#that's something they'll figure out in their own time and that I can't reasonably figure out for them

[strawbeaniie]

really happy with how the silly little sprite of azalea came out!! ALSO if you have a twst oc i'd love to ypa about how our lil blorbos could interact !! ↓Azalea's relationships in depth under the cut ↓

☂️Ramshackle ; Yukito -> Az sees Yukito as a little sibling, constantly doting on their well being and making sure to do everything he can to make sure yukito is comfy! With Grims help, Yukito tries to hep Azalea relax more Grim -> Close friends! Az treats him like a little brother, but Grim would consider them best friends at minimum! He and Yukito are much closer then him and Az! Az somethings lectures him :( ────────── ❤️♣️ Heartslabyul Riddle -> They're on good terms! Az senses Riddles a bit of a workaholic and they are shaking hands on it. Not particularly close, but will make sure the other is taking care of themself Ace -> Most of what he knows about Ace is secondhand from Yukito! A bit of a mischievous kid, but not bad by any means. Deuce -> On good terms! Deuce will get embarrassed by Azalea because the guy calls out his behavior as kinda awkward sometimes, but Azalea means well he thinks! Cater -> they relate to one another so much !! they'd have sleepovers all the time! probably helps az with understanding trends bc hes bad at getting those Trey -> friends to lovers! awkward flirting stage, azalea doesn't make a move until a little before book 7 ──────────

🦁 Savanaclaw Leona -> Azalea will do small favors for him, Leona will treat him to hotpot or some tasty meal in return! They have a couple of mutual friends that make them closer then they'd be otherwise Jack -> Jack admires Azaleas dedication to making sure Ramshackle is alright! Ruggie-> Thinks Azalea is overly dote-y and sometimes it comes off as the guy babying him. Azalea wants to take care of Ruggie in a way he hasn't experienced often (they clash a lil) ────────── 🐙 Octavinelle

Azul -> They have similar signature spells, and Azul preceives Az as hiding that information. Azalea got kicked out of Octavinelle over this Jade-> They exchange recipes often! Sometimes they'll exchange food items with one another! Floyd-> Az is a little intimated by him, but Floyd seems to find him amusing enough. Arturo-> Arturo struggles to open up to people in general, and Ruggie doesnt' seem to fond of Azalea so he's not quite either. Among other reasons. ────────── 🌵Scarabia

Kalim -> friendly toward one another!! azalea is kinda awkward around the guy and never sure what to talk about! Jamil ->az thinks hes a pretty quiet kid overall! ──────────

🍎Pomfiore

Vil -> hes v thankful to vil! one of his closest friends. who helped give him confidence and helped give him the courage to become ramshackles dorm leader Epel-> Good Kid! Strong sense of self, Azalea likes that about him! Rook-> rook encourages azalea to talk about his feelings more! probably v emotionally open with the guy and its embarrassing. ──────────

🌀Ignihyde

Idia-> They get along best when talking about niche video games Azalea's into :D! Ortho-> Azaleas adopted another little brother!! they get v competitive when doing activities together, a rare sight for azalea. ──────────

📚Diasomnia Malleus -> Azalea doesn't want to ruin what they have, and knows Malleus is still figuring himself out, so he doesn't want to ask to much of Malleus! He wants Malleus to choose him for him and not because he feels obligated too, for this reason he keeps his feelings a secret! Silver -> trying to figure out why he sleeps all the time! sometimes will help silver train bc az wants to be able to use his own abilities better too! Sebek-> sebek doesnt think azalea is all to worthy of malleus, and sometimes, azalea can't help but agree? mostly bc he feels guilty for hiding his feelings from the guy! overall, enjoys his bright and bold personality!! Lilia-> they are old pewpwas together /lh no but i think they'd get very close to the point some ppl might speculate their dating! but i think its just, two emotionally reserved men get v comfy with goofing around with one another ! and i think malleus would get a little jealous bc he thinks az likes lilia

[chaos-in-one]

Some of y'all care far too much about what is going on with other people's systems

[markluvrrr]

mark one shot

☆ starring. mark lee x fem! reader

☆ summary. Mark was having trouble with composing a song for his upcoming solo album. But then it clicked, he was missing something. You.

☆ warnings. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT oral sex (fem receiving) fingering, recording sex, unprotected sex (don't do this), creampie, mark is sexy asf

☆ wc: 1.5k (not proofread. i wrote this in one sitting oops)

ᯓ Mark was hard at work these past few weeks, in between working on his solo album and promoting for NCT Dream, he almost had no time for you.

But nowadays, majority of the time he was in the studio, you were too. You were becoming clingy, but not unbearingly clingy. You just needed to be in the same presence as Mark, or you'd go insane.

You watched as Mark played with a few keys on his keyboard, adding and deleting stuff on the screen. He was producing one of the songs for his album all on his own, and he was having trouble.

"Babe, you should take a break." You call out, sitting up on the couch that was across the room from the desk that had all of the equipment needed to make music.

Mark sighs, taking his headphones off and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just can't figure out what's missing..."

You hum, understanding how stressful this was for him. He needed to complete the album before the deadline that was fast approaching. "You will Mark, you always do."

He smiles at that, standing from his chair, stretching before falling onto the couch next to you, his head landing in your lap. You play with his hair as he stares at the ceiling, deep in thought. The sound of his breathing steadied your own.

You watched as a light bulb turned on in his brain, and he sits up with a gasp. "I know!"

"What?" You ask, almost as excited as him.

"Uh, I'll need to get your opinion first," Mark starts and you urge him to continue. He hesitates for a moment before finally stating, "I need your moans in the song."

Your eyes widen, almost choking on your own spit. "Woah, lets unpack that..."

"No way your fans would be chill with that, for one. Same with your company, babe." You explained, and Mark listened intently before smirking as you finished.

"It'll be fine, they'll be super quiet in the song, like barely there. I could get away with it. If my fans notice, then they notice." Mark reasons and you sigh in defeat.

"I'm fine with it if you are sure." You smile, kind of excited to do this.

Mark's hand is now on your thigh, looking at you teasingly. "How about we do it now?"

You hadn't been intimate in a while because of Mark's packed schedule. You bit your lip, fuck, you were pent up from all these weeks without him. "God, please."

Mark's hand leaves your thigh and you watch as he reaches over to the microphone he had set up next to the computer, bringing it a little closer and pressing record. "I'll ask one more time, are you sure you're okay with this?" He asks as he settles back next to you.

You nod, smiling lovingly. "Yeah I am, Mark."

His hands trails up your thighs, leaning in and his lips are finally on yours, determined and needy. You bit his lip in desperation, and he opens his mouth enough where you can slip your tongue.

Your hands were bunched on his t-shirt and his hands were under your skirt, dancing on your skin and setting it aflame. When you pull back for air, Mark keeps eye contact as he pulls your panties to the side, his cold fingers brushing your clit making you whine.

"Mark." You whisper breathlessly, your hands now on the hem of his shirt, and he lets you take it off in one swift motion. "Pretty boy."

He blushes at this as he takes your shirt off too, leaving you in your bra. You decide to push your own skirt down, impatience taking over you. "Please, I need you."

"I know baby, just wait." He murmurs, one hand absentmindedly rubbing your inner thigh as the other pets your hair. Then, finally, his hand leaves your thigh and touches you where you craved Mark most.

It started off as light, slow circles on your clit. "You're so wet, baby." He smirks, as two of his fingers now slide up and down your folds, before he dips them into your entrance. "Mmm, more." You moan.

He pushes them inside to the knuckle and starts curling them right where you liked it most. "Fuck, Mark!"

You were soon filled with disappointment when he pulled his fingers out of you. You watched as Mark slid off the couch and sunk onto his knees, pulling your panties down with him, settling his head in your thighs.

You felt his breath tickle your folds before he dives in, tongue lapping at you like a dog in heat. Your hands fly to Mark's hair in no time, turning you into nothing but a whimpering mess.

His tongue sucked on your clit as his fingers curled into you again, hitting your g-spot at every angle. "Ah, fffuck, Mark.." You slurred, pulling his hair harshly, making him groan against you.

Mark could feel your walls clenching his fingers as his mouth does wonders on your clit, and you could feel the tightness in your stomach about to snap. "Mark, I'm gonna..."

"Cum for me, baby girl." He rasps against your heat and one last prod at your g-spot had you seeing stars, moaning loudly as you came undone.

Mark doesn't stop, still devouring you while you shook above him. "Shit, stop, 's too much!" You whimpered.

You had to pull his head back for him to stop, and Mark looks up at you with a dazed grin, his mouth covered in your juices. he looked so beautiful like this.

He licked his fingers clean of your juices, never breaking eye contact, before raising from his spot on the floor. You wasted no time in unbuckling his belt, pulling his boxers down along with his pants as fast as possible.

"I need you inside of me right now." You said desperately, and Mark flipped you over on the couch so that you were facing the wall, back arched, and he was standing behind you.

Mark's hands found purchase on your ass first, giving it a playful smack which made you whimper embarrassingly loud.

Looking back, you watched as Mark's other hand pumped his hardened cock slowly, tip leaking precum, as he finally places it between your folds, rubbing it up and down teasingly.

"Mark, please." You whined, and Mark just chuckled. "So impatient, baby. I'll fuck you real good, promise."

You silently screamed as Mark enters you for the first time in a while, his big cock stretching you painfully as he slowly bottoms out. Soon, the pain fades away. "Can I move?" He whispers, his hand on the small of your back, soothingly rubbing it as he waits.

"Yes." You sigh out as Mark pulls out of you before slamming right back in, making you cry out. He soon finds a good pace that had you gripping the couch and moaning loudly.

"Such a tight pussy, made for me." Mark whispers in your ear, voice raspy, as he leans over you, kissing your neck and leaving marks you were gonna have to cover up before you left the studio. Thank god this place was sound proof and had no cameras.

"Harder," You whined. Mark obliges, and soon your legs were shaking. He thrusts deep inside, you swore you could see the outline of his cock if you looked down. "Oh, fuck, right there!"

Mark was getting close now too, his soft groans turning into desperate moans and whimpers. It was always music to your ears whenever he made those noises. "Cum in me, baby."

"Fuck, you sure?" Mark groans, thrusts getting sloppy as his hand slides down your chest to your clit, applying pressure there. "Please." You moan, and Mark holds his own orgasm off until you cum again.

After a few more moments, the pressure on your clit got too much and your legs were shaking uncontrollably, Mark's hands digging into your hips to ground you as you screamed his name.

"That's it baby, let go for me. You're so beautiful." Mark praises as he finally thrusts into you one last time before releasing inside you.

Your pants filled the room, and Mark pulls out of you before flipping you over. He watches as his cum drips out of your folds and groans at the sight. "Such a good girl."

Mark pulls his clothes back on quickly before grabbing tissues, wetting them with the water bottle on his desk and cleaning you up. He kisses your thighs tenderly while he does.

"I love you, Mark." You murmur as your fingers cascade through his hair. He smiles up at you with those eyes that made you melt. "I love you too."

After you got dressed and calmed down, you and Mark decided to review the audio. Even you found your own moans sexy as you listened.

When Mark added them into the song the next day, you realised he was right. The song did need them, making it so much more seducing like he was trying to go for.

You decided you'd help him out with his music more often after that.

© markluvrrr

[hoopingwjuju]

Juju x volleyball player

i write how i speak sorry. mostly fluff with a side of smut.

☽｡⋆ word count: 1.5k

ღ- she wasn't very social when you first met her but she warms up to you be she likes the way you can make her laugh and pull her out of her comfort zone.

ღ- she made the first move by taking the friendly flirting seriously be she's not gonna shy away from something she wants.

ღ- she's very competitive so yk she has to win all her mini-games with you. it boosts up her ego every time.

ღ- after you taught her some pointers on how to serve she's been teaching you how to ball.

ღ- she likes to practice doing a bun with your hair before your plays or practices be she's gotta learn how to perfect her own bun somehow.

ღ- she likes to help you tape your fingers before practice be it gives her a little bit more time with you.

ღ- she lovesss to bother you so you gotta know how to stand your ground when she comes at you be she likes to argue and start stuff. plus she's hella sassy and she's always going to out sassing you.

ღ- you'll know when she's mad or something is up be she's gonna get hella nonchalant and strict.

ღ- you have to be really hard on her when she gets hurt or injured bc she doesn't know how to take care of herself. yet she can take care of you so well when your injured or hurt.

ღ- she loves it when you tag along with her and her family during the breaks.

ღ- her voice gets soft when she talks about you or when anyone brings you up.

ღ- when the two of you are around family and friends she can be all lovey dovey she wants, but your relationship with her is not known to the public so she has to be hella nonchalant about the dating topic when it comes up.

ღ- the reason why your relationship is not public is because you two don't want it to take away from your passions. i mean if people do a little deep research then they'll know to put two and two together and figure out your dating. she masks this fact by saying you two are best friends.

ღ- if you wear glasses she always carries a backup eye lenses for you in her bag in case something happens to the current pair when you're playing or practicing.

ღ- just sitting in her car in a parking lot listening to music. since you both have a curfew you can't be out late for late night car drives; soaking up each other's energy. she barely lets you touch the aux tho.

ღ- she will always open the door for you even after an argument or whatever. you're definitely her passenger princess; you have you're side decorated and all.

ღ- you're an outside hitter so you're pretty tall 5'10" with long legs so you're not that much shorter than her. so you love sharing clothes with her. matching sweats and lowkey matching outfits. also matching bracelets or other jewelry. she loves going shopping with you when she can.

ღ- whenever the basketball court is being changed for volleyball practice, she tries to stay and talk to you but gets kicked out most of the time.

ღ- she doesn't bother asking you were her hoodies are be she'll find them in your closet or somewhere in your dorm later.

ღ- your communication with her is really good. since both of you are student athletes you can't really see her every day when it gets super busy for you both, so you'll try to send her a few texts here and there throughout the day and she really appreciate this. same when you two are in away games, you'll try to ft to say goodnight if y'all can.

ღ- she loves laying on your chest when she takes a nap or the other way around. you love to write letters on her back with your finger when she's asleep.

ღ- when she gets excited or when she's laughing she likes to grab onto you and jump up and down or hits you.

ღ- she slept through the professors lecture and you guys had an open note quiz after, so she asked for your notes and after that you guys kicked it off. that is how you two met.

ღ- she loves to randomly stare at you and she's so oblivious sometimes when it happens. even her teammates say it's one of her biggest habits and tell her to stop it.

ღ- she don't play about you. she be ready to tussle when she's at your games and the other team's fans are talking shit about you. she can be obsessive and overprotective.

ღ- while celebrating you ending the game with a back row attack, one of your teammates is accidentally too touchy with you and she gets hella jealous. her jaw clenched glaring at whoever touched you. her glares are so lethal your teammate asks you "does juju hate me?"

ღ- you love it when she gets jealous bc there's nothing she needs to be jealous about; your all hers.

ღ- definitely calls the stuffed animals or plushies she gets you "our children."

ღ- she's a tomboy but whenever you want to dress up she lets you go all out with hair, makeup, and all.

ღ- she uses her face to get what she wants from you all the time since she knows you love her pretty face.

ღ- my pretty girl ju is your nickname for her and she won't admit that she likes it but she always responds to it.

ღ- loves it when you kiss her mole under her lips and when you play with her ears.

