#this is not subbing anyone in specific just in general what i noticed over the years

[ilynpilled]

im gonna be petty for a second but i do think that some shippers do not actually care for jaime as a whole character that much. which is fine but idk y u have to pretend otherwise. like it is just hard for me to buy the claim that he is a huge favorite of yours when u ignore a huge chunk of his narrative. again i do not mind it if someone is only that interested in him as an extension of the narratives of characters they really do love, but when that turns into “i have an unbiased and better understanding of him and i love him for what he really is” it falls real flat when the take that follows is the most blatantly incorrect thing that contradicts much of his narrative at the core. and i do value ppl that are more critical of him i think it is good because i despise when he is woobified and reduced in complexity and ofc it can balance my perspective since i have such a deep love for him. but there is a difference between reductionist misreads and actual legitimate acknowledgement of his huge flaws, especially ones within the jc dynamic. and ofc the same happens on the other side of the spectrum where there is a tendency to ignore some major issues he has that r located outside of his dynamic w brienne. jaime is a character outside of these two ppl with incredible internal narratives that are not solely rooted in just his relationship with these women. he has a very complicated and layered relationship with the self and his grappling with that manifests in different ways.

[dtrghost]

please.....one shot of flirty ghost with fem!reader...

flirty ghost... 😫

thank you for the request!!

pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x bartender fem!reader

synopsis: Price invites the team out to a night at a renowned club in London after a job well done. Team 141 watches in surprise as Simon flirts with the hot bartender ;). I made simon rich, because I find rich guys hot, so yeah. a bit sub!ghost because he'd do anything for a girl like you.

warnings: allusions to smut (dirty ghost), flirty (probably ooc) ghost, alcohol, pining, hints at sex and arousal, etc.

part 2

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT:

(gif's not mine)

The strong reek of alcohol brought a sigh of relief to the team, watching a variety of people mingle and chat as they maneuvered through the crowd. Team 141 had a rough month filled with death, pain, and shitty drinks which consisted of mostly tap water or anything else they could find that wouldn't kill them. So as a treat for their success, their Captain suggested a night out in London, more specifically in a bar that he had visited with Laswell and some colleagues in the past.

"Alright gentlemen. This isn't your average pub so, behave will ya. I'm not draggin' your arses outta here tonight." He spoke, adjusting his button up shirt with a look shot at Johnny who gave him a mock offended look. Simon rolled his eyes, looking around and ignoring the weird glances at him for the mask he wore. He didn't see the point. He'd much rather drink whiskey on his couch with a shit black and white film rather than waste his money on unnecessarily expensive drinks that'll taste just the same.

But he was there, and he was dying for the liquid gold of a nice drink after the hell he endured for the last month. He strayed from the group, making his way to the bar and taking a seat. His eyes scanned over the brands on display behind the counter.

"Fuckin' hell." He muttered to himself, catching the attention of the bartender who just chuckled. A shiver ran up his spine from the sound as a woman appeared in front of him.

"Take it this is your first time, haven't seen you around before." You started, his eyes widening slightly at you. Your voice was smooth, he thought. Your American accent differed from the various European ones that flooded the room around him.

You took his appearance in with a slight raise of your eyebrow. He wore a black button up that hugged his muscular and beefy frame, the fabric straining as his arms tensed. You noticed the dog tags that hung out as he leaned on the counter, his face entirely covered by the skull mask he wore.

"Yeah, first time." You hummed, gesturing back to the bottles behind you. You glanced behind him, watching as other men that you recognized as regulars seemed to divert their usual tactics away from you tonight, focusing on other women around who'd leave them high and dry all the same. It didn't surprise you, the sheer size of the man in front of you was enough to intimidate anyone. Nobody sat next to him, his presence practically demanding his own space as others squeezed in between people two seats away on both sides to avoid being next to him.

"What can I get for you..." You trailed off, gesturing for a name to put to his masked face. He was usually cautious about who he gave his name to, years of paranoia to thank for that. But this was just one night, and he'd like never see you again.

Damn it to hell.

"Simon. Simon Riley. I'll take the Macallan, the bottle and a glass with no ice." Your eyebrows jumped in surprise, looking at him a bit unsure about how much military made in general. You only had one bottle of Macallan whiskey that night, and it was not cheap.

"Uhh.. that's Macallan No.6. £6,000."

"I know my whiskey love. If you will. You can close my tab too, s'all I want." He slid you his card, and you huffed, grabbing the full bottle and ringing him up. You half expected his card to decline, and when it didn't you were still impressed, sliding the bottle to him with his requested cup.

"Thanks sweetheart. What brings an American girl like yourself to downtown London?" He pondered, relishing the sound of your resonant laugh and the flow of your movements as you took cups and passed refills to other customers.

"I attend the University of London for biomedical engineering." You listened to his low whistle as he took a sip of his drink, sighing in relief at the burning sensation sliding down his throat. You caught sight of his plump, soft lips before he pulled his mask down again, only adding to your attraction to him.

"Pretty and smart. Lucky lad whoever he is." This wasn't your first rodeo, and it wasn't the first time someone attempted to smooth talk you while you worked, but for a voice like his you were more than happy to entertain. You liked his deep baritones, the rasp that accompanied certain words, and how delicious his accent was.

"As if. Nobody's hit the standard for that yet." He hummed approvingly. He liked women who wouldn't settle for anything less than what they wanted, and it made you that much more attractive to him, and made him want you to himself even more, though he was sure he wasn't the only one that wanted that too.

"I never got your name love." You swallowed down the sudden lump in your throat as you forced your heart to stop skipping beats from the pet name. It's not like it was the first time someone called you that, you'd heard it at least 20 times since you opened, but from his lips, his voice gracing your ears, you wish he'd call you that every day. You put on your game face, willing yourself to not be so easy.

"Well, you haven't done anything to earn it so, no dice." He almost groaned, loving the sultry, unimpressed eyes that gazed into his with an aura of confidence that would crush any mediocre man that dared to try his luck with you.

"Name your price, I like a good challenge anyway." He listened to your 'hm', your hands meeting as you twisted your rings around your fingers in thought. He took a second to truly capture your image. The simple yet elegant black blazer that, even though buttoned, revealed a deep V down your chest with a nice view of your cleavage in the center. You'd been there since your freshman year, the owner liked you, the customers liked you, so you got away with a lot, including small breaks in dress code.

You looked expensive, you smelled expensive, and fuck was it the hottest thing he'd ever seen. He loved the light reflecting off the jewelry that decorated your skin, from the multiple piercings on your ears to the thick, steel bands that wrapped around your fingers. You were beautiful, brilliant, and he knew he'd be willing to do anything for another night with you.

"Since you've been nice to me tonight, I'll make it a bit easier. Come back tomorrow with a planned date, dinner preferably. Keep it simple and classy. This is a test, I have expectations that I'm not going to inform you of but they all fall under typical date etiquette. Fail to meet any of them and well, no name for you." For any other woman he'd think they were being outrageous, a full date without knowing their name? Like hell he'd do something like that. But for you? To hear your voice, to be graced with your presence, to know your name, fuck he'd take you on as many dates as you want.

"Deal pretty girl, you'll have the best night of your life." He shifted in his seat at the way your chin jutted upwards for a moment, snickering with a pleased look before you went back to your job. He watched you the entire time, switching from whiskey to water after unconsciously refilling his glass with the bottle in his hand which he ended up moving to the unoccupied seat next to him. He wanted to sober up enough so he wouldn't forget tonight, so he wouldn't forget you.

"Looks like your buddies are cheering you on over there." You noted with a small smile, gesturing to the group of guys wiggling their eyebrows at him with quiet cheers and fists in the air.

"Fuckin' hell."

"Hey it's cute. I'm assuming you're not the flirty type with them huh." You teased. He watched as you popped a quick ice cube in your mouth, sighing in relief as the bar slowly emptied, leaving just the two of them and his team a few seats down. He had to stop himself from thinking about how it'd feel with your tongue and ice against his hot, throbbing cock. How pretty you'd look on your knees, water and spit running down the sides of your mouth as you struggled to take all of his length. He rolled his eyes and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment before glancing back at them.

"Definitely not. Those fuckers never know when to lay off." You laughed quietly, your hand instinctively covering your mouth as you looked down. He couldn't help himself, reaching over and lifting your head up by your chin, the pad of his thumb pressing down on your smooth skin. You looked surprised by his gesture, the look of self-assurance in his advances clear in his amber eyes as they lazily peered into yours.

"Don't hide that beautiful smile of yours lovie. Wanna see it as much as I can before I leave." You couldn't help the wide grin that spread across your lips, watching his eyes crease which signaled that he was a smily as you were.

"Yeah? And when do I get to see yours huh? I'm oh so curious to know what the dark and edgy skull face looks like under the mask."

"I guess you'll just have to find out after our dinner won't you sweetheart."

"Oi! Ghost ain't layin' it on too much there is he lass?" Soap interrupted, nearly shouting from his place at the bar and directing the attention of the last few people who stuck around to him.

"That's enough from you sergeant." Ghost spat, downing the rest of his water with a glare sent his way. Johnny shrunk slightly from the heat of the look, drinking the rest of his beer as Price chuckled at the both of them.

"Sergeant huh. What're you then? Seems like you give orders often. My kinda guy." You flirted, taking his glass away and putting them with the rest.

"Lieutenant. If you like orders I'm more than willing to give some to you." The wink he sent you made you brain dead enough to stumble, him quickly to stead you with his hands reaching to catch your arms as you steadied yourself against the bar counter. You huffed and stood up straight, adjusting your outfit.

"Game on playboy." You grumbled, eyes flickering to his smug ones as the team made their way over.

"Making a girl fall Ghost? Not very nice of you." Price countered, giving his subordinate a disapproving shake of his head as Simon rolled his eyes.

"I know right. Careful Casper, might get it with one of your friends instead of you don't play nice." You glanced at Johnny and Kyle who were then turning red at your look, proving that they were just as attracted to you as he was.

"If you're looking for an.... unsatisfied night then by all means, have your way with em. Especially that one." He jabbed his finger at Johnny who was too out of it to comprehend what he'd just said about him, Kyle following the same road as they leaned on each other for support. You hummed, grabbing his face with your hand under his chin and pulling his closer to you, much to everyone's surprise as his eyes blew open.

"And you're confident you can.. 'satisfy" me Simon?" You pressed, your grip on his face tightening. He didn't respond, he couldn't, the look in your eyes pulled him in. The challenge and condescending tone, the lust. The daring nature of you was captivating, it took his breath away. It made his brain go numb in the moment, much like you expected it to.

"I guess we'll see then huh, pretty boy." With that you pushed his head to the side, and he felt his bulge pressing against his pants as he took a deep breath in, recovering from the blow to his ego and the wave of arousal traveling down to his painfully hard dick.

"Bar's closed. I'll see you tomorrow Simon. Make sure you can actually get it up, I'd hate to be disappointed." He scoffed, gaining his sense of dominance and confidence back before standing up with his bottle and revealing the height that added on to his monstrous size. Your breath hitched as he leaned over the counter, the smell of whiskey and expensive cologne invading your senses as his breath fanned over your skin from his mask.

"I wouldn't worry about me love. Might wanna call off from work after what I do to you." You couldn't help but press your legs together a bit at the clench of your pussy at his words, feeling yourself grow wet from his voice as you clasped your hands behind your back. You both glanced down at your action, the tension almost too much for you to handle, letting out a breath you were holding as he leaned back and away from you.

"I'm counting on it. I need a few days off anyway." You responded as nonchalant as you could, though you could see the smirk behind his mask at the small shake in your voice.

"I'll be back tomorrow pretty girl. Be a good girl for me and get ready."

...

Son of a bitch.

And that's it!! I wanna be a hot bartender and flirt with a hot military guy with a deep voice and British accent... anyway. Thank you for the request!! It was a joy to write it!!

@kaicubus

[sl4sh3rsub]

asa emory hcs (nsfw: mdni)

asa emory/ the collector x reader (AFAB, AMAB, FtM, MtF)

warning: all sorts of shit honestly. probably inaccurate bug references. dom/sub + master/pet dynamics, allusions to needles? (potential piercings + tattoos), p in v + allusions to anal (all unprotected - pls stay safe irl), oral sex, various sex toys (butt plugs, dildos, undescribed restraints, vibrator), blood kink (period, knife kink), mention of scarification, musk/scent kink, exhibitionism, slight somnophilia, edging, boot humping, cock worship (asa recieving), power imbalance, overstimulation, cum eating, using cum as lube, mentions of hrt in ftm/mtf section

a/n: first time posting writing. sorta edited. thx to all my friends who helped it come together. does not adhere to the collector movie canon exactly, does reference arkin and hotel argento. NOTE: feel free to read any sections, tried my best to not use gendered terms in agab sections but lmk how i can improve :3

order: general hcs first then amab + afab then ftm + mtf different sections = different content, tried not to repeat much

_ _ _ _ _

general hcs

asa emory loves your body no matter what. stretch marks, freckles, acne, scars and all. you are his precious specimen - his perfection - and anyone who disagrees will have hell to pay

no matter chest size, asa is gonna be head over heels if you have nipple piercings - extra sensitive nipples, shiny, metallic tasting? what's not to love. he may just be tempted to give you some himself, if you'll let him

asa definitely has a dick piercing, a beautiful prince albert to be exact. he loves having the cool metal heating up on your tongue whenever you're on your knees for him

if he lets you wear any underwear once you're his, they're definitely gonna have mysterious cum stains from him 'borrowing' them

asa is a whore for blood play! knives and blades that only just break the skin, not enough to cause serious harm or leave too many scars - as amazing as his plaything is, unfortunately you don't have that much space on your body to mark up permanently. he wants to keep you in the form he came upon originally :(

on that note, the one time he will dig a little deeper with the blade is to place his initials 'A. E.' on you

he definitely wants to scent mark you with pheromones and whatnot - just like his cecropia moths. however, due to human bodies being unable to do so, he may decide to cum on you over and over to drench you in his unique scent - or may just give you his worn, unwashed clothing (especially underwear) that smells like his sweat and heavy musk from throughout the day

in the true entomologist fashion, he adores laying you out and positioning you in very specific, precise ways - he simply wants to worship his precious pet in the best way he knows how. does not matter if you are fragile or not, he will show some rare gentleness and arrange you on the bed as if you are the most delicate being to grace this earth

when asa gives you head as a reward, he'll have to exercise extreme restraint as he tends to get a liiiiittle drunk off your taste, making his head game sloppy and his eyes roll back. he will definitely start humping the mattress and grunting, but don't let him know you notice <3

if he has previously kept you in the hotel or his basement with no escape, asa will eventually get upset that you have lost your glow that he originally admired. he'll drag you out into the outside world and seize the chance to ravish his darling in the sunlight!

asa emory, being a possessive dom, will probably fuck you in front of arkin while said man is trapped in the hotel. forcing the prisoner to watch while he pleasures you, just out of arkin's reach. asa probably has to hold himself back from cumming immediately when you whine and moan on his cock, taunting a heavily turned on and flustered arkin. emory is definitely an exhibitionist

as previously mentioned, asa has a big musk/scent kink. he would much rather lean back, watch you rub your face against his bulge and make out with his half-hard cock through his pants than to properly make out with you. what a romantic. his number one objective of every day is to have you press your cheek against his crotch and make eye contact with him at least once :3

if he ever takes off the mask around you, he would love it more than anything for you to muss up his hair a little and grip his hair at the scalp while humping into his mouth <3

if you let asa design a tattoo for you, he will die a happy man. preferably one on your lower back, with intricate details of insects that remind him of you - dragonfly, moth or butterfly wings, cicada or mantis legs and other various beauties of all types to decorate his perfection's body? god, he cannot wait to fuck you from behind..

asa fuckin adores digging his nails into your hips and it makes his cock throb whenever you bury your face into his neck and moan into his ear

once in a blue moon, emory allows you to tie his wrists together and ride him as hard as you want

asa is the definition of an experimentalist and is also not at all shy about fucking you in open places or in front of others in the hotel, but he definitely prefers a more private setting to properly treat his sweet, little plaything to an experience he curated specifically for you<3

he needs you to cockwarm him however possible after a long day - with your holes preferably (his pet's warmth is his idea of heaven), but if he was a little too rough the night before and it's too painful for you, asa is more than okay to use your wet mouth. shit, he'd even be happy to have you sit naked on his lap and hold you close while fucking your thighs

he'll probably palm himself to the sight of you while you're sleeping in his shirts <3 he'd kiss and nip his way down to your thighs, getting you all needy for him when you do finally wake up, content to listen to your little whimpers and moans in your sleep. however, he'd hate to properly initiate anything - asa wants you fully awake to experience everything he has to give you

_ _ _ _ _

amab hcs

oh lord, asa would be the biggest fan of edging you and teasing you with his mouth - nips at your balls and relentless swirls with his tongue around your cockhead

he impulsively swallows all your cum when giving you head, he can't just let the precious liquid go to waste :( you'd best pretend you don't see him licking his lips and fingers after giving you a handjob

his favourite punishment is to strap a vibrator to the tip of your dick. just watching you squirm and cry, leaking precum everywhere makes him so thankful that he kept you alive

asa prefers to keep your tight ass opened up for him at all hours of the day, so a shiny buttplug does the job. not to mention the amusement he gets from tapping it while you bend over and the heat that stirs in his gut from seeing you go braindead from the vibrations. he loves your eye colour but he much prefers the sight of it rolled back into your skull

he loves the delicious scent of you, so of course he is going to make you wear one of his (clean) shirts while he ruthlessly fucks you from behind. the scent seeping into the material is irreplaceable for him - your sweat, the salt of your tears and the musk of your arousal.. what he'd do to bathe in it permanently

emory will make you get on your knees, humping his grimy and bloody boot and worshipping his clothed cock with your mouth. the laces rub against your shaft so sweetly and his fingers digging into your scalp nearly makes you dirty his boot even further

he much prefers having you naked while he is at least somewhat clothed - the power imbalance makes his head spin and the sadistic thrill he gets from seeing truly how aroused you get while he humiliates you makes him chuckle. you can't hide anything from this man, he enjoys the shame that rips through you far too much

asa will guide you through giving him head and taking him down your throat - especially if you had not had much experience with another man. he's not small in any aspect and he'd hate to ruin you so easily, he still wants to hear all the pretty noises that spill from those lips :(

he is definitely the type to kiss and nip at your lips while he overstimulates you, stretching you to your limits but offering enough comfort to not destroy you - not yet at least. he'll only let up when you whine and beg exactly the way he demands, so be ready to have a hoarse throat tomorrow (not that it's an unusual occurrence)

asa adores fucking you in missionary - he loves when you cum all over both your chests, not to mention the giddy feeling he gets when he pulls out and finishes all over your tummy, mixing your spend together. what can i say, he's a romantic

he's constantly tormented about how to go about prepping your hole - should he work you open with his fingers and tongue after not being filled for a while or should he just keep a plug in you all hours of the day, just for availability and easy access <3

_ _ _ _ _

afab hcs

asa emory is definitely a clit slapper, ten thousand percent. not just for your pleasure - no, he's not that selfless - it's also for the soft sound of your sloppy pussy drenching his firm hand

he would only give you a smaller sized dildo - he wants to keep you wet for easy access and also because nothing and no one except him can have the privilege of filling you up the way he does. a smaller toy would be able to temporarily satiate your need for his dick but it doesn't come near the actual thing, as he still gets the thrill of properly stretching you out

on that note: if you are more into size than most, he doesn't allow to access to any bigger dildos whenever you're alone - asa will let you fuck extremely large dildos but only in front of him. he'll make you cockwarm him to prep your little hole (he has to get something out of it, why not cum in you too? some extra lube would never hurt..)

asa gets pussy drunk so easily :( if asa wants to eat you out, he'll do it. no matter the time of day, he's gonna lap at your cunt until he's had his fill and no one can come between him and his ambrosia

he would carve 'property of asa emory' into the skin directly over your womb. he already marks you from the inside every night, but he'll never allow anyone to have the pleasure of experiencing that firsthand. no, he needed a more visual mark for all to see

when he wants to tease you, asa will make you all wet and sticky just to use your pretty pussy to get off. he's not nice enough to fuck you every time you need, but he'd be more than happy to slide his cock against your wetness. he needs to keep you nice and slicked up though, so of course he'll bump your clit with his tip!

he fuckin loves it when you're on your period. extra slick, blood and sensitivity? is this heaven?? his hands are big and warm enough usually, but when he holds you tight against him with his hot palms against your tummy, the noises that leave your lips make him throb deep inside you. he'll even doodle little bugs on your skin with his finger in the drying crimson

as mentioned earlier, asa is the only person who is able to fill you up. he will do everything in power to bump your cervix with every single thrust, whether it be with his fingers or his thick cock. he's determined to make you breathless, and he is a menace about it, too

_ _ _ _ _

ftm hcs

asa will find a way to procure a breast pump for your thick little cock! he wants it to be just the right size to roll around his tongue and he needs to suckle in such a precise way - he's got it down to an art, truly

he loves to sit you between his legs and jerk you off while his attention is on a new insect study on his desktop. the wetness and quiet breaths coming from his pet in between his thighs.. it makes his dick hard so quickly when you're a good, needy boy for him

if you're taking testosterone, he would help you take it on your schedule. of course, he'd use the needle even if you're afraid - he's right there, so there's nothing to be scared of <3

he loves to document the transition of his handsomest plaything! he'll take intimate polaroids of your cock and hair growth and you can bet he's gonna frame and arrange them in displays in your own little gallery

although he is as sadistic as normal, he also loves flicking your dick lightly and slowly fingering your boycunt until you're tearing up from the gentle stimulation

if asa catches you touching yourself without permission, he's gonna be mean about it! you wanna touch him? hm? after all you've done? too bad, he's gonna make you watch while he strokes his leaking cock in front of your face - just enough to let you smell the pre smeared all over his hand but not close enough to touch. he'll make you kneel there in front of him as he cums loudly. if he's feeling generous, he'll let you desperately lick up the mess he made all over his fingers and tummy

_ _ _ _ _

mtf hcs

if you prefer to wear makeup, asa will keep you in an area where you have access to a mirror and necessary supplies - similar to the room in the collection. he can't have his pretty pet feeling down, what kind of master would that make him?

he has a secret fantasy of bottoming for you - asa has never had the chance to take a girlcock and it's about time he tries something new..

he adores how you sound and feel whenever he's edging you into oblivion, especially when your moans get higher in pitch

asa adores using cum to lube up his prettiest pet's hole! doesn't matter if it's his or yours honestly, he finds it both hot and functional

he loves to take hairs from your pillowcase and display them proudly in chronological order to show how much it's grown (he's a little freak let it slide)

asa definitely has a pink, heart-shaped glass buttplug for his little plaything - a present for his beloved girl, his beautiful specimen

if you're taking estrogen, asa would help you take it on your schedule. of course, he'd use the needle even if you're afraid - he's right there, so there's nothing to be scared of <3

his favourite past time is recording your beautiful moans and whimpers for him to replay whenever he needs to get off quickly. it takes all of his restraint to not grunt loudly or let the sound of his hips smacking your ass get too loud - he doesn't want to ruin your perfection in its most natural state

asa adores cumming all over your body and decorating you with a part of him. seeing your hair mussed and a glistening sweat sheen all over his body.. he truly believes that this is your intended form

_ _ _ _ _

thanks for reading. lmk if you liked it. if i got anything wrong, don't hesitate to tell me.

stay safe.

