness.
[ SCREAM ]: sender spots the receiver in a terrified or considerably panicked state, and picks them up to carry them to a less terrifying place to calm down.
[ LAZY ]: sender concedes to receiver's requests for a piggy-back ride home because they don't want to walk anymore, and carries them the rest of the distance home.
[ CAREFUL ]: sender gently lifts the receiver out of their seat and carries them carefully to bed after noticing they fell asleep and not wanting to waken them.
[ HASTE ]: in urgent need of getting to safety as fast as possible, the sender scoops up the receiver and starts running because it's quicker and easier to just carry them than expect them to keep pace.
[ FURTHER ]: sender, during an increasingly passionate make-out session with the receiver, suddenly takes them in their arms and carries them towards the bedroom to continue their evening in private.
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bucktommy web weaving;
first time - hozier // buck and tommy's first kiss in 911 s07e04 // quote by Friedrich Nietzsche // 911 s02e16; photo credit; 911 s02e16 // the alchemist - paulo coelho // tumblr ask answered by @loucifersbitch // photo edit from 911 s08e01 // The Good Place, Chapter 48: The Answer; there is no answer, but tommy is the answer gifset // uma thurman - fall out boy // screencap from 911 s07ep05 // HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T - fall out boy // tumblr post by @kinardbuckleys // the song of achilles - madeline miller // photo credit // cardigan - taylor swift
#bucktommy#911 abc#tommy kinard#evan buckley#bucktommyedit#dailykinley#mine#web weaving: the endgame edition
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SO INTO YOU (part 2) ───── iamquaintrelle
# pairings: aurelien tchouameni x black reader (✨💕)
# tags: @sucredreamer @snowseasonmademe @jessnotwiththemess @rougereds @judectrl @mufasathatniggatho @irishmanwhore @lettersofgold @ayeshami @greyishbach @haartemis @goldenngt @solidbriii @sailurmewn @bbgkoo @mauvecherie-writes @leighjadeclimbedmtkilimanjaro
# summary: you’re a multiple grammy winning artist with a record breaking single based on an embarrassing crush on a footballer & when that single demands visuals who else do you ask to be your video vixen besides said footballer crush? but is he also willing to blow your back out too? ♡ masterlist
The next few days passed in a blur — Madrid, the match, the rush of it all. Of course, someone caught you at the match — there was no way that wasn’t happening. You were you, after all, a Grammy-winning artist sitting in VIP seats at the Bernabéu, very much in the camera’s line of sight. The picture had already made its rounds on social media: you, leaning forward with your elbows on your knees, watching the game with full concentration. Another showed you mid-cheer after Aurélien’s assist, your excitement unmistakable.
The comments on The Shade Room were a mess.
"Why is [Your Name] at the Bernabéu??" "She watching soccer now? 👀" "Ain’t no way she just ‘watching’ — look at that smile." "She’s a Madridista now? Elite taste." "I know she was there for Tchouaméni. Be serious."
You scrolled through the discourse with a grin, but the real entertainment was happening on Tumblr. Unlike the rest of the internet, your little tchouamenithoughts page was an anonymous safe haven, a place where you could be as shamelessly down bad as you wanted. And the girlies were going through it.
moot1: she’s cute. good for him i guess moot2: the way he’s been playing lately... yeah he’s in love moot3: it’s giving soft launch. moot4: imagine being the muse for that one song she wrote... bc I KNOW it’s about him.
You had to stifle a laugh reading that one. It was already too weird, and you knew — God forbid — if Aurélien ever found out about this little corner of the internet, you’d have to disappear into the abyss.
You then reblogged a gifset of Aurélien’s highlights from the match, tagged "captain of my heart" before clicking into the inbox.
Anonymous asked: "Bro tell me you saw [Your Name] at the match? She was going feral for our man Tchouaméni just like us. Respect."
You snorted and reblogged it with a simple: "As she should."
Your phone buzzed in your hand, pulling you away from the mess you’d been consuming like your own personal reality show.
Auré: Did you make it home safe?
You smiled, a warmth blooming in your chest.
You: I did. Tired though.
Auré: You should rest. You’ll need your energy for when I see you again.
You bit your lip, shaking your head at the audacity.
You: Oh? And when’s that?
Auré: Soon. I told you, I’m doing the chasing now.
Your stomach flipped. God help you.
You locked your phone and sighed, leaning back against your pillows, your laptop still open to the mess of your moots spiraling in real-time. Yeah, this Tumblr was going to have to go soon.
But for now? You had a little more time to kiki.
***************************************************
Aurélien meant it when he said he wanted to do the rest and chase you.
The next morning, a delivery arrived at your apartment in LA. A massive bouquet — white and blush pink roses, accented with baby’s breath. It smelled incredible, and the little card tucked inside made your stomach flip.
"Since I didn’t get to be the first one in your DMs, let me be the first to send you flowers. –AT"
You bit your lip, rereading the message at least three times before setting the card down. The man was serious.
And the thing was — he wasn’t doing too much. You’d been courted before, had men try to win you over with grand gestures that felt more about them than you. But this? This was just Aurélien being him. Smooth, intentional. Never overstepping, just reminding you that he was right there.
His texts came consistently, never letting a day pass without checking in. Some were sweet. Some were very much not sweet.
Auré: Did you sleep well?
You: Mhm. You?
Auré: Not really. Kept thinking about how you looked in my bed.
Whew.
Other times, he was just ridiculous.
Auré: Hypothetically, if someone wanted to know your coffee order…
You: Hypothetically, they should just ask.
Auré: I am asking. But I wanted to see if you'd be difficult first.
You: Vanilla oat milk latte, extra shot. Now tell me why you’re asking like you’re sending a gift card.
Auré: I might be.
You: Aurélien.
And sure enough, an hour later, an email from Starbucks: [Your Name], you’ve received a gift from Aurélien Tchouaméni.
You couldn’t even be mad.
Then came the FaceTimes. Usually at night, when he knew you were home. It started casual — just him, shirtless (because of course), leaning back against his headboard while you sat on your couch, notebook open, laptop playing beats softly in the background.
"What are you working on?" he asked one night, eyes flicking to your scribbled lyrics.
"Music."
"No shit," he teased, smirking. "But what kind?"
You tapped your pen against your notebook. "Just some ideas."
His brows lifted. "For me?"
You snorted. "No. Not everything is about you."
"Shame." He stretched, flexing way too much for someone who was supposedly relaxing. "But you’ll write another one about me eventually."
"You think?"
"I know."
You rolled your eyes but smiled anyway, focusing back on your lyrics. Until—
"You work too much," he murmured.
You glanced up. "And you run too much. What’s your point?"
His smirk deepened. "That I’m gonna fix that. When are you coming back to Madrid?"
You blinked. “Oh, you’re just assuming I’m coming?”
"Yeah." He looked so sure, so smug, you wanted to reach through the screen and wipe that smirk off his face.
"I have work."
"I have work too,” he countered easily. "But I make time for what I want."
That shut you up for a second. You clicked your tongue. "That’s a cute line."
He grinned. "It’s not a line, bébé. It’s a fact."
And then, as if that wasn’t enough, the next morning, another email delivery. This time? A plane ticket. First class, LAX to Madrid, one week from now.
No note. Just that.
And the man had the audacity to text: See you soon.
******************************************************
You told yourself you weren’t really considering it.
You weren’t impulsive like this. You had rules. Checklists. Boundaries.
But when Carmen barely batted an eye after you double-checked your schedule and when your best friend damn near screamed in your ear after you mentioned Madrid again?
"Are you insane? You just got back!"
You winced, pulling the phone away from your ear. "First of all, lower your voice—"
"No! Because this man has already had you in a chokehold, and now you’re just willingly running back?"
You sighed, switching the phone to your other ear. "It’s not like that.”
"What’s it like then?"
Silence.
Exactly.
Because what were you really gonna say? That you were working backwards? That the whole 'I have standards thing' was already a joke because you’d skipped about fifteen steps when you slept with him and now you were just here like some lovestruck fool?
Because you were.
"Yeah," your best friend scoffed when you stayed quiet. "That’s what I thought."
Still, none of that stopped you from breezing through TSA a few days later, sunglasses on, hoodie pulled low, boarding a first-class flight back to Madrid. Because somehow, in less than two weeks, you had gone from watching him on your screen to meeting him in person for your video shoot, and now you were sipping champagne, heading straight back to him.
You were supposed to be working — laptop open, beats playing, lyrics scattered across your notebook — but all you could do was stare at your phone, rereading his last message.
Auré: See you soon, bébé.
A slow exhale left your lips.
You weren’t even there yet, and he already had you spiraling.
The moment you exited arrivals, he was waiting.
Leaning up against his car, hands in his pockets, looking stupidly good in a fitted tee, Rhude shorts that made everything look right, snapback cap, and another Cuban link around his neck. His eyes locked on you like he’d been counting the seconds.
Your stomach flipped.
This man…
"You’re early," you said, trying to keep your voice even.
He smirked. "So are you."
Fair.
"C’mere."
You barely had time to react before his arms were around you, pulling you into him. His scent wrapped around you — warm, familiar, distracting — and suddenly, everything about this felt like a terrible idea.
If he was this good just holding you, how the hell were you supposed to handle anything else? Especially at the rate he was going?
"You miss me?" he murmured, lips at your ear.
You pulled back, schooling your face. "Did you?"
No hesitation. "Yeah."
Your heart betrayed you, but you kept your expression neutral.
"Hmm," you teased. "Was it the inside jokes? The deep conversations?"
He chuckled, dark and knowing. "The way you sound when I—"
"Aurélien."
His grin widened as he stepped back, opening the passenger door. "Get in, bébé."
And just like that, you were gone all over again.
The drive to his place was quiet.
Not the awkward kind — never that with him.
It was the kind of silence that buzzed, thick with anticipation. The kind where every glance, every shift in your seat, said more than words could. Aurélien drove one-handed, his other hand resting on your thigh like it belonged there, fingers tracing slow, lazy circles against your skin.
Like he was reminding you exactly why you were here.
The low hum of Afrobeats filled the car, blending with the occasional ping of a text on his phone. You ignored it, focusing instead on the way his fingers tightened slightly when you moved, the barely-there smirk on his lips.
"You good?" His voice was smooth, teasing.
You exhaled. "Fine."
A low chuckle. "Lying already?"
You shot him a look, but it was useless. He knew. He always knew.
By the time you reached his house, you were already on edge.
And then there was Ocho.
The massive Belgian Malinois greeted you at the door with an excited bark, nearly knocking you over in his eagerness.
"Damn, you remember me?" You laughed, scratching behind his ears as he licked at your wrist.
Aurélien chuckled behind you, setting your bag down near the stairs. "He doesn’t forget people he likes."
You glanced up, finding him watching you with something unreadable in his gaze.
The air between you shifted.
You swallowed, turning away to take in the space — the same high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, the same sleek yet lived-in warmth from the last time you were here. But this time, there was something different.
This time, you knew what it felt like to be pressed against that couch, to have his mouth on your skin, to hear your own voice echoing against these walls.
And, of course, there were the flowers.
You huffed a laugh, finally spotting the massive bouquet of white lilies and soft pink roses in a crystal vase on the marble countertop.
"You really do this, huh?" you murmured, fingers ghosting over the petals of the bouquet before turning to face him.
Aurélien leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching you with that slow, knowing smirk that made your stomach tighten. "Do what?"
"This whole…" You gestured vaguely at the flowers, the way he had you standing in his kitchen, feeling like you’d stepped into something inevitable. "Seduction thing."
"I told you," he said, pushing off the counter to come to you, voice low as his fingers found your waist. "I wanted the chase."
Your breath caught as his chain moved gently against his collarbone.
"And now that I have you here?" His lips hovered over yours, his hands already moving, already claiming. "I’m not letting up."
Your breath hitched as his hand splayed against your lower back, pulling you flush against him. You were already in too deep, already fighting a losing battle against the warmth curling in your stomach, against the way he smelled — clean, like cedarwood and something distinctly him.
"Aurélien—"
He kissed you before you could finish, tilting your chin up, his lips moved against yours like he had all the time in the world, like he was savoring you, mapping you out. The hand at your waist gripped tighter, and he made a sound in the back of his throat when your fingers found the nape of his neck, threading into the soft curls there.
You felt him smile against your mouth.
"What?" you breathed.
He pulled back just enough to search your face, his thumb brushing over your cheek. "You taste smug," he muttered.
You arched a brow. "And what does smug taste like?"
His lips twitched. "Like someone who knew she was coming back to me."
Your stomach flipped.
You weren’t going to entertain that — not right now, not when his voice was doing that and his hands were still tracing over your body like he was committing every inch of you to memory.
So you deflected. "Ocho knew too, apparently."
Aurélien huffed a quiet laugh. "Ocho is a good judge of character."
You snorted, shaking your head, but the moment you tried to step back, his grip on your waist tightened.
"You’re not going anywhere, bébé," he murmured.
You swallowed hard.
Because he wasn’t just talking about right now.
And he knew you knew it.
The moment stretched between you, heavy with promise. His thumb was still tracing patterns on your skin, each touch deliberate, like he was writing his intentions into your flesh. The kitchen's warm lighting caught the angles of his face just right, making his dark skin glow golden, and that fade you'd written countless posts about was perfect for running your fingers through.
"You're thinking too loud," he murmured, ducking his head to press his lips to your neck. His chain brushed cold against you, making you shiver.