⛧°。 ⋆༺♱༻⋆。 °⛧

ღ- very blunt and straightforward, but will say some very explicit things with a straight face and act like nothing happened afterward, which can be quite surprising to you every time it happens.

ღ- soft dom definitely.

ღ- likes to record you moaning and loves it when you send her videos with the sound on; she loves to listen to it like it's music to her ears. so don't ask her "what are you listening to?" bc it's different every time. it’s either music or you moaning.

ღ- has a sex playlist. (the song girl you loud by chris brown ft tyga is definitely on it top song fr).

ღ- she has a big thing on eye fucking you. (god her eyes are so pretty).

ღ- she loves to hold eye contact with you while eating you out.

ღ- even tho things are private she loves to sloppy kiss you anywhere be she gets a thrill out of almost being caught. she gets all cocky with that damn smirk on her face.

ღ- very touchy. hands on your lower back, smoothly moving you around grabbing your waist, having her arm around your shoulders and groping you through your clothing.

ღ- loves teasing 100% (you can't convince me she doesn't). "you like that baby? I know you do, you like anything I do to you."

ღ- since you're used to wearing shorts most of the time she loves it when you wear them around her. she gets hella touchy; grabbing your ass and roaming your body with her hands.

ღ- sends you dirty text messages about your volleyball uniform whenever you're practicing talking about how your ass jiggles every time you jump etc.

ღ- one hand on the stirring wheel other hand touching your thigh, running it up and down your thigh which always leads to car sex.

ღ- nothing gets her more turned on then when you grab her chin and make her look at you. like when your talking to her and she's not paying attention, just grab her face.

ღ- she cries while fucking you, be you're so good for her. (not elaborating).

ღ- when she's fucking you with her strap she loves it when you ride her; your titties all over her face and she can kiss your pretty face. also loves tribb-

ღ- she loves to be praised so she'll ask you "do you like that baby?" or "did i do good baby?" plus she has an obedience thing so when you tell her to do things and it can be something simple like "sit" she'll say "yes ma'am" every time.

ღ- she has a thing for hickeys but she can't really act on it be you two can't keep using makeup to cover it up if you both are going to sweat it off later.

ღ- you definitely leave hickeys all over her inner thighs (her thighs are so thick yall...) the first time you guys were intimate you left scratch marks on her back and she didn't even realize she had them until india pulled her to the side and told her.

fuck all that nonchalant shit she's really a lover girl, but let me shut up before i start yapping even more bc i didn't even mean to write all this... and i don't even know anything about volleyball shhhhhh.

[artbyblastweave]

A few years ago, there was a thread on r/asksciencefiction where someone was fishing for a superhero story with an inverted Omni-Man dynamic, or a setting where Homelander's initial presentation is played straight- a setting where the Superman figure actually is the paragon of morality he's initially presented as, but no other superhero is- a situation where you've got one really competent true-blue hero standing head-and-shoulders in power above what's otherwise a complete nest of vipers.

Someone in the thread floated My Hero Academia; while I haven't read it, my understanding is that that's not really an accurate read of what's going on with Stain's neurosis about All-Might being the only "real hero," that the point of that arc is that Stain's got an insane and unreasonable standard and that taking an endorsement deal, while bad, isn't actually grounds for execution. My own contribution to the thread was Gail Simone's Welcome to Tranquility, where a major part of the backstory involved the faux Justice-League's Superman analogue having a little accident because he's the only one who thought they were morally obligated to go public with the secret life-extending macguffin that the rest of the team is using to enforce comic-book time on themselves and their loved ones; while only a couple members of the team are directly in on it, the rest are conveniently incurious. And Jupiter's Legacy gets tantalizingly close to this- The Utopian, a well-meaning stick-in-the-mud, ultimately gets blindsided and couped by his scheming brother who creates a superhero junta staffed by a Kingdom-Come-style glut of third-gen superheroes, who are framed as fundamentally self-interested because only came onto the scene after most of the situations you legitimately need a superhero to handle have been neutralized. (The rub, of course, is that the comic is also highly critical of the Utopian's intellectually incurious self-righteously 'apolitical' approach to superheroism- if for no other reason than that it left him in a position to get blindsided by a coup!) While Jupiter's Legacy gets the closest, all three of these are only loosely orbiting around the spirit of the original idea, and there's something really interesting there- particularly if the Superman figure isn't hopelessly naive in the same way as Utopian. Because first of all, if you're Metaman or Amazingman or whatever brand-name alias the writer goes with, and you really earnestly mean it, and you put together a team of all the other most powerful heroes on earth in order to pool your resources, and then with dawning horror you gradually begin to realize that everyone in the room besides yourself is a fascist or a con artist or abuser or any other variant of a kid with a magnifying glass eyeing that anthill called Earth- What the hell is your next move?

Do you just call the whole thing off? Can you trust that they'll actually go home if you call the whole thing off? I mean you've put the idea in their heads, are you sure that they aren't going to, like, start the Crime Syndicate in your absence? Do you stick around to try and enact containment, see if getting all of these people on a team makes them easier to keep on a leash? But that's functionally going to make you their enabler pretty quickly, right? Overlooking "should you kill them-" can you kill them? You're stronger than any individual one of them- are you stronger than all of them? The first time one of them really crosses a line in a way you can't ignore- will that be a one-on-one fight? Are they the kind of people capable of putting two-and-two together and pre-emptively ganging up on you if you push back too hard? Do you just start trying to get them killed, or keep them at each other's throats so they can't coordinate anything really nasty? Can you squeeze any positive moral utility out of them, or is that just a way to justify not doing the hard work of taking them down? There've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that Superman in specific would be a good person, and there've been works where the conceit is to question the default assumption that superheroes in general would be good people. Something to be done, I think, with questioning the default assumption that everyone Superman becomes professionally close to would be good, and to explore how he'd handle it if they weren't.

[weaselle]

i am convinced that human evolution and development was centered around the basic up-grade from "i steal your resources" to "i steal your behaviors and concepts"

We got clever enough and we just started copying absolutely everything we observed just because now we could figure out how to copy concepts and things that other animals were doing

see that squirrel hoarding acorns for the winter? we can do that. okay now how do we make these acorns edible, cause they are poisonous to a number of animals and we don't do great with them either. What if you put them in the fire? or just on hot coals? what if you put them in water on hot coals and boil them? Oh if you soak them in cold water for 24 hours and maybe change the water a couple times you can totally eat them? YOINK storing acorns for winter is our idea now.

or, you ever seen a weaver bird do it's thing? if not i'll give you one guess what they do

or how about the tailor bird that uses spider silk to stitch the edges of a big leaf together to make a nest in

or sometimes they'll stitch a bunch of leaves into a little cup for a nest

like i'm not trying to downplay how clever it is to be the first humans to weave or sew, and indeed, being the first person to weave that anyone knew about probably happened many times throughout human existence but my conceit is that most if not all of those times was a human seeing something in nature that was basically weaving and going "i'ma do that, and get real good at it - i'ma take that concept and really make it mine"

like it wouldn't surprise me if humans got dogs because we saw how ravens were treating wolves and went "shit yeah, great idea - YOINK that's my idea now."

most of the things that we think of as special human skill or behavior can actually be found elsewhere throughout nature -- all over there are animals using tools, farming, ranching, building, etc.

my favorite primate behavioralist anecdote is a group of people studying tool use in chimps were spending their days in the bush logging the use of twigs to catch termites, and over the campfire at night they're like "it's so boring i wish they'd do something more impressive than this completely basic tool skill."

and one of them was like "actually... how do we know its not a difficult skill? has anyone tried to use a twig to catch termites and see?" and so the next day, like good little scientists, they went out and recorded their attempts at catching termites with twigs.

And lo and behold out of the whole group and all their attempts that day, only, like, a single termite was caught by a human, mostly by chance. Suddenly the whole situation flipped - they'd been thinking of it as basic unskilled tool use, but actually the chimps knew how to do something that none of them could easily figure out on their own - or even together as a group!

y'all, they had to go back to watching the chimps do it to figure out how. Think about that. University degrees, scientific minds, educated people... and they had to be taught how by the chimps.

It turns out there's a reason that young chimps will spend like a year closely studying how an adult is fishing for termites. You gotta select the right kind of twig or leaf stem, maybe you fray the end like a paint brush depending on particulars, you gotta have just the right poking and little shaking technique to provoke the termites into biting the twig, it's a whole thing. There's even regional/cultural differences in the general approach to termite fishing that are distinct between groups that live in different areas.

Now, wild chimps have been observed using objects as tools to fashion crude spears for hunting (it's the mothers doing it by the way, and slowly some of their kids have been growing up doing it, which will probably result in refinements and developments eventually.

ants do both farming and ranching. For real. Some species of ant grow a fungus they eat AND it's a domesticated fungus, like our corn, it can't actually reproduce and survive in the wild without the ants farming it. They maintain its growing conditions and feed it leaf litter mulch, and the fungus produces some kind of ant food idk i forget the details about that. But that's farming. They are farming a domesticated mushroom, basically. And other species of ant will maintain a herd of aphids; they'll move them from grazing area to grazing area, and protect them from predators, and they "milk" them for a liquid food substance and also every now and then they straight up eat one. That's ranching.

beavers sometimes have muskrat... tenants? pets? The muskrats low key pay rent by changing out the reed bedding they all use, and they live in the beaver's lodge with them and eat some of the food. So. idk

Some Tarantulas keep frogs as pets

anyway my point is, i think the true human skill that sets us apart is our ability deconstruct and reconstruct anything we see into something that is for us. Oh, you eat that? Now WE eat that. You have the perfect teeth to drill little holes in specific tree trunks to let the sap ooze out and eat it because it's high in sugar? We don't have those teeth but we're gonna do that now and if we can't figure out a tool that's as good as your teeth at it, watch out, because we will absolutely just also steal your fuckin teeth.

[sanjarka]

in a strange way katniss and peeta's love story was forbidden. contaminated. they were never allowed to want each other. there was always something to use, to manipulate, to take. the moment their hearts shattered. it never belonged to them. and so for a long time, and especially for katniss, the love is in the shadow of doubt.

and she hates herself for it, thinks of it as an ugly conformation, the proof of something rotten inside of her that can't love. or shouldn't love. of something that has been missing ever since her father died. of something that should've been better. how if she was something better, something easier she wouldn't have been so hungry. or so alone. or so desperate, begging her mother's ghost to see her.

and so the love for peeta growing inside of her becomes enmeshed with snow, with the capitol, with a lack of control and a lack of choice. with her life's worst wounds. and so she runs away, and hides from it and understands that if there is doubt there isn't love. not from her.

then finnick, gentle and careful and somebody who loves in way nobody could ever doubt chooses to tell katniss that actually, she loves peeta.

/ and it's not like he feels it's unlike the way he loves annie. but the how doesn't really matter. it just matters that she does. and not admitting it will only hurt her more. to avoid feeling it. and he doesn't want to be another person forcing her into yet another role to play. he wishes to be silent and to let her figure it out on her own. but what if there's no time to do so. and they're all already dead. and he thinks about being forced to turn his love for annie into entertainment. into a performance. and he feels sick. but he needs her to know. that it's okay to care for peeta. to want peeta. to wish for him. that he probably didn't want to love annie either. or anyone. but that it's still worth it. /

and from that point on katniss truly does allow herself to want peeta more. allows a part of doubt to leave her. from he loves peeta, too to i wonder if it will feel like those last kisses on the beach in the arena, the ones i haven’t dared let myself consider until this moment it seems like she's preparing herself for the ability to hope and have it be worth it for once.

only it's not. it is taken from her. again. the slightest bit of confidence. now, more than ever, it is clear. this will never be a love story. it will be never happen. it was never going to happen. it is not allowed. it’s gone. he’s gone. whatever existed between us is gone.

and the capitol, and the rebels, and snow keep winning. if they need something from her they will take it. and if not they'll discard her. send her to the graveyard with a drunk chaperone.

but it is only in that meadow, where the boy followed her, with enough reasons to never return, that the love story happens anyways.

it is only in that meadow where the boy followed her because he found a home in all the pieces of her, even the broken ones, especially the broken ones, that she can see herself as she is, as she was supposed to be. as she would've always been anyways. soft and in love. without a doubt.

[luneariaa]

ᯓ★٠ ࣪⭑ "WERE YOU ASLEEP?" ✧ KENJI S.

✰ — mentions of you having some troubled thoughts during the night, implications of self-doubt(?), momentary phone calls, sweet and comforting kenji, pretty much self-indulgent.

. dividers by @/cafekitsune 🌙!!

IT WAS late at night, and yet, your mind itself refused to let you rest, preventing you from getting your own desired slumber. Your sole figure could be seen standing just by the balustrades of the balcony— breathing in the twilight air contentedly despite your turbulent mind.

These thoughts get too much sometimes, allowing yourself to at least try and loosen yourself up for the night— attempting to soothe any present aches and other unneeded distractions, especially from deep within.

You just wished that you'd never end up acting on them— hopefully not. Bad days are normal, so to speak. They'll pass, and eventually, everything will be better again. There's always light at the end of the tunnel, after all, so you keep holding on to that no matter how hard it may get at times.

The will to live is still reasonably strong, even when life itself isn't so kind to you. It gets exhausting, but you'll be there even with tons of struggle that you have to endure in the process.

Taking the phone out of your pocket, you glanced down at the clock, which shows it's exactly at two. Your sleeping schedule is unavoidably messed up, and you knew that you'd probably get an earful of scolding later on.

Breathing out ever so slowly, your fingers almost too subconsciously made their way to your contacts folder— which isn't that much, and ultimately pressed on one of the displayed names.

KEN.

Should I call him, or not?

After a fair minute or two of mentally debating whether to make a call to him, despite it being quite late at night— you did it, in the end. You just needed to talk to him for some unexplainable reasons, even when you don't really have any specific topics to talk about this late.

The phone didn't even need to ring twice when it was being picked up immediately, much to your surprise. Like, at this hour too?

"Hey— that was quick."

"Hey too," he chuckled facetiously over your words, maintaining his push-up position but on one hand. "Wouldn't want to miss a call from my favorite lady ever— and you're lucky I wasn't even asleep yet."

This piqued your interest. "What were you even doing?"

"Just doing some workout. Y'know, the usual." Ah, of course, he would. Even if Kenji already has those toned, healthy physique, he will always try to keep his body in a perfect shape.

"At a time like this? Gosh, you're questionable sometimes." A faint mirth could be heard on both sides of the phone call; sharing a laugh with one another.

"But anyway—" Kenji grabbed the towel nearby and wiped the sweat off his face, still maintaining his hold on the phone. "What's up? Couldn't sleep, hm?"

"Kinda. Got distracted, as usual." You couldn't contain the smile from forming upon your face, already feeling some of your worries gradually alleviated just from hearing his voice alone. "Glad that you aren't asleep yet too."

Kenji grins through the phone, even when you aren't there to witness it— eventually taking a seat on the nearby chair to rest for a while.

"Yeah."

"But seriously, are you alright?" His tone turns a tad bit more apprehensive, just in case since it's a pretty late hour too.

"I am, don't worry."

"It's just that— my thoughts are being quite a bother for some reason. But yeah, it's probably because well, it's late past midnight."

He nodded for a bit from the other side, seemingly understanding of your situation as it happens to him sometimes too.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

His simple offer made you think for a few seconds there, not knowing how to reply to him just yet.