[leahkenobi]

distraction

dorian havilliard x reader

word count: 1.6k

dorian just wants to be what you need.

warnings: it’s very chaotic lol. starts off enemies to lovers, discussion of trauma, mentions of bruises, infected wounds, scars, mentions of physical and mental pain then transitions to sub!dorian, smut, grinding, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap, dorian isn’t real but pregnancy is), dorian has a praise kink, kinda denied orgasm but not really. please let me know if i’m missing anything!

a/n: well. it’s miss @oliviajdjarin’s birth month (livtober, as one may say). yes, this is late. yes, i feel bad. but i hope it is still enjoyable for everyone! i had so much fun writing a sub character (who would’ve thought lol very uncharacteristic). as always requests are open and lmk if you want to be added to a general or specific tag list! i’m always happy to add! i do not own this gif! anyways, happy late birthday liv, love you bunches. hope it was as special as you :)

“oh fuck you dorian,” you said, unable to keep it to yourself any longer.

“don’t you wish you could, my dear,” he said with arrogance that was larger than life.

it had been an exhausting journey from morath. dorian was both the savior you were looking for, someone who stood up for you and helped you out of that horrendous place and also the biggest pain in the ass that ever did exist.

you would have pummeled him to the ground, maybe even stabbed his stupid stupid stomach lined with his stupid stupid abs if it weren’t for the lingering sense of gratitude you held toward the man.

“can we rest here for the night?” you asked, physically and mentally whooped from your situation. your mental scars from morath were just as prominent as the cuts that were turning a sickly green and your purple bruises.

“cmon, just another mile. we’ll be closer to the stream then,” dorian responded.

you knew there was no way you could make it. you’d already been dragging him down because of your lingering injuries. but there was no way you could tell him this. you refused to show weakness in front of anyone, especially the entitled asshole of a king in front you.

dorian had to have noticed your rapid decline in speed. you couldn’t help it, the pain truly was becoming unbearable. but he couldn’t know that. no one could know that. if anyone knew-

no one could see that-

it would be too vulnerable-

too raw-

“y/n,” he said in a firm tone, almost sounding annoyed.

“we haven’t got all day do we? do i need to carry you?” he teased.

“i’m moving as fast as i can,” you grumbled.

“if that’s as fast as you can go, i have some concerns,” he said with a joking tone.

“well dorian no offense. i know it’s hard for you to understand and all but i’m struggling right now. i get that you don’t really know what that means, but for some of us, it means we walk a bit slower than usual because our bodies can’t fucking take it. so kindly, or not so kindly, leave me alone,” you said with force.

because honestly, what did this spoiled royal bastard know about pain and suffering?

he only chuckled in response, which somehow frustrated you more. how dare he laugh?

you were so distracted in your haze of anger that you didn’t notice he had slowed down to your speed. he slipped an arm over your shoulder to steady your form.

you silently walked the next mile with him, every step more agonizing than the last. when you finally reached a spot he deemed acceptable, he dropped his arm from your figure. you nearly collapsed without his support, which made you realize how reliant you had been on him for the last chunk of your trip.

“thank you,” you said hoarsely.

“what was that?” he prodded, wanting to hear you say it.

“thanks,” you said a bit louder.

“i’m sorry, i still can’t hear you,” he said with a grin.

“i said thank you,” you announced loudly.

dorian chuckled. “oh it’s my pleasure. really strengthens my arms when i have to carry you a mile through the forest.”

“alright, would you-“ you started.

“i’m kidding,” he said, “i’m just messing with you. i’ll carry you wherever i need to if it means we will stay safe.”

you nodded your head slowly and whispered another soft thanks.

the pack that had been on dorian’s back contained a thin tent which he pitched while you walked a few yards to the stream to gather water. night was falling, and with it the temperature.

as you walked back to the tent, you realized dorian was no where in sight. you gently laid the water you collected in the canteen on a rock and peered inside the tent.

there he was in all of his beauty. he no longer had his collared shirt and thick coat covering his magnificent upper body. his legs were bare besides a pair of boxers and you couldn’t help but stare. even though he frustrated the ever living hell out of you, he was gorgeous. you noticed a white ring around his neck before he turned to see your face poked in through the tent flap.

“like what you see?” he said with a sly grin.

your face heated at the implication.

“sorry… i- uh… i was looking to find you. i gathered some water,” you stuttered out, flustered by his appearance.

“mm thank you. i am quite parched,” he replied.

you grabbed the canteen and passed it to him.

“goodnight,” you said as you walked away from the tent, trying to find a spot to sleep on the ground next to the tent so the wind wouldn’t blow directly on you.

“and just what do you think you are doing?” dorian said as he poked his head out.

“um.. looking for a place to sleep?” you said.

“y/n. we have been traveling together for a week. what makes you think you can’t be in the same tent as me?” dorian asked.

“we’ve only slept in separate rooms through those port towns. i just assumed it would be uncomfortable for you,” you said with a shrug.

“what would make me more uncomfortable is you out there completely alone with no warmth or company,” dorian said, “get in the tent now, please.”

you nodded and mumbled a quiet okay.

the tent wasn’t very large, just enough room for a few blankets. you slowly crawled under one as dorian sat down and did the same.

once you were both settled, you sighed deeply and let the events of the past week come over you. so much had happened in so little time.

you attempted to close your eyes, if only to stop yourself from processing your time at morath, the rescue, and your complex feelings toward dorian. but before you could fall asleep, he spoke.

“i know that i’m not… easy. or probably the best person to be accompanying you right now. but i want you to know that i’ve felt your pain,” he said.

“dorian just… don’t. i don’t want to hear about the pain of stubbing your royal pinky toe, or the pain of attending too many fancy dinner parties. it’s different, okay?” you said, trying your best not to sound too irritated, but closed off so you wouldn’t have to hear his nonsense.

“we are not as different as you think,” he said.

even in the dark, you could seem him scratching at the scar on his neck.

“what is that?” you asked, pointing to it.

“what makes us the same,” he said with a sad smile.

“what do you mean?”

“the valg, y/n. i felt them too. they hurt me and infested me too,” he said softly.

your face fell. by no means had you expected that.

“dorian i am so sor-“

“no, don’t say you are sorry. i don’t need to hear that. i just need you to know that i’m trying to be what you need right now. so tell me what that is. i can be your punching bag, i could build you up, i could make you laugh, or i could be whatever else you need. i just want to help,” he said, his eyes staring into yours with intent.

somehow, you were closer than before. close enough that you could feel his warm breath. close enough that your mind wandered-

“how about a distraction?” you said with a small smile, letting the feelings of gratitude for the rescue and appreciation of his beauty take over your mind and body.

“a distraction?” he grinned, “how so?”

“lean a little closer, dorian. i’ll show you how,” you responded.

within a second he was on you, mouth meeting your own.

you were hungry for this, hungry for this crumb of normalcy that he could give you. you needed to feel someone.

you pushed his shoulders back to the ground, straddling him. your tongue dominated his own, and he couldn’t have been happier based on the moans slipping from his mouth.

you felt him stiffen in his boxers below you.

“dorian,” you moaned, “please.”

“take what you need. i’m here to be what you need,” he said.

and so you did. you pulled your own bottoms off, then quickly followed with his. you stayed on top of him, grinding into his erection.

“y/n, if you keep doing that i’m not going to last,” he said in between broken moans.

you reached between your bodies, grabbing hold of him and lining him up. you ground down on him and released a gasp as he groaned.

“that better, prince?” you asked with a slight tease.

“so good, y/n. so good,” he said.

“good boy. you feel so good dorian,” you said while pushing his hair off his forehead and leaning down to suck a bruise onto his collar bone.

eventually, his hands found their way to your nub. the second he touched your clit, you jolted.

“dorian,” you groaned, “faster.”

“anything,” he said, looking to you with glassed over eyes.

you could feel the coil tightening in your core as you squeezed around dorian’s cock.

“i’m going to-“ dorian started.

“hold it,” you said, “wait for me.”

“okay,” he responded and leaned forward to kiss your breasts, continuing to stimulate your clit simultaneously.

“i’m right there baby,” you said, “cum with me.”

and he did, spilling into you with a violent groan. you were a mess on top of him, crying out in pleasure.

as you came down from your high, you rolled off of him.

“that was incredible,” he said, reaching into his bag for a cloth to clean you up with.

“so good,” you said.

after he wiped you down, you turned to him.

“thank you,” you said, snuggling under his strong arms.

“of course,” he said, “i will happily be a distraction whenever you need.

taglist:

@oliviajdjarin

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Can't Capture Magic Twice

So, Master & Apprentice is an interesting case for me, because this was the book that convinced me to try reading a new canon book. Spoiler Alert: It did not go well. That said, this is not a bad book. I actually think that Claudia Gray is a good writer and this is a good Star Wars story. It's even a good jedi story, and a good master/apprentice story. It's just not a good Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan story because frankly, the legends EU canon did it better. Let's talk Master & Apprentice.

I think it's only fair to say off the top that I was a massive fan of the Jedi Apprentice books by Jude Watson. That 15-book middle-grade series (and it's spinoffs and a couple of special edition novels that tied in) covered Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's relationship from Obi-Wan's 13th birthday and original failure to be chosen as an apprentice. Then it tracks over the next five-ish years as the pair's relationship changes, grows, and matures through three major arcs and a number of sub-arcs. Despite the middle-grade audience for these books, there was time and space taken to explore the relationship in a fair amount of depth, and it addressed the inherent challenges in master/apprentice relationships in general and the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon relationship specifically. It was astonishingly well don, and I was always sorry that these books weren't expanded for YA or even adult audiences, because there was definitely space to do that.

Which is how we get to me making the decision to pick up a new canon novel that purported to do pretty much exactly that, just in a different canon. I had SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH high hopes for this book. It was going to address the intergenerational issues and trauma that come from the structure of the Jedi Order, and it was going to cover the Yoda > Dooku > Qui-Gon > Obi-Wan chain of wildly mismatched, objectively dysfunctional masters and apprentices.

I think the biggest problem for me is that the book tried to do too much in not enough space. One book wasn't enough to really dig into the dynamics of the master/apprentice legacy issues, and I felt like for Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to have presumably been a pair for multiple years before the beginning of this book and to have very similar issues to those that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in the legends continuity had in those first couple of books was...a bit weird, timing-wise. I wanted more time to explore the relationship, I think, rather than being dropped into what was clearly a set of ongoing issues and dysfinctions.

This is something I notice a lot with new canon works in all media forms: There seems to be a low-key expectation that the fans know the EU, know the legends continuity, and writers and directors lean on that a bit while simultaneously revising massive swathes of it for new canon content. I'm not a huge fan of this strategy. I understand why it might be attractive or even effective in some cases, but I'm not a fan. That's a 100% personal taste thing, so no judgement on anyone else's likes and preferences in Star Wars.

Overall, had this been any other master/apprentice pair, I think this would have been like an 8/10 book for me, so for those of you who are better able to separate the legends continuity and new canon, or those of you who never read the Jedi Apprentice series, I highly recommend Master & Apprentice.

[miralines]

Before I say anything, I just want to inform you that I just randomly came across your post browsing the discourse tag for something else. I don't know who you are nor what's happening with ao3 users here. I don't know if you wanted a deep(ish)dive into someone's thoughts and reasons for choosing fics based on kudos and hits ratio, but 100% ignore if you didn't! Sorry if I am intruding by doing this!

I come from multiple giant fandoms and when there are multiple fic choices with tags and summaries that I like, I do choose to go by kudos and hits ratio. Just to pick which one to check out first. I did notice however, that in smaller fandoms or tags this couldn't be applied because there's not enough fics, so I just read what I'm interested in most.

Why? Kudos signify how enjoyed the fic is to me, because usually the more kudos it has the more talked about it is on other platforms. Why would that be important? It's just that I enjoy exploring content made by others after I'm up to date with a fic. It's really fun to see people talk, theorize, make art and speculate or scream over things that will or did happen. It's giving me an opportunity to find people with similar interests and see what they make overall!

Sometimes though, if fic in a fandom or a tag that's incredibly popular gets hundreds of hits and very few kudos, I choose not to read it. This is based on a few bad experiences I had giving those fics a chance, where something in them made me uncomfortable or hard to read. I don't have any very specific needs when I'm reading fics, I just enjoy reading as a part of enjoying the fandom, so when I see the general readers avoid giving kudos in fandoms where it's very usual to have a lot on fics, I don't want to read that fic for my enjoyment.

I really don't know much about this, I'm sorry! But yeah, I basically use kudos to hits ratio to oriantate myself and avoid something I wouldn't like based on previous correlations I made. I don't know if that's wrong or upsetting for others, but if you find it that way, I would like to know why too and improve! Sorry for any grammatical mistakes I made!

Oh hi anon! I wasn’t expecting anyone to reach out like this, but thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts! (Also. Please do not feel the need to apologize for grammatical mistakes. I do not believe in ‘correct’ grammar; as long as I understood you, which I did, I think you’re absolutely fine and using language as it’s intended!) (I am. A particular kind of nerd and not policing grammar is something I have Opinions about hence this tangent lmao)

This got terribly long, so I’ve put a tldr above the cut and divided the rest under headers for ease of reading.

Tldr: I see your points with regard to differences between large and small fandoms, and with the specific goal of finding “sub-fandoms” for particular fics. I still disagree that kudos-to-hits ratio is the best way to decide what fics to read, both because it isn’t an accurate metric of engagement and because I dislike the idea of using engagement as the primary metric in the first place. When I use A03, I prefer to sort by what’s recent and use the tags and summary to decide what to read, or to use the (excellent) search function to find what I’m looking for specifically.

I’d also like to note to anyone else reading: I doubt this will be an issue, but if anyone is rude to anon I’m going to turn off reblogs on this post. I know this is something some people feel strongly about, and discussion is fine, but this is absolutely not worth being mean to another human about.

Size of fandom

To begin my more thorough response: This is an interesting perspective– not one I entirely agree with, but I can certainly see how in larger fandoms with a lot more content it would be valuable to be more selective. For context, my main fandom is an obscure storytelling band with under 3k total works on A03, and these days I mostly occupy a niche of that fandom (one specific album) with only 128 works. The largest fandom I’ve been active in currently has 37k works on A03.

I don’t know what your fandoms are, but as some examples of bigger fandoms, Star Trek currently has over 100k works, Supernatural has almost 300k, and Harry Potter has nearly 500k. That is a big difference! I’m currently working on a goal to read every fic in my 128-fic niche (with some exclusion criteria), but in larger fandoms it’s impossible not to be selective. This is all to say– I definitely agree with you that the size of a fandom impacts how a person can and does interact with it.

Fans of fics

Your point about wanting to interact with other fans of a particular fic also makes sense! There was a particular fic series in my largest fandom that had a pretty decent following, and I still have friends from that sub-fandom several years later. If this metric helps you find fics that match your goal of having that experience, I can see how the kudos-to-hits ratio could function as a potentially useful metric, though I still think its usefulness is a bit limited for reasons I’m about to go into.

Kudos-to-hits isn’t accurate

I have two reasons for thinking that kudos-to-hits ratio isn’t the best way to determine what to read. The first is purely numerical. If you’ve been watching this discourse, you’ve probably already seen people discussing how users can only leave a single kudos, but may be responsible for 20-plus hits on a work. This is especially applicable to multichapter works, which in my experience are the fics that are able to develop their own following. If you want to sort fics by engagement, it seems like at the very least, using comments for the ratio is a more accurate measurement.

Using engagement as a metric at all

Secondly, though, I (and I believe, a lot of people) dislike the notion of using engagement as a metric to measure fics in the first place. I think the current discourse is partially due to some regrettable phrasing on the part of the OP of the post I was vaguing– if I recall correctly, they said that they use this metric to determine if a fic is “worth reading”. I think this phrasing was hurtful to a lot of fic writers who may not have large followings or a lot of engagement, but who work very hard on their fics and feel frustrated that this person implied that they aren’t worth reading. I have fics that are personal favorites of mine, but that I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback on.

Of course, this is just part of writing, and it’s an important skill for any writer (of fic or anything else) to learn to handle rejection or just lack of feedback. But I also think that particular post was phrased in a thoughtless way that interacted poorly with pre-existing insecurities (this is part of why I suggested that post was bait– the phrasing seems to me like a perfect storm to make writers upset and defensive, but of course this could also be due to the OP just being a bit careless with their words, and not expecting to have hit quite nerve they did).

There’s an excellent post here on engagement on fics and what a realistic assessment of “successful” engagement metrics are based on professional standards (which includes a stat about how Harry Styles, one of the most popular and successful current celebrities, only gets a 1:30 ratio of likes to views on his social media. I don’t know what ratio you’re using, but iirc the post I was discussing suggested 1:10). Personally, though, I worry about both authors and readers depending too much on statistics, especially in a broader cultural context when it feels like everything is performed, measured, and monetized. Most social media platforms have gone from a place to share with friends to a place to compete for attention and make money and fame off it. There’s a lot of cultural anxiety around that at the moment, which is another reason I think this discussion has gotten so big.

Why I disagree with using engagement

I think this discussion, at its heart, is a debate about what fandom should be, and I feel focusing overmuch on engagement statistics contributes to a fandom culture uncomfortably close to the commercialization of everything else on the internet. I feel that fic should be enjoyed as art (whatever art means) and not as a product. I’m not saying you’re personally approaching fic that way, but unfortunately there does seem to be something of a broader trend towards that, which troubles me.

As a writer, I would hope that when people come across my fic, they give it a chance based on the metatext information I give them in the tags and summary, the quality of my writing, and whether my work matches what the reader is looking for. Judging it based on the numbers feels reductive to me, and makes me feel like nothing about the work or passion I put in matters; just the popularity. My fics aren’t going to be for everyone, and I understand that. If someone comes across my fic and decides they’re not interested, that’s their prerogative. But I hope that potential readers don’t discount my work just because it doesn’t meet a numerical standard that, in my opinion, is extremely arbitrary.

My suggestions for what to do instead

As a reader, I default to sorting by what’s been posted recently, and then using the tags and summary to decide what to read. That’s what those things are designed to be used for, and I think they’re much more informative than the stats. Worst-case scenario, I start reading and then go back to the search. All I’ve lost is a couple minutes.

In large fandoms, this might be an inefficient way to search for fic, and I recognize that. I’d encourage you to try using A03’s (fantastic) search function to find what you’re looking for– you can both include and exclude fandoms, characters, pairings, and tags. I have come across people who don’t realize that A03 has no algorithm, and haven’t realized they need to learn to use the search function. This is understandable, given the state of most of the internet and what these (often young) fans have learned to use before, but I think learning to search and filter is a vital skill to develop. I have no idea if you’re in this boat, anon, but if you are, please check out the search. It is, in my experience, the best way to find what you’re looking for on A03, and can at the very least supplement numbers-based selection.

Conclusion

I don’t think you have a moral responsibility to stop using engagement as a way to determine what you want to read. Frankly, this isn’t that important. I don’t think you even strictly need to stop using kudos as the measure instead of comments, though I think that would be more accurate if you do prefer to sort by engagement. But I do think you could be surprised at the hidden gems you could find if you didn’t limit yourself to only reading fics with high ratios. I don’t know the nature of your bad experiences in the past, and obviously how you use A03 is up to you. But I think there are better ways to decide what to read.

Thank you again for reaching out– you’ve helped me understand the other perspective as well! I really do appreciate your explanation. I hope I’ve been as respectful as you have, and that I’ve helped you understand where writers who share my opinion are coming from. If you’d like to continue talking about this or respond to any of my points, please feel free to shoot me another ask or a message. I hope you’re doing well and that you have a nice day!

[lgcjino]

FILE: 지노 _ PLOT CALL _ q4 —  this is totally late but we'd definitely like to plot and get things rolling if anyone still has some room on their trackers. below the cut are some suggestions / ideas to jumpstart a thread ! ◡̈

SUB: EVENT

⤷  RE: ACTING MISSION

new actor trainee, moon jino reporting for duty !

improv study — you overheard jino listening to a youtube video that's verbalizing improv cues, you just so happen to see him right when he's supposed to act out a demoralizing heartbreak or his personal interpretation of a fish out of water -- either or, both are equally as mortifying for him.

acting techniques — specifically the meisner technique: unfortunately for jino he got called on in class to counter react a partner's acting, you just so happened to notice jino, not so in his elemental, appearing quite obviously taken back by such a display. for lack of better word, it's hilarious and something that needs to be commented on after (or more amusingly, during) class.

any other acting mission ideas, welcome!

⤷  RE: LGC HALLOWEEN 2023

costume tbd he's going as jock spiderman ◡̈

jino didn't know the candies were fake — sure there were signs, but jino can't read 🤷‍♂️ — and now the candy is lodged in his throat and oh no, is he choking? nah — forcefully dispelling air through the tiny hole in his throat that's currently blocked by a pea-sized fake sweet treat is not choking, is it?

insert thread about costumes that i will update once i 100% narrow down jino's costume options

"i love you, i swear i do, but we're not wearing matching costumes."

idk much about the carpet but best believe jino is gonna will smith-jada moment whoever is beside him at that moment

any other halloween ideas, welcome!

⤷  RE: LGC RETREAT

he's in lgc agency as an actor but he got placed with crystallis !

ghost hunting at the haunted high school x excited puppy jino

jino 100% trying to do a hsm! scream parody of troy bolton along the lockers

running into jino on the way to the bathroom a la haikyuu boot camp jump scare w jino being backlit by the bathroom lighting and his tall ass frame he's practically a slenderman cosplay at night

jino standing in the back of the show me your face game ( mostly bc he's so tall and worried about blocking anyone ) until he realizes that's the point of the game and he's gonna be using his huge af hands to block out the faces of his fellow tall giants

jino 100% mingling and moving from table to table during lunch, also him trying to hand off his kiwis to people bc he doesn't like the fruit kiwi

him dumping flour all over the person behind him's head bc his arms are too long and his reach is too high and inadvertently covering them in flour 🤝 jino trying not to laugh as he tries to help them wipe their face w a wet towel after

SUB: GENERAL

⤷  RE: Q4 ( NEW TERM, NEW GENERAL THREADS ! )

"i really appreciate that you're getting into the halloween spirit, but it's ten in the morning. please turn off the slasher films so i can eat my breakfast in peace."

"what do you mean you've never gone trick-or-treating?!" — but rather than going door to door it's convenience store to convenience store and jino footing the bill on the sweet or salty treats 😋

"you're like the toughest person i know! am i really supposed to believe that a horror film is enough to have you cowering into my lap?"

"hot cocoa is the americano equivalent for kids!" "your point is?"

"how to look suspicious 101"

someone reporting jino for having a pet. the pet in question: link.

jino burning banana bread in the oven and someone comes over for banana bread but ... it's burnt ☹️

jino watched the greatest showman for the first time and now he won't stop singing rewrite the stars and someone needs to shut !!! him !!! up !!!

NOTE

⤷   also i'll be keeping any threads that are still being replied to ( except the lgc au threads ) no matter how old they are unless you'd like to drop and replot, please let me know if that's the case ◡̈

[secretgamergirl]

On the Vocabulary of Bigots

I would say somewhere around 2.3 times a day on average, I see someone who ostensibly works in political news or with a PhD in sociology or whatever quote a statement from some unrepentant bigot shouting about something like “the W*** media is censoring Govenor Big Oted!” and add a cheery little note that says “no, what people are criticizing Big Oted. His ability to say whatever he wants is completely unimpinged, and you in fact just linked to a televised interview with him in your post. Censorship is when the government passes laws restricting what people can and cannot say, like the new law banning teachers from saying anything at all regarding queer people or the slave trade, which the governor here is being criticized for signing.”

The apparent goal of these sort of posts is to go “ohoho! I have defeated you by pointing out that you are using the word ‘censored’ incorrectly! Surely you will now see the error of your ways and cease using it in the future!” Which they have to know isn’t going to happen, right?