"Hard not to," you managed, trying to keep your voice steady as his teeth grazed that spot below your ear. "When you're being all…" you gestured vaguely at him, at this whole situation.
He huffed a laugh against your skin. "All what?"
"You know what."
"Mm," his hands slid lower, grip tightening just enough to make your breath catch. "Tell me anyway."
The command in his voice - that same tone he used directing the midfield - had your knees weak. But two could play this game.
You pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, watching them darken as your fingers traced the chain around his neck. "All confident," you said softly.
His responding smile was dangerous. "Didn't you write a whole song about it?"
"That's not—"
"About how I control the game?" His lips brushed your ear, voice dropping lower. "About how I read the field?"
Your heart was absolutely betraying you, hammering against your ribs like it was trying to escape.
"You really memorized those lyrics, huh?" you tried to tease, but your voice came out breathier than intended.
He pulled back to look at you properly, and the intensity in his gaze had you forgetting how to breathe. The same focus you'd watched him apply to matches, to training, to everything he did - all of it was directed at you now.
"I memorized everything about you," he said simply, like he wasn't completely ruining your ability to think straight. "The way you bite your lip when you're nervous. How your eyes follow me during matches."
Ocho's tags jingled as he trotted past, heading for his bed in the corner, completely unbothered by the way his owner was systematically dismantling your composure.
"You're impossible," you muttered, even as your hands traveled up his arms, feeling the muscles shift under your touch.
"You like impossible," he countered, and before you could argue, his mouth was on yours again, more urgent this time. Less controlled. Like maybe you weren't the only one affected here.
Your back hit the counter, and his hands gripped your hips to lift you onto it. The marble was cold through your clothes but he was burning hot, all solid muscle and sure touches as he stepped between your legs.
"Tell me to stop," he murmured against your lips, but his hands were already sliding under your shirt, already knew your answer.
You tangled your fingers in his chain instead, using it to pull him closer. "No."
His answering laugh was all satisfaction, all victory. "Good girl."
*******************************************************
You woke up to Madrid sunlight filtering through his expensive blackout curtains that clearly weren't doing their job. His bed was still unfairly comfortable, sheets soft against your skin, and the gentle rise and fall of his chest under your cheek was threatening to lull you back to sleep.
Jetlag had hit you hard after... activities, leading to what was supposed to be a quick power nap but wasn’t. That kitchen counter definitely needed disinfecting though.
Multiple times.
Now the afternoon light was painting patterns on his dark skin, and you were finding it hard to care about time zones at all. When he woke up to slip away to the bathroom, you grabbed your phone, checking the damage.
Surprisingly, your Tumblr mutuals hadn't caught wind of your return to Madrid yet. But you knew better - it would only take one fan with a good camera angle to set everything off again. You heard the sink running, and then Aurélien padded back to bed, all sleep-warm skin and low-slung sweats. He lay beside you for a moment before that hand found your waist, tugging you closer.
"C'mere," he murmured, voice still rough with sleep. You went willingly, settling against his chest, ear pressed to his heartbeat. That same dopey ass smile from last time spread across your face as his fingers traced lazy patterns on your back. "How long are you staying?" he asked, playing with your hair.
You tilted your head up to look at him. "How long do you want me?"
His answering smirk was knowing as he bit his lip, considering. "A long time."
"Can't do that," you laughed softly. "But... two weeks?"
"Two weeks is good," he hummed, fingers still moving against your skin. "We can have fun, go on proper dates... maybe take a trip somewhere."
You propped yourself up on his chest. "Trips? Already planning baecations?"
"Mm," his hand slid lower on your back. "Gotta pull out all the stops. Could do Mallorca, Ibiza..." his smile turned dangerous. "Or maybe Paris?"
"Paris?" You tried to keep your voice steady, but the way his fingers were still tracing patterns on your skin was distracting. "That's a lot for someone who just wanted to be in my music video a few weeks ago."
His laugh rumbled through his chest. "Is it? When I've been catching you like those highlights at 3 AM?"
You pushed up to look at him properly. "Still can't believe that you noticed that. "
"Bébé," his hand came up to cup your face, thumb brushing your cheek, "You should know that I notice everything. Why did you think I said yes to the video?"
Your heart did that stupid flutter thing again. "Because I'm a three-time Grammy winner and it'd be good PR?"
The look he gave you was almost pitying. "You really think that's why? Still?"
Before you could answer, he moved - that athletic grace you'd watched on the field now used to flip you onto your back, hovering over you with that dangerous smile.
"I said yes," he murmured, chain dangling between you, "because I wanted to see if you were as beautiful up close as you were in those award show pictures I kept saving."
Your breath caught. "You what?"
"Mm." His lips found your neck. "Want to see my camera roll? All those screenshots of you performing? The ones where you're wearing that dress at the VMAs?"
"Aurélien—"
"The way you move on stage," he continued, voice dropping lower, "the way you command attention…"
You couldn't process this - him admitting to essentially doing the same thing you'd been doing, collecting pieces of each other from afar.
"So this," he said, pulling back to look at you with those eyes that saw too much, "is just the beginning. I told you - I'm the lion." His hand slid down your side, grip possessive. "And I chase what I want."
"And what do you want?" Your voice came out embarrassingly breathy.
That smile should be illegal. "Right now?" His lips brushed yours. "For you to stop thinking so much and let me show you exactly why I memorized every word of that song you wrote about me."
You barely had time to catch your breath before he was kissing you again, all intensity and purpose, and yeah - two weeks definitely wasn't going to be enough.
***************************************************
The Madrid morning light painted his bedroom in honey-gold streaks, warming the spaces he'd left cold when he left for training. His kiss goodbye still lingered on your forehead, along with his casual "take the other car if you want to go out" - like lending you a hundred-thousand euro vehicle was as simple as sharing coffee.
But after last night (and the night before that, and the increasingly blurred hours in between), you were content to exist in the aftermath of him. Every room held echoes - the way he'd pressed you against that wall, how his chain had caught the light as he'd lifted you onto that counter, the sound of his laugh when you'd almost knocked over that probably-expensive vase.
He'd been attentive in a way that made your chest ache, all careful questions and watching eyes. The same precision you'd analyzed in countless match footage translated to how he touched you - deliberate, focused, like every response was data to be cataloged. His perfectionist tendencies apparently extended far beyond the pitch, and you had the marks to prove it.
Speaking of Tumblr... you scrolled through your dash one last time. The theories were still flying, the thirst posts still abundant, but it felt really wrong now. Here was Aurélien making actual time for you, being intentional about pursuing you, and you had a whole account dedicated to thirsting over him? The cognitive dissonance was too much.
You wrote a quick post about "digital wellness" and noted taking a break then deleted the app. You'd properly nuke the account later - right now, you had a house to explore.
Ocho followed you through the house, his tags jingling as he padded along faithfully. The home gym where he'd filmed all those workout videos that had sent your mutuals into chaos was impressive, but seeing that motivational quote wall in the flesh? You clutched your imaginary pearls. And the mural of what looked like the 1960s Real Madrid team in the hallway? Yeah, if this was heading where you thought it was heading, you were definitely calling an interior decorator.
The media room spoke more to his age - all premium gaming setups and theater-quality everything. But the real winner was the backyard. The pool area was something out of a luxury resort catalog, and the Madrid sun hit just right on the loungers.
You settled into one, Ocho flopping at your feet, and tried to process everything. Two boyfriends in your entire life, and now here was Aurélien Tchouaméni - six feet two inches of pure "god took his time" - sliding into position to be number three? The universe was really out here making dreams come true.
Your phone lit up:
Auré: Missing you already. Dinner tonight? Unless you're too tired…
Your cheeks heated, remembering exactly why you might be tired. The way he'd switched between languages when he was too far gone to think straight, how that chain had felt cold against your heated skin, the sound he'd made when—
Another message:
Auré: I can feel you thinking about last night from here 😏
The smile that spread across your face was embarrassing. Those Tumblr manifestations had worked almost too well - your mutual followers had no idea they were manifesting their own thirsting out of existence.
******************************************************
"Aurélien," you warned, trying to keep your hand steady as you applied eyeliner, "I swear to god—"
"Mm?" His voice was all fake innocence, but his hands on your hips were anything but, squeezing your ass appreciatively as he pressed against your back. "I'm not doing anything."
The bathroom counter was cool under your palms as you leaned forward, attempting to focus on your reflection instead of how his chain was brushing against your shoulder, how his fingers were tracing the curve of your—
"I'm trying to get ready," you protested, but it came out embarrassingly breathy. "We have dinner reservations."
"We do," he agreed, pressing a kiss to your neck that definitely threatened your carefully applied foundation. "In an hour."
"Which means I need to finish my face and—" you inhaled sharply as his hands slid lower, gripping more firmly. "Aurélien."
You caught his reflection in the mirror - that dangerous smile playing at his lips as he watched you try to maintain composure. The fresh fade and fitted shirt were doing criminal things for his already unfair looks.
"You look perfect already," he murmured, and the sincerity in his voice almost distracted you from how his thumbs were now tracing maddening circles.
"You're impossible," you managed, but you were already leaning back against him, makeup brush forgotten.
His laugh rumbled through his chest. "You like impossible."
"Get out," you laughed, pushing at his chest. "Let me finish getting ready in peace."
His pout was criminally effective, but he retreated to the bedroom. Through the mirror, you watched him settle on the edge of the bed, scrolling through TikTok with casual grace. The moment you spritzed your setting spray though, he stood up like it was Pavlov's bell.
Interesting.
You filed that reaction away for later research.
It was becoming clear that Aurélien had downloaded the Complete Boyfriend Experience somewhere between your time apart. His manners were even more impeccable, his timing perfect, his attention to detail almost suspicious.
He took your hand as you descended the stairs together - another discovery about the man your mutuals had analyzed endlessly. Physical touch was definitely high on his love language list, contrary to Maha's whole dissertation about him being an acts of service guy. (The smugness of proving a mutual wrong? Unmatched.)
The stilettos made you grateful for his steady presence, his hand warm and secure in yours. At the door, he turned to Ocho, voice dropping into that French that still did things to you both in and out of the bedroom.
"Sois sage, protège la maison," he murmured, scratching behind the dog's ears. The simple command shouldn't sound that good, but here you were swooning.
He led you to the car, opening the passenger door with that fluid grace that made everything look choreographed. But there, sitting in your seat, was a red gift bag.
"Aurélien…" you breathed, picking it up before sliding in.
That smile played on his lips as he made his way to the driver's side, starting the car with practiced ease. The dopey ass grin was back on your face before you could stop it as he pulled out of the driveway.
"Are you going to open it?" he asked, one hand on the wheel while the other found its usual spot on your thigh. The Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels bracelets on his wrist caught the streetlights, and you couldn't help staring at how right his large hand looked there, fingers splayed possessively across your skin.
The gift bag sat in your lap, full of promise. Whatever was inside - expensive or not - didn't really matter. The fact that he'd thought to get you anything at all had your heart doing that stupid flutter thing again.
You pulled out the tissue paper slowly, dragging out the moment. Aurélien's thumb traced circles on your thigh as he navigated through Madrid's evening traffic, but you could feel his attention split between the road and your reaction.
Inside was a small velvet box that made your heart stop for a second before common sense kicked in. Too soon for that kind of box. Still, your fingers trembled slightly as you opened it.
"I saw you looking at it the other day," he said softly, as you lifted out the delicate Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet - a match to one of his. "Thought we could coordinate."
The way he said it so casually, like matching thousand euro jewelry was just something you did now. Like this wasn't him essentially marking his territory in the most expensive way possible.
"You're ridiculous," you managed, but you were already holding out your wrist for him to fasten it at the next red light.
His fingers lingered on your pulse point. "You like ridiculous."
"Maybe," you admitted, watching the bracelet catch the streetlights. It looked right next to his hand on your thigh, like it belonged there. Like you belonged there.
His answering smile was knowing. "Only maybe?"
You were saved from responding by his phone lighting up with a call from Jude. He answered through the car's Bluetooth, and you settled back to listen to him switch effortlessly between English and French, discussing tactics for their next match. The way authority wrapped around his words, how naturally he took command of the conversation - yeah, you were definitely going to need to write another song.
His hand never left your thigh during the entire call, thumb still tracing those maddening patterns that made focusing on anything else impossible. The bracelet glinted with each movement, a constant reminder of how quickly this was all moving.
Two weeks suddenly felt like both forever and not nearly enough time at all.
The restaurant was exactly the kind of place you'd expect Aurélien to know about — tucked away in a historic part of Madrid, all warm lighting and exposed brick walls. Private enough that phones stayed in pockets, exclusive enough that no one batted an eye when he led you to a corner table with his hand on your lower back.
"You're staring," he murmured as you settled into your seat, that knowing smirk playing at his lips.
"You clean up nice," you shrugged, trying for casual like you hadn't been watching him all evening. The black button-down was doing criminal things for his shoulders, and the way he'd rolled up the sleeves to show off those bracelets felt deliberately calculated to drive you crazy.
"Just nice?" His eyes glinted as he reached for his water glass, chain catching the light with the movement.
"Your ego doesn't need any more feeding."
His laugh was low, private. "No? After the way you were liking my training videos? Or maybe my posts?"
The waiter's arrival saved you from having to form a coherent response to that. Aurélien ordered for both of you in perfect Spanish - another language that had no business sounding that good rolling off his tongue. You were starting to think he could read a grocery list and make it sound sexy.