"Well.."

"It's just something like— I don't know. Out of all people, you're the only one who stayed the most by my side. I'm so grateful for it, and sometimes, I still can't get used to it for some reason."

"You're too good for me."

He sighs softly, leaning his back slightly against the chair. "Hey, c'mon, don't say that. I did all of this because you genuinely deserved it."

"You deserve nothing less, trust me."

Even when he's unable to catch any glimpse of it, you grin so broadly, feeling touched by his words all over. You're quite the lucky one since it's not really a side he shows to anyone that often, and it radiates warmth; endearing, even.

"You're always the sweetest."

"And so are you, sweetheart."

He asserts tenderly, "That's the least I could do for you. You deserve only the best, and I mean it."

"I'm just glad that you decided to call me, even at this ungodly hour. Even if I'm asleep, just know that I will always try my best to answer."

"I know." You chuckled briefly, before pausing for a bit, contemplating over your next words.

"It's kind of a mess, I just—" Your previous smile drops without a warning, trying your best to remain composed, not wanting to have a sudden mental breakdown on a call with him like this. Why do the emotions have to rush through you like this?

With a quick clear of your throat, you added further. "It makes me confused sometimes, and I just.. Don't know on what to do."

He could notice the hint of shakiness within your voice alone; expression softening ever so slightly yet noticeable— not to anyone but to himself— seemed to understand the internal struggle you're possibly going through at the moment.

"And that's alright. It happens to each of us at times. It's bound to happen in one way or another." Kenji admittedly wasn't really good at giving advice and stuff, but he's willing to try his best to do so, because it's you.

"You don't have to rush things; the world can wait. Sometimes, it's best to let them be, and know that not everything is in our control."

"It's not your fault, if that's what you're wondering."

"I may not get it fully as to what you're thinking and going through right now, but please, remember that you're not alone. You have me."

You allow each of his words to sink in within your mind, making sure to process everything in, and let the deep realization hit you after. You're aware that he's just trying to help you— which you fully appreciated on, and even when it's quite hard to act based on someone's advice at times, you cherish his efforts.

Because no one really did that for you. No one was willing to go that far for you, yet here he is— willing to break through your walls no matter how long it takes and how you've set it up. Taking it slow, he still respected your boundaries despite everything, yet never once gave up on your well-being.

Before you could even give out your own response, his voice came through the phone once more.

"You know what— gimme a few minutes. I'll be there."

Your eyes widened in utter disbelief, like at an ungodly hour like this-?

"Ken, you don't have to do that, it's pretty late."

Despite your attempts of trying to reason with him, it merely falls on deaf ears; rolling his eyes without you knowing. "And you think that's gonna stop me, sweetheart?"

"I'm not gonna let you miss your needed sleep because of your thoughts and inner struggle, okay? And that's final."

Leaving no room for any arguments, he added a few words as his last statement. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't fall asleep just yet, love."

You have no choice, but to simply follow along and concede with him, feeling appreciated deep down; unable to suppress the feeling of warmth and solace from resurfacing within you.

@luneariaa. do not repost; reblogs are welcomed. all rights reserved.

[glassrowboat]

Daydream in a Nightmare.

Authors note: I read a soulmate au where with dream sharing. Every time you fall asleep you and your SM would meet in a world that would reflect your consciousness and who you were. So down below are the boys and what I think the places their dreams would depict.

Mondstadt

Diluc: The cathedral. His mom, back when she was alive, used to play during service and afterwards Diluc ran over greeting her with the biggest smile, asking her to play him one more song. She never failed to. Maybe that's why there's always a gentle melody playing whenever you see him as he rests his fingers over the same white tiles, simply trying to remember how to play.

Kaeya: The Dawn Winery. Or at least parts of it. Behind closed doors there's the scent of grass, of dirt, and the faintest smell of ash. He says it's simply the vineyard that in the real world would be right outside, but he knows well as he pulls your hand from the doorknob that it's ruins of a fallen nation haunting him right on the other side.

Albedo: Glass walls. A maze of mirrors and reflections. If you ever have stopped to bother to count between Albedo’s musings as he shares with you the secrets of the world, you'd notice that for some reason he always has more reflections in the walls around you than of your own figure. Like there's more of him than there is of you.

Venti: Old Mondstadt. Back before the revolution, back when there were people in the streets wishing their God weren't so unjust, but in his dreams that wall of spiraling wind is never there. A warped perception of a life he wished to have lived as he sits in your lap not as Venti the bard, but a wind sprite trying to bury into your clothes for warmth. Just don't call him pipsqueek or he'll try and bite your fingers. Playfully. You think.

Liyue

Zhongli: A place that no longer exists, one torn away by this world during the archon war. It's unlike him not to comment on a place, a trinket, an item, as you pick something up and fiddle with it, but this place he never goes into full detail on. However, he will tell you all about the artisanship of the table you two are sharing tea over.

Baizhu: His home back in Chenyu Vale, back before the illness hit his village, back before his parents passed away. Just a modest home that shows signs of being truly well lived in and loved. Mindlessly while you two talk he'll be cleaning the place, just the way he always does at the pharmacy. Though it does help give him something to fill the silence. It turns out he's a lot more used to Changsheng chiming in with comments than he thought. He just hopes you two get along when the time to meet in person finally comes about.

Ga ming: A festival. There's water kicking up at everyone's feet, up to everyones ankles as people with their face covered in all manner of masks walk you both by. Ga ming would pull you along from booth to booth, trying his best to win prizes despite the fact you both know they'll be gone by the time you wake.

Xiao: A Chinese pavilion in the sky. You walk among the clouds as you follow the path of the street, looking over the accents that seem somehow both rich in color and dull, muddied all at the same time. Something you've noticed from his dreams compared to yours, his always have a lingering black fog creeping in at the corner of your eyes. It makes you feel like someone else is in this world with you, like there's eyes waiting to do more than just watch.

Inazuma

Kazooha: A meadow. The wind passes you both by, stirring up pages of books you two sit reading in silence. You can't help but wonder if these are all books he's read before, especially the ones that wax poetry or something else. His thoughts, perhaps? Maybe Kazuha's very own writings? But that matters little as his head is resting on your shoulder as you try to catch words between the fluttering sheets of paper.

Itto: A kabuki play. It always ends up in you two hiding away in the back room where the performers would get ready before getting back out on stage for the next act. You would see the brightest of colors, richest of fabrics, and practiced movements so fine tuned that you can't understand why Itto is so focused on taking the makeup on the vanity in the back simply so he can paint your face with red marks just like his. To each their own you suppose, and who are you to complain when it means drawing hearts on his arm when Itto isn't paying attention?

Gorou: A tea house. It's a small place, simple, but certainly not lacking charm as Gorou pours you a cup. At first the fact you could actually taste the rich herbs on your tongue in this dreamscape threw you off, but now it's just another part of this odd reality. But saying that, the first time you spat out the drink he offered as soon as the bitter taste hit you. Apparently he never expected you to not already be used to green tea. The poor fella was apologizing for the rest of the night, ears laid flat on his head and tail tucked between his legs. It's okay though, you made it even by trying to give him dog treats. It was you having to beg for forgiveness then.

Thoma: It was different this time. No glowing blue flowers and a forest that you two would stroll through mindlessly while chatting for hours. No, this time Thoma was sitting on a wooden platform below a giant stone statue. Intriguing, yes, but mattered little compared to the rope burns around his wrist. He tried to tell you not to worry about it. That it was an accident. But that mattered little as your lips pressed to the red, irritated skin and he gave you a strained smile. You knew better than to ask about it more from there.

Ayato: It's ever changing. It's like he is constantly thinking of something whenever He falls asleep and it reflects in his dreams. Once it was a Japanese styled room the next it was some room in Fontaine's architecture. But it's always a bedroom. A place of relaxation as Ayato buries his head in your lap like it was a pillow. He'll whine about being overworked until you're tempted to pull on his hair just to make the man shut up for once, but last time you did that it led to the bed being used for a lot more than just rest. For now just pat his head and let him vent, the man needs it.

Sumeru

Kaveh: A sketch brought to life from his mothers blueprints. One he saw his mother sketching back when Kaveh was a boy and she would let him sit on her lap, let him comment on the drawings. She would always find some way to incorporate his addictions into the sketch. Nowadays he knows the building that was actually constructed in the end to be simpler, duller than the one his mother wanted, but in his dreams with you it stands tall and proud.

Al Haitham: An attic. It's dusty and it clearly had a hole in the roof that was covered over by some wooden planks and nails. A patch work job that needs to be fixed but if you ever take the time to bother with it while Al Haitham sits in an old rocking chair covered by a quilt reading the night away it will only be there the next dream cycle. It pisses you off. He pisses you off. All nonchalance and an apathetic look even as you plop yourself in his lap and take that book away. And what pisses you off even more? How he dares to call you needy as he holds you close. It's best to ignore the fact he started reading over your shoulder.

Tighnari: Pardis Dhyai. He'll sit on the walkway watching you kick the water of the ponds around, paying no mind to when you splash at him. Not anymore at least. He's learned quickly if he makes a snarky comment you'll give one back and it'll go on and on until somehow it ends in him getting dragged into the pond with you. Both dripping algae filled water as he wondered what gods made this numbskull his mate.

Cyno: Lambad's Tavern. Everytime he would come back from treks in the desert he would go there, get a drink, and play a round of cards with whoever was willing. It was a pattern. Work, work, rest, and more work. But now he didn't have to constantly be on work mode as he sat with you in the old booth shuffling cards as he tried to explain to you how TCG works. So far everytime you lose you've thrown those elemental dice and him, and with a smile he lets them hit him in the head despite being fully able to dodge them. His soulmate is such a sore loser.

Wanderer: Shakkei Pavilion. He hates it. Hates that this is the place his unconscious has chosen to sink onto so stubbornly. His wooden fingers would slide over the paintings depicting Scaramouche’s past that has now been severed from him in everyone's eyes but Nahida and the Traveler. If you knew, would you still hold his hand? Would you still trace the details of his joints and comment that you find his pretty face such a stark contrast to his sharp words? He's afraid to find out, the idea that you might be his fourth betrayal always lingering in the back of his mind.

Fontaine

Neuvillette: Under the water where the currents would carry stray bits of seaweed and fish swimming past. The first time you shared a dream with him here he had to calm you down as instinctively you held your breath, taking your hands in his and assuring you if he can talk like this, you can suck in air just as well. It took some time getting used to, but now he watches as you grab starfish off the ocean floor and bring them over to him like a prize to be presented. This is what humans must be like Neuvillette tells himself as you braid them into his hair.

Worcestershire sauce: A home. A nice one at that. Big, had decent furnishings, pictures of kids hung up on the wall. If you listened closely enough you could even hear children playing outside from the cracked open windows that showed the brightest sky outside. Wriothesly would walk behind you as you would watch the grass blowing in the wind, not saying a word as he rested his chin on top of your head. He never thought he'd be back here again. The very place made him feel sick to his stomach, but with you? It was bearable. Even as you tried to grab his handcuffs from him.

Snezhnaya

Childe: His childhood home. Back before the renovations he bought for the place with his money as a harbinger, back before the redecorating of rooms to fit more children, and back to what the house was like when he was just a boy yet to fall into the abyss. Back when everything was simpler. He would pick up toys that have gone missing, never to be seen again and stare in wonder how it all is exactly how he remembers it. It makes it so much easier to be Ajax with you, rather than Tartaglia.

Dottore: The hospital he was working in when trying to help Eleazar patients. For the life of him does he hate it, being back in the desert always having to tip his shoes out of sand that never seems to fully clear off. It doesn't help you try and pour sand down his shirt, but in a way he supposes it's better you two stay out here under that blistering sun than you going inside to be met with the smell of death. No, you don't need to know about that side of him just yet.

Pantalone: His office. It always makes it hard to tell at first if he's awake, not when the same scene greets him either way. You always joke about him being married to his work and you're the mistress in this relationship. At this point he counts on the comment as soon as his eyes flutter open and he's greeted with the sight of you sitting on the desk he's been using as a pillow. Still, he can never help the genuine smile at seeing you once again.

Captain: A flower field. The snowdrops peek out from under the fluffy blanket of white powder, crunching under every step he takes. Even in his dreams the cold of Snezhnaya is ever present, ever biting. It only makes sense you are shivering behind him even as he lets you steal his cloak that is more of a blanket on you than anything. This field, he knows it well, knows that what waters these flowers is more blood than anything else, but that matters little as he wraps his arms around you. Maybe he can find a way to dream you a proper jacket.

Pierro: A grand hall. It reminds you of the way ballrooms are described in romance stories as the couple depicted would dance the night away. Columns so high you have to tilt your head back just to see where they meet the ceiling covered in paintings you've never seen before. That is until Pierro steps into your view. He always offered his hand to you before you could ask, and as your fingers interlocked he would tell you about them. Always ready to answer your questions. It meant someone was curious about a part of his long lost nation. So, of course, he was always happy to share.

Scaramouche: A never ending fire. It's a small shack, engulfed by flames that never seem to dwindle or burn out the wood it feeds on. Like this place was stuck in time in his mind. He doesn't talk to you, not any more than a sharp shut up. The only time that glare he showed you disappeared is when you pulled your hand back from the curious fire with a hiss, not expecting it to actually hurt in this fake reality. For a moment you could have sworn he took a step towards you, but he never came any closer than that as he hissed at you to be careful. Dumb mortals should at least know not to burn themselves.

[melyxssa]

Fill the Void

Description: 1991, during the recordings of the Black Album, you help your boyfriend James to come up with something more intriguing.

(inspired by the series “the idol”)

warnings: smut, fingering, oral sex (f receiving)

“You're the one, you're the only one

Baby girl, we could both have fun

Oh, I choose you to fill your void, yeah”

-“Fill the Void”, by The Weeknd & Lily Rose Depp

The time seemed to be frozen inside that recording room, where the entire band felt impossible to compose new riffs and write new lyrics for the upcoming album.

Hours have passed, and for some reason, James couldn't get into the lyrics of one of the songs, he didn't feel it as his own.

"You seem a little stuck on the outro", says Lars from the console, right outside the noise proof studio where James was trying to record the vocals, after working on it endlessly.

James sighs heavily, running a hand through his blonde hair. He squints his blue eyes as he looks over at Lars, his expression a mix of frustration and annoyance.

"Nah man, it's not just the fuckin' outro. I'm just not feelin' it, y'know?", James replies gruffly, his voice rough from repeatedly trying to nail his verse.

“I gotta figure this shit out, it’s been hours already, we gotta finish this fucking song.”, he says in frustration, rubbing his face with his hands, stretching his tall frame. The handlebar mustache and overgrown goatee twitch as he clenches his jaw.

"Maybe we just need to take a break for a bit. Clear our fuckin' heads."

James exits the recording room, opening the door loudly, grabbing a beer from the nearby cooler, cracking it open and taking a long swig. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, burping softly.

"This song's got me fucked up, man. I can't seem to find the right... vibe, ya feel me?" He says, gesturing vaguely with the beer can.

James paces around the small recording space, his boots thudding against the floor. He knows they need to get this album done, but he refuses to put out something that doesn't feel authentic.

"I just need to get outta the fuck outta this room for a bit." He mutters, more to himself than towards Lars.

James takes another long pull from the beer, feeling the cool liquid slide down his throat. He knows they'll get there, eventually. But for now, he just needs a break.