Meanwhile if the bigot being quoted is inclined to reflect on this at all, their thoughts are just going to be “Ha! These idiots still get tripped up when we say ‘censored’ and don’t push back at all!”

See, horrible bigots don’t care at all what you think about them, or how words are normally used. They are motivated purely by a desire to convince everyone they can that everyone who isn’t a bigot is sub-human, and therefore should be treated worse than bigots. They are laser-focused on this. Everything they say and do is attempting to make progress along these lines. This especially includes the vocabulary they use, and the way they use it.

Ideally, bigots would love to just say out loud how much they’d like to beat people to death, using only the most horrifically vile and dehumanizing language to describe the people, and the most vivid and explicitly violent language to explain the specifics. You can see this for yourself if you look at old racist propaganda materials. Once upon a time (and still today if you’re on a sufficiently dedicated hate website) you could get away with depicting various minorities as literal monsters and demons and openly talk about the urgent need to exterminate them all.

You don’t generally see that in public, because if you’re sufficiently clear and articulate with horrifying hate speech, sensible people rightfully see you as an existential threat and react accordingly. So the big game for bigots has always been, “what’s the closest we can say to what we literally mean that the average person will give us the benefit of the doubt on?”

Since I opened with it, let’s start with “free speech/censorship” as bigots use it. Somewhere over the years, bigots got the idea to willfully misread the first amendment of the U.S. constitution as saying that bigots have a constitutional right to say those most absolutely horrific things possible, and that any effort to criticize them for it is against everything the country stands for. This is, of course, totall bullshit. I’m fairly confident everyone in the world understands that this is total bullshit, but the sort of academics I’m criticizing above the fold are entirely too happy to smugly explain how that’s not what the amendment actually says rather than to actually address how hey, we’ve got some unrepentently evil monsters here who ultimately want to murder a bunch of innocent people lying to everyone’s face to try and recruit people into attacking anyone who opposes them.

There’s an extra simple version of this you can teach to less intellectually-minded bigots: “hey anytime anyone pushes back about anything you say just shout ‘free speech!’ or how you’re being censored,” and this worked pretty damn well for a good number of decades, only about now really hitting a point where they’re getting lazy enough in deploying it to be regularly using it in situations the average person is going to notice “wait this is just a euphemism for you wanting to call people slurs,” but we still have the ACLU and EFF being absolute marks and offering to defend absolute hatemongers because they lack the reading comprehension to see that no, nobody is actually defending their first amendment rights here. Once organizations like that clue in and it’s clear the population at large understands that anyone talking about being “censored” just doesn’t want to be criticized, and “free speech” means “I want to use slurs that would clearly violate hate speech regulations” they might finally retire it.

Meanwhile we have the term “political correctness” to describe bigots’ collective frustration with the cycle where they collectively imbue terms with so much raw undeniable hatred that all of society recognizes them as slurs, and they are forced to switch to relatively new slurs people haven’t yet caught onto. Basically, what’s the most horrible thing a bigot might use to describe, say, black people without it being so obvious they’d lose a political campaign for saying it. Perhaps ironically though, “political correctness” itself has kind of reached that level of infamy at this point.

It would be very nice if we could actually reach a point where we all stop playing this game completely, and fully remove unrepentant bigots ability to participate in society, rather than give them infinite chances to focus group a new set of dog whistles and use them unopposed until the next time people catch on. Until we reach a point where people have the stomach for that though, we can at least focus on shortening up the cycles as best we can, and start responding to this crap based on the actual clear meaning of what bigots are saying rather than pretending they’re using words the way a functional member of society would.

“SJW” got a lot of play over the past decade, but I feel like it was decoded pretty quickly. Theoretically there was a brief period where some people might have used it to describe some particular flavor of irritating person, but most people never heard it until straight up neo-nazis pushed it into the mainstream, and it was easy enough to just start explaining “it’s code for Jews.” Certainly helped along by how often they’d give the game away and actually leave the E in.

Presently, bigots are really going hog-wild with the hip new slur “W***.” And I’m genuinely baffled that it’s still managing to fly to any degree. Like with SJW, there was a pretty damn narrow window on when anyone used the term in any context other than as an explicitly hate-filled and dehumanizing slur.

See back in the summer of 2014 there was a particularly horrific incident where an innocent 18 year old was murdered in the middle of the street by a cop, who when questioned on why he shot an unarmed child who was over 20 feet away 12 times, explained that he was a demon with superpowers pulled from various video game and comic book characters who in fact became more powerful when shot repeatedly in the chest.

Local law enforcement, right-wing media figures, and prominent neo-nazi groups fervently backed the legitimacy of this utterly absurd defense. The murderer faced no real consequences, and the understandable protests and memorials were met with a nightmarishly militant police response. This kicked off a lasting public discussion of how yes, police do in fact routinely murder black children without consequence, mostly associated with the better known phrase Black Lives Matter.

However, as efforts to villify anyone uttering that particular set of words never really managed to crack into the mainstream, horrific bigots eventually began to instead create a negative association with the phrase “stay woke” which had a brief stint of popularity among activists as efforts were being made to metaphorically lull people back to sleep with absurd revisionist revisions of what was quite clearly a massive racist murdering a child. This peaked around 2016, when the phrase worked its way into the chorus of Childish Gambino’s Redbone, and it’s around here that bigots began to use “w***” as a slur, first alongside, then replacing “BLM” to... quite frankly, vent their anger over anyone daring to object to racists gunning down innocent black children in the middle of the street, but in a way that they could attempt some plausible deniability that they were in fact perhaps just angry at the vague concept of people “disliking right-wing values.”

For reason of, I assume, being totally checked out on the horrific murder that initially popularized the term, we are presently some 6-ish years into bigots just openly using “w***” as a slur, largely in a general catch-all sense applying to all marginalized people, but primarily targeting anyone opposed to the “right” to shoot black children on sight. I kinda feel like this is a real easy one to bury as the obvious monstrous slur it is. Just any time you see someone bust it out, ask them what the hell whatever subject they’re on about has to do with objecting to police murdering innocent children, and feel free to bust out this here history lesson as they sputter and try to come up with some alternate definition on the spot.

[thetaekookcloset]

I noticed some people say that Jimin looked uncomfortable with TKs closeness during the vlive but I don’t see it. I don’t know if you have any thoughts on that or if it’s just shippers over analyzing things like we sometimes do. You’ve also talked about it a few times of how close Jimin and JK are with each other and don’t see it romantically like others do, and I agree. It seems more like a big brother, little brother kind of relationship to me where they poke fun at each other relentlessly. If anything Jimin seems more close to Hobi out of any of the other members. I don’t know if you’d agree, but I think even Yoongi said something about Jimin and Hobi’s closeness during their festa dinner and it definitely seems that way to me. I’ve also been looking more into jkk to see what the hype is about but I just don’t get it or see anything remotely looking like a relationship, not in the way I see TK. Sorry for the random, jumbled ask, just wanted to put my thoughts out there lol.

No worries, anon, I love it when people reach out to share their random thoughts!

I didn’t notice Jimin looking uncomfortable in that live either.  I’ll pay closer attention when I watch it again once subs are up, but personally, I’m inclined to think he was probably fine.  Like you said, I believe Jungkook and Jimin are close but just that they don’t have a romantic relationship.

I don’t know that they necessarily seem like brothers to me (I’ve said before that the two who seem to embody that the most in the group are Jungkook and Jin) but they do sort of seem like bro-y best friends.

There are some elements, between them, of the softness that I see between Jimin and Taehyung, but I think part of their particular friendship is that teasing and shared sense of humor that they lean into when they’re together.  They have this dynamic where they push each other a bit, and that adds tension to their interactions, which is what I think their shippers are picking up on.

Plus obviously they’ve had some suspicious moments over the years, but when I look at those in the larger context of their relationship, they’re all ambiguous enough, in one way or another (or they seem unambiguously non-romantic to me) that they don’t change my reading of their overall relationship.

And yes, I agree, I do think Jimin is particularly close with Hobi.  In general, I wouldn’t really rank degree of closeness between members because each relationship is unique and has its own dynamic, but I think Jimin and Hobi were roommates for the longest, and you can really see the deep bond that they have from spending so much time in such close quarters.

Thanks for this ask, anon!  Obviously I have a special fondness for Taekook, but I genuinely love all the members and enjoy getting to talk about their different dynamics.  If anyone else has specific relationships within the group that they find interesting and want to chat about, feel free!

[ot7always]

In the Dead of Night

banner courtesy of the wonderfully talented @dee-ehn​ !

Word Count: 14.5k

Pairing: Vampire!Jin x Reader

Genre: Vampire!AU, friends to lovers, smut, fluff

Warnings: dom!Jin, sub!Reader, non-gory blood and knife injury (it’s there, but mostly humorous and/or with very little specific description), biting (like actual biting), vampire compulsion (nothing concerning consent-wise), marking, hair pulling, grinding, size kink, spanking (hand), fingering, praise, oral (f receiving), unprotected sex, creampie, aftercare

Rating: 18+

Summary: Courtesy of my roommate, who summarized my story much better than I ever could:

A/N: It’s finally here! I meant for this to be about half the length and be released more than a week or 2 ago, but as you very well know, things don’t exactly go as planned in 2020. Regardless, I enjoyed writing this fic a lot, so please let me know what you think!

--

Saturdays at 3 am were supposed to be peaceful.

Well – at your apartment, that is. You couldn’t account for whoever elected to roam the streets of downtown at night.

But what was definitely not supposed to be happening was being awoken from your deep slumber by furious pounding on your front door.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

When you glanced groggily over at your alarm clock and saw the time, you could have screamed.

Just as you reached for your phone to call the cops on whatever psychopath was probably waking up your entire floor, your screen lit up with a text.

Suckjin [03:19]: plz open ur door

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Sliding out of bed, you hissed as your bare feet hit the cold hardwood.

This had better be fucking worth it.

Plodding out of your bedroom on tiptoes to avoid as much contact with the floor as possible, you made your way to the front door without even bothering to throw on shorts under your oversized t-shirt.

Whatever. You were sure that brat has seen thighs before.

While the knocks had thankfully quieted for a moment, he started up again just as you reached the door.

Before he could even dare bang his fist against the wood again, you were turning the deadbolt and whipping the door open, readying your fiercest glare for the broad man standing before you.

Right as you opened your mouth to start cussing him out, he sprung towards you, hands pushing you further inside your apartment and shutting the door before you could even blink.

When he turned to face you again, hands on his stomach, you prepared for the verbal onslaught you were about to send his way.

“Just what in the absolute hell do you think you’re-”

When your eyes naturally followed the path of his arms down to his stomach, what you saw there shut you up immediately.

Wide-eyed, you took a step back, eyes never leaving the sight before you. He-

As your breath quickened, a (miraculously clean) hand shot out to cover your mouth gently, though you were sure he was ready to clamp down at a moment’s notice.

“Please don’t scream.”

When you were finally able to break your gaze from his abdomen and look at his face instead, pleading eyes locked with yours, his skin paler than usual.

As frightened as you were, you calmed some when you processed the fact that he seemed to be standing before you just fine, albeit the fact that his eyes appeared somewhat unfocused.

You nodded, reaching a shaky hand up to remove his from your face, shivering at how cold and clammy he felt.

When you could speak again, you spent a few moments collecting your thoughts before you opened your mouth again.

“You - you have a knife in you!” you hissed, stepping closer to move his jacket aside to get a better look.

It wasn’t that gruesome a sight, especially not when he was wearing a black t-shirt, but it was no less jarring to have your friend show up in the middle of the night after seemingly being stabbed.

“I know that!” he hissed back, slightly exasperated, muffling a groan when you tried to inch his shirt up to glance at the skin beneath.

“Why the hell do you have a knife in you?” you whispered furiously, pulling him by the arm to settle down onto your couch.

He plopped down with a sigh of relief, his head lolling back momentarily. You hoped he knew that he was paying your cleaning bills if he bled all over your loveseat.

“Now, now, didn’t anyone ever tell you not to remove the knife if you get stabbed?” he said with a pained chuckle, sucking in a breath at the movement it caused.

“Seokjin, now is not the time to joke around,” you said, panic rising in you because you had absolutely no clue what you were supposed to do with a vampire who had a knife embedded in him. “Why did you come here?”

“Well you were the only person I could think of who would answer their door at 3 am-”

“Seokjin!”

“Sorry, sorry.” You didn’t tend to call him that unless you were genuinely annoyed, and he seemed to drop the humorous demeanor immediately.

“Why didn’t you go to a hospital?”

“I can’t go to a hospital.”

“What?! Why not?”

“Okay, correction – I didn’t want to go to a hospital.”

You let out a groan of frustration, fingers rubbing circles into your temples. This man was going to be the death of you. You had no idea why vampires seemed to have such an aversion to hospitals, but you supposed you could never understand. Despite their existence being generally accepted in society so long as they didn’t leave trails of bodies in their wake, there must have been some other reason nobody had ever shared with you.

“Seokjin, I really don’t know what to do here,” you whispered, an ounce of desperation and unease making its way into your tone. His expression softened at the sound, reaching for your hand. As much as he might have been trying to comfort you, the feeling of his hand unusually icy against yours only scared you more.

“I...” he trailed off, trying to figure out a good way to phrase this before settling on being straightforward. “...need blood.”

“Huh?” You furrowed your brow. “You literally have blood at home.”

“No, I, uhh...” he paused. “I need fresh blood to heal something like this.”

You froze. He needed fresh blood? He showed up here because he wanted... your blood?

“Aren’t there places you can go for blood?” you asked, tensing up at the notion of being bitten. It wasn’t that you were so totally opposed – it was no secret that people said it felt good. But you had never been bitten before, and you didn’t know what to think about Seokjin showing up here for that reason.

“I came here because I trust you the most,” he said, squeezing your hand. “Please. I promise I would never do this unless I had to. But please – you can say no, but tell me right now, because this hurts so much.”

Seeing his pained expression and feeling the way his fingers gripped yours like a lifeline, there was absolutely no way you were letting him back outside to roam the streets. You had no idea how this really happened to him, but despite their general acceptance, vampire hunters still existed. Like hell you were going to let easy bait walk right into their hands.

Especially not Seokjin.

“I – okay, I just – I don’t know why I’m nervous.” Biting was a pretty private, intimate thing. Most vampires drank bagged blood, with live donors only in carefully-controlled emergency clinics or heavily guarded clubs.

There was, of course, the cases of vampire-human relationships or hookups, but most people didn’t tend to share the ultra-specific details of their sex life.

Not that you had never attempted research on your own, but anecdotes you found on the internet varied so wildly that you had to wonder whether they were even telling the truth.

“I promise I can control myself. I would never put you in danger.”

“No, I know, it’s not that,” you mumbled. “Just... will it hurt?”

“Oh. No, it shouldn’t.”

“It shouldn’t? I don’t know how reassuring that is,” you chuckled nervously. You weren’t about to back out now, but you had at least hoped that he would have a straight answer for you.

He took a shaky breath, and a pang of guilt went through you for asking so many questions.

“The more attracted a vampire and donor are to each other, emotionally and physically, the better it’ll feel for you.”

“And you?”

He smirked, and curse him for making it look good despite his unfortunate... situation. “Me? I’m a vampire, it always feels good.”

Right. You might have facepalmed at the stupid question that left your own lips, but his voice momentarily distracted you from doing so.

“Anyway, I know my face isn’t a problem, so unless you secretly hate me or something, you’ll be okay,” he grinned.

“I’m so glad you can joke around right now,” you snorted derisively. “If I secretly hated you, you wouldn’t be here, would you?”

“Fair.”

“Anyway, I’ll do it, just,” you winced. “Don’t call me a donor. It feels weird.”

“Deal,” he said quickly, pulling you closer to him. “Thank you for this. Really, I owe you.”

You sighed. “I can’t just let you bleed out somewhere in the world, can I?” You allowed him to pull you close enough that you were hovering over him with your legs touching his, and you stood awkwardly in silence. “Uhh, what should I do?”

He patted his lap in invitation and your face warmed at the notion, but you straddled his legs before your brain had time to dwell on it.

He raised a hand to nudge the collar of your shirt away from your neck, his icy fingers and the sensation of his nails on your skin sending a shiver down your spine. When his thumb rubbed gently against the warmth of your neck, you had to suppress a gasp at the surprisingly intimate touch.

When you focused your gaze on his face, his eyes were not fixed on your own, but rather on the movements of his own hand, his pupils obscenely dilated. You’d never seen him look so lustful, so hungry.

Heat undeniably flared in your core (much without your consent), and it was wishful thinking to hope that Seokjin didn’t pick up on your quickening breath or rapid heartbeat.

“I...” he whispered, trailing off before he’d even begun.

“Hm?” you answered, already feeling dazed before his fangs had even touched you.

“I need you to pull the knife out.”

Well, that certainly broke you free of your trance.

“What!? Me? You – I – me?” you stuttered in a very flattering display of eloquence.

“I’m... not sure I have the strength right now,” he admitted ruefully, and you could tell that if it were really up to him, he would be doing it himself.

Just what have you gotten yourself into?

“Fine,” you murmured, raising both hands to grip firmly at the handle of the blade. “Just – don’t bite me until I put this knife down, okay? We don’t need any more... accidents.”

He failed to hold back a laugh at that, and you managed to crack a grin in response. “Okay, okay.”

To think he had you so utterly flustered and at his whim only moments ago.

“On the count of three,” you breathed, bracing yourself for something you certainly never expected anyone to ask of you. “One... two... three.”

When you reached three, you flinched your eyes shut, pulling as hard as you could in one quick burst, desperate to have this all over before it started.

The sensation was something odd and unspeakable, and you turned to toss the knife on the table behind you before you could register the uncomfortable warmth on your hands.

But the exact moment the sound of metal clattering on glass reached your ears, your head was being wrenched back by large hands, plump lips and hot breath coming into contact with your neck before you realized he’d moved.

You could barely suck in a gasp before a hand moved to grip tightly at your waist, and fangs sunk into your skin.

White-hot pain lanced through your body like electricity, and for a moment you were thinking you were done for. Seokjin was wrong, maybe he lied, and you definitely lacked the strength to push off a dying vampire determined to drink.

But just as you opened your mouth, whether to scream or cry or whatever else, you were immediately silenced, a breathy groan soon pulled from your throat.

The sudden onslaught of pleasure flowing through your limbs had you weak, your body falling limp into sensation immediately.

Clearly prepared for this outcome, Seokjin only pulled you closer to him, the hand on your waist supporting your body, a hand fisted near your scalp keeping your head back. The casual display of strength pulled a whimper from you, your body feeling hot all over.

Your eyelids fluttered closed, and you had to wonder when you had opened them at all, because you couldn’t recall processing a single thing visually since his fangs touched you.

You thought that would be as good as it gets, but the pleasure only kept building and building. It rendered you almost completely immobile, your world reduced to Seokjin at your neck, the broad planes of his body below yours, and the myriad of bliss flooding your veins. Heat was throbbing in your cunt, your nipples hard and almost pained as they rubbed against the roughness of your t-shirt.

You raised your hands that were sitting idle at your sides to fist into Seokjin’s shirt, giving no thought to the fact that he was gravely injured in that spot only minutes ago, fingers feeling almost numb and not registering the wetness that was there either.

“Ah - Jin,” you cried loudly as the bliss only built, tossing your head back to bare more of your neck.

He growled ferally into your skin, the sound going straight to your core. He pulled you closer still, enough that your breasts pressed harshly into his chest, your hips slotted together.

Sighing happily at the pressure right where you needed it most, you ground desperately against whatever you could feel against you. When you felt the undeniable hardness of Seokjin’s cock against your cunt and its delicious friction against your soaked-through panties, you moaned obscenely.

You felt rather than heard his gasp in response, his grip around you tightening even further, enough that you felt out of breath.

You whimpered at the restriction, his strength keeping you from grinding against him no matter how hard you tried.

You cursed him internally, but there was no way you were going to formulate words at this point, your mind completely lost to euphoric delirium.

It felt as though you were floating, head thrown back as sparks flew up your spine relentlessly.

Despite the lack of proper friction against your cunt, you could feel pressure building in your abdomen. You were close, so close, so undeniably close-

Fangs retracted from your neck, and the sudden loss was like ice water being thrown over your head. You shivered.

The tight grip on you loosened, Seokjin leaning into the back of the couch and groaning.

When you opened your eyes you almost fell over at the way the world spun, dizziness and blurry vision almost distracting you from the orgasm that seemed only moments away.

Almost.

Blinking furiously until you managed to fix your gaze onto Seokjin’s face, you sucked in a harsh breath at the sight before you.

Irises swimming with crimson, pupils blown out, chest heaving, dark hair mussed, lips painted red, fangs still visible past his parted lips – he looked the very picture of sin.

Fuck.

Though if you had a mirror, you would see that you looked just as ruined – eyes wanton and desperate, teeth gnawing into your bottom lip, dark bruises colouring your neck. If temptation were a person, it would be you, sitting in Seokjin’s lap with your soaked panties still pressed against the bulge in his pants.

As you stared at each other, it was as though time froze. Neither of you moved an inch, seemingly content to remain in some kind of intense, sensual staredown for the rest of time.

But you’d never claimed to be a patient person, and when you finally felt confident that your body was yours again, you acted.

If he wanted to push you away, he could have. His reflexes always seemed to almost predict the future, and you were positive that if he didn’t want this, he would have stopped you. He was never one to avoid voicing his discontent, even if it was masked as a self-deprecating joke. Some part of you deep down expected him to end this before it had even begun.

He didn’t.

Your lips met his in a depraved frenzy, too far gone to make any attempt at starting slow. It was rough, and it was messy, and it was desperate, and you loved it. His fangs scraped at your bottom lip and you gasped, fisting your hands into his hair as your body remembered how it felt the last time those fangs breached your skin. But as you ground your clit into the sizeable bulge in his pants again, he froze.

Just as you were about to pull away to see what caught his attention, he pushed you away first, hands firmly on your shoulders.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he gasped, and it very much looked like it took all of his willpower to break away.

“What’s wrong?” you asked weakly, your head still spinning, body absolutely overcome by lust. In fact, he was looking a bit blurry again with how fast he moved you, and it took several moments of rapid blinking before you met his very concerned gaze. Nothing ever escaped him, and you were sure that your semi-weak state was very obvious to him right now.

Not that it affected how much you wanted his touch, his cock.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Your brow furrowed. “I do know what I’m doing,” you said firmly – or at least, you tried, but it took far too much effort to wrap your tongue around the syllables, almost as if you were drunk.

“Y/N-”

“Why don’t you believe me?” you whined, this time sounding a bit more coherent. You tried to push toward him, but his hold was too strong. “You want it too, look at your face.”

He sighed, looking to the ceiling as though it held some answer on how to make this easier. “It’s not about whether I want it or not. You’re not thinking straight.”

“Jinnie,” you whimpered needily, reaching your hands toward the waistband of his pants. If he didn’t touch you soon, you swore that you would scream. “Please. I want it. I want you. I promise-”

He moved to snatch your hands before you could touch him, and your mouth clamped shut at the grip. His expression was almost pained for a moment before his eyes glazed over with a look that would have had you on your knees immediately.

His hand shot up to grip your chin firmly, ensuring that you couldn’t look away. Though, you didn’t think you could look away if you tried, drawn to the unspeakable darkness you found there, crimson still invading the rich brown.

“Why don’t you be a good girl and sleep for me?”

“Wh-what?” you choked out, but it was as though you’d lost control of your body, feeling as though you’d been awake for days without sleep. Your eyelids fluttered shut, but you forced them back open, groaning weakly when your vision fell upon Seokjin, his expression still dark and hungry.