"So," he said once the waiter left, his fingers finding yours across the table, "about Paris..."
Your heart did that stupid flutter thing again. "What about it?"
"I was thinking," his thumb traced your new bracelet, "maybe we start there. Then Côte d'Azur, maybe Monaco..."
"That's a lot of planning for someone who just wanted to be in my music video a few weeks ago," you echoed your words from the other day, but this time they carried a different weight.
His eyes met yours, all intensity and promise. "I told you - I'm chasing. Properly."
The way he said it, like it was just that simple. Like planning European getaways and matching jewelry and looking at you like that was the most natural progression in the world.
"You're good," you said softly, watching his bracelets catch the light as he played with your fingers.
"At what?"
"This whole..." you gestured vaguely between you. "Boyfriend thing."
His smile turned dangerous. "Is that what this is?"
You tried to pull your hand back but he held firm, that grin widening. "I mean- I didn't mean to assume-"
"No?" He brought your hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to your knuckles. "After I've been marking my territory so obviously?"
Your breath caught. "The bracelet–"
"The bracelet," he agreed, then his eyes got that glint that usually meant trouble. "Maybe next time we'll talk about a key. Make it easier than me having to come home from training to let you in."
His phone lit up with another call - Camavinga this time - but he declined it, attention still focused entirely on you.
"You can take it," you offered, but he was already shaking his head.
"They can wait." His thumb traced your pulse point again, right below the new bracelet. "I'm busy chasing."
The waiter came back with a bottle wine and poured some in both of your glasses. You took a sip quickly, trying to calm your nerves.
"You know," he said after taking his own sip of wine, eyes never leaving yours, "I'm going to ask you properly. To be my girlfriend."
Your heart did a backflip. "Oh yeah?"
"Mm." That dangerous smile was back. "Not yet though. Want to do it right."
You couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up. "You're really out here making men look bad, you know that?"
"How so?"
"All this," you gestured between you, at the bracelet, at everything. "The chasing, the dating, the whole... intentional thing. In 2024? In this economy?"
His thumb was still tracing patterns on your wrist, just below where the Van Cleef caught the light. "You think I'd do any less? After watching you for months?"
He made it seem like putting in effort was the most natural thing in the world (and it was). Like taking time to court properly, to build something real, wasn't a dying art. Here you were, living through dating horror stories from friends about situationships and breadcrumbing and 50/50 and men who couldn't even send proper texts, and Aurélien Tchouaméni was out here planning European trips and buying matching jewelry and talking about asking you to be his girlfriend "properly."
"You're kind of unreal, you know that?"
That smile should really be illegal. "Good unreal?"
"Don't fish for compliments," you said, but you were grinning. "Your ego is big enough."
"My ego?" He leaned forward slightly, chain catching the light. "Says the one who wrote a whole song about me?"
Your cheeks heated. "That's different."
"Is it?" His voice dropped lower, more private. "Because I have some thoughts about those lyrics..."
The look in his eyes promised you'd be hearing those thoughts in detail later.
The meal passed in a haze of excellent food and better company, but dessert? That was when Aurélien decided to be truly unfair.
He moved your chair closer to his, the scraping noise against the floor making you wince - but he didn't seem to care, too focused on closing the distance between you. The chocolate something-or-other looked incredible, but the way he picked up the spoon, eyes locked on yours? That was what had your pulse jumping.
Every movement was deliberate as he gathered a perfect bite, holding it up with the kind of precision he usually reserved for perfectly weighted passes. His eyes never left yours as you leaned forward, and the intensity in his gaze as he watched you take the bite had heat crawling up your neck.
You dabbed at your mouth with your napkin, hyper-aware of how he tracked the movement.
"Is it good?" His voice had dropped to that register that did dangerous things to your composure.
"Very–" was all you managed before his mouth was on yours, tongue sweeping in to taste the chocolate himself. His hand came up to cradle your jaw, and maybe you should've been embarrassed about kissing like this in public, but with Aurélien? All bets were off.
Those full lips of his really were criminal, and the way his stupidly handsome face looked when he finally pulled back, pupils blown and that satisfied smirk playing at his mouth? Yeah, public decency was overrated.
"Let's go back to my place," he murmured against your lips, and something in his tone had your stomach doing somersaults.
The waiter appeared almost instantly at his gesture, and you watched Aurélien handle everything with that easy command he carried on the field — getting the dessert boxed, settling the bill, all while keeping one hand on the small of your back like he couldn't bear to break contact.
The night air hit cool against your heated skin as he guided you out, his touch steady and possessive. The valet had his car waiting in minutes, perks of being Madrid royalty, you supposed. He opened your door first, naturally, and the way his eyes tracked down your body as you slid in had you feeling like prey in the best way.
The moment he settled into the driver's seat, Brent Faiyaz's voice filled the car — something about one night, about pleasure, about giving in. The universe really was testing you tonight.
You pressed your thighs together, trying to ebb off your arousal, but then his hand found your leg again. Those fingers splayed possessively across your skin, squeezing just enough to let you know he noticed your movement. Every few seconds his eyes would flick over to you, dark with promise, and the way he bit his lip when you shifted under his touch had you counting the minutes until you reached his place.
"You good?" he asked, voice rough, and the smirk playing at his lips said he knew exactly what he was doing.
"Yeah."
The fact that he could still drive this well while systematically dismantling your self-control was honestly impressive.
The drive felt endless but somehow too quick at the same time. Aurélien's hand never left your thigh, and by the time he pulled into his driveway, the tension in the car was thick enough to cut.
He moved with that controlled grace of his as he came around to open your door, but there was something darker in his eyes now, something that had your pulse racing. His chain caught the security lights as he helped you out, and the way he pulled you close — enough to feel how his chest rose and fell a bit faster than normal — had you forgetting basic motor functions.
You barely registered Ocho's excited greeting at the door, too focused on how Aurélien's hand had slid from your back to your waist, how he was looking at you like he was planning exactly how to ruin your carefully applied makeup.
"Va te coucher, Ocho," he commanded softly to the dog, and honestly? French really should not sound that good. The way the words rolled off his tongue, all authority and promise...
The door clicked shut behind you.
His hands found your hips, turning you to face him. The "AT" pendant glinted in the dim light as he leaned down, stopping just shy of your lips.
"Now," he murmured, "where were we?"
Your breath caught, heart hammering as Aurélien’s fingers dug just a little deeper into your waist. His touch was steady, deliberate — like he was taking his time, savoring the way you melted into him.
"Right about here," you murmured, tilting your chin up, letting your lips brush his just slightly. Just enough to tease.
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
His grip tightened, yanking you that last inch forward until there was nothing between you but heat. His mouth found yours in a kiss that was all possession — slow, deep, unapologetically hungry.
Ocho let out a soft chuff before trotting off, uninterested in whatever was unfolding. You, however? You were done for.
How you made it up the stairs, you didn’t know. You were only aware of the way he guided you with ease, like he owned every move you made together. By the time you reached his bedroom, your back met the closed door the moment the door clicked shut behind you. His breath warm against your skin, his hands dragging up your sides, over the fabric of your dress.
"You knew how tonight was ending," he murmured, lips grazing your jaw, fingers already working the zipper down.
You swallowed hard, exhaling shakily as the dress slipped from your shoulders, pooling at your feet. "Maybe," you admitted, voice breathy.
He smirked, the expression dark and knowing.
Then he stepped back just enough to unbutton his shirt, revealing the broad stretch of his shoulders, the sharp cut of his abs — skin warm, golden, flawless. Your breath hitched at the sight, because God, you’d seen him like this before, but it never stopped stealing the air from your lungs.
You never got tired of seeing him naked.
He was too beautiful.
Aurélien knew it too, the way he watched you watching him, his smirk deepening as he worked the belt from his pants.
Your own breathing was uneven by the time you were both bare, and then he was leading you to the bed, his hands firm on your hips, guiding you onto the mattress with a touch that felt reverent despite the heat simmering beneath it.
He leaned back against the headboard, toned thighs spread slightly as he reached over to the bedside table, retrieving a condom with an ease that sent a shiver down your spine.
You swallowed as he tore it open, sliding it on with practiced efficiency.
Then he looked at you.
His gaze was heavy, filled with promise.
"Come here," he murmured.
You crawled over to him, straddling his lap as his hands found your waist, steadying you as you settled over him. His skin was warm beneath your touch, muscles tense under your fingertips as you traced up his chest.
Aurélien pulled you closer, lips capturing yours in a kiss that was deep and unhurried, his tongue teasing against yours as his hands roamed your back. You could feel him hard against you, the sensation making your breath hitch.
His mouth moved from your lips to your jaw, then lower, trailing heat down your neck until he reached your chest. He took his time, lips and tongue tracing over the swell of your breasts before wrapping around a nipple. The sensation sent a shudder through you, a soft moan slipping past your lips as he sucked, his other hand palming your other breast, thumb circling the hardened peak.
"Aurélien," you breathed, threading your fingers through his curls.
He hummed against your skin, the vibration sending another wave of heat pooling low in your stomach. He switched to the other nipple, flicking his tongue before sucking again, his hands gripping your hips as he ground you down against him.
You whimpered at the friction, the growing ache between your thighs making you restless.
He looked up at you then, dark eyes heavy with want, lips glistening as he murmured, "Ride me."
A shiver ran down your spine at his words, at the low rasp of his voice.
You reached between you, aligning him with your entrance before sinking down slowly, gasping at the stretch, at how perfectly he filled you. Aurélien groaned, hands tightening on your waist as you took him inch by inch.
"Fucking hell," he muttered, head tilting back slightly, his grip firm as he helped guide you down. "Always so tight, bébé."
You moaned at the praise, at the delicious burn of him inside you.
He gave you a moment, fingers kneading your hips before urging you to move. You rolled your hips experimentally, exhaling sharply at the friction, at the way he stretched you just right.
"That’s it," he murmured, watching you through hooded eyes. "Take me just like that."
You set a rhythm, lifting and sinking down onto him, each roll of your hips making you both unravel a little more. His hands roamed your body, one gripping your waist, the other sliding up to cup your breast, thumb flicking over your nipple as he thrust up to meet your movements.
The sound of skin meeting skin filled the room, mingling with breathy moans and curses in both English and French.
Aurélien’s eyes stayed on you, dark and hungry as he murmured, "Look at you… made for me, yeah?"
You whimpered, leaning forward to kiss him, the movement messy and desperate, all tongue. It reminded you of the first night you were together, when you had barely been able to keep your hands off each other, drowning in the sheer intensity of it all.
He groaned into your mouth, hands gripping your ass as he helped you move faster, deeper.
"Fuck, bébé," he rasped, voice wrecked. "You feel so good."
Your nails dug into his shoulders, chasing that high, loving how perfectly your bodies fit together — his deep brown skin against yours, slightly darker but complementing you like a missing puzzle piece.
You moaned his name, head tilting back as the pleasure built, and Aurélien took the opportunity to kiss your throat, teeth grazing your pulse.
His grip on your hips tightened before he lifted you effortlessly, his strength making your breath hitch. He shifted positions, pressing you into the mattress as he settled between your thighs, the heat of his body making you shiver in anticipation.
Aurélien’s hands slid down your legs, spreading them wider, and you hissed at the stretch. He paused, eyes flickering up to yours.
"I got you," he murmured, his lips brushing against your knee before he lifted one of your legs to rest over his shoulder. "Relax for me, bébé."
You exhaled, forcing yourself to melt into the mattress just as he rolled his hips forward, burying himself deep in one smooth thrust.
Your gasp was swallowed by his groan, the new angle sending pleasure spiking through your veins like electricity.
"Aurélien—"
He set a brutal pace, his hips snapping against yours with a force that had you clutching at the sheets, at his arms, at anything that could anchor you. The bedframe creaked beneath you, the headboard tapping lightly against the wall with each deep stroke.
"You take me so well," he gritted out, watching where your bodies met, mesmerized by the way you stretched around him. His free hand slid down to press against your lower stomach, applying just enough pressure to make you keen. "Feel that? How deep I am?"
You could only nod, your voice caught in your throat as pleasure wracked through you.
"That’s my girl," he praised, leaning forward just enough to kiss your ankle before snapping his hips even harder, making you cry out.
The sensations were overwhelming, your body trembling beneath him as that familiar ache coiled tight in your core. Your nails raked down his back, desperate for something to hold onto as you teetered on the edge.
Aurélien’s breathing was ragged, his hands gripping your thighs as he pounded into you mercilessly. "Come for me," he urged, voice rough and commanding. "Let me feel you."
His words pushed you over the edge, pleasure crashing over you in waves as your body clenched around him, your cry of release muffled by his mouth as he kissed you through it.
"Fuck," he groaned, his rhythm stuttering as he followed right after, burying himself deep one last time before stilling, his body shuddering above you.
For a long moment, the only sounds in the room were your heavy breaths, your bodies still tangled together as you both came down from the high.
Aurélien kissed you once, slow and languid, before pulling out carefully. He slid off the bed, disposing of the condom before returning, the mattress dipping under his weight as he pulled you into his chest.
You let him, curling against his warmth as his fingers traced lazy circles on your back.
And in that moment, as his lips pressed against your forehead and his arm tightened around your waist, you realized something.
Whatever this man wanted, whatever he needed —you were going to give it to him.
No questions asked.