Even more time passes by, he spent hours trying and trying his vocal part, for what seemed a thousands times. There was nothing to do, James couldn't feel the song, the lyrics that he wrote himself didn’t feel like they were his, something was missing.

Now, 11pm, with hands in his hair and frustration in his eye, James fucked up the outro of the song once again, making Lars and the producers sight heavily.

"Look man, it's really late now, maybe you have to rest. You tried this shit for the whole day now...", Lars spoke through the microphone from outside the room where James was standing.

James clenches his fists, his face turning red with frustration. He wants to scream, to punch something and let out his frustration. James knows Lars is right, it is late, and he has been stuck at this point for way too long. But the perfectionist in him can't let it go, not until he gets it just right.

"Fuck!", James shouts, his voice echoing off the soundproof walls, glitching the audio of the microphone connected to the one that Lars was speaking with.

He starts pacing again, his boots now stomping loudly on the studio floor. "I can't fuckin' rest until I get this straight, ya hear me? We can't put out some lame bullshit!"

He leans against the wall, his head falling back as he stares at the ceiling. The fluorescent lights flicker slightly, casting a harsh glow on his angular face. James runs a hand over his short, mutton chops, tugging at the hair.

“James, it’s too late now, and it’s a Saturday. Kirk and Jason are already gone, and half of the crew too. You just have to try again on Monday”.

With a heavy sigh, he speaks into the microphone, his voice low and gritty.

"Alright, alright... fuck. I hear ya, Lars. But this shit's just not... it's not workin' for me, man."

James nods, removing his headphones and closing his audio, while all of the others in the building left for the night, except for him, who decided to stay there trying to fix the lyrics, some riffs and sing again on his own.

There was nothing left to do anymore, the outro was all fucked up, he seriously needed a break.

He stared at the phone on the wall for a few seconds holding his face with his hand.

He needed her. He needed his biggest inspiration to be there with him, the one from which all of his songs come alive.

With a quick and heavy movement, he jumped up from the couch and reached the phone. While the beeping sound was pending, he looked at the clock: 12:30am.

“Please, answer me”, he thought in his mind.

“Hello?”

A quiet almost sleepy voice answers from the other side of the phone.

"Hey, babe... Did I wake ya?" James asks, his voice now a low, gentle rumble. He tries to keep the frustration and exhaustion out of his tone, not wanting to worry her.

He starts pacing again, but this time his strides are slower, more measured. The sound of her breathing on the other end of the line is oddly soothing, a balm to his frayed nerves.

“Not at all, I fell asleep on the couch actually”, Y/N answers in a sweet calming tone. “It’s everything okay there?”

She asks now fixing herself and sitting up, so that she could talk to him better.

"I'm just... I'm havin' a tough time here with this fuckin' song, ya know? I can't get it right, and it's just... it's drivin' me nuts." He confesses, his free hand running through his hair again.

James pauses, listening to her soft murmur of sympathy. He closes his eyes, letting the sound of her voice wash over him, calming him down.

“I’m sorry to hear that… I thought you already fixed that. It’s been days by now”, she continues, making James let out another sigh.

“I didn’t... I need you here Y/N, right now…” he says firmly.

“You want me there? Oh James, it’s so late now, I-“

Y/N got interrupted by his helpless voice.

“Please…”

—Y/N’s POV—

I stay silent again, checking the clock, it’s almost 1am.

I couldn’t say no, I feel like he’s having a rough time with this song, and I want to help him.

“Yeah, all right then. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I hang up the phone and started collecting some clothes to wear and get to him as soon as i could.

My hair is still a mess, and I soon realized once I stepped out of the house that wearing a skirt and a top wasn’t the best idea ever, due to the California’s cold night breeze, but my sleepy senses’ve been stronger then my actions at this night time.

As I arrive at the studio, the door was strangely open, someone who left the studio must’ve thought that James was supposed to do the same right after, but of course, he didn’t.

I walk through the hallway of the studio arriving at the recording room, spotting James looking up at me, his blue piercing eyes meeting mine.

The room is dimly lit, shadows dancing across his angular face. He's sitting in the recording booth, a guitar resting on his lap, a half-empty beer can on the floor beside him.

The moment he sees me, James' expression softens instantly. The frustration and exhaustion that were etched into his features a moment before quickly melt away, replaced by a gentle, almost reverent look. He stands up slowly, the chair creaking softly behind him.

James walks towards me, his tall frame unfolding with a grace that belies his rough exterior. He stops just at the edge of the open door, looking down at me with an intensity that makes my heart skip a beat.

"Hey, babe", he says softly, his low and intimate voice echoing in the quiet of the studio.

"I'm glad you're here. I needed this, I… needed you", he says in my ear, tying his big arm around my waist before he reaches out his rough, calloused hand cupping my cheek. His thumb brushes gently over my skin, a tenderness that sends a shiver down my spine. James leans in closer, his breath hot on my face, faintly smelling of beer and smoke.

Suddenly, he pulls back, running a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. "I'm just... I'm fuckin' stuck, and I can't figure out why.” He lets out an irritated sigh.

I’ll actually go mad if I can’t get this right. And… I thought... maybe you could help me, maybe give me a new perspective."

I move towards the console in front of the recording booth, grabbing the paper sheet with the ink-written lyrics.

"I don't know James, you know I'm not really good at this.

My nervous voice is trembling, I wanna help with all of my heart.

"Sing with me then”, he says with an amused smirk on his face.

“Yeah sure.” I laugh nervously, my cheeks burn.

He raises an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips as he listens to my nervous tone. He leans back against the console. The amused glint in his blue eyes softens as he realizes my hesitation.

James always catches me sing under the shower or while I do my makeup, and he always insists that my voice is perfect.

He takes a step closer to me, closing the distance between our bodies. His tall frame towers over me, but his presence is no longer intimidating. Instead, it's comforting, warm. He reaches out, his rough fingers gently tilting my chin up to meet his gaze.

"Babe, c'mon. You know your voice is fuckin' perfect. I've heard you sing around the house before, ya’ know? Under the shower... it's so beautiful." His thumb brushing over my lower lip.

"I wanna hear you sing with me, feel the music together."

He grabs my hand and leads me in the recording booth in front of the microphone, he looks around for a pair of headphones, before putting them on my head.

He sings the first part of the song, his voice low and rough, sensual, filled with a raw emotion that sends a shiver down my spine.

The lyrics are intense, it reminds me of us in some ways. Maybe that’s why he needed me here.

But as he sings, his gaze never leaves mine, connecting with me on a deeper level.

He moves away from the microphone leaving me more space now.

“Just follow the rhythm , okay? Let the music guide you, feel it in your bones.

Don't overthink it, just… be with me in this moment."

I nod nervously, helping him with one of his songs is a big responsibility. He quickly exits the booth to press the recording button on the outside console, playing the base in the headphones, before coming back next to me.

"Come on, babe. Sing with me", he says, his voice is gentle almost a whisper against my skin, he positions himself behind me holding my shoulders first.

"Let's make something beautiful together, something real and true. Just like us."

I start singing the lyrics reading it, feeling James hands on my arms and then falling down on my waist, rubbing my hips right after, his breath on my neck while he rests his chin on my shoulder, closing his eyes, now feeling the song. I gasp in the microphone at his touch feeling his hands.

James starts to sing along with me, his voice a low, sensual growl that vibrates through my body. He holds me closer, one hand sliding up my side to cup the side of my breast, his thumb brushing over the fabric of my shirt, pressing his hips against my back, making me feel what this moment was doing to him.

Lost in the moment, James lets the music consume him. He sings with a fervor he hasn't felt in a long time, the frustration of earlier finally melting away. With each word, each note, he feels a sense of release, he was getting it right.

James' hands drift lower, playing with the waistband of my skirt, his calloused fingers brushing down the bare skin of my thighs. He leans in and presses his lips against my neck, his mustache tickles my skin as he starts to place soft kisses along the column of my throat.

He takes his time, savoring my taste, the way I shiver and gasp at his touch. James' hand slides higher between my legs, pushing my skirt up as he goes, his palm kneading the soft flesh of my inner thigh. His kisses turn more insistent, more demanding, as he feels my body responding to his touch.

He gently touches my panties’ lace fabric making my mouth leave a soft moan while his teeth grazing my skin before he soothes the sting with his tongue.

James' other hand slides up my side again, under my shirt, to finally reach my perky breast. He squeezes it gently, his thumb brushing over my sensitive nipple, feeling it harden under his touch.

Lost in a haze of sensation, James continues to sing, his voice low and rough with desire. The lyrics take on a new meaning, a new intensity as he holds me close, his hardening body pressed against me.

He wants me, needs me, in a way that consumes him entirely. And as the song reaches its crescendo, James pours all of that need, all of that desire, into his kiss and touch.

His fingers slides underneath the lace of my underwear, feeling my heat. He swallows hard, his heart pounding in his chest as he hears your moan echoing through the studio, now recorded in the lyrics.

Slowly, he starts to move his fingers again, sliding them over my sensitive and humid flesh. His touch is gentle at first, teasing, exploring. He wants to learn every inch, to hear every gasp and every moan tie with the words he wrote.

As he feels my wetness, James can't hold back a low groan, his breath hot against my neck.

I moan again letting my head fall back on his shoulder, heavily breathing.

“James…”, I whisper, my eyes rolled at the back of my head, biting my lip.

He smirks as he keeps kissing the thin skin of my neck. “Keep singing”, he says starting to rub slow circles over my clit, his touch firm and deliberate.

At the same time, he starts to rock his hips against my ass, grinding his hardening cock against me, throbbing through his jeans.

I keep singing moaning at every pause, at every words, harder, when I feel James fingers pump in and out of me.

He groans deeply in my ear as he feels my tight, wet heat enveloping his fingers. His movements speed up gradually, his thumb still rubbing firm circles over my clit. The sounds of my moans and the wet, slick noises of his fingers moving inside me fill the recording booth.

He grinds harder against my ass, his cock is now stone hard and it’s straining against the layers of clothes blocking its freedom. James' breathing grows heavier, his chest heaving against my back as he loses himself in pleasuring me.

“Keep singing for me babe, I wanna hear you”, he says in a growl, before leaving a last kiss on my neck.

During the instrumental part of the song, James moves away and stands in front of me, and suddenly drops to his knees behind me, his hands gripping my hips tightly, letting me arch my back, spreading my legs. He looks up at me with lust-filled eyes, his gaze intense and hungry. Without saying a word, he hooks his fingers into the waistband of my underwear, yanking them down my legs in one swift motion.

As my panties fall to the floor of the recording room, James leans in, burying his face between my thighs, making me moan as I hold tight onto microphone in front of me.

“Don’t stop, I wanna hear your voice while I do this to you.” His voice vibrating against my sensitive flesh.

He starts to lick and suck my clit, while his hands grip my ass, spreading my cheeks apart as he delves deeper, his tongue plunging into my core. James eats me out with a fervor he's never shown before, a desperation that borders on primal. James is determined to make me cum just before the song ends, thanks of the feeling of his tongue and fingers bringing me to the pinnacle of pleasure.

I tangle my fingers in his blonde hair, pulling him closer as I moan louder and desperately.

He can sense my impending orgasm, the way my body starts to tremble and quake against his touch.

He doubles his efforts, his tongue and fingers moving faster, harder, more insistently. He wants to feel me come undone, wants to taste my release on his tongue.

"That's it, babe... Come for me.” James growls against my pussy, the vibrations of his voice against my cunt is sending me closer and closer to the edge.

And then, with a scream of his name, my body convulses, my pussy clenching and fluttering around his fingers as my orgasm crashes over me. James moans deeply as he feels my hot, slick essence on his mouth, coating his chin, as his strong hands grip firmly my ass.

He works me through my climax, his fingers and tongue never stopping their sensual assault until the last aftershock has passed.

Finally, he pulls back up, looking up at me with a smug, satisfied grin, as the base in the headphones that eventually fell off my head starts to fade away. I am speechless, this is what he meant when he said he didn’t feel the song…

He moves closer, kissing me, smacking again my ass, surely leaving his red hands prints, his tongue delivers inside my mouth tasting mine. “You’ve been perfect”, he says as he breaks the wet contact.

“Well I almost didn’t sing at all, James” I say breathless, my cheeks burn for the excitement, and sweat drips down my body.

“And that was exactly what I wanted, with the guitar solo at the end it’ll be perfect”, he says holding my hips firmly.

“James, are you sure? I mean… what about the others? It’s not your usual kind of song, I mean…” I quickly say after being interrupted by James’ hands pulling me closer again against his still hard crotch and his lips kissing me passionately. He moves an inch away from my lips, looking deeply into my exhausted eyes.

“It’s perfect Y/N, the guys will love it… I want this in the album, I want you in this song.”

hiii! if you have any requests lemme know xx

-mel

[bluespace-writer]

I had this idea and I NEED to get it out

Ofc feel free to ignore this tho

Sniper x gn other team reader who seems to always figure out where he is. It's like they have this weird spidey sense type thing. Like, they'll look directly into his scope or fire a warning shot next to him when he hasn't seen them yet.

Maybe they've even sniped him once with like a handgun or something cuz he pissed them off

Like I can imagine how much of a loop it would throw him through

Also, if he could be a pining loser, that would be great

Ooh also what if he also noticed how they're particularly brutal with the rest of his team but not him (examples above) because they have a soft spot for / crush on him too

[I can't express how MUCH I love this idea! Thank you for this ask it was fun to write it! Have fun reading!]

Warning shots

◇ TF2 Sniper x GN!Reader [crush]

Badlands, where setting sun gives you third degree burns and gravel is treated like gold, a place where lays control point, ready to be taken over by one of the two teams, and belive when I say, it is no easy thing to do. The point was active for some time now, but no one on the teams managed to get it before they were shot down, dying in their own pool of blood and coming back to life, trying all over again.

Meanwhile Sniper was on his was to changes places to confuse his opponents, firing from high place, his scope scanning the corners and waiting for some idiot to take a peek and find themselves with a bullet in their skull.

Another warning shoot. This time bullet made a hole in his hat. Bugger. How?? He just got here! He didn't even fired his weapon! What kind of six sense bullshit is this! Alright, alright... there is no time to think about it, he has a job that needs to be done. Again, he decided to change his position, walking to the comple opposite side of the war zone.

"Steady... Steady..." Sniper mumbled to himself while aiming at the enemy Heavy's head. Then BAM, bullet hit, creating hole in wooden plank next to his head. Sniper moved away from the window, completely caught off guard. He was sure it was a good spot and none one will be able to find him this quickly ! No matter. He decided to change his position, it was not a good idea to try to shoot again from the same spot when someone knew he was there. He passed Engineer's nest and found for himself better spot to try again. He aimed carefully, grinned when dot from his scope pointed on Medic's head and-...

Bang!

He found much better spot this time, far away from the control point but close enough for him to land every shoot. Finally, he can continue his job without any surprises. Sniper looked through his scope and noticed- You. He was ready to pull the trigger when suddenly you turned your head to the left and looked directly at him. Sniper felt weird tingle on his neck. Did...Did you noticed him? No... it's impossible, he is too far away! But there you were, staring directly into his scope, completely aware of his current position. Were you the one who knew where he had always been? His eyebrows knit together, as he was aiming at your head, but you were quicker and pullet trigger on your handgun, shooting Sniper right into the shoulder three times.