You were about to open your mouth again, but something about his eyes was so captivating. Something about the red pulled you in, left you unable to think. Were his eyes always this beautiful? You wracked your brain, but came up blank. You wanted to open your mouth and ask him, but you couldn’t move a muscle. Even still, your face drew closer to his as though pulled in by a magnet.

His eyes roved over your face before meeting your gaze once more, and you missed the flash of sympathy that was present for only a moment. You were relieved when he looked at you again, fingers twitching with the urge to cup his face. You were content to look at him for the rest of time – if there was anything Seokjin had, it was time, right?

Attention focused on each other, he parted his lips, and you could have sworn your ears buzzed, desperate to hold on to every word.

“Sleep.”

Your vision went black.

--

You awoke to a hand scratching gently at your scalp, a great contrast to the relentless hammering of your head. You groaned, shoving your face further into your pillow, blocking out the light that was already worsening the ache of your skull, even with your eyes closed.

You were so comfy, so relaxed at the touch that you almost drifted right back to sleep.

Wait.

You lived alone.

Sitting up all in a rush, you gasped as the world spun. It only got worse when you forced your eyes open, a pained whine leaving your lips as even the limited light in the room only introduced more pain behind your eyes.

“Woah! It’s just me, it’s just me.” Seokjin’s voice came out in a rush, sturdy arms lowering you back to your pillow as he pulled the sheets up to shadow your face.

Right. Seokjin.

Your heartbeat calmed, recalling his arrival late last night. Though, what came next was all a blur you couldn’t bother trying to remember right now.

You heard him step away quickly, the sound of your curtains drawing completely closed having you let out a sigh of relief. His footsteps neared you again, his cool touch returning to stroke gently at your face, before moving to massage at the base of your skull.

His touch was so delicate it almost baffled you. You didn’t think he’d touch anyone like this, his displays of affection more inclined to loud compliments and playful roughhousing.

But you couldn’t deny that it felt incredible, your neck arching almost imperceptively as you leaned into his touch. The chill of his skin against yours sent a shiver through you, and you tried to ignore the fluttering in your chest.

“Are you cold?”

Blood rushed to your face at the observation, though you only gave a noncommittal noise in return. He didn’t need to know what was going on in your mind.

“My head hurts,” you mumbled quietly, a pout overtaking your lips. Seokjin had to force himself not to laugh at how cute you looked then.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he replied softly, lulling you back into a half-asleep state with the gentle motions of his hand on you.

You couldn’t tell how long it was before you opened your eyes again – it could have been 2 minutes or it could have been two hours. You couldn’t even tell whether you’d drifted off or not.

It was fortunately much darker than the first time you opened your eyes, much to the relief of your headache that had faded some, but was still thudding away.

What you didn’t expect, however, was to be greeted by the golden skin of Seokjin’s chest, the shadows of the room only making it look more unreal.

You blearily blinked several times before determining that yes, that was Seokjin half-naked and perched on a kitchen chair. You tried to get words out and failed, clearing your throat before trying again.

“Where are your clothes?”

He grinned. “A bit ruined, if you recall.”

Right.

At least his pants were still on. That was best for your sanity.

“Why does my head hurt so much?” you asked, luckily able to keep your eyes open now to look at him without the pain multiplying tenfold.

He winced, his chest aching at the pained expression on your face. “I’m sorry. That’s my fault.”

“What do you mean? Because you bit me?”

“No, not that.” He raised his free hand to scratch awkwardly at his ear.

“Huh? Why then?” All of this was so confusing. Maybe you should have done more research on vampires in your life, though you never expected to be in this sort of situation.

“I, uhh... compelled you.” He gnawed nervously at his lip, but rather than the lashing out he might have expected, you only looked at him in confusion.

“You what? Why?”

“What do you remember from last night?” he posed to you instead.

As much as you tried to recall, you couldn’t focus on anything with the state your head was in. You remembered him arriving at your house, a bit of stupid banter, getting on the couch, sitting in his lap. Then, he bit you.

Then what?

You honestly didn’t know, and you couldn’t help the fear that crept its way through you at that realization.

“You bit me...” you trailed off, looking away from his face and instead staring into the sheets near where your hands laid.

He hummed in affirmation, clearly urging you to continue.

“And then, I don’t really know,” you whispered, an edge of panic in your voice.

He sighed. “That’s what I thought. Don’t worry, it’ll come back.”

“Did something bad happen?” You tried to wrack your brain for possible scenarios where he would have had to compel you to do something, and you came up blank every time. What could you have done? Attacked him? Or did he go crazy at the taste of your blood and attack you? No, that didn’t make any sense – you were lying in bed feeling perfectly normal besides the headache.

What the hell happened?

“Nothing bad happened. I just... made you sleep before we did something stupid.”

It felt like the more he told you, the less you knew. Before you did something stupid? As in, did something stupid together?

There was something about the way he was choosing his words that led you to only one conclusion – in fact, he sounded an awful lot like Taehyung bemoaning his drunken hookups.

There was no way you almost fucked... right?

You’d have to know, right? There was no way you would have gone along with that... right?

It wasn’t as though you’d never had a spur of the moment one-night stand, but with Seokjin? There was absolutely no way you would’ve let that happen. A person had to protect their heart, after all.

“Stop overthinking right now, you’ll just make the pain worse.”

“I’m not,” you protested, though you didn’t know why you even tried lying. It was a bit hard to trick someone who was both a vampire and your friend.

“I can literally hear you freaking out. Please just try to rest, you’ll remember when the headache goes away.”

You sighed, trying to ease the tension in your body you didn’t even realize you had. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” he said confidently, his hand trailing away to rub firm circles into your shoulder instead.

“Mm.” You might have said something, but proper words evaded you at his touch. You tried focusing on him rather than the thrum of your skull, and you had to force yourself to keep your eyes open.

The expression on Seokjin’s face was one you hadn’t seen before. His eyes looked into yours with a softness that felt unfamiliar, a soft smile overtaking his lips when he saw how exhausted you looked.

“Sleep if you’re tired, princess,” he murmured, pulling the sheets up higher to cover you more. “Do you want another blanket?”

You could feel your heart speed up in your chest at the pet name and his tenderness, and you cursed the fact that there was no way to hide anything from him. At least he was polite enough not to tease you like he did your other friends.

You were so momentarily flustered that you almost forgot to respond, only nodding in response as you curled further into yourself. If you were any braver, maybe you would have asked him to join you instead.

It was only moments before he was tossing the throw from your living room over you, and it almost startled you. Sometimes you forgot how eerily fast he could move, considering he usually slowed himself to your pace whenever you were together.

You let out a contented sigh as you snuggled into the additional warmth, already feeling only half-conscious. You had just enough energy to let out a mumbled ‘thanks’ before you were drifting off again.

--

When you awoke this time, it felt as though you were an entirely new person. For starters, your head felt blissfully quiet. You were sure you would have cried if you woke up to just as much pain. There was only so much you could take in one 24-hour period. Seokjin had really done a number on your weekend, hadn’t he?

Speaking of Seokjin, he was nowhere to be seen in your bedroom. Though you were sure he was still somewhere. It wasn’t quite his style to disappear without saying goodbye, and you were even more doubtful that he would just leave after biting you.

Biting you.

At the thought, images flooded your mind faster than you could process them.

His fangs at your neck.

The relentless pleasure that invaded every fibre of your being.

Your lips on his.

Your brazen grinding against him.

And, your refusal to stop despite his words.

Holy fuck.

Was it possible to go back to when you didn’t remember and you could ignorantly lay in bed with Seokjin stroking your head?

You sat up only to bury your head in your hands, letting out a loud, embarrassed, frustrated groan while you were at it. If Seokjin didn’t know you were awake before, he surely did now. But merciful as ever, he allowed you to wallow in your mortification alone.

Was there anything worse than trying to mindlessly and basically drunkenly make your way into your friend’s pants and get denied? Your friend who you maybe found a little bit (extremely) attractive in every way, shape, and form?

Well, of course there were worse things, but to you in this moment, it certainly felt like a new low.

It took you a moment to find your footing once you’d hopped out of bed, but luckily you felt good as new otherwise. If you stayed in here alone too much longer you would certainly lose the minimal nerve you had and never leave.

In your rush to make use of your bravery, you remembered at the last moment that you were still in just your panties and shirt with no bra.

When you made it to your dresser, you paused at your reflection.

It was almost... startling how normal you looked. Though, what should you have looked like?

Baring your neck and squinting at the image in front of you, you had to scratch at your neck yourself to verify whether you were imagining it.

Aside from bruises that already seemed to be fading, there were no marks on your neck. Did it really heal that fast?

Maybe you should have been a bit embarrassed that you were so clueless on the whole subject. But in your defense, information on the internet didn’t seem to be very reliable, and vampires, for some reason, seemed to love their air of mystery. Based on the few you knew well, you were pretty sure they got a fair amount of amusement out of the misconceptions flying around.

Finally fully dressed for the first time since Seokjin showed up unannounced, you flung your door open with all the confidence you could muster.

Which is to say, you cracked your door open just enough for you to stick your head out. Much to your dismay, your eyes met Seokjin’s on the couch almost immediately, your face ducked toward the floor as you slinked your way over to the living room.

You stopped on the opposite side of the table, the sight of the stained knife there definitely not helping in your hope to distract yourself from what a fool you’d made of yourself the night before.

Out of curiosity, your gaze shot up to examine his abdomen.

You didn’t know why the perfectly smooth and unblemished muscle you found there was of any surprise to you after the night you’ve had, but it was. There wasn’t a single trace of any injury or blood on him – in fact, he looked much cleaner than when he got here. Did he use your shower?

A throat clearing had your eyes instinctively locking with his, an amused smile playing over his features that shot embarrassment through your veins. Of course the one time your ogling was purely scientific, he had to catch you and make fun of you.

You couldn’t stop your sight from drifting back down, the concept of there being absolutely no trace of anything happening to him boggling your mind.

“You really...” you trailed off, eyes darting back and forth across his bare skin one last time just to be sure. “You really healed, just like that?”

He only nodded, tapping the unbroken skin for emphasis. “You can heal me, I can heal you. Convenient, isn’t it?”

You nodded back in response, silence taking over the room quickly. You didn’t know what you were supposed to do to fill it. You’ve never experienced an awkward silence with Seokjin before, his charming nature always keeping everyone around him comfortable. This sort of energy in the room with him... it was unsettling.

“Y/N,” Seokjin called out once the silence went on a moment too long for his liking. “Can you come sit with me?”

He scooted over to make plenty of room for you, but you felt almost frozen in place. Did he really want your company after you’d pretty much jumped him? Was he sitting you down so he could let you down easy, tell you that this has been real, but he refused to associate with someone with so little self-control?

You must have stood there staring for longer than you thought, because an unreadable expression crossed his face before he spoke up again.

“Are you scared of me?”

Huh?

“No!” you blurted out, your volume clearly surprising him. “Well, a little?”

“Oh.” If you weren’t paying such close attention to him, you would have missed the hurt that flashed in his eyes. But you didn’t.

“Wait, that’s not what I meant,” you said hurriedly. You wanted to smack yourself for being such a blatant mess. “I’m just... scared,” you finished weakly.

His gaze softened immediately, and he had to restrain himself from hopping over the table between you to pull you into his arms. You looked like you were trying to shrink into yourself, your shoulders pulled towards your chest, hands wringing nervously in front of you.

“Did you think I would be upset?” he asked softly. He leaned forward, earnest expression on his face.

That was an understatement. You could live with “drunkenly” coming onto someone, but you didn’t know what you would do if it ended up costing you your friendship. Maybe you were being overly dramatic, but you never claimed to be the most rational person.

You nodded slowly, your vision dropping to stare at the floor, hands wrapped around your middle, squeezing as you struggled to maintain composure. You didn’t know why your heart was beating a mile a minute, your palms uncomfortably sweaty. You usually didn’t feel this level of fear when confronting a mistake that, to a normal person, shouldn’t be such an obscenely big deal as you were making it. But Seokjin was certainly not a normal person to you, and any situation that lowered his opinion of you was one you would do anything to avoid.

“Hey.” The sudden gentle hand on your chin made you squeak, and you would have stumbled in your rush to step backward if not for the steadying hand on your shoulder.

You always seemed to forget that he could move so quickly and silently. Your heart might stop at this rate if he wasn’t careful.

His thumb stroked at your jaw as if he hadn’t just seen you nearly fall flat on your ass, softly tapping under your chin until you met his gaze.

“I promise I’m the furthest thing from mad right now. Nothing is even your fault, okay?”

“But-”

“No buts. Let’s talk, but I’m not upset. Okay?” he urged, eyes not leaving yours until you nodded. The smile he gave in return made you feel warm, the tenderness in his gaze doing things to your heart, the hint of a smile ghosting your lips.

The hand on your shoulder nudged you toward him, the other opening wide to welcome you into a hug.

You went easily, your arms wrapping around his bare waist as you tucked your face into his chest. The relief you felt at his reassurance was immense, and you melted into his touch. It was almost strange how well you fit together.

“Let’s sit,” he said, kind yet firm. He led you over to the couch, settling himself down into the spot where he seemed to have spent much of the past day in.

You didn’t know what possessed you to straddle his lap in the way you did last night. Maybe it was the way he looked at you warmly without judgment, or the way your body craved his nearness after getting a taste of his touch. But whatever it was, he didn’t push you away – rather, he reached for your hands, interlacing his fingers with your own.

This position wasn’t the most “innocent” to begin with, but with the memories of last night rushing through your head, of his teeth at your neck and the pleasure you felt, your breath sped up.

With the expression on Seokjin’s face, you were sure he must have been thinking the same thing, hungry eyes flickering from your lips back up to your waiting gaze. Unlike you, however, he didn’t seem at all embarrassed.

“Are you confused?” he asked suddenly.

Caught off guard by the sudden question, your brows furrowed. Though you didn’t know just exactly what he was referring to, what will all that happened, but your answer was still the same regardless.

You nodded hesitantly, but he didn’t speak, your puzzled expression telling him that you were still working things out in your head. The silence stretched on until you finally spoke up again.

“You didn’t tell me it would be like... that.” Euphoric. Dreamlike. Intense. No matter what word you used, it still didn’t feel enough to encompass what you experienced the night before. You’d never experienced white-hot physical and even emotional pleasure like that, not in all your years of life.

You dropped your gaze down to your joined hands, watching the way he fiddled with your fingers as he pondered his next words. It felt unusual to have a conversation with him in this way – you both tended to be people who said what they thought without thinking on it too much, with friends at least. But it was reassuring to see him so serious, to see that he really did care.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was a possibility,” he finally said. He sounded confident in his words, but you found it odd that he was fidgeting so much. He hadn’t stopped moving his hands since taking hold of yours, and even his legs were starting to shift beneath yours. Why did he seem so nervous?

“What does that mean?”

“Is there anything you want to tell me?” he responded instead, leaving you staring at him, baffled.

“Huh?” you replied, immediately defensive.

You didn’t have the smallest idea of what that question meant, but he fixed his gaze on you inquisitively. Did he think you had some big secret or something? Sure, he didn’t know everything about your life, but there was nothing so exceptional about you that not mentioning it would be some sort of betrayal.

“Uhh, never mind.”

“What do you mean, never mind? You can’t just ask me something like then and then say that,” you huffed, lips forming a thin line.

“Sorry I just thought – do you remember what I told you when you asked if it would hurt?”

You swore he was going to give you whiplash with his questions, but at least this one was easy to answer.

“Sure, you said the closer two people are the better it feels. Something like that, right?”

“Right, so, uhh, it wouldn’t normally feel that intense, you know?”

The fact that he definitely seemed to know exactly what was going on and kept beating around the bush was more than a little bit frustrating. Considering he was normally as straightforward as a person could get, though, you opted to simple stare expectantly at him. But if he didn’t cut to the point in approximately 20 seconds, your annoyance would just about outweigh your concern.

“It shouldn’t feel that way unless you liked me back,” he finally said, all in one breath.

You could only blink blankly as you processed his words, but when it clicked, you went from mildly annoyed to incredibly flustered all in the same second.

“HUH?! Wait, back?” You could almost feel your headache coming back with how many directions this conversation has taken in less than 15 minutes. Your hands were starting to feel disgustingly clammy in his, but neither of you moved to separate them.

“I know this is so sudden, and I didn’t expect to be outed like this either and it doesn’t have to mean anything, like I know I like you a lot, like a lot a lot, but I don’t really know how much you feel about me or if it’s even that significant or just a passing attraction because either is possible and I’m really sorry if this made everything awkward-”

His ridiculously fast words were cut off by your newly-free hand clamping down over his mouth, plump lips tickling your skin as he stared at you, wide-eyed. You were sure if you tried this any other time he would (playfully) smack you, but he only stared.

“Really?” you whispered. To be completely honest, you never realistically considered a relationship, or even just a hook-up with Seokjin. You found him wholly and insanely attractive, but didn’t everyone? And it wasn’t that he was a vampire and you were a human – it was laughable to believe that you’d think that long-term anyway.

No, you just never saw him being that into you. He was almost ethereally beautiful, got along well with everyone, and had one of the most charming personalities you’d ever seen. His physique wasn’t even something that needed to be mentioned. With all that considered, all you ever cared to do was admire him from afar, content to have him as a close friend. It wasn’t as though he’d ever sent you hints that he wanted otherwise, either.

So to hear that your stupid little harmless crush could actually amount to anything?

You thought things couldn’t get any more unexpected.

When he nodded his confirmation, you couldn’t keep the grin from overtaking your face.

The giddiness clear on your face and the adorable sparkle in your eye sent unquantifiable relief through him, and the second you removed your hand, he opened his mouth to speak.

But somehow you were quicker than him, your lips meeting his before a single syllable could be uttered.

Unlike last night, you didn’t kiss him like you wanted to devour him, or like your body would light on fire if you couldn’t get as close as possible. This was calmer, slower, but it didn’t take long for that to change.

His fangs weren’t out this time, but that didn’t change the fact that you gasped as soon as his teeth dug into your bottom lip. Sparks shot up your spine at the sensation, your mind unable to stop thinking about what you felt the last time you were in this same position. How good it felt to be helpless to the pleasure battering down on you, held in place by strong hands and strong arms.

He’d probably ruined teeth for you for the rest of your life.

You let him do whatever he wanted, and he groaned into your mouth when you tangled your hands in his hair. Hands gripped your ass tightly and squeezed, pulling you in closer to him.

His hands didn’t even wander much further than that, but heat flared in your core regardless. When he raised his hips to brush the bulge in his pants against your aching centre, you could only moan and grind down onto him.

The pressure against your clit through the thin material of your shorts cut off every possible train of thought, and you were pretty sure that after all this, these panties would never recover.

You felt goosebumps raise on your flesh when a hand rose, nails scraping against your scalp. You arched your neck back ever-so-slightly, and Seokjin didn’t miss a beat in detaching from your lips to mouth at the skin above your collarbone instead.

He wasn’t gentle in the way he sucked bruises into your skin, a firm hand holding your head in place while the other held your thigh, his confined length rubbing languidly into your core. You whined and tightened your grip in his hair at the brush of teeth against skin, but much to your displeasure, he pulled away from you before clothes even started coming off.

“Wait.”

“Whyyyy?” you whined petulantly. Was he really going to do this to you again? You knew he was definitely in the right to stop things last night, but there was only so much you could take.

He bit back a smirk at your neediness, thumbing gently at your protruding bottom lip as he resisted the urge to tease you for your cuteness. This soft and pouty side of you was new to him, and he swore something fluttered in his chest.

“You should eat something, princess.”

“Huh?” you blinked, confused. You were about to protest when he spoke up again.

“When’s the last time you ate?”

“Uhh... dinner last night? Maybe 7? 8?”

He leaned in toward you, but rather than kiss you again, he reached for the table behind you. You craned your neck to see what he was doing, and frowned when he grabbed for his phone. Your bewilderment at what he was doing didn’t last long, however, his phone screen displaying the time for you in large, white font.

5:32 pm.

“Holy shit, I slept for that long?” You stared at him wide-eyed. No wonder he took a shower and everything. You were surprised he was sat there waiting for you for all those hours without complaint.

He looked a bit sheepish, tossing his phone to the side and leaning back into the couch, tugging you with him comfortably. At this point the fire you felt had been dimmed, but that didn’t mean you weren’t still a bit irritated at being denied twice in a row.

“Ah, that would be my fault... the compulsion really gave you hell,” he winced, stroking gently at your cheek with the back of his fingers.

“It’s fine, I feel okay. Wasn’t that my fault anyway?” Your face felt hot thinking back to your behaviour and the lack of restraint you showed, hand rubbing nervously at the back of your neck.

“Of course not,” he assured quickly. “It’s not exactly something easy to resist. But if you regret it, I’m really sor-”

“I don’t regret it!” you cut him off, immediately wanting to pinch yourself for being so loud. And hasty. And embarrassing. And horny. “I’m... I’m happy right now.” Your volume seemed to die as confidence left you, but Seokjin only beamed.

“I’m happy too,” he said simply, tone laced with sincerity. “But you need to eat, I can practically hear your intestines screaming from here.”

“What?!” Strange tension successfully killed, your hands covered your abdomen instinctively as though you could shield yourself from his vampire ears. “Can you actually?”

He let you stare at him in alarm for only a few seconds before he couldn’t hold his giggles back anymore.

“Not really, but you should have seen your face. Why are you so worried about it?”

You huffed, shoulders deflating at his teasing. “I don’t know! That has to be a breach of privacy or something. Who gave you the right to listen to my intestines?”

“I can already hear your heart just fine, would it really matter so much?”

The smile dropped from his lips within a second, and the sudden intensity in his gaze had you frozen. The energy in the room shifted in an instant, and you were at a complete loss for words.

You thought he was going in for a kiss when he leaned closer, but instead his nose went to nuzzle at your neck, trailing up into your hairline. The warm air he exhaled into your ear made you shiver, pressing yourself ever so closer to his bare chest. You didn’t know how he managed to work you up within seconds, but you felt so hot despite his cool touch, baring your neck for him.

“I can hear the way your heart speeds up when I get close...” he whispered, mouthing lazily at your soft skin before sucking harshly. Unsure of what to do with yourself, your nails dug into his biceps, breath unsteady.

“I can hear the way the blood rushes through your veins, the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.” A hand rose to palm at your breast, bare beneath the worn cotton of your shirt. You arched your back as he harshly rolled a hard nipple between his fingers.

“I can hear the way you lose your breath, your tiny little gasps...” You couldn’t hide the way you twitched when sharp fangs scraped against your skin, a whimper nearly making its way from your throat. “Just like that.”

“And just so you know...” His voice was like honey, warm and smooth and sweet, and you hung onto his every word. “I can hear the way your stomach is growling right now too.”

The noise you let out that moment was inhumane, somewhere between a squeak and a scream of disbelief.

He broke away from you with a blaring laugh, shoulders bouncing beneath your grip.

You moved to slap at his chest, but your hand was caught easily, and his laughter only continued. God, you were going to kill this man. Again.

Your face felt obscenely hot, and you could feel a pout overtaking your lips at the sight of him still giggling away in front of you.

“Jinnie,” you whined, choosing to display your discontent by breaking free of his grip and hopping up out of his lap.

Which was definitely not the correct choice, because you swore you could feel the rush of blood through your ears before a strong sense of vertigo washed over you, groan escaping your lips. You were sure you would have fallen face first into the floor if not for Seokjin’s steadying.

“Woah, do you feel okay? This is why I told you to eat,” he sighed, maneuvering you to lay down comfortably on the couch, sticking pillows under your head. “Just stay here and I’ll make food, okay?”

“No, wait, I can make it-”

As you attempted to push back up off the couch, he only gently pushed down with a quiet ‘tsk’ and shake of his head. As you opened your mouth to further protest, he leaned in close, the softness of his lips brushing against the shell of your ear.