……………tbd
#quainwritings#aurelien tchouameni#quain’s masterlist#aurelien tchouameni x black oc#aurelien tchouameni fanfiction#aurelien tchouameni x black reader#aurelien tchouameni x reader#aurelien tchouameni fanfic#aurelien tchouameni fic#aurelien tchouameni imagines#footballer x reader#real madrid fanfic
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End of event round-up!
Thank you to everyone who created such amazing fanworks for Janeuary 2025, and to those who supported the creators by reading, leaving kudos and comments, and liking and reblogging!
Major kudos to Kalee233 and @arsenic-lobster who each created something for every single day of the event! Wow!
Also a special shout-out to these folks who created for over 15 of the days: @elmorinn, @jomiddlemarch, @dionysiaproductions, Kissed _by_Circe
But even if you created for only one day, we’re so thrilled you did. As of today, 57 creators together added 104 fics (view the entire collection on AO3) and 40 pieces of art related to Jane Austen into the world!
🙏 Before I give you any other stats, can I ask you to take 1 minute to fill out this survey about the event? Thanks!
Ok, now that that’s done, here's some other stats (which are subject to change as people keep submitting late works—it’s still not too late to do that, folks!):
Total # of all fanworks: 172
Fanfic: 98 works
Fanart: 27
OC art: 13
Fanvids: 6
Memes: 6
OC fic: 6
Comics: 5
Gifsets: 4
Edits: 3
Moodboards: 2
Crack: 1
Photography: 1
All fandoms: 25
Pride and Prejudice: 62 works
Persuasion: 30
Emma: 24
Sense and Sensibility: 23
Original works (no fandom): 22
Northanger Abbey: 19
Mansfield Park: 6
Rivals: 4
Sanditon: 2
Beauty and the Beast: 2
ACOTAR: 2
1 work each: Attack on Titan, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Blackadder, The Borgias, The Good Place, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Leverage, Lord of the Rings, Mass Effect, MCU, The Mirror Visitor, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
We also had 2 works about Jane Austen herself, and I’m not sure what fandom to count that as: Jane Austen RPF?
Top 13 daily prompts used:
Day 1 Letters: 22 works
Day 4 Portraiture and Day 16 Gossip are tied: 16 works each
Day 2 Harp: 15
Day 6 Restraint and Day 13 Christian name are tied: 13 works each
3-way tie between Day 3 Bath, Day 8 Cravat, and Day 20 Dearest: 12 works each
4-way tie between Day 11 Card playing, Day 14 Pianoforte, 19 Lock of hair, Day 30 Garden: 11 works each
Top 10 characters used:
Elizabeth Bennet
Fitzwilliam Darcy
Anne Elliot
Emma Woodhouse
Captain Wentworth
Marianne Dashwood
Catherine Morland
George Knightley
Colonel Brandon
Henry Tilney
Top 10 ships used:
Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Anne Elliot/Captain Wenworth
George Knightley/Emma Woodhouse
Colonel Brandon/Marianne Dashwood
Catherine Morland/Henry Tilney
Charles Bingley/Jane Bennet
4-way tie between Catherine & Isabella, Charlotte & Elizabeth, Charlotte/Collins, and Elinor & Marianne
Observations, surprises, and learnings
Mostly canon pairings: Almost everyone depicted canon romantic and platonic pairings. Only 7 romantic ships were non-canon pairings, and they each had only 1 work. Not a single one was gay! 😢 (Which is motivating me to finally write that Wentworth/Brandon fic for next year!)
Mostly core Austen fandoms: I expected a lot more works from non-Austen fandoms, given how often I see people draw and write Regency AUs for every fandom under the sun, as well as original works, and given how many people from non-Austen fandoms I notified about the event! Also, not a single work was submitted related to a modern Austen adaptation, like Bride and Prejudice, Clueless, or Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I’m not disappointed by any of this, just surprised.
Very few gifs: While I love the 4 new gifsets made for the event, I was disappointed there were only 4, considering how many Austen gifsets I see made for Period Drama Appreciation Week, for instance, and how popular Austen gifsets are on Tumblr. Next year, I will make a concerted effort to contact more gif-makers. (And if you have any you’d love to see join, tell them about this blog! I only just found out about @regencysource yesterday, curses!)
Creativity boost: Several people told me that this event inspired them to start writing again after a block, or post a fic for the first time, or finish a fic they were stuck on. This was so wonderful to hear that the event boosted creators in this way! It made me so very happy. ❤️
Prompt interpretation: My goal with the prompts was that they be somewhat Austen/Regency-specific but not the standard, obvious choices like balls, dancing, proposals, etc., because those wouldn’t be very inspiring since they’re so common already. It was a joy to see the different ways that people used the prompts. For instance, Bath the place vs bath the activity, or literally hunting animals vs figuratively hunting men. And even the folks who used modern AUs found ways to make the very dated prompts like cravat and calling cards work! Bravo on everyone’s creativity!
👉 If you have any suggestions for prompts for next year, or other feedback, I’d love it if you shared it with me via this very short and easy survey!
I had a blast hosting this, so Janeuary will definitely be back for 2026! Keep your eyes peeled for the prompts in September!
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LEASH CALLED YOU
PUPPY (RUINER) x F!Reader | 18+ Good dogs get rewards, and Puppy thinks you are the best prize to be found in this hovel. So, he takes you.
WARNINGS: smut | P-in-V, rough sex; D/s undertones; VERY HEAVY DUBCON!!; slight breathplay. female gendered anatomy. implied/referenced human trafficking, sex work. canon typical violence. implied threat of violence. loss of agency. obsessive behaviour. this is basically playing house with a psychopath who decides you're his. and he pretty much killed half the city and the guy who was kinda a god. or a king. or something. so like, what are you gonna do? say no? Pff. WORD COUNT: 7,4k imagine writing like, 7k for Some Guy after seeing one (1) gifset of him.
He finds you in South Rengkok.
Nestled amongst a conglomerate of seedy, black market shops in the red light district, you gaze out at the sea of people from a vaulted window in a seamy bordello. A voyeuristic view into the coquettish bedroom they placed you in—red satin sheets and pink, heart-shaped pillows. All dolled up and pretty.
The harsh light cuts shadows under your eyes and frames you in a heavy, oversaturated glow. You look like you're bathing in red. In blood.
The sight makes something curdle in his stomach. He isn't sure why. There's not much of a difference between you and the other workers—all locked up tight; enticing passersby to join in on the garish body auction set to take place soon—but where they see the dollar signs in this, dancing and swaying their hips, pressing their palms flat against the window plane and fluttering their lashes, all lovely and coy, at the men who press back, you sit. Motionless. A little doll.
You don't belong here, he thinks. You're something much too soft and fine, like silk in his hands, and much too delicate to be in this part of town that stinks like wet, oxidising metal and saltpetre.
The slip of your black, lacy kimono barely covers your skin. He tracks it. The shadows, the dips. The curves. His eyes fix on the protrusion of your collarbones beneath the moody fabric, pushed to the side, and hanging off your shoulder in what, he guesses, is meant to be enticing. Kittenish.
They dolled you up to skirt this line between sultry vixen and twee innocence. The sight of it does something to his guts. Has them rolling over each other in tandem with each heavy thud of his heart. It's the way you look that catches his attention, sure, but more than that, it's the look in your eyes.
They glow under the neon smear, hazy and drifting far away, turned inward. Lost.
And then you look up. Catch his gaze through the glass.
There's a moment when everything inside of him dims, quiets. Thoughts, missions. Reason, purpose. It falls under a thick blanket of whisper-soft snow. It's just him—something, nothing—and you. This little cosm of his own making.
You make a motion, then, as if to entice him inside but you hesitate, staring back at him instead. He knows the LED screen on his mask is doing something funny, voicing the thoughts he can't say, because your lips quirk slightly at the corners—bemusement, maybe; he's never been good at reading people—but then HER is husking out orders in his head, all biting witticism, and acerbic humour.
Later, Puppy, comes the clandestine whisper—hot oil down his nape—and he catches the warbled curiosity as it trickles through. Good Puppy’s get rewards. But there's work to do.
Work. Yes, work.
His helmet flashes. He catches the red flicker on the smeared reflection of the window. Garish red. Kill, kill, kill.
You see it, and you flinch.
Good, is the sudden thought. Good.
Puppy isn't sure about much—not anymore, and maybe not ever—but he knows this: he likes the way your eyes widen. Fear, undoubtedly. Round and doe-eyed as you take in the horrible words scribbled in neon.
Fright, dread. It looks good on you.
Pretty, pretty, pretty.
His hands shake. He thinks about how you'd feel under him. How he'd feel inside of you. And—
Purpose, he thinks. Purpose.
There's an emptiness inside of his heart. A hole left over from the remains of LITTLE BROTHER. The dream, the reason, turned into a ghost. Shrapnel in his chest.
He doesn't blame HER for his absence. For the machinations, the schemes. It all led somewhere in the end, even if that place was here. Alone. Stuck, now, with a gaping wound in his chest.
But—
Not for long, maybe.
It'll be an awkward fit—BROTHER was this unknowable, untouchable shadow that lingered in his peripheral vision; a driving force keeping him moving. The space carved inside Puppy for him feels like a cavernous chasm. You're so slight, so small, in comparison to that gaping void, that he wonders if you'll be enough to quench the hunger that brims up from those depths. Rapacious. Wanting.
It's different, of course. You are real. BROTHER was—
Not.
He satiated himself on artificial dreams and empty memories. Those spectral, hallucinatory feelings of desperation to save his younger brother carried him to the very end.
But BROTHER was always chimerical.
You are something he can touch. Have. Keep.
He sees the flash of uncertainty etched into the painted lines of your face as you look around the cesspit you've fallen into, and he knows that you, too, could be that for him. Purpose. Purpose. Purpose.
(His, his, HIS.)
The people wandering around, perusing the shops, stop and stare at you. At this little wisp, all shaken and terrified, and in need of saving. Needing him—
His hand clenches around the pipe.
You're too good for their eyes. For this place.
He'll kill them all, and come for you.
The room that houses his new target is in a penthouse on the better side of the city. Vaulted ceilings. Golden chandeliers. Crystalline glass in a mosaic of iridescent pastel. It looks blemishless, clean, in comparison to the hovel that is South Rengkok. It scrapes against the chalky insides of his skull as he slinks forward, and emerges from the shadows.
He makes his way through the levels, one by one, until all that remains behind him is a river of blood and a breadcrumb trail of dead bodies. Boss’ finest. It's all mostly just—
Cleanup.
A necessary evil, HER calls it, and so, he sees it through.
When he gets to the top, he hears noises. High-pitched, elongated. A sharp grunt.
He finds his target sitting down on a sprawling chaise, knees notched apart. A woman sits in his lap, hands pressed against his chest.
Both of them are naked. Their clothes are in a messy pile by the door.
Puppy watches for a moment. Enthralled, almost, by the sharp juxtaposition their bodies make, and then—
Confusion.
She looks just like you.
His meaty hands are tight around her waist, jerking her down with each sloppy cant of his wide hips. Dwarfing her frame in his bearish paws. She mewls into the room, the reecho of her synthetic moans daggers into his temple.
The pipe in his hand jerks with the rough spasm of his fingers.
Puppy doesn't care much for killing. Doesn't care much for anything at all, really, except for HER, BROTHER. The mission. His objectives.
Cold, they call him. Unfeeling.
He thinks, suddenly, of Wizard. About something he'd said back when Puppy didn't have a name.
You're—heh, you're a killing machine! It must feel so good, you know? To kill.
It doesn't. He feels nothing at all. Neither pity, nor guilt. Regret is an abstract concept in his mind; intangible. Unreachable.
He's—
Ambivalent, HER once supplied. You feel nothing, Puppy, because you are nothing.
Yes. Yes, he thinks. And yet—
There's a strange heat in his veins. A caustic feeling welling deep inside of his guts at the sight of them coupling. His hands on her body is an affront. An insult.
It makes him angry. Furious.
He'll kill him, he'll—
(Go, Puppy!)
In the man's hands, she looks soft. Delicate. Breakable.
Yes, so breakable. So—
She moans, then, and he jerks his chin up, catching her reflection in the marble pillar.
Ah, he thinks. Ah.
She isn't you.
He gets to work.
The success of his mission has HER offering a bleak congratulations in the back of his head. Job well done. He takes it all in, feeling a distinct thrum in his bones that is usually absent following his massacres. Its place, in the hollow gaps of his ribs, is strange. Foreign.
Excitement, he finds. How peculiar.
It offsets the adrenaline rush, the lingering anger coursing through his veins. Killing the Target, his companion who was entirely too similar to you, leaves him feeling satiated and starved at the same time. A paradoxical sensation that shouldn't exist together, but somehow found a way, a home, within the slurry of his chest.
He wants to find you. Has this pulsing need in the back of his head to make sure that the woman he killed wasn't really you. But you are contralateral to his current mission. His objective.
Almost pityingly, the route HER generates takes him right past you: a tantalising tease.
Puppy isn't sure what to call this. Madness, perhaps. Don't be stupid, Puppy, comes the choppy, mechanical whir in the back of his head. You are—human, after all.
The way it's said by HER has his hackles rising, but he doesn't have enough insight on the topic to pursue the strange cadence any further.
Indulge. You earned it.
Your face flashes before him—different, this time. Gone is the thick gold on the crease of your eyelids, the heavy red on your lips. You're barefaced. Gaunt. Your complexion reminds him of the bruised blue of the sky above. Midnight. Iridescent rainbows in an oil spill.