Sniper did the only reasonable thing, which was running away to find the closests med kit. As he was runing he thought about....this. This weird treatment you were giving him. Besides Pyro and Solider you are one of the most violent mercenary on your team, always finishing your targets in the most brutal and extreme way possible, and yet you, of all people, were giving him warning shoots! Twice ! It was....strange...

This situation for you two was a tradition at this point. Whenever Sniper was trying to shoot someone down, you were there to send your bullet ricochet next to him, suddenly shout "Sniper ahead!!" and let rest of your team know he is watching. Or you'll turn around and stare at him as if you were saying "I always know where you are."

It annoyed him. His ego was damaged now, because of you and your stupid abnormal senses. Only times he could get a kill at this point was when you were respawning or when enemy Spy failed to backstab him. Was he even allowed to call himself a professional now?? You were now his biggest priority on the battlefield, he was constantly waiting for you to show up just to land a shoot on you. Not even to kill you, even a simple bruse was enough for him. It trapped him into a tunel vision that resulted in him dying several times to the rest of your team.

Well.

Sniper was aiming at respawn machine, waiting for you to come out. He didn't even hear footsteps creeping up behind him. He only realized someone was behind him when he was pulled by the shoulder, and pinned against the wall by- you!

How-

When-

Looks like Sniper forgot that this respawn had two exits. You were holding him for...quite a while not. Both of you stared at each other, not moving an inch.

...

...

...

...

This was akward.

....what the bloody hell was that?!

Sniper felt sweat on his eyebrows and how his face is getting warmer from the embarrassed. You smirked before letting him go and you-

Just-

Walked away...

He should be dead! But you just decided to spare him? Why??? And that look on your face... He always saw you stare at him, but only now he saw your eyes up close...they looked... surprisingly pleasant to look at.

Now you're stuck in his head. Constantly teasing each other with shots and looks. Sniper felt better, knowing he wouldn't be butchered by you like the rest of his team. Was he this special? Were you...special to him? Each thought about you made his cheeks shine in pink and clouded mind with this weird soft feeling. But don't think only he did! Ha! Come on, it was obvious you have soft spot for this Australian man. It was not hard to miss when you shredded enemy team like nothing, and only Sniper was able to somehow "Get away" or just "Suddenly disappeared". The tingling, almost spider like sense made you detect him like on radar, which was the reason why you found it so hard to not think about him.

You two found a reeallllly interesting way to flirt with each other heh.

[verascrow]

「✰」 ━━ CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE CHARACTER FAMILY OUTLINES

RATING PG-13 - Parents strongly cautioned [ Content warnings : references to sex, references to breeding kinks, heavy fluff, children, both pregnancy and adoption scenarios, toxic family relationship dynamics, minimal cursing, brief mention of Ghost and Farah's traumas, brief mention of transphobia and homophobia ]

SYNOPSIS In my opinion, what having a family with an assortment of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare characters would look like, be it how many kids they would have, their reasonings for having kids, their relationships with their kids, et cetera.

WORD COUNT 6.8k

CAPTAIN JOHN PRICE

Three sons and one daughter - ages ten, seven, five, and one

I'm certain we're all more than aware of this man's painfully obvious and present breeding kink, so it's no surprise to anyone that he would want to have a lot of children to call his own. He won't just be satisfied with one or two children - he's always wanted to have a full, bustling home, and he'll be damned if he doesn't try to make that a reality.

Every child of his is planned, both in pregnancy and adoption scenarios. He meticulously calculates and works to space each child out a certain range and number of years apart from one another in an effort to give himself extended experience with each developmental stage - or so he claims.

He wanted kids of his own, he decided, the second he met you, and he just hopes and prays that you'll be open to the concept of having quite a number of them. And, in his favor, you do and indulge him in his little fantasies.

And, in the ingenious words of @ghostlywhiskey , "i said that man has SWIMMERS AND THOSE MFS ARE PRICE BOYS". So, there's a very obvious patten that begins to form as more and more members are added to his little family. But, of course, there's one token daughter added into the mix, who he loves all the same as he does his boys.

In my eyes, the ideal father figure. He's extremely open and honest with his children, listens and talks with them whenever they have an issue or question, is very understanding and accepting overall, and, more than anything, works tirelessly to be a present, positive figure in their lives.

Because of all of the experience that he has with his own children, this results in the members of Task Force 141 and associated parties going to him for help or to have him answer questions they may have around their own children.

He tries to be as present of a father as he can be, given the challenges and distance that comes with his line of work, but always makes an effort, at the very least, call his kids whenever he can to ask about how they're doing, what they're up to, et cetera.

Refuses to talk about his job or entertain his children in the very idea of joining the military - the horrors he's seen is not in the slightest something he wants his children to witness for themselves. He knows the job best, and he will not allow any of his children to join.

Raises his sons right - they're respectful, mind their manners, don't start fights (but finish them, should the need arise) and instills all the necessary core morals and values they'll need to be good people when they grow up. All the same, he teaches his daughter not to take shit from anyone.

LIEUTENANT SIMON "GHOST" RILEY

Three daughters and one child (non-binary) - ages ten, six, three, and nine

Originally, he had never even spent a moment in time thinking about or entertaining the possibility of him having children, much less actively putting effort into reaching that goal. Especially when considering his own history, he can't even begin to see himself as a father, fearing he'll end up like his own.

So, when you get pregnant for the first time on complete accident/enthusiastically bring up the idea to him of adopting a child seemingly out of nowhere to him, he's completely shell-shocked. This is something he's ever put considerable thought into, and now it's being dropped into his lap without a moment to process it or breathe.

So, when he lays eyes on his first little girl for the first time, he's terrified. He's a dad now, whether he wants to or is ready for it or not. And no, it's not like he didn't tell you to get an abortion/refuse to sign the papers, but he isn't fully ready for such a heavy responsibility yet. But when he has her in his arms for the first time, he's done for.

After the first, he's so open and willing - and, quite frankly, pushing for - trying for/adopting another child. Yes, he was scared for his life to become a dad at first, but now that he's one now, he can't help but want another - and best you believe that his children are his absolute world.

Curse of the military. That's it, that's the tweet. He had all girls, plus, of course, his one gender non-conforming, non-binary kid, and all of them have equal ownership over his heart.

He's the perfect girl-dad, letting them do whatever they want with him - their own personal dress-up doll, if you will. Painting his nails, putting make-up on him, styling his hair, making him attend tea-parties and playing make-pretend. Whatever they want him to do, he does it.

When his second-oldest comes out to him (they came to him first before they did you), his heart absolutely melts. To know that his kid trusts him so wholeheartedly and isn't scared to share such a private thing with him lets him know just how good of a dad he is.

He's quick to use the right pronouns, allocates a separate room for them, helps them go shopping for clothes and items they may want, tests out new names for them should they want to, et cetera.

He's not at all a strict parent, as much as one might believe. He's stoic, cold, and cruel, sure - but that's to everyone but his family. For them? He's the biggest pushover in the world. If his children want anything, best believe he's doing everything in his power to fulfill their wishes.

SERGEANT JOHN "SOAP" MACTAVISH

One son and one daughter - ages four and five

He's always wanted children, that mindset and dream having been set long before he ever even joined the military in the first place. He used to take care of and watch his nieces, nephews, and younger cousins a lot when he was younger, so it eventually evolved into him wanting little rascals of his own as time went on - to be able to nurture, care for, and have fun with.

So, when the opportunity arises to actually start a family of his own, something that he's always dreamed of, he's so giddy. In complete honesty, he's practically beaming and bouncing on the balls of his feet, so willing and ready to make this into a reality. He has his own fears and anxieties, yes, but his excitement far outweighs it.

Both of his children are planned, of course, wanting them to be close in age as he can get them, and he's ecstatic that he gets to have both a boy and a girl. He gets the best of both worlds that way! And, when he finally gets to hold each in his arms for the first time, his heart shatters, melts, and crumbles in the best ways possible.

He isn't just a solider, a boyfriend, or a husband anymore - he's a dad now.

He's such a fun dad in general, always joking around with his kids, letting them - safely - do things that they aren't supposed to do, messing with them, taking them out for desert and sweets, et cetera.

But, as much as he's the "fun dad", that doesn't mean that he's any less strict. If his kids mess up or do something bad, he's often the one responsible for determining punishment, telling them off, and teaching them not to make the same mistake again.

His work is demanding, yes, and that often takes him away from you, his partner, and his kids for long periods of time, but he always comes back, ready to be a dad again and put "Soap" on the backburner.

The perfect role model for his kids, in all honesty - the best combination between a best friend and a parental figure. His kids tell him everything and they aren't scared of him to keep secrets from him, always telling him the truth without shame or hesitation.

SERGEANT KYLE "GAZ" GARRICK

One son and one daughter - ages seven

Both of children are twins

Having children wasn't something he had ever planned for, in his mind. Not to say that he never entertained the idea of having children of his own, nor is it to say something that he's against, either. He simply hadn't ever thought about making it a reality before.

But, when the opportunity to have/adopt children comes up into his life, it's welcomed, allowing himself to go with the flow of things and let them play out as is. He thinks about it a lot more now, daydreaming about what his child's personality will be like, what they'll look like, who they'll like more...

And then boom! Twins!

He's starstruck when he first gets the news that he'll be having/adopting twins. It's like a two-for-one deal, or so he says, genuinely shocked and excited at the same time. The way he sees it, his kids will always have a best friend (or, a partner-in-crime) and he's all for it.

Twins are a lot, he knows, but that doesn't mean he isn't up for the challenge. If anything, it only spurs him on to push to be the best dad he could ever possibly be.

For better or for worse, his kids adopt his sarcastic nature as their own and increase it by tenfold. It's his fault, given that whenever his kids are around, he's talking to them as if they'd understand his points and smart comments. They don't, most of the time, but they know their dad's tone, and they're quick to match it.

Takes the most time off out of anyone else in Task Force 141 to spend with his family if and when he can allocate it. He wants to be as present of a dad as possible, and if that means taking work home when he could easily finish it on base and then come home, maybe a day or two later, he's doing it.

Very adamant on having days out with his kids, be it for the purpose of a mental health day or just for fun. Takes them out to get breakfast and lunch, plus going to do another activity. Maybe the park, the playground, watch a movie at the cinema, go to the zoo/aquarium, et cetera.

He's not a super strict parent but that doesn't mean he isn't going to disciple his children if they misbehave or do something wrong. His punishments are lax, focused more towards talking out the issue that giving harsh lessons.

STATION CHIEF KATE LASWELL

One son - aged sixteen

She and her wife decided that they really wanted to have a kid of their own a few years into their marriage and, especially given that neither of them aren't getting any younger and didn't necessarily have the energy, time, or willingness to take on the challenge of pregnancy for themselves, they choose the more sensible option available and adopt.

It's a long, deliberate process that they have to go through in order to be so much as be approved for being able to adopt, but, once that hurdle is overcome, the two of them waste no time and immediately begin their search for the newest member of their own little family, allocating time to meticulously decide who they'll, inevitably, choose.

Their hearts end up settling on a little boy whose four years old, somehow resembling the both of them in different ways - be it personality wise or by appearance.

The two of them decide that they want to be able to escape and skip the issues that come packaged with newborns and toddlers, but also have a hand in the development process of their son, thus explaining the age they chose to adopt him at. This accomplishes both of these "goals" they have in mind, and it works out beautifully in their favor.

No matter their son's ethnic background, the two of them make a conscious effort to try and introduce practices, traditions, holidays, ideals, et cetera from their son's culture into their own as a means to keep him connected with his own past and history.

Although her job is connected with the military and does, to an extent, seperate her from her families for periods of time, that doesn't diminish the relationship she has with her son. He's fascinated with his mom's career, allowing for lengthy, in-depth discussion about what her job actually entails with him.

She and her wife are such good moms in general - always supporting him in everything he wants to do and encouraging him a thousand times over. There isn't a second in his life where he isn't being supported or loved, but it by his moms or the numerous different adult figures in his life.

Laswell gets in a fair bit of trouble with her wife for not disciplining her son in any way, shape, or form. She may have no issue with doing so with the military individuals she works with - she can be scary and intimidating when she wants to be - but with her son? She's absolutely a pushover.

Quits smoking the second she and her wife make plans towards actually adopting. It's a harsh line she draws, and one she abides by without hesitation or question.

VALERIA GARZA

None

Now, this isn't because I want to exclude her from this concept for any reasoning whatsoever, but rather because I can't really see her having or wanting any children in the first place. She's "El Sin Nombre", after all. And, in her defense, the cartel isn't necessarily the best enviroment for a child to grow up or develop in - surprising nobody.

She knows this fact better than anyone, and, having sworn her life to her role in Las Almas and the cartel, she chooses to not have any children. Additionally, she isn't going to be irresponsible and make herself vulnerable like that where, to have someone to love and care fore, only for the possibility of them being used as leverage against her later on hanging over her head, putting them in danger.

And, in any case, she has a breeding kink to make up for it, eh?

But, in all seriousness, as wonderful as I think she could possibly be with children in general, I doubt she plans on having or adopting children of her own unless she actually makes the move to leave the business of the cartel altogether - which, lets face it, with who she is and the role that she plays, is highly unlikely.

To make up for this, let's talk about her relationship with kids in general - be it the children of Las Almas and nieces and nephews that she has and interacts with.

She fits the "cool aunt" persona to a tee, always bringing gifts and/or cash to her younger family members, getting them whichever they desire, playing games with them, talking shit about people and listening to them vent, et cetera.

If the children have a problem with someone and, if aren't family, she has no issue doing something about it, be it using a scare tactic on them or completely removing the other person from the equation in more serious scenarios.

All the kids love her, no matter if they're family or if they know her or not. If she isn't busy and one of her men have a child of their own that they need to tend to while they're on the clock, she'll let the kid stay around in her office, so long as they don't disturb the peace.

VLADIMIR MAKAROV

One son and one daughter - ages eleven and five

Now, as cold, cruel, stoic, and heartless of a character that Makarov is, I personally believe that there would be select factors that would influence him to actually want children. Technical, albeit, and not for the sake of having someone to nurture and care for - at least, in the beginning - but I do believe that, for his own reasons, he would still want children as he progresses on later in his career and plans.

The only reason I could ever see for him to so much as bring up the concept of having children, in a way that makes sense when considering his character, would be due to the result of a close encounter that has him just barely scraping out of whatever altercation with his life to spare and hold onto.

He decides then and there that he wants to have a child - a son, specifically - who will be able to take his place and lead the groups that he controls and reigns over when he, inevitably, passes because, like he stated: "even I'm replaceable". It's a morbid phrase, yes, but it makes sense for him to have this be his reasoning.

He wants his replacement to be his own, too, and not for one of men to simply be promoted after he passes. After all, their ideologies, morals, and values could change over time and alter from his own, and he can't have that. However, if he were to have a child, he could foster and tailor their beliefs to match his own.

And besides, there's a certain charm that comes with saying his son is going to be the next in line. So, to his favor, he gets a first-born son, just as he had wished. His daughter, however, is completely accidental and unplanned/an abrupt decision when she is born/adopted. (In the context of pregnancy, though, its entirely his fault that she's conceived out of nowhere - wear protection, folks.)

For the longest time, his relationship with his son is, for lack of better wording, toxic - but this does change! If only with your intervention. All he wants in the beginning is for his son to be able to take over for him in the future - that being his sole purpose. And, unfortunately, he makes that a known fact.