“Be a good girl and let me take care of you, hm?”

Your breath hitched at his sudden words, only able to stare wide-eyed when he pulled away from you enough to take in your face. The look in his eyes could only be described as devious – amused yet hardened, and you didn’t know if you were imagining the crimson bleeding into the brown of his irises.

“There goes that heartbeat again,” he murmured as though sharing a secret, the tender motion of his hand on your cheek in stark contrast to the want etched into his expression. “You’re going to be so much fun to ruin.”

--

For someone who didn’t really need to eat food to survive (though you’d been told time and time again that eating was fun), Seokjin made one hell of a good cook. Granted, egg fried rice wasn’t the most difficult nor time-consuming dish to make, but that didn’t make it any less tasty. In fact, you were grateful for such a simple and light dish, because you learned quite quickly that after an entire day without food, rushing to eat only brought nausea and discomfort.

Leaning against the armrest of the couch, the inside of your bowl was all you could see with how close you were holding it to your face. In your defence, though, you were greatly disinterested in the possibility of needing to clean a stain from your cushions.

As you took your time eating, Seokjin opted to tidy up a bit, dishes clanging in the kitchen before you heard him rearranging his shoes at the front door.

Thankfully, his efforts included removing the knife from your table and putting it god-knows-where, but you were just glad it was out of your line of sight. Maybe he thought that it was better for your appetite to remove the thing you’d literally pulled out of him.

You tried not to let your mind linger on just how... strange that felt.

He somehow managed to clean up before you’d even finished eating, the couch dipping beside you as he settled into his spot. Vampire speed truly was startling.

If you didn’t have your entire field of vision blocked, you might have noticed Seokjin’s fond look as you ate your meal at what could only be described as a forced snail’s pace. He had to suppress a chuckle at how antsy you seemed to be, clearly wanting to just shovel food into your mouth, but knowing you would only suffer for it. How did one person manage to be so cute and yet so seductive?

When you were done, you set the bowl down on the table with a satisfied sigh, jumping in surprise when a glass of water was placed into your newly-emptied hands almost immediately.

“Thanks,” you smiled shyly, face feeling hot at his attentiveness. You didn’t know how to react at having a man like Kim Seokjin doting on you. It was almost – no, it was – unbelievable, and your poor heart didn’t know how to act. It was one thing to have him kiss you like he was going to devour you, and another to be this sweet and this caring and this soft.

Setting the empty glass next to your empty bowl, you leaned back, unsure of what to do with yourself now that you were entirely unoccupied. Seokjin’s presence beside you made you increasingly aware of the awkward shifting of your hands and your uneasy breathing. He wasn’t that close to you and yet you could smell him – you didn’t know how he managed to make your floral scented shampoo smell sexy.

“Why are you so nervous?” he said lowly, nudging you into his side and tossing an arm around your shoulders. It was a simple move, and yet all you could think was how big he was, how easily he completely enveloped you in his hold.

“I-I’m not nervous,” you stuttered, and you could feel the blood rush to your face. You wondered if he could hear that, too.

A hand lifted your face in his direction, and you were met with an expression that very clearly read ‘are you really going to try lying to a vampire?’

“I don’t know why I’m nervous,” you amended, biting into your lower lip. His gaze followed the motion, eyes clouding over.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked softly, his thumb raising to release your lip from your teeth, the movement intimate enough to set your stomach aflutter.

“Are we asking that now?” you responded smartly, grinning when Seokjin only huffed a laugh.

“Let me be clearer then,” he said lowly, the abrupt commanding tone having you sit up straighter. “Can I kiss you, strip you, take you to bed, taste that sweet pussy on my tongue, and then fuck you?”

Heat flared in you at the words, your fingernails scratching against his chest before remembering he wasn’t wearing a shirt for you to yank him closer. You settled for making a beeline for his mouth, but a quick movement to grip your hair at the scalp kept you from getting close enough.

“Ah, ah,” he tutted, holding you still as he nuzzled his nose against your neck, humming in content when he brushed right against the spot he bit you yesterday. “Tell me yes or no, princess.”

You nodded with what freedom you had left – not much, with how tight his hold on you was, tiny pricks of pain sending sparks up and down your spine. His other hand pulled you closer to him, your hips halfway straddling him as he mouthed at your neck, acting as though he hadn’t noticed your response. It was clear that he was waiting for you to say something.

“Yes,” you said quietly, nearly forgetting what the question was from the way he was sucking softly at your neck. At the scrape of fangs against your skin, you only pushed back against the hand in your hair, exposing more of your neck with a soft sigh.

“You can’t stop thinking about it, can you?” he taunted, pulling you fully on top of him, his hard cock right against your core, and you wished that clothing wasn’t separating you.

He pressed those fangs against the soft skin below your ear, hard enough that the pain had you wincing, but not enough to break skin.

He was teasing you, and you were putty in his hands.

“I can’t stop thinking about it either,” he breathed, tonguing lazily over the stinging marks he left behind. You could only whimper and squirm in his hold, hands tangling in his silken hair. You didn’t know whether you wanted to pull him away or push him closer.

“To have you moaning in rapture right in my lap, so desperate for my cock, the taste of you on my lips...” His voice was so low you could barely hear it, barely process it, but the absolutely lust in his voice only spurred new waves of arousal in you. “Hearing you beg like that, fuck-”

He cut himself off with a sinful moan as he shifted his hips to rub himself right against your cunt, and you shuddered in response.

“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone so bad,” he sighed, breathing unsteady as he used his grip on you to rock you in time to his movements. “I’ve never had such a test of self-control. Maybe I should punish you.”

This voice was teasing, but your reaction was real, and there was no way to hide the way a moan escaped or the way your nails dug crescents into Seokjin’s smooth skin.

“Oh, you like that, do you?” he chuckled darkly as he leaned his head back into the couch, the grip in your hair tightening even more. A helpless whine left your lips, and you became uncomfortably aware of the way your panties were sticking to your folds.

“Tell me, do you think I should punish you?” he asked, his honeyed voice lulling you into a state you couldn’t even begin to explain with words.

You tried nodding again, hissing at the flash of pain when you tried move your head from his grip.

“Princess, haven’t you learned to use your words? I think I’ll bend you over my knee right here. What do you think about that?”

“Please,” you gasped without hesitation, freezing when you fluttered your eyelids open to meet his gaze.

If you weren’t sure whether his eyes were laced with red before, it was evident now. It only made him all the more enticing, and your vision fell down to his mouth instinctively when he ran his tongue over his teeth. A pang of heat went through you when his fangs bit into his lip, and before you were thinking about it, a hand rose to brush against his mouth.

Your thumb grazed a fang almost reverently, and Seokjin only watched on fondly at the wonderment on your face. You supposed it might have been strange to touch your friend’s – boyfriend’s? – teeth like this, but you had always been curious. Hell, you hadn’t even seen fangs in person before last night. As far as you knew, they only extended when feeding or when feeling strong emotions, and neither tended to be something you could casually see on the street.

You bit at your lip when sharpness pushed into the pad of your finger, but his next words broke you free of your reverie.

“Bend over then.”

He released you from his grip dizzyingly fast, leaning back to watch you.

You were surprised at yourself with how quickly you situated your ass over his lap, the self-consciousness you would’ve expected to be feeling wholly absent. Seokjin was just that captivating.

You wiggled your way into a comfortable position, sticking a cushion under your head. Now that your ass was sticking out right into his view, you felt more vulnerable than ever, knowing that his eyes and ears were trained on your every movement and reaction.

Hands pushed your long shirt up over your hips, fingers trailing lightly over the globes of your ass, separated only by the thin fabric of your shorts. But not for long.

Fingers reached under your waistband and tugged down before you could react, yanking your shorts and panties down in one go.

With air suddenly hitting your sodden pussy, you could feel heat rise to your face at how exposed you found yourself. But any thought of shifting and hiding was erased when you heard Seokjin’s loud groan.

“Shit, you’re soaked, smell so fucking good,” he hissed, fingers reaching to push messily through your folds.

You couldn’t see him putting his fingers in his mouth, but the depraved moan he let out afterward had you squirming in his lap.

After your shorts and panties were pushed onto the floor, a large hand ran tenderly over the skin of your ass, fingers digging in slightly.

“Is ten on each side too much for you?” he asked. There was no hint of teasing in his tone, his voice firm. He continued his soft stroking as he waiting for an answer.

“Uhh... I don’t really know?” you responded meekly. Sure, you had been spanked before, but it was never this... structured? To be honest, you didn’t really know what “a lot” would be in terms of numbers.

“It’s okay,” he soothed. “We’ll work our way up and see how it feels. Is that okay?”

You nodded at first, but quickly let out an ‘okay’ when you remembered how firm he was on a proper response.

“This means I’m trusting you to be honest and tell me to stop if it’s too much. I want you to feel good.”

“Okay.”

You released tension you didn’t realize you’d had at his reassurances, allowing your limbs to loosen as you adjusted to lay more comfortably. The sensation of his hands on you made you feel safe and secure, and you knew for a fact that for all his hard words and cold stares, he was still always searching for your approval.

You twitched in surprise as a few light swats came down on each cheek, almost as though he was testing the motion. But after being briefly taken off guard, you relaxed under his hands, body already warming up at each light blow. You barely felt anything aside from a faint sting, but you could already feel your cunt throbbing, anticipation having you dig your nails into the cushion beneath you.

But even despite his preparation, the first real blow had you gasping. Not because it was overly painful – in fact, those pinpricks of pain were laced with pleasure, radiating outward from where his palm had firmly struck you. No, it was more that with the control and precision he showed, another realization struck you at that moment.

He really knew what he was doing.

This wasn’t just a college boyfriend who wanted to experiment with things he saw in porn, or a random bar hookup who thought he was more than he was.

No, Seokjin was the epitome of calculated control, had you eating out of the palm of his hand with one simple word. One look and you were his.

And fuck, if that didn’t make you melt.

You sighed happily as a hit came down on your other asscheek, another wave of arousal soaking your cunt.

“Do you want it harder?” he asked, voice low. The tone felt almost like a personal attack, honeyed words piercing your eardrums.

“Okay,” you whispered.

“Yes or no. Don’t just agree to do things because I suggest it,” he scolded, punishing you with a swat to your upper thigh that stung sharper than his previous blows.

“Yes, I want it.”

“Hm,” he hummed, nails scratching over your skin, just barely missing the heat of your core. “I think I would be more convinced if you begged.”

As much as most of your embarrassment had already faded, what with being bent over Seokjin’s lap, it took so much more to put your desires verbally out into the world. But the throbbing in your cunt was fierce, and the warmth from his previous strikes was already fading. And you wanted more.

“Please,” you whined weakly before taking a deep breath to amp yourself up. “Please, Jinnie, I want it harder.”

You barely had time to process the tiny chuckle he let out before his palm came down on you again, the additional force behind it making you shiver despite the warmth that spread through you.

You didn’t know exactly how many more times his hand struck your ass, but your quiet moans were interrupted by his voice once again.

“Harder?”

As much as you felt good, it still wasn’t enough. The sting wasn’t enough, the heat wasn’t enough. You wanted more, needed more.

“Yes, please.”

“Mm, there you go. Maybe I should do this more often if you’re going to be such a good girl for me after.”

He punctuated his statement with a harsh blow to your ass, the strength of it forcing a moan from your lungs. A hand stroked tenderly over where it had struck, before doing the same to the other cheek. You whimpered as you felt another gush of wetness spill from your cunt, squirming as another strike rained down.

Yes, this is what you wanted.

The feeling was heady, your mouth open and allowing all the sounds to spill from your lips. Every cell in your body felt hot, from your fingertips down to your toes. You were certain you must have been making a mess of his lap with how wet you were.

You didn’t realize how heavily you were breathing until the smacks stopped, fingers gently kneading at the raw skin instead. Your skin felt almost burned, but more than anything, you needed those hands to slip between your legs. Now that there was nothing else to distract you, your neglected pussy was desperate for something, anything.

“How are you?” he asked several moments later.

His continued soothing touch dampened the fire of your skin before long, but that only furthered your arousal, shifting in his lap in search of some relief. You itched for some pressure on your clit, but it wasn’t possible in the position he had you in.

“Good,” you breathed, pressing back into his touch.

“Good.” He let his fingers creep ever-so-closer to where you needed him most, rubbing against where your wetness had spread, just beside your outer folds. “I think you deserve a reward. What do you think?”

“Please,” you whined immediately, but luckily, he didn’t seem interested in making you wait any longer. Maybe it was the fact that he had been waiting just as long, or that he was just tired of your constant fidgeting in his lap.

A finger slid in without resistant – unsurprisingly, what with the way you could feel the air hitting your slick skin. Your walls clamped down on the intrusion immediately, and another finger slid down to rub tiny circles onto your clit.

You whined in relief, but Seokjin unfortunately held you down to keep you from thrusting back onto his hand.

“So fucking wet,” he murmured, slipping another finger in when he felt how easily you took the first.

As much as one didn’t feel like enough, two of his fingers was so much bigger than your own. The stretch had you gasping, the friction against your walls and clit making you moan out.

As he scissored his fingers inside of you, the slight burn had you hissing, though the constant ministrations on your clit made sure the pain never became your focus.

“Mm, are you sure you can take my cock?” he mused, smirking at the way you were already whimpering, increasing the pace of his thrusts as your moans got more frequent.

“I can!” you blurted out, sounding almost offended. He had to stifle a laugh. You had always been fun to rile up, and sex was no exception.

“Hm, okay,” he hummed, amusement colouring his tone. You almost called him out on it before his fingers pulled out of you abruptly.

“Jin-”

Before you could question him, beg him to come back, hold him against you – three fingers started easing their way inside of you.

You tensed up almost immediately at the harsher burn at your entrance, the stiffness of your body not doing you much of a favour. He paused all movement at your struggle.

“Relax. I’ll take care of you, okay?”

His words had you feeling more at ease, a reminder that he was here, he wanted you to feel good, and he only kept on making that fact clear.

You made a noise of agreement, forcing your muscles to relax despite how much they wanted to clamp down. You wanted his cock, after all. You could take his fingers.

He took his time with you, slowly easing his fingers in and scissoring them apart, all the while his other hand resting beneath your abdomen, rubbing into your clit. You keened under his continuous murmured praise, moaning as he began to thrust his fingers.

“That’s it,” he whispered, his own breaths beginning to get heavy as he watched you twitch and whine at his hand.

Once the discomfort passed, your pleasure crested ridiculously fast with how long you’ve been waiting to be touched, filled. He stretched you open so wide, and you clenched around his digits at the thought of those fingers being his cock instead.

You were easily giving yourself away with how your walls were clamping down more and more, heavier gasps leaving you. The stroking at your clit wasn’t getting any slower, and soon enough you felt like you were going to snap.

“Gonna come all over my fingers, princess?” he asked roughly, his voice showing an uncharacteristic lack of control as he spread his fingers wide again.

“Please,” you said feebly, all other words having left your available vocabulary long ago. “Please.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give it to you, baby.” The crook of his fingers took you by surprise, and with one, two, strokes against that spongy spot within you, you were gone.

Your orgasm stole the breath from your lungs, your legs going weak as waves of bliss hit you everywhere at once. His hands on you didn’t stop their motions, only sending new waves up your spine, shivers wracking your body as you grasped the closest object tightly – your nails digging into the cushion beneath you.

He only stopped when you started to squirm away as pain took over the pleasure, a whimper escaping as his fingers were removed.

If you thought you were getting a moment to breathe, you were wrong.

“Fuck, you’re going to be the death of me,” he growled.

Before you could blink, you were on your back, his lips attacking yours in a frenzy.

The grip he had on your thigh was sure to bruise, his still-clothed cock rocking into your sensitive pussy as he consumed your every thought, every desire.

You could taste yourself on his tongue, the realization only building the fire that had already been relit within you.

You allowed him to pull the shirt from your body, your skin left completely bare beneath his.

His gaze was somewhere between reverent and demonic, and he looked almost ready to pounce back on you before he paused.

“Bed?” His voice sounded strained, and you thought briefly back to what he said about how much self-control the past day has required from him. You glanced down at the bulge in his pants, and you had to keep yourself from grabbing at it, eager to give him his pleasure the same way he’d done for you.

“Okay.”

You didn’t think your lips formed the second syllable before you were being scooped up, your arms looping around his neck to steady yourself from the abrupt movement.

The walk to the bedroom was somewhat of a blur, your stomach lurching at the speed with which he moved. You’d known the man was quick, but experiencing it firsthand was partly unsettling, and partly... strangely sexy.

Your back hit the sheets with unexpected force, your body bouncing back up from the impact. You’d never considered strength to be such a significant turn-on, but combined with everything else about him, it seemed to make Seokjin the most dangerously attractive man you’ve ever encountered.

You thought you were about to get fucked into the mattress – the hunger in Seokjin’s stare only cementing the thought – but it seemed that he had other ideas.

“Jin-”

You were about to beg him to touch you, fuck you, do literally anything – when his hands wrapped around your ankles, spreading your legs apart enough that you could begin to feel the strain in your thighs.

The way he was gazing at your fully exposed core almost made you self-conscious before you took in the way his breathing was heavier than you’d ever seen it, the crimson completely having taken over the brown of his irises.

“I have – I have to taste you,” he groaned.

He sprung on you in an instant, plush lips wrapping around your clit and sucking before his tongue moved down to lap at your arousal.

While you were still a bit sensitive from your last orgasm, the discomfort was nothing in comparison to the bliss lighting up your nerves. You were a slave to pleasure under his tongue, hands holding you down as you attempted to buck up into him instinctively.

His tongue attacked you like a man starved, his unabashed moans into your heat leaving you gasping.

But as much as he was successfully making you lose your mind, you didn’t want to cum like this.

“Jin, fuck-” you whimpered, body aching to grind up into his face despite your next words.

He only hummed into your pussy at your noises, motions not pausing whatsoever.

“Fuck me, please,” you begged, a hand winding into his hair in an attempt to pull him off you.

You almost thought he was pretending not to hear you when he didn’t react straightaway, but not long after, he pulled off of you.

He didn’t even say a word in response, only shucking off his pants and boxers with a heaving chest.

You swore your pussy throbbed when you saw his cock, only moreso when he fisted it with a hiss, lips that were glistening with your arousal widening to reveal sharp white fangs.

“I have to be inside you right fucking now,” he snarled, dragging your body down by the thighs to meet him where he knelt.

You felt almost feverish, your hands reaching to yank Seokjin by the shoulders, the need to be closer taking over your every thought.

He kissed you frantically as the head of his cock rubbed against your clit, your back arching up into him, his closeness still not close enough for you.

You were so close to pleading with him not to draw this out, but he settled himself against your entrance, his other arm supporting himself by your head. When he started to push in, you could only whimper.

You knew he was big when he grasped himself in his hand only moments before, but for all his preparation, it felt like you were being split open.

You clung onto his biceps as he rocked himself forward at a snail’s pace, nails digging into his skin as you clamped down on him reflexively. It burned, but you wanted it so bad. As much as the discomfort was intense, you could feel yourself getting wetter by the second, unable to stop panting into Seokjin’s mouth.

You whined as he nibbled at your bottom lip, one of his hands rubbing soothing circles into your thigh, the other in your hair. But when you felt fangs puncture your lip ever-so-slightly before he sucked it into his mouth, all breath was stolen from you.

It was only the smallest fraction of the pleasure you felt the night before, but that was enough to have your head thrown back, hips raising to meet Seokjin’s.

It almost seemed that he wasn’t expecting you to thrust upward onto him, a strangled groan leaving his throat as you shoved more of him inside you.

The stretch remained overwhelming, but the pain felt like a distant memory, new arousal making the glide smoother.

“Good?” he gasped against your collarbone, hot breaths hitting your skin as his hair brushed against your face. The arm holding him up was trembling at your side, the fingers on your thigh tightening their hold as if to physically hold himself together.

Part of you just wanted him to lose control.

“So good,” you moaned, shoving your hips up again, volume increasing exponentially when he allowed you to push him in to the hilt.

“Fuck,” he growled, arm moving to form a bruising grip on your other thigh, his chest moving away from yours. “Are you that desperate for it?”

The question was accompanied by a sharp snap of his hips that sent you reeling, too breathless for any sound to escape.

He spread your thighs apart even further, a hand beneath your left knee lifting your leg towards his chest.

The next quick thrust hit you even harder at that angle, a choked-out whine escaping you. Your fingers dug into the sheets as he ground himself into you, your pussy feeling split so overwhelmingly wide.

You were wound up so tight, you thought you were going to go crazy. It was impossible to think straight when he only did quick snaps of his hips at random intervals. You didn’t think you’d ever been hornier than this moment, and you swore you could feel the arousal leaking from your cunt.

You could see sparks of light behind your eyelids with how tightly you had them shut. You bit down hard on your bottom lip, the flesh still tender from Seokjin’s bite.

His thrusts became slow and deep, tiny gasps leaving your open mouth.

“Look at me,” he snarled suddenly, the sheer command in his voice sending shivers up your spine, gaze snapping onto him immediately. It took a moment for your vision to focus properly, still drowning in the sensation of his cock still moving within you.

If you thought he looked fierce, hungry, dangerous – you were his polar opposite.

To put it simply, you were a mess.

You were too lost in it all to notice the stutter in his hips when he locked eyes with you, but he almost stopped breathing entirely.

Your eyes were glazed over in pleasure, the tears just beginning to gather there only making their colour all the more enticing. Your expression was slack, and it looked like you couldn’t decide between clamping down on your bottom lip or leaving your mouth wide-open. You looked so vulnerable, so willing to put all of your trust in him to take care of you, make you feel good.

And fuck, if it wasn’t the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

His movements after that caught you off guard, his abrupt rough thrusting engulfing your body in flames of bliss, loud moan leaving you. As much as holding his gaze made everything feel so much more intense, you just couldn’t. Your head fell back onto the pillow, back arching as much as he would allow you to move in his tight hold.

“You feel so fucking good,” he groaned, his voice sounding almost helpless and he continued his movements, his arms the only thing keeping you from shifting up the mattress. As his gasps transitioned to groans and then loud moaning, you could feel yourself nearing your peak again.

He slowed his movements, the heavy panting reaching your eardrums and having you clench around him instinctively. The choked-out groan in response told you he was close, too.

“Jin,” you called out, the word so breathy that you almost didn’t recognize it despite it coming from your own lips.

You raised an arm to weakly grab at his body, hoping he got the message himself. You wanted him close, but highly doubted that you could manage to form the words right now.

Luckily, he seemed to know exactly what you wanted, dropping your leg and moving to hover over you, your breasts brushing his chest. He started thrusting slowly again, his head dropping to your collarbone as a hand wound into the hair at your scalp.

With him right on top of you, his pubic bone was brushing against your clit, the added stimulation having you whine loudly and dig your nails harshly into the skin of his back.

He didn’t seem to mind, a loud groan leaving him as he started mouthing at your neck, sucking bruises into the flesh.

But when you felt fangs briefly scrape over your skin, only one thought came to mind and refused to leave.

You wanted it, wanted his fangs to sink into you, wanted to feel that again. Now.

“Bite me,” you whimpered, pushing your head into the pillow and arching your back, eager to give him free reign as your orgasm inched closer and closer.

You expected him to protest, expected him to deny you, expected him to pull away.

But he did none of those things.

Instead, fangs sunk deeply into your neck with a feral growl, almost as soon as he heard the words leave your lips.

That same immense burst of pain rendered you motionless for a split second before that all-consuming euphoria descended on you.