He wants to touch you. His hands shake.
A series of numbers flicker at the bottom. The price, he surmises, for you.
An auction. Right.
Tonight, HER supplies. He feels the clinical amusement in the back of his head. Oh, but Puppy—
To offset the generosity, HER pulls up the amount he carries on him. Cruel. Mocking. It's compared and contrasted. The difference is staggering. He can't afford you. Doesn't even come close to the asking price.
(Couldn't even afford the entrance fee.)
Sorry, Puppy—
The mechanised warble is pushed down before it can start.
That's fine, he reasons, dismissing it all. Dismissing HER.
He has no intention of paying for what's rightfully his, anyway.
The bordello—boasting some strange mix between classic geisha-sensualism and modern sex appeal (and somehow missing the mark for both)—appears closed for the night.
A fallacy, of course, as everyone is just inside. Squirrelled away with cheap vodka, cigars. Waiting their turn to cash in their victory tokens.
He looks at your window, shutters closed with a looping scrawl on neon pink that says be back soon~!, and makes his approach.
There's no plan for this. Not that he's ever really had any to begin with—most of what he does is driven by an endless need to fulfil someone else's objective through the brutal physicality he wields—but he makes an effort to go stealthier than usual.
He doesn't want to risk triggering a failsafe that will keep him away from you any longer than he needs to be.
Not that it matters—
These lowlives—some assemblage of Creeps, local gangsters, and general nobodies—are mere nuisances in the face of his ice-cold ire. His rage. Tearing through them is nothing. The fight they put up is flimsy. Tissue paper defences. He supposes they never really anticipated him showing up to reap his dues at an event that has been advertised for several weeks now (how he missed your face on those gaudy billboards hanging above the taverns in the red light district, he'll never know). A high-class event, they snicker from behind the thin doorways.
Politicians gambling away public funds to buy pretty prizes. Gangsters, pimps, all looking to pocket more flesh for their own abattoirs.
Killing them is insubstantial to this cleanup mission, he knows, but there's a thrum of vindictiveness that roars through his chest when they squeal, begging for forgiveness that they must know won't come.
(He's barely merciful on a good day.)
HER is a cheerleader in his ear, egging him on. Go, Puppy! Get your prize, Puppy! and he lets it fuel himself forward until he's covered in viscera and gore—a jaw bone breaks off, tacks on to the lip of his boot; blood drenches the sleeves of his leather jacket, stains his collar—and surrounded by pulpy, broken bodies. Alone.
It's quiet, now. The only sound is his heavy, ragged breath muffled by the mask covering his head. The harsh thud of his pulse cottons his ears, blotting out everything except the heady rush of blood raging in his veins.
HER watches with an alien sense of amusement that prickles in the back of his head. Wrongness permeates from their mirth as they take in the carnage spread out amongst the halls.
It all means nothing to him. A means to an end.
Nothing to them, either. To HER. This is a game.
The wet end of the pipe drags against the herringbone floor in a metallic squeal done to announce his presence from anyone unlucky enough to survive the brutal apathy of his initial assault. He hears nothing. Just the grind of rusting metal on wood. Porous. Hollow.
It all ends in a muted bloodbath. A bloodied trail of bodies leads right to your door.
Untouched, despite the garish horror painting the walls in rotting red. Congealed blood blackened under the thin oxygen in the room.
There's no movement from within, but he knows you're here. Can feel you through the wood. Catch the rabbiting of your heart. Your gasping breath.
With the hand not clutching the pipe, he reaches for the handle, turns. Locked. He expected it. You must have propped something up against the knob during the first onslaught of his fury. Smart.
But it's not enough to keep him out.
He pries open the door to your room with one hand, shattering the flimsy back of the vanity stool you jimmied beneath the handle. Cute. Resourceful. His heart pounds in his chest. He can't wait to have you.
Go, Puppy!
He takes a moment to shut the door behind him—no escape—before he slowly swivels his head toward you. Taking you in.
(Finally.)
You stare at him with that same look on your face as before. Terror, he reasons, and tries to piece it together on the men who looked at him as he cracked skulls open with the blunt end of his pipe, tore jugulars out with his bare hand. Fear, he thinks. They look at him with fear. Loathing.
But you're missing that one. There's no hatred on your face, no curses spat out even when he stalks forward with the same steady gait as always, the bloody end of his pipe leaving a macabre breadcrumb trail for anyone to follow.
There's a sea of dead bodies behind him. Businessmen. Lowlives. Commonfolk. The other girls. It didn't matter.
They were in the way.
All of them.
(The man, too, who came to collect you like a prize winner at a seedy casino. His head, in particular, is rendered into nothing but a pulpy mess of grey matter, tissue, blood, and bone.)
He thinks you might cry, but you don't. You stare. Owlish. Wary. Between the thick, brick wall—your cage—and him, there's nowhere for you to run. He slows at that, coming to a stop several paces away. Watching you back. Assessing. Calculating.
You're nervous. Shaken. He's under no disillusionment that you hadn’t heard the screams just outside of your door. Heard the thuds. The cracking of skulls. The breaking of bones. A bloodbath only several paces away. A massacre. Scary enough to you that it made you try to save yourself, to lock whatever it was that stalked the halls from getting to you.
How terrified you must have been.
Puppy doesn't feel much for anyone. Maybe the odd moment of sympathy for the inhabitants of his city, the ones who beg and plead for his help with the things they can't control, can't fight back against. He extends small mercies where he sees fit.
But for some odd, unfathomable reason, he has the sudden inkling to reach out. Pity. You're so pitiful to him. Poor thing. You poor, poor—
In a moment of pure absurdity, the words: are you good? flash across the curved plain of his mask, and you make a noise somewhere between a yelp and snort. Mangled in the back of your throat.
“Does it matter?”
And, oh—
Your voice does something to him. Turns his insides liquid. He's melting, he thinks. Burning up and turning to a heap of molten ore by your feet.
He tries to reign himself back in, forcing himself to focus. Focus. Puppy ponders your question for a moment before ultimately deciding that it doesn't.
(Or, rather, it does; but maybe not in the way you'd want it to.)
In the end, he gives you a shrug. Banal. Dismissive. It makes your brows furrow. A valley forms between them. Irritation bleeds through the flat apathy you forged.
There's a scoff. He thinks you look prettier like this—a feral, hissing cat. He wants you beneath him, clawing at his chest. Spitting curses in his name.
(Wants to try to tame you. Wants to fail.)
“Of course,” you hiss, hands fisting in the sheer fabric of your kimono. “You're no different from anyone else, are you?”
Puppy shakes his head in response. He isn't a good man. He's made of spare parts stitched together to create an amalgamation of likeness to some king he barely even knows. A megalomaniac. A madman.
In all honesty, there probably isn't much that separates him and the men who vied for your affection, paid for your attention. Threw coins toward an auction just for the possibility of taking you home.
But there is a difference.
Puppy will have you. This he is certain of.
There's nowhere for you to go. This city doesn't want you. Doesn't deserve you. He'll take you with him, chained at the wrist if he has to. Shackled. Caged.
You are so funny, Puppy, HER intones, amused. A puppy with a puppy.
Yes, he decides. His puppy. All his.
He found you first.
Puppy lets the pipe—drenched in blood, bone; in viscera that makes you recoil sharply with a flinch—fall to the floor with a metallic clang. With his hands free, soaked, he lifts them up, offering his palms to you.
It's not a peace offering, but he's seen what untamed cats can do when cornered. And while you're no match for his unfathomable physicality, he'd rather you didn't hurt yourself trying to maim him.
Still—
Mine, mine, mine flashes, lightspeed, across his visor. He gives you a moment to let the words, the meaning sink in.
—you’re his. With that ironclad notion comes the freedom to do whatever he wants.
Whenever he wants.
And then he moves.
The difference in your size is almost hideous. Grotesque. He towers above you—a looming mountain—and knows that it would take at least three of you side by side to even hope to match the width of him.
His hands, too, dwarf you.
It curls something noxious inside of his guts. A poison-soaked miasma that subsumes in his bloodstream, pulses in the base of his spine. A hunger. A heat. You're so small in comparison to him. So delicate. He could break you in two, shatter every bone in your body.
And there's not much you could ever hope to do to stop it.
He shudders at the thought, and knows he likes it more than he should.
Later, though. Soon. He wants your hands on his skin. Wants to see you come to terms with the vastitude of him, and watch as the realisation that you are well and truly his sinks in.
He reaches out, palms upward, and waits.
It doesn't take long.
(Well-trained, is the hiss. He ignores it, lest he claw his own skin off.)
You flick a scathing glare in his direction first, caustic and hateful, but you bend to his whims without a word. You touch him hesitantly, running the soft pads of your fingers over the metal of his hand, feeling the bumps. The groves in his circuitry.
Everyone so far has tried to chisel in his head. Galvanise him down into a mindless toy (HER makes a noise, he ignores it), but you seem to avoid his head. Touching the places on his arms not smeared with blood or gun oil, running down the thick wires in his artificial arm. The veins on his real one. The hair dusting his knuckles.
Then you spot the blood caked, dried and blackened, under his nails, and you recoil slightly. Pulling back. Dropping to his chest.
His breath whirs out in a deep tremble when you shiver at the muscles—hard iron, brass—that hums under your palms. It's tentative. Soft, almost. Exploratory as you navigate the newness of his body and this strange situation you've found yourself in.
There's a fractured look on your face that he can't quite place when you slide the cup of your hand over his beating heart.
(Surprise, maybe. You must have thought him a machine.)
You stay there for a moment, quiet. Pensive. Gaze inward as you mull something over, something he can't fathom, can't ascertain.
“You…” your voice comes out on a stilted breath after a brief silence. “You killed them all.”
It's not really a question. He grunts his affirmative, anyway, and reaches out to settle his hands on your hips. You jump when he touches you. Tense and angry in his arms, but you let him pull you in close. Are almost docile when he tucks his chin against your crown, lets his hands slide to the small of your back.
You make no move to pull away. He lets that notion marinate in the back of his head, bending reality to suit his whims when he decides that you must not want to. He hugs you tighter, nuzzling the top of your head when you shudder.
He's not sure where you're going with this particular line of thought. Doesn't, entirely, see why it matters much. Everyone is dead except him, you. The only two breathing in this disgusting bordello that reeks of thick, spicy incense and myrrh to hide the scent of sweat, stale cigarettes, and sex. Something plastic. Synthetic. Lubricant, he imagines. Latex.
Knowing that you spent an insurmountable time in this cesspool has anger spiking inside of him once more, but it's quelled, immediately, when remembers what the other men who lurked in these dilapidated corners look like now. Viscera, tissue, and bones are now all painting the cheap panelled walls in a deep maroon splatter.
(He'll burn it all down before he leaves tomorrow.)
He keeps you close, shackled. A parody of a lover's embrace.
Your hand drifts up, a slow crawl to the base of his neck. Puppy lifts his chin. The bright red question mark shading the room in an ethereal neon glow.
“You killed them,” you repeat, knuckles grazing the over-sensitive skin where his mask melds to flesh. “But you didn't kill me. Why?”
He feels the press against his jugular. A soft ache in his throat. It doesn't hurt, but he knows you want it to.
Puppy's puppy has fangs.
Puppy reaches up, snatching your wrist in his mechanical hand. Feels, instantly, the grind of delicate bone under harsh, unyielding metal.
You don't flinch.
“Why?”
Under the harsh edges of your anger, your feigned indifference, he catches sight of the look that drew him to you in the first place. Absolute despondency. A vacancy in the hollow of your eyes. Misery, maybe.
If he were someone else, he might have felt pity for you. Ripped from the arms of whatever birthed you into existence, thrown into this disgusting hovel, and now—
A pet for a pet.
Kept. Chained.
Puppy will keep you forever. He knows this just as sure as he knows his heart pulses in his chest. The sun rises. Falls. He'll take you with him, wherever he goes.
You're his.
A fine consolation prize you've found for yourself, HER quips, and he's content to ignore it for now. Their amusement is clinical, a kittenish scratch in the back of his head.
But he does agree. You're a fine prize, aren't you? His little treasure found in a trash heap.
His, his, his
all his, all his, all his—
(You look at the promises, the answers, flickering across the surface of his visor, and shudder—)
Puppy doesn't say anything when you lead him by the wrist to sit on your bed, simply opting to follow along with your demands for now. It's cute, he finds, the way you try to bully him around even when your hands shake, knees tremble.
He rests his forearms on his thighs, letting his hands dangle in the space between his spread knees—the picture of ease; the manufactured torpor of predator—and he waits. Watching, rapturously, as you flit in front of him. All soft and pensive as you look him over. Taking stock of the blood on his leather jacket. The stains on his pants. The flat surface of his mask, broken only by the protrusion of his nose.
Boss was a megalomaniac. A narcissist. Knowing that he's made in his image, his likeness (spare parts; a fractured failsafe), he can only assume you like what you see when you look at these scraps that make him whole.
Whatever you find, it shades the appraising glance in a hue of calculative decision—suddenly firm, now: wily.
“Okay,” you say, and bring your hands to the sash holding the sheer kimono in place. “I'll be yours—” his hands twitch; reaching for you already. You dance out of the way from his grasping knuckles with a scoff. “Only if you're mine, too.”
If he had a mouth, he might have grinned.
You seem content to take the lead after a noncommittal response to your demand of shared ownership (the idea alone of which has him thickening in his slacks), placing your hands on his shoulders to steady yourself before swinging your thigh over his lap, taking (what he hopes becomes) your rightful seat.