Brings his son in with him to work on base often, working to teach and show to him the empire that he'll be taking over once his dad is gone. He gets a front-row view to the horrors his father is behind and in control of, be it the planning process for strategized and organized attacks, his cruel methods for dealing with traitors, and otherwise.

As much as he might, at heart, want to be a boy-dad, his relationship with his son is so strained and, frankly, falling apart, even if he refuses to acknowledge it, and so toxic in nature that it's only natural he becomes a girl-dad when his daughter is finally born. It's unfair, yes, but it's the truth of the matter.

He keeps his daughter far away from his work, shielding her completely from the badness of the world - the badness that he himself helps to create. She's his his pride and joy, and she's such a daddy's girl, leaving his son to fall to you, his other parental figure, for comfort and support - that of which his dad fails to provide.

COLONEL KÖNIG

Four daughters - ages two, three, seven, and fourteen

Interestingly enough, he's actually always quietly desired and yearned for a family of his own, though, he's never had any open discussions about it until it came to you. It's almost funny, the way that he's so awkward and tends to shy away from others any chance he's allowed to, and yet, he wants nothing more than a sizeable family for himself.

To have someone to fight for, to come back home to... it's all a soldier ever wants - himself included. And, for him, that includes a family that doesn't just consist of him and you (as content and happy as he is with it for now). The mere prospect of coming home to children of his own who can greet him and adore him is all he could ever ask for.

Though, even given this, he's especially nervous to actually become a father. He overthinks it a lot, wondering if his kids will even like him, going over the multitude of different ways that he could mess up even when he has no reason to. Because after his first, that fear melts away into enthusiasm.

Four children, especially when they're all girls, is a lot, yes, but he handles it with ease. He doesn't let the stress of it get to him, simply taking everything in stride and dealing with it rationally. He wants to preserve the positive relationship he has with his daughters, and approaching things from a logical standpoint is just the way to do it.

The true curse of the military - all girls, and so many of them, too. His younger children are all girly to an extent, too, so he's no stranger at a tea party and getting his make-up and nails done messily by his daughters. His oldest, although she may not be as girly, still has her moments, be it certain musicians maybe that she's forced her dad to listen to the entire discography of.

His girls love use him as a prop and character in their bouts of playing "make pretend". He's played a tree, standing still for them to climb all over, a dragon, protecting them from all of the bugs and critters that threatens to offend the, and even a race car, holding onto one or two of them as tight as he can and breaking into a sprint. It's strange and exhausting, sure, but he loves it.

Teaches his daughters to stick up for themselves - it's one of the first lessons he ever teaches them. Whether it be in terms of don't let people see you as a pushover, don't let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do, or stick up for yourself by any means necessary, he instills those ideals into his kids. Teaches his eldest how to fight, too - per her request - as another measure and precaution.

Although being apart of KorTac and being a colonel in general keep him busy and occupied and away from his family, that doesn't stop him from trying his hardest to be with them. He sends each and every one of his daughters, with the inclusion of yourself, gifts he picks up while he's away that reminds him of you all, just as a means to remind you all that he's here and he loves you.

COMMANDER PHILLIP GRAVES

Two daughters and two children (transgender) - ages seventeen, six, and thirteen

Both of his trans children, female-to-male, are twins

In his daydreams, he's always imagined himself with a family of his own. A nuclear family, the American ideal - married with two and a half kids, a dog, a big house with a white-picket fence, a stable job. The whole lot. That's all he's ever had in mind for himself and he yearns to make it a reality.

So, when the topic of children come up after the married, dog, house, and job things are already figured out, he's eager to speak his mind and give his input on the matter. He's got the biggest, most lopsided grin spread out across his face when he lays eyes on his eldest daughter for the first time, and that only solidifies his dreams.

Though, ironically enough, he always had in his mind that he'd have more boys than girls. He loves his daughters wholeheartedly and without shame, mind you, but... still, the sentiment remains. He always imagined himself with one, maybe two or three boys - someone he could play catch or watch sports with.

He doesn't get that, until he does, and his twins come out to him (albeit, at separate ages) as trans ftm. Of course, the whole "trans" thing is new to him, and while he may be a little clueless, seeing how happy it makes the two of his kids is more than enough to convince him him to put in effort and be the most supportive dad he can be.

I don't want anyone coming to me saying "oh, he's transphobic" because no he's not. He may fit that all-American persona of his to a tee, but I refuse to say that he would go as far to be transphobic or homophobic, especially with his own children. (Also, I'm petty, so you get two of them).

He fights and works hard to be present in his children's lives. He may be the Commander and CEO of Shadow Company, but that doesn't mean his men can't function without him from time to time. His family means everything to him, all of his time off being spent towards treating them.

Not the parent who pushes for his children to each be involved in a million after-school activities, but encourages them to take up something. His oldest plays volleyball, his second-oldest plays baseball, his second-youngest plays the drums, and his youngest dances. Takes them all to practice and helps them however he can.

Genuinely just copy and paste Jeff Sadecki from Yellowjackets and that's him as a parent. Except... with less of the drama. He's dedicated to being involved in his children's lives, making memories and having fun with them, telling horrible dad jokes from time to time, and whatever else.

SERGEANT MAJOR RODOLFO "RUDY" PARRA

One child (agender) - aged sixteen

He never actually planned on or anticipated becoming a father in the first place, more focused on dedicating his efforts towards his career and not spending more than a passing thought on creating a family. Not to say that he doesn't want one, it's just a concept he hasn't spent too much time thinking about or worrying over.

So, this means that you have to be the one to bring it up to him. And, granted, it somewhat catches him off guard - you want to try for a baby/consider adoption with him? Since when? It throws him off, to be honest, and he genuinely has to take some time to reflect and decide if this is actually something that he wants.

And, in your favor, it is.

He's somewhat nonchalant about the whole thing, not really realizing how big of an event it is until you're close to the due date/you're approved for adoption. And then it hits him full force that, yeah - sooner than later, he's actually going to become a dad and deal with the responsibilities of one and have a child of his own.

It's humbling, funnily enough, and he revaluates his priorities when it comes to his career, you, and child-to-be.

Even though he never anticipated or saw himself as someone who could accurately fill the role of a father, he's a good one. More akin to a close friend at times whereas others he can more accurately be described as a mentor, but it's important for fathers to share both of those factors, in a way. Which he absolutely does.

His child comes out to him before they reach double-digits, and its another moment that he has to pause for. Of course he's going to love them unconditionally, no matter if they identify as something else or go by different pronouns or want to use a different name, it's simply something he hadn't expected.

Doesn't really at all punish his child if they do something wrong. He'll have a conversation with them, sure, but it never truly extends to anything beyond that. Simply a "hey, don't do that again, okay?" and moving on with life. All that matters is that they understand and acknowledge their faults, in his eyes.

Involves himself in whatever his child is interested in and tries to understand it as best he can. They have a sport they're really into? He's buying them merch and watching matches or games with them. They're really into a certain video game? Start up a new save file, he'd love to play. Genuinely super supportive.

Does not at all plan on having another child. He's content with the one and, quite frankly, even one can be a lot at times. He can't count how many times he's had to go to those parent support groups just to ensure he's being as good of a dad as he can be.

COLONEL ALEJANDRO VARGAS

Four sons and one daughter - ages twelve, eleven, nine, and eight

His oldest sons are twins

The absolute definition of a family man. He, somewhat akin to Price, always imagined himself with a family of his own later down the line in his life - a large, lively one, too. He grew up in a larger household himself with a number of brothers and sisters, both younger and older, and he always imagined the same for his future family.

He's so enthusiastic about it, too. He isn't scared or worried at all, confident in his own abilities to take care of children, given his own extended experience, so he has little to no fear in what he'll be like as a parent or his own capabilities. He knows what he'll need to do, how to do it, what to buy, what to say, et cetera, so he's confident.

He doesn't really have a plan for what their ages will be, more so allowing everything to flow naturally, but he can't deny the fact that he has his own picture in mind for what he wants his family to look like. Ironically, he always imagined himself with more girls than boys, but it seems like life had... a different plan for him.

He loves it, though. He's extremely good with newborns and toddlers especially, and when he laid eyes on his twins for the first time, holding both of them to him, it was over. Plain and simple. With the first step taken, he can now fully immerse himself in being a father and cultivating the lives of his children, and that's all he could ask for.

His boys are rowdy. Especially his oldest twins and his youngest son, his eleven-year-old acting much tamer and calmer in comparison, but still has his moments. They roughhouse with one another, mess with each other, talk shit - the whole lot. Typical sibling behavior, yes, but they had so much energy.

Takes a lot of time off to be with his family when he can spare it. If he isn't physically out for an operation and instead is at the Los Vaqueros base, he sometimes will bring one or two of his children to stay in his office while he works. That is, if he doesn't up and leave to go home the second the opportunity arises.

Defiantly the one responsible for disciplining his children and dishing out punishment. It's not to say that he's cruel or mean in any sense, but he can be strict. If they do something wrong, he's quick to decide on a punishment that appropriate and relevant, dedicated to correcting that behavior as swiftly as possible.

He's an absolute pushover with his daughter, though. Not to say that he doesn't love his boys, because he does, but he'd do anything for her. Tea parties? Dress up? Make believe? You name it, no matter how embarrassing or emasculating it may be, and he's doing it if his little girl asks.

Messes around with his boys a lot. He has a positive relationship with all of them, one that's open and honest, which leaves room for him to be able to roughhouse and taunt and poke fun at them from time to time. They might have to be smart with their own words and responses, but he's making smartass, cheeky remarks whenever he can with a grin.

OPERATION OFFICER ALEX KEELER

One daughter - aged eleven

He's thought about having children before, yes, but never in a realistic context. For him, in the past, it's always been more of a "let me imagine a scenario of how myself and a future family would look" but never actively taking strides or realistically think about how he would achieve that.

So, when you bring the topic up to him, he kind of stills and... actually thinks about it. There's a difference between putting yourself in a scenario and imagining it, and actually taking steps to make it into a reality. He sort of panics, too, because... would he actually make a good dad?

He's the most apprehensive and anxious person out of anyone when it comes to considering the path of parenthood. Of course, he agrees, more than willing to try for a baby/go through the adoption process with you, but he's endlessly terrified of messing things up.

Even when he actually gets to meet and hold his daughter for the first time - he's a man who has no shame in crying, because he absolutely does when he sees her - that paranoia remains. But even so, it solidifies his goal to become the best father he can be for his little girl.

So clueless at first at how to even approach fatherhood, purchasing so many parents books and listening to an abundance of podcasts and going to classes and everything of the like. He's confident in most aspects, sure, but parenthood is something he's never dealt with in the past - it's no surprise he wants to do everything in his power to be the best dad he can be.

As anxious as he is, though, he, in my opinion, is probably the best father he could possibly ever dream to be. He's attentive to his daughter's wants and needs, can gauge her emotions correctly and acts accordingly, is responsible in terms of taking precautions to keep her safe, and he's present as much as he can be.

Number one cheerleader in everything she does. Whether it be getting a passing grade or an outstanding one on a test, he's hyping her up. If she joins and becomes a part of a particular activity of interest, he's taking her out to a celebratory dinner. All words of encouragement and praise from him.

Is a very active an present parent, too. Takes her out on little father-daughter days whenever he can to wherever she wants to go. The mall to look at the one obscure candle store? Sure, he's down. The zoo to go make up conversations between the animals. Absolutely. He loves hanging out with her, and seeing the way she lights up whenever he offers to take her out is all he could ever dream of.

COMMANDER FARAH AHMED KARIM

Two sons and one daughter - ages seven, four, and eight months

In the beginning, actually, she was very opposed to the concept of having/adopting children. Given her involvement with the ULF and that the current climate in Urzikstan was far from safe to raise any child in, she had no reason to even entertain the thought. Especially considering her own past, she was against it.

For a while, most conversations of having or starting a family were shut down by her - she yearned for it in the back of her mind, sure, but it wasn't a realistic goal. That was until she and Samara had a conversation about the topic, Samara telling her that while, yes, there were dangers to it, there's nothing more fulfilling than family.

So, after long deliberations, she began to consider it more heavily, leading to discussions where she finally agreed. She has her own reservations, fears, and anxieties about it, yes, but considering all the work she's done, she's allowed to have this. To have a child or children, to make her own family that loves her unconditionally.

She keeps her family completely separate and distanced from her work. As much as she's passionate about what she does, there's that lingering fear in the back of her mind that, one day, her family could get hurt or even possibly used against her as leverage if they're discovered. So, there's a clean separation between the two.

But it's all worth it when she meets her first born son for the first time. She's playing such important roles in her life - the Commander of the ULF, a resistance fighter, someone associated with Task Force 141, and one of the few key figures tasked with liberating her country in its entirety. But, now, she's more than that. She's a mom.

Even though she's never had children of her own before, she handles motherhood like a seasoned professional. Even before her other two children, she never got too overwhelmed with the work and responsibilities that come with being a parent, handling everything with a level head and a calm voice, turning out in her favor.

Though, she's somewhat a bit stricter with her children - not in the sense of being overbearing and not trusting them, or even that she has high expectations and standards for them. Rather, she wants to ensure the safety of her children and that their childhoods never turn out like her own, so she takes extra precautions.

She doesn't actually send her children to school, rather taking time to teach them herself - with your aid, of course. It's partially for those same reasons of fear and wanting to protect her children, but she's actually really good at it. She's taught her children how to write, how to read, how to speak two different languages... it's a way that shows how invested she is in her family.

As serious as she can be with her work, she's much more laid back and relaxed when it comes to her family - just another perk and upside, she supposes. With all the stresses she deals with, being able to come home to her sons and daughter, being overwhelmed with love - it's rewarding in a way she's never experienced before.

NIKOLAI

Two daughters - ages eight and three

He's always imagined himself with children, in complete honesty, even when he was younger - to have maybe one to three of his own. To your luck, he's open about it too, so he's actually the one to bring up the idea to you in the beginning, having no shame whatsoever in his willingness to try for/adopt a child... or two or three.

He isn't scared to become a parent, per se, nor does he have many anxieties or worries about becoming one, but there is still that subtle worry in the back of his mind that he won't be the most fit parent.

Everyone jokes about how he can be reckless and unethical, and he enjoys the banter, but it does make him self-conscious and second guess his own ability to be an adequate father.

He doesn't really consider or worry about what ages his children are, simply allowing things to fall into place naturally, as they should. He may have imagined himself with children in his own daydreams, sure, but there was never any clear specifics for age or gender he had in mind.

But once he actually gets to meet his daughters for the first time, those worries fade away partially - they still linger, yes, but for the most part he lets them simmer on the backburner, not allowing them to interfere with him as he directs his focus away from worrying and more towards becoming the father his girls deserve.

His daughters are just as much of a menace as he is. Maybe not in the "I deal with sketchy people on a daily basis and have done some questionable things" kind of way, but they have their own mischievous streaks like their father. Be it orchestrating pranks or smaller acts of the like, sometimes they even outshine the father.

He's playful by nature, yes, and he is with his girls, but you'll also never meet a more protective parent than him. He may be sly and smug and appear all cool and collected outwardly, but when it comes to his daughters, he's doing everything in his power to protect them from anything, be it people... or ants.