You vaguely registered Seokjin moaning loudly above you as his hips stuttered, his lips locked on your neck. But you felt almost disconnected from the world, as though every nerve in your body was firing, your cunt pulsating around him as you reached the strongest high you’d ever felt.

It felt almost instinctual to grip at his back tightly, pulling him close, as if he’d ever want to leave. You didn’t even realize how loud you were being, your peak only going higher and higher, to the point of being overwhelming.

Tears streamed from where your eyes were clamped shut, moans turning into sobs as Seokjin ground against your overstimulated clit, your pussy clenched around him tightly.

You were so far gone you didn’t even notice the warmth spilling into you as he groaned loudly into your skin, his movements slowing before he pulled his mouth from you.

The crash was almost immediate, exhaustion and soreness taking over your limbs as you gasped for breath, the hands on Seokjin’s back falling limp. It felt like all the strength was sapped from your body, your consciousness half-absent.

You thought you heard Seokjin fussing over you, his hands wiping tears from your face, but to be honest, it was all a blur. He disconnected with you easily despite your mumbled protests, dropping a kiss on your forehead with a soft command not to move. You didn’t think you were capable of such a thing anyway.

You hardly registered his absence before he was back with a wet cloth. You didn’t know if that was because of his speed or because you were too tired to pay attention.

The next thing you knew, he had rolled you to lay on top of him, your face tucked into his neck as he stroked at your back. Normally, you might have complained about how much colder he was than you, but your skin was still so heated that the coolness was a relief.

You could tell that he was saying something quietly, unsure whether he was asking you something or not. His voice only brought you warm comfort, your arm moving to wrap around his waist.

You honestly weren’t too sure how long you laid there until your senses started coming back to you, but the hand on your back never stopped its soothing motions. The realization made you strangely embarrassed, wondering how long you’ve been out of it.

“Did I fall asleep?” you mumbled, nuzzling into the softness of Seokjin’s neck.

“Not really, it hasn’t been too long,” he responded, though the way he paused made it seem that he had more to say. It took a few moments before he got the words out. “Did I go too hard? Was it too much?”

Despite the low volume of his voice, he sounded almost frantic, and your brows furrowed. Why was he so worried?

“Of course not. I asked you for it, I knew exactly what I was getting into.”

He sighed heavily, his hands on you pausing. “I know, I just – I got worried when you were barely responding to me. I guess I was just afraid that you would be scared of me after.”

You felt a tinge of guilt at his concern, but logically it was nobody’s fault. As much as you wanted to take his face in your hands and tell him that you don’t regret anything and there wasn’t a world where you could ever be scared of him, you doubted your ability to do so right now. Instead, you hoped that simple reassurance could be enough.

“I loved it,” you said plainly, sleepiness clear in your voice. You were fighting past the fog in your brain to talk to him, wanting to make sure he knew where you stood.

“I loved it too,” he whispered before bringing up the blanket to cover both of you. “You sound tired. Why don’t we sleep?”

“Wait.”

“Hm?” he hummed in response, his confused expression hid from your view.

“Are you my boyfriend?” Your words sounded almost slurred with how close you were to unconsciousness, but his chest bouncing as he chuckled told you that he heard you just fine.

You were dangerously close to dreamland, but you caught his answer right before you fell asleep in his arms.

“Yeah, I’m your boyfriend.”

[elysianslove]

your brain is so big and sexy‼️ your writing makes my mouth froth‼️ could u write some smut headcannons for big boy eren yeager? im in love w ur writing plS ㅠㅠ

please i love u sm wtf 

and omg tysm for requesting for eren,,, i spend hours just watching edits of him and levi i am: in Love. i hope you enjoy this <333

nsfw under the cut! eren’s aged up, my loves! i listened to west coast and meet me in the pale moonlight by lana del rey, but both slowed, while writing this, and idk why it fit so well? anyways <3333

i have a feeling that even timeskip eren is the farthest thing from experienced, so it’s more than likely you’ll be taking a lot of his firsts. but he’s a very diligent and determined person in general, so he definitely makes up for it with his enthusiasm. 

however, once the awkwardness and hesitant stage is over,,, 

i wouldn’t go as far as saying he prefers oral giving over receiving, but he truly is in heaven in between your thighs. maybe it’s an ego thing, but he adores hearing his name leave your lips breathlessly and endlessly, loves to see the way you arch your back or twist your fingers in his hair. and when you try to push him away but his mouth stays latched onto your cunt? holy shit. 

while on the topic of giving oral, he wants you sitting on his face, or hoisting you up against the wall, your legs perched on his shoulders. he loves the way you slowly and eventually give into him, trusting him to hold you up, or noticing how you no longer hold yourself up and you’re just pushing your cunt down against his mouth shamelessly. he loves it!!! 

he does love to receive oral too. i think it’d make him a little shy the first few times he did it, or the first few times you offered. he still would never really initiate it, but he never declines. he doesn’t fuck your throat, per se, but he can cum in seconds if you deepthroat him. he will unintentionally thrust up into your mouth and have his cock graze your throat, and yes when he really gets into it, he might grab your hair and push your face harsher and deeper against him, forcing you to swallow more of him. especially when he’s seated, he doubles over almost over at the feel of your warm mouth around him. 

in regards to where he likes to cum,,, well

eren probably really likes it messy ngl 

so if you’re blowing him, almost always will he pull out and cum on the tip of your tongue, smearing the tip of his cock all along your lips. if it gets anywhere else, he’ll collect it on the tips of his fingers and push them into your mouth

wait i know i’m getting sidetracked but eren definitely has a thing for you sucking on his fingers holy shit. he absolutely just shoves them into your mouth while you two are fucking, or just pushes them onto your tongue to force your mouth open so that you’re drenching his palm and your chin with drool. i’m telling y’all, he likes it messy. 

anyways back to what i was talking about. the same way he pulls out of your mouth to see you coated in his cum, more often than not he’ll do the same as he’s fucking you. he’ll pull out till the tip of his cock barely rests inside of you, spilling all over your inner walls. but because of how he isn’t really inside of you, it so easily seeps out of you, which then he’s given the courtesy of fucking it back into you. this is so filthy im so sorry. 

eren’s an ass man. can’t convince me otherwise. of course, he loves titties, can kiss and suck at them for days, but the ass,,,

it’s not even sexual at this point he just likes groping you in general

i also believe eren’s a huge kisser during sex. like he’s always either sloppily kissing all over your mouth, sucking on your tongue, both your lips glossy cause of the saliva. or he’s serenely kissing you, both hands cupping your cheeks as he fucks into you at a steady pace, so deep, not insanely fast, not teasingly slow

honestly? he’d be more willing to sub than dom. it’s not that he’s not a top, because he definitely is, it’s more that he’s willing to sacrifice control than enforce it on you, you know? 

wait one more thing. you know that face grabbing thing that some do during sex? like your eyes are rolling back and your face is red and your mouth is hanging open, your tongue slightly lolling out and you’re so far gone? at that point eren would absolutely adore just grabbing your face with one hand, squishing your cheeks together. you just look so pretty like this beneath him. like i said, he’s definitely a top,,,

this is already so long should i talk about his kinks

im gonna talk about his kinks

praise kink! huge praise kink! he loves to praise you, loves you praising him! tell him how good he feels, how he’s perfect for you, and he’ll tell you all about how pretty you look beneath him/on top of him like this, how well you take him, such a good girl...

dumbification kink. he’s not going to explicitly degrade you and call you stupid, or stupid for his cock specifically, but he loves seeing how so visibly your kind hazes over, how you willingly let him do anything to you because you trust him all that much

dacryphilia. it ties into dumbification. he does not want to hurt you, he just likes seeing you so overwhelmed with pleasure that tears start to fill your eyes, slipping down your cheeks. it’s not a sadism thing, honestly, it’s more of a guarantee that yes, you’re enjoying yourself this much.

edging, but on him. please, he would so be into getting edged, even to the point of hours. i don’t know why, but i’m so sure of the fact that he’d like being reduced to such a mess, begging and sobbing for you to let him cum, his cock, so swollen and full, leaking so much precum, the tip nearly purpling. he just adores it when that band finally snaps and he’s able to let go; it’s incredibly satisfying 

voyeurism, but only in the sense that he wants to watch you pleasure yourself. he strikes me as someone that is very possessive of their partner, so he wouldn’t want anyone else to see you in such a state, only him. but he really does get off to watching you, like so much. 

marking. again: possessive. he loves marking you in any possible way, which means whether it’s from his bruising grip on your waist and hips or his lips and teeth sinking into every other part of your body. 

choking, but him receiving it. he will never lay a hand on you, and he’d never trust himself to ever choke you. but your hands are so small in comparison to all of him that the pressure around his throat is barely there, but it feels nice. like he’s all yours. 

that being said, he wouldn’t be into impact play at all. nothing that involves every hurting you like i said.

okay im so sorry this was so long clearly i have too much to say this is embarrassing 

[moonandflowersfairy]

hi if you make one for me i would appreciate it

your personality

loyal, introverted, calm, most of the time I'm always smiling, but never and really I'm a very depressed person I don't like to show my true feelings to others, sometimes I lock myself in my room for days, sometimes I'm very manipulative a little sadistic , I know what I want and I don't abandon anyone, quite stubborn, I'm like a tsudare, sarcastic, I try to solve problems in the conversation if I'm not afraid to succeed in the fight, sometimes I end up pushing people away because I'm afraid of disappointment, I don't let people come easily into my life, but who isn't, I always do everything to protect, enthralled, I hardly sleep

-What do you look like

my sign and libra, I'm 1.60 tall,

brown hair that goes over the shoulder, but I always leave it up, brown eyes, I almost always wear baggy clothes because my breasts are big and I'm embarrassed when they look at me, I'm also insecure because I have a lot of high mutilation scars, sometimes sometimes i'm a bit perverted

-what do you like

music, books, quiet places, animals, horror and action movies, drawing, sewing, macabre things

do not like

crowded places, people, monotonous things, leaving the house, doing unnecessary things that won't yield anything, talking

- what are you looking for in a relationship,

someone loyal patient, who I know will always be by my side, who is not afraid to say what he wants and what he wants, but also respects my space, who doesn't care about my sadistic side, and my silence

gender preference too

male, except taijo, baji, nayoha, i'm not comfortable with them

-and any facts about you think might work ♡

I'm very loyal, and would always be there to support and listen, he would always try to show my true feelings.

well i think it might have been a little confused i don't know how to spread it well if you want you don't need to do more if you have to😊

I match you with...

¡! Kawata Souya ¡!

Why?

You and Souya would be a complimentary duo, whenever you feel down he would comfort you and viceversa, he loves you in every possible way no matter your mood. Your relationship would be based around intimacy and little, simple moments you both share.

general headcanons:

¡! SFW ¡!

you met at a Toman meeting, you were part of the 4th division and Nahoya was talking to you about being more present in fights and stop messing with your division's victory. Souya saw you very uncomfortable and decided to step in the conversation and give the message to you instead of his brother.

he then later started looking towards your way more often, noticing how you were normally pretending. it seemed like only him noticed your behaviour so he tried to reach you, but being an introvert himself was a challenge.

mikey knew about Souya's interest in you, he started ordering both of you little errands together.

it was super awkward at first because none of you knew what to say

Souya asked for his brother's advice but got nothing good from it.

just like Chifuyu's plan b, he opted for courage.

he tried to approach you little by little, it took him months to get your number but he wanted to know you better

dates would normally occur by accident, you meeting him at a random place and then he inviting you to go for a walk around the city.

after almost a year (10 months to be specific) he asked permission to be your boyfriend. he went to your house with a bouquet of daises, mostly white and the attempt of a smile (he looked very cute ^^)

to others, your relationship was slow, but to Souya it was perfect, he didn't want to push you and respected your limits all the time.

when you told him about your depression he didn't knew what to do, he just gave you the most loving and warm hug he could give, you both cried

he loves you the way you are, he wouldn't change a thing from you

when you doubt yourself he'll reassure you of the amazing being you are and how special you are to him

will recommend you to look for help if you aren't getting it, and would accompany you to your appointments

always checks on you, he doesn't see you as a burden, he just wants to make sure you are safe and okay

whispers sweet nothings to you when you cuddle

likes to hold your pinky when you are in public

will blush hardly when he sees you in an outfit

marathon movie dates, he always gets scared af because of your excentric taste but uses it as an excuse to be near you

asks you to read to him, your voice calms him so much

you'll sleep the best with him, he is a human pillow and his hair is the softest

knows you are not a fan of Nahoya, so whenever you go to his house he asks Nahoya to go out or to stay quiet

you still see him a lot

Nahoya talked to you about your relationship with his twin and asked you to protect him, you also discused some things just to be clear about what you didn't like about him, he obviously stopped because he knows his brother loves you too much.

you are the only one who has seen him smiling, not even Smiley has seen him like that.

is the sweetest smile that exists, gives beautiful vibes, he does it more often for you

his love language might be quality time and acts of service

it doesn't matter where he is as long as you are there he is happy

¡! NSFW ¡!

again, he will never pressure you to do anything

sex isn't very important to him

he's a switch, more on the sub side

loves to fuck you face to face

will eat you out for hours just because he can and he enjoys it

and believe me when I say he can, because he CAN and WILL make you scream in seconds

loves your body so much

loves to bury his face in your breasts, licks them and sucks them up

his tongue is a god tool and will put it to use

the first time he saw your scars he kissed them, wouldn't want you any other way

praises you like if his life depended on it

its all about your pleasure

if you enjoy it, then he does it too

likes to be degraded

super sensitive in his neck and lower back

it turns him on when you are being perverted and try to tease him

loves you riding him, getting the perfect view, squishing your hips and licking your boobs

his dick is very pretty, normal length and girth, pretty pink in the head, a mole near his crotch, trimed

he prefers you to have hair

likes to cry during the act

choke him, trust me, the "demon" comes out

normally passionate sex, but angry sex with him is the best (lol)

sex in the bathroom is the most common

aftercare is amazing

makes you cum like 4 times, just to see his pretty s/o being in heaven by his own actions <3

[daisies: pureness]

hope you liked it love! I know depression sucks but you are not alone, I'll be here whenever you need me bubs 😚💖

¡! song recommendation ¡!

[niennandil-me-writes]

owed a life

CN: gore, violence, murder, war, trauma, gaslighting, characters in this writing voice opinions that go in the direction of the “trauma makes you evil” trope

Not a spell gonna be broken With a potion or a priest When you're cursed you're always hopin' That a prophet would be grieved Oh, Lazarus, how did your debts get paid? Oh, Lazarus, were you so afraid?

The Brothers Bright – Blood On My Name

Only when he had already opened the tent flap and walked inside, and the elf sitting hunched over the table looked up in disdain did Teo consider that maybe he should have asked if he could come in first. He cleared his throat.

“Christine Lys?”

“That’s me.” She stood, setting aside the knife she had used to dissect something placed on a wooden board set on the table. “Is there something I’m needed for?”

“You are the one who…” Teo needed a moment to find the right word. “Who brought me back?”

She was looking at him more attentively now, her eyes lingering on his face – and probably the big new scar stretching across it – a moment longer. “Yes, I remember. If you want to thank me – “

“That’s not why I’m here.”

Her brows furrowed again. Teo tried to remember if he had thanked her after he had woken up, but he couldn’t tell. It had all been so blurry then, and he hadn’t even known what exactly had happened. That he had been dead. He didn’t even remember her face afterwards, had had to ask around the camp if anyone knew which cleric it had been. Even now, it was hard for him to focus on her features, like it was often these days, like trying to hold on to fog. It felt like sleepwalking, in a way, impressions drifting past him without touching him. Ever since then, he couldn’t sleep, but he felt awake only half the time as well.

“I think something went wrong.”

Lys narrowed her eyes. “You are alive, are you not?”

This was a very loaded question.

“It doesn’t exactly feel like being alive,” he said, hesitantly.

She sighed. “Oh,  get it. We are years into a war that has been going on way too long, we are all stretched way too thin, I am assuming this is affecting you people just as much as us. I get an average four hours of sleep each night, and that’s not even counting the all-nighters I have to pull, trying to keep your comrades alive or – “, another sigh, “bringing people like you back to life. It’s hard work, and your higher-ups apparently expect me to work miracles. I have no doubt you feel similarly exhausted by all this – seeing all that violence and death sure can’t help.”

He tensed, but she didn’t seem to notice, just continued on: “So, if you don’t have any specific reason to talk to me, I’d suggest –  ”

“I don’t have a heartbeat,” he interrupted her.

She sucked in the air through pursed lips. “That is one side-effect resurrection can have. There is sometimes a quasi-undead residual to patients who were resurrected under sub-optimal conditions.”

He looked at her in confusion. He understood some of those words. “Undead?” he asked. “Like a zombie?”

“No, no!” Lys lifted her arms defensively. “Like someone who was already dead and got brought back. It didn’t affect any of your other bodily functions, did it?” She waved her arms at his general frame. “So I don’t see a problem.”

“But it did,” he said. “My senses are all wrong.”

“Uh huh…?”

“That’s the first thing I noticed. I don’t taste anything. Or rather, I do, but it doesn’t… feel like anything? It’s the same with smells. Textures. Anything, really. It’s all muted.” He struggled to find the words to describe it. How did you even describe something that was missing? Especially if you hadn’t even noticed it until it was gone. He had needed days to realize something was off, and even longer to be able to put his finger on it.

Lys didn’t seem impressed. “You have to excuse me for saying so, but that just sounds like trauma, and a pretty usual reaction at that, given the circumstances. You will have to forgive me my lack of empathy, but I really don’t have the means to handle this.”

“I thought that as well,” he said, still hesitant. “But that can’t be the only thing. I don’t think it is.” He thought for a moment. “I can’t sleep. I haven’t in two weeks. But it’s like my body doesn’t even need that anymore.”

“Well, that seems like an advantage – ”

“But it isn’t normal. Something changed in me when you brought me back. Something more than a missing heartbeat.”

Just another sigh, even more annoyed now. He only now realized what he must sound like to her with his voice flat and emotionless. She must think he had no urgency, just minor complaints.

“I don’t feel alive,” he repeated, searching for a way to make her understand. And then the words he hadn’t wanted to form before: “I don’t feel human. I don’t feel anything at all.”

“Now, you listen to me.” She walked around the table, leaning against the top, arms crossed. “I tried to have some patience here, but you came in here without even asking or knocking or whatever the hell you’re supposed to do before entering a tent, making accusations about how I do my job, when all I wanted to do is get my work done so I can finally catch up on some sleep. Do you know how long I sat there scratching every bit of your brain off the ground and reassembling it like a fucking 1000 part puzzle?” She pointed at the scar on his face.

“And did I even get a thanks from you?” she asked. “No, of course not. It’s back to battle, back to kill more people or get yourself killed so I can resurrect you right again. It’s all ‘Christine, resurrect this person, resurrect that guy, heal that battalion up quick’ so they can get back to bashing each other’s brains in like there’s no tomorrow. Never fucking mind that I don’t get any sleep, that I’m working overtime, that half the times they don’t even give me all the materials I need. And here you are, having the fucking audacity to complain. You would be dead without me, have you spent any thoughts on that at all? You know how many people die each day, how many people me and the other healers can’t save? Of course you know, you’re there when they drop like flies during the battles. So maybe show some fucking gratitude that you were one of the few deigned too important to be allowed to die. Not everyone’s that lucky!”

Teo waited for her to finish her rant. There was no anger in him. That still surprised him, but he was slowly getting used to that. That was the part that worried him the most.

“I have a family at home,” he said then. “A husband and a daughter. People I used to love more than anyone else. Now I have to strain to even remember their voices. All of that was just gone when I woke up.”

Lys rubbed her eyes. “You think you’re the only one – “

“It’s the same with people here,” he interrupted. “People who I used to consider friends. One of them died yesterday and all I thought – “ He stopped himself. “It’s like I’m all numb. Like I can’t feel anything, for anyone.”

“That’s what war is like. I didn’t think I’d have to tell you this, but that’s what it’s like when you’re surrounded by death. You start shutting it all out because – “

“Because you can’t carry the burden of everyone you fail to safe and everyone you’re forced to kill.” He rattled it off flatly. “I’ve been doing this for years, Lys. I know what that feels like. It isn’t this.”

She still looked unimpressed, tapping her fingers impatiently. Fuck it then.

“The only times I feel alive right now is during battles,” he explained. “I don’t remember the faces of the people I used to call friends, but I remember the faces of the people I’ve killed. Every detail of it.”

“Well –“

This time he didn’t even let her start the sentence. “When you start being a soldier, you remember the first person you killed. The second as well. You’re horrified at yourself. Around the tenth, you stop counting and start shutting it out, as you put it. No sense in carrying that with you. But I’ve started counting again. I’ve started looking them in the eyes again. And this time it’s not horror I feel, but joy.”

It was silent in the tent for a long while, as he waited for her reaction. She took a deep breath.

“Isn’t that what makes a soldier?” she asked then. “That you take joy in killing.”

Again, he wasn’t angry, but there was another thing rising up in him. He couldn’t place it yet, but he liked it. It filled the emptiness.

“A lousy soldier at best.” That’s what he used to think, anyway. Now his retort just sounded like a hollow phrase, even to himself.

“To me it just sounds like you got a lot better at doing your job. If you have a problem with murder, maybe you shouldn’t have joined.”

He stared at her. “There has to be something you can do. It was your – “

“No!” This time she interrupted him. “This has nothing to do with me. I’m exhausted, tired. Sick and tired of your accusations. I saved your life, that’s all I did. I’m a healer. And if you think that something changed, that there’s something wrong with you – well, sorry to say, but that was probably there before.”

He clenched his fists. “This isn’t normal. I can’t even look at anyone without thinking about how I want to kill them.” He stared her in the eyes.

“Are you threatening me?” she asked sharply.

Yes. “No!” Yes! “I’m asking for your help.”

Her body tensed. “There’s nothing I can do. Maybe you are fucked in the head, but that’s not my doing.” The disdain in her icy blue eyes was slowly replaced by fear. And oh, after all her bullshit seeing her afraid was so satisfying. “Leave. Now. Or I’ll inform your higher-ups of this.”

He stormed forward, closing his hands around her throat before a scream could escape from it. He squeezed until she was gasping for air and her eyes were bulging out.

“Let me go, you bastard”, she whispered with what little sound she could muster. She grabbed his arms, clawed at him, tried to get him off herself, but it was no use.

A part of him knew he should be horrified at himself. But he wasn’t. There was just that relief, feeling returning to his fingers right where he was cutting off her air, and spreading through his entire body from there. It felt like he was in a battle again, adrenaline rushing through him and making him feel alive for a short while.

“Do you still think that’s just normal for a soldier?” he said. His voice was trembling with excitement. He felt a grin stretch over his lips.

And there was that sweet fear in her eyes, asking how far he would take this, and he realized he didn’t know the answer. He knew he had proven his point. He also knew she’d start screaming for the night watch the moment he let her go. This would have consequences. None of that mattered to him right now. All he knew and all that mattered was the feeling that he hadn’t taken it far enough yet.

He threw her backwards, bashed her head against the table. A choked-up scream. For a moment her eyes rolled back into her head. Blood was streaming down from the laceration, clotting her long silky hair, and soon tears followed.

It was beautiful.

Suddenly, her arm shot to the side, and then the knife was in her hand. She stabbed at him, pierced his arm. Pain shot through him, making him let go, just long enough for her to catch a breath, but before she could call out, he was crushing her throat with one hand again, closing the other around her wrist. He chuckled, even as blood was running out of his burning wound. Her struggle was making this even more enjoyable for him, he realized. He twisted her hand until she let go of the knife and then grabbed it himself.

He held the blade to her throat. “If you scream, I’ll kill you,” he said.

He could see in her fear-speckled eyes that she believed him.