It places your barely covered centre right against his prominent bulge, sending an electric buzz down the base of his spine. The look when you feel him throb against you is equally as scathing as it is feverish, and nearly comes undone at your glare alone, panting harshly against your collarbones.
“Down boy,” you murmur silkily before dropping your cunt right over him.
Whiteout. Static. He sees nothing but blurry slashes of red, red, red—
His hands are bruising on your waist, and he's not sure if he's pulling you closer to him or pushing him away. Maybe both. Tugging, tugging, until he can feel the red-hot heat of you burning through the fabric of his trousers.
You can't kiss him so you pepper sweet, soft kisses against the column of his throat, teeth nipping the seam where metal meets flesh. Marking the column of his pale throat up with the brand of your claim. Your ownership.
A collar in red, black, yellow, and blue—
He doesn't have a mouth to claim you back, but his hands punch your flesh until it's pressed harshly against bone. Bursting blood vessels under your skin. It puddles there. He runs his fingers against the pool of blood that softens your skin, and understands, then, why the sting in his neck feels so fucking good.
He feels consumed. In a tailspin. You grind against him, and he sees stars.
Puppy can't think when you do that, and you seem to know this because you don't stop rolling your hips over his straining cock, pinched tight in his slacks. It's too much.
He wants you. Wants you. Wants you.
You pull back, and huff at the projection on his face.
“You're impatient,” you say, but you're slipping your hand inside the waistband of his pants in spite of your exasperation, fingers dancing over the soft skin of his groin.
It feels molten when you touch the base of his cock with your knuckle. Just a nudge. Just a press. He thinks he could come undone like this. Just like this. With your hands on him. Soft, dewy skin.
But he wants you pinned under him, taking him. Has thought about nothing except your knees spread, thighs open. Pussy bare to him. Full of him. Nothing but him. Him, him. It made him ache. Burn. A low grade fever in his guts at the enticing image of you beneath him. Pretty lips open, moaning. Eyes wide, doeish.
“You’re too—”
You start to say something, but he can't take this anymore. It's too soft. Too gentle. He wants you bent over. Wants to be inside of you already.
And so, he follows through.
You make a noise in the back of your throat when he gets his hands on the underside of your knees, and unceremoniously tips you back onto the velveteen sheets. The flimsy silk of your kimono spreads, unveiling the softness of your body. Your bare breasts, nipples pebbling under his stare.
With it haloed around you in an inky black spill over your arms, leaking from beneath your body, he thinks you look ethereal. Unreal. Otherworldly.
The slip covering your pussy is barely in the way. He can see dewy lips peeking out from the sliver of black nestled across your slit, wet and red. Red. Red—
“P–Puppy—!” You yelp when he tugs his trousers down with one hand, the other keeping your leg up, pinched tight on the underside of your knee. Spread open. Nearly bare.
He presses the heel of your foot where his neck meets shoulder, keeping it in place with a soft pat to your calf, before dropping his hand down to join the other in ripping the thin scrap of fabric keeping you from him. He's graced with another yelp, but it isn't in pain or distress, and he ignores it outright.
Mindless, it seems, in this pursuit to be inside of you as quickly as possible.
Your panties—if they could even be considered such a thing—are pushed deep into his back pocket. Saved for later.
And then he turns back to you. Spread open. Waiting and willing under him. The sight of you like this steals his breath from his lungs. Sparks embers in his guts that smoulder, billowing smoke through the hollow of his chest.
He tastes ash in the back of his throat. Wishes, suddenly, that he could quench it on the slick, hot taste of you—
Gripping himself in one hand, he presses the blunt head of his cock against your slit, glistening from your wetness in the jaundiced glow of the moody light above your head. He's glad he didn't cut the power to this shithole because the way you quiver beneath him as he rubs between your folds is nothing short of mesmerising.
You're wet. Soaked. All for him, even if you keep hissing out that this is just a bodily reaction to stimulus, don't be so full of yourself, you psychopath—
His hand drops. The flat side of his thumb pressed against your clit. You arch so prettily when he touches you like this, knees shaking, eyes fluttering. He presses harder, makes small circles against your sensitive flesh that have you whimpering. Whining.
“No more, no more, no more—”
He can feel the molten centre of you flutter around his weeping tip. Silken, inviting. He wants more. Knows that you want it just as bad, too.
Impatient now, he lifts his fingers from your clit, and wraps it tight around your thigh, gaining leverage before he slowly, agonizingly, begins to presses inside—just the tip, the first inch—but the way you wrap around him (all tight, wet silk) makes his mind grow fuzzy around the edges. Electricity rockets down his spine.
He thinks he blacks out for a second, short-circuiting at the white-hot pleasure of being inside of you, because when his eyes focus, he's pushed all the way inside, trembling above you.
You're whining his name with tears dripping down your temples, legs quivering around him, and he wonders if this is that version of heaven, the real one, he'd read about once.
It's too much. Not enough. He rolls back on his hunches to see the way you swallow him down to the base. Pulled taut, and far too pretty for what he's doing to you. Poor, pitiful thing. He'll ruin you, he's sure. Mess you up so badly, no one else would ever be able to touch you without thinking of him. Only him.
It's a thought that sends a thrill down his spine, and he rolls his hips just to watch you squirm. Builds up a sickeningly sweet momentum as he forces your body to acclimate to his girth, to the unyielding stretch of his cock. You're too tight around him, and he worries that the taut stretch might be too much for you, but it's passing. Temporal. He knows he doesn't really care. You'll take it all. All of him.
Nothing will tear him away from this pretty cunt of yours.
It flicks against a long dormant part inside of his hindbrain, and he pants for it. Chasing this feeling, this high.
The slow crawl within you isn't enough to satiate himself. His belly rumbles. His throat burns.
Puppy gives you no warning before he snaps his hips into you as hard as he can.
Your wet cries start the beginning notes of his new ascension, and he pounds into you harder. Faster. He fucks you like he's starved for it. Aching. Desperate. Belatedly, he thinks about your pleasure, about bringing you to the same highs the tight clutch of your pussy is bringing him, but he can't focus. Can't think. It's mindless, this lust. Turns him inside out and makes him greedy. Selfish.
He wants, wants—
Never, in all of his insignificant life, has he ever wanted something as much as this. As you. Pressed beneath him, mewling out his name as he forces himself inside of you, as deep as he can reach—
(and then deeper still because Puppy wants to crawl inside of you; want to nestle against your heart, tucked under the bracket of your ribs and with the way he fucks into you like this, bed whining in protest with each furious, sloppy snap of his hips, he just might make that dream a reality—)
—and fuck. Fuck.
Somewhere in the tangled web of his thoughts, all white-noise, static pleasure, he can hear HER utter things in secret under the heavy pants of his ragged breath (things like, you deserve this, Puppy; good boy, Puppy; treat your toy—kindly—Puppy), and it spurns him on. Makes him ache to drive those mechanised whispers out of his head, filling the space they leave behind with the sweet echo of your voice in ear.
Scream. For. Me flashes across the visor in bloody red, and he sees when it registers in your glossy, wet-eyed stare. Cuts through the haze of sex, the lashings of fear that still curl in the shaded valleys when you look at him, and digs its talons into tissue, bisecting the chemical slurry turning your thoughts to mush. There's a moment of clarity. Brief, ephemeral, because he's pressing in as deep as he can once more, grinding against some spot inside of you that makes your eyes roll, and your head drop.
My
Name
It flashes again, and finally—
Your pretty mouth drops open, spittle running down the corners as you struggle to keep up with his frantic, feverish pace, but nothing comes out—nothing he wants to hear, at least. Please, you beg, and he feels the plea like a punch to his gut.
You're so pretty when you beg.
But that's not what he wants.
Bad girl
It comes as a warbling flicker. Distorted in his anger.
You shudder under him, eyes widening when he drops his hands down to your throat, palm swallowing you whole from chin to sternum. For him, it's as gentle as he could be, but you gasp for breath, tears pebbling in the corner of your eyes. Hazy, murky, with fear and pleasure; the warring sensations separated only a hairline fracture, a thin sliver.
He shifts forward and has you take on more of his weight, stifling more air from your lungs, and making you feel the power flex of his massive body cocooning you entirely. No escape.
Your hands unfurl from the white-knuckled grip on the sheets, slamming against his shoulders as you try, futilely, to push him away. You're frenzied. Desperate.
Puppy finds it endlessly charming.
His hand lifts, offering a slight respite that you seize eagerly, greedily, gulping down wet, feverish lungfuls of air.
“Y–you bastard—”
He likes it when you cuss at him. A feral, hissing cat. He falls over you once more, shadowing you under his bulk, and pistons his hips into the apex of your thighs, feeling the slickness of your cunt drench his groin.
Angry, spitting thing. And yet—
You're so fucking wet for him.
You like this. The way he bends you mercilessly to his whims. Folds you in half.
His hand stays around your throat, feeling each breath and moan that reverberates up his arm. The other drops from your knee, falling to the black, iron headboard that grinds into the wall with each thrust. Centering himself. Gaining more leverage.
Puppy fucks you like this. Trapped beneath him—a tumulus over you—and unable to do much except take his cock however he decides to give it to you. And give it to you, he does—
(Mercilessly. Pounding you so hard, your breasts jerk, and your eyes flash vividly as you struggle to stay afloat in that equinox of pleasure-pain that rages over you.)
HER says he doesn't have a face, and maybe that's true. It might just be a flat mess of wires sutured to flesh. But
Puppy wants to devour you. Swallow you whole. Wants to taste the sweetness of your cunt on his tongue. Feel your lips on his. He wants to pry apart your chest and suckle from the marrow in your ribs.
He wants you.
Wants you. Wants you—
He's not entirely sure if he's human, but he breathes like you. Heaves. Gasps. Can feel the wet, molten clench of your pussy around the thickness of his cock as he spears you open. Pleasure blooms at the base of his spine. Punches through his groin. Bludgeons him. It makes his head feel heavy, fuzzy. Somnolent with the mindless drive ticking in the back that pushes him forward. Makes him want to imbue himself in whatever it was that made you. A pithy god of old. Stardust.
He wants to remake himself in your image. Spare parts just for you—
How romantic, Puppy.
“Fuck—!”
Your voice is saccharine in his ear. A velvet gust of smoke curls in the back of his head.
With his hand around your throat, he feels the words before he hears them. It sends a thrill down his spine—dancing fingers pressing tight to each vertebra as it splits open the ventricles housing his spinal fluid, letting it all leak out into his bloodstream.
It's ecstasy, maybe. Or the closest thing to it he could ever reach.
“What are you doing to me?” You slur the words out against his metal cheek, hushed and fractured. Raw. “It feels so—good—oh, Puppy—!”
He shifts his pelvis into the bracket of your thighs. The head of his cock rubbing over that spot inside of you that makes your eyes roll back, and your cunt squeeze him tight. A pretty box wrapped, velveteen, around him.
There's friction in the pit of his stomach. Tension in his groin. It pulls taut, feels heavy.
He's close. So, so close—
You seem to realise this, too, your eyes growing wide once more as he twitches inside of you, pressed deep. Cockhead nudging into your seal.
“No, no—”
Despite your protests, your body is tightening up, quivering under him.��
He takes it as an invitation.
Puppy's hips stutter to a slow grind as he hits the apex of his pleasure, cock throbbing, spitting his release, deep inside of you.
Around him, beneath him, you tremble. Shake. He can feel the tremors of your own hastily reached climax when you squeeze his cock tight in a vice, undulating pulses that seem to rocket from the sensitive nerve endings around him all the way to his brainstem.
It's good. Too good.
He doesn't have any other ambition right now outside of burying himself inside of you over and over again.
He wonders how deep his spare parts go for a belated second, how much of himself was forged in Boss’ likeness, but dismisses it immediately. It's unimportant to him.
“You're awful,” you gasp sweetly in his ear. “Terrible. A terrible man—” And fuck. He wants to ruin you again.
Puppy pulls you close, pawing at you until you're situated in his arms. Manoeuvred around like a little doll. He finds you precious, really. So malleable. So soft. He presses you flat to the lumpy mattress and folds himself over you. Thick thigh strewn over your hip, pinning you down. An arm tucked under your nape, bent at the elbow to curl over your shoulder, fingers brushing your collarbones. Shackled.
This is new. Foreign. He's never felt this before—all soft edges; sickeningly sweet. Unable to help himself, he bears his weight down, arching above you. Staring, openly and unabashedly. Drinking you in.
He wants to crawl inside of you. Worm his way to the place where you burn.
You're stiff in his arms. Silent.
But that's fine. That's okay. He'll melt you eventually. Make you understand that Puppy is yours now, silly. All yours. And you're—
All his.
Just like you wanted.
He owns you. And in turn, is owned by you.
It's fitting, he finds, considering all his miserable existence was spent handing his leash off to whoever grabbed it quick enough. Their hands were rough. Indelicate. He takes your hand in his, knuckles bleached white from the quivering fist you've rolled them into, and pries your fingers loose. Threads his between the gaps before you can swat him away.
He can feel your pulse like this, pressed palm to palm. A precious little thing. So fleeting. A hummingbird in an ivory cage.
Poor thing.
“What—what are you going to do?” You rasp, voice hoarse from the grip he had on your neck. The sound of it—gritty sand, smoke—makes him shiver. He likes it, he finds. Wonders if you'll sound the same if he scraped your throat raw with the tips of his fingers.