Likes to be his daughters' own personal jungle gym, letting the two of them hold onto him and climb all over him without a care in the world. Additionally, that means he makes for the perfect mode of transport for them, too - having them cling onto him as he walks around, moving them from one place to the other.

He can act like a child in his own right, but he's still a good father nonetheless. In line with that protective nature, he does everything he can to both foster a positive relationship and set rules and boundaries. Bed times, chores, punishments, et cetera - he's in charge of those things, and, while he isn't strict, he's responsible.

[akkpipitphattana]

I've seen a lot of ppl frustrated at Kant/the Captain for meeting up outside the bar, but my take on it was that was a deliberate power play by CC (not that I don't think he's inept enough to do so out of sheer stupidity!) - Kant had clearly been ignoring his calls, as implied by his convo with Style and explictly seen in his convo with Bison (and when he says he's sick of his 'customer' flip-flopping and doesn't want to talk to him anymore, that's obviously a declaration of intent vis a vis continuing his relationship with the police), and what do cops do when their informants aren't co-operating? They pile on the pressure. And one way to do so is to turn up in front of their informants in public spaces, because they are happy to use the threat of blowing their cover as leverage - talk to us, or else we'll make sure everyone sees/knows what you are. Wouldn't surprise me if they had someone tracking Kant and CC sent him a message along the lines of 'either you come out or we come in.' Look at Kant's body language - he doesn't want to be there, he's frustrated, he's on edge, but at this point he's also visibly exhausted and probably on some level thinking slightly self-destructively - if he gets caught then at least it'll be over, at least CC can't use him anymore, at least he doesn't have to tell Bison himself and see with his own eyes what the truth does to him.

I know fandom in general is sympathetic to the ACAB sentiment, but I'm getting the feeling ppl don't fully appreciate just how fucked up the dynamic between a handler and an informant can be at the best of times, let alone when the handler is corrupt or at the very least abusing their position! I've seen (valid) accusations of grooming levelled against Lilly, but it's not something that only happens to children - all it takes is a significant power differential and someone who is at risk. And we've seen CC using the classic combo of praise and pressure - he switches from flattering Kant ('I know you can do this', 'you certainly lived up to my expectations') to threatening him (which goes beyond the initial outright blackmail - when he says stuff like 'you think they'll let you live once we arrest them?', that is a threat, that is him saying to Kant: we won't protect you - you quit now, you're on your own).

I really appreciated your tags on the height as power play thing, because that jumped out at me when I watched that scene, and it was so sad seeing Kant desperately trying to wrest back the upper hand and suddenly looking so much younger and more vulnerable as soon as CC stood up. And I admit we're veering into fanon rather than canon now, but it just makes me even more curious about his timeline - how old he was when he got caught? Did CC start off as a sort of quasi-father figure? Is that how he reeled him in? Did it begin, not with blackmail, but with manipulating Kant into wanting his approval? Perhaps my most burning question, however, is: what if this isn't even the first time he's been used as a honeytrap?? And I know it's most likely just First being incaptable of not having ridiculous chemistry with every single man who so much as breathes in his vicinity (let's face it, there's a reason the top three 'ghost ship' pairings on that poll are all First-based! But isn't it also because of the potential Kant brings as a character - the potential backstory tween him and Style/CC, the potential hate-sex with Fadel...), rather than anything deliberate but...the *vibes*! If you lean into that side of things and headcanon that yes, Kant did in fact fuck that cop, then phew, there is SO much to unpack there!

This is why I don't get viewers sleeping on Kant - imo he's the most interesting character! There are so many layers! Out of the main four, we probably know the least about him, and part of that is because we can't even trust that what we've ostensibly learned is even true! That whole riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma thing? That's him! And not even because he's that complicated a person deep down - most of the meta I've read here has, I reckon it'll turn out, already nailed it. It's just that a combo of the tricksy and subtle way he's been written/played and the narrative role he's been given requires us to do some of the legwork ourselves (by which I apparently mean, you know, actually paying attention and caring??) to determine what in his words/actions/feelings/face is authentic and what's not, and when, and why, etc (heaven forbid we have to read between the lines!). Maybe some more casual viewers aren't used to that in their bls, and I totally get that ppl go into shows for different reasons and some just want the light entertainment/aesthetic appreciation of it all and aren't interested in deep dives and 10,000 word analyses, and that's absolutely their prerogative! We've all been there! But equally, you don't then get to complain about the writing/acting/characterisation when, by choice, you've skipped/missed/misinterpreted what's being put onscreen (disclaimer: I'm not saying no criticism allowed - there's things I'd have tweaked - just not when it's unfounded cos it's based on viewer indifference/ignorance). I don't want to use the term 'spoon-feeding', it feels ungenerous, and yet...!

Eek, this got away from me. Long story short: don't underestimate the lengths CC will go to just to keep Kant dancing to his tune, including risking his cover by showing up outside his favourite bar!

first of all, thank you for such a long ask, i love getting things like this in my inbox and be prepared for an equally long essay of my own shskdhd i will put it under a cut since your ask in itself is pretty long, but i agree with everything you said basically

i feel like every complaint i hear about kant just leaves me so very baffled. like at a certain point, you’re just coming up with reasons to be mad at him. and like i really wish that people would just fess up to the fact that they just don’t like him. that fundamentally something about him annoys them and that’s okay! you don’t need to like every character, but it pisses me off when people try to justify their dislike of anything by pulling reasons out of their ass. and like, okay, i understand that i obviously over analyze the shit out media i enjoy, and there are a lot people that don’t do that and watch with their brain turned off or just don’t put all the little things together. and that’s fine, but if you’re gonna complain about things at least make sure you’re complaining accurately. like some people didn’t even realize that christ was a cop until ep6 and apparently thought kant was doing it all for money?? when in their FIRST scene together, it is made explicitly clear that not only is christ a cop, but that kant is being blackmailed into this in order to keep his brother in his custody. you may not personally agree with everything he does, you may disagree how much of a choice he has in everything he does, but that does not change his motivations or the power that christ holds over him - and if you don’t realize at least those things, it’s not even a matter of media literacy, you are just not paying attention! or you’re skipping scenes and like, im not telling you how to enjoy shows, if you wanna skip scenes go ahead! but you can’t then complain about things that aren’t actually happening just because you tried to piece together what happened in the scenes you skipped 💀

and this complaint is especially silly because not only does kant explicitly emphasize that he’s been avoiding the captain and therefore we can assume the captain showed up to put pressure on him, but i feel like it’s been made pretty obvious that he doesn’t really have a choice in the meet up spots regardless? like they either meet at the police station/christ’s office, or he shows up in places that kant already is to talk to him, like the pool or the bar. so, i feel like getting mad at kant for that is so stupid? especially considering even IF meeting at the bar had been kant’s decision… he didn’t know bison was gonna show up?? he thought bison was in hiding and it’s his friend’s bar, so it’s a perfectly reasonable place for him to be and to be willing to meet up with the captain like?? he could not have predicted bison showing up after disappearing for a week post-failed murder attempt. like be serious.

when it comes to the acab aspect, i think trying to dive into people’s actual beliefs on that is a can of worms that will not end well shskdhd but in the very least, looking at it from a media perspective, i think in general people expect us to be supposed to root for the cops. like whether or not what you personally believe, the general sentiment in most media is that the cops are the good guys - because that’s the way we’re trained to believe that in society at large, so more often than not, it’s assumed that the cops in most shows are the good guys.

however, when you walk into a show like the heart killers, where 3/4 of our main protagonists are criminals (two murders and a former car thief) and the genre is explicitly a romcom, you have to also understand that the cops in a show like that are not gonna be the good guys! and i think in general, you have to be willing to understand that your personal morals and beliefs are not going to line up with the things these characters are doing. this is a show about assassins! if you’re going to try and argue for who’s morally in the right or who’s the most fucked up one, maybe this isn’t the show for you. and that’s okay!

all that to say you SHOULD be suspicious of the captain and his intentions - you should not trust him as some morally good figure because he’s been explicitly shown to be blackmailing and manipulating kant in all of this! he is a villain, explicitly so. and while i know we don’t have an exact age for when kant’s parents died and he had to start raising babe or for when he got caught, it’s very safe to assume this has been a long time thing. kant says their dad died young, babe says that kant raised him, so kant had to have been young when he had to start taking care of babe, and i’m assuming also pretty young when he got caught for his car thefts. so, it would not at all shock me if the captain saw a young, college-aged kant, who’d just lost his father and was desperately trying to keep himself and his pre-teen brother afloat, and saw an opportunity to put on the mentor role and mold this kid into what he wanted and needed. i think the lilly comparison makes perfect sense - because we’ve already been shown time and time again the similarities between the captain and lilly and the ways they manipulate kant, bison, and fadel. this being another way theyre similar would be no shock to me.

nor would it be a shock if the captain also made the relationship sexual at some point and kant having daddy issues and therefore being into it makes perfect sense as well shskdhd like you said i think it’s a combo of first having insane chemistry with everyone but also just kant’s character making these dynamics interesting - which is why first was the perfect casting choice they could have made shskdhd kant’s character in general is exceptionally fascinating to me, but i feel like i’ve made that pretty obvious with all my kant posting, and i don’t get how anyone can just write him off or view him as being one dimensional in anyway when he has SO MANY layers to him. he’s incredibly complex and that’s what i adore about him.

[lsunstreakerl]

little darkbull carlos and max snippet! 800-900 words, kind of fluffy, all things considered.

Hi! still darkbull verse. mature content implied and all that.

Carlos is trying to review onboards at the factory when Max comes back in, strolls right across the floor and settles on top of him on the couch. There's no hesitation in it anymore- maybe there was when they were a bit younger, and Max still had Jos' voice in his head, slimy and oil slick, telling him what not to do.

Carlos doesn't really think about that Max too much. He's much different from the current Max, who's winding their legs together and propping his chin onto Carlos's chest, blue eyes blinking at him.

He gives up on the onboard review, settles the tablet down on the floor as he runs his hands down Max's back, fingers tracing the ridges of his spine.

"I thought you were with Danny?"

Max hums, bringing one hand up to carefully curl Carlos's hair around his fingers.

"I was. But he is stressed about next weekend, and I did not want him to have to pretend to feel better around me."

Carlos hums, twisting his head to kiss the inside of Max's wrist, just above the bracelets. He's more observant than he lets on, Max.

Painfully oblivious about the real reason, sure, but not stupid. He's clearly picked up on the fact that Daniel tries not to show stress around him- around either of them, really- but he's attributing it to the wrong thing.

Carlos knows Daniel is stressed because they're doing well this season. They're doing well, and they're riding the high, the whole team is, but-

They'll have to come down eventually. Max will be upset, when it inevitably happens. Daniel and Carlos have a responsibility to try and mitigate that damage.

There's a folded piece of paper in Carlos's dresser drawer, his own loopy cursive and Daniel's rough scrawl, passed back and forth and folded so many times that parts of it are illegible now.

It's their list of things Max likes. What pulls him out of a funk, what he does to let off steam, what they can do to him that turns him into liquid between them, sweet and melted and soft.

Carlos runs his thumb along the inside of Max's wrist. The decoy tracker is embedded there, a slight bump that Max thinks is a weird bone spur. It's not the actual tracker- he has one nestled next to his spine and another tucked deep into his ankle- but it still gives a signal and a heart rate. Enough to be convincing, if it got closely inspected.

Some might think Redbull is stupid, putting one so obviously in the wrist, but Redbull has a bit of a partier reputation- it's believable that it's the only tracker they have.

Nobody would expect the redundancies, even if they should- Max is Redbull's prized possession. They would never compromise his safety.

He breaths out a soft laugh.

'Never'- except for when Max is in the car. Carlos half wonders if they'll ever pull him out of it, tell him he can't drive anymore.

He wonders if Max is in too deep to notice.

He wonders if Max is in too deep to care.

Max presses a kiss to his jaw before tucking his head into Carlos's shoulder.

"Something funny?"

Carlos presses his fingers a little further into the dip of Max's back, applies pressure the way he knows he likes as Max goes liquid on top of him with a soft sigh.

"Just thinking about Danny. You know how he is."

Max hums, lips pressed into Carlos's skin. They're getting chapped again- he needs to get him more lip balm. Max doesn't believe in it- thinks it's stupid- but he'll sit still for Daniel if he asks, will patiently let Daniel press it into his lips until they're soft and shiny.

Probably because he knows he'll get kisses from them both out of it.

"I wish I could just tell him to stop worrying. The team is doing well, it will of course be okay."

Carlos rests his chin in Max's hair. He'll need to talk to Daniel sometime tonight, after Max has fallen asleep. Figure something out to sooth the anxiety. They've got a break coming up soon, and Max will go with GP and his family, so things need to be good when he leaves.

If GP gets even a hint of dissatisfaction from Max-

Carlos puts the thought out of his mind. Max isn't acting dissatisfied right now- just concerned. He's being sweet.

"He'll be alright, just needs to have some time to think it through. I'm glad you came to me."

Max hums again, but it's softer already, half dozing.

"Read to me."

Carlos feels his mouth twitch up involuntarily into a soft smile. Max likes to fall asleep like that sometimes, with Carlos reading one of his novels out loud.

It's definitely the accent thing- Max has a preference for it.

He lowers one hand to feel around underneath the couch. Pack of gum, condom wrapper, gun, Xbox controller- there.

He pulls the book out with his fingertips, patting it against the side of the couch a few times in case there's any dust on it before flipping it open, holding it in one hand while the other moves over Max's spine in slow strokes.

Max shifts a bit before falling still again.

Carlos begins to read.

[silly-little-soul]

Shane accepting himself as a dad

A/N – “Little” thought dump I wrote at the hairdresser today, I'll probably continue it when I find the time

I haven't played sdv in forever cause I can't find the charger of my switch I miss it

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Fandom: Stardew Valley (Shane x gn!Reader/Farmer)

Summary: Thoughts on the lead-up to Shane and Jas moving in with you

Tags: established relationship, tbh reader appears like thrice maybe, some fluff, some angst, some reverse comfort, no beta we die like my activity

Warnings: Some talks about alcoholism and mental illness cause it's Shane, a shit lot of miscommunication, brief talk of Shane and Farmer having own kids, death mention

Note: It got too long so I didn't get to the part where reader/farmer would've been more prominent so this is very focused on the dynamic between Shane, Jas and Marnie

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Thinking about how in the game when you marry Shane he doesn't take Jas with him

I wish she could live on the farm with you, but let’s actually look at that scenario and Marnie's place in it

Shane is Jas’ official caretaker, but with how his mental health and alcohol consume used to be he definitely wasn’t able to fully take care of her, I’m guessing Marnie did most of that. Like Shane DOES really care for her and did what he could, it just wasn’t enough when he got worse. Simultaneously he saw Marnie care for her the way he wished he could've and it just seemed so effortless (it wasn’t, she was just grieving differently). It made him feel like he could retreat from his parental role, have Marnie take it and stop himself from pulling Jas down with him, he didn’t want to be selfish and put her well-being at risk just to be the one playing parent.

Honestly, he was probably right in that decision, he couldn’t have fully cared for a child.

But it’s different now, he’s better now, he’s ready.

He starts spending more time with her again, no longer feeling like he’s a risk to her, no longer being so ashamed. He takes on tasks like making lunch and bringing her to bed more often.

He doesn’t even notice it until Jas, Marnie or you point it out, might write a scenario for that at some point but let’s move on for now

Anyway, he realizes he’s taken the role of a parent for her. And then you give him the mermaid pendant, and he’s so happy that everything is slowly working out.

When he comes home and tells Marnie she is quick to pull him into a tight hug, she’s so happy he’s managing to really turn his life around.

Jas is so so excited, asking when they'll move to the farm

Shane wants to have her come right with him, he's talked to you about it and you were quick to tell him you'd be happy to have her, but he realizes he should really talk to Marnie about that first.

So they kinda just redirect her question.

Later though they sit together and talk about the upcoming change of Shane's living situation.

At Shane’s declaration of wanting to take Jas right with him, Marnie is hesitant and gently suggests that might not be the best idea.

Shane believes it’s because Jas has become a daughter to her, something he actively pushed to happen by making her take all responsibility for the little girl (and for him too, actually), and he figures he doesn’t really have the right to take Jas from her after she has been the one taking care of her for so long.

Except that isn’t the reason at all. Marnie has never seen herself as Jas’ mom. She loves Jas a lot of course and she’ll surely miss her a lot once she moves, but she has never not seen Shane as the one to be Jas’ new parent.

She wants this for both Shane and Jas, but she’s just so worried. She’s seen Shane at his worst and all that has lead up to it, seen him almost get better but then fail again more often than she’d like to have.

She’s honestly more worried about Shane than Jas. What if Shane takes on too much responsibility at once? His new role as a husband, the changes that come with living on the farm, and then he'll also be fully responsible for Jas? She's worried he'll end up feeling overwhelmed and get worse again. And then if Jas sees it this time, oh gosh... (Okay, maybe it is about Jas)

Now bear with me it's about to get a little confusing

Shane doesn't know that's the reason, Marnie doesn't tell him outright to not upset him.

So when she brings up the hint of “are you sure? She can stay here some longer too” he thinks it's because of her relationship with Jas and he's just like “yeah y'know maybe that works” because he doesn't want to take Jas from her after making Marnie take care of her so long, however she thinks it's because he really does think it'd be too much at once.

So they're like “okay good talk” and go their ways and while Marnie is like “okay cool I'll help some more till he feels able to care for her fully” Shane is knocking on your door having half a breakdown like “I fucked up I'll never get to take on the role of her father”

On a side note, he went to the farm and not the saloon, and both of you have a brief moment of gratitude for the fact so let's take a second to appreciate him for that too

Alright, he has been appreciated

But yeah, I kinda hc their communication isn't great in general. It's not for lack of trying (not anymore, it used to be a factor when Shane wasn't doing well) or something causing arguments, it's more so a thing where the two talk and then think everything is fine when they in reality have talked past each other so hard.

It's usually silly, small stuff like chores or something and resolved with a quick clarification and doesn't cause issues – except this time it did.

Anyway, he's at your doorstep, kinda having a breakdown.

You let him in of course, get him some water, gently tell him to calm down and tell you what happened.

His explanation is not very coherent, consisting mainly of him repeating how he fucked up, it might very well spiral into a full on panic attack.

Shane's not usually someone to panic but this is about Jas, who is the most important thing in the world to him, not to forget the only way he knew how to cope is kind of gone.

After a while he manages to explain what's going on more clearly, how he so badly wants to care for Jas the way he should have from the start, but he can't because he made mistakes he can't fix, how Marnie has taken that role and is entirely reasonable in wanting to keep it.

Then he breaks down again.

You don't really know what to do, he's in a terrible state, and what can you say? If the situation was truly how Shane presented it (which you assumed of course) there wouldn't really be much you could do to help.

You end up calling his therapist, he's against the idea at first but caves at your pleading look.

He's put you in situations in which you had to try help him with no idea how to before, hell he's made you fear for his life with this kind of bullshit before! He doesn't want you to go through that again.

In the beginning you sit with him, help explain to his therapist what happened, let Shane lay his head on your chest while talking to her.

When after a while he is much calmer you go make his favorite dinner, waiting for him to finish the phone call.

They make an appointment for Saturday and Shane hangs up, wordlessly coming over to you and letting himself fall into your arms. You have dinner and go to bed, deciding it's better for him to stay with you tonight, and maybe also the next few day. You'll figure out how to go on about this on Saturday.

Meanwhile Marnie has no idea about all of this and tells Jas about the decision (she thinks) they made, how Shane will move to the farm but needs some time to “settle in” as she calls it, and then Jas can move there too later on.

She's bummed about not getting to come along right away but is generally okay with the idea, not much bothered.

This whole misunderstanding is only really revealed when Jas and Shane cross parts the next time. This could be several days later, or the next one which I'm gonna go with.

Unfortunately for Shane, Jas was already planned to come to the farm that day to “help” (aka pet your animals) so she shows up there in the morning and it's. A bit awkward. Not that she'd notice, though.

Inevitably the topic of Shane moving to the farm comes up. It's in bypassing, it doesn't really matter how, but it causes even more chaos.

She says something about how she'll miss him when he moves to the farm, which feels like a punch in the gut to him, cause he doesn't even know she just means in the short while till he gets her over there too.

He tries not to let it show in front of her, it's not her fault, so he tries to play over his reaction by saying something along the lines of “I'll miss you too, but you and Marnie can come visit. If the farmer and me start a family you can come over and-”

And like damn. Not the best thing he could've said in that situation.

Cause up until just know she thought she was coming after him like a month or something later!

Jas' eyes fill with tears and she has such a look of betrayal on her face Shane doesn't even finish his sentence.

“You don't want me here?”

And he's just like fuck lol

In retrospect he doesn't actually know what Marnie told Jas and how she explained the decision to her. Thinking about it she probably didn't exactly go “Hey actually Shane used to be a good for nothing alcoholic so I decided I'm your mom”

But wait, does Jas want to stay with him on the farm?

Because yeah wait!! He did not consider that and how she feels about this.

Meanwhile Jas is now also a victim of the miscommunication between Marnie and Shane (aren't we all?)

Before Shane can think of something to say she's bolting, running back home.

You - who watched the interaction happen - and Shane go after her, coming to the ranch to find Jas crying in her bed with Marnie sitting next to her and trying to coax her into explaining what happened. When she sees you she moves away from her, figuring you two must have a better idea of what's going on.

Shane takes Marnie's place and asks Jas why she's crying.

She looks up at him with a heartbreaking expression and says “You said you'll start a family, but what about me?” (not rlly like that but I suck at dialogue)

And Shane is like “Marnie is your family”

I love him but.... shut up, Shane!!

That blow was so hard both you and Marnie could feel it!

In his defense, he realizes that was dumb as fuck like immediately after.

“I mean... fuck, she's been a mom for you so long, way more than I ever was, I can't just take you away now”

And Marnie stiffens cause like that's the moment it starts dawning on her something didn't go quite right in their earlier communication. And then you notice her reaction and it starts dawning on you as well and you kinda just look at each other like “oh shit”.

Which Shane and Jas are completely unaware of.

“She's not my mom! I don't want her to by my mom”

And Jas is honestly really irritated by Shane's interpretation of their family dynamic because yeah Marnie has taken care of her a long time and she's really close to her of course but she still never saw her as something other than her aunt, just like Marnie always considered Jas her niece.

“Why don't you want to be my dad?”

It's sort of a breaking point for all four of you.

For Shane it feels like in a matter of seconds he's reliving every moment since the day Jas' parents died. They chose him as the one who'd take in Jas if something happened to them. They could've decided on Marnie, but they didn't. In that moment he realizes that maybe his fear of this parental role he really did want to take not being rightfully his was never about Marnie to begin with.

At the same time, Marnie and you decide to finally intervene. She gently pulls him towards the door, telling him they have to talk, meanwhile you sit with Jas to comfort her.

You let her climb into your lap and hug her, just holding her and waiting for Marnie and Shane to finish talking, until she speaks up again quietly

“Do you not want me on the farm?”

And you're of course immediately telling her you do!! You want her there, you consider her family and she goes “I think Shane doesn't” and like no he does!! He's just stupid!

Except you don't say that to her of course cause don't say that to her.

Meanwhile Marnie is torn between hugging Shane because man he's apparently spent years thinking he has no place as her parent and scolding him cause how the fuck did he spend years thinking he has no place as her parent.

It ends up being the scolding (gently though, she does get where he was coming from).

She explains everything to him, from exactly how she feels about Jas to what she meant when she suggested to have Jas stay with her.

“You're her father now. Her parents chose for you to be and she did too. You're her dad, and nothing you or I do can change that”

And it's wild because he realizes he has always refused those titles. He always talked about his parental role or his role as a father, yeah, but he's never dared call himself her dad. But he is, isn't he?

They have a long talk and Shane learns his place in the family was never a question, while Marnie has her anxiety over Shane taking on too much at once calmed.

They settle on Jas staying at the ranch on weekdays and the farm on weekends for the first month, so he can settle and you can get used to having a child around all the time. After that she'll move to the farm entirely, with the promise to have her stay at Marnie's a bit if Shane ever feels like it's too much for him.

He goes back to Jas' room to explain everything to her and tell her she'll of course come along to his new life.

And when he opens then door he sees you sit with Jas – with his daughter - in your arms, petting her hair comfortingly and he's like yeah.

That's his family.

[hi65387]

Their Human Pet (Poly! Yandere! Monster High x Human! Pet! Female! Reader) Part 1

(Yandere stuff will start soon. They will seem normal at first.)

Draculaura and Clawd: Y/n was not impressed when she saw the vampire werewolf couple come into the human living area of the shelter holding hands. Surprised, but not impressed. Y/n could see they were typical monsters from a mile away. Nothing special even if they were an odd couple and the vampire girl seemed weird for one.

Y/n stayed in her corner starring out the window and watching rain fall. She was not interested in meeting either of them. She was watching two particularly small drops race each other across the window when someone tapped her shoulder. She didn't turn around. She could see in the window it was the vampire girl.

The vampire tapped her shoulder again. Y/n sighed. "Can't you tell I don't want to speak? I have no interest in being adopted. Now be gone.", says Y/n while making a shoeing motion.

The vampiress pouts. "Why not? I promise we'll be good owners.", says pink and black haired female vampire. Y/n rolls her eyes.

"I do not care. I do not want to be adopted by anyone. I'd prefer watching paint dry.", says Y/n. The vampiress frowns. The werewolf guy finally speaks up. "Uhh, Draculaura, maybe we should look at other humans? Or just get a dog instead?", says the werewolf.

"But Clawd the shelter people said if she doesn't find an owner soon they'll put her down.", whispers the vampiress, thinking Y/n could not hear. Unfortunately Y/n could. She shrugged. "If they kill me they kill me. I still don't want to be adopted.", says Y/n.

Draculaura looks at her boyfriend pleadingly. "I'm sure she's just shy, Clawd.", says the vampire. "I don't know.", said Clawd. They walk away from Y/n. The seem to argue for a few minutes when Draculaura pouts again and kisses Clawd.

The werewolf says something and they walk out. Y/n thinks he told her no and its over. Only a hour later a shelter worker comes back and clips a leash to Y/n collar and drags her out of the human living area.

Deuce and Cleo: Y/n was not in the least bit interested when the Gorgon and mummy couple entered the human living area. Every other human sat at attention but Y/n kept reading her old and battered copy of Moby Dick for the 300th time. Y/n was just getting to a good part when she felt someone sit down next to her.

"Sup?", says a unfamiliar voice. Y/n looked over to see the gorgon guy was sitting beside her. He was looking at her nonchalantly. "You should move along. I have no interest in being adopted at all. Try Jenna.", says Y/n feeling too lazy and interested in her book to piss him off properly.

"Okay.", says the gorgon getting up. A minute later his mummy girlfriend takes his place. "My Ra? Are there no good humans here?", says the mummy.

"Try a human store instead of a shelter if you don't like our attitudes. We're all abandoned here for a reason.", says Y/n flipping over a page. The mummy stiffened beside her.

"With that attitude you'll never be adopted.", says the mummy. "Good. I don't want to be. I just want to read until they put me down in a month.", says Y/n.

"You talk so casually of your own death. Don't you have desire to live and get out of here?", says the mummy. "Nope.", says Y/n flipping another page.

"Ugh.", says the mummy standing up. She goes over to her boyfriend. The seem to be arguing and the mummy points at Y/n a couple times. Soon the mummy kisses her boyfriend and they walk out. Y/n figured whatever it was was over.

Then an a hour later a shelter employee came back. He attached a leash to Y/n's collar. He dragged her out of the human living area.

Jackson/Holt and Frankie: Y/n was surprised when a human without a collar or leash came into the human area holding the hand of a frankenstein girl. Y/n watched them from behind her book. She was curious as to why he was allowed not to a collar or leash. Then a nearby human started blaring rock music.

The collarless human clutched his head. The frankenstein girl tried to turn off the music but she couldn't. The collar free human boy transformed from human into a blue skinned monster boy with flaming red hair. Y/n immediately lost interest as soon as she saw he was actually a monster.

Y/n quickly went back to reading. Or rather she tried to do so. The blue skinned monster boy was very loud and rude. He started blaring rock music from his phone. Y/n gritted her teeth and kept trying to read.

Suddenly the book was snatched out of her hands. The blue skinned monster boy tossed the book aside. "Hey hey hey. A pretty lady like you shouldn't be reading when theirs cools a going. Get up and dance. Best human dancer is probably gonna get adopted.", he says and starts dancing on his own.

Y/n scowls. "No, thank you. I do not want to be adopted. I want to read.", says Y/n grabbing another book.

"What? You don't want to adopted by me and Frankie Fine? You must be tripping.", says the blue skinned monster guy. He grabs Y/n wrist and tries to pull her to her feet. Y/n begins to have a panic attack. She does not like being touched by monsters or dancing or being the center of attention.

Y/n jerks away and curls into a ball as the blue skinned guy frowns. His girlfriend pulls him away and stops the music. She puts head phones over his ears and he turns back into a collarless human. Frankie and her boyfriend seem to argue for a bit. The frankenstein girl pointing at Y/n. The guy nods and they kiss briefly before leaving.

Y/n thinks it is over and she is safe. She goes back to reading. However an hour later a shelter worker comes and puts a leash on her collar. They drag her out of the human living area.

Lagoona and Gil: Y/n didn't even look over from her window to see what kind of monster or monsters had entered. She watching raindrops slide down the window. However when they started to approach her she saw in the window that they were aquatic type monsters.

They came to a stop behind Y/n. Y/n didn't react. The female monster spoke first. "Good ay. I'm Lagoona and this is Gil.", says the blue skinned monster woman.

"I'm not interested in being adopted.", says Y/n. The human girl watches the couple look at each other. Their frowning but turn back to Y/n.

"I see. Are you aware the shelter is telling people they're going to put you down soon if your not adopted?", says Gil. "Yes. I enjoy pissing people off. I look forward to my death in about a month.", says Y/n without looking at them.

"So you've what, just given up on being adopted? That's no good.", asked Lagoona. "No. I never wanted to be adopted. Its why I piss people off.", says Y/n.

Lagoona frowns and pulls Gil aside away from Y/n. She saw them start arguing for a bit. Then they seem to reach an agreement because they kissed and left. Y/n thought it was over and she would never see them again.

An hour later though a shelter worker came back and attached a leash to her collar. Y/n fought them. However ultimately she was dragged out of the human area.