“Now tell me: Do you know any way to fix me?” He loosened his chokehold just enough for her to be able to suck in some air.

She sobbed: “I don’t know. It’s not my fault. I brought you back. You’d be dead if it weren’t for me. This isn’t my fault. Please!”

Her answer didn’t really matter. Teo had never killed anyone outside battle before. Had never ended the life of someone who hadn’t intended to do the same to him. This was new. This was exciting. He felt the resistance of her skin, her flesh, her windpipe against the steel as he pushed the knife down. When Lys started her last scream, he clamped his hand over her mouth so the blood bubbling from the gash was the only sound escaping her.

Teo took in every detail of her death. A murder, he noticed, gave him so much more time to pay attention, much more than a battle where after one kill he had to turn right to the next enemy. It gave him the opportunity to watch her body shutting down. Her hands cramping one last time around his arms and then letting go, arms falling slack. The slowing and then end to her attempts of breathing. The ceasing of her blood flow. And finally, the light in her eyes vanishing.

As he watched her skin grow pale and felt the warmth leave her body, Teo realized his mistake of making her death this quick. He should have cherished this, taken his time. But it was what it was.

He was trembling. He hadn’t felt this good in weeks. He held on to the feelings flooding through him, even as the first rush of euphoria left him and the consequences of his actions dawned on him.

If they found him here, he’d be tried for murder, found guilty and executed, there was no doubt about it. He found he wasn’t that upset by the idea. It wasn’t like what he currently had felt much like being alive anyway. If there was no way to fix him, death might be the better option. Maybe he should just turn himself in. That might even be seen as honorable, even if he didn’t give much of a damn about honor anymore. They might let him choose how he’d be killed, though. Might make his end a bit more fun. He wondered how they’d explain what had happened. What they’d tell his family.

He halted. His family. Dexter and Fey.

How would they react if they heard he was a murderer? He found he didn’t care that much. But he knew he should, and he knew – he hoped – he would care about them again, as soon as he returned.

That had to be it. He’d wait out the war, enjoy every battle and feel alive while he slaughtered the enemy soldiers. And then he’d return home, see his family again, and make new memories, memories that meant something to him, and he wouldn’t be this empty anymore.

But all of that couldn’t be if he was found with this corpse now. This had been a mistake. He regretted what he had done – at least he told himself he did. But what would it bring to be punished for it? What would it help Dexter or Fey if he was executed, and they were known as the family of a murderer? What would it help Christine Lys?

He got up, pulled the knife out of her wound, wiped it on her jacket and laid it on the table. The candles had fallen on the mud ground during their struggle, but some were still burning. He kicked them over to the tent walls, making sure a fire was spreading before he left.

He took care nobody saw him on his way back to his tent, cleaned and dressed the wound on his arm before he went inside, where everyone else was sound asleep, and laid down on his bedroll. He could hear screams outside as others became aware of the fire, but they were distant enough that nobody in his tent woke up, and nobody called for them, so he just ignored the noise.

Unable to fall asleep, he spent the hours until sunrise staring at the engravings on the axe lying on the ground next to him, while the high of the kill slowly faded away, along with all emotions and sensations it had brought.  

[bikerjongho]

thaumaturge | ateez ot8

genre: supernatural, fantasy, action, horror

characters: occult!ateez ot8

description: Eight evil and magically supernatural beings have their fair share of fun and violence as they travel through a witchy black market.

word count: 6.6k

warnings: swearing, murder, violence, decapitation, death

author’s note: thanks to ateez’s new song the real, this was created. this is genuinely one my favorite pieces that I’ve ever written, so I hope you all enjoy, even if it’s a bit a lot... dark. extra kudos if you can figure out why hongjoong has a flute...

taglist: @itsapapisongo @mangomingki @irehlevant @blueprint-han

The airy noise of a flute from far off in the distance met the ears of people in the black market. The sound whispered around suspicious potions, illegal trinkets, and unsavory objects, giving the market a blanketing noise that masked the chattering of the merchants and customers. Although it was nothing more than a musical note, the noise was unknowingly synonymous with trouble and evil.

The flute belonged to Hongjoong, a man with frightening amounts of power and evil in his systems. The flute not only announced his arrival before his physical appearance, but it also announced his seven other teammates that were equally as dangerous and versed in unconstrained destruction as him.

On the outskirts of the black market, a small and dirty child played with a pile of rocks in front of his mother's tent. His mother, a woman greased with sweat and exhaustion, shuffled around her tent of potions and gathered what she could of food. She pulled out a small piece of chicken from a bag at her feet and carefully cut it into two unequally sized pieces.

She hastily shoved the smaller piece onto a graying plate near her before placing the larger one onto another plate and pushing it towards her son. But the son was still too busy with rocks to be bothered with eating, so the woman began placing more onto her son's plate - bits of lettuce that were more than a few days old and lumpy potatoes that looked undercooked, overcooked, and expired all at once. The meat was good enough and the potatoes were fine, but the withering lettuce was more than enough for Seonghwa.

Being the only folioric, a controller of plants and vegetation, on a team of mostly corpics made Seonghwa's power unique and highly valuable. While the others made blood boil and toes curl, Seonghwa had the proprietary job of dealing with plants, and more importantly, the poisons and trouble he could cause with them.

Magical black markets were incredibly engaging and amusing to him, so he enjoyed whenever his team made a detour through one. Seonghwa had studied and mulled over the existence plants and toxins for ages. He knew every potion that had plants in it and had even created his own. He was the root that connected botany and humanity. So, strolling through a black market that had false plant advertising, horribly made potions that even a beginner folioric could make to perfection, and toxins that were wildly inappropriate for their listed job, he couldn't help but chuckle at their inferiority. They were pathetic.

He was dressed like he was a regular customer at the black market, something that Hongjoong had strictly enforced whenever they wanted to cause a little bit of fun trouble. "The best place to hide is in plain sight," he'd always say. So, Seonghwa wore a green robe that went down to his knees. The end of the sleeves were embroidered with gold and black thread. A simple brown belt was tied around his midsection, and he wore black pants underneath the robe. His black buckled boots hugged and climbed up his legs.

This entire green ensemble was meant to show off his knowledge and abilities in botany, though in crowds like these, he doubted anyone would notice or realize the significance behind the clothing. Yet, the confidence the clothing gave him because on-goers did ogle the fine fabrics was more than enough to satisfy his hubris. It wasn't unusual to see someone of higher wealth in a slum-like market such as this one. In fact, it was usually good to see someone of that caliber - it meant there was likely something sold that was of worth, hidden between the utter filth that most sold. But Seonghwa wasn't there for buying.

Seonghwa shifted and narrowly avoided a dust cloud from a grimy child playing with rocks on the ground. There were numerous amounts of children like that around the black market. Families stricken with poverty had nowhere to turn except for illegal business, and even then money was tight and squandered. Seonghwa glanced at the boy's mother who ran her stand of sub-par potions, filling a plate of greens and meat for her son. He frowned at the lettuce.

Lettuce was one of the first plants he had to deal with at botany school - back when he was still enrolled and still had a cent of good in his blood. The professors would purposely let the lettuce wilt in the greenhouses and it was up to Seonghwa and the other foliorics to restore them. The memory made him cringe. The school, in his opinion, had suppressed his great powers and used them solely for mundane tasks. He had found it deeply insulting and was still insulted by it today. He had left the school and learned on his own how to harness his plant abilities to the fullest. In school, it had been a challenge to revive the lettuce that the teachers set out in the greenhouse. Now, he could be yards away and completely change the chemical biology of the lettuce with a lazy wave of his hand.

Seonghwa flicked his hand, and the lettuce winked at him.

"Lunch," the mother said to her son and pulled him to his feet, picking the rocks out of his hands and throwing them to the ground. She tried her best to dust him off and wash his hands with water, but most of the grime wouldn't come off. Seonghwa walked away as the mother handed the plate to her son, who began eating like he had never seen food before.

Seonghwa put his hands in his pockets. A glimmer of a smirk appeared on his face when he heard the child thud to the ground behind him, and the mother's subsequent scream.

Wooyoung trailed in behind Seonghwa, but the two acted like they didn't know each other, not sparing any glances or gestures at each other. He slid by the child that Seonghwa had killed while the mother's broken sobs rattled his eardrums. This team of evils, the eight of them, were journeying to a different city to buy rare botanical and medical supplies, the reason why they were cutting through this market.

"Instead of going around, we can cut though this black market," Hongjoong had announced only hours before and was met with joyous hoots and hollers. "Black market" was synonymous with fun - it allowed for the boys to cause behind the scenes trouble to people that they didn't care about or would ever meet again. Jongho had called it a warm-up for their powers and was met with agreement and laughter.

Wooyoung went in a different direction than Seonghwa, who was still strolling through stands of botany and stacks of medical potions. While Seonghwa was a folioric, Wooyoung was a corpic. Corpics, the broad term used to describe people that could manipulate the human body, were by far the most common variety of occult people. No one was truly sure why - but it showed in the fact that six out of eight members of the team were of this variety. Further categorized, Wooyoung, and also Hongjoong, Jongho, Mingi, and San, were spirabics, a subset of corpics that specifically dealt with living human bodies and feelings.

Wooyoung dealt with bones. Bending, breaking, and general manipulation of bones was his talent that had been bestowed to him at birth. Similar to Seonghwa, Wooyoung had been taught at school how to use his power for good, such as repairing fractured bones, but had quickly lost interest and dropped out when he realized his true potential.

Though, dropped out wasn't the correct word. This occult school did everything in their power to keep students from dropping out - they knew the merit and the sheer responsibility of the powers their students had. Using it for unrestrained evil was their worst fear. Wooyoung had deserted the school after two months of enrollment and then broke the spines of the teachers and guards that had gone to retrieve him when they realized he had deserted.

Wooyoung took a different route than Seonghwa not just because they wanted to be separated, but also because he was bored to death with plants. The area he strolled by was far more interesting - a small woman with a tight face manned a stand that claimed to sell human hearts and organs. On the stand next to her, full fingers, hands, and skeletons were on display like jewelry would be in a jewelry store.

He stared at the skeletons with his hands behind his back. He was aware of the stares because like Seonghwa, he was dressed in fine fabrics - blue instead of green - but he elected to ignore them. The stares also could have been for his peculiar interest in the skeletons.

"They're real," the shopkeeper told him flatly, and Wooyoung had to keep a straight face. None of the bones were real.

"They're gorgeous," he said, and then realized how odd that sounded. "For bones, I mean. You keep them cleaned and polished." But Wooyoung knew well that real bones could never be as white as the ones in front of him. He showed off a smile and nodded his head.

"Have a nice day," he said, and as the shopkeeper turned away, Wooyoung clenched his hand and snapped the shopkeeper's tibia. He strolled away with a smile as the man howled with pain, and the customers that were eyeing Wooyoung's clothes dove like hungry piranhas to steal the worthless and fake bones off of the stand. There wasn't any real reason why Wooyoung had broken his bone - it was just a fun activity to do in a market of strangers that had no impact on his life.

The flautist and San entered the black market as a pair soon after. Hongjoong, dressed in a shade of blue similar to Wooyoung's and flute strapped onto his side, strode by the mess of a mother Seonghwa had made and what was left of the bone stand. "I see they've done their job," Hongjoong yawned to his dark-haired friend. San grinned.

"No bones about it," he said, and Hongjoong gave him a look that could cut steel. San was dressed similarly to Hongjoong - a darker blue color, but the same fitted robe and high black boots. Hongjoong and San, like Wooyoung, were spirabics. Many thought that Hongjoong's flute that never left his side was a part of his magical ensemble, but that wasn't the truth. Hongjoong could raise levels of pain so that a paper cut felt like a heart attack. Sometimes his flute was a part of his sorcery - blowing a high note next to someone's ear and raising the pain was fun - but in truth, the flute was an elegant accessory given to him by his mentor before he passed away years ago.

San, in his smoldering and smirking glory, manipulated blood inside of humans. He could make blood clot or stop flowing or flow out of a body like a raging waterfall. He could make it boil like he was preparing a delicious vat of spaghetti. In many ways, he was one of Hongjoong's most coveted teammates, not only for his incredible power, but because of how useful he was when partnered with Hongjoong. So when San proposed the idea of working together to spread trouble throughout the market, Hongjoong couldn't refuse his offer.

"Who should we do?" San asked, hands behind his back and eyes flickering around the market and its sellers. San had been one of the first to accept Hongjoong's offer of making a team, and was therefore one of the most experienced and capable of their group. But he was also one of the most angry and dastardly ones. Hongjoong had seen the full extent of what San could do with years of being around him. Hongjoong knew better than to make him upset and laughed at those that did.

Hongjoong also eyed up some of their potential victims. Many of the sellers looked the same - sunken eyes, old and dirty clothing, and even dirtier intentions hidden in their hands and goods - but one stood out to him. Hongjoong nodded his head to a man that was a few stands down from where they were. "Him."

The man was considerably a different variety than most other sellers in the market. Besides wearing clothing that was close to the pricing of Hongjoong's and San's outfits, he sold considerable botany that even Seonghwa would look at and fine jewelry that both of them knew better than to touch. He was a gem in the midst of trash, and Hongjoong knew nothing would make him happier than to knock him down a few pegs.

San smiled at Hongjoong's choice. "A rich boy," he said, quirking his eyebrows. "Why?"

"I don't like how he carries himself, thinking that he's better than everyone else in this market," Hongjoong said flatly, eyeing him with suspicion. "He reminds me of me."

San chuckled. "Then, let's not hold back." He sauntered over to the seller with alluring eyes and struck up a conversation. Hongjoong couldn't hear exactly of what words were being exchanged, but it was clearly an engaging talk with how the seller's stance turned from tense and alert to relaxed and easy-going. He must have thought San was going to rob him as he approached. He should have been more wise. San was a vampire of the worst kind.

"The king just simply cannot have all of this stuff lying around," the merchant was laughing to San while Hongjoong slid up next to him. "Oh? A friend of yours?" He asked, looking at Hongjoong up and down.

"A friend indeed," Hongjoong said to him. He struggled to read San's face, because now it had changed. San had been engaged in the conversation, Hongjoong could tell even from far away, but now his demeanor had fallen. There was a hint of rage hidden behind his eyes, and Hongjoong knew exactly why.

San had once been a healer of sorts for a royal family. Almost every member, from the queen to her youngest son, were anemic, and it was up to San to regulate their blood at all times. But he quarreled with the king frequently, who thought San was doing a less-than-ideal job at helping his family with their condition. It wasn't until the youngest son died because of his anemia did the king react violently to San and threatened to fire him. But San had reacted back equally as violent - stopping blood flow to his heart and giving the king a heart attack as they fought in the throne room. The palace had revived him with another spirabic, but the damage was done and San's reputation was ruined. San fled the castle before the king could awaken and accuse him of an attempted assassination.

Hongjoong knew of his backstory and had spared no time in recruiting him. After all, the news of a defective royal spirabic spread like fire, and the flames had interested him.

But standing with this merchant, he had to applaud San for his restraint to not blow the head off of the royal merchant. Perhaps the prospect of blowing it off later with Hongjoong is what kept him only simmering. It was another mystery as to how the merchant didn't even recognize San. Hongjoong decided to not complain about the luck they had.

"Ah, the blessed kingdom?" San said, putting on a shining smile that Hongjoong almost believed. "Why must the king go here to sell things? Is he not content with the riches he has?" The merchant was shocked at San's boldness, but San's laugh that came after was so hearty that he joined in.

"I'm not sure why he wants to sell these trinkets here," the merchant said. "But it's what His Highness requests, so I oblige." San nodded his head and gave a soft smile. Hongjoong wasn't sure what rage or anger he had boiling his blood, but he was sure that San was done with being nice to a royal family kiss-ass. He gave a look to San, who was glad to reciprocate it.

Hongjoong shoved the merchant's table forward. All of the contents on the table shuddered and remained on the table, but the table hit the merchant's leg. "Oops," Hongjoong shrugged while the merchant furrowed his brow and rubbed his leg. "You're okay, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," the merchant said, ruffled, and Hongjoong clenched his fist from inside his pocket. He could immediately see the pain rise like an enormous wave behind the merchant's eyes. He cringed with pain but still managed to stand. It wasn't in Hongjoong's interest to make him scream - he gave that privilege and right to San.

And San was more than ready. San's hand moved and the merchant furrowed his eyebrows even more. "Is everything okay?" San asked with a smile as the merchant's eyes began to twitch. He looked back and forth between Hongjoong and San like they had something to do with his pain, but ultimately focused back to his leg. Hongjoong wasn't sure what San had done, but it seemed slow and painful.

"Not really," the merchant said, wincing. "Excuse me, gentlemen," he said before limping into his stand's back area. San flicked his hand again and the merchant whimpered from behind the stand's back curtain. Almost immediately, a band of small children rushed in front of them and stole the rare plants off of the merchant's now vacant table.

"What did you do?" Hongjoong asked as he helped put the botany into the children's bags.

"I cut off blood flow in his left leg only," San said simply. His mouth quirked upward. "Or you could say, I blocked an artery. If he's fast enough, he might be able to have surgery to fix it. If he doesn't..."

"Death," Hongjoong finished, and San could only nod.

"Or amputation. I'm not sure how good the court spirabics are anymore. I don't care, either way." San gave a smile and waved for Hongjoong to follow him further into the market, his anger now behind him. A third party was hurt, and only half of the team was present in the market.

Another blue-robed man strolled into the market, but he was flanked by a man in grey. Mingi and Yeosang were the next of their group to enter the black market. Yeosang, the one clothed in grey, was a corpic like many of the others on their team. But he wasn't a spirabic, he was a cerebric, a special classification for corpics that dealt with the mind rather than the body. He could manipulate and damage the minds of anyone so long as he touched them. Yeosang's eyes, which had anything but mindlessness in them, flickered back and forth at different merchants in the black market like he was sizing up his victims.

Mingi, the taller and blue-robed one, was a spirabic. But in many ways, he was closer to Yeosang's power than any of the other spirabics in his team. Mingi could manipulate feelings and spike hormones on a switch. And while he didn't directly deal with the mind, he could still make anyone lose their mind if he added enough adrenaline to their body.

But while the two of them had powers that were very similar, they had drastically different backgrounds. Yeosang was a rarer breed of occult that was classified as dangerous by most schools that taught occult students. Hence, he was barred from most schools and didn't bother trying to convince them otherwise. There wasn't a good bone in his body and fellow occultists had made sure of that.

While Mingi, like many of the other spirabics on the team, had tried occult school. Mingi had learned how to lower adrenaline and calm anxiety. He had been the cure for marital problems and the savior for depression. But he had quickly learned it was infinitely more rewarding to cause pain and chaos rather than healing.

"This place is a dump," Yeosang scoffed as they weaved through the endless paths of the market. "Truly, people have lost their minds even without our help. Their products are shit."

"Less of a market and more of a dump," Mingi replied and walked by a little girl standing near a stand. She burst into tears. Yeosang was mildly amused.

Just as Yeosang was about to glance at a stand's contents, a running customer rammed into Yeosang's shoulder without warning. Neither Mingi nor Yeosang seemed too worried - in fact, a smile grew on Yeosang's face. He turned around stared at the customer while he kept running.

Almost immediately, the man stopped running and began screaming, hopping and clutching his feet like he had stepped on a thousand spikes barefoot. "Lava!" He howled before diving directly into a nearby stand, and Yeosang had to bite his lip to not burst into laughter as the stand's owner began yelling and swearing at the man who was saving himself from lava.

"Don't bump into me, next time," Yeosang murmured under his breath as a group of young men started a fist fight as Mingi strolled by them. Mingi held up his hands by his face and circled around the fight like he was surprised by this sudden confrontation.

"I'll say it again, this has got to be one of the most disgusting markets I've ever walked in," Mingi muttered when he and Yeosang were clear of the fight he had evoked. "But I guess that makes things more fun."

Yeosang nodded, side-stepping a man who was moaning for medical help and clutching his ankle. "Who should we really have fun with?"

The two surveyed the crowd of people around them, from dirty merchants to buyers with large inheritances to families with six children. There was a large variety to pick from, and Mingi was going to suggest doing a usual mind warp of a random merchant when Yeosang nudged him and nodded towards a young girl standing by a stand, paying no attention to the objects sold at the stand.

Her focus was only on the boy selling the items at the stand. Any blind person could see that she was madly in love. With how her body was only moments away from turning into a pile of mush and her eyes were physically in the shape of hearts, Yeosang and Mingi almost felt pity for her - the guy that she was in love with gave her no attention. His attention switched from a small amount of cash in his hands to the strange purple and green bottles on the table in front of him, like the girl wasn't even there.

"Playing matchmaker, are we?" Yeosang smirked at Mingi.

"Perhaps at first," Mingi murmured, walking closer to them so he could see his handiwork more clearly. "But you'll make sure that's not the end result." He pulled his hand from his pocket and waved it, a gesture seemingly innocent and regular.

The boy dropped the money in his hands and looked at the girl with a new appreciation, and the girl was startled by the sudden interest. Yeosang had to stifle a laugh as he nudged by the boy and got his own magic to work.

"... you're so beautiful," the guy was saying like he and the girl were alone in the market. "Truly a sight. Forgive my forwardness, but I have a small sum of money. Could I go to dinner with you and spend it all?"

The girl was a frantic and blushing mess. "Of course," she hummed, grabbing his hands and holding them close to her chest.

"They're gonna kiss," Mingi said and hastily put on a pair of sunglasses.

"And those sunglasses will save your sight?" Yeosang murmured as the two lovers locked lips right in front of them. Mingi's eyes weren't visible anymore, but his mouth was in a prominent frown. Public affection was apparently the price to pay for evil deeds.

"What exactly did you do?" Mingi muttered again, only seeing his own magic working. "We're playing Cupid rather than mind-fucking magicians."

"Watch," Yeosang said, and Mingi closed his mouth.

The new couple was now enwrapped in each other's arms like they were puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. The boy stroked the girl's hair while he stared at her face and a few passerbys gagged and swooned.

"I love you," he said, not wasting his time in the relationship. The girl sighed and began pulling her hair tie out of her ponytail.

"Yeosang," Mingi hissed. "I do not want to watch a few teenagers rail-"

But he was cut off by a shriek from the girl. She was clutching the boy's small necklace around his neck with rage in her eyes. Yeosang glimmered.

"You have someone already," she growled and shook the necklace in front of the boy's face. It was just a normal necklace and the boy was sputtering out of genuine confusion. And it was a normal necklace. But Yeosang had made the girl think that there was a couple ring strung onto the chain.

"You're a genius," Mingi said, he himself not entirely sure of what exactly Yeosang had done. He flicked his hand again.

"You asshole!" The girl screamed, flames in her eyes. Mingi raised his eyebrows and admired his handiwork of adrenaline. She yanked the boy's necklace backward so that the chain clung tightly to the boy's neck. "You fucking cunt," she bellowed and pulled the chain as hard as she could. Mingi saw an opportunity and took it. He wasted no time to flick his hand again and the boy's head came off of his shoulders with a superhuman yank of the necklace from the girl.

Shocked bystanders began rushing towards the girl and pulling her away as she began to stomp on his decapitated head and scream swears at his corpse. Some were holding her back and others were trying to soothe her, but Mingi wasn't sure that was possible anymore. He smiled.

"Nice job," Yeosang and Mingi murmured to each other, amused at the scene they had created. Mingi had taken off his sunglasses. This was infinitely more entertaining to pay attention to.

"It'll go into the books," Yeosang said casually and began to walk away from the scene. The girl's yelling and screaming was a noise to behold. He was sure Hongjoong would want to know about it once they were all through the market.

"Decapitated by Cupid's machete," Mingi said, and followed him away from the lovestruck wreckage and further into the black market's depths.