His cock.
You huff when you feel him twitch against your hipbone—cock tacky from his cum, your wet cunt—but make no move to pull away.
He purrs.
Keep you, is projected and you suck in a sharp breath like you'd expected that. Then, he adds a heart. A red one. Mine.
“I'm not yours. I'm not anyone's—” he doesn't bother correcting you. You'll learn soon enough. “And you don't even know me. Why do you even want this? I could be a liability. I could kill you in your sleep—”
Could, not should, he notes, fondly.
Hahahaha passes by and you let out an aggrieved snarl at the sight. “You're so fucking horrible—!”
He nods in response, and presses the jut of his nose to your sweat-slicked hairline. Breathes you in. Amber. Humus. Loam. You smell like ozone. The streets after a heavy rainstorm.
You smell good. Like home.
“Do you even like me? Or am I just something to fuck?” is whispered so softly into the air that he might have missed it if he hadn't been trying to suffuse atoms.
He hears the fragility in your voice. The paper-thin foundation holding you aloft.
In all honesty, he doesn't know what he feels for you. It's all—
Abstract, perhaps. Grainy smears of feelings, sensation, all roiled around inside of him. Intangible.
He just knows he wants you. Has wanted you since he first saw you, sitting all pretty in a glass cage. Untouchable to anyone except the highest bidder in your upcoming auction.
(Spare parts. A pretty bird in a cage.)
What a pair you make.
He likes that, though. The way you fill this barren hole in his chest. Pilliating the listlessness that rolls like a marble inside of him. In turn, he wants to do the same. To stuff you full of him. So full, there's room for nothing else. No one else.
There are flickers of life buried deep within you that he longs to dredge up. He thinks you'd be beautiful with your hands wrapped around his pipe (disgusting, Puppy), and that, for him, is enough.
He's sure one day you'll feel the same.
Until then—
His fingers tighten around yours and you wince at the pressure before gasping when the metal gears in his joints begin locking in place. Stiffening. Shackled to him, now, until he decides to release you.
Goodnight flashes. He sees the words reflected in the glossy canyons of your eyes. Smeared red bleeding into the dawning realisation that you are his.
And no one else's.
There's no escape.
#Puppy (Ruiner) x Reader#Puppy x Reader#ruiner#huuuuu#imagine staying up all night writing unhinged smut for puppy from ruiner after seeing one gifset lmao#and doing it while the wips i've promised to finish weep from neglect in the background#am so tired and this is so so niche but i need to flex my smut skills for some upcoming fics and this was the best time to do it me thinks
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gale's early access dialogue transcripts - part 3: dialogues regarding various decisions & quest progression
in early access, companions used to react much more to the decisions you made in dialogue as well as the overall quest progression pertaining to the main quest as well as side quests, and the events happening around them.
these conversations would be shorter in nature and were usually marked with an exclamation mark ( ! ) over their head.
some of these conversations survived the transition from early access to the full release, but they are very few and far between. the only ones that did survive are 1) gale's reaction to nettie poisoning the protag, 2) gale's reaction to saving mirkon, and 3) gale's reaction to saving arabella.
gale was much, much more responsive in early access and had conversations with the protag about a variety of topics.
following are all cut conversations / dialogues with gale (excluding the deer stew scene and loss scene, which i have covered here and here, but have decided to exclude because they are much longer conversations):
overview:
jergal's temple
reaching the druid's grove / emerald enclave
arabella the tiefling child dies / protag stood by and did nothing
protag killed lae'zel after lae'zel tried to prevent them from turning into a mind flayer
karlach vs anders, the paladin of tyr / agent of zariel
after edowin / the siblings brynna and andrick
killing the druids
arriving at the goblin camp
finding out that the absolute's brand is magic
about true souls
dror ragzlin & the dead mindflayer
ogre + bugbear couple in moonhaven
giving the necromancy of thay tome to gale (dialogue option in player-initiated dialogue / gale asks for tome)
on ethel
on ethel's deal
after finishing mayrina's quest
the zhentarim chest / rugan
the myconid colony in the underdark
defending astarion to gandrel the gur monster hunter
handing astarion over to gandrel the gur monster hunter
arka the tiefling (kanon's sister) kills sazza the goblin / protag stood by and watched it happen
letting sazza escape
finding out about priestess gut from sazza
below the read more, you'll find the transcripts of these 23 cut conversations.
where i can and still have them, i will include screenshots and, when i can find them online, i will include links to watch those conversation in video format.
jergal's temple [link to gifset]
Gale: Bad form, isn't it? Grave robbing? Judging by those undead guardians, the architects of this crypt certainly thought so. - Protag Option 1: I'm desperate, not proud. Best to take what I can get. Gale: Then again, to be alive is to be curious. - Protag Option 2: Dressing up the dead is pointless. They have no need for trinkets. Gale: Never lost a loved one, have you? Then again, those who loved these loved ones are dust and bones themselves. - Protag Option 3: A good fight and fine treasure. What's not to like? Gale: I suppose that's one way to spin it. - Protag Option 4: Why care about decorum in a long-abandoned tomb? Gale: Because my mother raised a gentleman. Then again, to be alive is to be curious. - Protag Option 5 [Cleric]: True. My god might not be particularly happy about it. Gale: You can pray for your sins later. I’m told that does the trick. Gale: Let's have a look at the loot. It isn't for your pockets only.
2. reaching the druid's grove / emerald enclave
Gale: So much for finding a safe haven. - Protag Option 1: This is a druid grove. With a bit of luck we'll find help here. Gale: Druids master the ancient magic that is part of nature's fabric itself. They can make bloom, and they can make wither. Let's hope the latter applies to tadpoles. - Protag Option 2: We won't linger long. Gale: And we shouldn't – but we'd be remiss not to give the place a once-over. Druids master the ancient magic that is part of nature's fabric itself. They can make bloom, and they can make wither. Let's hope the latter applies to tadpoles.
3. arabella the tiefling child dies / protag stood by and did nothing [link to gifset]
Gale: This place is a snake pit in more ways than one. That poor girl... Such sudden madness.... And what did we do? We stood by and watched. Her parents – we'll have to tell them that we failed. - Protag Option 1: Our priority remains to find a healer. The most dangerous snake is in our heads, remember? Gale: Distinctly. But it hasn't poisoned my sense of right and wrong just yet. How about yours? - Protag Option 2: We're here on Zevlor's behalf. Let's not lose sight of that. Gale: Yes, nothing like serving up a dead child as the appetiser to successful negotiations. - Protag Option 3: Her parents deserve to know what happened. And that we are not to blame. Gale: So inaction equals innocence? There's a small corpse on the floor over there that might just beg to differ. - Protag Option 4: This is none of our concern. Where there's strife, there will be blood. Gale: And where there's blood, there will be vengeance. This troubled grove is about to become far more troubled still. - [Arabella died because protag failed the DC twice] Protag Option 5: The girl really should have left the druid's idol alone. Look where it got her. Gale: If the errors of youth deserve an early grave, none of us would live to see a dozen summers. There is no justification for this tragedy.
4. protag killed lae'zel after lae'zel tried to prevent them from turning into a mind flayer
Gale: Lae'zel... that was brutal. Are you all right? I'm here if you want to talk about it. - Protag Option 1: Is there anything left to say? Gale: She was alive. Now she is dead. Might be worth a few words. Then again, maybe not. What a night... - Protag Option 2: She was danger to us all. She didn't leave me with a choice. Gale: I was not judging, merely offering my sympathy. One moment we are travelling together, then the next... - Protag Option 3: Don't bother. It's over and done with. Gale: Words as final as your acts. One moment we are travelling together, then the next...
5. karlach vs anders, the paladin of tyr / agent of zariel
Gale: I have to say I don't know if agreeing to this hunt was such a wise idea. Who's to say who's the real villain in this tale of devils and masquerades? - Protag Option 1: Cheer up! It'll be fun. Gale: Yes, I used to sign up for a round of Kill-The-Stranger every tenday back home [sarcastic]. When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop. - Protag Option 2: You're saying I shouldn't trust a bunch of devil-sworn pretending to be paladins of Tyr? Gale: I'm saying I really shouldn't have to point that out. When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop. - Protag Option 3: It's easy: I say who the villain is. Gale: My, so it's you who is Tyr then, the mighty judge of justice? Go ahead, tell them. I'm sure they'd love to fawn all over their erstwhile patron.
6. after edowin / the siblings brynna and andrick
Gale: I have to say, it's one thing to have a parasite in your head, quite another not to know it's there. What's more, these people weren't on the nautiloid with us. Just how many mind flayers are at work in these parts? - Protag Option 1: The real question is: how does this all link to their belief in this “Absolute”? Gale: Mind flayers excel -> See Option 3 - Protag Option 2: Do you really think there may be more mind flayers around? Gale: This True Soul and his acolytes are ample proof of that... They 're ample proof of a dread suspicion as well. - Protag Option 3: Let's move. I don't mean to lose daylight pondering idle questions. Gale: You really do dismiss these events too casually. - Gale: Mind flayers excel at mind games. To enthral completely is their bread and butter. What if they perfected their craft by convincing their subjects they're not thralls at all, but that they have free will? That the commandments they experience are the will of a benevolent god. How terrifying a level of perfection that would be.
7. killing the druids
Gale: If Silvanus is the mighty oak, his druids were but the weakest of his leaves, tossed by the winds of fury. I can't shake the image of what happened to the grove: the winds have blown and the harvest has come. The oak stands lone and barren. - Protag [Druid] Option 1: A grove destroyed... I dont think I can forgive myself. Gale: After winter, spring will come, but I'm not sure we left behind much fertile ground. - Protag [Druid] Option 2: The druids caused the harvest. It was only just we did the reaping. Gale: Yes, well, I prefer to pluck apples and pick strawberries. They don't tend to weigh on one's conscience. - Protag Option 3: They were in need of a lesson – and we taught it well. Gale: One usually needs to be alive to reap the benefits of education. If anything, we taught them too well. - Protag Option 4: They felt threatened and lashed out. A tragedy I wish we could have avoided. Gale: Their action are on them, that much is true, but the consequences are ours to carry - Protag Option 5: Come, let's move on. What's done is done. Gale: Look around you. What's done is done, but what's wrong is also wrong.
8. arriving at the goblin camp [link to gifset]
Gale: Amid all this grandeur sunk into squalor, I wonder what dismal corner we'll find Halsin in. - Protag Option 1: Any suggestions? Gale: Prisoners are treated the same by everyone: they serve as serfs, or they waste away in a dungeon. Stands to reason we'll find Halsin in either one of these less-than-appealing conditions. - Protag Option 2: What grandeur is that? Gale: This must have been a splendid complex once, a temple of impressive proportions. Worshippers lived here. Pilgrims visited. They required food, shelter, ceremony, entertainment. Now that it's nothing but a goblin-ridden death-trap? Plenty of places to hide away a druid, I imagine. - Protag Option 3: With our luck? Marinating in a cooking pot most likely. Gale: A hearty serving of druid stew wouldn't do us any good. No, let's hope the best and keep this in mind: Prisoners are treated the same by everyone: they serve as serfs, or they waste away in a dungeon. If he's still alive, it stands to reason we'll find Halsin in either one of these less-than-appealing conditions. Well -more-than-appealing conditions come to think of it, when one considers the stew alternative.
9. finding out that the absolute's brand is magic
Gut: Hold out your arm so I can mark your flesh. It's charged with magic. Ordinary slobs can't see it; only us that follow the Absolute. Gale: Charged with magic? Perhaps that explains the ease with which these goblins submit to True Souls.
10. about true souls
Gale: I can hardly wrap my head around what we've just heard. Let's list up the facts, shall we? There are other people here with tadpoles in their heads. They can hear the tadpoles speak to them, and they think it's a new god. I don't know about you, but to me, none of this makes any logical sense. - Protag Option 1: I concur. There doesn't seem to be a logical explanation. Gale: And yet I suspect something... intelligent behind it all. Some carefully nurtured scheme. - Protag Option 2: I'm seeing too many coincidences – which tend to add up to conspiracies. Gale: Evil cults and grand designs, is it? Mind you, I'll not even dispute the possibility. - Protag Option 3: I don't care about logic, I care about solutions. Gale: I'm not sure those are mutually exclusive. If we seek to solve we must seek to comprehend. - Gale: But let's not lose sight of what we've learned here – what joins us and what separates us from these True Souls: They heard a voice we do not hear, a voice that binds them in servitude. As long as we're possessed of our own free will, I venture to say there's hope for us yet.
11. dror ragzlin & the dead mindflayer
Gale: A grand necromantic spectacle staged at the behest of a newfangled god to track down... us. Can't quite say which of these two wins out: to be honoured or to be horrified. - Protag Option 1: The real question is: why are they looking for us? Gale: Several guesses spring to mind, all equally plausible and implausible at once. - Protag Option 2: Not to worry: we easily tricked that hobgoblin – and his god. Gale: We tricked the minion, yes, but its master? I doubt it. - Protag Option 3: Can't say I'm thrilled to be a god's pet project. Gale: Horrified it is then. - Gale: Fact is we're being hunted, but at least we have the hunters at a disadvantage: even here, in the lion's den, they don't recognise us as their prey.
12. ogre + bugbear couple in moonhaven
Gale: One moment they were embracing each other in intimacy, the next they're embracing only death. Can't say I'm proud of our actions here. - Protag Option 1: Me either. We should have left well enough alone Gale: Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking. - Protag Option 2: Playing it a bit fast and loose with the word 'intimacy' there, Gale. Gale: I'm not contemplating definitions, I'm contemplating our deeds. Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking. - Protag Option 3: Don't dwell on it. Ogres and bugbears are nothing but vermin. Gale: And yet they speak and bond and revel. Don't get me wrong, I know they'd have gladly made us their post-coital picnic given half a chance. It just feels wrong to turn lovemaking into life-taking.
13. giving the necromancy of thay tome to gale (dialogue option in player-initiated dialogue / gale asks for tome)
Gale: Much obliged. Narrator: you watch Gale perusing the book with a true wizard's fascination. A few pages in, something startles him. Gale: A rough read indeed... I'll give it my undivided attention at a more appropriate time.
14. on ethel
Gale: You know, I think there's a little something more to Ethel than meets the eye. 'Hag' is the word they used. If that's what she really is, she's beyond dangerous. - Protag Option 1: If that's what she is, that means we killed two innocent men. Gale: But theit sister still lives. And I doubt Auntie has her over for tea and conversation. - Protag Option 2: Hags are powerful creatures. She might actually be able to help us with the parasite. Gale: See Option 3 - Protag Option 3: She hinted at a reward. That's all I really care about. Gale: Beware of a hag bearing gifts. They're never gifts to begin with.
15. on ethel's deal
Gale: Netherese. A portentous word. Combine it with mind flayers, and it's... unspeakable. - Protag Option 1: What do you make of it all? Gale: What we can do is combine what we know and make our deductions. At the heart of it all, the problem is clear: we've been infected by a mind flayer parasite. So far, however, we've been spared the dread fate that is ceremorphosis. How have we been spared? It would seem the answer is that the parasite is somehow infused with Netherese magic – more powerful, more sinister than it has any right to be. The question remains, however: why? Infected, but unchanging. Blind cogs in an all-seeing machine. - Protag Option 2: If even a hag can't help us, who can? Gale: I... I actually don't know. All we can do is combine what we know and make our deductions- See Option 1 - Protag Option 3: It's all gibberish as far as I'm concerned. Gale: No, there's meaning to it. There has to be. All we can do is combine- See Option 1 - Protag Option 4: None of this actually solves our problems. Gale: I know, but let's consider this: at the heart of it all, not only is our problem clear, but so is the motive of our enemy: power. All power has a nexus. Find it, and we may just find both the answers and the remedy we seek. - Protag Option 5: Get to the point if you have one. Gale: I was merely thinking out loud, but if you desire a point, consider this: See Option 4 - Protag Option 6: Enough talk. Let's go. Gale: Fine, but while we walk, consider this: See Option 4
16. after finishing mayrina's quest [link to gifset]
Gale: Hags really do redefine depravity, don't they? A promise kept in the cruellest of ways: a loved one returned, undead. - Protag Option 1: This entire affair sickens me. I wish we'd had no part in it. Gale: We don't always choose the roles we play. All we can do is perform them to the best of our ability. [Connor killed] At least the curtain's fallen on this tragedy. The lovers' tale is quite over. [Connor alive] Can't say I'm very enthusiastic though, about the extra you just cast. - Protag Option 1: Hags thrive on corruption. It is simply their nature Gale: A nature that, as far as I'm concerned, deserves to go extinct. [Connor killed] As extinct as the happiness Ethel cut out of Mayrina. [Connor alive] So does that abhorrent thing-once-man. For god's sake let his eternal sleep be free of this undead nightmare. - Protag Option 3: You have to admit Auntie Ethel knows how to have some fun. Gale: [disapproves] You can't possibly mean that. [Connor killed] In any case, the man's dead for good. The spectacle has come to a close. Fun's over. [Connor alive] Although, judging by the newest company you've decided to keep, you may just be depraved enough yourself to mean that after all.
17. the zhentarim chest / rugan
Gale: So you threatened your way into ownership of that chest. Now that it's yours, what will you do with it? - Protag Option 1: I say we hold on to it until we find the rightful owner. Gale: So that means you're not curious as to what's inside? Very well, suit yourself... - Protag Option 2: Let's seell it. We're bound to make a tidy profit. Gale: See Option 1 - Protag Option 3: I will do what is meant to be done with a sealed chest: open it. Gale: Music to my curious ears!
18. the myconid colony in the underdark [link to gifset]
Gale: Spores that can raise the dead... These myconids certainly are fascinating creatures. Protag Option 1: They make for good allies. Gale: Agreed. And there are precious few of those in the Underdark. - Protag Option 2: They're more dangerous than I thought. We should be on our guard. Gale: They will remain welcome hosts unless we turn hostile. Should be easy enough to avoid. - Protag Option 3: Sorry, but I don't share your fascination for fungi. Gale: Nobody's perfect.
19. defending astarion to gandrel the gur monster hunter [link to youtube video]
[Protag defends Astarion] Gale: How thoroughly invigorating it is to stand by one's friend in the face of danger. Even if that friend is an egomaniacal vampire with moral longevity of a mayfly. - Protag Option 1: We did the right thing and that's all there is to it. Gale: It's charming that you think that. - Protag Option 2: Are you saying that you would have thrown Astarion to the wolves? Gale: Never. What harm did the wolves ever do? - Protag Option 3: I'll remember you skepticism if anyone ever comes looking for you. Gale: ?
20. handing astarion over to gandrel the gur monster hunter
[Protag hands Astarion over to Gandrel the Gur Monster Hunter] Gale: I had a friend who had a dog once. Beautiful animal, but it got mean in its old days. Gale: It would growl and bark at everyone. Even bit him at the end. Gale: Yet still it was the saddest of occasions when he took the dog away for good. - Protag Option 1: It was for the best, I'm sure. Gale: I'm not sure the dog would agree. Gale: Astarion wouldn't. I'm absolutely sure of that. - Protag Option 2: Parting is never easy. Gale: ? - Protag Option 3: Put the mongrel down, did he? Gale: ?
21. arka the tiefling (kanon's sister) kills sazza the goblin / protag stood by and watched it happen [link to gifset]
Gale: Arka's thirst for revenge has been sated... and the goblin welcomed death with open arms. All's well with the world one might argue. And yet there's something unsettling about witnessing an execution. - Protag Option 1: I take no pleasure in it, but justice has been done. Gale: No one will mourn this goblin I suppose. Let's leave it at that. - Protag Option 2: Somehow that sounds a condemnation. Gale: I condemn nothing - but a question can be a mirror: Gale: If it's guilt you see reflected, the condemnation is your own. - Protag Option 3: I have no patience for the squeamish. Gale: You imply a weakness. I say a critical mind is one of our greatest strengths.
22. letting sazza the goblin escape
Gale: I know I said it's not inconceivable a goblin priestess could help us. And yet... was it really wise to set another goblin free so she can arrange introductions? - Protag Option 1: Passing up the promise of a healer would be far more unwise. Gale: A perfectly reasonable train of thoughts. But what if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? - Protag Option 2: What's done is done. Doubt doesn't help us. Gale: I'm not quite done yet. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? - Protag Option 3: Keep your misgivings to yourself. Gale: But consider the consequences. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? -> Protag Option 1: I'll make sure that doesn't happen Gale: I'm not sure you can. - Protag Option 2: Getting rid of the tadpole comes first. Otherwise we might be the monsters that destroy this place. Gale: Harsh. But fair. If not given too much further thought. - Protag Option 3: I don't care, I owe this grove no allegiance. Gale: No allegiance, no. Though we don't need to sign its death warrant.
23. finding out about priestess gut from sazza
Gale: Booyahg – the goblin word for magic. Primitive to a fault, but not entirely without merit. To seek some goblin priestess' help would be unconventional to say the least. Then again, I'm not one to advocate conventionality. - Protag Option 2: A goblin healer sounds absurd to me. Gale: I wouldn't dismiss the idea out of hand. Goblins come from a warrior culture: to heal wounds is a highly prized skill. - Protag Option 1: I don't care if a cure comes from a goblin, an ogre, or an orc: as long as it works, I'm happy. Gale: My sentiments exactly. - Gale: If this priestess is indeed a master in the arts of booyahg, it's not inconceivable she could be of help to us. And if she isn't, we might find items of interest among her shamanic paraphernalia. If her tribe doesn't kill us on sight, that is.
thank you for reading! please consider liking and reblogging this post to support my work. thank you.
coming up next:
-part 1: the three tadpole dreams -> completed -part 2: major cut scenes: the deer stew scene & the loss scene -> completed -part 3: minor cut scenes: abandoned temple of jergal, failed to save arabella, talking to the paladins of tyr and agreeing to go after karlach, edowin and the tadpole reveal, mayrina giving ethel's wand to her or breaking it, handing astarion over to the gur or defending him, reaching the druid grove, killing lae'zel, reaching the goblin camp & looking for halsin, killing the druids, priestess gut & the brand & the cult of the absolute, dror ragzlin and talking to the dead mind flayer, ogre couple, necromancy of thay, ethel, zhentarim chest, myconid colony -> completed with this post -part 4: gale's condition & the way it was treated in early access
taglist: @chainsawmascara, @randomfanner, @tacogoats, @khajiit-necromancer, @gwinharper, @galesenchantedpanties, @swampfaerie, @ardently-queer, @nirraein, @gale-enjoyer, @xiv-wolfram, @kairoswouldnever, @a-psychopathic-dream, @toboldlydammitjim, @mishtress, @vcxahlia, @fitzmagus,
i thought i'd tag the people i'd seen taking an interest in my original post! if you want to be taken off the taglist, or added, please let me know!
#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#baldur's gate 3#bg3#baldurs gate 3#bg3 meta#early access#ch: gale dekarios#vg: baldur's gate 3#series: baldur's gate#meta: mybg3#series: eadialogue
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what i use: potplayer for capturing frames photoshop cs6 (can find it for free here or in other links on the tag) qbittorrent torrenting sites (this, this, eventually this) sharpening action arial rounded mt bold for subtitles
assuming you know how to torrent, if possible download what you want to gif in 1080p or the highest possible resolution etc etc
frames
open video in potplayer, go to the moment you want to gif and go back a couple frames (10-20) from when you want your gif to start (i usually just spam press D a bunch) (to see which key you have to press to go back on frames, right click > jump (to) > previous frame
now press CTRL+G or open frame capturing through right click > video > video capture > capture consecutive images...
my settings for capturing frames
(important to turn off subtitles before doing this or they'll be captured on the image too)
the folders i save it to -> i created a bunch of frame folders that i fill up since the way frames load in my photoshop require me to load an entire folder into it. so i capture an entire gifset's frames into one folder and then load up the entire thing
press 'start' on the consecutive image capturer, then start playing the video (best to mute it since the video might start playing slower), wait until the part you want to gif is over and stop the video, press CTRL+G again to stop the capturing
2. photoshop
depending on your photoshop you can either 'load files into stack...', which opens up a folder and you can manually choose which frames you want to load, or 'load multiple dicom files..." (what i have to do), where you select an entire folder to load its contents into photoshop
once you do either of those things, you got this
now click 'create frame animation' on the bottom
now we click on the three bars and 'make frames from layers'
!! if you loaded up frames with 'load frames into stack...' at this point you also have to click 'reverse frames' since they load in reverse order with this method for some reason
now we got our frames on a timeline and delete anything you dont want in your gif. if you have frames for multiple gifs on the timeline, go to image > duplicate and duplicate for however many gifs you got and delete the unnecessary frames from each one
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e3b9063f5e04164a65720f6e17a3c86a/c87609219f307e7c-58/s540x810/60df530be4d01b9e2914968b5141bd1ccaa60d48.jpg)
crop tool, type in dimensions up top (in accordance with tumblr's dimension graph, so if you want a wide gif like the one on the top of this post keep it 540px). i usually crop my gifs to between 540x400 and 540x500. once centered on how you want to crop, press enter or double click on the image to crop
press ALT+CTRL+I or go to image > image size... to resize
open the actions tab if you don't have it already open, go to 'load actions...' and find where you saved the sharpening action you downloaded from the top of this post
i only use "all in one (sharper)" and "convert to animation (frames)", but unchecked the "canvas size" option on the latter one since we resized the gif ourselves
select 'select all layers current layer' on the action (the other steps we already did) and press play
our gif frames will turn into a group so now go to "convert to animation (frames)" and press play again
this will pop up at the end, leave it at 0.05 (maybe 0.06 if the gif is going too fast)
if we were to export the gif now it would look like this
now comes the coloring, which is personal preference. the reason i chose hannibal for this gifset is to show the white balance tool that works great in tinted scenes
open a 'levels' layer and selected the bottom eyedropper. then click it on a place on the gif that should be white but isn't (i clicked on hannibal's shirt collar). the gif coloring will change accordingly
then pick the top eyedropper and click on anything that should be black but isn't (you can click on multiple places and see how the color changes, keep trying until you find one that looks good)
the coloring difference with just those two clicks
and then the coloring is up to you, i usually just add more levels layers and color balance
here's all of the layers i applied to color this
VERY IMPORTANT to get into the habit of selecting those two thingies on each layer you apply (on the subtitle text layer select all three) so that the coloring stays the same on all frames
difference
+ subtitles settings using the text tool
shadow and stroke to make your subtitles readable
saving the gif. click ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+S or go to file > save for web... here are my settings
that's it
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