The final pair of occults from the team entered the market. Again, there was another member with a blue robe and big eyes that showed his youth. They sparkled with a child-like glamor, but the glamor was of malice rather than wonder. The tall one beside him was in all black.

Jongho was a spirabic like most of the rest of the team and was their newest recruit. Only two months ago he had been at school and had genuinely enjoyed school, unlike the rest of them that had attempted academia. His power was something Hongjoong had never seen, so he had made it his priority to claim Jongho for his own when he first heard about his power and potential. When part of the team had arrived to meet him disguised as scouters for a more specialized school for talented spirabics, he was lowering the heart rate of a sleeping patient in the school's infirmary.

He had greeted them with bright eyes and a smile that could melt anyone. "You're the recruitment school, are you not?" He said politely, his dark hair fluttering as he nodded his head in greeting.

"Jongho, have you ever killed anyone?" Hongjoong said without preamble. The rest of the spirabics that were with Hongjoong - Mingi, Wooyoung, and San - shuffled in surprise to hear how upfront he was.

Jongho's eyes widened like he had been slapped in the face. "No!" He cried, putting a hand over his mouth. But Hongjoong watched as his eyes began to flicker around the infirmary. They were the only ones there. Incrementally, his body began to lose tension and he stepped backward to feel the consciousness of the sleeping patient.

"No," he had repeated, his eyes darkening. "But I want to."

And now Jongho had killed dozens already as a new member of the team with his power of manipulating bodily vitals. Lowering heart rate for restful sleep had turned into stopping hearts. Healing lungs had turned into snatching the air from them for a quick death. Even when Jongho had just joined their team to make them eight, Yunho had still seen bits of humanity in his eyes. It had made his eyes bright and gave illumination to their group of darkness and treachery. There was no light in them as he twitched his fingers and a nearby merchant was dead before he hit the floor.

"Nice," Yunho murmured.

"He had a bad heart anyway," Jongho said idly, shoving one hand in his long coat pocket and slipping a silver chain from the dead man's stand into another pocket.

Yunho reveled in the sight of dead bodies. His interest in them was not only because he relished in killing, but because he himself was a manipulator of the dead. Being a mortuumic, Yunho was even more rare than Yeosang's brand of corpic. He was also much more feared and despised by other occults of any kind. He had been an obvious choice for Hongjoong's team - no school wanted a boy that could animate their dead loved ones like a mad puppeteer. Hongjoong had looked in his general direction and Yunho was more than happy to be of use and join him.

"I know what we can do," Jongho muttered to Yunho as they slithered through the packed crowds. "I know what would be fun." He nodded to what Yunho thought was the dirtiest and most disheveled homeless man he'd ever seen in his life.

"Him?" Yunho said, raising his eyebrows. The usual plan when Jongho and Yunho were together was to murder and then reanimate a person. They had done it a few times already with success, such as robbing a villager's shop with his deceased brother's body a month back. Yunho didn't need to wonder if that was their plan for this homeless man - it was a given. But he was shocked when Jongho quickened his pace towards the homeless man and knelt down before him in a kind gesture.

"You're probably hungry," he said in a soft voice that was unlike him and took out a piece of bread from his pockets. He held it out to the homeless man and gave him a sweet look. The man's face broke into a smile so large that it cracked the dry skin around his mouth - he had not smiled in a long time. His graying hands stole the bread from Jongho's hands and he was eating it not even a second later. Yunho was surprised to see that the bread wasn't laced with poison and he hadn't dropped dead immediately.

"Why?" The homeless man croaked after he had finished his meal, looking at Jongho with wide eyes. "You are a man of silk and wealth. Are you a God come to aid me?"

Jongho's eyes shimmered, and Yunho wasn't sure with what. "Yes," he said softly, then pulled out the silver chain he had stolen only minutes ago. "Take this, sir. I only wish to see you happy for the rest of your life."

The man burst into tears as his calloused fingers rubbed the fine chains. He couldn't speak, but his body shaking with sobs and how he held the chain was telling of how much he appreciated the gesture. Jongho stood up and dusted off his blue robe, the man sobbing at his feet like he was Jesus. And he almost did look like him; in that moment, his soft and regal eyes reflected the good deed he had just done and his robe yielded a commanding yet gentle presence that did make him seem kingly. But Yunho knew better than to think that this was all Jongho had planned. Yet, he was still confused by his teammate's actions.

Yunho opened his mouth to ask Jongho what his plan was exactly when the sobbing suddenly stopped. Yunho's eyes darted to Jongho's hands immediately and saw they were in a fist shape. The homeless man was writhing on the ground, clutching his chest like his heart was about to burst from his body. Then he was motionless, his eyes devoid of the light that had been brought into them by Jongho's kindness. Jongho's eyes glimmered again, then he locked eyes with Yunho, a smirk dancing across his lips.

"Now, I pass the torch to you," he said softly.

And it now clicked as to why Jongho had done what he had done. Yunho had a fear that even during those first few seconds of the homeless man's death, someone in the busy market would have noticed. But Jongho had turned the focus to himself by being a samaritan for the man, and unless closely inspected, it appeared that the man was too happy over his recent fortune to be able to stand up. His delirious smile was still etched onto his face, commanded by Jongho's statement that he would be happy for the rest of his life.

But it was now Yunho's turn to show off. While Jongho could manipulate the living, Yunho commanded the dead. His eyes flickered with rapture and he lifted his hands in a gesture he had done a thousand times. He acknowledged the presence of the man's still heart, and then, carefully, let it beat.

It was a soft and slow beat, not a rhythm that any human could live by. But it was enough to flood bits of pink to his cheeks, hands, and neck to make him appear a little more alive. Yunho felt the man's legs, arms, and chest, then willed him to rise in a flourish of necromancy. The man stood, his smile now relaxed and natural. He swung his newly acquired silver chain in his hands and gave a wild grin to Jongho like he had just said a humorous joke.

Yunho wasted no more time on showing off his talent of necromancy. He flicked his arms and the homeless man took off running through the market with that joyous grin on his face that Jongho had given him, attracting attention from everyone who passed him. "Stole it!" He proclaimed, lassoing the chain around his head. Yunho whirled his finger and the man did a flying leap before snagging a bottled glass potion from a nearby table and nearly running over a toddler toddling in the street. The salesman shrieked, and soon the homeless man was being chased by multiple shopkeepers as he kept stealing trinkets and trophies off of stands and tables.

Jongho watched the entire spectacle with a bored expression. "Cheer up," Yunho whispered to him and flicked his arm. The man did a pirouette. "I haven't even gotten to the fun part yet."

The scene of the homeless man running gleefully with an armful of black market treasures while a stampede of angry shoplifters on his heels was a sight to behold. A shopkeeper was approaching him rapidly though, so Yunho decreased the homeless man's speed so that he could catch up.

"You thieving fuck," the shopkeeper growled before grabbing a hold of the man's shirt collar. On cue, Yunho dropped his hands and the homeless man dropped to the ground with them, dead as he was when Jongho had first halted his heart.

The shock on the shopkeeper's face was indescribable. "He's dead," he cried, but his voice was swallowed up by the squabbling shopkeepers that had raced close behind him, now circling the dead man to reclaim their belongings. It didn't seem to matter that their thief was a corpse on the ground, not when there were still living customers to be served.

Yunho grinned with pleasure. Jongho nodded to him. "Nice," he said, giving a small clap. "What a scene. A true spectacle. I would have paid money to see that."

"Then what a treat that it was free," Yunho smirked. He straightened himself and yawned. "And now, we can get ourselves out of here."

Yunho and Jongho walked out of the black market and found Hongjoong first, San mulling around behind him with a glimmer of triumph in his eyes. "We had a fun time," Yunho shared, and Jongho nodded his head in agreement.

"I was called a God by a homeless man," Jongho bragged. "Before I killed him, of course."

"We also had our fair share of fun," Hongjoong grinned and looked at San. "We met a royal merchant. San gave him some painful blood clots."

"Sounds absolutely riveting," Yunho smiled.

Seonghwa came up from behind them with a smug look plastered across his face. "I mostly strolled around, but I killed a boy with lettuce," he said casually.

Wooyoung was carving intricate patterns into a suspiciously shiny bone using his fingers. "And I broke someone's leg."

Yeosang and Mingi emerged from the market, smiling like they had just won the lottery. "And we decapitated a guy," Mingi said with cheer, giving a thumbs up to his team.

The eight of them looked at each other for a moment and then burst into laughter, Seonghwa holding onto his stomach and Wooyoung bent over while he howled.

"That was fun," Wooyoung exclaimed. "The most fun at a black market that I've ever had."

"If only causing trouble was ever that easy or entertaining," Yeosang mused. "It's hard to conceal what you're doing to someone out in the open. The crowds made it so easy to go unnoticed."

The eight of them chatted about their experience in the market, from the nonexistent cleanliness to the terrible and fake items being sold. Seonghwa was ready to go onto a long tangent about the utter disrespect he witnessed for many different types of plants when Hongjoong held up his hand and silenced him.

"I must remind you all that our journey isn't over just yet," he said, his eyes hovering over all of them with a look that only leaders possessed. "We're not yet in possession of our medical supplies."

"Or the botany," Seonghwa reminded him.

"Or the botany," Hongjoong added. "And it may sell fast. Therefore, we cannot waste any more time on trivial talks. At least, not just standing here." His hands went to the flute on his side and he slid it out of its case. "You all go forward. I will be right there."

The others knew what Hongjoong was going to do. They parted from him, and Hongjoong put the flute to his lips. He then blew, and a soft, airy note rose out of the instrument, not unlike the one he had played when they had first arrived on the other side of the market. The note was the team's farewell to the market. But it was also a haunting reminder that they would be back at the market on their return trip, obsessed with the science of pain like moths to a flame.

[talkfantasytome]

Going to delete ask posts that directly linked other people's posts, based on this feedback and suggestion (which I thoroughly appreciate!), as I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone or directly tell a specific person they're wrong. I'll repost the general content, with a summary of what was asked, starting with this post.

Anon Ask: Some people are saying that SJM has confirmed Vassien by saying that she'd like to do retellings of firebird legends, swan lake, and Vasilisa the Beautiful, using some shots of her comments. What are your thoughts on this? And the time on facebook that Sarah said E\ain and Lucien have a lot of "tension, growth, and healing to be found (together)".

The most important thing to consider here is timeline. Both of the twitter shown were made in April of 2015. The first one is, honestly, fairly irrelevant. First of all, she's just saying fairy tales she might like to retell. And, for the record, she has also said she'd like to do a retelling of The Little Mermaid, yet often people disregard that as an argument for Gwynriel. So, either her comments on what she'd like to do a retelling of matter, or they don't.

And, if they're saying that those comments are foreshadowing a Vassa + Lucien book, then clearly The Little Mermaid comments are foreshadowing a Gwynriel book. And then...where's E\ain's?

E\ain is getting a book, so which fairy tale gets the short straw?

Or, maybe, the story won't be exactly like the fairy tale.

I do think that both of those comments are important, but Sarah said she wants to do a retelling.

That could literally mean anything. All that tells us is that she will take themes and ideas from the story. I'm not saying Vassa won't be important in a later book, but Sarah can retell the story any way. She could have Vassa betray E\ain, get Koschei to transfer the curse over to the middle Archeron, and now E\ain is the swan on the lake (cause, come on, E\ain's def. a bit swan-like), and Lucien has to rescue her. Or, maybe Jurian is the one that rescues Vassa while Lucien and E\ain deal with Koschei?

There are so many options in a retelling that to say SJM telling us she wants to do a retelling of these stories is a clear sign that Vassa + Lucien are endgame is, honestly, not a very critical analysis.

I'm going to address this tweet next:

This twitter exchange happed April 30, 2015. ACOMAF was published in May of 2016. This post can not be used as foreshadowing of Vassa + Lucien, because it happened before we found out E\ain and Lucien are mates. That "at some point further down the road" literally means "any time after book 1".

People keep using this tweet and presenting it as if Sarah's response came recently. They're spreading misinformation - it may not be purposeful, they may not have seen or noticed the date, but this twitter exchange can't be used as proof that Lucien's person has to be someone other than E\ain, because when it was made we did not know about the Lucien and E\ain possibility.

That doesn't mean it definitely is talking about E\ain, but my point is that this is not proof of Vassa + Lucien, of someone else + Lucien, because of when it was posted.

As for other comments on retellings Sarah would like to do - it's the same argument as the first one. Sarah said she wants to do a retelling of the firebird and swan like. We all know this. It's not new information. People who are saying Vassa + Lucien won't happen aren't ignorant of this fact. We're well aware, and we're also well aware of every other thing Sarah has said, mentioned, foreshadowed, and we're tying it all together. Focusing solely on stories Sarah has mentioned she'd like to retell - not confirmed she will retell - and ignoring everything else doesn't provide a solid analysis. You have to weave how those stories would fit into the grander scheme, and look at the other surrounding factors as well.

And, again, we need to remember that Sarah can do whatever the hell she wants in terms of the story and how she chooses to retell a fairy tale. I mean, how often is Little Red Riding Hood turned into a werewolf story? And sometimes even Red is the wolf?

Writers use fairy tales as a base, a foundation, but then they make it their own. No writer is going to tell the fairy tale exactly how it first was. They're going to adjust it...a lot...to make it their own story.

I'd also like to point out that both times she mentions Vasilisa, she says "Vasilisa the Beautiful". The first time she also said 'the Brave', but the second, solely 'Beautiful'. Vassa is beautiful, of course, but one of E\ain's defining characteristics is her beauty. Even in ACOSF it was again mentioned, discussed, about how her beauty made others hate her.

Could Vassa be Vasilisa...of course. However, I think people are a bit blinded by the similarities in names. Remember, Vasilisa the Beautiful wasn't the firebird - those are different stories. And, honestly, after doing a bit of research into the tale, I'm starting to get more and more sure of the thought that the character who would portray Vasilisa is E\ain.

I think I'm going to do a post on it...

In the later comment on retellings she'd like to do - which we know came after the first as the first came out in August 2015 and that story she's telling was given after the second set of books was confirmed - I also find it interesting that she said Vasilisa the Beautiful (specifically) and Swan Lake, subbing out the firebird.

Why would she do that? Perhaps because she's already brought in the firebird pieces she planned to bring in. We already know that retelling, and how it's come to play. Vassa is a firebird by the curse.

I'm not saying it couldn't end in a Swan Lake thing, as that is what the curse reminds me of. But, personally, I think the fact that she's saying Swan Lake now is also symbolic of something more, possibly another character getting trapped by Koschei.

As for the other piece you asked about, I don't have much to say about it, because it feels like the closest we'll come to an elucien confirmation.

That was also posted a while ago, back when ACOMAF came out. So, it's not like this is recent information Sarah is providing us. However, we know that Sarah can sometimes end up choosing endgame based on gut and things that just hit her. Cassian and Nesta - literally didn't know about them until she wrote them on the same page and was like "oh shit". So Sarah saying that she and Lucien didn't see E\ain coming...I'm sorry, but that feels almost more telling than even the next part of the sentence - where she says they have growing and healing to do together.

That's so huge. And we haven't seen that yet. We've only really seen the tension.

Sarah said this back when ACOMAF came out. And it was around writing or publishing ACOWAR that she got the okay for the second set of books (I think?). Which means she was likely thinking about the longer-term stories before that. Which would explain why we didn't get that growth and healing in ACOWAR.

Instead, she left them in a spot where it seemed like a possibility, and then for the later books has just added more tension. But that journey is still there. She's had it planned for so long. And yes, maybe she could change her mind, but we only know of two cases where she did just that:

Az and Mor

Nesta and Lucien

For Az and Mor it was because she decided to make Mor bisexual and unable to be in an emotional relationship with a male. This was due to complaints over diversity. It's the closest Sarah's probably come to 'fanservice' - except, admittedly, this is so not fanservice. Fanservice is doing something like, say, having Voldemort and Bellatrix have a secret love child despite the fact that Voldy never once came off as having any form of romantic or sexual feelings for her or anyone, ever. (Seriously, that guy was asexual and that is a hill I'll die on.)

Adjusting a character due to legitimate complaints and concerns on diversity, not just fanservice. It's more a full on social service, really, to try and provide that representation better. Yes, it wasn't done in the best way, but she did make an attempt.

The second one - Nesta and Lucien. That was her general plan, until she put Nesta and Cassian on page together. Then it all went out the window. Just like all of Nesta's thoughts when she saw Cassian. Just like Cassian's entire brain when he saw Nesta. 👀

And we get it, because we see it too.

So, while Sarah could have changed her mind about E\ain and Lucien, the only reasons she'd do that don't yet apply. She's already made a change for the diversity complaints, and I don't see her doing that with these two. As for finding out they actually belong with someone else when she sees them on page - well, that hasn't happened yet. She made the E\ain + Lucien decision after we see E\ain and Azriel interact, so clearly Az is not that for E\ain. And we've seen Lucien and Vassa on page together. There's nothing there except Lucien being pained about her curse - which, yeah, she's his friend. How often is one IC member described as looking pained for another? Or thinks about how much it hurt them to see their friend hurt?

But we know what it looks like when the chemistry is so undeniable it will adjust Sarah's plans. And if you're not sure - go back and read all the Nessian scenes in ACOMAF. And then see the one scene where Lucien and Vassa are on page together - I think you'll find there's another male there that, with Vassa, rings closer to the Nessian home.

There was no on page chemistry between Vassa and Lucien, and certainly not enough to change Sarah's mind. Which would also mean E\ain already wasn't meant for Az, which is likely why no one arguing for Vassa + Lucien seems to care as much about that, because most people who ship them are already dead set on E\ain + Azriel.

So, there you have it, my point of view/rant on those two pieces. But it's always important to look at the context of a post, and especially the "source material" people use to provide proof. It's why I tend to stick to the text where I can, and only use SJM statements that don't have an expiration date to their importance. SJM saying something about how she loves happily ever afters, for example, no expiration date. SJM telling us in 2015 that there is someone special for Lucien down the road - an expiration date after the first sign of a possible love interest for Lucien. Once E\ain was declared to be his mate, that statement became irrelevant, because regardless of whether it will be E\ain or not, you can no longer state that it's clearly hinting at someone else, since E\ain is a love interest for Lucien.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: January 5th, 2021

How exactly can we get the option to gift cove a bracelet at the start of step 3? I really only get that option with having a ponytail-black shirt-black pants-no accessories cove but i dont know the specific requirements for the option to show up

Cove’s gotta wear a bracelet in Step 2. If he doesn’t it means him liking bracelets isn’t a very long-standing trait and so the MC wouldn’t think to get him one as a gift.

I am very sorry if this was asked before but I have noticed "Our Life: Beginnings and Always" and "Our Like: Now and Forever." Did I miss something? Is "N&F" going to be a sequel or DLC? Are we going to see a geriatric Cove? (haha) Thank you in advance for the reply. ^_^ 

Our Life: Now & Forever is a new game in the franchise, but it’s not a sequel. It’ll have a new cast, new story, and new setting. It will still have all the best features of the original game and be about creating your own character/growing up from childhood!

Is there a specific reason why Cove gets so flustered and has to jump out if bed and walk it off when they share a bed in step 3? It seems a bit over the top for something they've already done twice! Once with the late night visit when Cove finds out his mom is coming and once in the RV.

Is just because they are older and the implications are different, even though the crush was already there in the RV/latenight visit scenes? Or did I miss something that made Cove more reluctant or more apprehensive towards sharing a bed/touching?

Sharing a bed with the person he likes/love is different for him at eighteen than it is at thirteen. Some things get easier when you grow up, like he’s more comfortable sharing food, but some things get harder/more complicated to him. Sharing a bed is one of those for Cove. It feels a lot more intimate and meaningful as time goes on, rather than less of a big deal.

Hello! First, I wanted to thank you and congratulate you for this amazing game. I enjoyed every single second! In a year full of stress, this was a little cozy light. Do you have any plans to make it available for other languages? Thank you again 💕 

Thank you! I’m afraid the game is still in pretty active development so we can’t consider translating the script in it’s semi-incomplete form. And we’re not a big enough company that we can promise translations will definitely come when the game is done, unfortunately. We can see what things are like when all the words are truly set, though.

Did Cove's name come from that Cove restaurant on Holden beach? Whenever I search up his name I always get those results haha 

No, haha. His first name was based on his character and the game’s theme, his last name is a reference to something of a personal joke.

Will the NSFW DLC have CGs too?

Yep!

So, to start off, I need to thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart, for creating Cove Holden. I want every single one of my MCs to be able to get engaged and married to that precious angel, so I was wondering how transitioning into step 4 using save files will work? Will I be able to load up a save file saved right before the end credits after step 3, or will I need to load one from before the transition section after step 3? I’m sorry if this has already been answered somewhere, but if it has, I haven’t been able to find it. Thank you!!!!!! 

Thank you very much c:. You’ll be able to load any save file, unless it was taken as the credits were actually rolling, and the Step 4 epilogue will simply start going once you’ve played through whatever was left of the main game and seen the credits. There are rare cases where a save file breaks between updates, but generally continuing where you left off should work for people.

Hi! I absolutely adore our life, and I was wondering is there a way to have Shiloh remember the MC and Lizzie in step 3?

I’m glad you like it! Sadly, no matter what you do Shiloh will act the same in that scene.

Hi! I'm the Australian that asked about ever including an Aussie VA, do you have any future plans for Our Life 2 or any other games to include an Aussie character and VA? 

Right now we don’t have any guaranteed future Aussie roles. But we don’t have fully developed character lists for our upcoming games yet, so that may still change.

Will OL2 also follow the tradition of "Blonde Adult That We Cannot Date"? 👀

Haha, maybe. There isn’t one right now, however we still have a lot of side characters to plan.

Hey, are the houses in the game furnished based on items in the Sims 4? I’ve noticed some similarities, but I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence. (If it is, that’d make me building it in TS4 MUCH easier...)

For me, I use real world pictures as references as well as text notes. I loved Sims 2 when I was young but haven’t gotten into a new Sims game since. I don’t believe the artist checks Sims 4 when creating their work, though it’s not impossible. Maybe they do.

is it possible to still get your name in the voiced dlc [I'm not sure how you would do it, is it from patreon ??] or is it too late ?? 

Currently there’s no way to get your name voiced. But we are looking into opening up a method for that one more time later this year. You can keep an eye out for that!

Will we be able to ask Derek out to the dance if we get his DLC? Not a Derek fan but I'm planning to surprise my friend with this 

Yeah. Taking Derek to the dance is part of his DLC.

Hi! I have a question I've been curious about, if you're comfortable with answering! If Cove and the MC remain just friends into Step 4/MC dates one of the other guys, will Cove canonically be in a relationship with/interested in somebody else at that point or shortly after? Thank you!

He won’t. There’s not really anyone in his school, and certainly not the neighborhood he grows up in, that he’d be into other than the MC. As a pretty newly independent adult he hasn’t had enough time to truly find a special someone in Step 4. It takes a while for him to make that kind of move, haha. It’s totally fine to headcanon that sometime after Step 4 he finds love with someone else, but it won’t happen in-game.

i just wanted to share this cute little playlist that i made about cove! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5wM7GNiJh5eRqhvLBperfQ?si=4FocdBsNTpeF053yOwaLSA

Cool! Thanks for sharing it with us.

No, no, no create longer ask answers please. 😌

The ask answers are not too long. If anything I'm greedy and wish they were longer... I'm already subbed to your guys patreon and I still can't get enough 👀 I'm in love with you guys 

Will you post more of those long form ask posts? I love them 🥰

Haha, thank you for these messages. I’m glad you’re enjoying the content.

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Thank you very much for all the questions! Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog